Last Quarter
"The course of true love never did run smooth."
-William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1.2
2. Letter
A few days later, Ness and I were reading together in her room, when Alice skipped into the room.
"Charlie dropped it off," Alice placed 'it' on top of my book and skipped away. The address was from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. I gasped in horror. We forgot the acceptance for the university, even though it was three years ago. I flipped over the small envelope and saw the flap was already opened and taped back together.
"Charlie…" I smirked. Charlie stayed in Forks, and still at the same house. I came over every so often, to cook for him. He was still alone, and I had signed him up for this 'over 45' dating site. It didn't go so well, and he didn't want anyone other than me to take care of him. He felt he was okay without a partner. He and Sue Clearwater were hanging out an awful lot, so I assumed there was something going on there.
I tore off the tape and took out the letter.
Isabella Swan,
We are happy to announce that we have found your essay and acceptance, just before the others were put to waste. We found your essay quite intriguing and were hoping that you reconsidered our school. If you are willing to reapply, we ask for a short letter back and a new essay. If you would like to have your old essay back for reference, please email us at uofdartmouth(at)novascotia(dot)ca. We will send it to you promptly.
Hope to hear from you soon,
The University of Dartmouth
(Just making that up. It's not real so don't email that.)
Huh. I scrunched my eyebrows together. I wondered if Edward was thinking about going back to university. I knew he'd gone through it multiple times, but I thought he wanted me to have as many human experiences as I could before 'entering the world of the eternally damned'. I guess we got so caught up in other situations that we forgot about that particular one. I could vaguely remember the multiple applications Edward handed me to fill out.
It frustrated me endlessly why they remembered my essay in particular. And why they chose to mail a letter to me. I wondered if they even knew if I was still living with Charlie or not, or if I had had an accident, or some other form of stopping me from attending their school. I wasn't even sure about what I'd study. I thought maybe teaching, but then I turned into a vampire, and I didn't want to kill my students. I considered nursing, but I didn't want to kill my patients if they bled. I was only three years into vampirism. I thought about chemical engineering, but I didn't want to have people noticing that whenever something reacted wrong, that I wouldn't get hurt. I didn't want to build any large structures either, as I would be noticeably stronger than most. So I had to settle on something. And I chose architecture. It involved math, and no lifting, no blood, no extremely dangerous chemicals, everything was good. I was really happy that they offered that. (I am not completely sure about this, I just made it up, once again. :P)
Soon after reading the letter, Edward was in the room, sitting next to me. "So, what do you think?" He drummed his fingers on the bedside table. "Are you willing to go?"
I smiled. "Let's do it! But first, where does Renesmee go?"
* * *
We discussed the family matters, like how we were going to handle Renesmee. Edward offered the idea that we left her with Alice and Rosalie, but Ness had a different idea.
"NO WAY. I am SO not staying with Auntie Alice and Auntie Rose; they will torture me with dressing me and undressing me, then dressing me, then undressing me, and forgetting that I have to eat – which has happened way more times than either of you know. I almost came after you two when Auntie Alice tried to put me in heels and a really long dress! I tripped enough even without the high heels on!" She ranted on. Our little girl – she didn't like it when we called her that - was talking much more than last year. She's grown so much – mentally and slightly physically – over that one year. Quieter, she admitted; "Well, I kinda liked the dress, but the heels had to go."
Edward and I laughed at the remark.
"Too bad Auntie Alice saw me running for you guys and stopped me before I even took a step…" she whispered.
Alice skipped into the room and stuck her tongue out at Ness playfully and then smiled. "I have to admit, it was a pretty long dress. But it fit you so perfectly; I couldn't resist buying it for you!"
Ness rolled her eyes. Alice pouted.
"Alice, what did you see?" Edward tapped her shoulder. His expression was slightly tense. "You were blocking me from seeing it. What's going on?"
Alice looked at me and then Ness with a gigantic grin plastered on her face. She must have told him to come with him, without me, because they both flew out of the room quickly. I wondered what she saw. I hoped it wasn't about another shopping trip. Or another trip to LA for another shopping trip. I definitely did not need new clothes. Maybe something for Renesmee. Ness hopped off the bed and skipped over to her toy box. She pulled out some dolls and threw one at me.
"You're going to be Lucy, and I will be Samantha. We're in the park and we're playing with the dog." She demanded. She pulled out a large stuffed dog from her box. It wasn't really large; it was just large for the dolls. I couldn't wait to see what she came up with for a leash. Once all of the props were out on the bedspread, Ness ran out of the room and into ours, then out the French doors. She picked some weeds and tied them together and added a loop at the end just big enough to fit over the stuffed dog's head.
We played dolls for a good twenty minutes until I started to get worried about what was happening with Alice. I gave the Samantha doll back to my daughter, who happily took it and continued playing with them. I stalked out of the room to find Alice and Edward. I walked out into the living room and up to the door. I took the handle in my grasp, turned and pulled. I was prepared for Alice to jump out at me and yell; "SURPRISE!!" but nothing came. I opened my eyes, and there stood before me, Edward.
"Oh, hi Bella. I was just about to come in." he sounded like he was trying to distract me from something. Alice was planning something big. I hope she doesn't think that I need a party. I leaned to the right. He mirrored. I started to lean left, but snapped back to the right. He kept in front of me. And unfortunately knew all of my tricks.
I crossed my arms. "Okay, spill. What's Alice planning?"
He held his hands up in surrender. "She isn't planning anything, Bella, she just wanted to tell me some good news about a previous plan."
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Well, what is it?"
"I can't tell you." He smirked. My brows furrowed. He wouldn't tell me anything even if I begged. I could tell he wouldn't crack. So I decided to play dirty.
"Well, alright then. I guess we won't be able to… celebrate the big news," I traced around his lips with my finger. He opened his mouth just a bit. I brushed down to his collarbone and he sighed. Down the planes of his perfect chest, his hands turned into fists.
"Well, these just won't do," I pinched some of his sweater. I heard his breathing turn ragged. I smiled evilly. It was working. I leaned closer, capturing his lips. He snaked his hands around my waist and pulled me closer. Then he froze.
Edward pulled away from me and chuckled. I sighed. It was worth a try.
His sweet breath covered my face and he closed his eyes. "Bella, I know what you're up to, and it's not going to work. I will do this with you, but I can't tell you anything. Alice threatened my Volvo."
"You can buy a new one," I suggested.
"No, she sucked up to Carlisle and told him the plan. He put a new code on my part of the family account. And he doesn't think about it while I'm around." He gritted his teeth.
"I still have…" (continuing the sentence so you know what she was thinking; "my part of the family account,")
He cut me off. "She blocked yours too."
"But I have…" ("My own personal money,")
"Persuaded Charlie. And I won't take your money." I rolled my eyes.
"Come on, just one little hint." I batted my eyelashes. He averted his eyes and covered his ears. He was such a little kid sometimes.
"LALALALALALALA," He shouted, blocking out what I was going to say. I didn't say anything as he ran outside, expecting me to follow him. I didn't nag; I just really wanted to know. Alice was so dead. I quickly took the opportunity to find Alice, but Edward was too quick. I guessed that Alice saw that one coming and told him. He didn't have his hands over his ears anymore, so I asked.
"Edward?" I sighed.
"Yes, love?"
"What is Alice doing to me?"
"It's nothing you should be really worried about."
I scoffed. "Nothing to worry about? The last time you told me that, she…"
"Yes, we don't need to revisit that." He interrupted me. I stared him down. He just stood there innocently, like he had nothing to do with it. I narrowed my eyes to slits. His façade started to fail, just the tiniest bit. It almost seemed that he was physically shrinking. Although, I knew better; he was leaning away from me.
"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, you are not telling me anything. I need to know what Alice has planned for me. You know I hate surprises," he must have seen fire in my eyes because his eyes widened in fear and he backed up into the far corner of the living room, as far away from me as he could get. I bared my teeth, and prepared to spring.
"Now, now, Bella. I don't need my arms thrown out the window again. It's just a little plan that Alice told me about. There's some work to be done on the house, so she told me to keep you busy…" He whispered. Guessing Renesmee could hear us. He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered, "'Course she's got to yell…"
Alice was probably going to kill him for giving me a hint. But I knew he would rather face the wrath of Alice, than mine. I huffed. Edward knew I was calming down, so he backed up then stood straight.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to meet Alice halfway instead of her coming here and screaming profanities at me for Ness to hear. I don't want her learning that kind of vocabulary." Then he bolted for the door. I knew enough to run and cover Renesmee's ears. Within the next second, a very loud string of cusses came from outside. Alice growled and hissed for at least two minutes without stopping, and then halted completely. Edward must have started to talk to her and explain why he told me. Alice interrupted him and began hissing again. Renesmee touched my arm and questioned my hands being on her ears. I lifted my hand just a bit and whispered, "Auntie Alice is getting mad at Daddy because he told me something she didn't want me to know." She nodded.
Edward came back in and had a smirk planted on his beautiful face. "Since I already told you something, Alice made me swear on her 'amazing' shopping abilities that I wouldn't tell you anymore than you should know until it happens." He made the quotations over 'amazing'.
"Of course. Only Alice," I muttered. Edward walked over to me and unclasped my hands from our daughter's ears. I forgot about that… Renesmee immediately started playing with her dolls again, guessing correctly on what Edward and I were about to do.
* * *
After Edward and I cleaned up and got dressed again, Edward walked into the closet to find some clothes for himself. I took the chance to run for the house. I swung the doors open and standing there was none other than, Edward's favorite sister, Alice. Her arms were crossed and one perfect eyebrow was raised. She was dressed nicely; too nicely. She wore a black and white, plaid, puff sleeve dress. She had very nice black flats, a thin chain necklace with a black heart pendant. In her hands was a medium sized white handbag. Her earrings were large purple hoops. They completed the outfit nicely. She looked amazing. All her make up was done to perfection – not out of the ordinary – and her hair was flipped out to its extreme. Something big was coming and I had no way of stopping it. I groaned. She giggled. (picture link on my profile)
Edward came out wearing a nice new dress shirt and a tie. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead.
"It'll be fine. You just need some…" Alice wandered for the right word.
"Alice?" I suggested.
"What?" she asked without looking at me.
"No, I mean, I just need some Alice."
"Oh, yeah, pretty much. You're going to need a whole lot of it by the looks of things." Alice looked me up and down.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I scrunched my eyebrows together stubbornly.
"Well, first of all, that shirt is supposed to go with that…" Alice kept babbling on about what was wrong with my choice of outfit as I picked her up and carried her into the large closet she made for Edward and me.
Edward shrugged and dashed out towards the house.
"…oh, and don't get me started on your pants!" Alice exasperated. I sighed and let her insult my sense of fashion. Five minutes later, I decided that this was enough, so I interrupted.
"Yes, Alice, you're exactly right. My sense of fashion is definitely beyond repair. Only you could fix me. Please, O Goddess of Fashion, teach me your ways." That shut her up. She pouted and crossed her arms.
"Fine, let's get going." She looked down at her watch. "Oh, we only have five more hours until the, er, surprise! We've got to get moving!"
For Alice, five hours is not enough time to get a person ready. Six to seven is the minimum. For me, even just two is enough.
As Alice worked on my hair, she decided to start up a conversation. "You know, you're pretty brave to stand up to Edward like that. I don't think I've seen him that scared since… well, since the Volturi decided to come for a little visit. And that was three years ago." I nodded. "Wow, you know, even as a vampire, watching Ness grow, three years is a long time."
"Yeah, you're right. I mean, Charlie's getting less interested in what happens in the Cullen's life, exceptions to me, and he is going back to his old routine." I lifted my hand just a bit, but Alice made a noise that warned me not to do anything like that. I only wanted to feel how my hair was done. But no, Alice has got to keep everything a secret.
Two hours later, after layers upon layers of make up, we finally went into the closet to find the dress of Alice's choice. She sifted through everything but came up with nothing. I was looking at the jeans in a drawer, and I heard Alice come up behind me. I didn't need to be a mind reader to tell what she was thinking of.
"No, Alice, no more shopping sprees. I've got enough clothes to last me a thousand years." I shook my head with disapproval.
She pouted. "Pleeeeeeease? I'll be good!"
"Are you sure about that?" I knew Alice, she'd figure out a sneaky way to make me go.
"Well, first, no, you don't have enough clothes to last a thousand years, and yes, I will be good. I might even tell you a good hint about the surprise I'm planning," she nudged my shoulder. I was beginning to crack, and Alice knew it. "Just face it, Bella; you're going to say yes."
"No, I won't." I tried to sound convincing.
"Yes, you will." She sang.
"No, I won't, and when will we have enough time to go?" I insisted. She thought for a moment.
"Rose will take your sizes and she'll go for us, while you're enjoying your surprise." I grimaced. A loud growl ripped from her throat, and we could hear it from inside the closet. Alice rolled her eyes. She thought for a minute, probably telling Edward to calm Rose down.
"I know you, and I know how much I hate surprises and I really know much I hate surprises made by you." She sighed.
"Come on, just get dressed. I picked something half-decent. We'll go shopping in the morning." I turned around getting ready for the terrible death suit Alice prepared for me. Turns out, she actually picked something I like. It was a baby pink, floor-length, halter top dress. The back had four connecting straps, with a long piece of material flowing out the middle of the cross. (picture on profile)
Alice helped me slip on the dress without so much as touching the make up. The hair was difficult as it was in large ringlets and half up. Once I was in the dress, all there was left were the accessories. Alice set out a thick sliver bracelet, dangly diamond earrings, and last and definitely least, four inch silver heels. I stared with disgust at the horrible death-traps for at least five seconds before Alice lifted me up and forced them on my feet.
"Oh, come on, they're not that bad." She set me down in front of the largest mirror that could fit into the closet. It had lights and everything. It was a three way, so I could see every aspect of my body. It wasn't all that bad in the dress; it covered the small blemishes I had. Thankfully, Alice was done and made it clear by putting her hands on her hips and nodding. The girl in the mirror was perfect. Her make up was flawless and her creamy skin glittered faintly with the lights. She had her nails painted a hot pink, which actually helped the whole image.
"You're ready." She grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the door. Rose had gotten to Ness earlier, and she looked perfect. Her hair was in her natural ringlets, and she wore a purple dress with half-inch heels. She looked upset, but once she saw me, her whole face lit up.
"Mommy, you look really pretty," she commented. I rolled my eyes under my lids and smiled back at her.
"You do too," And then Alice dragged us both off towards the perfectly decorated Cullen house.
Well, how was it? I'm so impressed with myself – 8 pages! YAY! I hope that this gets me more readers, so get your friends on this story too! And, yeah, I know I said I wanted five reviews before I posted this, but you know, it wasn't coming in. So it was obvious that, instead of abandoning it, I should just continue writing. Soooo yeah.
Thanks! ~Ali
PS please remember to review!