A/N – Sorry. It's took me absolutely ages to post this but I've been really uninspired. I'm not too fond of this chapter which is half the reason it took so long to post but I have some good ideas for the next few so they'll be better.
Chapter Three
The next day, I put my plan into action. Alice was thrilled but the rest of my family weren't so enthusiastic. She's been annoying the hell out of dad because now I gave her the idea; she can't stop thinking about it, and because she's so excited her thoughts are coming across dominant and loud compared to everyone else's. Yes, I had convinced Alice to throw a party. Well, I don't know if I can use the term 'convinced' when Alice was more than happy to host it before I'd even asked her. Just after I had the sudden thought for this party, Alice came running out the door.
"Yes, yes, yes!" she beamed, giving me a quick hug while dad looked on bewildered, trying to figure out what was happening. My thoughts probably went something along the lines of "I know, I'll get Alice to- Alice! Why are you hugging me?" and hers were probably just echoes of what she was shrieking at me.
"There's so much to do!" she'd cried. "And you want it next week? Why didn't you give me more notice? I have to organise food, music, decorations. This one is going to be so much better than the last! Rosalie!" and then she'd ran back into the house, still talking excitedly to herself. I laughed as I remembered it and Nadia looked at me curiously from where she was sitting opposite me on the school field.
"Sorry," I smiled, "I was daydreaming again." She laughed.
"Well that's a surprise! You're always daydreaming. What was it about this time?"
"Jacob," I lied automatically. I had learnt to keep vampire related things to myself. But then I thought, why not? She'd hear about it pretty soon anyway. "Well actually, my family's having a house party." Her blue eyes widened.
"More like mansion party!" she grinned.
"Hah hah,"I laughed sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"So what's the occasion? When's it happening? What am I going to wear! Oh, do you think Alice would do my make up?"
"I'm sure she'd love to," I promised, wishing I'd never brought the stupid party up, seeing as there didn't seem to be much hope of it going away anytime soon. "It's a family sort of event though, so you can bring your parents and stuff," I shrugged, "Carlisle and Esme want to meet everyone I guess. They really don't know too many people." I felt guilty, seeing how easy the lies rolled off my tongue. But I should be used to it by now, I told myself. I lie about so many other things.
"Oh, ok. But I still want Alice to do my make up. We'll take lots of photos, yeah?" she grinned, getting out her phone. "I'm going to text the others, ok?"
"Yeah, thanks," I said gratefully, glad I wouldn't have to repeat the party conversation again. "Don't forget to invite their parents." She looked at me strangely, obviously wondering why I was so keen for parents to attend. I made a mental note to stop being so enthusiastic.
I could hear dad and Jasper arguing in the dining room as they tried to agree on what music would be played. Alice was upstairs with Lindsay and Nadia who'd arrived early using the excuse of wanting to help out, but really just wanted Alice to do their hair. Rosalie and Jacob had been assigned the job of making sure the food wouldn't burn, and I could hear them arguing from the living room where I was finishing putting up decorations. I hung the last set of fairy lights then wandered into the kitchen to try and break up the fight before the first guests arrived.
"Come on it's going to burn!" Jacob was crouched on the floor, staring at the pizzas through the oven door. Rose pushed him out the way and peered in.
"It is not. Anyway, I have strict instructions here from Bella: 'Ness likes the pizzas when they are just starting to go brown.' and those pizzas are still yellowy," she sniffed then wrinkled her nose. "You just want to rush it so you can eat some of them. Don't know why, they stink. Just like all the other human food you eat." Jacob ignored her, still staring at the pizzas.
"C'mon Jake," I laughed, squatting down beside him. "Staring at them isn't going to make them cook any faster." He turned round to face me and his smile widened. Nadia, Lindsay and Alice stomped down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, twirling round so we could see their dresses. Alice suddenly noticed me standing there and her eyes widened.
"Right. Upstairs now," her eyes glazed over as she searched into the near future and I looked towards Lindsay and Nadia to see if they had noticed but they were distracted, giggling excitedly about the party.
"Yes," Alice murmured. "There's time." She grabbed my arm and began dragging me up the stairs. I could hear faint cries of 'It is brown!" as we got to the third floor. We walked to Alice's room and she let go of my arm as she ran into her walk in wardrobe. She reappeared ten seconds later, her arms full of dresses and shoeboxes.
"Alice, is there really time for all this?"
"Yes. The doorbell will ring the second a few minutes after I finish your make up. Now, try this dress with these heels..." I pulled them on, already knowing that she wouldn't be satisfied. "Well, that's nice but that colour is going to clash with the eye shadow. What about this one?" She threw dresses at me one after the other and I began to grow impatient after about the eighth dress.
"Alice!" I groaned as she sifted through her wardrobe again. "You must have something in there!" She threw a dress at me and then emerged from the wardrobe with another shoebox. I sighed and pulled it on then I looked in the mirror. I was wearing a short floral dress with no straps. Alice handed me a pair of gladiator heels and I pulled them on, admiring them in the mirror. Alice smiled.
"This is the one Alice," I couldn't stop smiling. The doorbell rang and I walked towards the door to go get it.
"Excuse me? Where do you think you're going?"
I turned back round to face her. "Umm, I was going to answer the door."
"You don't have your hair or make up done yet! And anyway, it's just Seth and Leah. They won't mind waiting."
"Don't do too much, Alice," I half pleaded, sitting down in the seat she was pointing to. She laughed. "What?" I asked.
"You're just like your mother when she was human. 'C'mon Alice, don't make a fuss.'" She grabbed her straightners and turned them on full heat. Then she got her make up bag and started spreading out different eyeshadows and eyeliners on the dressing table. Twenty minutes later, I was done. I was walking down the stairs just as the doorbell went and I skipped over to answer it.
Nicola, her mother and Sarah and her mother were standing on the doorstep. I invited them in, forcing a smile as Mrs Smith's wide eyes met mine then she broke eye contact to gaze around the hallway cautiously. I welcomed them in, deciding to just leave the door open so I wouldn't have to keep answering it. Nicola and Sarah complimented my dress and then we went to find Lindsay and Nadia who were sitting with Emmett, flicking through different music channels on the plasma. I guessed Jasper and dad couldn't decide on which music they wanted. The atmosphere seemed to get more tense as Mrs Smith entered the room but only for a second because then it became relaxed and calm. I caught Jasper's eyes from across the room and sent him a silent thanks.
"Hello!" Lindsay's mother called as she entered the big room. Behind her were Nadia's mother and a few other people from school with their parents. I smiled at them warmly, grateful that they'd come.
"I'll go get some drinks shall I?" Esme asked, walking out the room before anyone could reply. Emmett finally settled on a song and stood up and pulled Rosalie into the middle of the room to dance. Lindsay, Nicola and Nadia started dancing together so I pulled Sarah up from where she was perching on the arm of the sofa. We both started giggling and dancing and I tried to ignore the strained looks Mrs Smith was giving us and the rest of my family. Suddenly, her eyes widened and I panicked, scanning the room quickly trying to figure out what was making her look so shocked. My eyes fell on Jacob and Embry who had just walked in to the living room, wearing just loose fitting vests, cropped pants and flip flops, their pack tattoos on full view. I tried to see them in Mrs Smith's point of view but I couldn't see anything other than my Jacob, with his broad and genuine smile when he caught my eye. He crossed the room in a few large strides to stand beside me while Embry went to talk to Leah and Seth. I looked back to Mrs Smith and saw her looking at me and Jacob with a curious expression on her face and then she smiled, with a look that could only be described as relieved – and it was directed at me. I smiled back at her, a bit bewildered while Jacob looked from me to Mrs Smith with a confused look on his face.
"Why was Helen looking at you like that?" Jacob whispered. I looked up at him in shock.
"Helen? You know Mrs Smith?"
"Course I do," he replied, then a sad expressions flashed across his face for a split second. "She was one of my mum's best friends."
A/N – Did you understand the last part? I have an idea of what happened in that bit but I don't know if I got it across right. Review or PM to let me know? :)
