I heard a knock at the door of our cottage. "Come in, Alice!" I yelled from my study. She was by my side in an instant. "Bella! Guess what day it is!" I froze. I always knew she would find me…
"The twenty-eighth of November?" I stalled. She shook her head, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "The three-hundred thirty-second day of the year?" I asked hopelessly.
"Bella," she groaned. "It's Black Friday!" She was grinning maliciously. I knew I couldn't get away from it, but I tried anyway.
"What's Black Friday?" I asked, feigning mock curiosity. She scowled.
"You know what it is, and you're coming with us to go shopping!"
"Us?" I asked real curiosity in my voice this time. "Who else is going?" She rolled her eyes.
"Rosalie, Esme, Renee, Renesmee, Sue, Emily, Claire, Kim, and Rachel," she said, counting them off on her fingers. I groaned.
"What car do we have that holds eleven people?" I inquired.
"First of all, only six people are coming."
"Whatever," I muttered. She grinned.
"We rented a limo!" she declared.
"What?!" I yelped. Calming down, I asked, "Where is everyone?" She tensed and her eyes darted around nervously.
"They're sort of outside waiting for you," she confessed. Shaking my head angrily, I dressed at vampire speed and hurried to meet them. Esme looked apologetic; she obviously knew how much I hated shopping. I shrugged. Maybe this could actually be fun. We all loaded into the limousine while Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Jacob waved and threw us cheeky grins. I grimaced and stalked to the seats at the very back of the limo. Maybe I could hide there until Alice had finished. Alice watched me and shook her head.
"I'm not letting you escape," she told me. "You are sitting in the front." I growled loudly and went to sit in the nearest seat to the door. Alice shrugged and sat behind me. I folded my arms and stared out the window as the Cullens' house disappeared. Renesmee leaned across the short aisle to pat my shoulder.
"You'll have a great time, Mom," she comforted. I noticed Renee watching us with tears in her eyes.
"It's like going back in time," she said, shaking her head. I realized that I, the mother, was being the sulky teenager while my daughter acted as the authority figure. I shook my head again and returned to staring out the window. Soon, we arrived at the mall. I stomped out of the car door, but stopped when Emily caught me and showed me the deep craters and cracks my footsteps had left. I groaned and continued towards the mall. Alice was bouncing up and down.
Fortunately, we hardly spent any time there. I only had to endure a few hours of bland dressing rooms and sparkly dresses. Alice moaned that the selection this year was horrible. We finished tagging along behind Renesmee and the humans in our party as they trooped to the food court. On the way home, Alice informed me that the best Black Fridays were always on the odd numbered years. She would know, I thought bitterly.