(continued)
"Why don't you spend the night, and then you can spend the day with us tomorrow!"
"I don't know, Alice. All of my clothes are at home, and -- hey, wait. What do you mean by 'us'?"
"I usually make Edward spend Saturday mornings with me. Sometimes Jasper joins us. Why don't you come? We can go out for breakfast and do something fun after!"
"Umm . . . Okay, but what am I going to wear?" I asked. There was no way I would fit into her clothes.
"We'll figure something out."
I thought for a moment. "Okay. Just let me call Charlie to let him know."
Alice handed me her cell phone. I dialed the number and waited. It rang about ten times before Charlie answered.
"Hello," Charlie answered, making it sound more like a statement than a question.
"Hey, Dad. It's Bella. I just wanted to let you know that I'm spending the night at Alice's and then hanging out tomorrow."
"Aren't you supposed to ask first?" He chuckled.
"Sorry. Can I spend the night with Alice and then hang out with her tomorrow?"
"Yeah, sure, Bells. Just be back at a reasonable hour tomorrow."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Love you, Bells. See you tomorrow."
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Alice threw me a pair of stretchy, pink pajama pants and then showed me the matching shirt. It was small and lacy. I sighed.
"Alice, there's no way I'm wearing that. Don't you have a regular tee shirt or something?"
She glared at me. I should've known better.
"There must be something here you can wear," she said, walking back into her closet. Then she walked right back out, rubbing her chin in thought, "Hmm . . . I'll go see if my mom has something."
She walked out of the room and left the door open. I sat on the bed, waiting, and a few minutes later I saw Edward walking toward his room. He turned around and saw me. He waved and opened his door. The lights were still on from when I had snooped around. He hesitated for a moment before entering and closing the door behind him.
Twenty minutes later, I was still alone. I stared at Edward's door, hoping it would open. About five minutes later it did. Edward was wearing blue plaid pajama pants and an Alice in Chains tee shirt. He looked absolutely adorable. He started toward the stairs, but then looked at me and turned back toward Alice's room. He leaned against the doorway.
"Where's Alice?" Edward looked around.
"She wears ridiculous things to bed and I refused to make myself look like that, so she's looking for a shirt for me. I can't believe the girl doesn't own a regular tee shirt."
"Well, you know, I have . . . tee shirts."
"Everyone on the planet except Alice has tee shirts."
Edward frowned. "What I'm saying is that, you know, you could borrow one of mine for the night if all else fails."
"Wouldn't your girlfriend mind if I wore one of your tee shirts?" I said, more angrily than I meant to.
"Who says I have a girlfriend?" Edward quirked up his left eyebrow.
"Well, Tanya is your girlfriend, isn't she?"
"Yeah, I guess, if you want to call her that." He let out a humorless chuckle and looked away. "Well, have a good night, then."
Edward walked downstairs. I felt a little bad for being mean. Just a little. A short time later, Alice came back carrying a pile of Esme's shirts.
"What are you doing?"
"I thought you needed options," Alice smiled.
"Alice, it's just a night shirt. You didn't have to bring your mom's entire closet with you." I laughed and picked out a plain white tee shirt.
We went to bed a short time later.
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I heard some rustling in the room, and suddenly everything was blindingly bright. I opened my eyes to find crazy, bubbly, morning-person Alice was pushing the curtains aside, exposing the unusually intense sun in the Washington sky.
"Alice," I groaned, "Knock it off." I rolled over and pulled the blanket over my face.
"Bella, it's almost eleven. Get up and take a shower." She pulled the blanket off me and dragged me by the arm. I fell onto the floor and we laughed. Alice was already showered, dressed, and made up. She wore a pink tube top, light denim flared jeans, and pink flats. It must be warm outside.
After our laughing subsided, Alice turned serious.
"Now, Bella, get in the shower and I'll have something ready for you to wear. We were going to go out for breakfast, but someone had to sleep forever, so now we're going out for lunch. Hurry up!"
I obeyed and walked into the enormous bathroom. She'd already laid towels out for me and started the shower. Steam filled the room, just the way I like it. I bathed quickly, wrapped myself in a towel, and walked into Alice's room. She was nowhere in sight, but lying on the bed was an outfit that I assumed was for me. It consisted of a light blue short-sleeved button-down top, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a pair of blue slip-ons. It wasn't exactly what I'd pick out, but it was better than a dress or a skirt. I got dressed and brushed my hair with Alice's brush. After I was ready, I opened the door and walked down the stairs.
Carlisle and Esme were cuddled up on the couch. Even though Carlisle was reading a book and Esme was watching TV, they looked attuned to one another, like both of them were having a silent conversation. I wondered what it was like to be that much in love. I wish I could've seen my parents like that, once upon a time. I was too little when they divorced, so I only remember the bad parts-- fighting, throwing things, and the morning we left. I remember staying with my grandma and grandpa, mom's parents, before mom randomly decided on Arizona. My brain blocked out whatever came after that.
"Oh! Hello, Bella." Esme smiled and waved, snapping me out of my reminiscence. "The kids are waiting in the kitchen."
"Thank you," I said politely and walked through the doorway into the kitchen.
They were sitting at the kitchen table. Alice was flipping through a magazine; Jasper was sitting next to her, looking down at the table; and Tanya was sitting next to Jasper, laying her head on Edward's shoulder. Each of them were in their own little world, only to be interrupted by my presence. They all got up to leave when they saw me and Alice took my hand, smiling wide. We all piled into the Volvo. Jasper, Alice, and I sat in the back, of course. I was in the middle, so I could see the space between the front seats. Tanya placed her hand lovingly on Edward's leg, and then he took her hand in his. It made me feel sick to my stomach.
We drove to the local diner. After the last experience with cranky Leah, I prayed she wouldn't be our waitress. She wasn't around, and I wouldn't have been surprised if she was fired for acting like Cujo, with customers around. We were led to a table and handed menus. During the entire meal, Edward played with Tanya's strawberry blonde hair, and she stared into the eyes that I wanted to be staring into. I could hardly even eat my turkey sandwich.
After lunch, Alice decided we should go to the beach since it was still nice outside. Edward and Tanya walked off somewhere by themselves. Alice grabbed my hand, and Jasper followed us to a large piece of driftwood. We sat down on the makeshift bench and I stared after Edward when he and Tanya walked off into the forest at the left end of the beach. When they were no longer in sight, I looked over to Jasper. He and Alice were staring into the ocean, his arm around Alice's shoulder. I wondered why they weren't dating.
Alice shrugged Jasper's arm off her shoulder and jumped up.
"You guys want to go hiking?" she asked.
"Only if you can promise me that I won't fall," I groaned.
"Yeah, okay," Jasper said, answering Alice.
Hiking wasn't really something I was looking forward to. Random branches, bushes, and other natural things were scattered around just waiting for me to stumble upon them. I hesitated for a minute, trying to think of a way to get out of it. I couldn't come up with anything.
We walked toward the patch of forest that Edward and Tanya had disappeared into. Alice was all smiles. Jasper grinned at Alice's happiness and chuckled at my despair. I grumbled as I nearly fell on a small piece of driftwood lying near the edge of the trees.
There was an angry-looking cliff at the forest's edge that hovered over the water in front of it like a hungry animal about to attack its prey. I wished I could jump off it and get dragged into the current by an angry mermaid, just to get out of the spontaneous hiking trip.
The forest was dark and beautiful, just like Edward. The million shades of green sparkled in the sun, like his eyes. There was a clear trail that we followed into the depths, and the surroundings became even more beautiful as we walked further. Spring birds were chirping and the scene was picturesque, but my sour mood kept me from admiring it fully.
Alice and Jasper were goofing around, poking and laughing at each other. It really annoyed me. I spotted another dirt path, trailing off to the right. "Alice, I'm going to wander this way. This path looks more interesting," I said, as I started moving over to it.
"But, Bella, I wanted to show you this awesome rainbow-colored boulder down this way," Alice said in a disappointed voice, pointing ahead.
I gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, Alice, maybe next time. I just feel like thinking, alone. If you don't see me by nightfall, send a search party."
Both Alice and Jasper laughed. "Fine." Alice hugged me and jokingly said, "But don't come crying to me if you get attacked by a wild boar!" I nodded.
Although I was just making an excuse earlier, the trail really was more interesting. There seemed to be more wildlife-- more life in general, actually. Everything seemed to be squirming with life-- trees rocked, fallen leaves wafted, and bushes teetered. After a little more walking, I saw a small family of white-tailed deer off the marked trail. The mama deer ate from one of the bushes to the side, and the baby deer watched me. As I stepped a little closer, to get a better look, the baby stepped back. The mama kept right on eating. I inched carefully, until I was just a few feet away from mama and baby. I wanted to get as close as I could. I felt sneaky, like an international spy, but I just wanted to watch and observe. The markings on the deer became clearer, as I got closer. Three white spots near the rear of baby, made a triangle. Mama's were similar, except I counted seven on her. I really wanted to see if there were the same number of spots on the other sides of their bodies, but I tripped over a branch in the process of circling them, and fell flat on my face. Mama and baby scurried off as soon as they heard the branch crack.
"Great," I said to the seemingly empty forest, pulling myself up. I stood there for a moment, just taking in the mossy smell, until I heard soft voices in the distance. I figured it would be Alice and Jasper looking for me, but then I heard him.
"It's nothing, no one's out here," Edward whispered.
I tip-toed to a wide-trunked tree a few feet ahead of me and carefully peeked my head out from behind it. Edward's body was pressed up against Tanya's, and he was kissing her neck. She drew her head back, moaning. His silky, pale hand crept up Tanya's wool sweater and she arched her back, softly saying his name. "Oh, Edward."
My heart sank, and I couldn't help but wish that it was me he was kissing, instead of Tanya. As I shifted myself against the tree, a branch made a loud snap. Edward and Tanya came to an abrupt stop, looking to see what made the noise. Mortified, I ducked back behind the tree. They walked off the other way, and I made my way back to find Alice and Jasper. They were waiting at the head of the trail.
"Find anything interesting?" Alice asked, putting her arm around my shoulder.
"Loads," I said, sarcastically. I didn't want to think, let alone talk about Edward with her. I tried listening to what Alice was saying as we headed back to the beach, but the scene kept playing in my mind, over and over again. Why couldn't that be me?
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It started getting cold when we arrived back on the beach. The clouds grew dark, and a light mist crowded the air. It looked like rain. Edward's car was locked, so we had to wait to warm up. Jasper wrapped his arms around Alice to keep her warm. Of course, I had no one. As Jasper and Alice leaned against Edward's car, arms wrapped around one another for warmth, I impatiently paced.
Around twenty minutes later, it had started to drizzle. Edward and Tanya were finally walking out of the woods, and I was shaking from the cold. Minutes before, Jasper offered me a place under his other arm, but I declined. There was only one place I wanted to be, and that was in Edward's arms. Not Jasper's.
"What do you want to do, Edward?" Alice called as she ran up to him.
"I should probably get Tanya home, and I'm sure Bella would like to get dropped off," he said as he looked at me.
"I think I'd like to stay again, actually," I snapped at him. I couldn't get over seeing him with Tanya, and that fact made me bitter. "But I should probably ask Charlie first. I'm sure he won't mind, and then I can grab some clothes from home first. Is that okay, Alice?"
"Of course!" Alice squealed and gave me a hug.
We piled back into the car, and Edward dropped Tanya off. Jasper also got out of the car. He lived down the block from Tanya.
"Don't either one of you want to sit in the front?" Edward asked, looking back at us. We both shook our heads. He frowned and drove off. "You two are making me feel like a chauffer."
At Charlie's, we all got out of the car. When we walked in, Jake jumped up on Edward, and Charlie yelled at the big lug. I patted Jake on the head.
"Dad, this is Edward, Alice's brother," I said by way of introduction, and they shook hands.
Alice, Edward, and I walked up to my room and I regretted not cleaning it before I left the day before. Alice flopped down onto my bed and Edward stood next to her, looking around. I grabbed my backpack and put some pajamas, a shirt, and a pair of jeans into it. I quickly grabbed a bra and a pair of underwear and stuffed them in the backpack, hoping Edward didn't see them. When I was sure I had everything I needed, we headed back downstairs and I told Charlie I was sleeping over again. He patted my back, said goodbye to Alice and Edward, and we were off.
Carlisle and Esme weren't home, so Alice ordered some delivery pizza. Edward hung out with us downstairs while we waited. Alice flipped through channels, sitting on the plush chair against the far wall, and Edward and I sat on the couch. I wasn't really interested in watching TV. Alice got up to go to the bathroom, and Edward turned to me.
"You don't like Tanya, do you?"
"Why do you ask?" I looked down and fidgeted with the hem of my shirt.
"Bella, you were glaring at her all day," he pointed out.
"I just don't think she's . . ." I hesitated, "good enough for you, I guess."
"Oh, really?" Edward snapped. "And you, of all people, would know what's good enough for me?" He crossed his arms and stared ahead. Things were silent until Alice came back, and then Edward stomped upstairs.
"What was that about?" Alice asked as she quirked up her eyebrows.
"No clue," I lied. We watched trash TV until the pizza arrived, and then we ate and watched more TV until Alice got tired, and we went up to her room. We both changed into pajamas and went to bed.
Hours later, I still couldn't sleep. Alice was snoring lightly. I got up and walked downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Edward was sitting on one of the stools at the kitchen island, drinking a glass of milk.
"Oh, Bella. What are you doing awake?" he said, startled.
"Couldn't sleep. I was going to get a glass of water," I said shyly. He got up from the stool and opened a cabinet to get a glass.
As he ran the glass under the tap, he said, "I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier. I just don't understand why everyone hates Tanya. She's really a nice girl, once you get to know her."
I nodded, and he handed me the glass. I sipped it slowly. He sipped his milk at the same speed. When we were both finished, I stood up and put my glass in the sink. He did the same. It felt really awkward, just standing there with him. He broke the tension by poking at my side, smiling like a villain. It tickled. I laughed. He was clearly amused, so he went at it even more. Not being able to restrain my laughter, my arms started flailing uncontrollably. I tried punching him, but it tickled too much.
"Stop it!" I laughed, but he wouldn't stop.
We were both laughing and then he finally stopped, with a serious look on his face. I looked into his green eyes, and he looked into mine. His hand came up and softly stroked my cheek. I wound my arm around to his back and gently pulled him to me. I wanted to be closer to him, to smell the musk and sandalwood. The scent surrounded me, when his face leaned down to mine. My heart raced as I brought my mouth up, wanting nothing more in the world than to kiss him. His lips were as soft as silk. Even though I could feel his cool breath on my lips, I still felt the need to be closer to him. I pressed my lips harder against his, and he hesitated. We lingered for a moment, and I urged forward again. This time, he passionately did the same. His arms wrapped around my entire body, completely encasing me in the sweet scent. I let it take over me, and I no longer felt like myself.
I heard his breaths get heavier, which could only mean that he wanted this, too, right?
Taking that as a sign, I tried for more. I needed more, more of him. I poked my tongue out of my mouth and into his, but he pulled back. I took another step closer to him, lifted myself up to him again, and pressed my begging lips back up to his. He pushed me away.
"Bella, I can't. I'm sorry." He stepped back.
"But Edward, I --" I stuttered. "I like you." I took a step forward so that I was face-to-face with him again.
"Bella, stop. I have a girlfriend. I can't do this." He took another step back before he turned around and rushed out of the room.
I felt so confused, so rejected. I stood by the sink for a while, tears welling up in my eyes. Before a cry choked out of my throat, I ran upstairs into Alice's room and slammed the door. I turned into the dark room and sobbed. I leaned my back against the door and pulled my face into my hands. Alice woke up and ran to me.
"Bella! Bella, what's wrong? Bella!" she cried as she pulled me into her arms. I tried to speak but couldn't. I laid my head on her shoulder and just cried, for what seemed like hours. After a while, Alice pulled my face up with her hands and looked at me. With her thumbs, she wiped the tears from my cheeks. Her tiny hands felt so soft and cool on my raw face. When I looked into her eyes, I felt an instant ease. Everything that surrounded Alice felt warm and comforting. She was the kind of person that whenever she walked into a room, it instantly lit up. Her light was shining on me in my very dark moment.
Alice slowly inched her face closer to mine, and I could feel her warm breath on my face. She smelled like peppermint and honey. She lingered for a moment, and I took in her sweet scent. Then, she closed the last bit of distance between us and pressed her lips gently against mine.
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A/N: Nothing like a good cliffie! I told you it'd get good. Review if you want more peppermint and honey ;)