Chapter One

Amy lounged lazily on the couch in her bedroom, watching a movie, a bit bored. That was the problem when you lived forever – nothing could keep your interest for long. Her attention, however, shifted away from the movie as her recently befriended, elder adopted sister, Martha, strolled into the room with excitement radiating off of her pale face.

"Hey," Amy said, smiling. Martha bounced down next to Amy on the couch, eagerly pointing at an ad in the paper. This confirmed to Amy that her sister was indeed excited about something – having grown up in the late 1700's, to a family that had been very old fashioned and loyal to the English king during the Revolutionary War, Martha was very big on the idea of being a proper lady at all times. Amy may not be an expert on lady-like behavior, but she was fairly sure bouncing and pointing were not considered lady-like.

"Look!" Martha said, grinning wildly, "Tomorrow only, everything from Prada to Chanel is 50% off!" she squealed, gripping Amy's arm. Amy's eyes widened; she was never one to pass up good shopping. Though, something stopped her.

"Martha, we can't go; we'd need to miss school, and Carlisle'll never let us," Amy murmured, a bit crestfallen. Martha's expression changed into one of unhappiness.

"He has to! This is a one-in-a-lifetime chance!" Martha protested.

Amy chuckled. "Martha, considering the fact that we never die, this must mean a lot to you."

Martha shook her head, "This is not the time for jokes. We need to go tomorrow!"

It was Amy's turn to shake her head, "Martha, do you remember the first time that I skipped school?" she felt her bottom tingle at the memory.

"Yes, but that was because you were inexperienced and got caught," Martha said.

"And you're so much wiser than me?" Amy said, arching a brow.

"I've lived here longer, and been a vampire longer, in general." Martha said hastily, "Besides, I was the first person Carlisle changed, and I spent over a hundred years alone with him. I know him better than anyone else. In fact, I just might be able to get him to allow us to go. I'll speak to him about it when he returns from work."


Dr. Carlisle Cullen returned from his latest shift at the hospital and entered his home. He was surprised that none of his daughters were waiting for him, to beg him to allow them to miss school tomorrow for some kind of clothing sale that was going to be occurring. He had heard a lot of the female patients, and even a few nurses, talking about going to it, and had been expecting to have to let his daughter's down gently. As all of his children had already gotten their high school diplomas several times, he and his wife were fine with them missing a few days occasionally, but he knew if he allowed them to miss too many days, questions could arise…and questions were one thing Carlisle tried to avoid when it came to his family.

Following his mate and wife's scent upstairs, he found her in their bedroom, folding laundry. He slid up behind her, and wrapped his arm around her waist before pulling her away from the laundry and close to him.

"Since they weren't waiting for me when I arrived home, I assume Alice, Rosalie, Martha, and Amy already asked you about skipping school for the sale?" Carlisle asked. Esme nodded, scooting closer to her husband so she could kiss him. He eagerly returned the kiss.

"Yes, but the lot of them, mainly the girls, have already missed enough school," Esme responded.

Carlisle nodded his agreement. "Even though I am a doctor, I believe the school's starting to question the legitimacy of their sick days, especially when Amy, Alice, Martha, and Rosalie, with a reluctant Bella, disappeared to Venice for a week," he chuckled softly at the memory of his girls coming home with more than what could fit comfortably in all the cars. They'd had permission, of course, but either way, they'd still missed their fair share of school days for the semester, if not the full year.

"But it is Chanel, dear" Esme said. Carlisle laughed softly, fairly certain that had been an argument his daughters had used in their defense when they asked Esme about it.

"My dear, there will be other sales. Aside from that, it's not as if they don't have plenty of clothes already," Carlisle said. Esme nodded, but gave Carlisle a sly smile.

"You can never have enough clothes, love." Esme said, and Carlisle sat down on their bed before tugging his mate down, letting her sit on his lap. "Although, I prefer you with no clothes at all." Esme giggled as she gently tugged on his button-up collared shirt. The top button popped off his shirt, baring a little of his chest. Carlisle chuckled softly at this, happy to have someone as beautiful as Esme to spend the rest of eternity with.

Their little moment was interrupted, however, by a gentle knock on the door. With his sense of smell, Carlisle could tell it was Martha.

"We could send her away" Carlisle whispered. Esme laughed.

"Come in, Martha" Esme said.

"You're no fun" Carlisle muttered in Esme's ear. She smiled at him as their bedroom door opened and Martha walked in.

"Oh, I'm interrupting you two, aren't I?" Martha said, "I'm sorry…I wanted to speak with you, Carlisle, but it can wait."

"No, its fine, Martha." Carlisle said, "What is it?"

"Well, you see Carlisle, there is this amazing sale going on, tomorrow only –"

"You mean the sale I already told you that you couldn't miss school to go to?" Esme interrupted.

"Well, I-" Martha stuttered, and looked at the ground. Carlisle knew Martha would be blushing at being caught trying to turn her parents against each other if she could.

"Your mother said no, and I support her decision." Carlisle said, ending the conversation before it could truly begin. "If the sale means so much to you, you have my permission to go after school is over with."

"But all the good clothes will be long gone by then!" Martha said, "And I am sure other girls-"

"Those other girls are not my children" Carlisle said, "If they were, I would tell them the same thing I am telling you. And if you or your sisters decide to ditch school to attend this sale, you might not decide the clothes are worth the price you will pay, even at 50% off the price tag."

Martha sighed, "Please, Carlisle…"

"No, Martha." Carlisle said firmly, "I am sorry to disappoint you, but you may not miss school to go shopping, and I do not want to hear any arguments. Have I made myself clear?"

Martha nodded, "Yes, dad."

"Come" Carlisle said, holding an arm out to her. He would normally hold out both arms, but one of them was currently occupied, holding Esme on his lap. Martha smiled, and walked over. Carlisle wrapped his arm around Martha, and rubbed her back. "There will be other sales, dear, and I did say you could go after school."

Martha nodded, "I suppose Amy, Rosalie, Alice, and I will just go after school tomorrow and look through what is left."

"That's my good girl." Carlisle smiled. Martha smiled and bent down so Carlisle could kiss her forehead.

"I love you, Martha"

"I love you too, Carlisle" Martha smiled.


After Martha failed to convince Carlisle to let them skip school, Amy and Martha decided to miss school anyway. After a bit of consideration, decide to tell the other girls of their plan. After calling Rose, Alice, and Bella to Martha's room, which had the most sitting space, they announced their plan.

"So, what we were thinking was that we'd play hooky and go shopping," Amy said, and Martha nodded. Rose looks at her as if she had three heads.

"Are you out of your mind? Yes, I love shopping as much as the next girl, but I also like a bottom that's not on fire," Rose protested, and Alice and Bella nodded.

"Besides that, I have enough clothes," Bella said.

Alice shook her head. "Bella, you call those rags clothes?"

Bella shook her head, laughing at how vain her sister could be at times.

"Think about it, you two. Carlisle will no doubt see the charges on our credit cards, and know that something's up when we come in with armfuls of shopping bags," Alice said.

Amy and Martha considered this, each giving a questioning look.

"We don't have to use credit cards. I have plenty of money in my savings account, and I can withdraw that. He can't see the cash charges, and I can tell him that it was for a school trip," Martha said, and Amy nodded.

"Good idea," Amy said, and Martha gave a slight bow at this.

Amy rolled her eyes, but continues speaking."Carlisle's working late, and Esme says she'll be off visiting friends. It's the perfect opportunity,"

Alice, Bella, and Rose shake their heads.

"Not worth it, even if it is Prada and Chanel" Rose said flatly. Alice nodded, as the three stood up, and turned toward the door.

"Why can't you guys just wait until after school?" Bella asked.

"All the good stuff will be gone," Amy half-whined.

"Besides that, what's life without a little risk?" Martha says, giving Amy a look of mischief.

"We won't say anything, but if you get caught, it's all on you," Alice stressed, and walked out.

"You're still with me, right Amy?" Martha asked after Alice, Rose, and Bella left.

"Heck yeah!" Amy said, and then grinned, "But I'm not taking responsibility for this if we get caught. You are the older sister, you should be stopping me, like Bella, Alice, and Rosalie tried to do."

Martha scoffed, "Excuse me, little sister, it's not as if I'm forcing you into this. You're willingly accompanying me, so you'll be held as equally guilty," Martha retorted

"Let's just not get caught, alright?" Amy said, smirking.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Martha said with a nod. The two girls then turned their attention to the ad as they circled the items and stores they would look for first.


That evening, Carlisle studied himself in the mirror, his fine white-blonde hair falling elegantly over his handsome face. He knew that the girls wanted to go shopping, but he also knew he couldn't keep covering for them in school. As he changes into a silk bathrobe, he decides that he'd go to the shops for them, taking Esme with him, so he'd have an aid and a clue of what they might like. Anything they didn't could be returned, or donated to charity easily enough.

Yes, Carlisle thought happily. That would be a good reward for them for being obedient and doing the right thing by attending school, even if it wasn't what they wanted to do.