Yay, everyone. I finally got the new chapter up and running! It was tech week (for theater at school), and most of you know how long those hours can be. Hoorah to the show! XP Anyways, please enjoy this chapter, because this one is better than the last. Maybe because there's more Edward… and drama. And Alice and Jasper. And the rest of us. Of course. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Parties Are For Animals
The afternoon was spent in a reasonably slow, tantalizing manner. Alice went on her walk with Jasper and didn't return for a very long time. So Josie and Theresa took me to Audrey's room, where I discovered the meaning of the T.V show, 'Angel'. It wasn't bad, but I wasn't as into it as the others seemed to be.
When dinnertime rolled around, Alice still hadn't returned. I was a little worried, but the others didn't seemed to concerned, which relaxed me a little bit. When I asked Emily, the other junior explained that Jasper was a good guy, and that he wouldn't do anything horrible to Alice while they were out on a walk. I took her advice and stopped worrying so much, and so we all headed out to dinner together.
Audrey was talking to Slinky and Josie about something they had all watched on Angel on the way over to dinner, as Theresa, Emily, Sarah, Abby, Clorissa, and I discussed what might happen at dinner tonight.
"I wonder if the pretty kids will talk to you tonight?" Clorissa was wondering out loud. "That'd be an interesting show down."
"You'd have our back," Theresa pointed out cheerfully.
"Seth might talk to you," Sarah then remarked. "He's not so bad a guy, and sometimes he's the spokesperson, but… Edward is the one who normally does the talking." Her voice went bitter at the mention of Edward, and I sighed internally. So Sarah still had hard feelings about the dance thing Josie had told me about at band practice last night. I felt so sorry for her.
"Believe me though, you don't want Leah on your tail. She'll bite your head off, literally," Emily said knowingly.
"She's kind of mean," Abby agreed.
"Who're we talking about now?" came an extremely familiar pixyish voice that we all knew so well. All of us turned to see Alice, who looked as happy as could be, arm in arm with Jasper Hale. He looked pleased with himself too, and he couldn't stop looking at Alice like he had never seen anything like her before.
"Alice!" Josie squealed, and skipped brightly around the pair of them – since it looked just about impossible to hug either of them. "You're back!"
Alice let out her tinkling laugh and smiled. "Yes, I'm back. And Jasper was wondering if he could sit with us tonight at dinner," she informed everyone. All of us exchanged glances and agreed enthusiastically – even though our table would probably be stuffed tonight. "And the rumors have been confirmed. There's a party tonight, and all of you are coming." With this comment, she fixed me in a firm look that told me that there was no way I'd get out of going tonight. Crud.
"Yeah, Josie. That includes you!" Sarah proclaimed, pointing her finger at the clarinet player in a threatening manner.
Josie stuck her tongue out. "I know, I know," she admitted grudgingly.
So I wasn't the only one who wasn't fond of parties. That cheered me up a little.
We went into the cafeteria and got our food just like we had last night. Alice sat beside me again, and Jasper sat beside her. On my other side was Audrey this time, who was still deep in conversation with Slinky about something funny that happened on Angel during a part I obviously hadn't been paying attention.
"So. Jasper." It was Theresa who started this conversation, fixing Alice's new companion in an observing look. She seemed to watch every move he made, and I felt sorry to the tall saxophone player. I never realized how intimidating Theresa could be sometimes. "Are you going out with Alice now?"
Alice blushed at this topic, and looked down at her tray and began picking at her vegetables. Jasper smiled, ignoring Alice's uncomfortable-ness about it. "I guess you could say that," he replied confidently.
Instead of cheering Theresa, this only made the junior narrow her eyes. "You do know that if you hurt her in any way, you will suffer the wrath of the clarinets? I'll kick your ass, Jasper, and I'm not afraid to do it, either," she warned him boldly. Alice's face turned a tickle-me pink as she stared down at her plate. She wasn't one to be embarrassed, so I lightly touched her arm to let her know that I was here. She smiled thankfully at me.
"And I'll knee you in a place where it hurts!" Josie piped up. "You can ask some of the guys at school. I do it pretty hard."
"That's not all," Slinky then said. "Emmett will break your arms! And then I'll kick you in the knee. It hurts, too." She nodded firmly as if that had been the worst threat she had ever made to anybody.
Jasper seemed unbothered by all these threats. "Believe me. I don't ever want to hurt Alice – ever. I've liked her for a very long time, and now I can get to love her. I know Edward had screwed your guys' opinion of me…" His eyes flickered to Sarah for a brief moment, whose face went a shade darker. "But I'm nothing like him."
Everyone seemed relieved by this.
"Then welcome to the family, Jasper!" Emily exclaimed. "Though I will admit this family is a little crazy." She let out a laugh and we all joined in.
I remained silent for the rest of the conversation. Edward had just walked in with the kids Seth and Leah, and his eyes seemed to go to me for a second. His hypnotizing green eyes bore into mine for the longest of seconds, and I could read several emotions in his eyes. Anger, frustration, confusion… it was all there. I managed to return the stare, melting inside, and then I was thankfully rescued by Emmett and Rosalie's arrival.
"Whoa, Jazz, you're sitting with us now?" the huge tuba player asked as he and his girlfriend took seats at the table. "What happened? Edward throw you out of the group or something?"
Jasper shook his head. He placed his hand over Alice's, and Emmett understood immediately. He snickered and dug into his French fries without another word. Alice glared at him, but Jasper just chuckled and patted her hand before beginning to eat. We all laughed again.
Dinner seemed to pass in a blur, with conversations that were casual and easy. When it finally came time after desert to separate and get ready for the party tonight, Alice practically dragged me out of the building after saying 'goodbye' to Jasper with her lips. It was obvious they'd already shared their first kiss (Theresa wolf-whistled when she saw them kissing; Alice had blushed and Jasper had laughed). She complained all the way to my room that I had absolutely nothing to wear for the party.
"I looked through your wardrobe, and it's horrible," Alice was commenting as she shoved our door open and marched inside. I stumbled in after her, utterly bewildered. She'd gone through my wardrobe? When had she managed to do that? It obviously didn't matter, because she threw a pair of shorts at me, and a hyacinth blue halter-top. "Put those on." When I opened my mouth to protest, she glared at me sternly. "And don't complain about it. I am not taking you to a smoking hot party if you don't look smoking hot. Now put them on. I won't look." To prove her point, she turned away and went into the closet and shut the door behind her.
I sighed, looking down at the outfit she had given me. I decided that it was no use to revolt, so I just stripped down to my underwear and bra and put on this new outfit. It wasn't until after I had pulled the halter top down over my stomach that Alice came out of the closet. It was like she had known when I would finish dressing. Strange.
"Good. Now sit down on that bed. I have to do your hair and makeup," Alice stated. She too had changed into a set of light denim shorts and a black spaghetti-strap top.
"Uh… aren't you going a bit overboard with this?" I asked as I sat down as she had instructed.
Alice rolled her eyes as she rummaged through her bag for makeup supplies and a brush. "Bella, nothing in fashion is overboard. I'm doing just what's needed. Who knows, you might find your lucky man tonight." She winked at me and chuckled lightly to herself as she pulled out her 'tools'.
When she had seated herself behind me and began brushing through my hair, I sighed. "Alice, do you honestly think that some guy is going to like me?" I questioned.
I felt Alice shrug. "Well, why wouldn't a guy like you? You're pretty, smart, and brave to stand up to a jerk like Edward," she told me with assurance in her voice. "Come on, guys here dig that. And when I'm through with you, you're going to look more gorgeous than an actress on the red carpet. Believe me Bella, you're going to look simply awesome. Don't worry about it."
"'Kay," I answered. I highly doubted what she had said was true, because there never really was a guy that I'd been attracted to, even though he might have been attracted to me. The closest person like that was Jacob, but we were just friends. We always would be. Edward Cullen was the only guy that I'd thought was reasonably cute. And apparently, according to the girls I hanged out with, he was off-limits if I wanted to keep my life. Friends were more important than getting a boyfriend. I had that much common sense, at least.
"Perfect!" Alice exclaimed. She jumped off the bed, nearly giving me a heart attack as she gave me a quick look over. "All you need is some eye liner and blush and you are going to be so beautiful, not even Brad Pitt will be able to resist you!"
"Ew, Brad Pitt?" I asked.
"Please, just a figure of speech, Bella," Alice reassured me as she rolled her eyes. She began applying blush, so I had to close my eyes. "We all know Brad Pitt is ugly. Like I said, just a figure of speech…" Her voice trailed off as she concentrated. After a few minutes of more makeup applying, she grinned. "Now you're perpetually beautiful, Bella. We can head down in a second. Just let me put some makeup on myself."
As if she needed it – she was already painfully beautiful without the makeup.
When she finished, the little pixie took my hand and opened up the door to our room. Waiting outside were Rosalie and Theresa. Rosalie was breathtakingly beautiful, and I was beginning to wonder if we weren't going to prom. Theresa looked a little uncomfortable, wearing nice jeans and a button-up shirt like she wasn't sure if her life was going to last through tonight.
"Ready to go?" Rosalie asked confidently, with a pretty smile. Alice nodded enthusiastically and looked at me with her bright, green eyes. I shrugged nonchalantly.
"Bella, you can't have that attitude, or nobody is going to get along with you," Alice chirped sternly.
"I'll get along with you just fine," Theresa muttered in my ear as we began descending the stairs. "I hate parties like this. With a passion."
"Then why are you going?" I asked.
"Will," she grumbled.
Alice giggled. "Theresa, he won't be able to resist you. Come on, and stop complaining. You'll be fine." She turned her head to talk to Rosalie.
"Who's Will?" I inquired.
"Oh, only the guy Theresa has been fantasizing about for the past year," came a cheerful voice from behind us. Audrey was descending the steps behind us with Slinky in tow. She grinned playfully at Theresa, who snorted and rolled her eyes.
"I haven't been fantasizing about him," Theresa mumbled grudgingly. "I just have a crush on him – that's all."
"This year is his last year though! He's a senior!" Slinky piped up. "It's your last chance."
"I know. I have another three weekends after this one. Stop worrying so much, guys," Theresa muttered. "If I ask him to dance tonight, don't embarrass me, please."
"Oh, like shout your name as soon as we see you two on the dance floor?" Slinky asked. "Or wolf-whistle and scream?"
"No," Theresa told her firmly.
Slinky looked crestfallen, and she sighed. "But I like to wolf-whistle and scream," she said quietly. We all laughed in response to that. By then, we'd reached the bottom of the staircase.
"Here we go," Alice murmured, sounding more excited than ever. She pushed open the door into the commons, and all I could do was stare.
The party had already started. People were bouncing together in what looked like the mob of death for me. The lights were toned down, so it was a little dark inside, and bright colored lights were flashing around from a disco ball that someone must have attached to the ceiling of the room. One of the band kids was playing DJ, with an iPod on his table and huge speakers attached to it. There were plenty of people sitting and standing off to the side, drinking punch or eating pizza. It looked like a death trap. I couldn't believe that I had agreed to actually come to this.
"Let's find Jasper," Alice said, grabbing my hand and dragging me into the fray. I prayed that I wouldn't cause anyone's death tonight.
"Jazz!" Alice cried after about thirty seconds. I had tripped over three people at least, all of them sending me deathly glares. "There you are! How's the party?"
"As bright and bouncing as it'll ever be," the tall saxophone commented. He was standing by one of the front tables, a cup of punch in his hand. He smiled at Alice and I. "Hey, Bella," he greeted me. I smiled and looked behind me to see if any of my other friends were behind us. They weren't. I could only vaguely see Theresa, Rosalie, Slinky, and Audrey through the thick crowd of dancing maniacs.
"Hi, Jasper," I answered.
"Jazz, what's up?" the black-haired boy (I remembered that he was Seth), said as he strolled up, a very recognizable figure behind him. I narrowed my eyes at Edward, who simply ignored my presence. Alice's shoulders stiffened as she refused to acknowledge her brother.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. What are you guys doing here?' Jasper asked.
Seth let out a cheerful laugh. "You kidding me? What's a party without Seth Clearwater and Edward Cullen, huh? I'll tell you. It's no party at all. Seen my sister anywhere?"
"Nope. I think she's sleeping this one out," Jasper replied. He looked at Alice, who looked right back with a cheerful expression and smiled brightly. The attraction between them was almost sickening, but it was so cute that it was hard to look away. Suddenly a desire to have someone like Alice had Jasper appeared in the pit of my stomach, and I sighed.
"Bella, you okay?" Alice asked, suddenly concerned.
"Hm?" I replied, looking at her dully. "Oh, no, I'm fine. Parties just aren't my thing, you know?"
Alice sighed, shaking her head. "Bella, my mission won't succeed if you're not an active participant. Come on, you have to be somewhat excited to be here, right?"
"Not really."
Alice scowled at me and snorted. "Fine, then," she chuckled, glancing back at Jasper. "Go be a boring jerk and go back up to our room. That wonderful outfit of yours completely went to waste. Or find Josie. I bet she's being a party pooper too."
I laughed. I remembered Josie's sour attitude about the party before dinner.
Then, I turned away from them and walked away – around the crowd of crazy, punch-drinking teenagers. I tripped over a chair on the way back to the door and almost crashed into another dancing couple before I felt someone's hands on my arms, holding me steady. I turned to see who it was, and froze.
Edward Cullen was gazing at me with some kind of smug smile on his face. I scowled, completely forgetting where I was.
"What do you want?" I demanded.
Edward frowned, folding his arms tightly across his chest. "I just wanted to talk to you about something," he said frostily. "Is that illegal too?"
I sighed. "No, it's not," I admitted. I wasn't about to order him around, even if I had meant what I said to him this morning. "But what do you want to talk about, and isn't this not really the best place to be talking? It's too insane to think clearly."
Edward smiled, and I felt my heart skip a beat. He was so gorgeous, and yet he was such an imbecile.
"Bella!" Suddenly Slinky was beside me. "Theresa is dancing with Will! She told me not to scream and shout so I came to you to tell you because I'm so excited and Audrey wanted to go watch Angel again. But isn't that great? Rosalie went to go find Emmett because she wanted to slow dance with him and I think I saw Alice and Jasper dancing…" She sighed. "Isn't it awesome?"
I smiled at the little tuba's excitement. It was infectious. "Yeah, that's great," I told her. I could feel Edward's piercing eyes on the back of my head. "I'm heading back up to my room too. Parties just aren't for me. I'll see you later, kay?"
Slinky looked a little downtrodden at my announcement, and sighed. "Oh, okay," she said. "Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then. Bye!" And she was gone in the midst of the dancing teens.
"What do you mean, parties aren't for you? Why are you here, and why are you dressed like that if you don't like them?" Edward asked as soon as I had extracted myself from the dance room into the hallway. He had followed me. I glared at him, but decided not to deny him an answer.
"Alice," I explained.
He nodded, and looked down at his feet. "I, er, wanted to speak with you about what you said to me this morning," he said quietly. "I would like to know what it is about me that frustrates you. I would like you to explain what you said." His green eyes went to my face again, and I sighed impatiently. Was he really that dense, that he couldn't figure this out?
"I thought I was clear enough. You can't treat girls the way you do. If you ever want to go out with someone, you have to be at least a little nice to them. You can't use them like tools. Girls have feelings, and we can act on them quicker than you can say 'Crap'. I'll admit it's normally the boy that can turn into the murderer, but girls can turn out to be real psychos if you don't treat them right," I told him. "You frustrate me because you're the spitting image of my exact opposite. And that bull about 'opposites attract' doesn't work with me. Good night."
I turned to head up the stairs, but he grabbed my arm. I tried to jerk it out of his grip, but he held on tightly. "What is your problem? Let me go," I snapped.
"I want you to tell me what I can do to change that," Edward said, sounding sincere. "I don't want people to see me as a monster."
I scowled, folding my arms tightly across my chest. "Oh?" I demanded of him. "And since when have you been interested in stuff like that? I don't see you asking Alice for this kind of advice. You need to patch things up with her, rather than demand of me to fix your problems."
Edward winced and looked away from me, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I don't like arguing with my little sister," he said quietly. "But she won't tell me what I need to hear."
"And what do you need to hear?" I asked sharply.
"I don't know…" he said, his voice trailing off. His green eyes went to me, and I shook my head. I wasn't going to give him the sympathy he wanted. I barely knew him, and from that I did know of him, he was a complete loser.
"Look, just leave me alone," I told him before hurrying up the stairs to the girls' dorms. He didn't follow this time, and for that I was grateful.
The hallways were practically deserted when I got up there. I assumed most of the girls were down at the party. I almost felt kind of bad, disappointing Alice like that. But I didn't need a guy to keep me happy, even though she was intent on getting me one. The only guy I was attracted to in this band in that way was a complete loser who treated girls like trash. I didn't need someone like him in my life.
I thought about this as I let myself into my room and tossed my lanyard onto the table. I needed to get to bed and clear my head. I didn't want to think about boys anymore. I wanted to focus on marching. So I pulled on my pajamas and sighed, climbing up onto my bed and curling up underneath the covers. It was warm, and I sighed. Tomorrow was another weekend day. Hopefully not another party. I closed my eyes, wanting to escape from the world, even if it was just for eight or so hours.
EOC: Sorry this chapter is so much shorter than the others. Tech week takes a lot out of you, especially since I haven't updated in like two weeks. Sorry for the wait, guys. Also, I'd like to announce that I'm starting a new FanFiction (yes, another one), so this one's production might go a bit slower for the next couple of chapters. But keep in mind this one and Three Wrongs Make A Right are still my top priorities. Thanks for the patience, guys, and I hope you enjoyed it. Dark and Wild/Josie, out.