Bella vs. the Guys

Chapter One: The Potion

~-~-~-~

Bella sighed as she was rudely shoved into the back of Alice's shiny, yellow Porsche. Rosalie and Alice squealed in the front as Alice peeled out of Bella's driveway.

"Oh, Bella, this is going to be so much fun!" Alice squealed.

Bella thought it would be anything but that. To her, "shopping" and "fun" should never be in the same sentence unless there was an "isn't" in between them.

Of course, Alice and Rose had dragged her into going shopping with them…again. What could she say? She was a sucker for Alice's puppy dog look. Let's not forget Rose's threats, either. When it came down to it, Bella didn't have a choice, and that's why she found herself going to Port Angeles.

Despite their terrible and horrific obsession with shopping, they were her best friends, and she didn't know what she would do without them.

Bella sighed again. She really didn't want to go shopping today.

"Now, now," Rose mocked scolded. At least, Bella thought she was kidding…"There will be no sighing on this shopping spree, clear?"

"Crystal." Bella replied with a salute. She looked out the window and saw all the cars fly by due to Alice's speeding.

At this rate, they would be there in twenty minutes, as opposed to forty-five minutes.

:O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O

They were finally at the mall, and they had dragged Bella to many, many shops. She had blushed furiously when they went into Victoria's Secret, but Alice had insisted.

"If you ever end up dating my brother, at least you'll have something nice to wear." She had said with a wave of her hand.

Bella about died right there. "What do you mean, 'nice?'"

She had just smirked. "I think you know what I mean," And they said nothing more on the matter.

Bella had a crush on Edward, and even though Alice was trying to help her, Bella knew it was hopeless. He only saw her as his little sister's best friend; nothing more, nothing less. It made her frustrated and sad, but she would deal with it…eventually.

Plus, Edward was different. He was silent, the polar opposite of Alice, who was peppy and hyper all the time. He was the definition of tall dark and handsome—at least, in Bella's book he was—but he didn't date girls. She wasn't sure if she should admire him for that, or be even more frustrated.

At least he isn't a player…She thought.

"Stop your moping, woman." Rose said. "Everything happens for a reason, and it it's meant to be, it will happen."

Bella decided she was right. If it worked out, great, if not…well, then, that was that.

"Look!" Alice exclaimed, pointing to a shop. They stopped and looked at the voo-doo like place. It had to have been a new edition for they had never seen it before.

"Looks creepy…" Rose muttered.

"Let's go check it out," Alice said. "Just to see what it's like."

So, they ventured into the store. It was full of grotesque things, like shriveled up heads, scenes of death, and little dolls that resembled people with needles beside them.

"Okay…" Bella mumbled. "This is…gross."

"More like scary!" Rose exclaimed. "Let's get out of here!"

"Wait." Alice said. She had spotted something towards the back of the store, something that was emitting a pink glow. She led them to it and found that it was a stand with viles of liquid in them. One of them was in a glass case. On the bottom of it, it said, "Love Potion Number Thirty-Nine."

The girls gathered around it. "Hmmm…" Alice hummed. "A love potion…"

"I bet Bella could use that." Rose joked.

"Shut up!" Bella rebuked. "Like you don't need it?"

"At least we're getting somewhere with our crushes. You don't even talk to Edward, and you see him almost every day."

Bella's eye twitched. "So what if I'm shy?!"

"Then this potion will help you…" A new voice crackled from behind them. The girls shrieked and whipped around to see a dark-skinned old lady wearing a corset dress with a shawl wrapped around her. She had dreadlocks and some markings on her face.

The girls watched her with curious eyes as she glided around them behind the counter. She folded her hands on top of the counter.

"This potion…" She continued. Her teeth were yellow and crooked and she had a very heavy accent. She was probably from Jamaica. "…will have men falling for you like crazy! They will not be able to resist you! Drink it, and you will never be lonely again…drink it, and be happy…"

The old lady's words rang in Bella's head. Be happy…

"Does this actually work?" Bella asked.

"Of course it does!" The woman replied harshly, causing the girls to flinch. "This potion has never failed." She then smiled. "Perhaps…you would like it?"

Bella swallowed. "Umm…"

"Try it, Bella." Alice encouraged. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"Yeah, come on, Bells." Rose helped.

Bella sighed. "How much is it?"

The lady smiled. "For you? Twenty bucks."

"We'll buy it." Alice said, slapping ten bucks on the counter. Rose fished out another ten bucks and added it to Alice's. The lady grinned, showing off her unsightly teeth, and took the money. She took out a key that was hidden in her dress (Bella didn't even want to know) and unlocked the case. She gently took it out, but before handing it to her said, "Be forewarned: the only way to break the potion's spell is to be kissed by your true love."

Bella swallowed again, but nevertheless took the vile.

"Good luck…" The three girls hurried out of the store with an image of the smiling old woman imprinted in their brains.

"That…was…strange…" Alice shivered.

"So you actually think this will work?" Bella asked incredulously.

"No," Rose snorted. "But who knows? What's the worse it can do?"

"Ruin my dignity." Bella muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Drink it!" Alice chanted. Rose joined her until finally Bella pulled out the cork and gulped it down. She coughed when she was done.

"Ugh!" She groaned. "That tasted horrible! Like…like…mushrooms!"

"Better you than me!" Rose joked as they laughed and ran outside in the rain to their car.

Little did they know that Bella's world was about to get flipped.

:O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O

They went back to Alice's house to play "Bella Barbie Doll."

"Nooo!" Bella exclaimed as she was dragged upstairs to Alice's room. She latched onto the edges of the doorframe though, and they were holding her legs up, trying to pull her into the room.

"Bella! Come on!" They exclaimed.

"No! I'm not doing it!"

Just then, Edward—whose room was across from Alice's—came out wearing just his jeans. He had a towel with him, so apparently he had just gotten out of the shower.

"Edward…" Bella said, surprised. Her grip slackened, but at the same time Rose and Alice pulled, and she fell to the ground with a thud. She was then pulled back onto Alice and Rose, who had fallen down from pulling her so hard.

They all groaned, while Edward just chuckled.

"Damn you, Edward!" Alice shouted.

"Yeah, Edward," Rose muttered darkly, glaring out the door. "Damn you for making Bella have a crush on you."

Bella's eye twitched. "Sorry if he was shirtless and still wet!"

"Gag!" Alice said. "I did not need that mental image of my brother…"

"No kidding…" Rose said.

Bella rolled her eyes, but then Alice slowly smiled evilly.

"Bellllaaaa…" She chirped. Said woman's eyes widened.

"No…NO!" She screamed as the door shut.

You would have thought it was a horror movie.

Half an hour later, they were done, and they pulled Bella behind them as they went downstairs…er…tried to go downstairs.

"Come on, Bella!" Rose sighed. "It's just Edward!"

"Yeah, my crush!" She whispered furiously.

"Don't you want to impress him?" Alice asked.

"Well…yeah…but—!"

"No buts!" Rose demanded. "Now let's go!"

"Hey, you never know…the potion might actually work!" Alice laughed with Rose, but Bella couldn't help but hope that it did work, that it was real.

Oh, stop it! She berated herself. Like it actually worked...

They went into the living room where Edward was sitting, doing his homework. Thankfully (unthankfully?) he had put on a shirt.

"Hey, Eddie!" Alice chirped and sat down beside him.

He sighed. "Don't call me Eddie."

"Whatever you say, Eddie!" Edward rolled his eyes. "Anyways, don't you think Bella looks gorgeous?!"

Bella blushed hard as Edward turned his gaze on her. He looked her up and down before smirking. "Of course she does."

Bella just about feinted. Edward got up. "Now, if you'll excuse me…I have something I need to do." He grabbed his jacket and went outside to his car.

Alice squealed once the door had shut. She jumped up and gave Bella a hug. "See?!" She exclaimed. "He does like you!"

"Now you just have to make a move!" Rose said.

Bella chuckled nervously. "Right. Me? Make a move? That's laughable."

Rose and Alice glanced at each other.

"Anyways, I'm hungry!" Bella exclaimed. They laughed and went to the kitchen to get something to eat. However, Bella wasn't that hungry. If fact, she had lost her appetite. She just wanted a distraction so they could get off the subject of Edward, a subject that seemed to break her heart.

----

Hope you liked the first chapter! Review please!

--Akatsuki Child