"Where are we going, Alice?" I asked impatiently. We had already been on the road for 20 minutes. Where could she possibly want to go on this rainy day? When I received no reply, I turned to Rosalie.
"Rose?" I pleaded. Rosalie shook her head, fighting a smile. All that did was make me even more curious.
"Come on guys. You know I don't like surprises! It's just my birthday," I said.
"Not just any birthday, Bella. It's the birthday. Meaning your 18th birthday!" Alice said happily.
"Why do I get the feeling you guys are more excited about my birthday then I am," I mumbled a little too loudly. Alice glared at me, but it soon turned into a smile.
"We're here!" She said, practically bouncing in her seat as she made a left turn into a large parking lot. "Where are we?" I asked.
It was then that my eyes traveled to the large and fancy restaurant that we were headed towards. "Oh, great. Le Grande. I can't believe you guys are taking me here," I grumbled.
Alice and Rosalie were clearly excited. They both had already unbuckled their seatbelts and were opening their car doors. I slowly unbuckled my seatbelt and opened my door. I hopped out and shut the door behind me.
"Are you ready for a fun night?" Alice asked giddily. She linked her arm to my right arm. "What you mean is a torturous night," I said.
"Aw, come on, Bella. Just let us have our fun with you tonight. Loosen up, it's your 18th birthday!" Rosalie said as happily, linking her arm with my left, so that we created some sort of human chain.
"Fine," I grumbled as we made our way to the restaurant. "This place is way too fancy, you guys," I said. I didn't even know we could find a restaurant like this in a town like Forks.
We opened the large doors and made our way inside. Immediately after we entered, I couldn't help but stare at everything around me. The restaurant was definitely too fancy for my taste. "Do you have any idea how expensive this is?" I hissed to Alice and Rosalie as we approached a man in a suit.
"As a matter of fact, we actually do. It's pretty expensive, so you better enjoy tonight," Alice said, bouncing on her toes.
"Hello, and welcome to Le Grande," he said, smiling. Alice smiled back. "Hi, we have reservations under Hale," she said, looking at Rosalie.
The man looked at the list he had on a clipboard and searched for the name. "Ah, reservation for 3. Please, follow me."
We followed him around the filled restaurant, until he stopped at a table for 4 that was near the center of the room. Alice sat down at one side, and Rosalie sat down opposite of her. I then followed their lead and sat down on the seat next to Alice.
The man then said, "Have a nice night, ladies," and left. A waiter that looked to be in his 20's came to our table and gave each of us a menu. "I will come back to take your orders," he said, smiling an unnecessary big smile.
"Okay, what should we get?" Alice wondered, going through the menu. I picked up my menu and looked at all of the fancy names and expensive prices. Rosalie did the same, but only took a moment to decide what she wanted.
A few minutes later, the waiter came back. He took out a notepad and pen and said, "What will you be having?"
Alice went first. "I'll have the Kobe Pepper Filet Mignon, the Coq Au Vin,andthe Foie Gras," she said, closing her menu. Rosalie and I winced at the last dish, and shared a look. Boy, did Alice eat a lot.
"What will you be drinking?" He asked. "Coke, please." He nodded, and wrote everything down. He then turned to Rosalie.
"What will you be having?" He said, flashing what he must of thought a dazzling smile. Rosalie didn't seem to be dazed at all, and simply said, "I'll have the Shrimp Salad, and a Sprite." He seemed a little disappointed, but wrote everything down and turned to me.
"And what will you be having tonight?" He asked, his mouth forming a big smile. "I'll have the Potato Gratin and a Dr. Pepper," I said, closing my menu and setting it aside. He wrote my orders down, and collected the menus. "I will be back with your drinks," he said, his smile way too big. "My eyes burn," I muttered. I then heard Alice snicker quietly next to me.
Once the waiter left our table, Rosalie sighed. "Finally, that guy's gone. I don't know if I could stand him a second more."
"Well, turning our thoughts from that weird waiter, I heard they're having some type of contest here tonight!" Alice said excitedly. "Great," I said. I knew what was to become of this; Alice was going to make me enter it. "Alice," I warned. Alice rolled her eyes. "Do you know what you have to do in order to win this contest?" I asked. "Ah, I see someone can't hold in their curiosity. Well it just so happens that I actually don't know what you have to do," she said a little unhappily.
This time it was my turn to roll my eyes. "Then we'll just wait and see," I said. "But I hate waiting," Alice and Rosalie whined. I smiled and said, "Too bad. I don't like surprises, but I still went with this."
It was as if I had slapped the two awake. The two of them looked at me strangely, and then started talking to themselves. "Yeah, that's weird. You aren't putting up a fight or anything," Alice said, thinking to herself. I laughed, and it was then that the waiter came back to our table.
He placed a fancy cup that was filled with our drink in front of each of us. "These are your drinks," he said. "Well thank you, captain obvious," Alice muttered. I giggled, sipping a small amount of my drink. He didn't seem to hear Alice's remark, but he did notice my giggling. He smirked, obviously thinking that the giggle was directed towards him.
"Your dishes will be ready in a few minutes. If there is anything else you need, please, don't hesitate to call me," he said. I could tell that he intended his words to have a double meaning. Alice and Rosalie laughed quietly at him, while I fought the urge to roll my eyes once again. The waiter then wiggled his eyebrows, his expression serious. This made Alice place her knuckle against her mouth, trying to hide her laughter. Rosalie on the other hand, was covering her mouth with her hand, shaking with laughter. How they managed to make no sound at all, was beyond me.
"Uh…yeah, could we get the Black Truffles?" I said, trying to make him leave. "Okay. Anything else?" He asked, obviously not taking the hint. "Um, no thank you," I said as politely as I could, when what I really wanted to do was yell at him.
Once the waiter left, Alice and Rosalie laughed loudly. We got a few looks from other people, but they didn't seem to notice. "You guys, shhh. It wasn't even funny!" I hissed, glaring at their two laughing forms.
"Oh, yes it was, Bella!" Alice giggled, unable to stop. "You can't deny it," Rosalie said, trying to breathe. I rolled my eyes, and let the two of them cool off. I leaned back into my chair and twirled a strand of my hair around my finger carelessly.
It was right then, that I saw him. He was with two other guys, and all three of them were laughing lightly, following the man in the suit to a table that was just a few tables away. "You guys, stop laughing," I hissed to the two of them. I motioned slightly to the three guys that were sitting down. Once Alice and Rosalie saw the group I was motioning at, they immediately stopped laughing.
"Whoa," Alice said. "I call the muscular one," Rosalie said, under her breath. "The blond one," Alice said, eyes focused on the guy with honey blond hair. I didn't pay attention to what they were saying, because all I could do was stare at the smiling bronze haired male.
He looked like a Greek god, misplaced in a restaurant scene. "This may be an even more interesting night then I thought it would be," I said to the two others. The two of them nodded, still dazed.
"Okay, here is your food," the waiter said, coming back to our table. He placed all three of Alice's dishes in front of her, Rosalie's salad in front of her, and my dish in front of me. He then placed a bowl of truffles in the center. "Enjoy," he said, leaving our table.
"This is really good," I said, chewing slowly on my food. "So is this," Alice said, already done with her first dish and onto her second. "Mine's good too," Rosalie said. But even through all the eating, we all knew that we couldn't stop looking at the three boys.
"So how are your singing lessons going, Bella?" Rosalie asked. "Pretty good, I guess. Ms. Lell is really nice," I said.
I quickly glanced at the bronze haired boy, not expecting him to see me looking at him. But I thought wrong. Once I looked in his direction, his eyes caught mine. But he didn't look away. Instead, his eyes held mine, while he smiled at me. I blushed, but didn't look down, lost in his green eyes.
It felt like hours had passed, maybe even days, until I finally heard Rosalie's voice. "Bella! Bella! Hello? Anyone there?" She asked, looking at me curiously from across the table. My eyes flicked from his eyes and to Rosalie's.
"Yeah, Rose?" I asked, eating a little bit more of my food. "I asked if you wanted anymore food."
"No, thanks," I said hastily, blushing. Rose called over the waiter, and ordered another dish for herself. Alice seemed to notice my blush, because she looked at me curiously. I looked down, staring at my food, while chewing and swallowing.
"What wrong?" She asked. She looked across to the other guys at the other table, and smiled. "Bella…"she said, smirking.
"What?" I asked, still not looking at her, pretending to be interested at my food. "The guy with the bronze hair is staring at you." I couldn't help but smile, but dared not to look up and see for myself.
10 minutes later, all three of us had finished our food, and were moving on to the truffles. "Mmm, these are so good," Alice said, smiling to herself as she closed her eyes and ate one.
I chewed on mine, and I immediately fell into the love of chocolate. "Yeah," Rosalie and I said quietly, devouring the taste.
"Excuse, may I have your attention?" I heard. I opened my eyes to see a man standing on a small stage, a microphone in hand. Rosalie and Alice immediately turned their heads in his direction.
"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I am the manager of this restaurant." The whole room was filled with applause, and he beamed at everyone. "Yes, thank you. Well, I would just like to announce that we will be having something like a contest tonight."
I could hear a few girls shriek in excitement. Oh boy, will this be a long night. "Yes, well, anyone above or at the age 18 may enter." Oh, how I wish it weren't my 18th birthday today. I could hear a few groans, but the man still continued. "This contest will test your singing abilities. It will be something like karaoke. We have 3 judges, who are employs here, that will decide who wins. Whoever wins will receive 1,000 dollars."
Alice squealed, and grabbed onto my arm. "Bella, this is your chance! You can enter and win! I bet none of these other people are taking lessons!" She said, bouncing up and down on her seat. Rosalie nodded, smiling.
The man continued, ignoring the squeals and yeah's. "If you would like to enter for tonight's contest, for free, please call a waiter. They will supply you with a piece of paper and a pen, in which you will write your full name down. The waiter will then take everything, and put the piece of paper in this bin," He said, motioning to a small bin that was sitting on a small table. "Thank you, and enjoy the night," He said, walking down the stage.
"Bella! You have GOT to enter this contest!" Alice said giddily, while Rosalie motioned for the same waiter as before to come to us. "Um, I don't think so, you guys," I said. "Bella!" Alice and Rosalie said, glaring at me, as if daring me to argue.
"Fine. But if I end up having a heart attack, or if I get hurt from tripping over my own shoes, then both of you will be guilty for the rest of your lives." Rosalie and Alice rolled their eyes, and grinned. "We'll take that as a yes? That you'll enter the contest?" The two of them asked happily. "Well it's not like I had a choice," I mumbled as the waiter placed a piece of paper and a pen on our table.
I grabbed the two things and scrawled my full name onto the paper with the black pen. Maybe if they can't read my name, then I won't have to sing. Alice seemed to know what I was thinking, because she said, "We can read it." I muttered a few unknowledgeable things under my breath and handed the pen and paper back to the waiter.
I watched as he looked at the paper and smirked. "Isabella," he said, making his way to the bin. I groaned, realizing that this creepy waiter now knew my full name.
"Great, now this guy's going to stalk me or something," I said, grumbling and leaning back into my seat. Alice patted my arm, and Rosalie laughed.
It was then that I noticed the bronze haired guy handing a waiter a piece of paper and a pen. So he was entering. Well, this contest seemed much more interesting now.
