A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first Twilight fanfic, so please be kind: BUT ALSO REVIEW! Major thanks to my Sassy Sloth for looking this over and editing, she's a gem :)

I will definitely be posting more of this soon, (most likely within the next couple days), so yeah. The next part is MUCH longer. Sorry this is kind of short :/

Also, Bella is an actual character in this, and isn't clumsy. That characteristic always bugged me.

I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT

WARNING: LANGUAGE & SOME INNUENDOES (just in case you don't like that kinda thing)

"Bella! While you're down there, can you get some potato chips?" Alice called to me from her room a story above.

"Yup!"

I took a right off the stairs and into the monstrosity that was the Cullens' kitchen. From where I was facing, a center island dominated the middle of the room, and to the right of it lived cabinets and a sink, which all had a dark wood finish. Above the stainless steel sink was a window that looked out into their verdant backyard. To the left of the center island was the fridge and a pantry filled with enough snacks for the five Cullens. I made a beeline to the fridge, and got out that good string-cheese that they always seemed to have. My bare feet padded along the wooden slats as I went over to their pantry, which was essentially a walk-in closet containing goodness. I opened the double doors and foraged for a bag of potato chips.

I heard the large grandfather clock down the hall from the kitchen chime twelve times. The house, which was usually loud from the three Cullen kids and their combinations of friends, was pretty quiet except for the pop music blaring from Alice's room.

As I dug through the pantry, I didn't catch someone else's footsteps coming down the carpeted stairs into the kitchen. So when I finally found the chips, and stepped out of the food closet, my hands full of string-cheese and other goodies I had found, I wasn't expecting Edward to be there.

He wasn't facing me; his body was bent over and his head was stuck in the refrigerator. Dat ass. I giggled internally, what would happen if I squeezed it? A blush spread to my cheeks, and I almost dropped the items in my arms. I managed to hold on to them as I backed out further, closing the pantry doors with my feet. The slam of the doors, harsher than I intended, caused him to turn towards me.

Edward nodded at me. It wasn't totally unexpected to see me at his house on a Saturday at noon. He had a tall and lanky build that he'd toned over the summer, becoming muscular. His hair strayed in its usual disarray, natural copper tones highlighted in the fluorescent lighting of the room. Edward wasn't exactly classically handsome, like his chin was too sharp, and one ear was slightly higher up than the other, if you really looked. But there were little things that really stood out, for instance his green eyes popped into a more exotic shade under the magnification from his black, boxy Clark Kent glasses.

He wore red pinstriped boxers, and a wrinkled black shirt with a design of the Millennium Falcon on it. He smirked at me, his crooked teeth presenting themselves.

"Hey Bella, need a hand?" He cocked a thick dark brow. Though it was fine before, his voice had also gotten lower over the summer, becoming panty-droppingly sexy.

"Oh, no. I'm good, but thanks." I felt heat rush to my face, and I squeezed past him and the open refrigerator door, though I probably should've just gone around the center island.

I raced up the stairs over to Alice's room, 98 Degrees playing. I dropped my handful of snacks onto the white-carpeted floor.

"Kickin' it old school, nice." Though boy bands weren't my forte, I could appreciate Nick Lachey's voice.

"Yup," she smiled up at me from where she was sitting on the floor, her back leaning against the end of her bed. Her chocolate hair was placed messily into a bun, and she was still wearing her pajamas. Alice closed her eyes and lazily rocked her head side to side.

I sat down next to her. I was fully dressed, having come over about three hours ago. My long, white Morrissey-tee shrouded me like a shield.

We had just started junior year a month back, and it felt like the beginning of an era. Now I had to start worrying about college and the upperclassmen workload burdened me.

A couple minutes later Edward burst through the door, a coca cola can in hand, and he looked annoyed.

"Really? I was up late last night finishing some assignments, and guess what woke me? This fuckin' noise." He looked at Alice, barely acknowledging my existence; I was a guest after all.

Alice got into sassy mode. "Well no one asked you to pull an all-nighter, Eddie."

His nostrils flared. "Don't call me that," he said, his voice getting even lower.

She stood up, her petite frame looking ridiculous in comparison to his, which was a couple inches over six-foot.

"Make me." She crossed her arms over chest.

"Don't mess with me, pipsqueak." Edward crossed his arms as well.

"You think you're so scary, Eddie."

"I'm bigger than you, aren't I?"

"Maybe in size, but in age—"

"God, not this again. I'm bigger, and still older, last time I checked."

"Only by a year!"

Both of their arms dropped and they went chest to chest now. I felt like I should do something. I stood, and walked to where they stood just inside of Alice's doorway.

"Um, so, maybe not?" It was the best I could come up with given the awkward situation.

They both turned to me, Edward furrowing his eyebrows, and Alice scowling.

"What?" he said.

"Well, just, maybe not a fight right now. What did Morrissey say, 'It takes strength to be gentle and kind'? How about we find that kind of strength?" I was grasping at straws.

Alice's scowl morphed into her biting her lips to keep from smiling, while Edward looked down at me. Neither said anything as I switched eye contact between them. Luckily, I could feel the tension lowering in the room.

I stepped back, and nodded. "So yeah, maybe I should just go?" I quickly put on my socks and grabbed my phone before pushing between them towards the stairwell.

"Cool, see you on Monday, Bells!" I heard Alice calling after me.

I slipped into my rain boots, which I had left by the door, and exited the house walking down the drive towards my truck.

xoxoxo

I wasn't sure when I first began to like Edward. It might've been the summer before my freshman year, but perhaps it had always been there. That sounds stupid. I knew he wasn't my soul mate, but Edward was around growing up, being only a year older than me. Edward didn't get much lady attention, he was a huge nerd who really only filled himself out this summer. But there were certain things about him, like how he was (usually) soft-spoken, and how shy he could get around strangers. I loved that. He was only confident around people like me, who had always been there.

But like I said, I had always been there, so the chances of Edward actually noticing me in that way were next to zilch.

xoxoxo

On Monday, Alice found me ten minutes before the bell in my "Vote for Pedro" shirt and jeans with my galoshes by my locker. My locker was on the other side of the school from my first period, and had obviously been well used. The blue paint on the outside had faded to the point of no return and chunks of it were chipped off. The inside smelled like bleach, as if they had to get rid of the smell that previously inhabited it.

She rested her back against the locker next to mine, as I started switching out books to and fro my backpack.

"I've been thinking, we should be more . . . extracurricular."

"Is that code for oral?"

She turned her head towards me and gave me an annoyed smirk. "Alright, make fun like you usually do. But I'm serious, Bells." She grasped by left elbow, making me turn towards her.

"Are you saying we should join yearbook?" We were already in Environmental Club, and Alice was heavily involved with Students Activity Committee, which basically just planned dances.

"No, like, I don't know, cheerleading."

I scoffed. Cheerleading? "C'mon, Alice. Be serious, why the hell is that even considered a sport? It's like, 'could you not do another sport so now you must cheer for others'. It's the embodiment of 'those who can't do, teach'."

She scowled, "No, you c'mon. It's not like that and you know it. Angela is on cheerleading, and she loves it."

I had known Angela Weber my whole life. She was the kind of girl helped the less fortunate without putting it on her community service hours. It wouldn't even occur to her.

"That's because it's Angela, she wants to help out the sports teams."

"Why can't you do one thing for me? One tiny little thing."

I huffed, "Look, Al, if you try out and make it, then I'll come to every one one of your home games."

She rolled her eyes, and then linked arms with me as we walked towards her first period Spanish class, "Fine."

xoxoxo

The rest of the day I was on edge, waiting for AP Biology. I took regular bio this past summer so that I could enroll in this class. It might sound dorky, but I had never taken a class with Edward before. I thought that if I did the summer biology course, it would make me look motivated for college-purposes, as well as put me in the advance placement level I knew he would be taking.

The problem with looking forward to biology? I was looking forward to biology; a subject I wasn't actually too keen on, as well as the fact it was last period. After gym. So I would be either sweaty, or bruised (my gym class had very avid players in it this semester).

xoxoxo

By the time lunch swung around, there was a spring in my step. I was wearing my favorite shirt, and I was feelin' confident. So I entered the cafeteria, barely looking around at the tables; I mean I was a junior, I didn't need to scope out good spots. I had prestige. I went to the back of the lunch line and came out with a coke, salad, and two large pieces of Hawaiian pizza. I had scored the extra slice due to the fact that the lunch lady was fond of my father, Charles Swan: Chief of Police. He had found her missing cat, bottom line.

I looked out at the expanse of white circular tables and red plastic chairs. The windows of the cafeteria let in an eerie light, which, in combination with the fluorescent ceiling lights, created a white light situation; hard to look at. Thank god my eyes found Alice's tiny form in the back, sitting with the usual suspects; Angela, her boyfriend Ben Cheney, Jessica Stanley, and Seth Clearwater.

Ben Cheney was a quiet guy in my pre-calc class who I had known my whole life, which is the same statement I could give most folks who lived in Forks. He and Ange started dating over the summer. They were the kind of couple you shipped and watching them dance around each other was kind of like watching Inara and Mal from Firefly. Jess was hilarious; I didn't have too much in common with her, but she said wild things that more often that not crossed the line of "appropriateness". She liked pink and push-bras from Pink.

Seth Clearwater was actually a sophomore. His older sister, Leah, was a senior dating fellow senior Jacob Black. All three of which lived on the Quileute Reservation, which contained the La Push beaches. There weren't enough Reservation kids and Forks kids to warrant two high schools, so the counties both said, "Fuck it," and put us in together. Seth was the kind of kid who made you laugh, and he was kind. He was only a year younger, but I viewed him as my little brother. The year previous he had looked so lost on orientation that Jess and I, (who happened to be standing by the school entrance together watching the incoming brigade of fresh-meat) took him under our wing. Leah had dashed in through the door, too fast for Seth to follow her.

I walked to the back corner where our table was, and sat next to Alice and across from Jess.

"—So, I was like, 'Bitch please, I do not want to see your Brazilian!' I mean who am I? Her therapist?" Jess was saying.

Alice nodded and laughed, but wasn't paying attention; she was looking across the caf. She had a glazed over gaze, and when I followed it; it landed on Edward's table. But the thing was, she didn't look at him, she looked at Jasper Whitlock.

Jasper had moved with his family from Austin, Texas the year we were in eighth grade, and immediately bonded with Edward. They were an unlikely pair, Jasper's smooth Southern drawl and lax attitude to Edward's dorky introverted one. But one was the ying to the other's yang.

He had curled blonde hair that fell lazily into his face, as if he didn't even try to tame it. He let the do get shaggy. Jasper was a little shorter than Edward but more muscular. He played basketball and guitar, so he was considered hot stuff to most of the female population at Forks High.

I kicked her under the table, but ended up getting Ben instead.

"What the hell, Bella?"

"Sorry, Ben! I didn't mean to get you!"

This brought Alice out of her reverie and she rolled her eyes at me, "Oh Bella."

While I did not enjoy her mothering tone, at least no one else would notice her blatant ogling of Jasper Whitlock.

xoxoxo

Gym was a disaster. I might not be the sportiest person, but I'm at least competent. Unfortunately, in my PE class, everyone was a fuckin' future Olympian. We played dodge ball. Fine. What's not fine is the fact that I somehow ended up being the final person on my team with Mike Newton and Tyler Crowley on the other side pelting these things at my face (even though it was against the rules). I had bruises all up my arms, and my hair probably reeked of physical education. It should really just be called sports class. What kind of education did one need that had to be physical? Never mind, no one answer that.

I trudged from the gym to biology, cursing every mythical god I could think of for my devastatingly bad bad luck. By the time I got there, only a few people had filtered in. A few people wrinkled their noses as I walked past, and I inwardly groaned. I had put my pear-scented deodorant all across my body, trying to mask the sweat and gym socks odor exuding from my pores.

It obviously didn't work.

Somehow, Mr. Banner paired up Edward and me to be lab partners for the year, (this is the one piece of evidence I possess that proves there is a God), but he wasn't there yet. I usually had the aisle seat in our lab table, so I plopped down of the stool, and set my old, blue, L.L. Bean backpack on the tiled ground before me, as I took out the necessary materials for this class.

Edward walked in a few seconds from the bell, breezing easily around me to his seat. He wore a black Led Zeppelin tee (how classic boy of him), which in conjunction with his black-rimmed glasses contrasted with his skin nicely. He also had on a pair of low-slung jeans and his usual hiking boots. He was the cutest.

My back was hunched over as my elbows were on the edge of the black table. I looked over at him and nodded, knowing that there was sweat around my hairline, and I most likely looked gross. I hoped that he wasn't still angry from Saturday.

He smiled and I breathed an internal sigh of relief, until Edward furrowed his brows, "Bella, what's that smell?"

xoxoxo

Charlie wasn't home when I got there after school. He left a note saying he was working the afternoon shift, and would I please start dinner by five.

xoxoxo

The rest of the week, unfortunately, was dodge ball week. Which meant it was a Bella-looked-gross-in-biology-and-people-shied-away-from-her week.

Maybe there was only a devil.

A/N: Please review! (I want to hear everything everyone has to say).

xoxoxo

myownlittleinfinity