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Chapter 7: Overheard Conversations
BPOV
It has been a week since rehearsals started for the play, and Alice and I are making progress with the costumes. We got a few things from some of the older ladies of Forks who still had some original hats and accessories in the backs of their closets, and we found a couple of fedoras at the thrift shop in Port Angeles. Since it's Saturday, Alice and I are going to drive up to Seattle and check out the costume shop there. Everyone else is in rehearsal, or Rosalie would probably join us too. We decided to take one of the Cullens' cars since my truck isn't the best on gas mileage. So here I am waiting for Alice to pick me up.
The past week has been pretty uneventful. I've been ignoring Edward for the most part even though it's been really difficult. He hasn't baited me into snapping at him, and I'm grateful for that. I might not want to admit to myself that I like him, but I don't want to constantly be at war with Alice's brother either.
I heard the purr of an engine approaching and looked up at the sound of gravel crunching in my driveway. It was the Volvo. For a moment, I was surprised that Edward let Alice take his car and he didn't drive it to school, but then I noticed Alice was not alone. Alice got out of the passenger side of the car with a sour expression on her face.
"Hey, Bella," she brightened a bit when she talked to me, but she still looked put out. "My overprotective big brother here has decided that we can't go to Seattle without a big, strong man."
"Alice, we've talked about this all morning . . ." Edward tried to defend himself, but Alice just kept going.
"You're all of four minutes older than me so I don't get the big brother deal really, but Bella and I can handle ourselves either way!" Alice had her hands on her hips, and she looked pretty intimidating despite her size.
"I don't doubt it, Alice. Just humor me. That costume shop isn't in the best part of town, and I'll just feel better being there. Otherwise, I'll worry about you all day."
"You should be at rehearsal anyway!"
"Well, my part is pretty small, and Mrs. Davis said she could do without me for the day. She feels the same way I do about having you girls go alone."
"Ok, fine, but Bella and I are going to talk girl talk, including boys, the whole way there and back and you can just plug your ears."
Edward grinned slyly, "Sure, sister of mine. Go ahead. I'll just pass along anything you say to Jasper."
"You won't or you will regret it," Alice said between her teeth.
"Try me," Edward challenged.
Alice turned to me and asked innocently, "Bella, do you have any earplugs or cotton balls to shove in Edward's ears on the drive?"
"No, fresh out. I do have some earmuffs though that we could try. My mom bought them for me when I was little. The headband part looks like a tiara and the fur is pink and sparkly."
"Bella . . ." Edward said threateningly.
"Those sound perfect! You should go get them in case he starts misbehaving."
"Sorry, Alice, I made them up. I just wanted to scare your 'big brother' there a bit," I smiled at the thought of Edward wearing a sparkly tiara set of earmuffs. "But if you get in our way or cause us trouble, Chicken Boy, I will find the gaudiest, sparkliest hat at the store and force you to wear it home."
"I swear I will be on my best behavior, Isabella," Edward tried to look innocent as he folded his hands in front of himself.
"What's with the Isabella?" I said my full name is disgust.
"What's with the Chicken Boy?"
I huffed a little and climbed into the back seat of the car. "Well, let's go already"
Alice climbed in the back with me so we could talk more easily. Edward grumbled something about being treated like a chauffer, but we just ignored him. Alice kept her promise about the girl talk too, although I could tell she was holding back a little since Edward was there. We talked about the costumes for most of the time though. We were excited to see what the store had to offer. The owner was a friend of Mrs. Davis so we would be able to take pieces back with us today and still be able to afford the rentals.
Once we got there, Alice was like a kid in a candy store. She was pulling items off the rack and throwing them at Edward or me so fast that we barely caught them all. Mostly, I just saw a lot of colored blurs while she spouted off how perfect it would be for a character in a particular scene.
I turned a corner and almost ran into Edward as he was trying to follow in Alice's wake. I laughed at him when I noticed that he had at least three hats perched on his head and his arms were draped in sequined and fringed dresses.
"What? Do you think you don't look just as ridiculous?" he asked me.
I looked down at myself and noticed I was draped in men's suits and wearing a fedora and a suit jacket that came down to my knees. "Hmm, well, I guess maybe I can see your point, but I think I can pull this off. You, however, need some lipstick to complete your look."
"Yeah. Why is it that I'm draped in the women's stuff and you get the men's?"
"I guess Alice is an equal opportunity shopper," I grinned trying to imagine Edward actually wearing on of the little flapper dresses. "Is it harming your masculinity?"
"No, I'm as masculine as they come," Edward swaggered.
"Oh yes, because classically trained pianists who are in Shakespearean plays and are being draped in dresses by their sister just drip masculinity," I said with a half grin on my face.
"Hey! I'm being a gentleman and escorting you ladies today and this is the thanks I get? Questioning my manhood? I could show you how much of a man I am, Bella, if you really want me to." Edward's tone had turned serious and his eyes were smoldering. I stopped breathing for a split second and then my body tried to make up for the lost breathes and my chest began heaving. He seemed to notice his effect, and he took a step closer.
"No. You're really not my type." I sounded breathless to myself, but evidently it worked because he looked a little hurt and backed off. Just then, Alice rounded a corner with more items in tow.
"Alice, we really need to cut this down. We can't afford this much stuff and the actor's don't have time to change before they enter stage each and every time." I turned away from Edward and tried to focus on the business at hand.
Alice was all business now, and she agreed to cut down what we had. We went with one basic suit for the guys and one special outfit for the party scene, a few dresses for each of the girls, and of course tons of accessories. As we were piling in the car with our bags, I noticed Edward had been really quiet the rest of the time we spent at the store.
I tried teasing him a bit to get him to lighten up. "Home, Jeeves," I said in a high society air.
He grinned at me, but didn't say anything else.
Alice called Jasper and spent some time gushing over our "fantastic finds." I think she had described every outfit in detail to him, and I honestly wondered how he stayed interested, but I guess there are lengths men will go to for love. At the end of her conversation, she got pretty cryptic.
"Well, I think the sooner the better . . . Yes, I think that's a good idea to get him involved . . . I didn't know that . . . I think he's right . . . ok well, I say we do it tonight . . . yes, they both really need this . . . after today, especially . . . trust me, Jazz . . . ok love you bye."
I had never heard Alice say so little, and I was more than a little suspicious.
EPOV
As I had driven the girls home from Seattle, I fell into a bit of depression. Bella said I wasn't her type. I was trying to be a bit gentler with my teasing and hoping that she would see that I liked her, but it didn't seem to be working, or she wasn't interested in me. I thought we had made some progress since we haven't bitten each other's heads off in a whole week, but I guess not. She's just so spunky and fun and perfect; it makes my heart ache, because I want to be with her so much.
When we got back to my house, Alice called Rosalie to come over and try on her costumes. Rose brought Emmett with her. He kept trying to mess with me to snap me out of my funk.
"Come on, man. Snap out of it. What's eatin you?"
"Nothing, Emmett. I'm fine."
"Yeah, you seem fine."
Just then my dad walked in. "Hey, boys, I was thinking it would be fun to go hit some balls at the batting cages. What do you say?"
"Awesome! I'm in. Eddie here needs some cheering up anyway," Emmett punched my shoulder to emphasize his point.
"Well, maybe if you're hitting balls you'll stop hitting me," I said as I rubbed my offended shoulder.
"We should call Jasper too," Emmett suggested.
"Sounds good. Let me go change my clothes and we'll head right out," Carlisle turned and headed up the stairs, "Let Jasper know we can pick him up if we need to, but I'll pay!"
"Man, your dad is awesome!" Emmett hit me again.
"Seriously, Emmett, lay off!"
About forty-five minutes later, we were at the cages, and I had to admit that taking out my frustrations by hitting a few baseballs was making me feel better. Carlisle had run out of quarters, so I went to the little office to get some change. I was walking back when I realized that I heard them mention my name. Their backs were to me as they hit since they were all right-handed and facing away from the office. Before I could think about how wrong it was to listen to what they were saying, I heard them mention Bella's name too. I snuck up close enough to hear clearly, but hopefully not be noticed.
"Well, Alice says that Bella likes him, but she is scared off by how he's always teasing her," Jasper was telling them.
"Yeah, Rose said the same thing to me. She said Bella is just hiding behind this whole tough girl exterior because she doesn't want him to reject her and have things be all weird around him. She wants to be able to hang out with Alice and not have to worry about the brother factor," Emmett added.
"Well, I already told Edward she's perfect for him, but maybe he decided he didn't like her after all. I guess I would tell the girls to have Bella keep up with what she's doing since I think Edward would have made a move by now," Carlisle said.
Inwardly I was screaming, "NO!" but since I wasn't supposed to be hearing this, I had to stay quiet.
"I hope he wises up and does something about it, because I think Bella is great," Jasper said, "I mean she's no Alice, but so few women are."
"Ya know you don't have to suck up to Alice when she's not even around, dude," Emmett teased.
"True, Emmett, but I'm here and it can never hurt to butter up the girl's dad," Carlisle chuckled.
I "pretended" to return then with the quarters, but I didn't join in their banter. I suddenly had a lot on my mind.
BPOV
Alice had Rosalie in her dress for the party scene, and she looked absolutely breathtaking. Alice was fussing with it and making notes on how to get it to fit just right with a few minor alterations, so I decided to go get a few sodas and snacks from downstairs. As I was returning, I paused for a second to juggle the items around before turning Alice's doorknob. Just before I got a hand free, I heard them mention my name along with Edward's.
"Poor guy is totally into her and she doesn't even see it," Alice said.
"I can see that. They'd be cute together," Rose commented.
"You should have seen him grinning at her today at the costume shop. He never would have insisted on coming with me if she wasn't going. He said it was because he didn't want us in that part of town by ourselves, but I've been there before with you and he didn't complain."
"Have you asked him about it?"
"He said he likes her, but that he's sure she doesn't like him so he's not going to push it. I feel bad for him, Rose. He's always watching all of us together and been the odd one out for so long. He finally finds someone he's interested in, and we all love her, but she doesn't like him. It just seems wrong."
"Well, maybe she does, and she's worried about how you might react."
"I'd love it if Bella and Edward hooked up! She shouldn't worry about me!"
"Maybe you should drop a hint saying that then."
"Maybe I will. Ok, you're all pinned up and you look gorgeous. Just don't move or you'll get stuck by all of those straight pins in your shoulders."
Evidently, Rose didn't follow Alice's advice, because a second later I heard her start cursing, and Alice telling her to let her help get the dress off.
I took a minute to try to process what I had heard. Alice didn't mind if I dated her brother and he supposedly was into me. I took a deep breath and went into Alice's room and started joking with the girls, but part of my mind was elsewhere.
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