A/N- So this is a super old fic written before Eclipse came out that I found on my computer when I was deleting files, and I noticed it was never posted. I tried to edit it for grammar mistakes considering I was quite a bit younger when I wrote it! I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer-I do not own Bella, Alice, Edward, Rosalie, Lauren or any other character mentioned in this story, with the exception of the lovely pretzel girl and the woman behind the makeup counter. If I owned them, would I be writing fan fiction?
I was getting impatient. A month til graduation, and Edward showed no signs that his discomfort at changing me had been eased. If anything, he wanted me to be changed less. But for now, he was tolerating it. And the plan was still on; I'd still get changed by Carlisle right after graduation. Maybe I was spoiled, but I wanted Edward to do it. It'd be so much more special that way. Knowing Edward, he'd probably stalk off for a few days while I was changing. I didn't think that I could take the pain if Edward wasn't besides me. I wasn't really worried though; I knew that Carlisle or Alice or someone would convince him to stay. They'd understand.
The door opened and Edward Cullen glided in. "Bella!
" Hey Edward. What's up?"
" I came to say goodbye. Me, Emmett, and Jasper are going hunting for a few days. I'll miss you.," he promised.
"Of course you will." I didn't want Edward to leave. But I understood. His topaz eyes were almost the blackest I had ever seen them, and the purple shadows under his eyes looked darker and more pronounced then usual.
Without warning, he pressed his hard lips into mine, and kissed me passionately. A familiar flutter coursed through my stomach and then settled right above it as he broke away. "Bye Bella.. Love you."
He held me again, his stone body adjusting perfectly to every part on my body. With that Jasper and Emmett joined him, just having said goodbye to their girls. They left quickly. "We'll be back in four days. We aren't going to far." I sulked for a minute. I didn't like when he left. Five days without Edward was like torture. Ah well. I had nothing better to do so I went to Alice's room to hang out with her.
"Hey Bells!" She smiled excitedly. "Guess what! Since all the guys are gone, we thought we should bond a little. Since, you know, we'll be sisters in less then a month!" She was practically bouncing up and down.
" So what are we doing?" I asked not really wanting to know the answer. Knowing Alice it was almost certain to be related to shopping or fashion.
Alice laughed out loud. I assumed it was because of something she had seen "Come on, let's get Rose. I just had an interesting .. idea." She started to laugh again. I was seriously worried now.
Rosalie entered Alice's bedroom. As always, she looked flawless. Her light hair was perfectly curled and she was wearing the shortest miniskirt I had ever seen or desired to see. She smiled in my direction. "Hey, Bella, Alice."
We weren't exactly what you'd call best friends, but our relationship had improved. She still didn't understand why I wanted to be changed, but she was trying. I understood that it was hard for her. She was jealous of things that I didn't necessarily want; such as the ability to blush or cry. I would trade with her in a minute. Not that I wanted to be a vampire, exactly, but it was just that Edward and my relationship was never going to get past kissing if I didn't change. Not to mention the intense emotional pain that was sure to come with each passing birthday. But there was no need to be worried about that now. I was going to be changed in less then a month. I had to keep reminding myself, I could hardly believe it. I was also nervous about it of course, but I tried not to think those particular feelings until I absolutely had to.
The three of us set off for the nearest mall. Which was 35 miles away. This was going to be fun. Alice and Rose could get there in no time, but they were stuck with me. That's why we arrived at the mall three hours later. Nevertheless, Alice was jubilant. " This is going to be so fun!" she spoke sang.
"Where are we going?" I asked. More than once Alice had dragged me to .. very odd shopping places.
"Oh don't worry, silly. We're only going to Nordstrom."
That didn't sound too bad. I relaxed and followed the two vampires to the large store.
We were looking at summer sundresses. Rosalie had complained loudly that there was no point buying them, seeing as we'd never get a chance to use them. I was worried for about ten seconds than realized that everyone around us would just take it that she was extremely albino and burned really fast.
" For Bella!"
". No." I whispered. "By the time it's warm enough to wear these, I won't be able to go into the sun either."
But Alice was having too much fun to care. Rosalie looked kind of depressed as she surveyed the cheery yellow and pink garments. " Rose, this would look absolutely amazing on you." Alice exclaimed loudly. It was true. Bright colors only seemed to accent her nearly white skin.
Rosalie continued looking depressed however. How blind was Alice? Even I could see that she was upset. And even I could figure out why. I was sure that if Rosalie had been able to cry, at that moment she would be. "Alice, maybe we should look at something else." I looked pointedly at Rose. Talking quietly was pointless though, I hadn't counted on Rosalie's hearing.
"No, it's fine." she said in an obviously lying voice. "Bella, it gets warm in may. You have time to wear one."
"Really, I don't want one. Let's go walk somewhere else."
Alice looked disappointed, but we walked to a different section of the store nonetheless. After careful deliberation, we ended up with about fifty miniskirts for Rosalie, about a hundred tank tops, and tons of cute little short shorts that I'd never wear now, but Alice convinced me that they'd look amazing on me in a few weeks. "I mean.. you'll be so pale and that'll take some getting used to , but you'll look fabulous. Trust me." We had also picked up some more covering clothes, and a lot of funky leggings, which were apparently all Rosalie wore in the fall. Alice had one more surprise for me.
She dragged me out of Nordstrom and into a large store that I didn't have time to catch the name of. But the second I had a chance to look around, I groaned out loud. We were surrounding by hundreds of teeny little bathing suits.
Alice looked amused at my expression "Now Bella, I have a suspicion ( she winked at me), that you'll be invited to tons of graduation beach parties and pool parties that you will most certainly want to attend.■
"Without you guys? What a joke. I don't even have a large amount of friends outside of you anyway, you know that."
"Who said it'd be without us" said Alice mischievously. I again didn't fail to notice Rosalie▓s expression. She didn't want to be here.
. An awkward moment passed, then Alice ended the silence. "No matter whether you go to these parties or not, you'll be invited. Look Bella, you have to go. Even if we can't. It'll be like your last sun filled hurrah!" she giggled slightly at those words, but they made me and Rose tense up even more. Her tone turned serious. " Bella, please. Have fun. Be happy."
"I don't even like swimming. It's not fair to you guys. I should be.. Preparing or something. Getting used to life without the sun. I don't know.."
The silence came again. "Please Bella, just let me buy you a bathing suit. You know that last time I've been shopping for one? When we were pretending, one day, or actually more hoping that one-day it would rain and the beaches wouldn't close. That was a really rainy summer, about ten years ago."
I sighed, defeated. "Fine."
"Yes!" she squealed happily. "So, what color do you want?"
" Surprise me." I said. That wasn't a really good idea, I figured, but ah well. Alice had amazing taste, as did Rosalie. And it wasn't like I'd be wearing it anyway.
After ten minutes, Alice came back holding what looked like a hundred swimsuits. She started to babble excitedly. "I got you red, and pink. And tons of different styles. And patterns. I wasn't sure whether tapered or.. Tethered would fit you.."
I was lost. I numbly let Alice shove suit after suit in my hands and I modeled each one for her.
" Rose?" she asked after a while. " Which one do you like?"
Rosalie didn't acknowledge the question for a while. "The pink one with flowers or the dark red one I think." she said softly. I was surprised she answered. "They'll both look nice. Especially when you're lounging by the pool or lying on the sand. You'll attract plenty of guys, anyway." She smirked, back to her normal self for a minute. No one, thankfully, mentioned that the only guy I really cared about seeing me would by no chance be at either place. She returned to her previous tone. " You'll have fun. Make sure to wear lots of sunscreen unless you want to be a permanently sun burned vampire." She was attempting to bring the mood back to lighthearted, but neither of us laughed.
" Anyway", Alice said loudly and we continued debating bathing suits. After nearly three hours more, Alice decided on the dark red one that Rosalie had suggested. "Try it on, one more time, just make sure you LOVE it!"
I complied and for the first time looked at myself in the mirror. I liked what I saw. A pretty girl, although she paled (not literally of course) in comparison with the two stunning girls behind her.
In fact, I thought ruefully, I would kind of miss my albino legs. They were light, no doubt, but had the ability to become a very very light golden color if I stayed in the sun for just the right amount of time.
On the way to the checkout, Alice turned. "What the heck!"she decided. "I'm getting a bathing suit too. Who knows, maybe there'll be some indoor parties! Rosalie, you want?"
Rosalie shook her head quietly. A silent understanding seemed to pass through the two sisters. "Second thought, I actually don't really want to get one today. I see us going shopping sometime in the near future." She giggled. To my dismay, a boy near us slinked up to us.
" You can tell the future? How sexy. "He was obviously trying to flirt, to no avail, with Alice. Alice smiled her adorable smile. " Sorry hon., I'm taken."
Rosalie seemed to find that hilarious for some odd reason. She burst out in peals of melodious laughter, attracting more than one odd look.
"Shut up" hissed Alice too low for human ears to hear, but it was friendly. "Hey Bella, you look hungry. I don't mind if you want to go to the food court or something."
"I'll be okay." I lied but my growling stomach betrayed me. Alice's strong grip grabbed my arm. "Honey, you're starving. Come on."
I gave up trying to protest and let her drag me to Auntie Anne's pretzels. "What flavor, honey?" asked the lady at the counter.
It was a simple decision. But I couldn't choose for some odd reason. "Umm.. excuse us a minute please." I grabbed Alice and Rosalie. Then I started to laugh again. "I can't decide what to eat, from the five choices of pretzels. I'm assuming hunting is easier then this.." That got at least Alice started. Rosalie smiled weakly.
" No, not like this at all. Its more like.. What you can get rather than what you want." Alice tried to explain it in the nicest way possible.
"Oh." My heart was sinking oddly. Who knew that I'd actually be upset that I couldn't choose what type of blood to drink. That was kind of odd. I was mortified.
I walked back to the pretzel lady and ordered a cinnamon sugar. It was delicious. Could blood actually taste as good as this? The thought was revolting. I was quickly losing my appetite. And, my nerve. Who knew that a simple shopping trip could do this?
I finished the pretzel up quickly and we walked aimlessly around the mall for a few minutes. "What do you want to do now?"
Alice looked around.. and her eyes lit up at a makeup store. She leaned over and whispered to Rosalie in such a quiet voice that no human would even know they were speaking.
"No fair." I shouted out loud.
"Look on the bright side." Alice smirked. "In a month, you'll be able to do that. Until then..." She grinned evilly. Then she grabbed my hand again and pulled me into the makeup store.
She and Rosalie talked to the woman behind the counter for a few minutes. She looked confused for a second, and then a grin slid over her face and she nodded. Alice looked very pleased with herself.
"We just got you a complete makeover!" she said jubilantly
"Hooray." I asked hesitantly. Alice laughed again.
"Sit down here." the lady said. "Lauren will be here in a minute."
I mouthed to Alice "Lauren?" I hoped it wasn't who I thought it was.
"She's one of our makeover artists in training. She's studying for a scholarship to a beauty school next year."
"No." I groaned. "Alice, how could you??"
She smirked. "It gets better."
Lauren arrived in a minute, and when she was whom she was working on, her mouth twisted in obvious anger. But then Alice spoke to her for a minute, and an evil grin spread on her face. I was getting worried. Extremely nervous.
She set to work on my face immediately, laughing all the while. I was honestly terrified of what she was doing. "Can I have a mirror, please?" I asked. She refused.
"Sorry, but our customers." She smirked, "can't see themselves until we're finished."
I saw her pick up a tube of bright red makeup, and a brush. Actually, several brushes. After a few minutes, I grew really uneasy. She sure was using a lot of that on my face. I figured I was going to go out completely humiliated or something, dressed like a clown. I grimaced. I could live through that, but rest assured that if Alice was not a hundred times stronger than me, I would kill her on the spot. Sometimes it sucked having vampires as best friends.
"Now close your eyes" Lauren said innocently. She began to put eyeliner and shadow all over my eyes. She sure was using a lot of eyeliner. Great, now I was a Goth clown?
Next she picked up the brightest red lipstick I had ever seen. "Pucker up."
She smeared the lipstick all over my mouth. I didn't even want to imagine what I looked like. She picked up what looked like lip liner and began drawing on my face. Great, now I had a beard? This was crazy. I was mad.
Lastly she picked up a huge white powder compact and began to powder my face. Am I to be an old lady? I was confused now. She completely covered my face in the powder, and I prayed that it wasn't purple or anything.
"Now time for hair." She smiled sweetly, and led me over to a station with what seemed like thousands of creams, brushes and gadgets to make you look amazing.
She started by messing up my hair. And then she brushed it flat. Completely. She straightened it so it was thin as a board. Last, she shampooed my hair in a very black substance, I was almost sure it was dye. Better not be permanent. She cut my hair at the top so I had bangs. Very distinct ones. She flattened my hair one more time and sprayed something in it for effect, then called Alice and Rosalie over for approval. They both lost it. Alice actually fell on the floor rolling in laughter. I was extremely relieved that being undead, they didn't need to breathe. If they had, they would have been dead already. They didn't seem to be able to stop. With a last laugh, they ran out of the store to compose themselves.
Lauren put the finishing touches on while I waited for them to come back. "And when they did..", I thought darkly.
They returned, apparently they hadn't been able to stop because they were still dying. Rather an ironic word, but I didn't let it bother me. They took one look at whatever else Lauren had done since they left and their faces crumpled hopelessly. They both shook visibly and Alice gasped that she needed to sit down, she was laughing so hard. I looked at them with the best death look I could muster. It made them laugh even harder.
"I think it's time to show our lovely friend what she looks like, shall we?" Alice laughed as she led me to a mirror. I was almost afraid to look. Before I had a chance to, though, Rosalie covered the mirror. "Before you get mad, remember it's what you wanted." With that the two collapsed into giggles again. I stared in the mirror, in absolute shock.
I was, to put it lightly.. a mess. My face was pale white. Whiter even then of Alice's or Rose's, or the rest of the Cullens. My eyes were outlined and dark, and there were huge, monstrous shadows under them. The shadows were purple and dark and I looked like I hadn't slept in years. My face was also covered in bright red. Smears of it covered my mouth and all the way almost reaching my eyes. There was red dripping off my chin. There was even red on my teeth! On my chin there was a black thing drawn in pencil. A pair of fangs, again dripping red. My hair was flat as a board, and dark as night. My bangs were cut eerily straight.
"Oh My God." I looked like every stereotype of a vampire anyone has ever heard of. "HOW DARE YOU!" I was mad.
Rosalie smirked. "Oh come on Bells, it's what you want, isn't it.?" Her eyes held a mischievous glint. "You don't have to wait after all."
"And we even skipped the pain for you! You should be down on your knees, not yelling at us"Alice chimed in.
"Oh, I'm eternally grateful."I said sarcastically, and then realized that what I had just said fit only too morbidly well.
"And now you won't need that bathing suit we just bought you! After all, you won't be able to go in the sun, unless you want to burn. You won't have to worry about blushing either" she added off handily, watching my face turn even redder than the blood in embarrassment. And do you like those beautiful fangs we gave you? Nice and sharp, right? Perfect for all the humans you are going to eat!!"
Alice pretended to look confused. "But I thought vampires didn't eat? I thought they just drunk blood."
"No silly, they eat people! They have lots and lots of choices on which type of person to eat ,too." My face blushed even brighter.
"But you better not eat too many humans, or else you'll have your heart driven out by a stake. It's the only way to kill you, after all."
"Ahhh.. Go get the garlic. It will protect us from the scary vampire who's going to eat our blood! I bet she's feeling thirsty now!"
I couldn't believe how comfortable they were with poking fun at themselves. It unnerved me.
"Oh, look at the time, getting late! We'll have to run!" screamed Alice insanely.
"After all, we're vampires, we're super fast!" With that the two shot off at a near human speed.
"Wait.. At least let me wash my face off" I yelled pathetically, trying in vain to keep up with them.
"But that would spoil all the fun! Oh, one more thing! We need pictures! We can't let Emmett or Jasper or Edward miss this!"
They dragged me into a photo booth and took several candids of me in my new getup. The two of them laughing hysterically, we exited the mall.
" How dare you!" I shouted at them. "That was seriously the cruelest thing I have ever endured in my life."
"Calm down Bella! It was all in good fun!"
I laughed sarcastically. " Fun for you, maybe. Do you enjoy humiliating people? Not to mention yourselves?"
"Please, Bella, wait!" Rosalie pleaded. "It was my fault. I was upset that you were so anxious to change. I don't know if you noticed during the trip that I was upset, but I was. I'm so jealous of you." She looked like she wanted to cry. "You have so much, and you want to give it all up. Give up the sun and food and become like us. I don't understand it! And I was so upset with you that you didn't seem to care. Didn't seem to notice what you were doing. Oh Bella, forgive me. It wasn't a mean gesture, it really wasn't. Just a harmless joke! We like poking fun at the stupid myths swirling around about us, it's fun for us! Please try to understand Bella! I'm not trying to be mean to you in any way. It was a joke. It went too far, using Lauren and all that."
She
finished her outburst. During it, I had had time to compose myself.
Now I was quite calm as I spoke.
"I understand. I'm not really
angry with you, just humiliated and slightly hurt. I'm sorry,
Rosalie, if I'm too eager to give it all, as you say. I've had
second thoughts about my decision, especially seeing you today. But I
love Edward, an unbearable amount. There is no way I can live without
him, and live as a human when he's immortal. It's impossible.
Imagine if it was Emmett, and you were me. What would you do."?
She considered that for a second. It didn't take very long. "I'd change." she said confidently.
"See what I mean? It's not a desire to give anything up. I see it only as gaining something. Something that means to me way more than tears or sunlight or bathing suits ever could. "
Rosalie nodded slowly."I see. I'll try to be more open minded with you. It's just that whenever I look at you I see a lost chance. It's not a happy feeling."
I smiled hopefully. "Can I wash the makeup off? I've learned my lesson."
"We would let you," Alice cut in, " but I think our parents need a good laugh too."
They both laughed again and put their cold arms around me as we walked towards the Cullen household.