Bella

The day Alice came back wasn't too much better than the days before it. Only at the same time it was infinitely better because Alice was back. The reason it was so bad? Snow.

You would think snow would be better than rain. And it is. Because it is solid and doesn't drench you and leave dripping everywhere…until it gets into your shoes and melts on your socks and on the collar of your shirt and leaves little icicles on your eyelashes. I would rather be in Phoenix where the sighting of snow would be about as worthy of news as World War III.

Between classes I tried to take a safe route—which for me was completely unsuccessful. I was very wary of my classmates who all hollered out whoops of joy as they filed out of their classrooms and spotted Forks' first snow of the year. Did I mention that I hated the snow?

I ducked and threw up my binder as a shield as a snowball flew my way. There was a splatter and small explosion of frozen white specks. As I straightened up, I glared at Eric's back, suspiciously retreating in the direction opposite of his next class. "Ugh," I groaned, brushing snowball remnants from my coat and hair.

"Snow!" I heard Mike screech, practically jumping up and down like a kindergartener. He jogged out of the building and scooped up small handfuls of the slush and started patting it into balls. I took that as my cue to hurry to class.

By the time class let out, and out war had erupted. Snowballs were flying every which way and I could barely keep track of way they were coming from.

Groaning, I rushed into the cafeteria to avoid the semi-friendly fire of my peers. A few other teens were huddled around the frosty windows watching the war being waged outside. I combed my fingers haphazardly through my hair trying to free the stray snowflakes from the tangles, but the cluster of beautiful people that strode through the door at that moment instantly distracted me. The Cullens, still frozen snowflakes glistening on their perfectly chiseled cheekbones, floated across the cafeteria floor.

A sharp intake of breath pressed my lungs against my ribs as Alice shook frost from her cropped raven locks. She was laughing and joking with her brothers and sister as they escaped the blast of winter weather.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer," joked a voice in my ear. I jumped at the sudden intrusion into my thoughts. A clump of golden blonde hair appeared in my peripheral vision as I attempted to catch a glimpse at my disturbance. Mike. Of course. A few cool droplets landed on my shoulder as snow melted off of his overly gelled hair.

"Mike, you're dripping on me! I don't know if you noticed, but I was kind of inside to avoid that whole getting wet thing."

"Oh, sorry," he said, looking completely unapologetic. Mike stepped back maybe two inches. At least it was far enough away to keep the moisture from my shirt. "What are you staring at anyway?" he tried to angle his chin so that he was looking at whatever I was looking at. "The Cullens?" he guessed.

"Nothing," I shrugged him off. "I just zoned out that's all. You know, there's not much to do when everyone else is outside throwing snowballs."

"Yeah, baby, you join in the party!" He did a strange little jig resembling a seizure. "Snow party!"

Angela rolled her eyes at him as she and Eric joined us at the table with trays of cafeteria food. Gross. My curious eyes roved over the beige plastic tray attempting to identify the contents. "Some sort of pasta?" she tried to explain with a shrug. And again I say, gross.

Before my eyes could get anywhere near the gorgeous Alice Cullen they were drawn back to my friends making a scene next to me. "Ugh, Mike, man, your hair is dripping in my food! Get a napkin, man!" I looked over to see Eric chucking recycled brown paper napkins at Mike's face.

"Grow up, guys." Ah, Jessica, the mature voice of reason has arrived. Move Jess, I want to see Alice and you're standing between me and the object of my dreams. I tried to discreetly crane my neck around Jessica and catch sight of the delicate little pixie sitting at the Cullen table. "Um, Bella, what are you doing?"

I almost fell out of the chair at the mention of my name. "Oh. Lint," I said. I quickly made a pinching gesture with my thumb and index finger and pretended to pull something off of the side of her jacket.

"Wow, thanks, Bella. I really appreciate it." She looked touched.

"You're…welcome. What are friends for?" Who knew that all the new kid had to do to bond with her peers was pull imaginary lint off their clothing?

A loud crackle started and the cafeteria started to quiet down. "What the…?" Mike said, sitting down in his chair for once.

"Students, I need your attention please," said a voice over the speaker system. Principal maybe? Someone needed to tell him that they invented the speaker system just so that you wouldn't have to yell anymore. Geez. I half covered my hands with my ears just to make the noise level tolerable.

"Yeah, man, you got our attention. Undivided. Now find the volume dial." Angela and Jessica both giggled at him, I just rolled my eyes in agreement.

"It's come to out attention that back ice is beginning to form and it is in the best interests of our students' safety to end the school day early. The school district has felt it necessary to end the school day at the end of this period. If all students would please—"

Yes! Amazingly the booming voice somehow faded away into the cheers of my peers. Everyone was jumping up and down and throwing fists up in the air like the cliché Christmas had come early. I caught a glance of the Cullens. They weren't celebrating like everybody else; they were simply shaking their heads, small smiles on their faces, looking every bit like miniature adults. The Cullens. Alice. Biology. Damn it. Ending the day early meant I would miss biology and Alice. I swear I literally felt my heart sink.

"Damn it!" Crap? Did I say that out loud? Then I realized it was a male voice and not my own. I saw Eric throw his plastic fork onto his empty tray with more attitude than it was necessary for any guy to have.

"What, Eric?" Angela asked him with a hand on his shoulder. She looked concerned.

"I could have eaten Spaghetti-O's at my house instead of this crap!" Everyone had to laugh, even me, whose hopes of seeing the girl I was crushing on had just been dashed. "Seriously guys, don't laugh! If he had just made that announcement ten minutes earlier…"

I stared wistfully off in the direction of the Cullen table where none of them seemed to be in a rush to leave. They were all comfortably lounging in their couples position…Jasper in Edward's arms and Rosalie in Emmett's arms. Except Alice, of course, who was still riding solo. Then I noticed the strangest thing. Frost still clung to all of them. It glistened on the skin under their golden eyes and sparked in their hair, like the warmth of their bodies hadn't melted it. My mind flashed back to Mike's hair dripping onto my shoulders and into Eric's pasta. Somehow something had protected the ice from the heat of the room…and them. So. Odd. Everything I knew about science told me that just wasn't possible.

My eyes met someone else's from across the room and I was too engrossed in my analysis of the ice/Cullen issue to identify who they belonged to at first. She offered me a small smile and I felt tingles crawl through my toes and fingers to my chest. And that was all it took for me to know it was Alice. My facial muscles took what seemed like minutes to respond to my brain. Come on, mouth, for crying out loud, smile back. There we go.

"Bella, come on! What are you waiting for?" I could punch Mike right now. I mean, I'm pretty sure Alice and I were just having a moment there.

"I'll be right there." I broke my eyes away and spun around on my heel to head to my locker.

"Are you going home, Bella?" Mike asked me, trying to look casual as he leaned against the lockers and clutched some books to his chest. Dude, we are not in some high school movie, that doesn't work in real life.

"Yeah, but I just got a headache. Real killer." He looked disappointed. "Sorry. But we should probably all get home anyway, that ice…" I gestured around me, "sounds pretty bad."

"I guess you're right."

Man, I hate when people are upset. "But I may be online later."

His face brightened considerably. "Yeah? Cool."

"Cool," I agreed, using Forks High's choice word and slamming my locker door shut. "See you tomorrow, Mike." He was lucky I didn't hold grudges…after all he had just interrupted that look I had shared with Alice. And that was the most substantial interaction I've had with her so far.

I shivered as I made my way to Betty, doing my best to avoid the slick spots in the parking lot. It was going to take me a long time to get used to the cold, wet weather in Forks, Washington. My Converse shoes lost their grip on a patch of ice that had formed at the base of the stairs. An unexpected hand whipped out and caught my elbow, saving me from my demise. "You ought to be more careful," said a cautionary tone. I glanced up at the deep voice that the hand had belonged to.

Edward Cullen. Seriously? Edward Cullen, ever the man of death glares, wanted to play savior right now. "Thanks for the warning," I said, tugging my arm back to my side.

"Oh, Edward," chirped a high soprano voice that I immediately attributed to my lab partner, the delicate Alice Cullen. "Are you pestering Bella?" She placed a hand on his shoulder and tilted her head towards me curiously.

Edward snorted at his sister. "Pestering her? I do believe I was saving her from falling off the steps to her untimely death."

"I appreciate that, but I will take over from here." Alice's hand dropped from Edward's shoulder and instead she linked arms with me. I shivered unintentionally…and it wasn't due to the cold. As soon as Alice's arm was tucked into mine tingles flooded from the point of contact straight to my heart. If she noticed, Alice was kind enough not to say anything. "I will see you all back at the car, alright, Edward?"

The look on Edward's face made it clear that it very well was not alright but he wasn't going to argue with his sister in front of me. "Fine. We'll be by the car." I barely caught Edward's rapid nod towards the out-of-place, shiny silver Volvo. I caught sight of the remaining three Cullens positioned nearby, posed like mannequins, watching the three of us interact.

"Let's go for a short walk, shall we?" she suggested, guiding me by our linked arms. I suddenly felt like I belonged in a Jane Austen novel dressed in multi-skirted dress complete with petticoats.

"Um, ok?"

"Bella, I'd like to ask for your forgiveness," Alice began.

"My forgiveness?"

"Yes, for my behavior the other day. I assure you, that's abnormal for me."

"I heard." Alice looked at me quizzically. "Mike…and your sister," I explained.

Alice dropped my arm and turned to me with a smile. "Well in any case I would like for us to start over. Do you think we could be friends?" Friends? I could deal with that. I nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Bella? Provided we have school, of course."

I nodded again and turned to go before the courage hit me. "Actually, Alice, would you like to come over and watch a movie or something? Since school was cancelled and all that…"

Alice practically beamed. "That sounds nice. I would like that."

I suddenly became awkward again, feeling like I was arranging a play date. "So, um, do you want to ride home with me…or how will you get back home after that? I guess I could take you home."

"Bella." Alice silenced me by raising a dainty hand in the air. "You're rambling. I'll just ride home with my siblings and my car. Just write down your address for me and I'll plug it into the GPS."

"Right, good idea. Here." I rummaged through my backpack and tugged out a half-used sheet of notebook paper with trigonometry notes scrawled across the top. I tore off the bottom corner and self-consciously my address in my second grade cursive.

"Perfect," Alice said in her high soprano voice, taking the slip of paper from me and reading the address quickly. "I'll see you in thirty minutes?"

"Thirty?" I choked.

"I drive fast," she explained nonchalantly.

"But—but there's ice," I stuttered. I wanted to see Alice and spend time with her and I wanted it to be soon, but I didn't want her to DIE on the way.

"I'll be fine, I promise. I'm an excellent driver." But I saw her eyes cross my face again and they seemed to soften a little bit. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to drive a little slower today."

I nodded. "It's better safe than sorry."

"I do believe I've heard that somewhere." Alice suddenly looked lost in thought and concern. "I'd better not make them wait any longer. I would hate to test their patience."

We both glanced toward her siblings who were still standing by their car. "Right, of course not." I took a small step backwards for no particular reason.

"I will see you in a little while, Bella. Drive safely."

"I'll do my best." I turned to go and had to fight to keep from throwing a fist up in the air and cheering. Alice Cullen was coming over to my house today. We practically had a date. Okay, not really, but almost.