"You have to talk about it," Jessica pushed, her eyes critical.

Bella shook her head. "No, I don't."

Jessica sighed, running her hands through her hair. "It's your own fault, you know."

Bella blinked. "Excuse me?" she cried.

Jessica scoffed. "If you hadn't rushed into a relationship with that Edward dude..." She said, shaking her head.

Alice rolled her eyes at Jessica and promptly sat on the bed beside Bella. "It's not your fault, Bella," she said. "Trust me, guys are just stupid sometimes."

Bella sighed, allowing Alice to put her arm around her. "I know. But it was finally going to be the Valentine's Day that I was going to have a boyfriend. I don't know... Maybe I shouldn't wish for things that probably won't ever happen for me."

"Don't say that," said Katie, climbing onto the foot of Bella's bed. "Come on, Bella, don't be like that."

"Maybe Princess Knows-it-All really doesn't know what she's talking about," said Alice with a smile.

Jessica dramatically fell onto her bed. "Come on! Stop hating me because of my virtual world with Angela!"

"Very Heavenly Creatures," said Bella, rolling her eyes. "And didn't you recruit James in the meanwhile?"

"No, he's always busy with Mike," said Jessica, waving it away. "And what in the hell is this Heavenly Creatures nonsense?"

Bella sighed. "It's a Kate Winslet movie," she said. "She gets into this friendship with this other girl and they create this fantasy world. But their parents are kinda freaked out by their friendship so they try to separate them. Because of this, they plot to kill one of the moms, I don't remember which..."

Jessica gave her a strange look. "What's your problem?"

"Um, excuse me?" asked Bella.

"Where the hell did you come up with that?"

Bella sighed, rolling her eyes. "For God's sake, it's a Hollywood movie—the director made Lord of the Rings... It's not my fault if you haven't heard of it," she said, scooting off the bed. "I'm going to take a hot bubble bath. I think that it'll clear my head."

"You can use my lavender soap," Alice offered.

"And my special vanilla bubble bath," Lauren put in.

"Thanks, I will," said Bella, going over to the bathroom.

Jessica sighed. "I guess you can touch my scented candles."

"'Touch them' to get them out of the way or 'touch them' use them?" Bella asked, standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Touch them, use them," said Jessica.

Bella smiled. "Thank you," she said, going into the bathroom.

~*~

When Bella came out of the bathroom, everyone was gathered in the bedroom proper, apparently waiting for her. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion, as if debating whether or not to run.

"What's...what's going on?" she asked. "I would normally ask if someone died, but..."

"Why didn't you tell us?!" demanded James in a frantic voice. "I mean...you went on a date with Edward Cullen?!" he cried.

"How did you—?" She let out an annoyed groan. "Jessica?"

Jessica sighed. "Sorry, sorry," she said.

"Obviously you're not, considering that you did it," said Bella. She got onto her bed and climbed under the covers. "So...what do the rest of you want?"

"Well, I've texted Mike, and—" James began.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Bella, sitting up in bed. "What the hell do you mean you texted Mike?!"

James sighed. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed and trying his best to appear completely innocent of any wrongdoing. "I...texted Mike," he said quietly. "I told him about your date with Edward and stuff."

"And stuff?!" sputtered Bella, shocked as she got out of bed and crossed over to James. "What the hell did he say to that?! I suppose he asked if I slept with him, didn't he?!"

"He did ask, yes," replied James.

"What did you say?" Bella demanded.

"I told him you did—"

Bella grabbed James by his shirt's collar. "I'm going to kill you!" she screamed as she began to shake him.

"I was joking!" cried James, trying to get away. "I swear!"

Bella hesitated for a moment. "How do I know if I can believe you?"

James sighed, finally managing to get away from her, smoothing his shirt. "Do you want to read our text exchange?" he asked.

Bella glared at him. "Why?"

"To prove to you that our topic never went to sex," he said.

Bella sighed. "No. No, I don't," she said firmly, going over to her bed. "You know that one expression... 'sleep on it'?" she asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Who doesn't?" asked Angela.

"Well...I think I'm going to sleep on this."

"But what did you say to him?" asked Alice.

"Please, tell us," said Katie.

Bella sighed. "No," she said. "No...I'm going to sleep on it."

"Tell us what happened!" Angela screamed.

Bella narrowed her eyes at her, growing exasperated. "Fine, fine, I will!" she said, her eyes quickly filling with tears. "I asked him if we could indulge in a hypothetical!"

"A hypothetical...what?" asked Alice.

"A hypothetical conversation," Bella said quietly.

Angela inhaled quickly. "Not good."

"Well, you should have told me that earlier!" Bella cried.

"What do you mean?" Lauren asked.

"What happened?" Katie wanted to know.

Bella put her face into her pillow. "Stop," she moaned.

"Tell us!" James cried.

Bella pulled her tearstained face away from her pillow, completely exhausted. "I asked him about my early acceptances," she confessed.

"Why should that matter?" Angela asked.

Bella hesitated. "Well...I told him about my option of leaving after this year..."

"Whoa, whoa, wait," said Angela.

"What?" asked Bella.

"You have the option of skipping senior year and graduating this June?" Alice cried, obviously upset.

"I do have that option, yes. It's because I took that independent study course when I was pregnant with Geoffrey."

"How does that work?" asked Jessica.

"Well, it counted as a two-year program because I took eight classes," Bella explained. "But I finished the workload for eight classes in two months instead of the usual four months. So that's sixteen classes, which is more than two years of work."

Lauren raised her eyebrows. "God, I didn't even know you had it in you," she said with a chuckle.

Bella nodded. "So...I guess I've got a choice, haven't I?" she asked. "Alice?" she asked. "What do you think?"

"I think you'd be a coward to leave," Angela said quietly.

Bella turned to her. "What?" she asked.

"I said, 'I think you'd be a coward to leave'," she said.

Bella sighed. "Well...I was a coward to leave when I was pregnant, but the school gave me no choice. Now, I'm being given a choice."

"Do you honestly want to miss senior year?" asked Alice.

Bella sighed. "Well..."

"Well what?" she asked. "It's an important decision."

Bella nodded. "I know that all too well."

"Then what are you going to do?" asked Katie.

Bella sighed. "Sleep on it," she said, lying down and turning off her light.

~*~

The next morning, Bella woke up before everyone. She was upset because it was a Saturday and she didn't have to be anywhere. Still, she got dressed, picked up her book bag, and went to the library. She went to a private cubical and shut the door behind her. She'd put up a "Do Not Disturb" sign and quickly logged on to the computer.

By simply going onto her email, she saw that she'd been accepted into Brown, Stanford, and Columbia University. She slammed her head down onto the keyboard, feeling her eyes fill up with tears. She had to get out of the school setting, so she logged off of the computer and got of the cubicle section. She headed out the side library exit and went to the stables.

Coach Clapp let her in with no problem. "Bad morning?" she asked.

Bella sighed. "Bad night," she replied.

Coach Clapp nodded in understanding and saddled Moon Rose for her—as Ruby Silk was away for her check-up. "You know there's a snow warning."

"What?" asked Bella. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Coach Clapp began putting proper shoes on Moon Rose. "I'm sorry, dear," she said with a considerate smile. "I said there's a snow warning."

"Oh," Bella said. "We'll be careful, Coach Clapp."

"I know you will, Bella."

Bella quickly went back to the locker room to change into her riding outfit—only this time she put on her snow boots, her heavy winter coat, her gloves, her earmuffs, and her winter hat. When she came out of there, Coach Clapp gave her an understanding smile at Bella and turned to go back to her office.

Bella got onto Moon Rose easily and took her into the forest. She went into the opposite direction as she normally did—away from Tillicum Park Prep, as she had to run into Edward or Mike. She took Moon Rose into the East Paddock—which was cousin to the West Field, North Pasture, and South Lea—and allowed the brilliant animal to canter back and forth for more than an hour. It was soon time for Moon Rose to rest, and Bella stopped her to a mild walk so as she could feast on the winter buds.

A shiver ran through her then. Snow had begun to fall more quickly than it had been a moment ago, but it didn't give her cause for alarm. Instead, she let Moon Rose walk where she wanted, at a slow pace, mind you, so as her heat would not run out quickly. The walk was soon proving to be quite uneventful indeed, or so Bella could tell in her cold daze. They ended up on the direct path to Tillicum Park Prep, and by this time, the snow was becoming heavier. Bella was past caring, even in her dream-like state, and even her cares went unnoticed when some snow fell onto Moon Rose from a tree above and the horse naturally became spooked.

Snapping back into it immediately, Bella tried to get control of Moon Rose just as they entered the clearing. She let out a cry—along with the horse's exuberant neigh of fright—as she fell off of the being. She saw a rather large boulder as she fell, and saw black as some part of her fell into it. Then there was nothing.

~*~

"Bella? Bella! Wake up!"

Something told her that the screams were for her and she found herself opening her eyes to bright lights and various people around her. She blinked, as the lights hurt her eyes, and looked around.

Edward, a doctor, and a nurse stood by her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You hit your head," said Edward quickly. "You were riding in the snow, and your horse...I don't know, freaked out or something and you fell off her. You landed on this massive boulder, and suffered some slight internal bleeding and..." He gave her a smile. "I'm just so glad you're okay."

"Okay," Bella said. "But...I just have one other question..."

"What do you want to know? Where you are?" Edward asked. "You're at the emergency infirmary at Tillicum Park Prep."

"No," Bella said, shaking her head. "Who are you?"

Edward blinked, then laughed. "Very funny," he said. "It's me. It's Edward. I'm... well, I'm sort of your unofficial boyfriend."

Bella shook her head. "No, no I don't have a boyfriend. I mean...I'm only fourteen...I'm way too young," she said.

"Bella...you're seventeen," Edward said slowly.

"No, no," said Bella. "I'm fourteen, and in my first year at Olympic National Academy, and I'm very happy to be there. I know what Tillicum Park Prep is... I mean, who doesn't, right?" she said, and found herself laughing.

The doctor pulled Edward aside while the nurse began to attend Bella.

"How's your pain?" the nurse asked. "Scale of one to ten."

Bella wrinkled her lips. "Seven," she admitted.

"Okay, we can fix that," said the nurse with a smile.

"Doctor, I don't understand," said Edward in a hushed voice from across the room, so as not to alarm Bella. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"I can't really disclose that information..."

"I'm her boyfriend, and Dr. Cullen's son," said Edward, knowing that his father's name pulled a lot of weight in a small town like Forks.

"All right," said the doctor, albeit reluctantly. "And you did find her," he said quietly. "It seems that Bella's memory has...whipped out."

"What?" Edward asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you say she's seventeen?" asked the doctor.

"Yes, doctor," he said.

"Dr. Reynolds," he said with a smile.

"Yes, Dr. Reynolds, Bella's seventeen," he replied.

Dr. Reynolds sighed, rubbing his eyes from behind his glasses. "In cases like this, I've seen anywhere from six months to three years of memory damage. It could be back in a few days, weeks, months, or—in extreme cases—years."

"What would you think?" Edward asked. "Out of all of those, I mean. Days, weeks, months, or years?" he asked.

"Weeks, or I've seen weeks in most cases," he replied.

Edward looked over at Bella. "Can I talk to her now?"

"You can, yes," Dr. Reynolds said.

Edward walked over to Bella. "Hi," he said.

"Hey," Bella said. "Edward, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm Edward," he said, sitting down in the chair next to Bella's bed. "So, you know you're not really fourteen?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm fourteen."

Edward sighed. He pulled out his phone and showed her the copy of the picture of Geoffrey he'd received from Bella. "Do you know who this is?"

Bella peered at the phone. "No."

Edward picked up the mirror that was on the nightstand by Bella's bed. He showed her the reflection, revealing something.

Bella gasped. "I...I look...older," she whispered.

"You're seventeen," Edward said slowly.

Bella blinked, shaking her head to clear it. Her eyes focused more on the little boy on Edward's phone. "Who is that?" she asked.

"His name is Geoffrey," Edward said.

Bella processed the information. "My grandfather's name is Geoffrey," she said softly, considering it for a moment. "Who's his dad, then?"

Edward was pleased that Bella seemed so calm. "Mike Newton is his biological father. Do you know who Mike is?" he wanted to know.

"Yeah... Mike had a baby?" Bella asked, smirking.

Edward nodded. "Yes."

Bella shook her head. "Who did Mike get to sleep with him, anyway?"

"You," Edward said simply.

Bella looked at Edward. "What?"

"This is your son, Geoffrey."

"My son Geoffrey?" whispered Bella.

"Yes," said Edward quietly.

"But..."

"What?"

"Didn't you say that I was your girlfriend?"

"Yes," replied Edward.

"But...if I slept with Mike, and had his baby..." She looked up at Edward in confusion. "How and why are you even interested? Why am I not with Mike?"

"Mike is gay," replied Edward. "He's dating a friend of yours—James—who goes to your school because he was kicked out of here," Edward said quietly, so as not to let the nurse or Dr. Reynolds in on his secret.

"How does he go to my school?" asked Bella.

"Because he dresses as a girl," Edward said.

Bella shook her head. "But...I don't understand."

"What isn't there to understand?" asked Edward.

"Well...do you love me?" she asked.

"What?" asked Edward.

"Well...you must have some feelings for me if you're dating me," Bella said. "I figure you're not gay like Mike."

"No, I'm not gay," Edward said quietly.

"Then...?"

Edward sighed. "I know that when I saw you there in the snow...I remember your lips were blue."

"You look sad," Bella said, reaching for his hand. "What's the matter?"

"Well, the last time I saw you, I wasn't very nice."

Bella smiled. "What did you say?"

"Well...you told me that you'd applied to all of these universities, and you got into a lot of them..."

"I did?" asked Bella, clearly in awe. "Wow."

Edward looked uncomfortable. "Well, instead of being happy for you, I ended up... Well, I took it badly."

"Why?" asked Bella. "What did you do?"

"I gave you a kiss goodbye," Edward said, his eyes filling with tears. "And I told you that you'd made your choice, and I broke up with you."

"I've never been kissed," Bella said quietly.

Edward sighed. He leaned in and kissed her. "But you don't remember, anyway," he said, standing up. "So it really doesn't matter—"

"What?"

"I kissed you goodbye and then I said, 'Well, you've already decided this, I think'," said Edward. "'Goodbye, then'."

"Edward," Bella whispered, things slowly flooding back.

Edward turned around. "What?" he asked.

"I...I was riding on Moon Rose," she said quietly. "And...it was snowing," she said, her eyes widening. "And I didn't care where we were going. And then we were on the track to Tillicum Park Prep, and then some snow fell from a tree onto Moon Rose's back... And then she got spooked, and she threw me. I don't remember what happened to her, but I remember falling back and..." Bella reached up slowly and felt the tender part of her head. "Ow," she said. "I remember hitting this rock, and then..." She looked up at him. "...I was here, with you. I don't even know why you're here anyway..."

"Because I love you."

Bella sneezed. "Ow," she said. "My throat hurts. What did you say?"

Edward smiled and sat beside her. "Probably a sore throat," he said. "I said, 'I love you'."

Bella smiled. "Well, right now I have to think about us. I mean, you were so mad last time I saw you. Ow!" she said, putting her hands around her throat.

Edward put an arm around her. "It's okay," he said. "You'd better come here, though," he said, and kissed her.

Bella's eyebrows knitted together as the kiss ended, completely confused. "Why did you do that?" she asked Edward. "I told you, I needed to think about things."

He smiled. "Because your lips were blue!" he said. "I know you need to think, but you're obviously sick. I don't want you to be sick, even if we're not official yet," he said.

Bella smiled. "All right," she said ruefully to him. "I suppose if it is for health purposes—and because you've proclaimed your love for me—I give you leave to kiss me."

"You know, I think Richard Burton proposed to Elizabeth Taylor for the second time when she was in a hospital bed..."

Bella shook her head. "No, no, no," she said. "I need to be sure about you before we even consider taking that step."

Edward smiled. "I'm willing to wait," he said quietly. "I would wait a thousand years for you, Bella Swan."

Bella smiled. "Well, you're not a vampire, or some other immortal creature," she said with a smile. "So I highly doubt that's possible."