Hey there. I wanted to let everyone know that I'm formulating ideas for a couple other Alice and Bella stories, but I probably won't start those until I finish this one. Sorry for the wait for this chapter; I'm getting ready to go on vacation, but I'll have my laptop with me.
Oh how time ticks by
Week One
How did she end up like this? Where did she go wrong? Bella had begun her relationship with Alice completely in control. She had a clear objective and a means of accomplishing it. All Bella had intended to do was discover if the Cullens were in fact vampires. Yet here she stood, outside the door to the lunchroom, dreading what awaited her inside. How had Alice made Bella care about her so fully? Well it was simple; none of this was happening.
No, Bella told herself, she didn't feel strongly for Alice. Perhaps she fooled herself into believing that Alice was something special to her. Why she would do that to herself didn't matter. And as Bella swung through the doors and made a B-line away from Alice to sit alone, Bella chanted in her head.
She is nothing to you. You owe her nothing. You don't really have any feelings for her; she probably just caught you off guard with her sickeningly sweet personality.
Repeating these phrases over and over, Bella knew she could handle trying to expose Alice as a vampire. She needed to find the strength to do so somehow or else it would be left to Richard. She refused to let it get to that point, even if she didn't care about Alice. Bella would be a failure in Richard's eyes. More importantly, she would be a failure in defending her mother's honor and dignity.
Several times during lunch Alice attempted to get Bella's attention. Bits of food would sail over and land near Bella's feet, or questioning eyes pleaded to make contact with Bella's. These approaches proved futile. Bella lightly piled and then demolished mountains of food on her tray, never actually taking a bite. She knew Alice wanted desperately to converse with her, yet Alice seemed to know enough not to invade her space. Bella loved that about Alice.
Wait, you don't love her. You don't even like her! She. Is. Nothing.
Bella was forced to come up with a new strategy. She couldn't just ignore Alice; that wouldn't help in her quest to learn the nature of Alice's existence. Even though Bella was defiantly not Alice's friend, she still had to act like one; you know, for appearances sake.
Bella rummaged around in her backpack and pulled out a piece of paper and pencil. She hastily scribbled something onto the paper then made her way over to the Cullens' table. Bella slide the note over to Alice and pushed out a miniature smile for her before practically running out of the room.
Bella quickly spun around and peered back through the window in the lunchroom door to see what Alice's reaction to the note would be. Alice didn't let any emotion slip out, so Bella turned on her heel and left before Alice might see her standing there.
Bella sat patiently on the hood of Alice's car. Bella had quite literally flown out to the parking lot as soon as school was over with; she wanted to catch Alice before she left for the day. Bella couldn't imagine Alice not agreeing to what Bella had requested on that piece of paper.
After waiting for a number of minutes, watching most of the student body vacate the premises, the Cullens emerged. As if in slow motion, Emmet and Rosalie appeared first, followed closely by Jasper, and trailed by Edward. Bella noticed, much to her unnerving displeasure, that all of Alice's siblings were glaring at her. What had Bella done to upset them so? And where was Alice?
Bella waved for one of the Cullens to come her way. Rosalie pretended she didn't see Bella's motion at all. Emmet adjusted so that he could receive Bella's invitation, but Rosalie snatched his arm and yanked him away. Jasper eyed up Bella for a moment, but continued to glide by. Bella felt a tremendous wall of distrust and sadness after Jasper discontinued his scan of her. Shaking off the sudden fit of emotion, Bella looked back up to see Edward sulking over to her.
"Um, hey Edward, where's Alice?" Bella nervously shifted off of Alice's car. Edward looked like he was in agony just to have to talk to Bella.
"I'm warning you, Alice thinks you're very important. I sincerely hope you are not planning on doing anything to jeopardize how Alice feels about you. None of us wanted to take a chance on you, but she convinced us that you were different. Do not break her." Edward finished his rant with a harsh stare down then parted ways and sped off with the rest of his siblings. Bella stood speechless and paralyzed. What the hell did any of that mean?
As Bella mulled over Edward's words, Alice appeared and softly laid a hand on Bella's shoulder. The taller teen visibly trembled under Alice's unexpected touch.
"Hi Bella. I read your note. I know I said I wanted you to come over to my house soon, but do you think we could do that next week sometime? My mom is just remodeling a couple of the rooms, so it's pretty messy everywhere. What do you think?" Alice timidly tilted her head up to connect with Bella's eyes.
Alice's eyes are so incredible. All the Cullen's have such beautiful golden eyes, but Alice's are so much better. Gooey honey endlessly swirled around, enticing me to gaze ever deeper into them. What would I find when I finally got to the bottom?
That thought spurred Bella out of her musings. She had to get into the Cullens' home to observe and know without a doubt if they were bloodsucking horrors.
"Alice, we need to talk about some things."
"Why do we need to talk at my house specifically?"
"I just need answers."
"Ok, but I can give you answers at your house."
"Why are you being so difficult? I just want to go to your house and discuss things with you!" Bella stepped forward and shouted into Alice's face. The shorter teenager didn't fumble back or brace herself. Her jaw did clenched, sending a frightening demeanor across her porcelain face; it made Bella gasp. Yet in that moment Bella searched Alice's eyes, those amber vortexes, and reached the bottom.
Disappointment, fear, anger, and sadness, yes, mostly sadness. She wants to cry; why does she not?
Bella fell back into her regular stance and hung her head slightly. All she felt was furious when she looked at Alice now, but her brain still told her that she has crossed a line.
"The remodeling will be done soon. You can come over to the house next weekend. Until then, I don't really know what to say to you right now. Maybe we should have a little time apart. I don't want us to hurt each other." With that, Alice struggled a bit to flash Bella a smile and jumped into her car.
This was not how it was supposed to work out. This whole situation was in shambles and Bella didn't know how to salvage it. The Cullens were freaks, Richard was an idiot, Bella felt stupid, and she hated Charlie just because.
God damn this whole thing, I'm so sick of it! I shouldn't have to deal with any of this. Why can't Alice and I be friends like normal people? Why did some psychotic punk have to kill my mom? Why am I in fucking Forks?
Bella wanted to escape from this place and try to think logically. Her head was pounding and she thought she was going to pass out, but she got in her truck anyways. The forest, she would go to the forest.
Charlie wasn't home yet, of course, so Bella slammed the truck door closed and left it behind to venture into the woods beyond the house. She fought to clear her mind of the resentful things viciously battling around in her head. Bella was focusing so intently on her inner demons that she paid no heed to the numerous bloody little scratches she was receiving from stray branches.
I feel so much horrid pain and it's all her fault! If she wasn't so strange than I wouldn't have told Richard she might be a vampire. I wouldn't have to think about killing her for my mom. I wouldn't have to experience these hot tears scorching the sides of my face right now!
Blinded by her watery eyes and weak from her various small wounds, Bella tripped over a tree's root and smacked onto the cold forest floor in a heap. The ground was not chilled, but somehow still warm with love like Alice's embrace just a few days ago. An embrace Bella was sure she would never be graced with again. So there she lay, tired and defeated, debating even trying to get up. As if some miracle was guiding Bella out of her darkness, a ray of sun light broke through the branches and splashed onto Bella's face. Her interest was piqued, so she pulled herself up and stumbled about to follow the path of the ray. Slowly, the hanging leaves left her sight and shining beams filled her vision.
The clearing, the pond, this is where we sat. I told her my story here and she held me. I told her my story, and she accepted me.
Bella spotted the giant boulder they had positioned themselves against and ran to it as if it were a long awaited reunion. She placed a hand on the boulder's side, where Alice had leaned while supporting Bella's crying form. Instantly a tingly sensation trickled up Bella's fingers, spiraled around her arm, bled into her chest, and rested in her heart. What a fool she had been to treat Alice the way she did. Maybe her friend was a vampire, but surely she was not evil like the one who committed the murder. Perhaps Richard would come to understand the genuine kindness that Alice possessed and agree to spare her life.
Bella could only hope that there was some way to save Alice. For all she knew, Alice and her family could have been blood thirsty denizens, but Bella's presence had swayed Alice. After all, the Cullen siblings certainly didn't seem to think much of Bella except for Alice. And just maybe, that meant that when Alice caught glimpses of Bella, her heart soared and gushed as much as Bella's did.
The inevitable would happen; Richard would still be expecting word of Alice's innocence, or her death. But if at all possible, Bella would give anything to make sure Alice was safe. As proof of this claim, Bella dropped to her knees and prayed to all the gods she could remember from around the world.
Please, I know Alice and her family may be undead, but I cannot see them die. I'll be a good person and volunteer at homeless shelters or something, just don't make me have to kill Alice. I know Richard will try, but please, I beseech you, do not make me make that choice. I'll do anything you want.
Wanting to get home and clean herself up before Charlie got back, Bella finally picked her sore limbs up and trudged home. She wanted so badly to be able to call Alice and plead for forgiveness for how she had acted. But Alice needed her space now and Bella loved her too much to disrespect that.
Love. Hmmm, do I love Alice Cullen? What an intriguing concept. Yes, perhaps I do.
