I was worried. More worried then I had ever been in my entire life. The torture and pain was almost too much to bare. Why did I let this happen to me? I was strong enough to fight them off, yes. But I felt compelled to answer to the whims of my kidnappers. They were very convincing.
"Hold still Nessie, it will be over before you know it." She said in a too joyful tone.
Nessie was a nickname of mine. My mother preferred my proper name Renesmee, but everyone called me by my nickname.
"I would hold still if you stopped pulling so much!" I said back to the pixie.
"You are just like your mother, stubborn" Alice said in her bell-like voice. I had to smile.
"Fine I'll hold still, but I still don't know why I have to go to this dance. Not like anyone would really notice if I didn't show up." I had attended Forks High School for about two years now, and this was a condition of my father; that I have "human experiences," even though I was immortal and was never going to look older then 25.
Being a half vampire and half human had its perks; I was strong, beautiful (or so I'm told), and would never truly age. I had a gift that would allow me to tell people what my thoughts were by a simple touch. I had done it as a toddler to communicate my wants and needs before I was able to form words. My father had convinced me to experience the world as a human, something he continually reminded me that he never truly had. I winced again as Alice pulled the brush through my hair, a felt a twisting motion and the poking of multiple bobby pins.
"Your mom never liked these 'Barbie sessions' either when she was human, always fidgeted and tried to get my brother to kidnap her away from the 'wrath of Alice.'" She said. "But I had never really had a chance to be normal, so I took it out on her. Plus I got to shop. I love shopping." She was practically jumping at the thought of another major shopping trip to one of her designer friends around the world.
I would never admit to my parents, especially my mother, that I enjoyed it when Alice and Rose would take me shopping. "I remember the stories mom would tell me. 'Thousands of products,' she would say. I'm just glad that I have someone to do my hair for free!" Alice was always the one to play 'dress up Nessie' from time to time, but Rose was even worse. She would literally kidnap me and not let anyone know where I was or whom I was with. She put a stop to that after my dad almost ripped both houses apart and a good section of the surrounding woods trying to find me.
I smiled at Alice as she announced, "All done." She turned me toward the full length mirror, the reflection was breathtaking. My normally wavy dark bronze hair was done up in a twist in the back and left a part to the side where my bangs, now plastered to my forehead, usually where. I loved it. I was always amazed with what Alice could do with a few hours.
I then moved on to the dress, a floor length, strap-less creation, most likely from a designer store in Italy or France, and most likely costing a fortune. It was jade green with embellishments to the bodice and along the sides, the darker green stitching in a floral pattern made my already pale skin glow. It hugged my curves like a dream as I zipped up the side and adjusted myself into it.
"Aren't you a vision…." A soft velvety voice said from the door.
"You think so dad?" My dad, came into the room and wrapped me in a tight embrace. His cool arms encircled me with all the love in the world. "You look wonderful. Perfect for your first dance," He smiled. "You know your mom hated dancing, she was really never good at it, stood on my feet at her prom and at our wedding. If I wasn't a vampire I most likely would have had a broken foot."
"I heard that Edward Cullen!" My mom shouted from downstairs.
Gotta love that vampire hearing. My dad was always in trouble with his brothers if they made fun of how "human" my mom was sometimes. Emmett of course was the worst, only because he was still worked up by that first arm-wrestling match 4 years ago.
"But, I must admit I had a wonderful dance partner. I was such a klutz." My mom said from behind my dad. He turned to face her and planted a sweet kiss on her forehead.
My mom was always telling me about how she would trip over her own two feet when she was human, my dad of course was always there to right her again when she did fall.
"Yes, but a very cute klutz." My dad smiled that crooked smile that made my mom melt.
AWOOOOOOOO! I smiled to myself as I heard the ear splitting howl from outside the small cottage. "Jake." I shook my head and rushed to the front door, I opened the door and hoped to see my favorite guy in the whole world…or should I say wolf?
Jacob was huge, a big russet colored wolf, as big as a horse and massively rippled with hard muscles that made him look even bigger. He was something that you couldn't miss.
I laughed when all I saw was a small bouquet of flowers on the doorstep, he always did make a good impression on me. I was surprised I didn't see Jake standing there; usually he never missed a big event. So I was surprised when I didn't see him standing there.
I thought about it for a moment and realized that maybe he was patrolling and was just passing by. I then noticed the time. "Crap I gotta get going; can I take the Volvo, please????" I asked my father in my sweetest voice. He loved that car, I loved it too.
"I was thinking the Vanquish." A deep, slightly scratchy voice said from behind me, I turned and saw Jake, now in human form before me. Dressed in a dark suit and cream-colored button-up shirt. A dark green handkerchief was tucked into his breast pocket and his usually messy hair was tied back in neat ponytail." I see Seth dropped off the flowers." Jake smiled, of course how could he look this good if he was just phasing. I flashed into his arms and they caught me in a bone-crushing hug. "I was thinking since you didn't have anyone going with you, I would take you. And this way your dad wouldn't have a panic attack about who's dancing with his little girl." Jake's wide smile was the ticket; he knew I couldn't resist it.
I smiled sweetly up at Jacob and turned to see my dad standing there with crossed arms and a flat line on his face. I looked back at him and did my best "puppy-dog" eyes that I could. He was always a sucker for that look. He sighed and said, "Have a good time; I want that car back in one piece though." He tossed me the key fob to the Vanquish. I stood on my toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "You rule dad."
I hugged my mom, hooked Jacob's arm and ran towards the shiny black Aston-Martin to go and meet my fate. Homecoming dance.
"Ow" I rubbed my sore feet; most likely I would have blisters. Can vampires blister? I mused to myself. "At least you had fun, you can dance better than your mom, you know she was….." Jake was cut off by a smack to the back of his head. "Ow, Bells."
"That should teach you about 'beat up on Bella day.' I know I was a bad dancer but I can still out run you." My mom smiled and sat next to us on the couch in the main house.
Emmett and Jazz were dueling it out on Halo 3, while I complained about the pinching shoes that Alice had forced on me, " They are perfect!" I remembered her saying as we were shopping for the dress, knowing full well that she already had the dress ordered and stored in her room known as a closet.
"Remind me to kill Alice for the shoes," I winced again as I felt my toes reshaping themselves back to normal. "Sorry!" Alice yelled from somewhere in the house. Stupid vampire hearing. I curled my legs under me and leaned against Jake's shoulder, enjoying the warm feeling he always too hot skin gave off. I thought back to the events of this evening.
We got to the venue holding the homecoming dance, an old mansion just north of the main town of Forks. The house was an old Victorian style that had been remodeled into a spacious B&B, the main hall was set with tables and chairs along with the food and beverage area, while outside was the main dance floor. The theme was Wild Night Out; the place was jungle themed with cardboard cut outs of monkeys, tigers, lions, and other jungle type animals.
"Why can't you ever find a good cardboard cut out of a wolf?" Jake asked me as he led me into the table area of the old mansion.
"Maybe next year." I replied with a smile.
Jake held a protective arm around my waist as we met up with a few of my friends from high school; Amiee and her boyfriend Shane, Josie and her long term boyfriend Nick, Ashley and her boyfriend Conrad, along with their mutual friends whose names escaped me. The tables were decorated with fake shiny palm trees and more jungle themed items on top of the already over done theme inside the house. We took pictures together, couples, boys, girls, and then a funny one; I ended up on Jake's back laughing as he leaned forward like he was going to drop me.
The DJ didn't suck as much as I had thought she would. She played everything from the newest rap song to the slow song stylings of the Eagles. Jake and I shared a few slow songs, his arms wrapped around my small frame as we swayed back and forth to the music. A few of the high school guys cut in and danced a couple songs with me, but in true fashion, Jake was always watching and making sure no one got too close to me. I never really knew why Jake was everywhere I was, he always seemed so intent on protecting me and making sure that I was happy. Jake was always in my life, from as far back as I can remember, he was always there for me. My first day in school he would walk me to class, go school shopping with me, we would hunt together, go camping, pretty much anything. I loved being around Jacob, he was my protector. Okay so he was a giant wolf ¾ of the time, but I still love him. He came in handy from time to time on our camping trips, "space-heater" my father lovingly called him. And he lived up to the name.
Around the school I was known as the "Other Cullen", another adopted child to Carlisle and Esme, I had known about the history when it came to the other "adopted" kids, my aunts and uncles and my parents, my mom being the only exception. The ruse of us all being adopted by Carlisle and Esme was to hide from the fact that we were really a coven of highly renowned vampires.
I fit in with my family nicely, even though I was a "hybrid". My pale skin and sharp features matched my family, the only difference was that my eyes were chocolate brown and I had a heartbeat. Faster than normal of course but no one could tell unless they held a stethoscope to my chest, I could walk in the sun with a slight mystery as to why my skin seemed to glow. my diet was different too, though I loved the occasional irritable grizzly and ornery mountain lion, a good cheese burger or chef salad satisfied my hunger as well.
My aging was another difference. I was told that I would reach full maturity in 2 more years, when I had my 7th birthday. Nahuel, another half-breed, was the oldest on record and was around 150 years old, but he didn't look a day over 25. So I played the role, of a 17 year old human being I was on the track and field team, an A student in my classes, and was hoping to go to the American University in Cairo after my senior year, to study with our Egyptian coven. Life was good.
The dance was coming to a close with the final slow song, "My Heart Will Go On" blared from the speakers; someone must have requested the annoying Titanic theme song. Jake had the honor of the last dance before we climbed back into Vanquish and headed for home.
"Tonight was fun, but the company was better." I smiled sweetly at Jake as we parked the car in my grandparent's oversized garage and headed to the door.
Jake's arm was wrapped around my shoulder as he kissed the top of my head, "I'm glad you had fun Ness."
"Aren't they cute!" I heard as we entered the door. Emmett my big brother ran over and enveloped us into a hug. "You kids are growing up so fast, I promised myself I wasn't going to cry!" He mocked a sniffle and fanned himself in the beauty queen type fashion. I hit him in the shoulder.
"Hey, knock it off. At least no one tried to hit on me. I think they were too afraid of Jake." I laughed at my big brother as he rubbed his arm pretending like he was hurt.
"What can I say? I'm a good guard dog." Everyone laughed at Jakes inside joke, but it wasn't far from the truth.
The present came crashing back too me as a victorious "YES!" shook the old house. I must have fallen asleep against Jake, I looked around through my sleep filled eyes and all I saw was Emmett doing his little dance, and Jazz shooting death rays at him, "I want a rematch." Jazz said to our brother. I smiled against Jake's shoulder and snuggled in closer, closing my eyes. I listened to the banter a little longer before Jake's snores lulled me to sleep. Like I said…Life was Good.