We got over 50 reviews…that means an extra long chapter! Yay!
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EPOV
I tried to drown out my thoughts of Bella by swimming as hard as I could. But it wasn't working. I was still thinking about her.
As I stopped at the edge of the pool to catch my breath, I heard footsteps nearing the pool. My head snapped up, and I saw Bella walking towards the pool, a pair of sunglasses covering her beautiful brown eyes.
"Sorry to bother you." She said in a melodic voice, stopping in her tracks. "Do you mind if I sit out by the pool?"
"No, of course not." I said quickly, running my hands through my wet hair, sprinkling drops of water everywhere. Bella's eyes were on me, and I smiled at her.
"Enjoy your swim." She said brightly, sinking down into one of the several pool chairs. I nodded and pushed back off the wall, finding it even harder not to think about Bella now. She was less than twenty feet away, and that made my thoughts of her that much more powerful.
After another twenty minutes, I was exhausted. So I climbed out of the pool, reaching for my towel on the chair next to Bella's. She was still wearing her dark tinted glasses, but I could feel her eyes on me. Trying not to stare at her, I dried off quickly and glanced up at the sundial near the pools edge.
"Do you mind if I sit with you for a couple of minutes?" I asked. "I'm completely exhausted." I added, dropping my now damp towel on the ground in a messy heap.
"Sure." She said, waving her hand at the chair next to her. "Do you swim a lot? I can hardly make it for ten minutes without collapsing." She joked lightly as I sat down on the chair.
"No…I only swim in the summer. But Emmett and I go to the gym a lot. Well, Rosalie usually drags us there." I admitted. "She's a big fan of muscle tone."
"Hah, I guess she won't like me much." Bella said lightly, pinching her stomach.
"Ridiculous." I scoffed, and Bella rolled her eyes.
She was being ridiculous; there was absolutely no fat there. Every inch of her body was smooth and luminous, especially in the tiny dark green string-bikini stretched across her full chest and tied at her hips. Frowning, I stared harder at her hip. Something, probably a tattoo, was half hidden by the tie of her bikini bottoms.
"What's this?" I asked, pointing to it; careful not to touch her skin. Bella looked down at it, poking it affectionately.
"Oh, I got it my freshmen year of college." She said casually. "It's just a B."
"I like it." I grinned.
"Your father doesn't." She laughed, patting the tiny letter before adjusting the string of her bottoms. "He actually hates it."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" I said under my breath, earning a confused look from Bella.
"I should actually get back inside." She sighed, looking over at the sundial. "I should go find Alice and finalize the party plans." Bella stood up, grabbing her dress from the back of her chair and pulling it on over her head. "Actually…are you bringing that girl? Victoria? I need to know for the whole…uh, seating chart thing."
"I'll ask her and let you know." I promised as she smoothed her dress down and fluffed her mahogany brown hair. "Oh, and Bella? Try and stay out of Alice's path of destruction. She's a force of nature." I winked and Bella blanched. "I'm kidding, Bella. Have fun party planning."
"Thanks." She blushed, ducking her head into the house.
And I just had to watch her go.
BPOV
"Now, how attached are you to this seating chart?" Alice babbled, examining the chart.
"Um, not very-"
"Good. Because I think we need to mix some things up and change this around." Alice continued as if I hadn't spoken. "Like this. You shouldn't put the Mallory's and the Stanley's together- their daughters, Lauren and Jessica, are complete bitches that should be kept apart at all times. Together, they're pretty destructive." She laughed to herself and moved around a few names. "I'd stay away from them if I were you. They'll tear into you like ravenous vampires and suck you dry."
"Wow." I tried to maintain a light tone, but my voice warbled a little bit. I was definitely in over my head. I knew absolutely nothing about these people or how to plan a party like this. It was too much.
"Bella, don't worry. I'm here to help!" Alice said, busying herself with the seating chart again.
"Yeah, thanks for this." I said, tucking a stray curl behind my ear.
"It's not a problem, Bella. I just know we can be great friends." She said earnestly, dropping the seating chart on the table and clutching my hand in hers.
"I would like that." I muttered, and Alice smiled before letting go of my hands. She looked down at the seating chart and then back up at me; her dusty green eyes, the same exact shade as her father's, glowing brightly. "Bella, are you really happy with my father? Do you really love him?" I looked at her, shocked.
"I'm happy." I said quietly, wringing my hands. "And yes, I love Carlisle."
"I'm sorry to ask." Alice mumbled. "It's just that my brothers and I have seen him date all the wrong women since the divorce. They're always the kind of women that he can just use and then toss in the corner. He seems so serious about you, and I just hoped it wasn't one-sided." Alice explained. "It's just that you're so much younger than him, and you seem so-"
"I understand, Alice. It's fine." I looked back down at that stupid seating chart and sighed, resting my face in my hands. "I don't know anything about parties." I sighed, my voice muffled through my hands.
Alice clucked her tongue and picked up the seating chart again.
"You know what? Let's take a break and go get some lunch or something. We could take Rose with us and go shopping!" Alice exclaimed, clapping her hands together. I peeked at her through my fingers and just had to smile. She was so adorable, I couldn't help it.
"I would love that. Except the whole shopping thing…" I admitted. Alice gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth.
"You don't like shopping?!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide and disbelieving.
"I'm just not into the whole-" I started to explain, but Edward burst into the room with the redheaded woman from last night on his arm.
"Bella, Alice, Victoria is going be coming to the party tonight." He said, and the woman smiled at me, and her eyes looked a little…mocking.
"That's great!" Alice said happily, getting up and walking over to the two of them. "Victoria, I'm Alice. Edward's twin sister." She grabbed Victoria's hand and shook it earnestly, grinning all the while.
"It's nice to meet you." Victoria said sweetly, her musical voice like honey.
"And this is Bella." Alice turned around and gestured to me.
"Oh, from last night!" Victoria turned her sappy smile on me and gave a little wave. "Is she your other sister?" She asked Edward, raising her eyebrows. Edward smiled smoothly and shook his head.
"Uh, no. She's…dating my father." He explained, smirking. Victoria's jaw dropped the tiniest bit, but her facial expression betrayed no emotion.
I blushed, ducking my head. This was exactly the reaction I was always afraid of. People just refused to believe that I could love someone so much older than me, let alone that Carlisle could be serious about our relationship.
"I see." Victoria simpered, looking away from me and back up at Edward, rocking back and forth on her heels. "It was nice meeting you both." She said to Alice and I, barely looking at either of us. Her eyes were fixated on Edward's chiseled face. "Let's go upstairs." She whispered in his ear, and Alice and I both looked away pointedly.
Neither of us needed to know that, but definitely for different reasons.
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This was longer, but not as long as I wanted it to be. Sadly, the story started to lose steam. But hopefully the next chapter (containing the big bash) will be the long one!
Xoxo- Melodyella aka Mellie
