Chapter 4: Crossroads
Alec and I had been in Forks 2 weeks now. We'd successfully avoided every member of the Cullen clan, except for Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper. They were reasonable to converse with; not obnoxiously optimistic or resentful. We appreciated they're patience and they enjoyed the fact that we talked to them. Alec and I spent one night making a list of rules to observe for our stay:
't mention anything of our lives around Isabella and Edward. Isabella is too emotional to be considered reasonable and Edward just brooded around us.
to stay on Rosalie's good side; she'll bite your head off if needed, which I respect.
talking to Emmett, leave out any talk of hunting, video games, and wrestling. This one is courtesy of Rosalie.
has an answer to everything; Esme makes immaculate coffees and teas; Trustworthy
you start feeling sick or calm when you're really angry, it's Jasper the peacekeeper. Alice lives for materials: clothes, shoes, furniture, flowers, and anything else you can think of.
talk about a certain "Jacob Black" around Isabella. Alec refuses to tell me who he is, but it certainly makes Isabella more off-kilter than normal.
There were more to come, but those worked well as a kind of survival guide.
It was Saturday and we were having a bit of a lay-in; it's not like we had to get up anyway. There was a knock on the door. Alec only smiled and gave me a small kiss on the cheek before pushing me to get up. I made a face, but got the door anyway. It was Alice, grinning for all the world at 7:23 in the morning with an armful of clothes.
"Morning, Renesme!" She grinned broadly, wide-eyed. What was the vampire equivalent of caffeine and where had she gotten it?"
"I prefer Raven, but good morning, Alice." I replied stiffly, forcing a smile. "What can I do for you?" She did a strange nodding motion with her head and I decided to let her in. She even walked with an unnatural spring to her step. Piece by piece, Alice laid the clothes out on the bed. Alec had escaped to the bathroom, leaving me with my aunt and her fashion-twitch.
"I just wanted to drop some clothes off for you and Alec, Renesme." She proclaimed in a sing-song voice, straightening the outfits out. "Well, I'm going to take you two on a little adventure today! Take your time getting ready, and I'll see you downstairs!" Then she bolted from the room. I ran to the stairs and leaned half of my body over the rail.
"What kind of adventure?" I shouted. From the bottom floor, Alice looked up with a mischievous grin.
"I swear you'll enjoy it Nessie!" That was vague at best. I gritted my teeth and walked back into the bedroom, swearing under my breath. Alec was standing next to the bed, still in his pajamas, fingering the clothes Alice had left.
"You know, for something of a nuisance, Alice has incredible perception of taste." He smiled, lifting up a pair of dark jeans, a grey tee, a black canvas jacket, and a pair of canvas low-tops. Biting my lip, I examined my clothes.
"Taste in accordance to you, dear." I muttered, holding up a pale pink and white striped v-neck. Alec laughed and snatched the shirt from my hands.
"If I recall correctly, you wore pink quite a bit as a child." He smirked, dangling the offending textile in front of my nose. I glared at him, grabbing the grey skinny jeans Alice left.
"As a child, Alec," I spat, hitting him with the jeans. "Time changes and so do people, or am I quoting someone else?" Alec smirked, picking me up and dropping me on the bed, holding one of my arms down. Leaning over me, he stared me down.
"When did I ever say that, love?" He replied, knowingly. I sighed and stared at the ceiling.
"You said it on the plane coming over here. Gwyn and I overheard you." I muttered.
"That's right; I remember now." Alec smiled. "However, you have become pickier with age, but this isn't my doing." Letting go of me, he grabbed his clothes and walked to the bathroom, disappearing behind the door. I let out a frustrated breath as I looked over my clothing; I hadn't intended to plot evil things against Alice, but my thoughts were provoked. Not that I would follow through with any of it.
I slipped on the outfit, trying my best to make it look like something I would wear; adding a black scarf, grey fingerless gloves and my guard chain. I could hear Jane and Gwyn's laughter in my head as I watched my expression in the mirror. Okay, I admit that it could've been a lot worse; it could've been neon pink. I was just happy that Alice chose black flats instead of another uncomfortable colour, like purple.
Alec's idea of an adventure is sneaking out of Volturi castle. I hear adventure and think of a particularly hard kill. Alice's version of an adventure in called a "shopping spree".
She had been dragging Alec and me around Port Angeles for a good 2 hours and there was no end in sight. I just held Alec's hand and bit my lip. I made a game of trying to find the least gaudy piece of clothing in every store. It was hard to find anything but tee shirts and hooded sweatshirts, but it kept me busy. At the moment, we were in a shop called CITY. What it had to do with anything in the shop was beyond me, but at least some of the apparel was decent. Alice had practically dragged me through the entire shop, picking out a million things that I would never, ever wear.
"Ooh, Renesme, you would look stunning in this." She gushed, holding up a dark blue tunic embellished with little silver sequins. I heard Alec snickering behind me, and felt my fists tighten.
"Alice," I said as she turned to something else. Her head snapped around, her eyes wide. "Would you mind if I looked around by myself? As pretty as that shirt is, it's not really my thing. Would you be offended at all?"
"Nope," She declared happily. "Enjoy yourself, Nessie!" Alice disappeared deeper into the store. I was left with Alec.
"Nessie, eh?" I heard him mutter. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
"If you ever use that, I swear I will – "
"I don't plan on it, love." Alec rolled his eyes. He was using Italian, like we normally do in public. "Either way, it's nice not to have her twittering in your ear constantly." His tone was casual as he examined a dress with a scandalously short hemline suspiciously. I breezed past him into a cluster of decent looking clothes. I searched for something new, but still modest; a hard task in this era.
"Raven," I looked up. Alec was motioning me over. As I stood in front of him, he put a hanger in my hands. "Try this, would you?" I didn't look at it until I closed the dressing room door. It was a simple white dress that fell to just above my knees. It's hemline, bell-sleeves, and square neckline were all bordered with an antique-style lace; the sturdy, simple, homespun stuff. Alec had good taste, but it wasn't as if I had ignored that fact. I mean, he had been dressing himself for at least the last 1100 years.
"Alright Alec, I indulged you." I said, walking out of the room. "Now, would you be so kind as to do the same for me?" I probably looked silly with my scarf and gloves, but the way Alec was looking me over; well, I didn't feel silly in the slightest. He took my hands in his and lightly pulled me over to the mirror.
"Are you satisfied, Raven?" he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist. I gripped his fingers.
"I think so…" I muttered, biting my lip as I studied the dress. "How is it that you found this dress?" Alec just laughed, resting his chin on my shoulders. We stood there for a second before he turned me around.
"What do you want?" I asked, tilting my head back.
"Dance with me, love." Alec grinned, grasping my hands in his. I raised an eyebrow, but it was his turn to look ridiculous. I couldn't help but let him pull me in and twirl me around. The song was old, but that didn't ruin it. In a moment I was transported back to the first ball I ever attended.
It was the New Year's ball that the Volturi held annually, far back enough that Alec was only still my guard and I looked only ten years old. He spent the majority of the night teaching me how to waltz, but I never got the hang of it. Instead of keeping on, Alec picked me up and held me in his arms like we were dancing together. From then on, I'd always loved the balls, especially dancing with Alec. However, Gwyn and I do enjoy showing Rhodes how "splendidly" we dance together.
The two of us hadn't done anything normal since we arrived. We didn't hunt normally, run normally. We didn't hug, kiss or dance. I missed it all; dancing with the radio on, preferably music from the 1940s, and the little games we play when we're bored. I swear I hadn't seen Alec draw in weeks, which was strange.
The song ended, and so did our little dance. Alec brushed his lips against my hand.
"Get changed," He whispered so only I could hear. "I'll meet you outside." I nodded and went to change. I was leaving to find Alec when a girl with long blonde hair stopped me.
"How long have you two been together?" She asked shyly. "If you don't mind my asking…" She seemed innocent enough and I was feeling friendly, another sign of the wind changing.
"Long enough to be engaged," I lied, holding up my left hand. On it was the ring Caius got me for my 25th birthday; it was a cranberry-coloured ruby set in a simple gold band. The girl gasped and smiled broadly.
"Well, I couldn't help but think that the two of you were a match." She blushed lightly. "The way he asked you to dance out of nowhere was really adorable."
"Thank you, that's very kind of you to say." I smiled. After an awkward pause, she excused herself and I went back to tracking down Alec. He was talking with Alice, who was bouncing on the balls of her feet despite the platform heels she was sporting. As soon as I had reached them, Alice had snatched the dress from my fingers and rushed off to the register.
"So much for paying myself…" I mumbled, fingering the zipper on my wallet.
"Put it out of your mind," Alec whispered, "It just gives us more to spend elsewhere." I looked at him, not even trying to conceal my smile.
"What did you find, love?" He took a step towards me, placing his hands in his pockets, and leaned in slightly.
"When Alice was dragging us off to the second shop, I noticed a small art store." Grabbing my wrist, Alec motioned towards the door. "It's about 3 stores down." Looking over my shoulder, I spotted Alice, still looking through the racks f clothes.
"What about her?" I replied, discreetly jerking my thumb over my shoulder.
"Send her a text." Alec replied simply. Then the two of us ran out onto the street.
Watching Alec go through the art supply store was like watching Alice in a clothing store. He was lost in his own little world; like the one kid who had managed to get to Candy-Land. In all honesty, it fascinated me too. Art was another one of those things that we both loved. It was an escape, and a good excuse for us to take an adventure into the woods. Alec was partial to the classic sketching, oil painting, watercolor, and charcoal. I was the modern-musical one: photography, violin, viola, and cello were my forte.
"I have found the diamond in the coal mine." Alec smiled. I nodded and felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was Alice; I opened the text and was greeted with "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS?" I rolled my eyes and found Alec in the next aisle.
"I think Alice is about to have an aneurism, Alec." I watched him give me a look that said 'and what do you want to do about this?' I sighed heavily and continued. "I was going to go find her, but you're welcome to stay here."
"I choose here." He muttered, examining a box of pastels.
"Thanks for the support, love." I mused. I slipped out of the store and sent Alice a quick text. She replied, in under 2 seconds flat, saying she wanted me to meet her outside CITY. Sure enough, she was standing under the awning, tapping her foot when I arrived.
"Where've you been, Nessie?" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. Alice was a convincing human when she wanted to be. I pointed back down the sidewalk.
"There was an art store, and Alec wanted to check it out." I shrugged.
"I take it he's still there…" Alice chewed on the inside of her cheek. I nodded, "Well, we can head on." She took my hand and half-dragged me across the street and a few blocks down to yet another dress store.
Hooray, another one…I thought, shaking my head. Even from outside the glass doors I could tell there was so much polyester that lighting a match at the art store would set the place burning.
"Nessie, I know we've already been to a dress store today, but there's a reason we're going to this one." Alice instructed, pulling me in the shop. "Carlisle and Esme want to have a family dinner of sorts and it's going to be formal. Well…not really formal, more like fancy cocktail party dress." My first two thoughts one looking around the place was; are my retinas burning or is it all the gaudy colours? And; what shameless piece of nothing was Alice going to try to dress me in?
"I want something super simple, Alice," Popped out of my mouth before I realized.
"That's easy enough, Nessie." She declared. I had become good at controlling the undeniable rage that came with the nickname 'Nessie'. Honestly, who in their right mind thought that was an acceptable nickname?
Alice began methodically searching through the glistening rows of tight, plastic-looking, tackiness. It didn't take long before she pulled out 2 dresses for me, and 2 for her. For her, the first was sour apple green and the second was canary yellow, both in the same retro styling. For me, Alice had pulled out a light blue sundress with flowery embroidery and a white dress with muted-gold sequins.
"No and no." I said. Alice pouted and examined the dresses. "They aren't simple enough." I explained, crossing my arms.
"Not simple enough?" Alice asked, astonished. "What's your definition of simple?" I glanced around the room looking for an example. I only found one.
"This," I stated, pulling the black dress off the rack. It was plain, but elegant and classic. It reminded me of something a First Lady would wear out. "This is my definition of simple, Alice. And this time, I'm paying for it." She looked at me and shrugged.
"Alright then; I'll decide which one I'm getting in a second." Alice turned and smiled in a shy way unknown to her outgoing manner. "When you're done, why don't you go find Alec? We can leave after." I nodded and walked away to pay for the dress.
Author's Note:
Hiya! Sorry this chapter ran so long. I got to almost done and realized I had left the entire point of the chapter out! It's cold and rainy and I think I'm starting to get sick, but fingers-crossed I'm not because cold medicine makes me act like a little kid on a Halloween sugar-high; or Bella on Percocet, if you know what I'm getting at. Thanks so much! Rate and review and enjoy!
Carie Lea ;3
