Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.

BPOV

"Come on Bella, come on.... you can do it... you can do it... Just five more k to go," I muttered under my breath, mentally kicking myself in the head for signing up for this damned thing in the first place. I took in the beautiful scenery of the park, trying to distract myself from the last five kilometres I was pushing myself to finish for my daily run. Training for the marathon was no easy feat, but at least it was something to take my mind off of Jake. When I came up with the clever idea of running the Boston Marathon, it never once occurred to me that I might actually have to put some preparation and dedication into it. I was hoping for a temporary fix to get him out of my mind and perhaps a couple drunk nights of one night stands in between to get over the painful four and half year relationship that I was just dumped out of... literally.

Jake and I had been childhood friends in our small town of Forks, and then proceeded to attend the same college, UMASS Boston – me as an art history and English lit major, while he studied Kinesiology. We started dating in our second year of college after a drunken night of hot sex at my roommate Alice's twentieth birthday bash, which by the way, was the birthday party of the century.

No, really... Jay Z doesn't just attend anyone's birthday.

Anyway, what started as an awesome relationship with the person I knew and loved most in the world (or at least, I thought I knew and loved most) ended in him allowing his immature and horny ways to get the better of him by sleeping with his sports psychology TA. So in sum, losing my best friend and my boyfriend simultaneously was pretty well... priceless.

So, here I am, running a marathon to get my mind of my ex-jock of a boyfriend. He was the bastard who got me into running in the first place, to "relieve some stress and tighten up those thighs." I was already uncoordinated enough; it took enough effort for me to walk straight, let alone run along our running path together every morning.

I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to run this damn thing in an attempt to win over his latest fling. I always felt Jake was a little bit too immature for me, but I never let that get in the way. As a best friend, I couldn't have asked for anyone better. He was with me through every little high school heartbreak (ahem, Mike Newton), my mothers' untimely death due to breast cancer, and every little scrape and hiccup along the way. He was like a brother to me, which sounds kind of twisted since we dated, but you know what I mean. Aside from the physical parts of our relationship, emotionally he was like a brother.

Every little thought I had of him brought back a million memories and resulted in me going off on a huge mental tangent. I usually ended up (at about my 20K mark) having a hysterical crying fit in the middle of my running path and then resulted in calling Rose to come pick me up, which is why I had to get my shit together so I could make the 25 kilometres I was scheduled to run this week or I'd never make it to the 42 kilometre mark on time. Did I mention I still have to qualify for the damn thing?

I need to quit.

My body was telling me I had to suck it up and make it through these next five kilometres, but my mind was pleading for us to go back to bed and hide under the covers for eternity.

Not today, Bella. Not today," my body shouted. "You're a goddamn fighter. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

And with that mental pep-talk, I blasted Kanye West's "Stronger" through my little pink iPod, took a deep breath from the core of my gut, and prepared to dominate this motherfucking running path.

--

After my steamy shower I popped two Motrin in anticipation of the muscle aches I was bound to wake up with tomorrow morning and ran down to the kitchen table in my little white-with-pink-hearts boxer shorts and white tank top -- my favourite sleeping attire.

"Bella, for Christ's sake!" Alice screeched and I nearly dropped the bowl of cereal in my hands.

"....Yessss?" I asked sheepishly, hoping that she hadn't discovered that I "borrowed" her NARS Orgasm cheek blush the other night and accidentally lost it in Club XS.

"What are you doing in your f'n pyjamas?!" The high pitch of her voice was going to shatter the windows.

"Uhm, well after my twenty-five K run I thought I might go back to bed because it's what, 8am on a Saturday?" I replied, thankful that she hadn't yet discovered the missing blush from her ridiculously extensive (read: ridiculously expensive) collection of Sephora makeup.

"Well HELL-O missy, but did you forget about our super fun day of shopping in the city?" She stood in front of me, tapping her little foot impatiently.

Before I could open my mouth to object, she cut me off.

"Plus... you owe me for losing my NARS, bitch" she teased, knowing that I would most definitely feel guilty about that.

I knew Alice better to think that she would be upset about losing her $40 blush – she didn't exactly have to be frugal with her money. I mean, her father was Chief of Surgery at Boston General Hospital and her mother came from a ridiculous amount of family wealth and inherited Masen Homes and Masen Luxury Real Estate.

However I wouldn't put it past Alice to use the blush as blackmail to get me into a miserable day of blowing money that I didn't have with her.

"Alright, alright," I agreed, and trudged back upstairs to change into some decent clothing. After all, I did need an outfit for tonight's gala.

After taking a quick glance at my wardrobe, I grabbed a pair of jeans off my bedroom floor and a tight white tee and pulled my unruly thick hair into a ponytail then ran downstairs, nearly tripping on the last three steps.

Alice was already waiting in her shiny yellow Porsche, hood down and oversized Chanel sunglasses on. She looked like a movie star, as always. I hopped in, and followed suit with my Ray Ban wayfarers, a gift from Jake for my last birthday. Ugh. Mental images of Jake on my twenty-second birthday flashed through my head, making me nauseous.

Alice must have noticed me wincing because she started up about all the cute guys that would be at her boyfriend Jasper's work fundraiser tonight. Jasper worked as a surgeon under Dr Cullen, Alice's father, and their hospital was constantly the donors and recipients of these charity benefits for some cause or another within the hospital. Most of the funds came from the Cullen's pockets of course, but their wealthy friends and acquaintances were always happy to have another lavish party to attend where they could dress up and throw around their big cheques, demonstrating how wealthy they were, while feeling overly charitable for donating to some illness or cause they were blissfully unaware of.

"Alice, please," I paused, looking out the window for a moment to gather my thoughts. She sensed the pain in my voice and gently put her arm around me, giving me a little hug, while driving well over the speed limit, no less.

"It's okay Bella, honey. I know you're still upset about him." She over emphasized the "him," as if she was referring to the antichrist himself.

Ever since Jake broke my heart, she couldn't bring herself to mention his name. She had put a lot of faith in our relationship and was shocked and appalled and literally kicked him in the nuts when he came out about the cheating incidents – and yes, there was more than one. I was stupid enough to let him do it over and over again, and break my heart more than once. And because of that, I was no longer a sucker for love.

We pulled into a parking lot behind the little café where we were meeting Rose before our shopping expedition. Rose owned a trendy Pilates studio downtown, although her main source of income was her modelling. She was this month's Sports Illustrated cover girl, which was something she had been dreaming of (and working out in preparation of) her entire life. She was constantly jetting off to tropical destinations for Victoria's Secret shoots and was featured in several other magazines... often men's magazines, although she never did a tacky shoot. She was very tasteful and would never pose nude, which just about broke every guy's heart in America.

Rose was the classic American beauty. Standing at 5'8" with a gorgeous curvy body and perfectly rounded breasts, long wavy blonde hair, and skin as smooth and clear as porcelain, she was hard to miss. She was well aware of her beauty and perfect body and rocked it every opportunity she got.

"Hey bitches!" she exclaimed as strutted toward us. "I'm getting so psyched about this charity thingy tonight!!"

Alice squealed at the mention of the gala and clapped her hands together. "OK, Rose. Jasper is bringing his sex-on-a-stick friend, James. You can't screw this one up. He might just be the one!"

Alice was constantly on the hunt for mine and Rose's eternal soul mates. We had little faith in this, but we played along and appreciated her attempts all the same.

"Fine, whatever," Rose replied, picking at her long acrylic nail "I'm sure he'll be a decent lay. What is he again? Some hockey player?"

"Football, Rose! Focus!" Alice shot back, knowing that it was Rose's dream to hook-up with a football superstar.

"Meh, whatever," Rose shrugged, looking completely indifferently. Rose wasn't in to the whole "commitment" thing, and felt she was too young with too tight a body to worry about finding a guy anyway. She wanted a good fuck and that was it. Much like what I was looking for right now. Nothing serious. No strings.

--

I was putting the finishing touches on my makeup when I heard an excited knock at my bedroom door.

Alice, I guessed.

I stormed over to the door, a little irritated by all her enthusiasm. Seriously, sometimes Alice was like a little ball of energy, ready to explode. She needed to take it down a notch, and perhaps some Valium would achieve that goal.

I swung the door open and Alice gave me a critical once over.

"Here," she said, grabbing my eye shadow brush. "I want to do a sultry smoky eye for tonight."

I contemplated arguing since I wasn't up to the whole dressing up thing in the first place, but just sighed and let her take over.

Within five minutes I was looking like a new woman.

I loved how Alice could manipulate a makeup palette to make me look like a supermodel with a shimmery glow and seductress eye in a matter of mere minutes. She had skills that even Rose's professional cosmeticians hadn't perfected after decades in the industry.

I tilted my head to check out the messy ponytail I was rocking and decided to let my hair down loose for the night; perhaps it would lead others to think I was laid back and oh-so-cool.

Rose stumbled into the room, holding her super high Jimmy Choo stilettos in one hand and a cosmopolitan in the other. She was spilling it all over the floor, which was an indication she was already wasted off her ass.

"Ready Chicas?!" She exclaimed, and Alice looked at her disapprovingly. "Oh COMON Alice. Let me at least have a bit of fun tonight, alright!?"

I grabbed the cosmopolitan out of Rose's hand and took a generous sip before handing it back to her.

"Mmmm. Perfect amount of Cointreau. Alright everybody, let's get this party staaaaaaarted!"