I don't own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.

Cheryl, Noles, and Gabby, thank you for pre-reading, and April, thank you for editing. Any mistakes left are my own.

Summary: Edward's life is seamlessly perfect, and he has grown to hate it. Perhaps the snarky girl who's assigned to the locker next door can shake things up for the better.

Ch. 1

I glanced at the 'Well Done' next to the bright red A on my Lit. essay. With a bored sigh, I stuffed it into my binder before I slammed my locker shut. The noise echoed in the empty halls since almost everyone was in class or at lunch. My next-door locker neighbor jumped and gave me a withering stare.

Bella Swan was my polar opposite in many ways. I came from an upper-class family, the son of a lawyer and interior decorator. They expected my sister and me to have perfect grades and to look flawless at all times. We were supposed to act as role models for the other students.

Bella was from a middle-class family. Her parents were divorced, and her father was a civil servant. No one knew anything about her mother, but rumor had it she was a drug addict who overdosed. Bella often came to school in the craziest outfits, not caring what others thought of her. Like today, she was wearing black shorts that barely covered her butt cheeks with blue fishnet stockings. She had on a flannel shirt over a skintight tank which made her boobs look big. She had streaks of blue in her hair which hung in waves around her shoulders.

I shouldn't be attracted to her, but I was.

"What the fuck? Could you have slammed the door any harder, Ace?" Bella snapped, looking up from her sketchbook.

"Sorry," I retorted, irritated by the nickname. "And you shouldn't swear."

"I wasn't aware you've added Hall Monitor to your long list of extracurriculars." She smirked, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated manner.

"That's all I need, one more fucking thing to do," I stated to myself, although she clearly heard me.

Her eyes widened and her smirk broadened. "Language. Someone might hear you, and you won't be Mr. Perfect anymore."

"Being perfect is overrated," I muttered under my breath.

Her smile waned and she studied me with her brown eyes. "Are you okay?"

Before I could answer her, Tanya appeared in between us. She tossed her neatly braided blonde hair over her shoulder, so it practically hit Bella in the face. Bella rolled her eyes then went back to her sketching.

Tanya snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Edward, I'm talking to you."

"What is it, Tanya?" I asked, annoyed.

"I want you to take me to the club for dinner tonight, since you don't have a practice or a meet. I'm craving lobster," Tanya told me.

To this day, I was still not sure how it transpired. But somehow, Tanya became my pseudo girlfriend. I never asked her out; it all just sort of happened. Our parents were close and wanted us to date. It all started with my mother telling me to escort Tanya to a dance at the club, next thing I knew we were the school's perfect couple. The only thing was I couldn't stand her and couldn't figure out how to get out of it, without making major waves.

"I hate the club. It's boring. No one our age ever goes there—only snobby older people," I complained.

"The club is the best place to network for when you're going to be a lawyer." She gave me a placating smile, showing off her perfect white teeth.

"You know I have no interest in being a lawyer," I told her getting irritated.

"Lawyer…doctor…whateves. You still need connections," Tanya stated.

Bella made a scoffing noise behind her. Tanya looked over her shoulder at Bella. "Do you mind, private convo?" she snapped.

"Free country and this is my issued locker," Bella retorted, not even looking at Tanya.

She moved her hand through her hair, and I noticed streaks of purple under the blue. She tucked her pencil into the spiral binding of her sketchbook then bent over to place it into her bag. My gaze locked onto the sliver of skin that showed. She had some sort of Chinese symbol tattoo on the center of her lower back.

"EDWARD!" Tanya snapped her fingers in my face again.

"Good lord, Tanya, he's not a dog," Bella stated, straightening up and throwing her bag over her shoulder.

"Don't you have somewhere else you can be?" Tanya asked impatiently.

"Yes, and I can't get there fast enough to get away from all the noise." Bella turned and started to walk down the empty hall. "Enjoy your overpriced trash of the sea."

"I'll have you know lobster is a delicacy," Tanya called after her.

Bella flipped her middle finger in the air and kept going.

"Honestly, she's horrible. I don't understand why they let people like her in here. She's completely uncivilized," Tanya complained.

"It's a public school, they can't refuse her. And she's not wrong. Lobster was once considered a trash food since they are bottom feeders. They were given to prisoners to eat during the Revolutionary War. It wasn't until after the 1880s when it started to become more popular," I informed her.

"Whose side are you on?" Tanya stamped her foot.

"It has nothing to do about sides—it's a fact." I shrugged.

"Whateves, are you ready to go to lunch?" Tanya asked, latching onto my arm. "Everyone is probably wondering where we are."

"Actually, I need to run to my car first. Go ahead without me." I had to get out of here and it was the best excuse I could come up with.

"Fine. Don't be long." Tanya walked off, her heels clicking along the way.

I heaved a sigh and left the building. The sky was overcast like my mood. I walked at a snail's pace, in no hurry to go into the cafeteria and continue to play the perfect anything. I leaned up against my car and tilted my head back. Not even the fresh air could relax me. I needed a change before I snapped.

I spotted Bella, sitting in the back of her truck. She was balancing her drawing pad on her knees while she drew with one hand and nibbled on an apple with the other. Her flannel was off, and I could see another tattoo of a Celtic design that wrapped around her upper biceps.

Maybe she was what I needed. After all she was much different than everyone else I knew, and she seemed content with her life. I headed over to her and paused by the truck. I shifted from foot to foot, trying to think how to approach her.

"Did you get lost, Ace? The cafeteria is that way." She pointed with her pencil.

"Actually, I was looking for you," I told her.

"Me? Why?" She glanced away from her sketch.

"I need your help with something," I said nervously.

"What could I possibly help you with? The only subjects we have together are Physics and History, and we don't have anything due," she asked. "Why can't Tanya help you? She's your girlfriend," Bella pointed out.

"Tanya can't help me," I said.

"O…Kay. Then Emmett." She shrugged. The strap of her tank top slipped, and I was distracted. Did she not have a bra on? My cock started to stir, and I prayed she didn't look down.

"Emmett can't…you know what, forget it." I started to walk away.

This was a stupid idea.

"Ace, wait!" she called after me. "I'm not trying to be a bitch. We barely speak more than a sentence or two unless we're working on a lab together. So, forgive me for not understanding why out of all the people at school you'd come to me."

"It's…" I chickened out of what I was going to say. "A.P. History, you know the test is coming up next month. I was hoping we could study together."

"Oh…" She blinked a few times. "Sure. When would you like to start?"

"How about after school?" I adjusted the book strap on my shoulder.

"Today? Are you using me to get out of going for lobster?" Her eyebrows raised and a Cheshire grin appeared.

"Um…" I flushed.

She snickered. "Sorry, but you can't use me to cover your ass. I actually have to work tonight. How about Saturday late afternoon or Sunday?" she suggested.

"I'm busy." I knew my parents would be home and would never approve. "What's your schedule like next week? I have practice every day but Thursday," I inquired.

"Thursday will work for me. No offense, but this is due next period, so excuse me." She went back to her drawing.

I started to walk back to the school, turning around several times to tell her I'd changed my mind. However, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Something in the back of my mind told me this was the right thing to do.

A/N: Welcome to my newest story. I will let you know now that the chapters will be shorter than my other stories. I will update every Friday. Also, if you haven't figured it out yet this Bella will have at times a snarky attitude.

Thank you for reading.