Clearing the Air

Disclaimer : I don't own anything twilight… we all know who it belongs to

Summary: A reunion of High School Friends called on for the purpose of a wedding. What happens when once shy now outgoing Bella meets her old classmates? Will there be any casualties? I hope not! AH AU EXB

A/N: This is my first ever attempt at writing and also this story has no beta… all mistakes are mine. Now let's get on with it.

Childhood was the best time of my life because you were there in it,

My school's always been the best because you were there in it,

The ride home in school bus was fun because you were there in it,

My inner voice has been my best companion because you were there in it,

This moment now feels great because you are finally in it… with me


Bella felt surreal as she was getting ready for the high school reunion. She could feel pep in every step of hers. She briefly wondered who all may be in attendance today, then decided that it didn't matter anyway, she would get to see her best friend of high school Alice and that would be sufficient.

Bella was always a shy girl, always content in her close-knit group of friends never bothering to even socialize with other people of her age outside of that group. The group consisted of her, Alice, Angela and Rose. Yes, as stupid as it may sound, it was an all-girls group. Though the other girls had no problems talking to people outside the group, Bella somehow found it both uncomfortable and unnecessary.

It wasn't that Bella had anything against boys in general, but it was after a particularly awkward instance with her erstwhile best friend Edward, in 5th grade that Bella became so shy that she stopped talking to boys altogether. She remembered that before she and Edward had that awkward moment where Edward admitted to wanting to kiss Bella, she spent almost all her time with Edward. They always had their classes together, they lived close enough that they could spend majority of their free time with each other and still be done with all the school work. They had similar tastes in games and movies, so boredom was never in their company. It wasn't that Bella was not attracted to him, in fact she was, much more than she would ever care to admit. It was the fear that was deep inside her what if this changes things between them, what if the kiss wasn't good enough for him, that caused her to hesitate for a moment and Edward misunderstood her fear as her rejection and walked away without a second look in her direction. Then he started avoiding her like plague, he didn't attend classes for rest of the day, didn't show up at her door at their playtime and didn't even acknowledge her presence the next day. Bella wanted to confront him for his irrational reaction, but never found the courage to do so, always afraid that the confrontation would cause them to drift further apart. The only thing that made Edward a happy memory after this drawn out misunderstanding was that one time when she had accidentally eavesdropped on his conversation with his friends where Edward claimed that Bella could never ever do anything to hurt anyone on purpose, this was after one of those hyped up school episodes where the school bitch Lauren had claimed that Bella slapped her and threw her in a muddy pool. The gratitude and relief Bella felt when she heard her childhood friend defended her was immense, she wanted to immediately hug him, but she had stopped herself, it had been far too long that she and Edward had a proper conversation and this would definitely make things more awkward. But whenever Bella felt self-doubt creeping up on her, her mind would play Edward's words as if on repeat mode and she would find herself in a bit more cheerful mood.

Bella shook her head to clear her mind and forced herself to focus on the task in hand, getting ready for the day. Although it had been years since she had met Alice, she knew Alice would still be meticulous about appearances. When Bella had left to Florida for her college, she had lost touch with all of her friends, forcing her to meet new people and be comfortable around them. She had only met Alice through Facebook a month earlier when her roommate Maggie wouldn't stop bugging her to join the social networking site. Looking backwards she thought that she should probably be thanking Maggie for this day in her life. She mentally made a note to thank Maggie later on for this, took a last glance at herself in the mirror. This should be as good as it gets she thought and took off towards the cab that was waiting at the door.

Bella spent the cab ride mentally trying to picture how her friends might look at this age and how would she recognize and react to each one of them. Much too soon she was in the venue for reunion which was their playground in front of Forks High School. She paid the cabbie and started walking towards the grounds when she felt a tingling in her body, she knew the feeling too well, he was here, and he was looking at her.


So what do you think… should I continue this.. please review and let me know