Hopefully this is the last time I change the title. Credit goes to Objective, who, like a good reviewer should, inspired me to do so.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters and components.

Alice – "I do it because I love my older brother, and because I want him to be just as happy as I am with Jasper, and as Emmett is with Rosalie as and Carlisle is with Esme. It must get overly tiresome to have to deal with so much intimacy in his coven, and then return to a life of loneliness. And maybe Eddie likes to act like he is extremely unbothered by his state of bachelorhood, but I know the man better. So I do this because I am on his side, and his well-being is my well-being. I only have good intentions at heart."

Prologue, Invitation

Bella

Okay, truth be told, I am more than just a little excited that freaking Alice Cullen wants to be my friend. Alice Cullen is certainly one of the most desired girls in the school, both by boys and girls. She's upbeat and friendly and incredibly stylish, which brings on the female appeal, while managing to be impossibly cute and rocks a short hair cut with so much confidence that you'd think her hair is longer than Rapunzel's. Not that it matters much for the male admirers, because Alice is obviously attached to Jasper, and they are obviously more than just friends.

With these things in mind, understand my shock, surprise and ultimately utter delight when Alice Cullen invites me to the movies this weekend to watch the Transformers sequel with the rest of her family. I am no more than average and plain Bella Swan: average looks, average appeal, average…everything. If Alice was going to choose a girlfriend at school, anyone would expect her to pick the best of the bunch…which admittedly would turn out to be her sister, Rosalie Cullen, who, too, was unfairly gorgeous, but in a much more intimidating way. And while Alice and I have exchange a couple of friendly words, and even laughs, in our shared Yearbook class, I never thought for a moment that she was seeing me as more than just a "classroom friend".

But Alice Cullen was inviting me to the movies with her. And her family.

"We're all going down to the local theater to watch Revenge of the Fallen this Saturday," Alice said to me, that bright and warm smile on her face. The genuineness of it made it impossible not to smile back. "And I was wondering if you wanted to tag along, if you don't already have other plans."

"Me?" I echoed hollowly, still in shock.

"Yes you silly," she said. "You're the only one standing here."

"Yes, but," I stopped myself, wondering how to word my surprise without sounding like a freak. "I guess it's just unexpected you'd want to hang out with me." Good job Bella, that definitely doesn't make you sound like a freak.

"Why wouldn't I want to hang out with you?" Alice said casually. "You're cool."

I almost choked on my own spit. Alice Cullen thought I was cool? Had she recently suffered from traumatic head injury? I truly had no response to that statement except for more awkward opening and closing of my jaw. Thankfully, Alice ploughed on as if I wasn't gaping at her idiotically.

"I'll have Eddie come for you on Saturday," Alice suggested. "I'll be in the car too, just in case your dad is one of those dads." She gave me a knowing look.

My dad certainly was one of 'those' dads, but my mind was processing an earlier part of her statement. 'Eddie' as in Edward Cullen? Edward Cullen, as in, the only male obsession of my young life? I had dedicated so much time mentally loving Edward Cullen that I didn't have space for movie stars and singing sensations. Not that you would need Justin Timberlake or Zac Efron if you had Edward Cullen to yourself. He retained movie star beauty while sitting next to you in Biology class!

"So what do you think? You wanna hang?"

"Of course," I blurted out, rather unattractively. Alice giggled at my eagerness. I tried to regain my cool. "I mean, I might have to clear it with Dad first, but I can't see the problem."

"Well call me," Alice said. She looked at me patiently, and I realized this was the point where I took out my phone and punched in her number. I did such and she rattled of the digits easily. "I'm pretty much up at any time of the day, so you can contact me whenever."

"Okay."

"I'm really looking forward to this Bella." Alice said, her eagerness almost matching the eagerness I felt inside. "It should be fun."

"Right, fun," I said with a weak smile.

"I'm off to find Jazz, but call me okay?" And then Alice Cullen bounced off in the opposite direction of the hallway, leaving me in a state of stupor.

It almost seemed impossible, but I was staring at Alice's number on my cell phone screen. It almost seemed unbelievable, but Alice had just invited me to the movies this Saturday. It almost seemed unimaginable, but Edward Cullen – 'Eddie' – was going to pick me up to take me on said excursion.

Breathe, Bella Swan. The Cullens are regular people, just like everyone else.

But even as I thought it, it seemed completely irrational. The Cullens were not regular people, they were like superhumans. All five of them – Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Edward, and Alice – were, for one, impossibly beautiful. None of them shared the physical features, save for flawless pale skin and the family gold-colored eyes. Emmett was tall and burly, with a thick frame like that of a football player. Rosalie was model-tall, model-thin, and supermodel beautiful with impossibly long, wavy blond hair. Jasper is tall and lean, with honey blond hair in adorable curls. And Alice resembled that of a pixie, what with the haircut paired with her short height and small frame.

And then beautiful Edward Cullen, stood a few inches over six feet tall, with broad shoulder and a slender middle. Slender as he was, his body looked hard with muscle. His hair curled in an attractively messy way and was bronze in color. His facial features were beyond perfection: straight nose, strong jawline, full lips. Everything about him screamed 'gorgeous', and he only added to that by dressing tastefully well.

Then, on top of their awesome physicality, the Cullens were shrouded with scandal. All five of them were siblings – technically adopted siblings – yet Jasper and Alice were hopelessly in love, as was Emmett and Rosalie. Strange, although 'adopted' explained why no one looked alike. But then you had to wonder, did Mr. and Mrs. Cullen just happen to stumble upon five kids with the same color eyes?

Strange, strange, strange.

Not that I was one for complaints: I was just as strange as the Cullens. I was a girl from Arizona with skin the same color as milk. I was very uninterested in style and fashion, and could care less about what my hair looked like after I woke up in the morning. I also had no grace, and was used to falling on my bum so many times that the ground and I are the best of friends. In addition to all of this, I live for the nerdy pleasures in life – like playing Guitar Hero and editing Wikipedia.

The surprise on why Alice Cullen chose to hang out with me must be more than understandable at this point. Regardless, the invite did happen, and I was in no position to reject the offer. My only friend at Forks High, Angela Webber, just recently snagged herself a boyfriend, and suddenly had no more free time like she used to.

And it's Alice Cullen for god's sakes! The girl oozes 'fun'. I can always go for a little bit of fun.

Edward

I refused to communicate with Alice, not even by thoughts.

I took one look into her mind, and saw her inviting Isabella Swan to the movies this Saturday, under the pretense that the five of us were already attending. Bad enough that last part was yet to be discussed by the five of us, but even if we all did decide we would leave the house and watch a movie, why in the hell would anyone be okay with Isabella Swan coming?

Jasper struggles with his thirst, Rosalie struggles with other females, Emmett struggles with keeping his lust for Rosalie under control, and I just plain struggle.

Not that Alice ever seems to care much about any of these things: once the girl has an idea planted in her mind, we might as well be ready to just run with it, no matter what the consequences were.

However, I was putting my foot down on Isabella – Bella – Swan.

Why are you ignoring me?

Her voice came floating into my head in a soft murmur. She was apprehensive, I could tell. And I knew why too: for this whole plan to fly, she was going to need my backing. Because once Alice and myself had planted an idea in our minds, everyone might as well be ready to run with it, because there was no other option.

I made up my face in the angriest expression I could muster – so bad that the guy in front of me cowered when he caught sight of it – and hoped that Alice would see it in her mind soon enough.

She did. Okay, you're mad. But you have no reason to be mad.

Now I raised my eyebrow. It's no big deal Edward, really. Bella is cool.

I inwardly scoffed. Bella is 'cool' the girl says. Nothing about Bella being human. Nothing about Bella having deliciously tempting blood rushing through her veins. Nothing about Bella being surrounded by five vampires.

Nah, Bella was cool.

Edward, stop that. The only person we'd have to worry about is Jasper, and he's more or less under control now. You know that. And he hates when we plan things around his thirst control. He'd be mad if he knew you were thinking like this.

He'd be mad if he knew that Alice was inviting fucking Bella Swan out with us in the first place. Everyone would be mad – Rosalie would take it up a notch further to fucking furious. Hell, I was about to be up on that ringer.

Let's talk things out first before you put your foot down. Cut class with me?

Well that was easy enough to do: my current teacher was female, and after observing her mind for no more than a few seconds, I could tell she was already irresponsibly fascinated with me. So I raised my hand and walked towards her desk without waiting to be called on.

"Ms. Sharpe," I said in my most charming tone. Already, she was blushing – sometimes it was too easy. "Do you mind if I head down to the nurse's office for the rest of the period? I suddenly have the most hideous of headaches."

She let me go without so much as a dispute. As I walked away, I could hear her thinking the naughtiest things about me, then scolding herself for going there in the first place. I tried to suppress my chuckles.

Alice was already standing outside of my classroom, but we walked further down the hall and ducked into the janitor's closet to avoid being seen by hall monitors or other officials. Of course, the janitor's closet was a completely scandalous location and we probably wouldn't hear the end of it if we happened to exit and someone saw, but our family name had enough scandal already to go around. What would a little more do?

"You have so much explaining to do, that it's not funny," I said in a dangerous tone.

"So long as you hear me out," Alice said, her hands up in defense.

I folded my arms to indicate to her that I was listening. But she continued to defend herself, "You're not going to like what I have to say Edward," she said, and I saw into her mind that in a couple of minutes I would be yelling at her. "But try not to make this particular vision come true."

"Just out with it Al."

"Alright, alright," Alice said. "You know how Jazz and I are dating, and then Rose and Em are dating, and then Carlisle and Esme are practically married, even under human terms and regulations–"

"I was there for the beginning of all these relationships, Alice." I could my irritation building to its peak.

"Well, you know how you and Tanya tried to get together, romantically, and it didn't really work out?"

"Yes, I was there for that as well." Just what the hell was she getting at?"

"Well, I've been observing Bella lately, and been having a couple of visions about her, and well," Alice took a deep breath, but I caught in her mind what she was about to say just a second before it left her mouth.

"You think I should date Bella Swan!"

"I asked for you to save me from that particular vision," Alice said after wincing at my tone.

"I'm sorry Al, that I'm not particularly thrilled at your idea of me going out with a human," I hissed.

"Give me a chance to explain," she said quickly.

"I did, and I got this shit."

"Bella would be good for you," Alice said. "She's very quiet, and curious, in a way you could appreciate. And she's pretty Edward, I know you think she's pretty."

"And how do you know that?"

"I've seen you check her out on more than one occasion. And I can see you doing it again later on today as well."

"You know why I watch Bella Swan," I told Alice firmly. "It irks me that I can't hear her thoughts, and I think that–"

"–if you concentrate more and just her, you'll hear her soon enough," Alice said, finishing my thought. "Yes, yes, Eddie I've heard it a thousand times. But you stopped focusing on her about a week ago, and now you've just been checking her out. You can't lie to me like you can lie to everyone else you know."

Yes, I knew. It was part of the reason Alice and I had such a strong bond in the first place. "Fine, let's just say, temporarily, that yes, I've checked out Bella Swan on more than one occasion. This, in no way, means I want to date the fucking wench! It's like you're setting me up to drain her or something!"

"Absolutely not!" Alice said sharply, as if horrified by the thought.

"So you think I could carry on a romantic relationship with Bella, without her knowing what I really am? You think I could carry on a romantic relationship with someone who still has warm blood pulsing through their bodies? Someone, who is Bella Swan, and whose favorite thing to do is to have that warm blood flush her fucking face?"

"Okay Edward, I get it, there are complications to my plan."

"You damn right, there are."

"But give it a chance first!" Alice said, reverting back to the flawed plan in question. "I told you, I've seen it. And if you behave well enough, things could turn out so well!"

It was then I was treated to a cinematic, courtesy of Alice. It had Bella and I sitting by the edge of cliff together, with her head resting on my shoulder. My hand was laced with hers, and she was clearly unaffected by the cold. We both wore these content smiles, and yeah, I'll admit, we both looked pretty fucking happy.

"But you're still insane for conjuring this up in the first place, Al," I muttered.

"You know I never 'conjure', Eddie," Alice said. "I see what could be, or what will be. I don't see what I want to see."

I ignored her validity. "I'm still not okay with this."

"Give the idea more time to soak in," Alice said. "If this next vision is right, you'll be okay with it soon enough."

And instantly, I saw my car parked in front of Bella's house while I stood at her front door, waiting idly for someone to answer the doorbell. Suddenly the vision was pulled from me.

"Any second longer and you would have saw what she was wearing, and that's a surprise."

I was annoyed by Alice's sudden playfulness. "This conversation is over," I told her as I opened the closet door.

"For now," she whispered just before I left her.

It feels so nice to be writing again: my fingers need the exercise =)

Reviews are always appreciated

Until my next update!

--Brin--