I totally neglected you guys, and I'm sorry. Thank you for your patience.

Song for this chapter: King of Anything by Sarah Bareilles

Who cares if you disagree

You are not me

Who made you king of anything

So you dare tell me who to be

Who died

And made you king of anything

Let me hold your crown, babe

Oh oh

Ah

King of anything

I tried to figure out of way to escape Edward's plan, but in vain. He clearly cared a lot about this scheme. Even though I was feeling tired as hell, I knew I couldn't change his mind. So, I begrudgingly started to get ready. If I had to do this tonight, I would have to do it in style, and make sure I controlled everything, including him.

When Edward opened the bathroom door a couple of minutes before ten, I was ready.

"I don't look my best yet," I lied, wanting him to wait a little.

He looked like he was made of stone when he answered curtly: "I don't fucking care how you look."

I couldn't resist taunting him. "You sure cared last night when you invited me here," I reminded him, meeting his eyes. His expression became even darker as he turned his gaze away from mine.

Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and pulled me hard towards him. A surprised gasp escaped my lips. I lost my balance and ended up wrapped his arms. The feel of his skin against mine was enough to rekindle the dangerous attraction I couldn't help but feel. My skin was tingling under his touch, and my breathing unsteady. "Get a grip Bella," I commanded myself. But these sensations were hard to eradicate, and I felt like I was a fool. It angered me that his expression was so detached when I was boiling inside.

"Eager to get me in your arms?" I molded my body to his, just for a second, for the sake of the game, at least that's what I told myself.

That's when his expression changed, his eyes roamed my body like a hungry man, and I smiled inwardly. He hid it well, but he was still attracted to me.

"Just freaking walk," he croaked as he pushed me forward, and a tiny part of me already missed the warmth.

"Relax, gee, I'm wearing heels," I complained as I made my way to the elevator. I already didn't like to use it since it was loud enough to alert everyone in the house of where I was, but these heels were traitorous. It was a pair Alice bought me, and she overestimated my abilities.

Edward was silent as we got into the car and I took my phone out.

From BellCullen : to Alicexoxo :

Wish me luck.

I texted her, wishing she could help me, wishing I didn't have to be thousand miles away from her tonight, or any other night. Reminding myself of why I was here in the first place brought my focus back, and I remembered why I wanted to make a mess of things so badly.

"If we're doing this, we have to credible." I remembered Edward. "Don't take the habit of calling me Bella though."

Bella was my favourite diminutive, even though I used Isa a lot too. "And do not dare calling me Bells," I added. It would sound like a blasphemy coming from his lips.

He wasn't even listening to me, I realised, when I met his blank stare. My phone vibrated.

From Alicexoxo: to BellCullen:

What for?

I didn't want her to know any details, but I still needed her to think about me.

From BellCullen : to Alicexoxo :

You don't want to know.

Edward parked in front of a small building, and I wouldn't have thought this was any place of matter if there wasn't a row of very expensive cars parked all around us. "So, you realize that if you knew all along whom I was, that makes us partners in crime. Best of buddies, you know, close siblings and all that shit," I continued, trying to get it into his head that his mood needed to change, and quickly. My eyes widened when he placed his hand on my lips, silencing me.

"Shut up. Just... shut up for a second."

He looked quite nauseous. I felt a sick pleasure in having this effect on him. This was after all the mighty King. I darted my tongue out and quickly gave his hand a little lick. He jolted his hand away and exhaled loudly, like he was mesmerized and his stare made me feel even more daring.

He hurried outside the car as soon as the moment was over, and I barely managed to keep up with him until he finally took a pause and waited for me at the entrance. This was likely the closest thing to a bar teenagers could hang out in legally.

As I walked inside, I glanced around and saw that most of his court was present. The Elite was here, including Emmett that I kind of liked, Mike and his friends and a bunch of people I didn't know; no Angela in sight.

Edward leaned towards me and whispered: "Be convincing."

I smiled, thinking I wasn't the weakest link in this scenario. "Don't worry, I'm a very good actress," I bored into his piercing green eyes, knowing he wouldn't disagree.

When people started noticing us just standing there together, Edward cleared his throat loudly like he was going to make a royal decree. Music was silenced and the loyal subjects just hung on his lips. "Guys, this is my half sister Bella Cullen."

His statement was met with a lot of wide eyes and OMGs. My lips tightened at the Bella part. Of course, he'd do exactly the opposite of what I asked him, even if he didn't hear 99% of what I said.

"We kind of messed around with you guys this week, Bells wanted to get to know you all before she revealed her identity." I cringed inwardly at the sound of my pet name on his traitorous lips. The jerk, he would pay for that.

His arm snaking around my shoulders didn't seem so inviting anymore. I was livid inside and subtly hit in the stomach, hoping I could kick him in the crotch later on.

I basically stayed on autopilot for the rest of the performance, but our act convinced everyone anyway. At the end, I placed a quick kissed on the bastard's cheek, and I practically heard the scream of horror in his mind.

I couldn't gloat long at his turmoil because Jessica appeared like a tornado and swept me away from him. This was the first and only moment of the night her presence wasn't a nuisance to me. She was talking so fast I could barely make out the words. I really didn't care about what she had to say anyway. I got that she was delighted by this turn of events. I nodded at the right moments, but couldn't help glancing back to my nemesis. Our eyes met, and I winked at him, knowing it would exasperate him some more.

I actually expected reproachful glances and frustration for what I'd done but people seemed to really want me to like them. Emmett looked like he was going to tease me forever about this. He clearly thought it was twisted, but I could tell he was the kind of guy to throw laughter at everything. Mike was smiling like he'd just won the jackpot. I guess he thought this was his chance to join the popular crowd. I wasn't interested in him a bit, but Edward really seemed to hate him so he got my attention for most of the night.

When I wasn't cleaning the guys at poker, I was working towards putting every one of Edward's allies in my pocket. They weren't all so bad. Ben and Eric were actually pretty nice.

I couldn't understand why they chose to worship someone like Edward. He was so arrogant and oblivious to anything but his own self; I couldn't imagine him being a good friend or even a decent one. I was playing them like fools, and didn't seem to care a bit. And yet I couldn't believe each single person in this room was that good an actor for the sake of social status. Emmett for example didn't seem to care one bit about what people thought of him, and if I liked him or not. No, these people weren't all retarded, but none seemed to see Edward for what he was: a big joke.

I actually started to have fun when Mr. Gloomy left the poker table and disappeared. I didn't even think about him for a while until Emmett began to gather his things to leave and the annoying senior guy started laughing uncontrollably. God, he didn't even need to be drunk to be totally obnoxious. Eric asked him what the matter was and then he pointed at Edward's and Victoria kissing.

The sight was simply nauseating. They were at each other's lips like animals, and her eyes were even darting around the room for a second to see if everyone could see. I gathered from the whispers Edward didn't usually kiss her in public. I guess that was a special something just for my benefit, how pathetic?

"Need a ride, Bella?" Emmett asked pointing to them.

I wasn't about to become the girl that had to beg for a ride home. Okay, that was far from begging, but Edward and I were supposed to be somewhat friends, and I wasn't letting him ditch me for that stupid redhead.

"Nah, it's fine," I waved him goodbye. He shrugged and left without a second glance, and I turned towards my target. "God, they are still at each other's tonsils."

When I lightly put my hand on Edward's shoulder and asked him to drive me home, I practically felt the tension move up his body. Victoria threw me the nastiest look before she reeled herself in and just disappeared.

Edward almost told me to fuck off, I could see the words forming on his lips. "Careful buddy, your friends are looking." I thought. After all, he was the one to come up with this charade, and I wasn't inclined to make it easy for him.

During the ride back, I checked my phone and saw I had a few missed texts from Alice.

From Alicexoxo: to BellCullen:

God Bella what are you up to?

From Alicexoxo: to BellCullen:

Bells don't leaving me hanging.

From Alicexoxo: to BellCullen:

Bells I'm dying over here.

I laughed inwardly and texted her back.

From BellCullen: to Alicexoxo:

Love you Ali,

The phone vibrated in my hands almost immediately after I pressed sent.

From Alicexoxo: to BellCullen:

I hate you. Pout.

I cracked a smile, but Edward was trying so hard to ignore my presence he didn't seem to notice.

A few blocks from the house, he slowed down. I was afraid he was going to talk, but he just kept his eyes on the road and parked immensely slowly in the driveway. He shut his door so carefully I almost laughed. He was actually sneaking in. I really didn't think he had to do this sort of thing. He wasn't the king at home, apparently. I followed his lead and almost laughed at how his feet barely touched the ground when he went from the front door to the stairwell. He looked like a spy how he stayed close to the walls and constantly scanned the room.

Finally, I couldn't resist asking: "Why are we so careful?"

I pretty much expected any answer but I was surprised when he just hurried upstairs and completely disregarded my comment. Witty banter I could deal with, but it annoyed me that he would just ignore me.

I scoffed inwardly and ascended the stairs loudly, hoping to wake someone up. But no one did, and I got ready for bed slowly, promising myself I would never let Edward ignore me again.

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Elmo13