Thanks to EverlastingMuse (again, ahahahaha) for reviewing.
Disclaimer: Still don't own Twilight. Blast.
Obscurity
Chapter 7
Okay, something is definitely wrong here. That was the thought that ran through Bella's mind as she and Edward sat at a table with Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper, who were far too involved in each other to notice the tensions among the rest of the group. Emmett was staring hard at Edward, who was staring hard at Rosalie, who was almost glaring at Bella. What Bella couldn't figure out is why there were so many glares.
"The school looks amazing," Bella commented to no one in particular, and no one responded, though they all did look around at the decorations that adorned the large cafeteria. In keeping with the theme that the freshman class had decided would be "Reach for the Stars," silver and golden streamers lined every wall and were strung about the ceiling, with silver balloons covered in gold stars and other balloons in the opposite colors hanging from random points.
The couples had all walked into the cafeteria by passing under a huge archway that had large stars hanging on the end of still more silver streamers that extended halfway to the ground. The tables were covered with black tablecloths, and the glasses and napkins all had sparkly silver lining on the rims and edges, respectively.
All the students had been instructed to wear at least one piece of clothing with a metallic effect, and Bella and Edward had decided that they would both wear a metallic top of some sort, so Edward's shirt underneath his dark jacket had a silvery sheen to it, and Bella's bodice was silver with sequined embroidery.
"Guys, what's going on with all of you?" Bella finally asked, after a few more minutes had passed in stony silence. "I thought this was supposed to be a great time."
I'd have a great time if I was here with you, Emmett thought sullenly, before attempting to look less disinterested. It was hard to try and remain interested in the fact that Edward had taken Bella to Homecoming and not him, though.
"It's just because the music hasn't started yet, I guess," he replied to Bella's inquiry. "Once the music gets going, it'll get better."
"Oh, are we all going to dance and be mad at each other instead of sitting here and being mad at each other?" Bella asked in fake shock, and Emmett laughed in spite of himself.
"No, we'll just dance. We won't be mad at each other. Who said we were?" he responded, and Bella rolled her eyes. They both dropped the subject.
"Hello, students of Forks High School," a confident voice suddenly blared. "I'm DJ Xtc, and it's time to get this party started! But before we begin, the president of the freshman class would like to say something."
There was a smattering of applause as a small girl walked onto the stage and grabbed a microphone. "Thanks for coming to this year's Homecoming dance, all of you. Hopefully you like the decorations, since the freshman class worked really hard to get this all done before the dance started." There was more applause, and the president smiled tentatively. "I hope you all have a wonderful night, and near the end of the dance, we'll announce who was voted this year's Homecoming King and Queen. Stick around until then; I know you'll all want to find out who the new regents are."
With that, she signaled to the DJ, and the music started to play, the first song beginning with a heavy bassline.
Bella tried to have a good time, she really did. But it was so difficult to enjoy herself when Edward, despite telling her how much he liked her, could barely keep his eyes off of Rosalie, who was still glaring daggers at Bella, no matter how many times Bella asked her what her problem was. I'm so not willing to put up with this stupid drama, she finally thought, getting truly irritated. I'm going to find out what the issue is, and I'm going to find out now.
She beckoned to Emmett and Rosalie and dragged Edward off the dance floor, taking them to stand in a nearby hallway. "Alright," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "I know Emmett said no one was mad at each other, but the dance is almost over now, and the entire time, Emmett's been glaring at Edward. Edward's been staring at Rosalie. And Rose, you've been glaring at me for at least two and a half hours now, and I'm getting really sick of it. So we're going to stop acting like children and you all are going to tell me what the hell is the matter with all of you, and why Alice and Jasper are the only two of us who are actually having fun."
"Maybe that's because Alice and Jasper are the only two of us who are here with who they actually want to be here with," Rosalie shot back venomously, and Bella blinked, taken aback.
"You didn't want to come to the dance with Emmett?" she asked.
"You didn't want to come to the dance with me?" Emmett asked Rosalie when she didn't reply when Bella asked the same question. "If you didn't, then why did you say yes?"
"Because it was either I go with you or I go alone, and I was not going to go alone," Rosalie replied finally with a sigh. "I did want to come with you, Emmett, but…"
"Don't bother to finish your explanation," Emmett replied bluntly. Good God, did no one want to come to Homecoming with me? What the hell is this? "Who did you want to be here with? Tell me the truth; I deserve to know, right?"
Rosalie looked around for a second, avoiding having to answer the question. When Emmett cleared his throat, Rosalie said, "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I said I wanted to come with you, and now here we are. Can we please just watch the coronation and then go home?"
Emmett sighed, then turned and walked back into the cafeteria. He stopped at the feeling of a hand on his arm, and when he turned, it was Bella. "I wish you could've come with someone who'd wanted to be here with you, Emmett," she said softly, before Edward caught her other arm and pulled her gently to the floor in front of the stage.
Emmett stared after her, wondering, Does that mean that she knows someone who wanted to come to the dance with me? Did…did she want to come to the dance with me? But she said Edward had asked her!
Suddenly, he remembered that Bella had never actually said that she was going to the dance with Edward. She'd said that he'd asked her, but never that she'd said yes. I have to talk to Bella.
"Well, you all know how the voting for Homecoming goes, and that the members of the court made their intentions known at the beginning of the school year," the president said as the final dance song wound down. "We actually had so many applicants that we decided that we took the top three from each gender, so we now have a King and Queen, a Prince and Princess, and a Duke and Duchess."
There was a little applause at this, and the president said, "We will now start naming the members of the Homecoming Court. First, the Homecoming Duchess…is Angela Weber!" Angela, a very pretty girl with long brown hair that fell in lovely waves, walked onto the stage and curtsied so that her tiara could be placed on her head. "The Homecoming Duke…is Eric Yorkie!" Applause was loud as a dark-haired boy walked up on the other side of the stage and bowed so that a silver sash with the words "Homecoming Duke" in big flowing letters was placed around his shoulders.
"The Homecoming Prince is…Sam Uley!" A loud cheer went up as the football team's most distinctive running back ran and jumped onto the stage to receive his crown. "And his Princess…Emily Young!" A young girl looked extremely startled as she was rushed onto the stage, looking as though she might faint at standing next to the only football player as tall as their quarterback. Sam smiled at her and she actually swayed on her feet. The crowd laughed a little as Sam caught her and helped to steady her.
"And now…the Homecoming King and Queen!" There were excited whispers as people packed themselves even closer to the stage in their anxiety to know. "The Homecoming King was perhaps expected," the president said. "He's definitely one of the most handsome students that attend Forks High. The Homecoming King is…Edward Cullen!"
Emmett heard roaring all around him as he tried to talk to Bella, but paid no attention to the announcement that had been made except that it removed Edward from Bella's side. "Bella," he said urgently in her ear, "I really need to talk to you."
"After they announce the Queen, Emmett, okay?" Bella replied. Emmett sighed – I'd care about that, but my Give-A-Damn™ is currently broken – but nodded and waited patiently as the president continued.
"The Homecoming Queen is probably the uncontested beauty of Forks High School, and is perhaps the only choice that would be expected…Rosalie Hale!" Emmett blinked at how quickly Rosalie was up on the stage, latching herself to Edward's arm as she was handed her own scepter and an elegantly extravagant tiara was placed on her head. As the school's fight song began to play on the speakers, Rosalie and Edward looked at each other, then directly at Emmett and Bella before Edward pressed his lips to Rosalie's, causing even louder cheers to erupt all around the cafeteria.
Emmett cursed and then looked at Bella, who looked like she wanted to cry and kill Edward and Rosalie at the same time. Emmett tugged on her arm and she walked with him willingly enough out of the cafeteria and out of the school.
"Well, looks like you got your answer, huh?" Emmett asked, his voice hard.
"Looks like you got your answer too," Bella replied, sounding angry and hurt.
"Bella," Emmett started, not sure that this is what Bella wanted to talk about right now, but needing to know, "Had I asked you to Homecoming, would you have said yes?"
Bella bit her lip as she pondered the answer to Emmett's question. He'd looked absolutely amazing tonight, and she'd been able to tell that Rosalie hadn't been happy to be at the dance with Emmett, even if it took her their extremely public display of affection to realize that Rosalie had wanted to go to the dance with Edward, not Emmett.
"With what's happened tonight, Emmett, and with how the night went, I'd have to say that I would," Bella finally replied. "We would've had fun together, and Edward and Rosalie would've been happy." She couldn't stop the bitterness from tingeing her voice.
"It isn't your fault, you know," Emmett replied, and Bella looked at him, confused. "That Edward picked Rosalie."
Bella blinked as she realized that she held no guilt or insecurity over Edward's choice. All she felt was anger at his apparent lying and irritation that tonight could've gone so much better than it had. "I know, Emmett," she said, taking his hand in both of hers. "Can you take me home now?" Emmett smiled at her and nodded, and she was struck once again by how handsome he was. He wasn't handsome like Edward, who was almost pretty. Emmett was completely masculine in his looks, and Bella was beginning to think that she preferred that, if Edward's looking like a girl pointed to the fact that he acted like a girl with his pointless lying.
Emmett seemed only too willing to let her be absorbed in her thoughts as he drove her home, and Bella was grateful for that, since it allowed her thoughts to come to one conclusion: she liked Emmett a lot more than she liked Edward. Emmett was attractive and her friend and honest, which gave him a huge advantage over Edward in Bella's book.
"Emmett, I wish I would've gone to the dance with you," Bella said, silently amazed at her daring.
"I wish I would've asked," Emmett replied, and Bella's entire being seemed to buzz. "I guess there's always Prom, right?"
A/N: I'd say it felt good to start writing again, but mayhap I shouldn't have paid no attention to this story for an entire week. It was really hard to get back on track and not have the chapter read weird, and I'm still not quite sure that I did. I guess I'll leave that to the readers to decide. Anyway, hopefully you enjoyed the chapter. There was angst, sure, but look! Look! Emmett/Bella development! Yay! :D
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