Author's Note: Hello Everyone! This is my newest story, I hope you guys like it! I'm trying something a bit different this time. So review and tell me what you think! I would like to give a HUGE thank you to the author vjgm, who reviewed this story for me first to make sure everything came out the way I wanted it to, and also for giving me tremendous help with the 2nd chapter! D If you have been living under a fanfiction rock and haven't read her stories, go check them out immediately!

Without further ado, My Personal Valentine

Premise: Girls are human, boys are vampires. Forks High School has decided to run a personal ads column for Valentines Day. [ExB, AxJ, EmxR

1

"I hate Valentines Day," sighed Alice, as she reached onto my plate to spear a tator tot. I playfully slapped her hand away and laughed when she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Why are we talking about Valentines Day already, its two weeks away," chimed in Rosalie who was sitting to my right. She had her compact out and was examining her freshly applied lip gloss. "Besides, it's not as if there is anyone remotely dateable at this god forsaken high school."

My eyes involuntarily drifted to the other side of the cafeteria, where they sat. Rosalie followed my gaze and sighed angrily. "Forget it Bella. They may be handsome, but they're emotionally unavailable." The way she said it made them sound like they had a disease. "They don't even notice me…there must be something wrong with them."

I watched as Alice put a finger in her throat, pretending to gag at Rosalie's comment.

"Hey!" I scolded when Rosalie picked up one of my tator tots to throw at her. "I would like to eat today!" I gave them the most serious face I could muster. Alice began to giggle quietly, which eventually led to us all bursting into laughter.

As our laughter died down, I couldn't help my drifting eyes which found their way back to the infamous Cullen table. Edward, Emmett, and Jasper were new students at Forks High School, just transferring in a month earlier. So far, they had been nothing but unfriendly to everyone that even attempted to speak to them. Although not many had. They were quite intimidating and it was pretty obvious they kept to themselves.

Alice, Rosalie and I had been best friends since middle school. The three of us were basically attached at the hip. I was pretty sure the reason we got along so well, was because of how different we were from each other. There was Rosalie, poised and beautiful; confident to the point of being insufferably annoying, but completely lovable at the same time. Then of course Alice, rambunctious little shopping queen, who was adorably friendly. And me, Bella, shy and clumsy. Well, at least that's how I saw myself. But Rosalie and Alice always told me that I was mysteriously appealing, whatever that meant.

Some of the girls in our class had tried to approach the new boys, but ended up getting shot down in a not so nice way. Rosalie, who I would always catch spying on Emmett from the corner of her eye, insisted that she wasn't interested in them. But Alice and I knew better. The truth was, she wouldn't be able to stand it if they actually rejected her like they did every other girl in the school. Rosalie was not used to being rejected. Alice on the other hand, confided that she may have a teensy crush on Jasper, but she admitted that he made her feel anxious, really anxious. And whenever she thought about going up to him him, she always bailed at the last minute due to her fluttering nerves.

I, being a warm blooded human, was not immune to the god like creatures either. But I had never had a boyfriend, and there was no way I was ever going to go up to any of them…ever. So all in all, the new boys were old news.

"Hey Bella," said a voice from behind me. I instinctively cringed but immediately tried to hide it.

"Hey Mike," I responded. Mike, Tyler, Austin, and Eric came sauntering over to our table. It was safe to say that these boys tried to follow us around everywhere. Everytime the weekend came around, they would try to plan group activities, inviting us all to come. They constantly came to our lunch table…it was getting annoying.

"Oh great," muttered Rosalie, but at the same time scooted over to make room for the boys. "What's up guys?" she said in a fake voice.

"Just waiting for the big announcement," answered Mike taking a seat right beside me. He had a habit of trying to sit too close, so once I felt him press up against my side, I leaned down to pretend to get something out of my backpack, effectively inching away. I looked up to see Alice roll her eyes at me. 'Obvi' she mouthed. I shrugged, signaling to her that I couldn't really care less if he was aware of my less than stealthy tactics.

"What big announcement?" Rosalie asked looking half interested. She had resumed applying her makeup. She didn't need it, but I know she enjoyed the boys swooning over her when she put it on. Purely for vanity reasons, but that was Rosalie.

"I don't know, some lame school paper thing," answered Tyler coolly, eyeing her freshly glossed lips. It was no secret that Tyler was head over heels for her. He had been building up the courage to ask her out for months.

"It's not lame, it's for Valentines Day," retorted Mike. He turned to smile at me, but I made sure I kept my eyes on my food. I didn't want to look at Mike after those words just came out of his mouth. Who knows what creepy ideas he would get in his head. Luckily, I was saved.

"CHECK, CHECK ONE TWO, CHECK ONE TWO!"

I looked up to see Jessica Stanley standing on a chair at the front of the cafeteria, bellowing into a microphone. She proceeded to tap the microphone, causing a loud muffling noise to echo across the room. "Can you guys hear me!"

"YES!" a few people screamed back. I half consciously looked over to see the three new boys with their ears covered, faces strained. Humph, I thought. Must have sensitive hearing.

"Good afternoon!" said Jessica brightly, still atop the plastic chair. "I know you guys are dying to hear our special announcement, so I won't keep you waiting any longer!"

"Thank. GOD." said Rosalie in a dramatic voice, just loud enough for Jessica to hear. Jessica's face remained plastered in a smile although I was pretty sure she heard the comment. Alice and I stifled our giggles behind our hands.

"For the next two weeks, the school newspaper will be running a special edition!" We all watched as she paused for effect. "In honor of Valentines Day, we want to spread as much love as we possible can! So the Forks High Newspaper is setting up a Personal Ads section!"

"Excuse me?!" shouted a cute blonde sophomore who was right near the microphone. "Advertising for dates?"

Jessica glared down at him. "No, it's not advertising for dates," she answered, "It's so much more than that. What if you see your soul mate in the halls every day and don't know it? What if you have things in common with someone you never even looked twice at?" Jessica stood there slightly teary eyed.

"How does this work?" snapped the blond.

"It's simple. Here are the rules: Everyone has to write a little bit about themselves and then give it to me. But don't use your real name, or say anything that will give you away, so make sure you disguise yourself with a nickname! After you've done that, I'll assign you a box number! Were going to set up boxes in the mini gym and everyone is going to have their own. So you can read through the personal ads, see if anyone sounds interesting, and write them a letter by putting it in their box!" she squealed, signaling the end of her speech.

No one spoke; I don't think anyone even moved. Everyone was utterly confused.

Mike stood up. "So it is advertising for dates?" he called across the room. "No thank you."

Jessica visibly deflated. "No, it's not like that. It's romantic!"

"Why don't you give us an example, Jessica?" Rosalie asked snidely. "Since you think personal ads are such a good idea."

Instead of being offended, Jessica got a slightly dreamy look in her eye. "Well," she began, "You could say –

Beautiful Brunette Seeks Hometown Boy

Loves pepperoni pizza and quiet picnics at the beach

Hates studying and airplane food

Waiting for the right one to finally notice her

Beautiful Brunette, Box #1

"So if anyone was interested, they would write me a note, slip it in my-um, the box, and hopefully it will be a match made in heaven! Of course, you can write to more than one person to see whose best for you."

The cafeteria erupted into noise all around me. Everyone began talking excitedly about personal ads. I, on the other hand, turned back to my tator tots. There was positively no way I was getting involved with this ridiculous idea. I could tell Rosalie felt the same way, because she immediately started talking about it, using words like 'desperate' and 'pathetic.' When the lunch bell rang, I grabbed my books and headed to my 6th period biology class. I walked by Jessica, who was still standing on her chair, answering any questions people had.

"So we can't tell anybody who we are?" asked a small freshman, who was staring up at Jessica with a fearful expression.

"Nope!" I heard her answer, "You use an alias, so you can strictly get to know people for who they are, instead of judging them by their looks."

I inwardly rolled my eyes. This whole thing was incredibly silly to me. I could not imagine myself writing a personal ad, and then running to check my box to see if I had got any responses. How are you supposed to market yourself in a paragraph? How could anyone see who you truly were, just from a few words?

So lost in my thoughts, I didn't pay attention to where I was going and out of nowhere I slammed into something cold and hard.

"Oh!" I gasped roughly, surprised by the suddenness of it. My hand flew to my books causing my books to scatter all over the floor. But before I could even attempt to pick them up, I saw an extended hand holding them out to me, neatly stacked. My face flushed red with embarrassment when I lifted my head to see who belonged to that hand. It was Edward Cullen, one of the new boys.

"Here you are, I'm sorry," he explained in a melodic voice. I stood frozen to the spot. Never had I been this close to him before, and his beauty hit me like a ton of bricks. I slowly admired his features, his ochre eyes, his flawless skin, and his adorably messy hair. I felt like my voice was stuck in my throat, but somehow I managed to find it just before the situation became awkward.

"Uh, thanks," I croaked, clearing my throat loudly as I grabbed my books back from him. "I'm sorry…too." And then, he smiled… an unbearably sexy smile. The kind of smile that made me feel as if I was unworthy to even look at him. But something was wrong it seemed, his eyes were confused as they stared back into mine…he almost seemed frustrated. No, that couldn't be it. But as I took in his expression once more, no other word came to my mind.

"It was my fault," he responded musically. He gave me one more quick smile, and turned gracefully and strode out of the cafeteria, leaving me rooted to the spot. After a few moments of watching his retreating form, I gathered my wits and continued on to my class.

Wow, I thought to myself as I took my seat in biology. Is it possible for anyone to be that good looking? And I didn't even know him from adam, why would he give me that look? I pondered this for a bit until I heard the scraping metal of the seat beside me.

"Hey Bella," said Angela. She placed her books down neatly and reached in her bag to grab a pen. "What an announcement huh?" She quickly got herself situated and turned to me, looking amused. Angela was a great girl, besides Rose and Alice; I enjoyed talking with her the most out of anyone else at Forks High. If there was anyone who thought Jessica's announcement was as ludicrous as I did, it would be her.

"What an announcement," I repeated, mulling over the whole thing again. "I wonder where she came up with something like that."

"I think I can guess," was her answer, as she stared across the room. I turned my head to follow her gaze which was resting on Mike Newton. We both giggled for a second. It was common knowledge that Jessica had a rather large crush on him. Everyone was pretty much aware because she made it painfully obvious.

"The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous if you ask me, I wouldn't be caught dead doing something like that," I huffed jokingly, thinking about actually trying to compose one of those ads. To my surprise, I only heard silence next to me.

"I don't know," Angela mused, her eyes locked on her notebooks in front of her. "It could be fun." She looked up at me a bit apprehensively. I couldn't believe my ears. Was this coming from the Angela I knew? "It's just…I've never had a date for Valentines Day, and everything is anonymous, so it seems pretty easy…" she trailed off. I couldn't find my voice to answer right away; I was completely shocked by her revelation.

"You're not thinking of writing one are you?" I asked incredulously. Her gaze was still directed away from me while I waited for an answer. "I thought you liked Ben Cheney, you guys have been hanging out a lot recently" I pushed, trying to locate my friend Angela somewhere in this madness. The Angela that I knew and loved would never succumb to one of Jessica Stanley's crazy ideas.

Her face became hard and she answered harshly. "Well Ben hasn't really taken the hint. He hasn't made any move yet and I'm sick of waiting." She turned to me sadly. "Maybe it's not meant to work out with him Bella, maybe I've just been getting my hopes up for nothing."

My voice left me again. Thankfully class started at that moment, so our conversation could end. I spent the rest of the class thinking about what Angela had told me. Was this the way people wanted to find dates? I thought this whole thing was going to be a big joke. Maybe I was wrong. I looked around the room to see pairs of people whispering and scribbling furiously on the papers in front of them. My mouth dropped open involuntarily. Could people actually be taking this seriously??

After school, I walked out into the parking lot and headed toward Rosalie's BMW. Her and Alice were leaning against the car waiting for me. They smiled as I headed towards them. I hopped in the front seat, and Alice slid in next to me. We always sat like this, crammed in the passenger seat because we could never decide who was going to sit in the back. Luckily Alice was smaller so we fit pretty easily. She reached down to turn on the radio, switching channels until she found an appropriate song.

"Yes! I love this song!" she shrieked next to me, turning the dial to maximum volume. Rosalie laughed and rolled down all the windows as 'Crank that' came blasting out of the speakers. Several people around us startled at the sudden noise which made us laugh even harder. Rosalie backed up swiftly and began to speed out of the parking lot. I joyfully joined Alice as she tried to do the 'Soulja Boy' dance while sitting in her seat. I looked out the window as we passed the last car, and just barely saw three pairs of topaz eyes, eyeing our car blankly as we zoomed past them. But I quickly forgot about it when I felt Alice almost kick me with her right foot in her attempts at the dance.

After we stopped at Starbucks for our daily afternoon caffeine, we headed over to my house. For some reason Alice and Rosalie always wanted to come to my house after school, I couldn't be sure why, but they said it was comforting and homey, whatever that meant. We spread out in my living room, switched on Oprah, and started on some homework.

"Ugh!" I groaned loudly a half hour later, flipping onto my back, "I HATE math," I complained. I was sure I had been working on the same problem since we had started. Rosalie face was scrunched up and I knew she couldn't figure it out either. We had been over and over it, but math was neither of our best subject. I turned to Alice who was writing furiously.

"You figured it out?" I asked her, lifting up to glance at her paper. She hastily covered up what she was writing and backed away so she was leaning against the couch. That was unlike her, we always shared answers. "C'mon Alice," I whined. "At least give us a hint! Were dying over here!"

"Yeah, what the hell Alice," asked Rosalie glaring at her. "What is it?"

"I'm not doing math," she said quietly, her little hand was still pressed against the notebook paper so tightly it seemed she was straining to keep it covered. Rose and I shared a suspicious look.

"Well…" Rose demanded. "What are you writing then? And why are you hiding it?" We watched as Alice shrugged uncomfortably and fixed her face into a forced smile.

"Oh," she said lightly. "Nothing special."

She knew we wouldn't buy it, she knew us too well. After a silent moment where we stared at her warily, she sprang up suddenly and bounded toward the stairs, paper in her hand.

It took about 1.5 seconds for Rose and I to scramble up and chase after her. We caught up to her about halfway up the stairs, where I launched myself at her, trying to grab her legs. Rose however, didn't see this coming, so she ended up stepping on the side of my face in her attempts to get up the stairs.

"AH!!!" I howled, as I felt my cheek smash into the carpet. Rosalie gasped loudly, totally surprised and tried to step back, but retreating too quickly, she ended up tumbling down the rest of the staircase. She apparently had a hold on Alice's shirt because Alice followed right after her screaming.

I got up rubbing the side of my face and looked down at them, tumbled in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. The crinkled paper Alice was holding lay forgotten inches from her fingers. I ran down the steps and snatched it up before she could realize it. I hopped up on the couch and cleared my throat loudly.

"NO!" Alice cried from the stairs, struggling to get up. Rosalie was sitting on her with her arms crossed, a smug look on her face. "Read it Bella!" she called.

I cleared my throat again and shot Alice a mock angry look for interrupting me. But as I looked down at the words on the paper, my jaw dropped. I scanned them over and over to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

"What does it say?" questioned Rosalie. She was wondering why I didn't read it out loud already.

"Alice…" I stuttered. "Is this a…personal ad?!" I could hear the shameless disgust in my voice, but I didn't care.

"It's not about me!" she said defiantly. "I haven't made mine yet." I could hear more than see the pout that must be on her face. I quickly looked over the words again and my stomach dropped to my toes. Oh God

"Is this about me!?" I asked disbelievingly. It had to be now that I read it more carefully. I don't know how I didn't notice it the first time. I can't believe she would actually think I would be interested in something like this.

"Yes," she answered, glaring at Rose who finally got off her. "And I think it's really good." She strode over to me and grabbed the paper back, reading over her own words. Rosalie came over and stood behind me with a guarded expression.

Blushing Beauty seeks Intellectual Gentlemen

Loves Reading, Music, and Cuddling

Hates dishonesty and prejudice

Looking for someone who cares about

The important things in life

"Blushing Beauty"

I stared at the words in utter disbelief.

"Actually Bella, I think that describes you perfectly," said Rosalie, still looking at the paper. "What would you write for me?" she suddenly asked excitedly, turning to Alice.

"Oh no," I groaned loudly. "Not you too." But it was too late. Rosalie was ripping out another sheet of paper to hand to Alice, who took it happily and resumed her position near the couch. She put her pen up to her mouth with a thoughtful expression.

"We have to say how hott I am," piped in Rosalie seriously. "And maybe," she mused for a moment. "Hint that I have great boobs."

"What!" I cried, hopping off the couch. "You can't hint that you have great boobs in a school newspaper! You can't be serious about this, guys! " But I could tell I had already lost them because it didn't appear they had even heard me.

"I've got it!" Rosalie said, turning to me with wide severe eyes. "Irresistible Blonde seeks Muscular Man!"

"Muscular Man?" I scoffed disbelievingly. "Who at our school fills that category? I think you need to seek out gangly awkward teenage lust hounds, you'll sure get a lot of responses then," I muttered sarcastically.

"You never know," said Alice, erasing something she had just written. "There might be boys we don't even notice, boys with great bodies, and boyfriend potential."

I rolled my eyes and flopped back on the couch.

After about ten minutes, Rosalie's personal ad was finished.

Irresistible Blonde seeks Muscle Man

Loves Cars, Movies, and a Good sense of Humor

Hates being bored and unsatisfied

Looking for someone who can handle

A girl like me.

"Irresistible Blonde"

20 minutes later, we had Alice's:

Material Girl seeks Sensitive Guy

Loves shopping, Going out, and Celebrations

Hates blue eye shadow and being surprised

Looking for someone who isn't afraid

To show me how he feels.

"Material Girl"

"This was all just for fun right?" I had actually resigned myself and helped them compose their ads, stepping in when Rosalie suggested putting "tight asses" in her loves section. I had to make sure that my two best friends in the entire world hadn't really sailed over into the deep end. There was no way I would actually run that ad in the newspaper. I was positive there was no one in that school that I would be remotely interested in. I didn't want to burst their bubble, but I didn't think there was anyone worth it for girls like Rose and Alice either.

"Yeah Bella…just for fun," responded Alice with a bright smile…too bright. I knew that smile.

"Alice," I warned.

"Oh fine," she pouted, snatching up the three ads and stuffing them into her backpack carelessly. After that, not another word was mentioned about the ads. We grudgingly suffered through the rest of our math homework. Afterwards, we snuggled on the couch under a blanket and watched the rest of Oprah. Charlie returned from work about two hours later.

"Hello girls," he called before he even got into the living room. My friends were here almost every day so he knew that I wasn't alone.

"Hey Chief Swan," they both answered in unison. After some pleasantries and two boxes of pizza, I waved goodbye to my friends as they left to go home for the night. I gave Charlie a quick kiss and went upstairs to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I crawled under the covers, but realized that I was hot, and kicked them to the end of my bed. It was an unusually quiet night which made the silence a bit unnerving. After some restless tossing and turning, I finally drifted to sleep.

When I woke up, I vaguely noticed that I was shivering. I sat up, half awake, and reached blindly for my covers at the end of the bed. I curled into a ball to try and regain some of my warmth but after a few minutes, I realized that I was still really cold. I turned towards my window and noticed that it was wide open.

That was weird? I didn't think I had left my window open last night. Matter of fact, I don't think I ever opened my window. Hm. Charlie must have opened it during the night or something. He must have saw my covers and assumed I was hot. Yeah, that must be it.

I walked over to the window and stuck my head out into the black night. I couldn't see anything in the darkness, but my instincts pricked, as if warning me that something was out there. Shuddering, from both the cold and slight fear, I slammed the window down and locked it tight.

When I woke up for real, I was groggy and disoriented. It took me a while to fall back asleep last night. I got up, took a quick shower, and headed back into my room to get dressed. I usually didn't care about my wardrobe, but with Alice always giving me clothes and style tips, it was hard not to become attuned to it. I blow dried my hair, put on a pair of low rise jeans and simple fitted shirt. I grabbed my bag, a granola bar from the pantry, and headed off to wait outside for Rosalie to pick me up.

We pulled into the school parking lot and parked into the first available space we could find. Apparently I wasn't the only one who had an interrupted sleep last night. Alice told me she woke up in the middle of the night too feeling incredibly nervous. She didn't even know what was causing her to feel that way, but that was definitely what had woken her up. Rosalie admitted that she felt like she was being watched also. It was a little weird, but we were all too tired to dwell on it.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," called Alice once we walked into the school. I watched her head off in the opposite direction. Rose and I went to our lockers, then said goodbye as we separated for first period.

Most of the day went by in a blur. I was so exhausted. All I could think about was going to sleep. I was glad when the bell rang signaling it was lunch time, maybe I could sneak a quick nap in before biology. But all thoughts of that were dashed as I turned into the cafeteria. Jessica was atop her plastic chair again being swarmed by mobs of students.

"Everyone will get their box numbers!" she shrieked above the noise. "Calm down!"

Oh. People were getting their box numbers for their personal ads. I had heard snippets of conversation earlier today from two girls who had turned in their ads this morning and how everyone who signed up was going to be assigned a box number by lunchtime. I couldn't help but laugh as I realized almost everyone was waiting to get a number. Everyone besides me, Rose, and Alice I thought.

"Bella!" called a frantic Jessica. "I've got your number!"

I halted my steps.

"Excuse me?" I answered meekly.

"Your number!" she said with an annoyed tone. "Just come get it, I've got a lot to hand out." I bit my lip nervously as I made my way up to her. It was obviously a mistake, but I found I couldn't fight down the suspicion that was slowly bubbling up inside me. I reached Jessica's side and motioned for her to come down to my level.

"I didn't write one," I told her. "It must be a mistake."

"It's no mistake…'Blushing Beauty,' she whispered in my ear so no one else could hear. I balked at her. I was going to KILL Alice.

She must have misinterpreted my expression. "Don't worry, I know who everyone is, but I am going to keep everyone a secret…Here," she said, handing me a small slip of paper.

I walked away in a daze, trying to quell my nerves. I opened up the small paper. "23." I was Box 23. Why was I even a box at all! I crumpled it up in my hands and stormed across the cafeteria in search of Alice. She wasn't at our table, but I did find an excited Rose.

"Rose!" I said blackly. "Did you know about this?"

"No I really didn't think she would actually turn them in," she replied honestly. "But who cares Bella? Everyone is basically doing it; it's not a big deal. You don't even have to answer anyone if you don't want to."

I guess that was true. But still, I was mad she did it behind my back.

"Where is she now?"

"I think she went to decorate her box," answered Rose. I got up quickly, distantly hearing Rosalie following behind me. I raced passed the crowd of students, to the mini gym, where I knew they boxes were being put. Sure enough, Alice was there, draping pink ribbon around her box.

"Alice! How could you," I demanded, putting my hands on my hips. "You know I didn't want to run a personal ad?"

"Bella," she explained, as if talking to a child. "No one is going to know it's you. No one knows your nickname, or your box number. This is for your own good."

"Ugh, Alice I can't believe you," I mumbled. Before I could say another word, I felt her leap into my arms.

"Bella, I love you, you and Rose are my best friends, I just want you to be happy."

I sighed heavily and hugged her back. It was always hard to stay mad at Alice. I guess I could just ignore the whole thing, even if I did get responses back. Yeah. That's what I would do. Just wait until this whole ridiculous thing passed me by.

After I refused to have any ribbon draped around my box, we headed back into the cafeteria. It was pandemonium. Forks High had officially gotten personal ads fever. It seemed everyone had written one. As I walked pass, I could have sworn I saw Edward Cullen sneak out of the crowd, stuffing something in his pocket, but that would just be ridiculous. There is no way someone like him would do this. I was sure he had millions of girls lining up somewhere. I watched him sit back down at his table, before Mike Newton came up and blocked my line of vision.

"Hey Mike," I said halfheartedly as I whirled around and tried to catch up with Rose and Alice.

"Did you place a personal ad?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant about it, but I saw right through him.

"Alice placed one for me," I mumbled, deciding to admit the truth. "Behind my back." I felt the scowl cross my face.

He visibly brightened. "What's your nickname?"

I felt the confusion on my face. "I can't tell you, isn't that the whole point of this thing? To not know who you're writing to?"

He shrugged. "I'll figure it out," he said shamelessly as he walked away.

The newspapers with everyone's ads was coming out after school, so as expected, there was a huge line outside the office.

"Back up! Back up!" Jessica shouted. But once she stepped out of the door, hands flew everywhere trying to grab one. I shouldn't have been surprised when Alice crawled between someone's legs, with the newspaper between her teeth.

"Got one!" she said waving to me and Rose. "C'mon, we have to read them all!"

So, what do you think!