"What do you mean you're grounded?" Tyler yelled at me.

We were standing outside pre-calc and I was regretting not having texted it to him. That would not only have minimized the yelling but it also would have meant that I wouldn't have to worry about teachers and snitchy students overhearing the situation.

Why did it matter?

Because I had a plan.

"How am I supposed to find another date?" Tyler demanded.

"You're not." I said, talking out of the corner of my mouth.

"What?"

"Tyler, I'm telling you this so you know why I ask you to pick me up halfway down the block." I muttered.

"Wait..."

"I'm sneaking out, Tyler. So you'll have to text me where to meet you and I'll walk over there." I looked up at him and then shrugged.

Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose and began to shake his head. "How are you going to sneak out in a dress?" He asked. He knew already that I had quite a lot of practice climbing out of the second floor window—the window that now belonged to Isabella. I'd been forbidden from going to quite a few late night parties my freshmen year due to a C in speech.

"Ok." I said, nodding at his point. "You'll have to come a little earlier so I have time to change. But I'll have hair and make-up ready."

"Gen..."

"It's doable!"

"It's not going to be dark out." Tyler moaned. "People are going to notice you climbing down the front of your house with a dress hanging over your shoulder and a pair of shoes in your mouth—don't act like that wasn't your plan—and they're going to talk to your dad."

"Screw him." I said grumpily. "I don't care what happens after the dance at this point. I just want to go." This was not quite true: I was afraid of being banned from prom. But I figured that it was far enough away Dad wouldn't think of it when he punished me and also that it wasn't worth angering Tyler. "You in or not?"

"Damn it, Swan."

"Give me an answer or I'm going to show Coach those pictures I took of you last year." I said, only half teasing. "You know how he feels about having a dry season." I finished pointedly.

Tyler frowned, considering. Then he swore at me.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

Tyler shook his head and began heading into class. "Fine."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

"Yay!" I bounced over and gave him a quick hug. "You're the best."

"You're blackmailing me." Tyler grumbled.

"It's not blackmail if you know they'll say yes anyway." I told him. "Besides, if I sneak out you'll have blackmail on me so I have to have something to hold against you."

"Yeah." Tyler said. "Or you could, you know, trust me."

"Yeah, there's that." I agreed, blinking a little at the strange idea.

"Whatever, Gen." Tyler sighed. "We'll talk about it later."

"Ok." I said, shrugging carelessly before bouncing off to class.

...

The rest of the day was fairly normal. I went through the day on autopilot, chased an annoyed looking Mike away from Isabella but otherwise stayed away from her as well. That night I skipped dinner, claiming I'd eaten a big lunch but really just unable to stomach the crabby look on Dad's face. Later I went down to the kitchen for a snack and passed Bella doing a ridiculous amount of laundry. I ended up sitting against the hallway wall outside the laundry room while she worked, trying to annoy her by quoting action movies and replacing key words with something about detergent or dryer sheets. The only downside was that it was exactly the type of thing Tyler would have enjoyed and I didn't feel comfortable texting him anymore. So instead I made a doofy reference to the 'Tide's of evil' Isabella had faced and then collapsed across the hallway floor.

"You ok?" Isabella asked.

"Boys stress me out." I said. I threw an arm dramatically across my face. "I should have told everyone that I was going with you to Seattle. Then Tyler could have gone with Lauren and I could have become the most beautiful nun to ever... what do nuns do?"

"Tyler wouldn't be happy with Lauren." Bella said, but her voice was a little hesitant. I peeked an eye out. "And about Seattle..."

"Mmmm?" I asked. I raised the eyebrow. This had little effect as my arm was still draped across half my face.

"I'm not going anymore." Bella admitted. "I'm... studying."

I studied my sister with a skeptical look. "Studying." I repeated.

"Yes." She was turning slightly red.

"Alone." I added, watching to see if this made her more or less embarrassed.

"Yes, alone." Bella said, being very careful not to look away from the washing machine.

"Liar." I covered my face up again. "Meeting Edward or cheating on Edward?"

"I... what?"

"Don't be an idiot, Bella." I snapped. "Also, I hope you're not cheating on him."

Isabella walked over and knelt down beside me. "You like him?" She asked, sounding surprised.

"Heck, no." I growled. "Dude's crazy."

"So why..."

"I'm not so sure he wouldn't kill you." I said simply.

Bella gave a strangled laugh. I sat up quickly to glare at her.

"That is not a normal reaction, young lady." I said, more concerned than joking. "What the hell?"

"I just..." Bella looked flustered. "Gen, he's saved my life twice."

I just looked at her, regretting my involvement. "Ok." I shrugged.

"Gen, he's really alright." Bella insisted. I scowled and she seemed to come to some decision. "I'm not seeing him this weekend." She said firmly. "I was just going to explore the hiking trails a little and I know Charlie won't like the idea.

I frowned at her. She held my gaze, her face no longer red but a little stubborn and a tiny bit worried. Finally I shrugged.

"Fine. You're having a lame lonely weekend. I won't be the one to tell Charlie." I hesitated and then frowned. Did she not know that there was a monster killer animal on the loose? Bella walked back into the laundry room and I closed my eyes, falling into a doze. She probably knew, right? But I should still tell her. Sometime tonight. Sometime soon. Any moment now.

And that is how I fell asleep in the middle of a hallway on the hardwood floor.

...

I woke up with the smell of laundry detergent stinging my nose: it smelled like regret. And lemon. Mostly lemon. My instinct was to be angry at Isabella but I was really just more impressed at myself for making it until... 9am, wow.

Knowing that the regret wouldn't be permanent unless I fell back asleep and woke up in what would definitely be a foul mood from severe back pain, I managed to sit up and look around the house. I could tell that Isabella and Dad were already gone: they didn't make much noise, but the house creaked with every movement and I heard nothing.

"Hello?" I yelled, just in case.

There was no answer. I stood up and groaned, stretching out my arms as I turned to wring out the small crick in my back. Yawning, I made my way into the laundry room and started digging through the dryer, trying to find something less smelly then the sweatpants I'd fallen asleep in. As I found a pair of shorts and slipped them on, I took the opportunity to sniff the pants and wrinkled my nose as I recoiled; they smelled like butt and resin, one of my top ten least favorite combinations as of that moment.

Hoping that my day could only go up from there, I pulled Tyler's sweatshirt out of the dryer and slipped it on. I found my phone on the hall floor and picked it up, blinking blearily at the four missed texts and a voicemail from my dad, probably reminding me that I was grounded. Just in case, I went outside and checked my car: sure enough, Charlie'd done something to keep it from starting: it was a trick he'd developed over years of grounding me only to find my car gone from the driveway.

I frowned at my car, thinking of my dad and his failed attempts to make me behave. Thinking of all the things I'd done to make him angry and how I hadn't felt like this made any difference in how much he cared about me, not until Bella came along and showed me how things could be if you were actually nice to your parents. I was much too used to my familial relationships being closer to a sparring match then to the quiet companionship Isabella seemed to have with both of them. I scowled down at my car, remembering the night so long ago, the night Mom left.

As I texted Jacob Black, asking him if he knew of an easy way to disable a car and how to then fix the disabled car, I was really thinking of my parents and Bella and all the old pictures of a time when I was too young to realize that a happy, whole family was something to be grateful for.

Now realizing that I was making my bad day even worse for no reason—having brought both my divorced parents and Jacob Black into my mind—I kicked my car and headed back inside, going up to take a shower and mess with my hair. It was a bit difficult to make any decisions on my wardrobe and I knew that even morning wasn't too early to start: while I was still thinking of Spring Dance as a practice prom, I also really wanted to look pretty enough to keep my date for at least the rest of the school year. Not that that was going to be an easy battle, what with Lauren and my sister...

Aaaaand, I was depressed again.

..

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, though to be honest it was filled with thoughts of the same nature, coming back to me every time Jacob texted me another thing to try with my car. He offered to come down three times and I dismissed it, telling him it would get him in trouble with Dad: I was pretty sure that Jacob knew exactly who had messed with my car and was only hoping for an excuse to come down and see Bella. Tyler started texting me around 5, an hour before our rendezvous time, trying to bail out and volunteering Jess to replace him. I replied with insults, actually going so far as to google some new ones to keep up a steady stream, sending him an insult every five minutes on the dot until he sent me a text containing the f word and where to meet him.

"Oh, giving in so soon? I was having fun L" I texted him back, half an hour before sneaking out.

"Just be there. Moron ;)"

I laughed and then scowled as I heard my dad coming in. I waited a bit, knowing he was going to check that I was still home and hoping he wouldn't make me come down so he could check whether I'd been getting ready... not that I was too worried about that: Dad didn't really think of girly things. My scowl turned puzzled as I heard a male voice and then grew into a fearsome glower as I realized who had just walked into my humble home.

I stomped over to the stairs and called down in my loudest voice.

"Is-a-bella!"

"Gen?" She appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking surprised to see me. Edward appeared next to her, replying to her questioning look with a surprised shrug of his own.

"There is a man in my house." I complained.

Bella and Edward shared a glance and immediately got lost in each other's' eyes.

I didn't bother to say anything. I just pulled my sweatshirt off and tossed it down the stairs at their lovey-dovey faces. Edward caught it right before it hit Isabella's face and turned to look up at me.

I stuck my tongue out at him. Creep. Creep who is dating my sister. Edward raised an eyebrow as he reached out for Bella's arm to drag her away. With a flash of temper, I started to walk down the stairs toward them. I know what you are, dick!

Edward glanced up at me startled to find the fury on my face. "Bella..." he started. "Did you...?"

Dick! Ugly, manipulative dick! Weirdo stalker!

Edward began to smile as I grew closer, tucking Isabella protectively behind me as I stormed toward them.

"Calm down, Gen." He laughed. "We're just making supper." He looked at me carefully and then his eyes crinkled against more laughter. "Don't you have a dance to get ready for?"

"Dance?" Bella said. She looked at me more carefully. "Gen, how—"

"All of us have our secrets." I grumbled, still glaring up at Dickhead. "Some easier to keep them others."

Edward just laughed again. He was in a weirdly good mood. "Come on, Bella. Let's go."

"Sure you don't want to grab dinner with us?" Bella called back.

"No. Dad will be home soon." I sighed. "Tell him I'm sleeping, will you?"

"Mmm." Was all my sister replied.

Great.

...

I waited until I heard my dad inside before I text Tyler and made my way down to my sister's room. She was still downstairs luckily, and I clambered out the window with no real problems, my backpack light with only my dress, my shoes, and a clutch purse.

Tyler was waiting for me around the corner, looking very cute in one of his older brother's old suits and a black tie he'd bought to match my dress. He didn't say much at first: in fact he looked a little nervous as he drove me up to a gas station and waited while I went inside to change. I got a few looks when I came running out, still in my tennis shoes, but the grin I got from Tyler made me forget everything else.

"To the dance!" He declared, restarting his engine. "Unless you'd rather spend the night here."

"Um..." I looked at him awkwardly as I pulled off a shoe and it smacked me in the forehead. "I don't know what to say to that. So I'm just going to go with this:" I gave him my best 'you're sh**ting me' look.

Tyler laughed. "To the gym!"

"Yes." I sighed. "To the gym." I strapped on my seatbelt and began untying my other tennis shoe.

Tyler backed up without looking and then slammed on the gas, swinging his car wildly out onto the street. There were no cars around-it was a Saturday night in Forks, after all—but I still had to grab on to my seat to keep from smacking a head on the dashboard.

"If you kill me on the way to the dance, so help me, I will kill you." I snapped as he began to slow down.

"I'm not sure which part of that sentence to make fun of first." Tyler replied with a laugh.

"Meaning?" I was bending over again, finally pulling on my strappy black heels.

"Meaning am I allowed to kill you on the way back from the dance?" Tyler said, turning to grin at me.

"No." I said, giving him a haughty sniff. "Not until after Prom. Or at least until after I've bought my dress for prom so I can be buried in it."

"Are those two types of dresses really interchangeable?" Tyler asked, glancing over at me and what I was now realizing was a rather short black dress.

"Shut up." I grumbled, fighting back a smile as I noted that his gaze kept coming back to me, even as I realized this was not the best trait in a guy driving me through town at fifteen over the highest speed limits.

"In addition," Tyler replied. "And I know, I know, I should just let go of this, but how are you going to kill me when you're dead?"

"Hasn't that point been made in several movies?" I asked doubtfully, finally managing to sit up.

"No." Tyler said. "Usually, the line is 'If you die, I will kill you.'"

"Same thing."

"Yes but no." Tyler shrugged.

"Besides, that means that I can still come back as a ghost and kill you." I said. "Mine was way more logical."

"I..." Tyler stopped to consider. "I will allow that. Though I doubt even a vengeful ghost would want to harm this handsome face." He waved a hand at himself for emphasis.

"I don't have to harm your face to kill you." I pointed out.

"Ok, but..."

"And then you would be a ghost too and actually..." I frowned. "That would keep your face longer because you would never get old and gross."

"Gen..." Tyler glanced over at me, feigning regret. "Crap."

"What?"

"I think I just convinced you to murder me." He laughed.

"Oh, no! You're right." I sighed and shook my head.

"I am." He said solemnly.

"Well..." I said, after a couple seconds of silence. "You still have some time."

Tyler waited a moment, paying a bit more attention as he took the turn into the school parking lot. "Oh?" He said, glancing over at me and looking a little bit more serious as he turned the car off. I wondered if he was thinking of the accident, and if he was thinking of my sister.

"Well, I need you for this dance at least." I said, hoping he would get the hint and invite me to another. "And I've heard that most people are their most attractive in their early twenties."

"Oh, good. I have some years still." He said, winking at me.

"I'm glad you're so accepting of your unavoidable doom." I joked as I got out.

"Well, you are giving me until after college." Tyler said with a shrug, joining me to walk up through the parking lot toward a growing line of students.

As we waited, unable to find any of our friends except one of the other basketball guys and his angry looking date, Tyler began yet again trying to convince me to like the Huskies. This conversation lasted until the door, when it turned to him recycling another old conversation of ours: who my favorite basketball team really was. We carried on about basketball right up until we found a table with the others in our group and Lauren, Jessica, and Mike glared us into silence.

"Really." Lauren said, never one to let things lie. "You two have nothing else to talk about, do you?"

"We had a pretty deep conversation on the ride over, actually." I said, turning to wink at Tyler.

"Life and death stuff." Tyler agreed, grinning at me.

Lauren's glare became even more bad tempered.

I grinned openly at her.

Several people got up, looked around uncomfortably, and muttered something about looking for the drinks.

The tension eased a bit as Tyler and I started talking to our other friends, chatting a bit about where they'd all gone for supper and where they'd gotten dresses. Gradually the music started and I joined a group of my basketball friends in dancing.

Things went on like this for a while: my school tended to lay off slow songs until at least half way through the dance so, while Tyler and his friends danced a little, the two of us weren't really able to hang out. Finally, though, there was a pause and then the first measure of 'Collide' began to tinkle through the gym.

I turned around, looking for my date, and found him two steps behind me, looking like he was thinking about running away to hide.

"Oh, come on." I laughed, grabbing his hand and pulling him further into the dance floor. We dodged around other awkward couples as they tried to figure out where to put their hands, making our way to a place where we were surrounded enough that I felt no one could stare at us.

"Who are we hiding from?" Tyler teased, seeming to notice the way I was looking around, checking that the wall of gooey eyed high schoolers was secure.

"I just don't like the idea of anyone watching me with my handsome date." I said, reaching up to link my hands behind his neck. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close, smiling down at me as we began to turn with the music.

"Oh? Where's he hiding?" Tyler smiled at me.

"Who?"

"Your handsome date." He said, winking.

"You just want to force me to call you handsome." I giggled.

"No, I want to make sure your eyes are working." He pulled me a little closer and I knew why he hadn't objected to hiding among the other couples: any chaperone that saw us would be sure to give us an earful.

"My eyes? Work? After a lifetime at looking in the mirror at this blindingly beautiful face?" I scoffed. "Ha. If only."

"Good point." Tyler responded, shaking his head sadly. "But truly a loss for you."

"You think so?" I said, grinning up at his confidant, crooked grin.

"Well, I do have a 'blindingly beautiful' date, so I can't be that bad to look at."

"Of course." I conceded. "Though, it does mean a bit less when she's admitted to having bad eyesight."

"But her friends haven't been telling her not to date me, so I'm taking it as a win." Tyler countered.

"Hmm." I said, thinking it over. "I have no argument for that."

"And I have just used logic to prove I'm handsome." Tyler declared. "Take that, Mom."

"Um, what?"

Tyler shrugged. "She said I need to think more."

"I thought handsome people didn't have to think." I replied, teasing again.

"No, just the beautiful girls." He laughed. We both glanced over at the soundbooth, realizing suddenly that the song had ended. "Um... want to get some punch?"

"Sure."

We kept joking around as made our way over to the short line to the drinks. As we talked I looked around for some friends to join after and found Lauren and Jessica looking over at us, talking. Jess had a hand over her mouth and Lauren looked furious. Feeling a little uncomfortable, I turned back to Tyler and accepted the cup of fruit punch, starting to take a sip.

The next thing I knew Lauren was next to me. She yelled something I couldn't hear, yelled something else at Tyler, grabbed my cup and tossed it in my face.

As I stepped back in shock, feeling the cold soaking through the front of my dress, I felt my temper start to surface. Lauren was glaring up at me defiantly, not the least bit apologetic or regretful as the room started to quiet down and people started to look over.

"What the hell, Lauren?" Tyler was asking.

"Serves her right." Lauren snapped. "Stupid bitch."

"I'm a bitch?" I shot back. "You stupid piece of s***! What is your problem?"

"You stole my date, that's my problem!" Lauren screamed, standing on tiptoe so that she was yelling right in my face.

"Screw you!" I yelled, pushing her away.

"Screw you!" She yelled back, yanking my hair before shoving me into the punch table.

"Oh, no." Tyler said.

"Jerk!" I yelled, glancing back as dozens of cups clattered across the floor. The dinky, half full punch bowl caught my eye.

As Lauren continued to call me foul names, I turned around and, using the momentum and adrenaline, launched the entire punch bowl over her head. As it bonked her in the head, she slipped in the growing puddle around her feet and sat down hard, ensuring that every inch of her was covered in slippery red punch.

"What's going on over here?"

"Sh**!" Tyler muttered, grabbing my arm and yanking me away. "Move, move, move!"

I obeyed, letting him drag me behind the tables and toward the doors. We were practically running by the time somebody turned off the music and we heard someone calling for the other chaperones. As quickly as he could, Tyler yanked open the door and pushed me out, following me into the cold and laughing as I started to shiver.

"I think you might have a little punch on your dress." He told me.

"Not as much as Lauren does." I grumbled.

Tyler burst out laughing and offered to drive me home.

It was a short drive, which was very disappointing considered Lauren had cheated me of a good half of the dance. Luckily, we pulled up to our dropoff spot while Tyler was in the middle of retelling the story and we ended up sitting there, making fun of the look on her face, for at least another half hour.

"Oh, man." I said finally, wiping punch and tears of laughter from my cheeks. "I do have to thank you for dragging me out of there. Who knows what would have happened if they'd caught me and called my dad? I don't know how he would respond to one of his daughters getting suspended for a catfight."

"Not to mention you destroyed all the refreshments." Tyler chortled, holding his sides as he tried to control himself.

"Still though," I said, grinning over at him and reaching out to touch his hand. "Thanks for saving me."

Tyler looked over at me, still laughing and then his smile kind of froze on his face.

"Gen..." He started quietly.

I leaned closer, not sure I would be able to hear what he said next. As I got closer, his eyes changed, looking thoughtful... looking at me... glancing uncertainly from my eyes to my lips as he leaned forward to...

And then he pulled back and stared at the steering wheel.

"Crowley?"

"I... had a great time, Swan." Tyler said. He glanced at me and gave me another smile, this one a bit weaker. "I'll see you Monday. Thanks a ton."

"No... no problem." I said, blinking a little as I absorbed what had just happened. "Bye, Tyler."

"See you." He said again, giving a lame little wave.

I didn't smile back at him, just gave him a confused look and turned to awkwardly clamber out of the car.

"Good night." Tyler called after me.

I slammed the car door and walked back to my house.