A/N: Wow, it has been so long since I last updated this story. I am sincerely sorry about that - I'm not entirely sure what happened, except for student teaching, graduation, and a few paid orchestral gigs haha. Somehow, this story got set down, and the longer I put it off the less inclined I felt to continue working on it. However, I just got back from spring break (yay Grad school), during which time I re-read my entire story as a refresher, and figured out exactly where I want it to go. I'm excited to get back into writing again, and excited to be continuing this story. If anyone actually stuck around this long to read the rest, I appreciate it! If not, thanks to all my new readers! Chapter 12 should be up fairly soon, so please read and review! Thanks! :)

Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer, I do not own any of the Twilight characters, I am just having fun with them.

Chapter 11

Bella POV

"Brown isn't boring," he said, "and your looks are anything but plain."

Instantly, I could feel my face flushing what was sure to be an obnoxious shade of red.

"Going somewhere Mr. Newton?" Mr. Molina asked. I looked up to see that Mike had risen from his chair and turned in our direction.

"No sir," he grumbled, and glared at Edward loathingly as he sat down. I wasn't sure if I could stand this insanely jealous side of Mike. It made me feel nauseated. I put one palm against my forehead and stared at a spot on the floor.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked quietly.

"Fine it's just… it's nothing," I mumbled, and pulled the worksheet toward me. I wanted to just finish it and get out of the classroom before Mike actually did something about his jealousy.

"Your boyfriend doesn't like me," Edward pointed out. I looked up at him, pensive for a moment. I wasn't sure how honest I wanted to be with him; I barely knew him. I didn't say anything. After a moment, Edward continued. "He doesn't like that we're lab partners."

"Why would you assume that?" I asked.

"I can tell he doesn't," he said.

"Okay, so you're right," I sighed, but opted not to say anything else. I didn't want him to read into how much I felt for him, even though I couldn't put a finger on why.

"Is there any reason he should hate me?" Edward asked softly. He stared deeply into my eyes when he asked this and I got lost for a moment. It was like he had mesmerized me or something. I was completely dazzled, and almost forgot how to speak.

"He-he's probably just ah, jealous of you, or something," I stammered. "Jealous of?" he prompted softly, leaning in closer to me. I could barely breathe, and it felt like any moment my heart was going to pound clear out of my chest. "Are you alright?" he asked, sounding concerned. "Do you need to go to the nurse?"

I swallowed hard and mentally reminded myself to breathe. It wouldn't surprise me if he could actually hear my heart racing at a thousand miles an hour. "I'm fine," I insisted.

"Alright everyone, pass in your sheets and let me read all about your future children!" Mr. Molina called from the front of the room.

"Shoot," I sighed, returning to reality. "We never decided on a boy or a girl, and didn't name it."

"Let's have a girl," Edward offered. "And we could name her…?"

"Let's name her after my mom," I suggested, missing her terribly for a moment. "Renee."

"Renee it is," he said, and filled in the name at the top of the sheet in his perfect, elegant script. "And how about her middle name is after my mother," he suggested. "Esme."

"Renee Esme Cullen," I considered thoughtfully. Esme was a really beautiful name, but sounded extremely old-fashioned. However, I quite liked the way it meshed with Renee. "That's really pretty, I like it." I smiled at him, and he instantly smiled back.

"Excellent," he said. "Renee Esme it is."

Suddenly, Mike appeared at my side, looking sullen. He scooped up my books in his usual manner. "Come on Bella, let's go to Gym," he said angrily, seizing my hand.

For a moment, I wished it were Edward gathering my things and ushering me off to class. I quickly banished the thought and tried to smile at Edward as we left, but I didn't think I got it quite right. "Bye Edward," I said, and let Mike lead me from the classroom.

"See you tomorrow Bella," he said quietly, and turned away.

Mike and I headed off to the gym and I sighed. I hated Gym. I headed into the locker room and changed quickly, then headed out to meet up with my extremely brave badminton partner. I can't imagine why any guy would willingly subject himself to my badminton playing… all I could come up with was that Mike must really like me a lot.

Things were actually going okay for most of the class… until I nailed him in the head with my badminton racket. "Ohmygosh Mike I'm so sorry!" I gushed. "I don't even know how I did that!"

"It's okay," he mumbled, after swearing under his breath. He rubbed his head lightly. "Occupational hazard of being your partner." I flushed crimson and for the rest of the period was terrified of even attempting to hit the birdie again, fearing I would instead take out my partner and do even further damage to his cranium.

The drive home after school was a quiet one. Mike hadn't been very chatty after I accidentally hit him in the head with my racket, but I couldn't tell exactly what was on his mind. Somehow, I didn't think Gym class was his main concern today.

We got back to Charlie's house, grabbed a snack, and set up in the living room to work on our homework. Any other night, I think our homework session would've allowed Mike to cool off and forget about whatever was bothering him. However, I didn't have that sort of luck today; naturally the only homework we had was Biology.

"I don't know why we need this stupid class," he grumbled. Then suddenly, his face lit up. "We should drop it and just take a study hall!"

"We can't do that," I laughed, unsure of what to say.

"That's true, we wouldn't want your lab partner to miss you," he said scathingly, shaking his head.

"Oh Mike, come on," I sighed, putting my hand lightly on his arm. He quickly turned to face me, anger lighting up his face.

"Doesn't it bother you even a little bit?" he asked incredulously.

"Doesn't what bother me?" I asked.

"That he likes you! That he hit on you today!" he cried, slamming his book shut. Okay, apparently we were going to fight this out right now.

"He doesn't like me," I insisted. "And he never hit on me."

"'Your looks are anything but plain,'" He quoted mockingly, though where Edward's voice had been gentle and reserved, Mike's sneered mockingly. "What do you call that? He shouldn't be saying that sort of thing to my girlfriend!"

"'Your'?" I replied, picking up on the keyword in my mind. "Mike, we're dating, but I don't belong to you! Don't you trust me at all?"

Something in my face seemed to cause Mike to step back and evaluate the situation. He sighed, and most of his anger was gone. "I'm sorry," he admitted. "I'm not being fair; it's not your fault. I do trust you… its Cullen that I don't trust."

"Then you've got to give me a little credit," I insisted. "It takes two to tango, and I'm really not much of a dancer." He laughed, and it seemed that the situation had defused. I pressed my luck. "Why do you hate Edward so much anyway? I've only even seen him a few times, and he seems nice enough to me."

Mike's smile faded instantly. "Oh he does, does he?"

"Oh Mike come on, I just mean that –"

"No Bella, don't 'oh come on' me… why are you defending him?" he yelled.

"I'm not defending him!" I yelled right back. I could feel the familiar tears of anger welling up in my eyes, and I fought hard to keep them from spilling over.

"Whatever, Bella," he spat, jumping to his feet and gathering his books. "I have an appointment after school tomorrow, so you're going to have to drive yourself to school."

"Where are you going?" I couldn't believe he was being so ridiculous about this.

"I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow," he grumbled and practically sprinted out the door to his car.

"Green is an ugly color, Mike!" I yelled at his retreating back as he climbed into his car.

I made my way back into the living room and sat down with my Biology homework with a sigh. This was ridiculous. Mike implying that I had feelings for Edward, Mike treating me like a piece of his property… the more I thought about it, the more upset I got. He was my boyfriend, not my father. He didn't have the right to tell me who I could talk to.

I finished up my Biology homework quickly; the process was much more expedient when I did not have to keep stopping to explain things to Mike. When I was finished, I went into the kitchen and set about boiling some water for spaghetti. Charlie would be home in half an hour or so, and I hadn't even thought about dinner until that moment.

Just as I was pouring the pasta into the boiling water, the phone rang. I jumped, and splashed boiling water onto my hands. "Brilliant," I mumbled. I wrapped a cloth around it quickly and grabbed the phone. "Swan residence."

"Bella, I'm sorry," Mike began groveling immediately. "You were right about all of it, I was jealous and stupid and it's not your fault and I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

It was hard to doubt the sincerity that rang in his voice. I instantly felt sorry for him, though I was still upset about all he had said. "I forgive you," I sighed, "but you can't keep acting like this."

"I won't, I promise," he gushed. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow, you'll see!"

"Oh, you don't have to do –" I began, but he cut me off.

"Nonsense. I want to. I was a jerk, but I'm not a jerk all the time – you'll see. I've gotta go to practice now though, I'll see you tomorrow!" he insisted, before hanging up the phone.

I hung up and dashed back over to the stove to try and save the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. It was slightly stuck, but definitely still salvageable. I sliced up a loaf of Italian bread and tossed some salad into bowls and set them on the table. A few minutes later the spaghetti was ready and Charlie was pulling in the driveway. I dished the pasta up as he was walking in the door.

"Smells great, Bells!" he said, plopping into his chair at the table. I poured us each a glass of milk and sat down myself. "How was school?"

"Interesting," I mumbled.

"Oh?" he asked.

"It was nothing," I sighed. "I'm terrible at badminton," I said quickly to divert attention away from my personal life. Naturally, Charlie assumed that was what was getting me down, and he laughed it off.

"Yeah, you get that from me, I'm afraid," he chuckled. "As long as no one gets hurt."

"I did hit Mike in the head with my racket," I said sheepishly.

Charlie burst into laughter. "Newton's a tough kid though, he can take it."

"I suppose so," I said.

The rest of dinner was more or less idle chatter. Charlie settled down to watch a game, and I retreated to my room to read since my homework was finished. Try as I might, I couldn't focus on what I was reading. My mind kept wandering back to all that had happened that day with Edward and Mike.

Mike had said Edward was hitting on me… did I believe that? Edward didn't seem like the sort of guy who would "hit on" anyone, but he had complimented me right? He said my looks were "anything but plain." He wasn't exactly calling me beautiful or anything, but it sort of sounded like he was complimenting me. Still, one compliment didn't make Mike right: it just made Edward a gentleman. He definitely struck me as the door-holding sort. Yes, he was just a nice guy. Mike was getting carried away.

Still, I couldn't help but let my mind wander. My romantic fantasies did not include Mike sweeping me off my feet but rather featured Edward. Maybe I should look at this as a sign. Around Mike, I felt normal. I sometimes got the butterflies feeling when he did or said something particularly sweet, but altogether, he just made me feel comfortable; sometimes slightly uncomfortable when he got too close or possessive.

Then there was Edward. Edward always gave me butterflies. I was getting butterflies now, just thinking about him when he wasn't even anywhere nearby. I wasn't sure where he lived, but given his family and their money, I didn't think they'd live anywhere around here. Charlie made a comfortable living, but the Cullen's were in another class entirely.

Eventually, I gave up on my reading and decided to just try and get some sleep. Not for the first time, I drifted off with images of Edward and Mike floating around in my head, competing for my attention.

Well there's chapter 11! Sorry it was short, but I hope you enjoyed it! Please review, and chapter 12 will be up soon :)