After the spectacle I had made of myself at the Halloween party, I wondered if Edward and I were going to begin interacting in public. After all, I had given him quite the monologue when nothing was stopping me. The dirty thoughts were now pushed firmly to the back of my mind; just thinking about the things I’d had the audacity to think, much less say, made me blush. I was prepared to laugh it all off it he would.

I confessed to Alice that I had been ridiculously flirty with him, which she insisted was understandable given the alcohol and his good looks. She assured me she would have probably been even worse with Jasper, but of course, I couldn’t imagine her being half so sexually awkward as I no doubt had been. At least I hadn’t done anything with him, she pointed out, though this severely disappointed Lauren and Jessica when they finally cornered me about it Monday morning at school. Apparently, after Edward chased James off, James had hunted down Lauren, so now all was forgiven. Though I still hadn’t forgotten that she called me an ugly duckling.

I saw Edward in the hall, lifted my hand to wave, and then buried my face in my locker when he strode past without so much as looking at me.

Of course. After spending two days analyzing everything that had been said and done, I had come to the absolute conclusion: It had entirely been a fluke. Sure, he had played the gentleman card at the party. He had saved me from the clutches of James, he had kept me from seriously injuring myself on the heels, and he had taken me straight to Alice when I got tired. He hadn’t taken advantage of me, hadn’t even copped a feel that I could remember. So he was a better guy than people gave him credit for, perhaps, but that didn’t mean we were going to be chummy now. He hadn’t said or done anything to show that he was even interested in hooking up, so I didn’t even rank high enough to be considered as a conquest. All he had done was look out for me, maybe even as a favor to Jasper so that he could get some extra time with Alice. He had watched out for me like a stray drunk kitten. Worse, like the stupid drunk girl that made him laugh. He’d hung around me just because I made him laugh so much. I was the freakshow he couldn’t take his eyes off of. Great.

If he’d had any attraction to me, he would have at least tried something, I had pointed out to Jessica, but he hadn’t. And his absolute dismissal in the hall clearly meant he hadn’t watched out for me in order to begin any new friendship, either. When we sat down in Euro-History, his desk caddy-corner in front of mine and Jessica beside me, his cold shoulder was even more evident. He didn’t say a word, didn’t glance back at me.

Jessica passed me a note as Mr. Washmond began his lecture: If nothing happened, why are you staring at him like you want to jump his bones?

Was I? I grimaced then quickly wrote back: I don’t. Nothing happened. My wonderful drunk non-hook up.

She giggled and quickly scribbled back: You probably could have scored with James. He liked you more, but don’t tell Lauren I said that.

I bit my lip, not sure I really wanted to be having this conversation with Jessica. But then what else was I going to do while Washmond droned out about the 100 Years War? I passed back: Yeah, my awkwardness really brings the boys running.

She had to bite her knuckle to keep from laughing out loud at that, but it was enough that both Edward and Eric in front of me glanced over their shoulders at us. She waited a minute before passing back: Don’t worry, me and Lauren will teach you. But we’ll start with someone a bit more in your league. Edward Cullen? What were you thinking?

I frowned, offended. Well sure, I knew he was out of my league – I knew that; she didn’t need to rub it in. But anyways, he had been the one to find me. I tried to remind myself that Jessica wasn’t a big fan of his because he had turned her down the year before, but it was still a stinging knock to me ego. I thought out my reply and had just begun to scratch it down when thick fingers suddenly yanked the piece of notebook paper out from under my pencil, breaking the tip.

“Miss Swan! How kind of you to bring some juicy gossip to share with the class,” Mr. Washmond bellowed, strutting to the front of the class with our conversation clutched in his hand. “I’m sure we are all anxious to hear about the latest episode of Forks 98331.”

Jessica looked appropriately horrified, but not half as horrified as I felt. My lungs froze in my chest and a thick lump lodged in my throat. Surely Mr. Washmond didn’t mean to follow through on the threat he was infamous for . . .

He cleared his throat, adjusted his glasses, then rested on hand on his bulging belly as he read, “’If nothing happened, why are you staring at him like you want to jump his bones?” Kids began to snicker. “’Nothing happened, my wonderful drunk non-hook up.’ Surely you weren’t drinking, Miss Swan, your father being who he is. Let’s see . . . ‘You probably could have scored with James. He liked you more, but don’t tell Lauren I said that.’ Oh my, this just keeps getting better,” he grinned, holding a finger up to his lips as though to remind the class not to tell.

I had never hated anyone in my life more than I hated Mr. Washmond at that momet.

“’Yeah, my awkwardness really brings the boys running. Don’t worry, me and Lauren will teach you.’ Well that’s very kind of you, Miss Stanley. ‘But we’ll start with someone a bit more in your league. Edward Cullen? What were you thinking?’” I had sunk as low in my chair as I could possibly go, my face enflamed as the other students’ twittering giggles became full-fledged laughter. At least Edward was kind enough not to turn around; I’m pretty sure a major blood vessel in my head would have exploded. I saw his jaw twitch but then couldn’t bear to look at him any longer.

Mr. Washmond continued, “Well, Miss Stanley, that was not a very nice thing to say about Miss Swan. I’m sure Mr. Cullen is completely in her league if she so wished. But then, you’ll have plenty of time to fill me in on all the missing details. Girls, please stay after class.”

He then went back to the lecture but I didn’t hear a word. The blood roared in my ears, and I was dizzy with embarrassment; there seemed to be twice as many lines on my notebook page as usual.

Mr. Washmond preferred before-school detentions, which Jessica and I would have the pleasure of attending for the next two days, though this was certainly nothing compared to the mortification that I bore the physical reminder of through next period. Even with the cold, I was still flushed and on the verge of tears when Alice came running over to me in the parking lot after school.

“Bella. Bella, please, I need a big favor. What’s wrong?” she demanded as soon as I looked up and she saw the glassiness of my eyes.

“It’s nothing – what’s up?”

“But you’re—“

I didn’t feel like telling her the story here where anyone else might hear, so I shrugged, “It’s nothing. I’ll explain later. You need a favor?”

She nodded fervently and explained, a desperate edge to her voice, “We’re supposed to meet Jasper at the coffee shop in ten minutes.”

“What?!”

“Please don’t be mad. I had to – I wanted to ask him out for coffee, but I panicked, so I said you and I were going and he should come so we can all study for Cooley’s English test Friday.”

“Al, I really need to just go home and—“

“Please, Bella, I am begging you. Do this for me and I will never ask you for anything ever again!”

“Oh don’t lie to me, Alice.”

“Please, Bella. Please, please, please, and I’ll owe you big.”

I sighed but had very little will-power to resist Alice when she went into begging mode. Besides, I did need to study, and perhaps watching her and Jasper make shy advances on each other would make me feel better.

Who was I kidding? Of course it wouldn’t. But I relented and she hopped into the passenger seat of my truck; she lived close enough to school that she usually walked.

Within a few minutes we pulled into the parking lot of the only coffee shop and bakery of Forks. Mortification and shame had left and now I was just cranky, which Alice assured me would be cured by a cup of coffee, not knowing the full story. I saw the back of Jasper’s head at one of the small tables we made our way towards; he turned to greet us, tipped off by—

Edward. Seated across from him, now standing to greet us, was Edward. I have never in my life been closer to peeing in my pants. I tripped and I wasn’t even walking anymore; I had frozen at the first sight of him and my legs nearly buckled. It had been bad enough sitting through Euro-history with him in front of me, but there was no way I could now sit through a study session – no, not a study session. A double date. Two boys and two girls.

I turned frantically to Alice and hissed, “What is this? Some kind of joke?”

“What’s the problem? You two got along so well at the Hallow—where are you going?”

“Home. Jasper can give you a ride.” She grabbed my arm and I snapped, “Alice, I’m not sitting here with—“

“Bella, did he do something to you?” she suddenly looked extremely concerned, and I realized where her mind might have gone.

I shook my head, “No, he didn’t do anything, but—“

“Alice, Bella, long time no see,” Jasper grinned, giving Alice a tight hug and waving to me. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. If he could hug her, why was she so uncomfortable going on a coffee date with him? This smelled like a set-up to me.

I glanced quickly at Edward purely out of curiosity. Had he been in on this? But he was frowning, scowling at the tiled floor with his hands clenched in his pockets. It didn’t look like he had been. He appeared to have been tricked like me, and he looked as happy about it as I was.

Well that just angered me. All right, so Washmond had read some embarrassing stuff out loud in class, but that meant Edward couldn’t even be polite and say hello? He had already sat back down and wrapped his hands around his drink, not once making eye contact. I clenched my teeth and sent him a stare that was lost on the side of his head. What an ass. He had no reason to act like that; it was my role. It wasn’t like he didn’t know all the girls had crushes on him. He didn’t have to be rude to me just because I might as well.

With a vindictive huff, I decided to stay. Good. I could make him uncomfortable. Alice and I ordered drinks and I sent Edward one more glare before pulling out the study guide Mrs. Cooley had given us for our approaching mid-term. Bella Swan, straight down to business. That’s right, Edward Cullen, I wanted to hiss, I’m not gazing dreamily at you or thinking dirty thoughts now. I’m thinking about Latin root words and Lemon trees.

Alice and Jasper weren’t oblivious that Edward and I weren’t talking, but of course were helpless to fix it. So they ignored the elephant at the table with us, poking us constantly in the face with its thick trunk, and tried to be light-hearted and happy enough to rub off on us. They were animated and gave silly answers to questions to make each other laugh, or frequently got side-tracked until I brought the discussion back around to class, making sure we went through as many of the study guide questions as we could. I felt like the scary librarian, like I should have my hair in a bun and thin glasses on the end of my nose as I demanded focus and attention, scratching down answers that Alice would probably just copy later onto her guide anyways.

For his part, Edward remained mostly quiet and never made eye contact. Occasionally, if pressed by Alice or Jasper, he would voice an opinion or pose a question. I asked him a question once and he looked so skittish that I didn’t dare ask again, lest he leap up and run from the coffee shop. Not that I would have minded, of course, but the sideways glares Alice kept sending me were insisting I stop behaving so strangely. Why wasn’t she glaring at Edward! He was the one that had suddenly gone Oscar the Grouch on us all.

When at last we were cramped and sore from sitting at the table so long, we said our farewells, Alice literally bouncing into my truck while I glowered and jammed the key into the ignition.

“That was great!” she beamed. “Jasper asked me to go to dinner with him this weekend; did you hear that?”

“Yes,” I answered tersely.

Her smile wavered but she waited until we were out of the parking lot to demand, “All right, but what was up with you and Edward? You two got along so well at the party. You guys were as awkward as if you had hooked up.”

“We didn’t. Here,” I dug in my pocket and pulled out the note. Washmond had given it back to me, suggesting I might want it for reference when I wrote in my diary tonight. Bastard. “Washmond read this out loud during EuroHistory today.”

“Oh my god,” she gasped. “He didn’t! And Edward’s in—“

“Of course he is!” I cried, throwing my hands up into the air. The truck swerved and I quickly gripped the steering wheel. “It was mortifying, Alice. Now Jessica and I both have detention before school and you see how awkward—I mean, what’s his problem, though? It’s not like I don’t know the feeling isn’t mutual; he doesn’t have to be so rude to me now.”

“That doesn’t make much sense.”

“I mean, he didn’t even have the decency to acknowledge me. He treated me like . . .”

“Like shit. Like he treats every other girl,” Alice sighed. “I mean, I guess we see where the rumors all come from.”

“Yes, but me? While we were out with you and Jasper? He doesn’t have to be all flattering, but he could at least be civil to the best friend of his best friend’s girlfriend.”

“I know—did you just call me Jasper’s girlfriend?” she interrupted herself, suddenly giggling into her hand. Her excitement was infectious and calmed me down just the slightest bit. I was furious, but at least something good had come of it for Alice.

We pulled up to her house and I sighed, “Go on, go do a victory dance in your room. I’m going to go punch a tree or something.”

“See if Charlie will teach you to shoot. That might help,” she laughed over her shoulder, skipping to the front door. Not a bad idea, actually . . .

That night I began dreaming of Edward Cullen. And the dreams were as bad, if not worse, than the things I had dared to think while drunk.