Thank you so much to the people who have taken their time to reassure my needy ass! It means so much to me! Shout-out to Amazone3 for reading through and telling me what she thinks :) And "anonymous" reviewer, starcrossedlovers, your review made me tear up. Thank you!
The outfit for this chapter can be found here: www . polyvore . com/cgi/set?id=33380484
Credit goes to Amazone3 for her suggestion of the concept of the outfit!
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters. No copyright infringement is intended.
TXTXTXT
Chapter Seven: One Time…on Olvera Street…
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Day Eight of Bet
BPOV
"You're going to wear it, Bella!" Alice shouts. She's trying to push my door open, and I'm leaning against it with all my might on the other side.
"Nothing can ever make me wear that…thing!" I yell, adamant. I feel her give one last shove against the door, and then it's quiet. I keep my heels digging into the carpet just in case she decides to get a running start before tackling the door…again. What an aggressive pixie.
When I'm sure she's given up, I lean against my door and sink towards the ground. I'm exhausted, irritable, and hungry. Thank God I'm not on my period, or else I'd be like a raging inferno right now.
I hear footsteps outside my door and brace myself, but what I hear surprises me.
"Bella, sweetheart?" Edward's soothing voice calls through the door. I instantly relax. "I brought you some breakfast," he coos, and my stomach rumbles in response. I pat it unthinkingly and stand up slowly.
Turning around and twisting the doorknob, I allow Edward to enter my room as I plop down on my bed. I have to get to leave for work in twenty minutes, and Alice has been trying to get me to wear today's shirt for the past ten minutes since I got out of the shower.
I'd rather eat llama than wear something that looks like something a character wore in "The Emperor's New Groove."
Edward walks in tentatively, eyeing me carefully.
"What's wrong?" he asks in a worried voice. He sits next to me at the edge of my bed, places a plate of food behind him, and puts an arm around my shoulders. I lean into him as I stare at my closet.
"Uh…" There's no way I'm showing him what I have to wear. The blue, red, white, and yellow striped poncho is still on its hanger, dangling innocently in my closet. "I'm just not in a good mood," I say. It's not a lie at all. The offending garment had immediately put me in a foul mood this morning.
I muster a smile and turn toward him. "Thanks again for the food; it's something I can look forward to everyday." I guide him into our kitchen and I sit down at the bar to eat my breakfast.
In my periphery, I see Edward give Alice a weird look, but she just shakes her head at him before going into her bedroom to leave us alone.
"God, I'm so rude! Do you want anything to drink?" I ask him, getting up to make myself some tea.
"Nah, I already fed myself so I could go straight to my run after I stopped by," he explains as he examines some pictures Alice and I had put up on the far end of the counter, facing the living room. I have one of Charlie and me, and Alice has one of her with her family at our graduation from USC. These are the guest-appropriate pictures, though. The rest are in our rooms.
"Was Alice adopted?" Edward asks, picking up Alice's picture. She's standing in her graduation gown and cap, holding her diploma, next to her six foot three father and six feet tall ex-model mother. I giggle, because the resemblance between the three is almost nonexistent.
"No, but she might as well be; her mom has blue eyes and blonde hair and her dad has hazel eyes and brown hair. Alice started dying her hair black back in freshman year at USC, but she actually has light brown hair. Her height and eye color are complete mysteries." I shrug, and he puts the picture down. He shakes his head in disbelief.
I finish the breakfast and get off the barstool to walk over to where he's standing. I wrap my arms around his torso without his permission and feel his hands rubbing up and down my spine.
"You've made my morning so much better," I tell him, craning my head up to look him in the eyes. He smiles down at me, and his eyelashes graze his cheeks.
"There has to be something I could do," I say, pursing my lips together.
"Your company is enough. Besides, you're fixing up my story," he explains. I roll my eyes.
"Bullshit. I'll try to think of something before the weekend," I promise. This time, he rolls his eyes.
"Not necessary, Bella." I pull away from him.
"Well, I need to go get dressed," I say. "Have a good run, Eddie," I say with a giggle. He glares at me and I jokingly push him toward the door. When he's gone, Alice emerges from her room.
"You will wear it, Bella. It's part of the rules of the bet." She crosses her arms across her chest and gives me the bitch-brow. We stare each other down for a full fifty seconds before I sigh and relent.
I grumble incoherently as I walk to my room and give the poncho an apathetic look before pulling it over my head over a white tank-top I'm wearing underneath. I can feel an uncomfortable breeze on my skin, and I squirm as I pull on some dark jeans, a bracelet that has the same colors as the poncho, and boots.
Since I don't have much time, I spritz on some wave-enhancing spray on my hair,
tugging it into a ponytail. My makeup is light, with some mascara, eye shadow, and bronzer.
I come out of the bathroom with a loud, dramatic sigh.
I hold my arms out in a "happy?" gesture, and she gives me a winning smile. I can tell she's trying her damndest not to laugh.
"Stunning," Alice says sarcastically. I groan.
"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you…" I grumble as I walk out the door. I hear her send me an air kiss and I smack at the air, my mood once again turning around for the worse.
Short of a parka, there's nothing that could hide this beast of a poncho, so I don't even have any hope of covering it up.
At work, Angela's wide eyes follow me to my desk.
"Go ahead, Ang. Laugh your ass off," I gripe, smacking my forehead against my glass desk.
"It's not that bad, Bella," Angela says soothingly. "I actually, honest to God, think you pull it off. A little," she adds, eyeing my outfit.
As if my day could get any worse, Jessica slutface Stanley sidles up to my desk with a cup of coffee held up to her lips. She gives me an evil smirk, and I'm moments away from pushing the cup toward her so it spills all over her stupid romper.
I sneer at her. "What do you want, Jess?"
"Oh, I was just admiring the cheap tablecloth hanging off of your body," she says, fingering the sleeve of my poncho. She snickers and pulls away, putting her hand on her hip.
"Well, maybe I'll let you borrow it so you could hide that gut of yours," I snap at her. Her mouth gapes open, and she struggles to come up with a comeback, but she's saved the trouble when Aro calls out her name.
"Jessica? Mrs. Mayer sent me an email asking for you to hurry up with chapter fifteen so you could talk about it." I give Jessica a sugary-sweet smile as she walks away from my desk, her stilettos making an obnoxious noise against the wood floor. I flip her off behind her back, and Angela giggles.
"We need to get rid of her," I moan, sinking into my chair. Angela nods furiously and gives me a sympathetic smile before going back to her work.
At around noon, Edward sends me a text asking if I want to go out to lunch with him, and I have Angela type out my negative response because it pains me to turn him down. But I just can't have him see me this way.
When I get in the car to finally drive home, he texts me again.
At the supermarket. Have any requests for dinner? Invite Alice too.
I groan and type out, Promised Ali I would stay home tonight so we can clean up the entire aptmt. Sorry! Rain check?
I quickly press 'send' and hit the back of my head against my headrest. I mean, my only options on the clothing front are either this poncho or my PJ's, since I'm not allowed to change into anything else. Fucking bet.
Racing against traffic, I arrive back at the apartment in record time. However, when I step off the elevator on our floor, I almost walk back into the elevator. But Edward already spotted me, so I have no choice but to do my walk of shame.
Edward eyes me up and down with an incredulous look on his face. He opens his mouth a couple of times, but shuts it each time.
"If you have nothing good to say, don't say it at all," I remind him. He gives a soft chuckle as he unlocks his door.
"I was worried that I'd done something wrong because you've been avoiding me all day, but I think I may understand why now…" He trails off.
"Oh." I didn't know he'd realized that I was ignoring him. "Sorry to make you worry. It's not you, it's me and whatnot," I mumble. "This poncho is so embarrassing," I groan, as I follow him into his apartment. He puts his groceries on top of his counter and turns to me, crossing his arms over his chest.
"So why exactly is this in your wardrobe?" He asks me, a smile tugging at his lips.
"I'd say it's a long story, but it really isn't…" I start, sighing. "Alice, Jasper and I got shitfaced a couple weeks ago because Jasper wanted to go to some after-party with us drunk, just for fun." I snort. "We ended up walking around Olvera Street, and I felt like buying clothes, so I ended up purchasing this poncho. I was raving all night about how much of a bargain it was, apparently. We didn't even make it to the after-party," I explain. "Too bad, too, because Ian Somerhalder showed up. I've always wanted to meet him.
"Oh, and Jessica called it a tablecloth today," I say with a fake smile. Edward frowns.
"Poncho or bust," he says, laughing. "What a bitch. What did you tell her?" He asks me as he starts putting his groceries away.
I chuckle as I tell him, "I told her I'd let her borrow it to hide her gut." Edward lets out a whistle.
"Girl-fight! Why wasn't I there?" We both laugh. I'm glad the issue of my poncho is out of the way for now.
"Oh! I'm going to need you to stand over there…" Edward points to the wall next to his front door, and I walk over there with a questioning look on my face. Edward fishes in his pocket for something, then stealthily snaps a picture of me on his iPhone. He laughs maniacally as he stuffs his phone back in his back pocket so I can't get it.
"Edward middle name Cullen! You will erase that picture right now!" I fly around his apartment, chasing him for a good five minutes. When we're all good and out of breath, I simply give him a pouty expression as I hold my hand out for his phone.
He shakes his head adamantly and keeps his hand on his ass just in case I try to reach for his phone again.
"No, this shit's too good, Bella! That pout can't get your picture back," he taunts me. I flip him the bird and gather my purse to go to my apartment, but he wraps his arms around me from behind before I can get to the door.
"You're not really mad at me," he says, whispering in my ear. I shudder in his arms, because this reminds me so much of my dream from two nights ago.
"I'm pissed, but if you feed me, I'll be willing to consider forgiving you," I say, breaking away from his hold.
I sit on top of the counter next to his stove as he cooks for me, and sip on a glass of red he'd given me.
"Text Alice and tell her dinner'll be ready in five minutes," he tells me. I do as I'm told, and Alice replies that she will be here.
All three of us eat diner together as Jon Stewart's show plays in the background, and we laugh both at our own jokes and his. The night flies by, and before I know it, it's midnight and Alice and I are heading back to our apartment.
"We should trade off days we make dinner!" Alice squeals, bouncing on her feet. Her abrupt suggestion startles me. "You made dinner today, Edward, so you should come over when I make dinner tomorrow!" She continues. I look at Edward for his reaction.
"That would make it easier on both of us, yeah," Edward agrees. "I'm allergic to peanuts, so I hope that won't be a problem…" He trails off. Alice beams at him.
"What a coincidence! Bella here's allergic to peanuts and nuts, too!" She says as if this were the most exciting tidbit of knowledge in the world. Edward and I laugh awkwardly. "I'll have Jasper come over, too, so you can meet him!" Alice enthuses.
Edward smiles indulgingly at her.
"Just nod and smile, and let her have her way," I pretend-whisper in his ear. Alice rolls her eyes at me. She unlocks our door and we say goodnight to Edward, thanking him for walking us home, all six steps away form his door.
"I got a double date for us!" Alice exclaims as soon as I close the door behind me. I raise my eyebrows at her.
"You conniving little pixie…" I say, giggling. She grins at me and sashays over to her room.
"No need to thank me too much," Alice says sarcastically, walking backwards.
"Alice, I bow down to you. You are the best wing-woman on the entire planet, and I will name my firstborn after you," I declare dramatically. She squeals.
"Don't name her Mary Alice, though. Name her Alice, and I'll let you and Edward choose the middle name. Hm, I think Alice Ann Cullen has a good ring to it," she muses, winking at me.
"Psh. It just sounds like Alison," I tell her. I decide not to comment on her insinuation that Edward and I will have babies together.
"Well, you're going to have a lot of babies, so brush up on your baby-naming skills!" Alice teases. I throw a couch cushion at her as she scampers to the safety of her room.
TXTXTXT
Thanks so much for getting me to 11 reviews, finally! Keep up the reviewin'! ;)
Next chapter will be the double date!
If you have any suggestions for outfits, I'm more than happy to take suggestions!
Eaimecettebrune on Twitter for rambling about how cute Robsten is, even though they're in different countries. Sadface.
