A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm back from my vacation up north where I had a pretty good time despite some minor setbacks. Now, this chapter is a bit shorter than the others so I decided to post it today. I'll be updating again on Friday.
Once again, all mistakes are my own.
The rest of the week passed quickly and Alice and I quickly became good friends. And let me tell you, it felt nice to have a friend who was a girl. Jasper, Emmett, and I hung out quite a bit, and they were both good friends, but I highly doubted they wanted to discuss the hotness that was their brother. Not that I spent a lot of time thinking or discussing Edward's hotness.
Thursday afternoon Jasper and Emmett stopped by the store right as my shift was ending and Alice's was beginning. I was immediately wrapped up in a huge Emmett hug while Jasper wrapped Alice up in a huge hug and planting a kiss on her cheeks, causing her to turn pink. They were so cute together even though Alice had told me she wasn't sure they were together together.
"What are you guys up to?" I asked.
"We've got a volleyball game on the beach in a few, but we wanted to stop in and invite you both to a clambake tonight at Pelican Beach at around six or so," Jasper said.
"Which one's Pelican Beach?" I asked.
"It's the long stretch of beach near the elementary school," Emmett informed me.
I must have still looked lost because Alice told me she'd pick me up. I'd never been to a clambake before, and I wasn't even sure I liked clams.
As soon as I got home, I began to freak out. Normally, I didn't care what I wore, but I had a feeling this clambake was going to my introduction to the kids of Wild Turkey. Several texts to Alice later, I felt a bit better and put on a pair of khaki shorts and a cute blue top that Mom had bought for me last year. At quarter to six, Alice rang our doorbell and after introducing her to Charlie, we were on our way.
"This'll be fun, Bella. You'll get a chance to meet some of the other kids that go to school with us. Oh, speaking of school, how are you planning on getting there? Is your dad driving you, are you driving you, do you want to carpool?" she asked, never stopping to take a breath.
"Um, I figured I'd drive myself, but I'm cool with carpooling."
"Sweet. We'll figure out all the details before school starts," she said as we pulled into the parking lot at Pelican Beach. Minutes later, we'd taken off our sandals and were making our way down the beach toward a group of kids.
"Hey, ya'll. This is Bella Swan. She just moved here from Washington. Bella, this is Lauren, Jessica, Ben, Tyler, Erik, and Jane."
I gave a little wave, not caring for the stares they were giving me or the nasty look that Lauren shot me. By the time we'd made the rounds, I'd been introduced to too many people and knew I wouldn't remember their names. I was also surprised at how many teenagers lived on the island and mentioned it to Alice.
"They don't all live here. Most of them live in the Riverton area. They just come out here for the parties and barbeques."
Ah. "Gotcha."
"The first group that I introduced you to are the ones that live here with us."
We walked along the beach, talking and getting to know one another before stopping in front of a large pit in the ground. The pit had a barbeque grate on top of it and it was covered with seaweed in layers on the rocks with husked corn, potatoes, and clams. I watched fascinated as they covered the grate with a tarp.
"What in the world are they doing?" I asked Alice.
She gave me an incredulous look. "Haven't you ever been to a clambake before?"
I shook my head.
"Oh, you're in for a treat. It takes about three hours for them to steam, so we'll have clams by nine. You'll like it."
As we stood by the pit, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward came moseying over. I watched as Jasper wrapped an arm around Alice's shoulders and whispered something in her ear. In that moment, I was filled with jealousy. I missed having a boyfriend. Not that the one I'd had before was all that great, but he'd been someone to go out with.
"Hey, Bella," Edward said quietly.
"Hi," I responded and then we stood there awkwardly before he asked me if I wanted a soda. I told him sure, and he came back a few minutes later and handed me an ice cold can.
"Are you settling in okay?" he asked as we stood around the pit.
I nodded. "Yeah, I am. It helps that I've got a job to keep me occupied and friends to talk to, especially Alice. She's something else," I said fondly.
"Yeah, she is. A little hyper at times though."
I let out a laugh. "I learned that right off the bat."
"Eddie! There you are! I've been looking all over for you," Tanya screeched as she approached us and wrapped her arms around him, effectively marking her territory.
I turned away, rolling my eyes at her overly blatant behavior. As much as I was crushing on Edward, I wasn't about to try and steal him from her. I wasn't that kind of girl.
Looking at the crowd, it seemed like all my friends had paired off. Alice was dancing with Jasper to a slow country song that was playing, Edward was with Clingy Tanya, and Emmett was talking to some model blonde. He caught my eye and motioned me over. Slowly, I walked through the sand toward Emmett and the supermodel. The look she was giving me terrified me to my core. She was one chick that I wouldn't want to mess with.
"Rosie, this is Bella Swan. She just moved here. Bella, this is Rosalie Hale."
I stuck out my hand, which she shook, and told her it was nice to meet her. After a few minutes, Emmett left to get Rosalie a drink, leaving the two of us alone. It was awkward to say the least. Finally, she broke the silence.
"Don't even think about fucking with my man."
I blinked at her bluntness. "Wasn't planning on it," I replied, taking a sip of my soda.
Then she startled the crap out of me by giving me a huge smile. "Well then, we'll get along just fine. How are you liking Wild Turkey so far?"
And just like that, we became friends. Once you got past her scariness, she was pretty awesome and Emmett seemed thrilled that we were getting along so well.
"I'm glad you guys are getting along," he told me after she'd left to go to the bathroom. "Rose can be a bit abrupt and doesn't make friends easily."
"I like her. She's really cool."
An hour later, the clambake was declared done, and I lined up with Emmett and Rose to get some food. I watched as a guy scooped clams, corn, shrimp, chourico, and potatoes onto a plate for me. Food in hand, I followed Emmett and Rose (which she'd insisted I call her) over to a large blanket where Alice and Jasper were sitting.
I got situated and took a good look at my plate. I couldn't remember if I'd ever eaten clams before and was totally unsure of how to go about eating them. Jasper must have seen my confusion.
"Just open the shell and take the meat out. Once you have it out, you see this black covering?" he asked. I nodded a bit grossed out.
"Just slide that off, dip it into this broth and into the butter, then swallow it. Don't attempt to chew it. It'll take forever."
I wrinkled my nose as I watched him swallow the piece of meat whole. It looked disgusting, but I decided to give it a try. I grimaced as I slid the black cover off the meat, then I dipped into the broth and butter, then took a deep breath.
"Here goes nothing," I muttered to everyone's amusement. Closing my eyes, I dropped the meat into my mouth and swallowed quickly. My eyes flew open at how good it actually was.
Emmett boomed out a laugh. "We'll make a Alabamian out of you yet."
Time passed quickly as we sat around eating and laughing. It wasn't until my phone beeped with a text from Angela that I realized that I hadn't thought about my friends back in Seattle in a while. Immediately, I felt guilty. I sent Angela a quick text letting her know that I was at a clambake and that I'd talk to her later.
"You okay?" Alice asked me.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. It was just a text from my best friend. I've been so caught up with work and whatnot that I haven't talked to her lately."
By eleven, the clambake had started to die down and people had begun to leave. I stayed behind to help clean up before saying goodnight to my friends. I felt a bit giddy at the fact that I actually had friends. One of my biggest fears about moving had been that I wouldn't make any. A little before midnight, Alice drove me home and told me she'd see me tomorrow.
"Hey, Bells," Charlie called out as I unlocked the door and entered the house. "How was the clambake?"
I plopped down next to him on the couch. "It was fun. I made a new friend."
Charlie told me how happy he was to see me making friends and settling in. Saying goodnight to him, I headed into my room and gave Angela a call.
"Oh, you want to talk to me now?" she said by way of answering.
I lay back on my bed and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Angela. I was out with some kids that I met."
"So, what? You make new friends and forget about your old ones?"
I barely held back a huff. When Angela got upset, she tended to go overboard.
"I didn't forget about you or anyone else," I hedged. I hadn't forgotten about them completely, so it wasn't a lie. "I've been busy with work and just settling in. I miss you guys."
"Hmph. What kind of a job do you have?"
We spent the next hour catching up with one another before we called it a night.
The next morning, Charlie woke me up at seven to let me know he was heading into town to make sure everything was set for the parade. I rolled over in my bed and slept for another thirty minutes before a phone call from Alice woke me up.
"Bella! I need your help!" she begged. Grumbling, I took a quick shower, grabbed some coffee and headed toward her house. Ten minutes later, I was greeted at the door by Mr. Brandon.
"She's in her room having a meltdown," he told me with a grin, pointing me toward Alice's room.
I knocked on her door and pushed it open, trying not to grin at the sight before me. Alice was standing in the middle of her room wearing a beautiful, if not lacy, pink gown while her hair stood up all over the place.
"Help!" she moaned. "I have no idea what to do with my hair!"
Seeing as how she had a pixie cut there wasn't a whole lot she could do with it, which I pointed out.
"Some help you are," she scowled, crossing her arms over her chest.
I held up my hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm no hairstylist. Why not ask Rose?"
Alice let out a gasp as she beamed at me. "That's a fantastic idea!"
Seconds later, she had her phone out and was talking to Rose in a madly fast voice. I always thought that Southerners talked slow, but not Alice. She talked so fast that I could barely comprehend what she was saying.
A knock on Alice's door came a few minutes later and in walked Rose looking gorgeous. God, what I would give to be as tall as she was. Instead, I was all of five foot two with some curves that I wished I didn't have. I wasn't fat or overweight by any means, but I was ample in the chest department and had kind of a big butt. Alice, on the other hand, was just cute. She was shorter than me and skinny. She really did look like a pixie.
I didn't know what Rose did, but by the time she was done, Alice's hair looked terrific.
"So what does one doe at this pageant thingy?" I asked.
"Parade around in a dress, do a talent, explain why I should win, blah, blah, blah," Alice said, not sounding like she was looking forward to it all. When I questioned why she was entering it, she told me it was because she was tired of Tanya always winning.
An hour later, Rose, Alice, and I were parking near Black's, and I was amazed at the number of people that lined the streets. It seemed as if all of Wild Turkey had come out for the parade. I was quickly informed by both Rose and Alice that the parade was a huge event and celebrated by the whole town. No kidding.
The three of us began to make our way toward Bay Park where the stage for the pageant was set up, so that Alice could finish getting ready. After dropping Alice off and assuring her she'd do great, Rose and I fought our way through the crowd until we found Emmett, Jasper, and Edward.
"Ready for this, Bells?" Emmett asked me as the pageant began. I shook my head no. Pageants didn't appeal to me in the slightest and the only reason I was there was to support Alice. Hell, I think the only reason any of us were there was to support Alice. Except perhaps Edward. I was pretty sure he was there because Tanya demanded it.
Within minutes the announcer began the pageant and the girls began to walk onto the stage. First up was Tanya, and I could barely contain my laughter. She came out in some God-awful get up with miles upon miles of what looked like Grandma Swan's doilies. Her talent, if you could call it that, was to recite a monologue from Gone With the Wind. It made my ears bleed.
Soon Alice was up for her turn in the talent portion, and I couldn't help the grin that crossed my face when she began. She hiked up her dress and there are her feet were a pair of clogs. She flashed the audience a grin and clogged her little pixie heart out. It was awesome! I so hadn't expected that. When she was done, the five of us whooped and cheered our hearts out for her. She gave a little curtsey then skipped off the stage.
In the end, neither Tanya nor Alice won. The title went to some other girl, and I almost feared for her safety when I saw the look that Tanya was giving her. Alice, however, didn't seem upset in the slightest. She rushed over to us still in her dress and Jasper wrapped her up in a huge hug.
"You were fantastic," he told her with a grin before kissing her lips.
It was so damn sweet. I wanted that. Of course the moment was ruined when Tanya came over and stopped in front of Edward. For the next few minutes, all anyone in the vicinity heard was Tanya bitching. She ranted, she raved, she made me want to shove her into the bay in her ugly ass dress. I felt incredibly bad for Edward as he stood there, hands shoved into his pocket as she went on and on.
"Well?" she asked Edward, stamping her foot.
It was at that moment I knew he hadn't paid attention to a word she'd said.
"Well, what?"
She let out a screech of outrage. "Are you kidding me?! Did you not listen? I should be the one that's up there, not that Claire girl!"
Edward sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sure the judges chose who they thought was best."
I winced as the words came out of his mouth. Those were not the words that Tanya wanted to hear.
"You're supposed to be on my side!" she screamed before stomping off with Victoria in tow.
"Well that went well," he muttered.
"C'mon," Emmett said. "I'm starving! Let's grab some grub. They've got burgers, brats, and roasted wild turkey."
Rose rolled her eyes and mumbled something about a bottomless pit, and she was right. I hadn't noticed it during the clambake, but I watched as he piled three burgers, two brats, two large chunks of turkey, chips, and potato salad onto two plates.
"Are you sharing that with Rose?" I asked him.
He looked at me like I was crazy. "Hell no! This is for me."
"All of that?" I squawked.
He let out one of his booming laughs. "Yes, Bells. All of this. I'm a growing boy."
I had to admit, I was a bit disgusted. I looked down at my own plate which housed a slice of turkey, a roll, and some macaroni salad.
After lunch and the parade, we wandered around to look at the different booths that were set up. There were booths selling vegetables, handmade candy, quilts, candles, and on and on. Who knew that the people of Wild Turkey were so diverse.
At one point, Edward and I got separated from the rest of our group, not that I minded. We passed by a booth with a huge crowd of people wearing binoculars around their necks, and I commented on it.
"Oh, that's the Wild Turkey Audubon Society booth. We have a bird sanctuary on the island," Edward explained to me.
"Seriously? How did I not know that?"
He shrugged. "It's quite popular. Brings bird watchers from all over the world."
We continued waking and passed by a booth selling funnel cake. I had to stop and buy some. Funnel cake was a weakness of my mine. It was my kryptonite.
Things were going well, and I was having a blast. Edward was quite funny which only made me like him more. Not that I would ever do anything about it while he had a girlfriend.
"There you are!" Tanya snarled as she and Victoria came up to us. "I've been looking all over for you. Why didn't you answer my text, huh? It's because you were off with her, wasn't it? Are you cheating on me?" she wailed.
Oh, good lord. Dramatic much? I didn't even bother to hide my eye roll.
"Chill out, Tanya. Bella and I are friends. Am I not allowed to talk and hang out with my friends now?"
Tanya crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at the both of us. "I don't want you hanging out with her."
"You don't get to dictate who I hang out with out, Tanya. You're my girlfriend, but I'm allowed to be friends with Bella."
That started a huge argument between the two of them to which I didn't stick around to listen to. Excusing myself, I wandered through the crowds and found Charlie talking to Sam while keeping an eye on the crowd.
"Hey, Dad." I waved as I approached him.
"Hey, Bells," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Having fun?"
"Surprisingly yes. I did manage to misplace my friends though."
"Well, you can always hang out here with your old man," he told me with a grin.
I grinned back. "Yeah, think I'll pass on that. I'll just wander around 'til I find them."
Waving goodbye to Charlie, I headed down the road and through the crowds, finally locating Alice only after I'd texted her.
"Where do you go?" she asked once I'd approached them.
"I was talking to Edward and next thing I knew, you guys were gone. But it's okay. I found funnel cake."
Emmett's eyes lit up and demanded to know where. I laughed and told him it was near the bird society booth.
The five of us stayed and hung out until late, even volunteering to help clean up. It wasn't until around ten, that Alice and I said goodbye to the others, and she dropped me off at home.
As soon as I entered the house, I headed to my room where I collapsed onto my bed. I barely had the energy to change into my pajamas. That was the first night that I dreamed of Edward.
a/n: As always, let me know what you thought!
