disclaimer: characters belong to sm
"
How did I manage to get myself into this mess?
"Bella, Bella! What happened to your tights?"
Speaking of which….
"I took them off, Alice," I replied, kicking the tights under the bed skirt, where I was hoping Alice wouldn't be able to find them.
"Why?" she frowned. "They looked so good with the shorts."
You mean the shorts that only go five inches past my hips? I wanted to shout, but instead I only sighed. This consistent fussing over my wardrobe had only ever increased ever since Alice had moved in with me and Charlie about two months ago. And naturally, having only 2 bedrooms in the house—and we couldn't possibly let Alice sleep on the couch—meant having to share.
"They were ridiculous," I said, furtively arranging the bed skirt with my feet. "Who wears fishnets with shorts?"
She started to answer, but I interrupted. "Besides, erm, paid company," I said, fidgeting with the lacy blue top she had stuck me in. "Which, by the way, leads me to wonder where you acquired the majority of your wardrobe from?"
She huffed. "Bella, please. It's a little thing called 'dress to impress'."
I groaned inwardly. Alice had been very moody for the past few weeks and I couldn't blame her. Her parents had gambled away all their money and had declared bankruptcy in February, which meant Alice was going to be taken away to a foster family since she was still a minor then. However, Charlie stepped in and offered to let Alice live with us for a few months until her 18th birthday, at which time she could live anywhere she wanted. It was now May and a month past Alice's birthday, but she still lived with us, which was really awesome—most of the time.
"Bella, please," she pleaded. "Just wear it. It looks really good."
I grimaced. "Well, I'm not trying to impress anyone. Why should I wear it? Actually, why don't you wear it?" Anything, just not the hooker tights.
The only reason that Alice wanted to go to this party was because she really wanted to impress this one guy, and she thought that by being down for a total raver would make would her seem more 'wild and fantastic'. And in true best friend fashion, I'd agreed to come to make sure Alice wasn't doing anything she wasn't supposed to be doing and to ward off the creepers.
"I thought about it," she said, "but it doesn't go with my outfit. And it makes me look like I have thunder-thighs."
I snorted. As if anything could give her the illusion of thunder-thighs.
After more pleading and puppy-dog eyes, I finally gave in and crawled under the bed to retrieve the horrendous tights.
"What kind of party is this anyway?" I asked, slowly pulling on the garment. "You say you met this guy at an art class? Aren't we a little overdressed for an art party?
She rolled her eyes. "Art party," she laughed. "As if I'd dress like this for an art party. No, no, Bella, I'm a little more fashion-savvy than you are. Trust me on this when I say you're not going to be overdressed."
I raised an eyebrow. "Well, then what kind of party is this, exactly?"
"It's actually one of his older brother's friend's parties," Alice said, looking in the mirror above the dresser and fixing her short black hair. "You know, Irina Denali?"
My jaw almost dropped, but I caught myself before I could let her see my surprise. Yes, of course I knew Irina Denali. In a town this small, it'd be outrageous if you didn't know her. She and her sisters were notorious for keggers and had been busted by Charlie more than a few times.
"We're going to a Denali party?" I nearly choked out. "You mean drunk-drugged-and-doped-up-Denalis?" Oh, Charlie would not approve.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Bella. You worry too much. Just avoid the upstairs bedrooms and the watermelon. You'll be fine."
"You'd better be sure," I muttered, pulling the shorts back on and sliding my cell phone into the back pocket.
********
When we pulled up to the house, we could hear music blaring from inside and kids were already starting to run around in their underwear in the front lawn. I mean, really, it was still light outside.
"Alice, don't tell me this is the house," I said, apprehension laced in my voice.
"Yep, this is it," she said, parking the car across the street and starting to get out.
Nervously, I stepped out too. We walked up the drive to the front door. Glancing around, I realized these people must be rich. There was a marble fountain and a Corvette parked in the driveway (which I was surprised hadn't been trashed yet).
The front door was unlocked, and so we let ourselves in. The inside of the house was much hotter than the 50 degrees it was outside. Much hotter—in fact, probably at least 20 degrees hotter. The reason for that was probably the number of bodies all squashed up against one another just in the entrance hall.
"Alice!" I yelled over the music.
She didn't seem to have heard me. Instead, she was already trying to get into the rhythm of the music.
"Alice!" I yelled again. "Let's go somewhere quieter!"
She heard me this time and nodded, grabbing my wrist and pulling me through the crowd. We weaved our way into another room, which seemed to be the kitchen. Not a lot of people were here. Only two guys poking around in the refrigerator and a girl pigging out on the chips.
Suddenly, Alice gasped and turned to me, smiling like the Cheshire cat.
"What?" I asked uncomfortably. I hated when she looked at me that way. That's the look she gave me when she practically forced me into coming to this party.
"Oh, nothing," she said a little too casually. She looked away and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, there he is!"
I looked over to where she was pointing. There was a tall, lean-looking guy with a mess of wavy blond hair standing in the corner, holding a bottle of what seemed like BudLite.
She bounced her way over there, and I grudgingly followed her.
"Jasper, Jasper!" she exclaimed, running up and hooking her arms around his neck.
He looked caught by surprise for a moment, but then realized who it was and smiled. "Hi there, stranger. Have we ever met before?"
This got Alice giggling like a maniac.
"Bella, this is who I was telling you about. Jasper, this is my best friend Bella," Alice introduced. "You two are going to get along famously."
I blushed. Alice was always like this with people. Always forcing them together and trying to get them to get along. But then again, she'd never been wrong. That's how Ben and Angela had gotten together.
"Hi, Bella," Jasper said, smiling kindly.
"Hi," I muttered embarrassedly. And I was always like this with people.
"Jasper, did you know Bella likes the Smiths?" Alice interjected after a short--but awkward--silence.
Jasper's eyes widened. "No way," he grinned, showing off perfect, blindingly-white teeth. "They're awesome. Nobody else gets that."
I nodded fervently. "I know! I mean, you have to admit that Asleep is one of the best songs out there. Sing to me, sing to me—"
"—I don't want to wake up on my own anymore," he finished with a smile.
And thus launched our lengthy discussion about music. It was nice to learn Jasper too enjoyed Meat is Murder, but I had to agree to disagree that Louder than Bombs was their best album.
We talked for about another twenty minutes before we were interrupted by a pair of large hands picking Jasper up from behind.
"Jasper, buddy! Where've you been hiding, man?" a booming voice said. It belonged to an intimidating guy—well, man—that had to beat least 6'5". "Come join the party!"
Jasper managed to wrangle himself out of the hulk's grasp, laughing. "Nowhere, I've just been talking to Alice and Bella here."
Bear Man immediately turned to look at us. "Alice and Bella," he chimed, taking in our appearances. "What are you two ladies doing talking to old Jasper over here? Let me show you where the real party is." He waggled his eyebrows comically.
"Whoa, easy there, big guy," Jasper said, jokingly. "Slow down. This is Alice from my art class, the one I was telling you about." He snaked his arm across Alice's shoulders, making her face light up delightedly. "And this is Bella, her best friend."
I gave an awkward smile.
"Alice, Bella, this is my older brother Emmett," Jasper introduced. "He's a bit of a perv, but don't mind him. He was dropped a lot as a baby."
Emmett boomed with laughter, and I thought I could feel the house shaking. "Yeah, and Jasper over here was probably dipped in oil paint or something when he was younger. It seems all he can do is paint and read."
In the dim lighting, I thought I saw Jasper smile embarrassedly.
"Hey, I have an idea," Alice said suddenly, causing all of us to look over at her. "How about we play a game?"
Emmett grinned. "Now you're talking," he said, picking up a beer off of a bookshelf and twisting the cap open with his teeth. He took a swig. "What kind of game?"
Alice turned to me, smiling puckishly, with a glint in her eye. "Spin the bottle."
"
a/n: well, this is sort of a prologue-y jump-start to this sort-of story idea .... more characters will be introduced in the next chapter of course. feedback is much appreciated