LUNCHTIME

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."-Douglas Adams

"…You're not listening, Bella."

I mentally shook myself and struggled to arrange my face into a semblance of attentiveness.

"Yes I am. You were just talking about….uh…well…" I trailed off and looked at Charlie sheepishly across the table. He rolled his eyes as I stifled a yawn.

"Bella, we both know you're a terrible liar. If this were the first time you'd been too tired to pay attention, I wouldn't say anything. But lately…"

It was true-I was too much like Charlie to be a good liar. And if I was honest with myself, he was also right about my attentiveness. Or lack thereof. But it wasn't as if I could tell him why I was so tired.

Well, dad, last night I stayed up trying to convince my boyfriend, who happens to be a vampire, to let me see my best friend, who happens to be a werewolf.

Oh, and then Edward slept over. In my room. As usual.

Um, right. No thank you.

"You're doing it again."

I sighed. "I know, Ch-dad. I'm sorry."

It was his turn to look sheepish.

"Actually, I was talking to your mom about it-"

I choked. "What?"

"-and she's worried, too."

I groaned. This was the last thing I needed.

"I've decided I'm sending you to your mother's this weekend. You need some time to rest and relax."

"I'm not a little kid anymore, dad. You can't just decide these things for me," I said.

Charlie frowned at me across the table, his forehead creased with worry.

"Please, Bells, just for the weekend," he pleaded.

I deliberated. "Can Edward come?"

Charlie's frown deepened. "Bella, you know how I-"

"Yes, you've made yourself perfectly clear on the subject," I narrowed my eyes. "Fine. I'll go. But for the record, I'm leaving under protest."

-

It was extremely bright outside when my plane landed in Phoenix. And it was hot-too hot for the sweater I'd put on back in Forks, where it was probably raining. With a small sigh I looked around for my mom. Knowing her, she would be late, and possibly lost.

Twenty minutes later she rushed into the terminal. "Bella! I'm so sorry!" she cried as she threw her arms around me. "I got stuck in traffic, then I turned at the wrong street…"

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "It's fine, mom. Really. It gave me a chance to get my bags before you came."

She smiled back at me, then glanced at my suitcase. "You didn't…well, you didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"Mom! I'm not that bad," I groaned.

"Mhm. Whatever you say." She held up her hand to stop me from arguing. "Now let's go get some food. I'm starving."

-

We decided to stop at a little Marie Calendar's type place near the airport. I looked through the menu without much interest; none of the food looked appealing. As I considered which of my options was least unappetizing, our waiter came.

"Hi guys. I'm Jack, and I will be your waiter for today. Can I get you a drink?"

I glanced up and inhaled so sharply that I started coughing. The waiter looked so familiar! He looked just like-

"Bella, sweetheart, are you okay?" my mom asked.

I nodded weakly, my eyes never leaving Jack. He was very tall, but in an awkward sort of way, like he'd grown a lot in a short amount of time. His shiny black hair framed his dark tan face. My eyes traveled downwards, observing him. Suddenly, I realized I was staring, and my eyes shot back up to Jack's face. He glanced at me and smiled slightly. That smile…

"A drink, miss?" he asked politely, with a touch of amusement.

"I, uh… A drink. Yes. I'll have one. A lemonade. I'll have a lemonade, Jake. I mean, Jack!" I said. Groaning inwardly, I felt my cheeks start to flame.

-

When Jack came back with our drinks, I carefully kept my eyes on the table. But when he set down my drink, I couldn't help but notice how muscular his arm looked. Like someone else I know…

I ordered awkwardly, then handed Jack my menu. When I glanced up our eyes met; he grinned as I blushed furiously. I quickly averted my gaze and focused on the suddenly fascination wall on my other side.

"Do you know our waiter?" my mom asked after Jack left the table.

"Er," I said slowly, "not exactly."

My mom raised her eyebrows. "Care to elaborate?"

"It's nothing. He just reminds me of a friend of mine."

My mom, ever unobservant, accepted my weak explanation. If she'd been paying closer attention, it probably would've been pretty entertaining to watch my discomfort. Especially when the main courses came.

-

While we waited for our food, my mom excitedly described our weekend plans. I nodded absently and made the appropriate responses, but my mind was elsewhere; I missed Edward already. Luckily mom didn't seem to notice my preoccupation. In fact, she didn't stop talking until Jack came with our food-and a surprise.

"Well, I'm actually about to go on break," Jack said slightly regretfully, "So Ander here is going to take over for me."

I was relieved. I didn't want to spend any more time with my faux-Jacob Black. So I gratefully looked up at our new waiter; anyone had to be better than Jack.

I spoke too soon.

Ander was a vivid contrast to Jack. He was pale, with copper hair and very light, almost golden hazel eyes. He was muscular, but not in a noticeable way. The only thing he had remotely in common with Jack was their height; they were both quite tall, though Jack was probably a good foot taller.

And when Ander gave me a lopsided grin, I was stunned. Through my daze, I realized that Ander was like a human version of-

"Ander?" my mom said curiously. "That's an interesting name."

"Yeah, thanks. Actually, it's a nickname," he said, then paused. "My real first name is Andrew and my middle is Edward. I'm not particularly fond of either, so my friends came up with Ander. It sort of stuck."

It was too much; I couldn't contain myself. I burst out laughing.

"Edward?" I managed to gasp.

"Yeah," Ander grinned. "Pretty bad, huh."

"No, it's lovely. Bella, stop being rude," my mom said. She frowned slightly when I didn't stop laughing. "What is so funny?"

"I'm sorry," I gasped. After a few deep breaths, I continued. "You just remind me of… a friend."

Mom looked at Ander skeptically. "Who?"

She really didn't see it? But he was so much like Edward. My Edward. Edward Cullen.

But it would be too embarrassing to say he reminded me of my boyfriend. As I was trying to come up with a good lie, Jack spoke. From the sound of it, he didn't like all the attention Ander was getting.

"We don't want your food to get cold, now do we?" He quickly took our plates from Ander and served us. "Enjoy!"

He began to walk away, but Ander lingered.

"Let's go, Ander," Jack said with a tight smile.

"Can he stay and chat? Or is there something he needs to do?" my mom asked.

"Uh, yes. That's it. He has to go, um… check the tables," Jack said.

"Actually," Ander said smoothly, "I think I'll stay. All the other tables should be fine, considering we just checked."

"Well maybe you should check again," Jack said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, I will," Ander said in a dangerously silky voice, "after I talk to these customers. So why don't you just go on your break now, Jack?"

They glared at each other, their anger and dislike clearly palpable. I glanced from one to the other, and my mom nervously cleared her throat. Finally, Jack looked away.

"Fine. I will," Jack said, then turned and walked away, his hands clenched tightly at his side.

Ander turned to us with a small smirk.

"Actually, I probably should go check on the other customers. I'll come back to check in with you two in a little bit," Ander said apologetically. My mom and I watched him leave in silence.

"Well," my mom said, turning to her food, "that was… interesting." She paused and then looked up at me. "I'm sorry, Bella, sweetheart. This isn't how I thought our supposedly restful weekend would start."

"It's completely fine, mom," I said, then added with a grin, "I already feel completely at home."