BPOV
I give my sweetest smile and laugh when I'm supposed to find what she says funny.
Part of me is sad.
Sad that she needs to pay for friendship.
She's brought large shopping bags with her, and it takes time to register that she's the one that wants to play Bella Barbie.
I try on the clothes she hands me.
Sit in the chair and let her play with my hair.
Watch the faces she makes when she puts make-up on me.
I suppose it's hard to find sincere friends when you're that wealthy.
I have experience entertaining women intimately. An apprenticeship in Volterra has shown me many ways to entertain either sex.
But being friends with someone is something new.
Of course I have friendly relationships with my clients, but once the contract is up I rarely spend time thinking about them.
The Cullens will change that.
I feel it in my bones.
And just like that, I try to fortify the walls around my heart.
These people will break me.
"Jasper wants to know if you play chess. I don't have the patience for the game."
I nod my head, and she giggles while telling me to hold still. She claims she doesn't want to start doing my hair over again, even though we both know it's a lie.
She tells me about a benefit that the Cullens are attending.
I'm expected to go as well.
It's how I'll be introduced to their circle of elitist friends.
A friend that Alice made on one of her many shopping excursions over-seas.
To their friends I'm a guest of the Cullens, staying with them indefinitely.
I'm sure some will know the truth regardless.
"Bella, we're going to be best friends. I just know it."
I smile again.