Chapter Two
Ever since that first day at school, Alice and I have been inseparable. Best friends didn't even to begin to describe us or so we thought. We finally decided one night at one of our many 'sleepovers' that we were sisters that God forgot to put together. The only real differences between us are that Alice is a bit more girly than I am and I'm more into books. We figure since everything else seems to be good that it just sort of evens out.
Our parents got use to the fact that they would either have company or one less child each night. Of course there were some exceptions but for the most part, it was either my house that Alice was staying at or I was staying at the Cullen's every night. Everyone at school seemed to think that our names were some sort of phrase because anytime we would be noticed in the hallway, they'd call us "Alice and Bella" or "Bella and Alice". It took me 15 minutes to describe to a new kid that my name was NOT Alice Ann Bella.
The one thing I did find a bit odd about my Cullen's visits were that this brother I'd heard so much about was never there. I figured I would eventually run into the infamous Edward Cullen but I never did see him. I saw a few pictures they had set up like most proud parents do but they seemed a bit outdated considering that Alice was wearing overalls with Tweedy Bird on them. I could tell from the picture that he was kind of cute but then again he was, what? Twelve in that picture? Then my mind started to wonder. I started thinking that I should get in trouble with the law or something for even allowing those sorts of thoughts to enter my head! I was eighteen and I was thinking a twelve-year-old was cute? Wow…I really need to get out more.
After Alice interrupted my weird thought process, I asked her about Edward. She said that he was in Florida taking some college classes and that he'd be back for the summer.
"He said that he might have to miss graduation," Alice pouted, "but he said he'd get me an awesome graduation present if he did. Trust me, I'm holding him to that."
Like clock work, the school year ended which meant graduation. I wasn't really looking forward to the whole process. You sit and listen to boring speeches about the future from the smart and popular people from the class, you wait for your name to be called, walk up front, get a picture taken as you grab a stupid piece of paper that says 'hey! You spent twelve years working your butt off for this and the paper quality isn't even that great!' and then you sit down, move the tassel over and go on your merry little way. Woo-freakin-hoo.
I tried to keep my spirits up though because I knew Alice was excited. It was the whole reason she begged her mom to let her attend public school. And I guess in reality, a graduation ceremony really isn't too tragic…I just don't like all the attention on me at any certain point in time.
Just like I thought, graduation was just as boring in the audience as it was on the floor only this time, I actually got to move without being yelled at for blocking anybody's view.
"Isabella Marie Swan," said the principal as he announced my entrance.
'That'd be me,' I thought. As I walked up to receive my diploma, I prayed that I wouldn't fall on my face, even thought that seemed like something I would do. Actually that IS something I would do, which is why I was praying for it not to happen.
After the ceremony, I met up with Charlie and he did his awkward congratulations and hug. During our father/daughter moment, I heard a loud yet familiar squeal behind me. As I turned around, a very bouncy, excited Alice attacked me.
"Oh!" was all I could say as she pretty much tackled me. "Congrats to you too," I said as I laughed.
"Bella!! My parents are taking me to New York!! They just told me. The whole family is going, actually. They're taking me as a graduation present and using it as a vacation too so everybody wins."
"Really?! That's great, Alice!!" I told her, suddenly realizing something. "Wait…how long are you gonna be gone?"
"It's gonna be for the summer, so probably two months!!" Alice exclaimed as she continued to almost jump out of her skin in excitement.
"Oh…" I said as I thought about what the summer would be like without her, "That sounds amazing. I hope you guys have fun." I hoped my disappointment wasn't seeping through into my voice.
"I know we will!! It's gonna be so awesome...we're gonna----" Alice put her arm around my shoulders as she started talking about shopping, sightseeing, meeting some cute guys when I realized that it sounded as if I was going with.
"Wait…" I shrugged out from under her arm so I could stand in front of her, "What are you talking about?"
"Well, you're going with Bella…duh!" Alice said with her hand on her hip. That valley girl pose would have annoyed me any other day but I was really confused at this point.
As I processed this, a smile lit my face. "Wait…I'm going with??" Alice nodded with a smile that you could light the entire town with. "No way!!!!!" I yelled as I almost tackled her in the same way she did to me.
"Yeah! Mom and Dad talked it over with Charlie and you're good to go! This is going to be so much fun! We leave in two weeks so we've got a massive amount of planning to do! I figure we can go shopping tomorrow and get all kinds of clothes for the trip and then we can—"
"Wait…Alice?" A blush of embarrassment slowly crept up through my cheeks. "I mean, I have enough to go shopping but I don't think I have money for a plane ticket, there's no way I can afford a trip to New York!" I felt so bad that I was ruining her plans and worse that I got all excited for a trip I'd never take.
Alice laughed, which surprised me. "Bella…graduation present" she said as she pointed to herself. "Do you honestly believe that my parents would have planned this without adding you into the equation too? I mean, we're practically connected at the hip! It's all taken care of."
A smile similar to Alice's lit up my face.
We headed home so that we could get ready for our shopping trip that we'd planned for the next day. And yes, it IS necessary to prepare for one of Alice's shopping trips. You don't want to mess with this girl when she's in her extreme shopping mode…it's scary. She's like a kid in a toy store that's allowed anything she wants. I've learned in my experience that if she tries to buy me something and I argue, she'll just spend more money in the end on me. I don't feel too bad about it because we're about the same size and we have similar tastes in clothes so whatever she buys me will fit her too and I figure she'll borrow it or decide to keep it at some point or another.
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I ended up staying at Alice's that night and we talked for the majority of it about the trip.
"So, I talked specifics with my parents today. We can roam around most of the day as long as we stay together. Dad would like for a least one of the guys to be with us at all times if possible because he's a bit paranoid. The only real rule they gave me is that we have to be back for the family dinner every night just so we can catch up and actually see each other all at the same time." Alice explained.
I nodded in agreement. "That sounds manageable," I added with a laugh.
"Oh! Good news. It looks like you get to meet Edward tomorrow."
"Really?? Cool! I was beginning to think that he didn't exist and that you just photoshop'd all the pictures around the house with some strange boy so I'd believe you," I laughed.
"Oh, no…believe me. He exists. Either that or my imaginary friend really annoys me sometimes." Alice said as she rolled her eyes. "Alright…we'd better get some sleep. We've got shopping to do tomorrow." She added with a grin that I was sure had some evil plans behind it.
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A/N: ta-da!! Chapter two! :D
I like reviews…reviews are good…reviews are pretty…I would like to see them :) lol…
Oh yeah…and the comment about Alice having overalls with Tweedy Bird on them…yeah, I was looking thru my old photo albums earlier and saw a picture of me that had overalls on like those…so I thought it would be funny to put that in there :) lol…
So pretty much…this story was originally 'n Jack's (my ex-roommate) and she started writing this and never finished so I went back and I'm rewriting the chapters…it's still pretty much the same content but I am just putting my own stuff in it too. I tend to write more than she does..lol..
So..do you think I'm going too fast on the story line or not fast enough? Are there too many filler stuff like details about pictures and stuff? Let me know what ya'll think :D
Thank ya for reading! :D