I was super tired. I'd be super tired in the morning until the day cleared. Port Angeles night Charlie had flipped back and forth between dad and cop. His distress kept tipping me over into tears. We talked into the wee hours of the morning. In pjs at two in the morning after failing to sleep, we'd driven into the station to go through mugshots. Creep was on the FBI's most wanted list.

I suspect Edward and his family had long discussions that night too as a result of the call to Carlisle.

I slept in rather than practising the violin for the first time since coming to this world but the plan was still to go to school. The Chief had no intention of leaving me alone in the house after last night but I did want him to go find and arrest the Creep so he was okay with me going to school.

Edward came knocking at my door. "I thought you could use a ride to school, at least until your driver's licence gets replaced," He suggested.

"Thank you Edward," Charlie said before I could even get a word in edgewise. I like that Edward had earned his own name rather than being called Edwin. I like that on a day that advanced I'd made choices that connected us to our families a little more than regular old Bella's choices seemed to do.

When we stepped out of Edward's car somehow he'd convinced me we were now dating? I honestly didn't know what I thought of that. I'm never kissing him. Never, never, never. He was planning on spying on my debrief with Jessica in Trigonometry to hear her interrogation regarding, "OMG Bella. Edward rescued you again and took you to dinner? SPILL!"

Jessica is a gossip down to her core. It makes her happy. She asked if I liked him. Yes of course I liked him but then she started asking if I 'like, liked' him and how much.

"Jessica what does that even mean? If you like, like someone? I've never understood that phrase. What are you supposed to like about someone you like, like?"

"Gah! Bella, you're so dense!"

"You think I'm trying to blow you off."

"Are you attracted to him? Do you wanna, you know, do the dirty with him?..."

She kept talking but I didn't hear a word of what she was saying.

The truth was that after all I'd been through I'd give my life for him in a heartbeat. I wanted only good things for him. I was infuriated that I was forced to live this lie where I was Bella. I felt like a manipulator. I had tried to tell him my truth but the day advance algorithm never permitted it. I worried about him and anything I could do to protect him I would.

I think on the subject of hormones and romance my inner self seems to remain younger than I seem. Edward is so pretty but I'm not seriously attracted to him or really anyone and the high school drama seems ridiculous. I'm a pretty decent cook now though and I've learned a lot of life skills like laundry and how to drive decently and my handwriting was better. Life is weirdness.

Charlie and Edward I had feelings for but not the feelings the books went on about.

Renee was too unreal for me to have strong feelings about as my only connections to her were through phone or email. My friends at school were friendly but the same interactions again and again felt plastic and unreal. It was hard to have solid connections with them.

With Charlie the repetitions felt like a comforting routine.

"Good Morning Bells, Love you."

"Hey Bella I'm home! I bought pizza!"

"Did you do your homework Isabella?"

"Bella come watch the game with me." He liked when I'd lean against him reading a book while he watched the game. I loved Charlie and he was a Dad to me probably more than Bella ever let him become her Dad. I needed him.

As for Edward, my world revolved around him. His every attempt to overcome his nature or to be kind, heroic or caring bound me to him more strongly. Yes, I'd felt this effect even back when I was trying to beat day two. Edward didn't want to hurt me. It was our victory when he made it through biology. I was so proud of him. I desperately wanted to protect him from whatever this strange thing was that was happening. Somehow, I was determined to fix this lie and do right by Edward. He'd eventually find a nice vampire girl and maybe not hate me forever.

…did I want to do the dirty with him… All I could think of was the Creep and hands and darkness.

"Bella, are you okay? You look positively grey," the teacher interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah,... I'm okay," I answered putting my head down on the desk because honestly it felt like I was going to pass out.

"So do you like, like him?" Jessica, who had taken a trip into oblivious town asked.

"Edward deserves better than me," I whispered.

Jessica agreed that Edward deserved someone better than me. "Sweetie that hunk of man was meant for me."

I laughed as I was meant to. "Jessica, I think you need to dish on how your date with Mike went." I prompted instead. I think she'd gone on a date with Mike recently. I'd been stuck in Port Angeles so long I couldn't quite remember. Would another teen have asked the question that way or was it cringey? I wasn't sure.

I felt progressively more run down as the day went on. My chest felt tight and wheezy. I started coughing sometime around third period and by lunch I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed but Edward was my ride and the Chief was off catching the Creep which I wouldn't have interrupted for a thousand dollars.

Edward was waiting to buy me lunch. I usually buy a drink but with so many repeat days I always brought lunch from home just for the sake of variety because I could control and vary my choices. I held up my bag lunch with an apologetic smile.

"Just the chicken soup then Bella. You've been coughing all day," He tried.

Bella would have been fine with chicken soup, Lexi happened to be a vegetarian. Given his family's catch phrase to indicate their diet I blushed and just left it at. "I don't eat meat." It gave him a moment's pause during which I imagined he was 'vampire shifting' through every memory he had of me eating or some other silliness.

"What about other animal products like milk and eggs?" He asked, sounding very curious.

"I'm not vegan. Eggs, milk, cheese and fish are fine. If I didn't eat fish I think Charlie would starve to death. That's his favourite food."

Edward happily put on his let's interrogate Bella face. "What's your favourite food?"

"Charlie won't eat it and I don't know how to prepare it so it doesn't matter," I answered. I loved when my family had Oden. We'd sit around a communal hot pot that went in the centre of the table and well the short version of the story was Charlie wasn't a fan of Japanese food.

Uh oh, I think I triggered my favourite vampire with the 'it doesn't matter' comment. Oops.

"Oh course it matters!"

"Forks is different from Phoenix," I protested! "When I walked into my first grocery store here it was like being on another planet." Forks didn't have an Asian grocery store. I'm pretty sure this is another planet. The music history doesn't quite match.

"Okay," Edward conceded reluctantly. "What is your favourite locally available food?"

That was a loaded question. Charlie didn't cook. I hated take out as when the days repeated I'd end up with the same thing for days and days, or on one occasion years in a row. I never want to eat another cheese pizza again. I had limited cooking skills though I was getting better. I'd been twelve and mom used to do almost all the cooking except for the very simple stuff. Hmm...

"Peaches. Fuzzy freestone peaches," I decided. "You can eat them and if you're in an odd mood, pet them. Oooh so cute and tasty."

Edward determinedly put juice and hot water on the tray. "You need the vitamin C and I have noticed you don't drink coffee but a warm drink might help your cough. You looked like you were going to pass out when Jessica was interrogating you."

I switched out the orange pekoe tea sachet for a green tea sachet.

"Do you want milk in your tea?" He asked.

"That would be blasphemy," I replied straight faced. If he was going to interrogate me I was going to tease him.

"How did things go with Charlie last night?" he asked, grinning a little.

"He'll be busy all day, hot on the case. Oh and I'm starting Taekwondo tomorrow. He wants me to learn more self defence. Honestly by the time that came up it was very early in the morning, it sounded like an amazing idea though now it sounds a little silly."

"You and Martial Arts?" Edward asked dubiously, looking worried. I figured this was fair. Bella had trouble walking down a hall without face planting. Bella the fighter sounded recklessly dangerous.

"If people mess wit' you, I'll kick 'em with my toe," I answered. He looked alarmed. I rolled my eyes. "Good grief, it's a song quote Edward." (Taekwondo by WOTE)

He still looked like he was going to have an aneurism. "What's your melodrama?" I snapped a little grouchily. I wasn't feeling good and was getting worse so fast. Most martial arts were about physical fitness and a good Sensei never encourages fighting. Teaching this body how to take a fall, learning how to redirect an attack, I was doing this.

"Just, be careful," was all he said before changing the interrogation to a safer topic. "What's your favourite colour?"

"Polka dots."

"Bella polka dots? That's not a colour."

"Narrow minded fool. Polka dots is not only a colour, it's a colour with an attitude. It is colour, to the power of pi. It's colour, having a party. I think maybe this is a gender issue. You should ask your sister Alice. She'll explain to you about colour and it's messiah polka dots. Poor sad boy."

"I've never even seen you wear polka dots," Edward protested. "You just don't want to tell me what your favourite colour is. And polka dots is plural, are plural, … good grief."

"What's your favourite colour?" I asked.

"I don't know," he replied warily. "Avocado?"

"The colour of nan's toilet? I don't think so. Try again."

"I didn't really mean the colour, well avocado is a vegetable and polka dots…"

"Avocado is a fruit." I interrupted.

"Blue," he admitted in defeat. "Stop messing with me," He protested with a wry grin. "So… your gran had an avocado coloured toilet?"

"Yep and shag carpeting."

I fell asleep in Biology. I'd been coughing so much when Mr. Banner saw I'd fallen asleep, he woke me without scolding and insisted I go to the nurses office. Edward offered to take me. He had his worried face on again or still. He'd looked worried most of the day which was part of why I was messing with him at lunch. He's too much of a worrier.

"You need to go to the hospital," he prompted the moment we were out of class.

I gave him a bit of a confused look. I was too tired to bother with the ER where I'd wait two to three hours for someone to even think about giving me some cough syrup. Besides, Edward was my ride and he had a Spanish test. My dad was hopefully in the midst of arresting the Creep, maybe he'd even track down the Creep's friends. I wasn't going to interrupt. I didn't have my wallet to pay for a cab or for the ID required for healthcare and such. I was really too out of it to figure out this problem on my own. I'd never done anything related to health care on my own. I wonder if Bella had all her immunizations. I felt all of twelve again.

"I can hear fluid in your lungs. I think it's aspiration pneumonia from the sea water you inhaled yesterday. You're unwell."

I gave him a vague hmm and shooed him off when we got to the nurses office, telling him to take good notes in Biology.

I managed to talk the school nurse into letting me nap in the health room until the end of the day. She went off into the other room to do some paperwork and honestly I didn't hear any of the bells ring. The school nurse woke me at four when she came to lock up. Last bell was three thirty.

What's your fav colour... I get asked this question all the time in the Kindergarten class. I have a feeling the Kindies would tackle me in outrage if I answered polka dots which is so unfair. Half the time you ask them what their favourite colour is they answer rainbow. Maybe the next time someone asks me that question I'll answer "See that colour on your shirt? That's my favourite colour."

Catch you next week! Anarchy out!