Alice was furious by her vision and nothing Jasper or any of the others were doing, was helping anything. She couldn't believe that someone she once considered a friend could be that way. "It's one thing for her to be jealous, but to actually call Zoe fat and ugly? What a horrible person!" Edward opened his mouth to speak and she glared at him. "Don't you DARE try to take up for her!"
Keeping quiet, Edward leaned back into the couch, watching his sister pace the floor. "Even I think that's low." Rosalie piped up, cauing a few shocked glances. "What? Just because I don't like her, doesn't mean that I condone bullying." Emmett smiled at her and rubbed her shoulder.
Alice frowned again and resumed her pacing. Zoe didn't know about them, so how could she comfort her? Sighing, she sat on Jaspers' lap, trying to think. She froze as a vision filled her head. Before Edward was able to read it, she shut her walls, grinning at him. That just caused him to frown. "Why are you hiding it?"
Sighing, Alice shook her head. "Because you don't need to know everything about everything, Edward. Just leave it. Things will be fine in a week. Just watch." Getting up, she made to leave the room. "Oh, and we are having a party for her birthday. I don't care what any of you say. So be ready."
The family could do nothing but stare after her in shock.
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The next few days, I kept mostly to myself. I still dressed nice enough for work but not as nice as I did that first day. Alice was nice and would come and visit me at work. She said it was because she liked to keep me company. It was nice, to have someone around. She was turning into a really good friend. I was lucky to have her in my life.
As I was closing up the store on Friday, Alice looked me over. "Can I ask why you've started to dress in more baggy clothes?" I flushed and shrugged, looking down at myself. "I just don't want people to see..." Frowning, she stepped closer. "See what, Zoe? Your size?" Tears filled my eyes and I nodded.
"Oh honey! Don't worry about what other people say! You are beautiful and don't let anyone else tell you different." Looking around as if to share a secret, she leaned into me. "To be honest, pretty much every guy in my family has said something to that point." My eyes widened and shot to her face, my cheeks heating. "They have? Everyone? Even Edward?" Alice nodded. "Oh yeah. Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett and even Edward."
Smiling shyly, I lowered my face again to study my shoes. "That's nice of them." Suddenly Alice moved to the door and grinned at me. "Get rest tonight. Tomorrow, you and I are going out. I'll be at your house around 1." Before I could say a word, she was gone.
Tomorrow? What would we do?
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The next day, Alice showed up at Zoe's house and knocked on the door. She had two big bags and several little bags in her hands, waiting patiently for the door to open. It did a moment later, revealing Bella. Watching the shocked look cover Bella's face, she got angry. "I'm here to see Zoe." This caused Bella to frown.
"I don't know what you're trying to do, Alice, but you aren't going to get them together. Edward still loves me and wants me." Alice forced a smile and shrugged. "That may be so, but he was as disgusted as I was about the way you treated Zoe. You see, the girl he loved would have never done something like that."
She watched as Bella squirmed and she felt good about making the girl uncomfortable. "You have become jealous, and spiteful and just plain mean. You aren't the person I thought you were. I guess that's what comes with spending all your time with DOGS." Leaving it at that, she made her way to Zoe's room.
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I was sitting on my bed when I heard a knock at my door. Opening it, I saw Alice, her arms full of bags. Letting her in, I blinked. "Have fun shopping?" She just laughed and set them on my bed. "These are for you!" Blinking in shock, I took in the names on those bags. Most came from very high end stores. Nordstrom, Tiffany's, Ulta, and Victoria's Secret.
Shaking my head, I looked at her. "Oh no, Alice. This is too much. I can't accept." The pixie looked at the bags and then to me. "I got these because I wanted to thank you for being my friend. And as an early birthday. In a month, right?" Looking at my friend, I smiled and knew I couldn't say no.
"I appreciate this. So what did you get?" Giggling, she pulled me over to the bed and we both sat, her going through the bags and me watching. "Alright, we'll start with Victoria's Secret. Don't worry, I didn't buy you any lingerie or anything. THAT would be weird. I got you some lotions and perfumes. From the look of this place, you're lacking." I just laughed and smelled what she brought. They were all divine.
She moved to the Ulta bag. "I got you a new set of makeup. It's all top of the line too. Here is everything you need." She handed me the bag and I stared at the contents. Alice had gotten me mascara, eyeliners in almost any color, lip glosses and lipsticks. There were even several pallet's or every color shadow "Oh wow, Alice. Thank you so much. You didn't have to do all of this."
All she did was laugh and move on to the next. "From Nordstrom I got you a couple new outfits that will TOTALLY help you get back into the groove. These should help you feel fabulous again." Four pairs of jeans; 2 skinny; 1 black and 1 blue, 1 blue flared and 1 caramel bootcut. A distressed black leather jacket, a few tunic tops in red, teal and royal purple. A very cute royal purple tartan skirt that looked to go just above the knees. To top it off, there were 2 cashmere sweaters inside as well. One a beautiful cream color and the other was a lovely lavender. In the second Nordstrom bag were pair of black leather boots that went up to the knee and another pair of black biker boots that went half calf. Those had cool looking chains. One even had small crosses across the length.
Blinking back tears, I placed those bags on the floor along with the other 2. Last but not least, she set the Tiffany's bag in front of me. Inside was a pair of beautiful diamond studs. After that was a drop pair of amethyst earrings and just plain silver hoops. There was also a small silver heart ring and finally one of their signature necklaces with the heart charm. I opened my mouth to say something and she motioned to her hand. She had on a matching ring.
Tears fell down my eyes and I hugged her as I sobbed. Alice just smiled softly as she rubbed her back. "I just wanted to do something nice for you, Zoe. You're my best friend now." I pulled away and wiped my eyes, smiling back at her. "I have to pay you back though. You spent way too much on me." Alice just waved her hand. "No way. We're rich so it's not a problem. This was nothing. I like to spoil my friends. Bella never let me."
I frowned and shook my head. "Well, I won't let you all the time either. This is alright for about...20 years." We both laughed and I looked through the outfits. "So what are we supposed to be doing? It looks like you've done all the shopping already." Alice laughed again and shrugged. "We can do whatever you want. I just figured we could go exploring. I know you haven't been many places." Smiling, I found that I liked her idea. "Sure! I know just what to wear too."
Grabbing the clothes, I made my way into the bathroom and changed. I chose the black skinny jeans, the red tunic top and the biker boots and leather jacket. I was glad I had a small black belt to accentuate my waist again. I came out of the bathroom and Alice clapped her hands. "That looks PERFECT on you! Now for the finishing touches!"
I did my makeup using the new stuff she'd gotten me. I decided to go with a smokey eye and a faded rose lip stain. I put on the small silver hoops and also the necklace and ring. Before long, I was ready. We grabbed our purses and headed out. Bella's truck was already gone but I didn't really care. Getting into the seat of Alice's car, I smiled at her, grateful for everything that she'd done for me.
She truely was my best friend.