Bella's POV

Sasha counted the steps as we danced across the room.

"And one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . Nice, Courtney! Just like that!" Her French accent was strong in her speech and very attractive.

She was overall attractive woman though. She was tall, with long black hair always tied up in a bun. Her eyes were green and bright and her skin was flawless. And she was skinny—extremely skinny. Her legs went on for days.

Soon, it was my turn to go forward and display my practiced dance moves. I'd been working on my jump all night so I hoped I could pull it off now on the wooden and slippery surface of the studio floor. I took a deep breath and rose onto the tips of my toes and took my jump, trying to be as graceful as my body allowed.

"Beautiful, Bella!" Sasha praised and I glowed with pride as I stuck the landing without so much as a sound.

Ballet was something new to me. I had only started a few months after they left and I was surprised to learn that if I put all my focus into it I could actually be a good dancer. I had, of course, needed to lose some weight before I could really be graceful. I was 120Ibs the first time I weighed myself at the beginning of classes a few months back. I weighed myself once more a week ago and was so proud of myself. I was only 106. Sasha congratulated me.

Today was the weekly weigh-in and I knew I had lost more weight over the last few days. We all had to remain on our toes (no pun intended) for the recital coming up soon. I stood behind another girl in my class named Kate. She had been doing this forever and weighted a stunning 87Ibs. She was a little shorter than me but she was still super-thin for her height. I knew I had a long way to go before I could be half as graceful as she was.

She stepped onto the large, old looking scale and frowned.

"90Ibs," Sasha sighed, then clicked her tongue in disappointment. "You need to double up on your training and put down the knife and fork for a while, Kate."

"I'm sorry, Sasha," she apologized, staring at the scale in despair.

I said a silent prayer before stepping onto the scale. My eyes stayed closed until I heard the dial click into place. I risked a peek and nearly squealed in excitement.

Sasha patted me on the back. "102Ibs. Impressive Isabella. Very nice. Keep it up, though! You're almost where you need to be."

I nodded and stepped down for the next girl. On my way to the locker rooms I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I was wearing a black dance suit; it was more like a one-piece swimsuit, and light pink stockings, along with my point shoes. My bones protruded in many places, most of which were covered. Though the back was open and I could clearly see every vertebra in my spine and my shoulder blades jutted out. My collarbones were large and seemed to stretch my pale, almost grey skin. My cheekbones were also prominent and my legs seemed so much longer now that my thighs were half the size they used to be. I smiled widely. I've never looked better.

Edward's POV

The plane ride back to Washington was endless. I thought I might jump out of the plane and run at any moment for my being unable to suppress my excitement.

I stared out the window in silence though. All the while imagining what Bella will say when she sees we've returned. Will she be angry? Will she consider taking me back once I've admitted to the terrible mistake I made and apologize profusely? Only time will tell. Carlisle comes to sit beside me and waits for me to turn and look at him before he speaks.

"How do you think she will respond?" he asks tenderly.

I shrug. "I have no idea. I imagine she will be upset for a while. But this is Bella we're talking about. She always surprises me."

He smiles. "Yes, that she does." Then he sighs. "We've all missed her, you know. We didn't want to say anything for fear it might upset you, but we always knew you would find your way back to her."

His mind was in fast-forward, the thoughts flying fast enough that I couldn't concentrate on one before it vanished. Whether it was tactful or just the way he was thinking I don't know.

"Do you think she's changed much?" I ask, more pondering to myself than asking him the actual question.

"How much could one person change in a few months, Edward?"

"True," I nod. "But she managed to take me from the man who was content with his own company to someone hopelessly in love with a human girl in a matter of weeks."

"I don't think we've missed much. She'll probably be the same, red-faced, clumsy young lady we left behind months ago." He tried to sound confident but I could hear the doubt in his voice. It was well-disguised but still present.

"Yes," I agree anyway. "I imagine so."

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