Fire 7

Dinner with the blacks was a very pleasant affair. Much to both our chagrin both Billy and Charlie flirted with our waitress. though I think Jacob was even more embarrassed then I was. we were laughing as I nudged my father and told him

"just remember your going to eat here again" I said

he laughed

"i sure hope so I was hoping for some take out though" he said

to the waitress. Jake looked like he wanted to crawl under the table. I thought the innuendo was cute. so did the waitress fortunately and we all laughed about it. we were still laughing when we stumbled into the house later.

We sat up and talked for awhile after that and dad tried to get me interested in Jake. I didn't have the heart to burst his bubble yet so I held my tongue.

Truth be told that same danger alert went off with Jake around to. Until I was sure what that feeling meant I wasn't planning to form any kind of relationship with either one.

we slowly calmed and dad went and watched some TV, drank a beer and gradually unwound. I retired to my room and worked on the assignments Emmett brought home for me. the teachers obviously saw fit to give him all the assignments for the week and I silently thanked them for that.

It wasn't that I didn't like Emmett he just made me nervous like all the Cullens did for some reason. Even Alice was no exception though I had seen the extent of her fighting skills. i felt the sensation of being stared at again that night.

After charlie left that morning I warded the windows against anything supernatural. So now nothing could come in even with the window standing wide open.

On the third day of my suspension aka my paint time Alice Cullen showed up at my door. i stared at her in surprise as she nervously stood there.

"i ah.. just wanted to thank you.. um for what you did" she said nervously.

I smiled at her it was obvious this was her parents idea and not hers.

"don't worry about it we're cool" I said

she glanced around nervously and looked like she wanted to bolt away.

"would you like to come in?" I asked

I had learned my lesson with Emmett's impromptu stare fest and was wearing a pair of cut off sweats and one of my dad's discarded t- shirts. she gratefully accepted and stepped inside. We walked into the living room and I offered her a soda. I wasn't surprised when she refused.

"so are you still grounded?"i asked.

She frowned at me

"today's my last day" she said

"i heard you didn't though, get grounded I mean" said Alice

I smiled

"i rarely get in trouble and if I do I usually don't get caught" I responded.

She grinned at me

"but I thought you were here because you got in trouble?" she said

I frowned wondering just what was going around about me. I decided to be partially honest with her just to find out more information.

"i did but I really don't see what the big deal was" I said

I could tell I peaked her curiosity when she tilted her head sideways and stared at me. She had the same piercing gold eyes as her brother Emmett. I frowned that didn't make any sense they were all adopted so what's with the eyes. Was the doctor doing experiments out there?

"what did you do?" she asked

"oh nothing much I was dating an older guy and I ran off on a weekend to spend some time with him" I said

"oh! How much older?" she asked

I shrugged not that it mattered now he had probably moved on already. Not that she expected him to be faithful they had an understanding after all. no questions and straight sex no relationships were ever mentioned. Unfortunately mom ruined that.

"twenty four" I said

her mouth dropped open in shock. She turned away and her mouth remained open for a few seconds. She must have realized she was gaping like a fish and closed her mouth with a snap.

"wow and your how old?" she asked

"i just turned seventeen why" I said

"so you were sixteen at the time?" she said.

She sounded even more shocked then before.

"did he get arrested?" she asked

I shook my head no

"i never gave mom his name I wouldn't do that to him he's in college and he has a real chance of making something of himself" I said

"so what was he like?" she asked

I shrugged

"easy going, intellectual and fun" I said

"you miss him?" she asked

"yes but we didn't love one another" I responded

she sighed and ironically looked relieved for some reason. She looked at her hands and nervously fidgeted. she looked odd doing it as though it was something foreign for her to be doing not a habit she had for a long time. Odd it was almost as if she were faking it. i was watching her closely.

"can we be friends?" she asked

suddenly then she got this odd far away look on her face. Nodded to herself

"i can see that we'll be really close almost like sisters" she said

I watched her closely for a few minutes more. She really was weird but then again so was I.

"sure why not" I responded

"great then you'll come with us this weekend?" she asked

"come with you?" I asked

"shopping we're driving into Seattle to the mall will you come with us" she said

I frowned at her I honestly hated shopping unless it was on line .plus I didn't know how much money I had left in my bank account. I supposed I should get a job this summer because otherwise I wouldn't have the gas money to go anywhere over the summer.

"we're?" I questioned

I wanted to know who all would be there.

"yeah my whole family is going and Carlisle already said OK" she said.

i wasn't sure if I really wanted to go anywhere with them. From what I could see this Carlisle person ran a tight ship. I wasn't sure if I could even fit in to a situation like that. Plus with Edward being back that would mean I would have to deal with him. I wasn't sure if I wanted to deal with him outside of school. So I did the easiest thing I could think of.

"i would love to but I don't think Charlie will let me, he doesn't like me to go into the city" I said

I figured if Carlisle was that strict he would understand Charlie's apprehension.

"well you would be safe we would all be there" said Alice

for some reason she really wanted me there and it unnerved me for some reason. i didn't want to bash her hopes so I said we would see about it.

"so Emmett said you were doing a mural, can I see it?" she asked

"sure" I said and walked upstairs with her at my heels.

I walked into my room and pointed at the wall. She stood in the doorway and stared

"wow I can't wait to see it when its finished, you should do this professionally, you could be the next Lassen" said Alice

she was looking at the one wall I had just drawn the design on. I frowned at her surly she couldn't see those faint lines.

"wow Esme would love this" she said

"who's Esme?" I questioned

"oh my mom" said Alice

it made sense now Carlisle's wife was named Esme.

"oh, ok" I said.

"she would simply love you, you really know your colors" said Alice

then she looked at me closely

"well on everything except clothes apparently" said Alice

"we are so going to fix that this weekend"she said

she got that far away look again and I wondered if she was mental or perhaps just adhd. she nodded to herself again. I was about to reply to her weird statement when I heard Charlie's cruiser door close. A few minutes later Charlie's voice was heard.

"Bells there's a strange car in our driveway do you.. oh hello" said Charlie.

He had jogged upstairs when he found I wasn't on the first floor and now stood in my doorway.

"hello chief swan , I don't think we met properly last time I'm Alice Cullen" she said

she crossed the room with a bounce to her step and held out her hand to Charlie with a huge grin on her face. He shook it warily. Her huge grin must make him nervous for some reason.

"hello Alice does your father know you are here?" Charlie asked

she smiled at him and then said

"yes he does in fact he thought I should thank Bella for helping me" said Alice

charlie rubbed his hand absently

"well that's very thoughtful of you, isn't it Bells?" said Charlie

I nodded yes and eyed Charlie warily

"so what are you two doing up here?" he asked

"she was just showing me her mural" said Alice

I noticed she didn't mention Emmett at all. Charlie nodded and looked at me, I knew he would want to talk to me later.

"so are you staying for dinner?" asked Charlie

"oh no Esme will be cooking dinner by now" said Alice

"oh ok, well then have fun" said charlie

"oh wait Mr swan I have to ask you something" said Alice.

I was standing behind Alice when she said that and I shook my head no. hoping against hope that Charlie would get my subtle hint and say no. he frowned in my direction and turned his attention to Alice.

"well our family is going to the city this weekend and I was wondering if Bella could go?" said Alice

she was really pouring on the charm and I could see Charlie wavering. I shook my head no one last time and my heart sunk when Charlie said

"sure I don't see why not as long as there will be adults with you" said Charlie

I barely suppressed the desire to moan and instead glared at Charlie. Alice clapped her hands in glee and said

"oh wonderful we're all going so yeah both our parents will be there" said Alice

"well then I guess it's ok what time will you be picking her up?" Charlie asked

I wanted to smack him right now. I didn't want to go why couldn't he get that.

"nine" said Alice

I groaned I hated mornings and I was going to have to deal with the Cullens first thing in the morning. All of them not just Edward I wanted to smack Charlie. Alice suddenly looked at her watch

"oh look at the time I should be going I promised Esme I'd pick up some milk for dinner on the way home" she said

I found it odd how she specified what she would be using it for. she walked towards the door and I followed her down. Charlie was right behind us and he took a seat on the couch as I walked Alice to the door. I waited until she was pulling out of the drive way before I turned on Charlie. I grabbed a couch cushion and smacked him with it.

"what the hell dad I was trying to say I didn't want to go" I said

he frowned at me and took the cushion away from me when I tried to hit him again.

"i don't see why not Alice is a nice girl and the Cullen's are being nice enough to include you on a family outing" said Charlie

"yeah when I'm not family and they have no reason to invite me" I pointed out.

Charlie shrugged

"maybe they thought you'd be good for Edward" he said

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. That was the last thing I wanted to think about, inter-species relationships rarely worked. i crossed my arms over my chest and glared at my dad.

"besides I thought you and Billy were trying to hook me up with Jake?" I said

I raised one eyebrow meaningfully. I knew what they had been trying to do and quite frankly they needed to work on the subtly part because I could only tell. I wanted them to know that. I could find my own man thank you very much. Charlie chuckled

"yeah I know we weren't exactly subtle but we mean well" said Charlie

I relented because I couldn't argue with his logic.

"he's a good boy you know" said Charlie

I started for the stairs.

"i know" I said before walking up the stairs.

"too bad I want a man" I murmured from the top stair my voice too low for human hearing.