"Swan, pick up the pace. You're falling behind."

Groaning, I barrel my way through the herd of classmates. I feel the burn in my legs as my muscles tighten with every stretch. My rib cage is throbbing, but I do not slow down. I am on my last lap when my tired legs finally decide to give out on me. Stumbling, I brace myself before I hit the gymnasium floor. Instead all I see is yellow before I crash, taking someone down with me.

"Oh my god." My eyes are wide. "I'm so sorry."

The girl shrieks, rubbing her slightly bruising leg. "What the fuck?"

"Hale, Swan. Get the hell off of my floor." Coach yells, blowing her whistle. Instinctively, I cover my ears. From the corner of my eye, I see and hear Alice giggling from her place on the bleachers. Her head falls back in laughter when I flip her the bird.

"She fucking pushed me,"

"I did not," I argue, rolling my eyes. "I fell."

"I don't care what the hell happened. Both of you, get changed and sit on the bleachers for the rest of the class. Hale, you better ice that leg of yours."

Heaving myself off of the floor, I quickly brush myself up, fixing my Forks High gym uniform until everything is in place. I offer the girl that I had fallen onto a helping hand, but instead she glares at me and my hand in disgust. Pushing herself off of the floor, she stumbles at first but quickly finds her footing as she makes her way to the locking room. Trailing behind her, I hear a string of profanities, probably meant for me.

Before entering the locker room, I search for Alice's eyes somewhere on the bleachers. When I find them, she waves and offers me a comforting smile, and even from so far away I can see the amusement in her eyes. I roll my own before pushing the door open.

Alice was still laughing as we boarded onto the bus. "It was hilarious watching you run with your two very obvious left feet, but my god—taking Rosalie down with you. That was priceless."

"It wasn't funny." I murmur, walking behind Alice down the isle. "She hates me."

"Rosalie hates everyone." Alice shrugged, picking a seat towards the middle and bouncing into it. "What are you doing this weekend?"

"I'm seeing a friend."

"A friend?" Alice enquires, a smirk on her lips.

"Yes," I stick my tongue out. "A friend. Jake. Jacob. Whatever. He's my dads best friends, son. I've known him for almost my whole life. I haven't seen him yet, since I've been here."

"Well, if you can get away from this so called friend." Alice wiggles her eyebrows jokingly. "Jake. Jacob or whatever. There is this bonfire this weekend down at the beach. You should come."

"Yeah," I smile. "I might be there."

"Door open. You know the rules."

"You'd think," Jake trails off, getting up from his spot on my computer desk chair and opens the door just a crack. "After all this time, your dad would realize I'm not trying to jump your shit." He smiles broadly, while he finds his way back to his seat. "If I wanted to, I would have tried a long time ago."

"You're so full of shit, Jake." I laugh, throwing a pillow at his head. "Please don't tell me, you actually don't remember the countless times you've tried to get up my shirt."

"That doesn't count." Jake chuckles, throwing the pillow back at me. I catch it and tuck it under my arms. "I was like ten. And I didn't try, you let me."

"Whatever. And try fifteen, jackass." I smirk knowingly.

"Ah," Jacob smiles seductively. "Remember that summer you wore that sexy blue dress and every time you leaned forward, I could see your black lace bra."

"I was fourteen," I sigh. "I'm sure there wasn't much to see."

"That is where you're wrong my friend." Jake wiggles his eyebrows. "You were devolving quite nice, if I do say so myself." He winks, "That whole summer, I had a hard on for you."

"Nice, Jake." I roll my eyes.

"Do you remember that night, we went to the beach after it was closed. We ended up falling asleep on the sand, and the next day we were woken up by the beach police." Jake snickers. "We got into so much trouble."

"I remember." I say cracking up. "I wasn't allowed to see you for three weeks. By the time we were allowed to hang out, summer was practically over and I had to go back home. Also, I ripped my shorts trying to get over that freaking gate."

"I forgot about that." Jake chuckles. "But I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about the first time we kissed."

"Are you hitting on me, Jake?" I laugh awkwardly.

I'm looking down at the sleeve of my sweater that is resting on top of the pillow, I clench to tightly between my arm and my body when I hear the floor board creek under Jake's weight. I swallow thickly, and audibly as I watch him sit beside me on the bed, so close that I can feel the warmth of his skin through my sweater.

"You know," Jake breathes, "You were my first kiss."

"You were my first everything," I smile at the memories. "The first time we.. did it," I force out through an awkward laugh. "I wouldn't look at you for weeks."

"I remember. I thought you hated me," Jake says in a hushed tone, inching his face closer to mine.

"No," I say quietly, biting my lip in anticipation. "Definitely not." I whisper, closing my eyes when I feel his hot breath fan my face. "Not even close," I murmur grazing my lips against his, not kissing—not yet.

"Isabella Marie Swan." Charlie shouts from the bottom of the stairs, causing me to jump back quickly. My eyes are wide, while Jake's hold a hint of amusement. "What did I say about that damn door?"

Jake crackles, rolling his eyes, as I unfold my legs and hop off the bed. "Do you wanna get out of here?"

"Where too?" I ask, holding onto the door knob.

He taps his finger to his chin and pretends he is thinking before saying: "the beach."

Time passed quickly from the countless laughs Jake and I had on the beach. We rolled our jeans up and played in the freezing, shallow water until the tide came in. We talked aimlessly about unimportant stuff, just reminiscing about our past and the couple times we've hooked up. Nothing felt better then being with Jake, laughing so hard I was breathless and my sides were throbbing.

Soon the sky turned dark, and people started showing up, getting the beach ready for the bonfire later that night. I guess that was our cue to leave...

Cars, trucks and jeeps surrounded the fence, leaving their headlights on so that they were shining out onto the beach. Coolers were placed around the small fire lit in the middle of the beach, and all the cars were all tuned so that they were playing the same radio station. Groups of people were scattered all over the place, holding beer and liquor bottles.

"Bella," I heard a familiar voice yell, before I had even made it past the gate onto beach grounds. My gaze traveled to the sound of the voice, and I noticed Alice running up to me, sand flying behind her with every step. She's wearing a black skirt, and pink sweater, carrying her heels in her hand. "I thought you weren't gonna show."

I point my thumb towards Jake, who is leaning against a yellow jeep, talking to a small group of people. "Luckily Jake wanted to come."

"Ah," Alice taps her temple in amusement. "The so called friend is real. I just thought you were ditching me."

"I wasn't ditching you," I say, crossing my arms. "Jake's real."

Alice opens to mouth as if she is about to say something, but stops as her lips form into a small smile. I look toward her gaze and see Jake walking towards us. "What's up, you short little shit?"

"Nothing, perv." Alice laughs, punching his arm.

"Ow, bitch." Jake chuckles, rubbing his arm, jokingly.

"Wait," I breath. "You guys are.. friends?" I clarify, a little thrown off guard.

"Bella," Alice pronounces. "It's Forks." She says this as if it explains everything. "Everybody knows everybody. Everyone is in each others shit."

"Oh,"

"Also, I'm best friends with her cousin," Jake says as he wraps his arm around me. "Where is that fucker anyway? Was he able to get out?"

"You know mom." Alice rolls her eyes. "She knew I was coming here tonight, so she looked the other way when Edward walked out the front door. He's here somewhere," She says, shifting her gaze to the beach. Alice searches the beach before turning back to us and shrugging. "Probably with Laur or Vikki."

"I'm sure I'll see him." Jake's grip loosens around my shoulders until he is walking off towards the beach. He loosely links his hand with mine. "I'm gonna get a drink. You guys want anything?"

"Smirnoff, please." Alice smiles.

Jake is looking at me waiting for an answer. "Uh, same,"

An hour and a half later, Alice and I are sitting on a tree branch a fair distance away from the fire. I'm on my fourth drink, while she is on her filth. We talk aimlessly about Alice's favorite movie; she tells me the whole entire story, not leaving out one detail. At the end of her story, I feel as though I don't need to even watch the movie; I feel as though I've already seen it.

More people have started to arrive, making the beach more crowded then it has been all night. It surprises me that my dad and his friends haven't noticed or heard the bonfire yet.

"Alice," I squeal, squeezing her arm. Placing my bottle in the sand beside me, I clench my legs together. "I need to pee. Bad."

Alice giggles. "Get Jake to take you."

"Where is he? I haven't seen him all night." I pout.

"Over there," She points to a group of people, as she takes a sip of her drink.

Pushing myself off of the log, and holding Alice's shoulder for support, I slightly stumble my way over to the semi-large group of people. When I'm close enough for him to hear me, I put on my best lop-sided smile and yell in sing-song voice: "Jaaaaake."

Not paying attention to the ground, I trip over something; an empty beer bottle, perhaps. Just as I'm about to plant my face into the sand, Jake catches me by my elbow. Finally, when I am standing, he cups my face in his hand, and looks into my eyes. He says: "Are you drunk, Bella Swan?"

"I might be," I smile, and clench my knees together. "I need to pee, really bad. And Alice won't come with me. I don't wanna go in the woods by myself. "

Luckily Jake agrees to go, and I hold onto his arm for support as walking through the sand is very difficult when you're drunk. Deep into the woods, but close enough to the beach where I can still hear laughing and the music that is almost muted by the wind, I am skipping my ways up the dirt path and humming idly to myself, whereas Jake is walking at a turtles pace.

"I don't think I've ever seen this side of you before." Jake laughs, "You're kind of cute when you're drunk."

Smiling to myself, I stop and turn around so that I am now facing Jake while he walks towards me. Just as he is a couple feet away from me, he slows until he comes to a stop, when his body is pressed tightly to mine. As I am looking up at Jake, he is looking down at me. His gaze shifts between my eyes and lips and I know what is coming next.

"Are you taking advantage of me Jacob Black?" I murmur, just inches away from his lips. His alcohol scented breath fans my face as he brings his hands up and cups my cheeks in them. His hands are large—so large that it almost feels like he can wrap his whole hand around my face.

Jake rubs just below my ear with his thumbs, and I close my eyes, leaning into his touch. When his lips finally touch mine, I press my forehead against his and forcefully push my tongue into his mouth until we are kissing breathlessly. For leverage, I grab a fist full of Jake's hair and push my body closer to his. His hands travel down my sides, almost annoyingly slow until they rest on my behind, and he begins to lift me—

"Get the fuck away from me."

Everything freezes, my mouth on Jake's, and my eyes immediately pop open. Seemingly Jake has the same idea, as his are open as well, and I am looking straight into his brown eyes.

"I'm serious, Tyler. Get the fuck away from me."

Removing my lips from Jake's, I take a step back and listen. When I don't hear anything over the low radio beats coming from the beach, I hold my breath until I hear screaming again.

"I will seriously call the fucking cops again, if you fucking touch me—"

"Is that... Alice?" I whisper.

Jake's eyes go wide before he starts running down the path we just came from, until he is out of sight. Confused, and a little caught off guard, I make my way down the same path as Jake ran just seconds ago.

As soon as my feet reach the sand, I am searching for Alice or Jake. At first, I can't find them, so my eyes scan the beach again and finally my sight zeros in on Alice, who is standing in front of the tree branch I left her on, Tyler—a boy from school, is pointing his finger in front of her face, scolding her as if she was some sort of child. Even though I have no idea what is going on, I run to Alice's rescue.

I stand on the edge of the small circle of people surrounding Alice and Tyler. Taking in Alice's appearance; her shirt looks wrinkled, as if somebody grabbed it, and tears are streaming down her face. Just as I am about to run to my new friends side, Jake comes out of nowhere, grabbing Tyler by the collar of his shirt and throws him roughly onto the ground.

"We told you to fucking leave her the fuck alone, cockroach."

"She came to me, man."

Suddenly Alice's eyes are wide, "That's bullshit!"

Jake picks Tyler up by his shirt, and throws him back onto the ground. The people around them are laughing and telling Jake to hit him. I decide that this is the best time to run to Alice's aid. When she notices me running towards her, relief runs through her and immediately I can tell she's relaxed. She clenches my hand, and I weave our fingers together.

"Are you okay? What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing. Just this piece of shit won't leave me the hell alone." When Alice yells "piece of shit," Tyler's eyes narrow in on her, and he begins to charge at us. Alice yelps and angles her body behind mine, but she doesn't need to as Jake grabs Tyler by the waste and throws him back onto the ground, kicking him in the stomach to make sure he actually stays down this time.

Suddenly the crowd parts and a boy—no older then Jake or I, steps into the circle. A girl, who I recognize as Lauren from school, is holding onto his arm. As soon as Alice notices his presence, she is running towards him. "Edward," She breaths, clutching onto him, so tight that he almost falls backwards.

He—Edward, smooths her hair. "Is he giving you a hard time again, Ali?"

Alice nods into his chest. "Here, um..." Edward says as he looks around the circle; finally, his eyes fall on me. "You," He says, pointing at me. "You're friends with Alice?" I nod simply, "Come here for a minute."

"Okay..."

"Alice," Edward whispers in her ear, before looking at me. "Your friend..."

"Bella," I say.

"Your friend Bella is going to stay with you for a sec, while I speak with Tyler. Okay?"

"Okay." Alice nods against his chest before she takes a deep breath and moves away from Edward. He hugs her shoulders for a moment before walking over to Jake and Tyler.

Linking arms with Alice, she lets her head fall onto my shoulder. "You live pretty close, huh?"

"Yeah," She murmurs. "Just down the street."

"You wanna get outta here? I can come over for the night, if you want."

"Yeah, lets go." She says, walking down the beach, dragging me along with her.

Just as we're about to exit the beach, I hear a smack—fist on skin, and a bunch of laughs. I roll my eyes, and hold Alice closer to me. Even though I'm completely mind boggled by the whole thing; even though I have no idea whats going on—Alice is my friend, and I will be there for her.

A/N: Another chapter done.

I was planning on posted this chapter, like... 2 weeks ago. But shit came up, and I never got around to it. And last Tuesday, I was planning on posting it again (Tuesday is the date, I'm gonna try and post on. It's the day when I have nothing going on). But I didn't like the ending, and I wanted to change it up a bit. It sort of took me a while to get it to where I like it, and I'm not exactly sure I like it all that much, lol. But it'll due, :)

Review, pleassseeee.