I was so excited about our "girls' night out" with Bella and Angela. Bella and I had become friends over the past weeks, and I was beginning to like this sarcastic, accident-prone klutz. Angela and I were sitting in the front of my white Mercury, and Bella was in the back. I was driving. I thought that the date with Mike had gone well, and I expected that we would be on the first-kiss level soon. I was starting to become interested in Mike, and I asked Angela how she felt about Eric. She said she was looking forward to the dance, but she wasn't really interested in him. I pressed for more details, but Bella asked a question about what type of dresses we were going to get.
"What the heck does semiformal mean, anyways?" I asked, worried at the fact that I might walk into the dance with blue jeans on, and everyone else would be in tuxedos and long expensive dresses.
"I'm not sure. . ." Angela replied.
Bella mentioned something about never having gone to a dance in Phoenix, and Angela and I spun around in disbelief.
"Didn't you ever go with a boyfriend or something?" I asked her incredulously. We then arrived at department store numero uno, and headed for the juniors' section of formal dresses (or. . . semiformal).
"Really," Bella said. "I've never had a boyfriend or anything close. I didn't go out much."
"Why not?" I asked.
"No one asked me," she answered. I wasn't sure if I believed her yet.
"People ask you here, and you tell them no." I prompted.
Angela spoke up. "Well, except for Tyler," she said quietly.
"Excuse me?" Bella stopped short and turned to Angela. "What did you say?"
"Tyler told everyone he's taking you to prom."
"He said what?" Bella choked out the words.
"I told you it wasn't true," Angela muttered to me.
Bella was quiet, probably from shock. If I were her, I'd be furious.
"That's why Lauren doesn't like you," I giggled, while shifting through a dress rack.
"Do you think that if I ran him over with my truck he would stop feeling guilty about the accident? That he might give up on making amends and call it even?"
She seemed serious . . . like she already was making plans and had an alibi prepared.
"Maybe . . . if that's why he's doing this," I told her.
There were two dresses that I really liked – a black dress that went to the floor, and one peacock blue dress with thin straps that skimmed my knees. The black one was simple, yet elegant. I was afraid that the blue one would be too flashy and bright, so I decided to ask Bella and Angela's opinion. I walked out of my dressing room. Angela was trying on a pale pink one – it looked lovely on her tall figure. Bella was sitting on a chair, trying to calm down from the whole "Tyler" episode.
"Is this one too much?" I asked.
Angela nodded her head in approval.
"Yeah, you should go for it," Bella encouraged. She had less fashion sense than a tree stump, but I took her advice anyway. I walked back into my dressing room, and started putting my normal clothes on. I wished that Bella was going to the prom – I would find the perfect dress for her. I think she would look good in violet . . . or maybe midnight blue . . . definitely not pink – that wouldn't look good with her fair complexion.
Bella needed a closet makeover. She's really pretty, and even beautiful, but her clothes are just kind of boring. She needed a wardrobe that reflected her beauty. I looked at myself in the mirror, and caught sight of my hair. I really liked my hometown of Forks, Washington. But the one thing I hated was the rain. It makes my already curly hair poof and frizz. I pulled my hair into a ponytail to tame the beast on the top of my head. We proceeded to another section of the store to search for shoes and accessories. I left Angela and Bella to look at the jewelry. I found the perfect things – little diamond drop earrings, and a bracelet with matching rhinestones.
I had heard good reviews about a little Italian restaurant that was located on the boardwalk, so we three decided to eat there.
"Hey, Jessica, maybe we should put our clothes in your trunk," Angela suggested.
"I'm not that hungry," Bella said. "I want to check out some of the bookstores they have here. I'll meet you guys at the restaurant in an hour."
"Are you sure?" I asked. "We'll come with you."
Angela nodded her head in agreement.
"No, it's okay. I can go by myself," Bella insisted. I pointed to where the bookstore was. I hoped she enjoyed bookstores that consisted of old hippie ladies. Angela and I walked towards the bay, gossiping about who was taking who to prom, and what was going on at school and stuff.
Almost an hour and forty – five minutes later, Angela and I were searching through stores trying to find Bella.
"Something bad happened to her, I just know it!" Angela exclaimed. I was a little concerned too, but I tried to keep my cool.
"Nothing bad happened to her – she probably just got lost or something," I tried to calm Angela down. We quickened our pace coming out of a boutique, and then I heard a voice behind us.
"Jess! Angela!"
We turned around, and rushed over to Bella; a sea of relief consumed me. But then I caught a glimpse of the tall pale figure with bronze hair and golden eyes. Edward was with her! (I didn't have "the hots" for him anymore – I had moved on.) I had seen her talking to him in class a lot, and he sometimes drove her to and from school . . . and she would always stare at him from across the cafeteria . . . maybe they were secretly dating . . .
"Where have you been?" I asked suspiciously.
"I got lost," Bella answered. I knew it. "And then I ran into Edward."
"Would it be alright if I joined you?" Edward asked. His voice surprised me; it was irresistible and soft, like you couldn't say no to this guy.
"Err . . . sure," I probably made a fool out of myself.
"Um, actually, Bella, we already ate while we were waiting – sorry," Angela corrected me.
"That's fine – I'm not hungry," Bella said.
"I think you should eat something." Edward was already in control of this conversation. Then he looked up at me. "Do you mind if I drive Bella home tonight? That way you won't have to wait while she eats."
"Uh, no problem, I guess." I bit my lip, trying to figure out if it was safe leaving Bella with this beautiful creepy guy, or to let Bella have her date. She winked at me, but before I could comprehend it, Angela interrupted my thought process.
"Okay," Angela said. "See you tomorrow, Bella . . . Edward." She grabbed my arm and pulled me to my car. As Angela got in the passenger seat, I paused to wave, wondering what the heck just happened. I guess we made the right choice leaving Bella with Edward, because she seemed pretty happy. I would save the bombardment of questions for tomorrow.
The next day at school, in Trig class, I anxious to know what had happened between Edward and Bella the night before. She walked through the doorway, and unwillingly came and sat next to me. Bella probably didn't want to hear my questions, but if they didn't come out soon, I would have exploded.
"Tell me everything," I demanded.
"What do you want to know?"
"What happened last night?"
"He bought me dinner, and then he drove me home."
But I knew she was holding some information back.
"How did you get home so fast?" I questioned.
"He drives like a maniac, it was terrifying." she said.
"Was it a date – did you tell him to meet you there?"
She thought for a second. "No – I was very surprised to see him there." That part was true. I was disappointed.
"But he picked you up from school today?"
"Yes – that was a surprise, too. He noticed I didn't have a jacket last night." she said.
"So are you going out again?" I asked.
"He offered to drive me to Seattle Saturday because he thinks my truck isn't up for it – does that count?"
Of course, it counts! "Yes," I responded.
"Well, then, yes."
"WOW." I thought Edward would be the last person Bella would go out with. "Edward Cullen."
"I know," she agreed.
"WAIT!" I made this discussion come to a halt. "Has he kissed you?"
"No," she muttered. "It's not like that."
I was let down. I was hoping for more juicy details than that. "Do you think Saturday . . . ?"
"I really doubt it." I could tell Bella was disappointed too.
"What did you talk about?" I whispered. Mr. Varner was already started teaching, but he doesn't notice when half of the class isn't even listening to him.
"I don't know, Jess, lots of stuff. We talked about the English essay a little."
I knew she wasn't giving me the whole story. "Please, Bella," I would have gotten down on my hands and knees, but Mr. Varner would have eventually noticed that. "Give me some details!"
"Well . . . okay, I've got one. You should have seen the waitress flirting with him – it was over the top. But he didn't pay any attention to her at all."
Bella was going to have to get used to that if she was going to have a boyfriend as good looking as Edward. But he wouldn't pay attention to another girl when he was on a date with Bella. I don't think he's that kind of guy.
"That's a good sign. Was she pretty?"
"Very – and probably nineteen or twenty."
"Even better. He must like you."
"I think so, but sometimes it's hard to tell. He's always so cryptic." She sighed.
"I don't know how you're brave enough to be alone with him."
"Why?" Bella seemed stunned.
"He's so . . . intimidating. I wouldn't know what to say to him." I thought about how I was at a loss for words last night.
"I do have some trouble with incoherency when I'm around him," Bella confessed.
"Oh well. He is unbelievably gorgeous." I shrugged.
"There's a lot more to him than that."
"Really? Like what?" Is it possible for someone beautiful on the outside to be even more beautiful on the inside?
"I can't explain it right . . . but he's even more unbelievable behind the face." She zoned out and stared at the board at the front of the classroom.
"Is that possible?" I asked, in between giggles. "So you like him, then?" I asked.
"Yes," Bella answered right away.
"I mean, do you really like him?" I asked again, and her cheeks flushed crimson.
"Yes."
"How much do you like him?"
"Too much," Bella sighed. "More then he likes me. But I don't see how I can help that.
"Miss Stanley!" a stern voice interrupted.
I snapped my head up in Mr. Varner's direction, and turned my torso around so I could face him.
"What is the angle that is opposite from the hypotenuse?"
I skimmed through the files inside my head until I found what I was looking for. "Um . . . the 90 degree angle. The right angle."
He threw me a look that said I'll get you next time you're not paying attention.
I didn't get to start on the topic of Edward, but when I had the chance to after class, Bella beat me to the punch.
"In English, Mike asked me if you said anything about Monday night," she told me.
I completely forgot about finishing the earlier discussion. "You're kidding! What did you say?!" I was worried that Bella told him the wrong thing, or he misinterpreted what she said to make it seem like I didn't have a good time.
"I told him you said you had a lot of fun – he looked pleased."
"Tell me exactly what he said, and your exact answer!"
On the way to Spanish, Bella repeated all of the dialogue that went on between her and Mike. I was relieved.
After the bell dinged signaling that it was lunch time, Bella leaped out of her seat and pushed her books inside of her backpack a little faster than usual. I mean, lunch is fun and all – we get to "socialize", but it's not that exhilarating. But then I realized where all of her motivation was coming from.
"You're not sitting with us today, are you?"
"I don't think so."
We walked outside of class, and there he was, leaning against the wall. I rolled my eyes in good humor, and took off. "See you later, Bella," I called over my shoulder.
At lunch, I was studying every movement Edward made. He ordered a lot of food, and he didn't even eat at school . . . maybe Edward was manorexic. I'd save hammering details out of Bella for after school.