We get a peek at Bella's mind on this chapter ;)
EPOV
"All of you look so young. How old were you?" Rosalie wondered.
"Seventeen. The rest were around the same age. Look at us, full of hope and dreams."
xxxx
Dad's comment of innocence made Rosalie smile.
"From what I heard, all of you made poor uncle Joe go bald."
Dad turned to look at Rosalie ashamed. "Well, we were quite a handful; but in the beginning, our pranks were pretty harmless. We were meeting each other."
I gave another glance to the TV. Dad with his blond mane, his corn blue eyes, his chiseled jaw and cheekbones, and that straight nose that I inherited... wait a minute. His nose had a bump. Could it be possible Dad had a nose job? Hmm, interesting. He never mentioned it. And I wouldn't dare to ask in front of these people. Lest Miss Platt hears me.
Then I diverted my sight to the other members of the group. The one with that rebel stance that wanted to scream 'I'm a bad boy' had the most abundant brown hair I ever saw. His brown eyes were so deep I felt he could read my soul with one look. That Chuck probably gave Dad a run for his money on the chicks department.
At the back was Alec. Really pale with jet black hair and gray eyes. His features a bit too delicate, but I could see why they chose him for the group.
Then Peter. Blond haired, brown eyed and with a gentle smile. You had to like him, he had a great charisma.
And last, Marcus. Dark brown hair with greenish eyes. He oozed confidence and I guess he was really handsome in a different way from the others.
All looked so different, yet somehow the group looked balanced. What happened in that eleven year period to make them hate each other? What broke the group?
Finally, the video was over and Dad stood up to turn on the lights.
"Hello, fiancé." Rose came closer to greet me and winked at the word 'fiancé'. Of course, she knew about the pictures.
She turned to Jasper who made a cross with his fingers and screamed "Vade retro, Satan!"
To which she just laughed and slapped Jasper's arm.
"I can't believe you're still angry about that."
Looking at my confused face, Rose cleared it for me. "I found a few things about Maria and I told him. He should be thankful for my advice."
"Thankful? You were horrible! Your bluntness was astounding." Jasper wasn't prone to use such harsh words, but you could see he wasn't really angry. Just teasing her.
"Please! Like there was a way to soften that kind of blow. 'Your girlfriend just went to bed with my friend's boyfriend'. As I recall, your mother was clapping when I showed pictures of Maria leaving with him."
"I was a bit in denial." Jasper sighed.
The man who was seated at Rose's side stood up and walked to greet us too, but not before adding his two cents "In her defense, we all thought a little bluntness would open your eyes. Do you remember me, Edward?"
So this was Emmett. Of course, I remembered him!
"Sure Emmett!" I stood up too and gave him a man hug, I only got a few memories of him, but very pleasant unlike the ones of his fiancé.
"So you remember him? From where?." Rose wondered.
"He taught me how to throw a punch." Yeah, I met him for a week and he left a much better impression.
"What?"
"An older kid was bullying him. Better to give him the means to defend himself." Emmett said shrugging his shoulders. Then he greeted Jasper, apparently everybody is like family over here. How come I barely remember them?
"So Mr. Cullen, you were telling me how the group broke apart," Miss Clapp asked Dad. I forgot she was here.
"I told you to call me Carlisle, Esme." Dad gave Miss Platt his most charming smile, making her blush. So maybe he had a chance, hmm.
"So Carlisle, how come the group separated?"
"Well, by the time we were finishing our last tour, we barely tolerated each other. I mean, we fought more than we talked." Dad turned to Rose. " I had a fist fight with Peter because he lost a pick and he was looking through my things to find it. I got angry and instead of talking it up, we fought. That night we had to perform with tons of makeup that barely covered our black eyes." Dad shook his head. "Joe was tired. After our last concert, he gave us one month to stay away from each other and relax, but threaten with a week of group therapy in order to get us to work as a team again."
"So what happened? You didn't go to therapy?" I asked because I was so curious, this was the most I heard about the group's ending.
"No. The night we were coming back after our last concert something happened." Dad looked around, noticing how enthralled we were with the story. "We were on the bus, Alec at back like always, Peter was sleeping on a cot, Joe and Laurent were talking in the middle and I was sitting alone at the front. Chuck bought a new car and he was driving behind us. Marcus and Victoria were traveling with him. Then, we found a rough patch of black ice on the road. The bus swirled but the driver managed to stop without further damage. But Chuck's car didn't stop. It spun almost a 360 degrees side turn, then it crashed into a tree. It was a mess. When we got to the hospital, mainly with sprains and bruises, we found that Chuck's legs were crushed, while Marcus had his right arm broken in so many places. His face was the worst. The windshield broke and hundreds of tiny splinters flew into his face, he almost lost the sight of his right eye."
"What about Victoria?" Jasper asked.
"Meh. She got a few bruises and a cracked rib. She left the hospital the next day." Dad sighed. "But for Chuck and Marcus, it was a long way to recovery. We went to visit frequently, but when we were told they were about to be released, Chuck's family took him away and we never saw him again. Marcus still managed to say goodbye, but he also left without a trace."
"Oh, that was terrible!" Miss Platt exclaimed, putting into words what everybody was thinking.
Deep down inside, I always thought egos got the best of them and that was why they broke the group, but to find something so terrible was the real reason behind it. But then I noticed something. Dad's disdain for Victoria's wellbeing wasn't normal. He was keeping something else about that accident. Should I insist he give me the real reason? Should I leave it like that? More important, would it help to find Chuck and Marcus?
"But they were alive, right?" Jasper asked, confused as to why he didn't know.
"Yes. Chuck had a long time on physical therapy to walk again. And Marcus was scheduled to receive treatment for his eye. Those weren't life-threatening situations, but at the time it made logical to disband the group." Dad sighed. "Sadly, the record company had us by the balls and the only agreement we reached was that we got back until the end of the contract, but we decided to go on our own way."
"Yes, and they treated all of you like garbage. Just look what they did to my uncle Alec."
I missed the rest of that conversation because Rosalie came to talk to me.
"Did those pictures cause you any problems?"
"Not those pictures in particular." Then I remembered the embarrassing ones from her that surfaced. "What about you? Those gossip rags were brutal."
"I know! They made me look like a whorish cougar stealing your innocence." She seemed outraged. "I considered suing them, because really, it was my twenty-first birthday! Of course, I got drunk! And they photoshopped a couple to make it look like I was..."
"So you never were a party girl?" Jasper asked with a devious smile.
"Oh, well! That happened when I was younger. But I was utterly discreet, Dad never found out."
I lost track of Jasper and Rose's conversation because Emmett and Miss Platt were talking just behind my back, very loudly.
"You were right about the stage name, Emmett." Miss Platt said cheerily.
"Yeah. Our family wasn't happy when Alec joined the group, so he changed his name to spare them the shame." Emmett squirmed in shame. "He was lucky he was eighteen, otherwise, Grandpa would have brought him back by the ears."
"I still need to talk to Joe Whitlock in person, because the name he gave me for Chuck came blank. It's like he joined the group and then disappeared. But we found a new lead to Marcus. We found one of his cousins living in Italy."
"Hey! Earth to Edward!" Jasper elbowed me.
"Uh?"
"Rose here was wondering about Bella. How come you finally got a date with her."
"Uh? You know about Bella?"
"Your Dad told me. I was so anxious about causing you problems because of the pictures."
"Speaking of pictures. Jasper told me that a girl brought one to college?" Dad suddenly was by my side.
"Yes. One I would never wish to see again."
Dad got quiet thinking which one like there were tons of them around.
"The one with Paolo and Kate," I said, trying to keep quiet the circumstances around said picture.
"The one where you..." he tried to cover his chest with his hands, clearly remembering which one I was talking about.
"The one and only. Though, I thought Mom destroyed any evidence of that night."
Dad got serious. "Well, she got the camera of the photographer. Jesus! I don't want to bother your mother with this, you know how she gets and I think this is one of those times when a subtle approach is better."
Rose, despite being ignorant about what we were talking about, offered a great piece of advice. "Did the picture came from a gossip site? TMZ? Because if it isn't I'm sure it came from someone mad at you."
"No. Bella was adamant the picture was clean. And you know she's very observant." I completely trusted her input.
"Hmm, it's weird. A couple of my pictures came from a hidden file from the days I tried to be a model. Nobody outside my family had those. I agree with you, Carlisle. It's better to investigate where they come from, before attacking. Now, Edward, you were telling us how you finally got the courage to ask Bella to be your date."
I didn't notice that at that precise moment Tanya came to the living room bringing a tray with drinks, and clearly, it was the first time Dad heard about it because both jumped to my side screaming "Finally!"
xxx
BPOV
My 'Electronics' class with Mulholland was the bane of my existence! Clearly, he believes we live and breathe for his class, as he gave us enough assignments to keep us busy the whole semester. His class is the only one that gathered a study group of forty students. Forty! His TA helped us finding an empty classroom for our study sessions where we take turns to try to solve the problems in every chapter of our book. Right now we're on the verge of finishing his last assignment and sadly I wasn't paying any attention because I'm facing a conundrum.
See, Edward finally asked me out. Yes, Edward Cullen, the man I've been crushing since the day I met him. He asked me to accompany him to a charity ball. A very big and public date.
While firstly I felt like all the planets aligned and my dreams were about to come true, my brain had to start to work and brought me down from my high. There were a few aspects of dating Edward that I didn't consider before. Right now, I saw three possible paths to follow. The first one would be to leave my parents ignorant. But there was a giant flaw. Being a charity ball, with personalities such as Edward's parents, reporters and photographers were a sure thing, and with my luck, one giant picture of me would be posted in the papers. So I couldn't risk Dad catching me lying.
Then, I would have to tell them. I didn't have a problem with my mother, she would be elated. But, and that was my worst fear, what about my Dad? I still can't understand the reason why I have to keep my male friends hiding from my Dad. Mom is adamant he can't meet them.
And I wonder why. Surely, he is aware of my making friends with the opposite sex at some point. I mean, I'm an engineering student, does he knows the proportion of males to women in this major?
Urgh! Mom always asks me to be patient, but come on! I'm eighteen and I already missed a lot of life experiences by being locked up at home.
"Bella, did you copy the previous problem? I got distracted and they started with the next one." Ben, one of my classmates, came to disturb my thoughts.
"Uh? Oh, sure."
I'm so lucky to copy without thinking what I saw at the blackboard.
Where was I? Oh, right. Telling my parents about Edward. I don't know how can this be a good idea. Obviously, I still had the third option: to cancel my date. Now, that one I shouldn't even consider as an option. Nope. So, the best course of action, for now, is to talk to my mother hoping she agrees to help me with Dad. Why is he so rigid? I mean, I know he was a wild one on his youth. My grandparents disowned him because of his unruly behavior! And here I am, paying for his wild ways by being condemned to a life of ostracism.
"Thanks, Bella. Hmm, are you ok?" Ben was back with my notes.
"Sure, I'm fine. Just a bit tired. Nothing that eight hours of sleep couldn't cure." I gave Ben what I thought was a reassuring smile, but he still seemed worried.
"Are you sure? Because if you want to talk, you know, we can have a cup of coffee."
"Thanks, Ben. But I swear I'm going to sleep as soon as we finish with this."
Ben finally turned around to pay attention to whoever was explaining the next problem at the front. He was very kind, as always. I got the feeling he sees me as his little sister but I needed time alone to clear my mind.
Although his interruption finally made me see the light. If I want my parents to treat me like an adult, I have to behave like one. I am a strong, confident woman after all.
I left the overcrowded classroom, phone in hand because I needed to make that call before I lost the courage.
"Bella, baby? How are you? Is everything fine?"
"Mom, Edward finally asked me out."
My mother's squeal almost broke my eardrums. It was now or never. "But I need you to keep it from Dad."
Hi!
So, do you think Renee will help Bella?
What do you think about the reason behind Dazzling Proximity break up?
I'm behind answering reviews, but tomorrow I'll have a bit of free time so I will answer you tomorrow. I preferred to post this chapter now and answer you later :)
See ya soon.
