Disclaimer: This story is based on the characters and plot of the Twilight saga which are property of Stephenie Meyer. The idea for time travel was inspired by The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger. The plots which I introduce in this story are the only thing that I own.
Author's Note: Thanks for all the hits, favs and reviews! As to the questions about Edward's mom and the "mysterious dark figures"…all will be revealed in the next couple chapters.
Chapter 7: Twinkle Toes
Quick Recap: Bella has decided that she needs to go to the Homecoming dance with a date in an effort to have a real life and get over her fantasies about her dream boy.
BPOV
The afternoon of the dance, Bella found herself sitting at her mother's vanity wondering idly if there was a possibility that he might be at the dance. And then she remembered the cheese delivery she received a few hours ago. She shook her head, trying to snap out of her trance. Okay Bella, you have to get over this infatuation you have with a dream! You need to live a real life, remember? No matter how many times she made this decision, her thoughts kept drifting to the boy from her dreams.
She tugged at her ponytail, trying to get a little more volume at the top like her mother had shown her. Right about now she was wishing she had taken up her girlfriend Melanie's offer of getting ready at her house with Kelsey and Jennifer. But she was having a hard enough time trying to get past her sadness of not being with the boy from her dreams without having to deal with the squealing excitement of a bunch of teenage girls going on and on about their dates.
Let's get a move on, she thought as she reluctantly put her lipstick in her clutch and walked downstairs to put on her death traps and wait on the couch for her date. As if on cue, her doorbell rang. Josh stood on the front porch with a corsage in his hand, the passenger door of his shiny black Miata already open. Bella was glad she had convinced her mother to stick with her plans to go away for the weekend. She didn't think she could take all the pictures and attention she would have gotten had Renee been home.
"This is for you, you look stunning Bella." Josh carefully took her hand and placed the corsage around her wrist.
Bella smiled and blushed slightly. Wow, he looks great! I never noticed how attractive he was before. He's being awfully nice to me; he must be a really good guy to take out a friend's girlfriend's friend as a favor. Bella marveled at the new feelings that were starting to show up when she was in Josh's presence.
"Thanks Josh. It's beautiful and, um, you look very nice yourself. Well, let's go so we aren't late!" She breathed a sigh of relief when he held his arm out for her to take as they walked down the steps to the car. She had been very uneasy about navigating in the heels her mother had insisted she wear with her dress. She would have gladly replaced them with her favorite Converse sneakers (no matter how they looked with the dress!) but all of her friends had sworn to Renee that they would report back exactly what Bella had worn to the Homecoming dance.
AT THE DANCE
"Have you seen her yet?" Melanie bounced over to Bella as soon as she and Josh walked into the gym.
"Seen who?" Bella has no idea who her friend could be talking about, since Jen and Kelsey were standing right next to her, so she clearly wasn't talking about either of them.
"You know who! The dress girl!" Jen piped up, practically squealing with excitement, moving her hand up and down in front of her dress, as if modeling it.
Ah, that's right; I forgot all about that possibility! Bella smiled as she remembered telling her friends about the hideous dress someone at their school had bought for the dance. The girls hadn't believed Bella's description of the dress, since she never wore dresses and had questionable fashion sense herself. So, they'd dragged her to the mall to show them, since they couldn't find it online. There it had stood, in all its glory, on one of the main mannequins in the dress department. Tina, the saleswoman that helped Bella before, walked by them and shook her head sadly as she watched them gawk over the dress.
"The dress you bought looks perfect on you honey, don't be too sad about missing out on this one." Tina looked positively forlorn as she tried to "cheer up Bella." Bella tried to keep her giggling under control as she responded.
"I couldn't resist showing it to my friends; it is just too amazing for words. But you're right; the dress I bought is perfect for me. I don't think hot pink compliments my complexion quite as well." When Tina left, still shaking her head, Kelsey grabbed the dress and ran to the dressing room.
"Melanie, get out the camera! We are all trying this baby on!" Over the next hour, they all tried the dress on and posed for various pictures. They had compiled a list of the most likely girls to show up in it; Jen and Kelsey had a $50 bet on the outcome.
Bella giggled as she brought herself back to reality. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that! No, I haven't seen her yet, have you? I really hope, for her sake, she tried the dress on again at home and had a change of heart. Can you imagine showing up here in something like that?"
"Oh no, I hope she stuck to her decision and is going to make our night as entertaining as possible! What color do you think her accessories will be? I suppose plain silver shoes would be a good match, but we can always hope for more!" Kelsey was bouncing in excitement.
The girls and their dates wandered over to the refreshment area, checking out the snacks and the drink bar. They each grabbed a drink and one of the boys piled a bunch of goodies onto a large plate. They moved over to one of the big tables and settled in to talk and watch the rest of their classmates for a while.
Bella sipped on her water; she was afraid to get anything else to drink since the likelihood that she'd spill it on someone was pretty high. She twirled the straw around in her fingers, nervous about spending so much time with Josh alone. While there were three other couples sitting at the same table, her friends were all engrossed in their own private conversations with their dates, no one paying any attention to Bella and Josh.
"So, you work at 'The Pen and Ink,' right?" Bella's straw slipped out of her hand as Josh startled her with his question.
"Um, yeah. I've worked there since the summer before I started high school." She answered quickly, still nervous around her date.
"What's it like in there? I've never been inside. What made you want to work there? I think it would be totally boring." Josh smiled slightly at Bella, waiting for her answer.
"It is simply wonderful inside! Books everywhere you turn, and the store is so comfortable inside, with cozy chairs scattered around. Whenever I walk in the door, the smell of books and cinnamon hits me and I feel like I am home. It doesn't even really feel like work most of the time!" Bella lit up when she talked about the book store. She loved books, but there was something special about this store. "It isn't impersonal like all the big name stores; Tiffany knows most of her customers by name and favorite book. She goes out of her way to let them know when a new book comes in that they might like."
"Oh, like when Game Stop calls to tell me Turbo Ninja Motorbike Supreme VII is finally in? That's cool!" Josh smiled brightly when he finally found something to connect with in her words.
"Uh, yeah, I guess so. What's your favorite book? Tiffany and I have a theory that you can tell everything you need to know about someone based on their book preferences."
"Oh, Dracula is my favorite story, hands down. Vampires are so cool!" Josh gave Bella a wide grin, as if trying to show her his 'fangs.'
"Oh, I read that a few years ago. It was a little on the dark side for me, but very well written. I don't remember a lot of the detail, maybe I should read it again." Bella was pleasantly surprised that Josh liked such an acclaimed novel. She had expected his favorite to be some sort of sports star's biography or something trivial like that.
"Oh, don't bother reading it again! I'll just bring over the DVD sometime and we can watch it. I bought it last year when we were reading it in English…normally I can watch the movie once and get through the class, but this time we read it over several months and had tons of papers and tests. I kept having to refresh on the storyline. I wound up only getting a C in that class; the teacher kept giving me points off when I wrote about something that was in the movie that she said wasn't really in the book." Josh frowned at the memory, but then shrugged and moved on. "So, do you want to dance at all?" He motioned to the rest of their friends who had moved out onto the dance floor while they were talking.
"Uh, well, it is a slow song, so okay, let's give it a try." Watch the DVD? What kind of moron – shut up Bella! Most guys aren't into books, just let it go! Forget the Tiffany theory; it's not like she is happily married or anything. Bella thoughts came a million miles an hour, but she shook them off and took Josh's hand. And then she completely lost her train of thought as he pulled her close and slowly swayed to the music.
Hmm, this is nice. He smells so clean and fresh, I wonder what kind of cologne he uses. This is definitely nice, I could get used to a real boy. And I haven't fallen or hurt anyone yet; this could be my lucky night! Definitely liking real life right now. Bella let her thoughts wander as they danced, and managed to keep her thoughts to the present, not drifting to her dreams like they normally did.
Josh had evidently gotten her hints about not wanting to dance too much. When the song was over, the DJ picked up the pace with a faster one, so he grabbed Bella's hand and led her back over to their table. "Let's sit down and watch the crazy fast dancers."
"OH MY GOD! Omigodomigodomigod! BELLA!!! Do you seeeeee her???" Kelsey was running over to the table, practically screaming as she approached. Melanie and Jen had obviously heard her and headed over to the table as well.
"WHO Kelsey? What on earth are you talking….OH MY GOD! Hand over the money Kelsey! I can't believe you bet against Jen when she picked her!" Bella laughed when she realized what Kelsey had been screaming about.
Across the room, Jasmine had pushed her way through the crowd to the middle of the dance floor with Marcia and Cathy flanking her sides. She was the biggest bitch in the school; her parents were loaded and she acted as if everyone should bow down to her and treat her like a queen. Unfortunately, too many of their fellow students believed her and therefore Jasmine was one of the most popular girls at school.
And she was the one who had bought the hideous dress!
As the spotlight swept over her, Bella and her friends sat down, floored by the full effect of the dress and accessories as worn by Jasmine. They were laughing so hard they could no longer stand up! Of course, they knew what the dress was going to look like, but Jasmine had somehow managed to make it even more revealing by buying it in a size too small and squeezing her breasts in the top. She had the boa draped over one shoulder, dragging behind her like a train. Her nails matched the pink of the bodice exactly, as did the four inch heels she had tied to her feet with satin ribbon running half way up her calves. Even from 50 feet away, the rhinestones in the huge chandelier earrings glittered in the light. But the most impressive addition that Jasmine had found was the pink and green jeweled tiara that rested in the curls heaped on top of her head.
Bella recovered the fastest, and elbowed Kelsey as she continued to stare at Jasmine with her mouth wide open. "Of all the people, surely she was the most obvious person. And at least I don't have to worry about the wearer being embarrassed; by Monday half the school will be wearing hot pink and neon green like it is the new black! It astounds me how much influence money has, no matter the person who wields it." She noticed that Josh was still staring at Jasmine, but she figured he, like the rest of her friends, couldn't tear his eyes away from the train wreck.
Jasmine and her entourage grabbed some guys from the crowd and began to dance. After a few minutes, it was clear that they had used a massive amount of body tape so that Jasmine wouldn't inadvertently flash the whole school; the rest of the students resumed their activities once the show was over.
Bella and Josh sat out for a while, since there was a long set of fast songs. They chatted a little about their families and friends, and then lapsed into a peaceful silence as they ran out of things to talk about. A couple times Bella saw Josh staring in the direction of Jasmine, but when she finally caught his eye, he just shrugged.
"Um, just checking to see if she had gotten any more ridiculous!" Josh mumbled after he looked away from the dance floor.
"Ha ha! As if that could possibly happen!" Bella chuckled at the thought, then noticed the DJ had slowed the music down again. She was just about to suggest that they dance when she noticed Jasmine headed straight for them.
"Oh Joshy…don't you want to dance with me?" she purred, not even acknowledging Bella.
"Sorry Jas, I'm here with Bella tonight. In fact, we were just about to head out to dance. See you later." Josh cut her off quickly, taking Bella's hand and leading her to the floor without glancing again at Jasmine. "I apologize Bella, that was quite rude of her."
"It certainly was, but it wasn't your fault. You have nothing to apologize for. Let's just enjoy this dance." With that, she pulled him closer and laid her head on his shoulder, everything else drifting from her mind.
LATER DURING THE DANCE
Bella continued to be surprised at how much fun she was having with Josh. He was quite good looking, only a few inches taller than her, with jet black hair and light blue eyes, his build what you'd expect for a soccer player and, like most Phoenix natives, he was incredibly tan. In many ways, the opposite of him, the dream boy she was trying so hard to forget. Maybe that was why she was able to concentrate on Josh, because he didn't remind her. They might not have a ton in common, but their conversation had been pleasant and the silences weren't awkward.
He was very comfortable to be around, as if they'd known each other for years. So far, she'd only tripped once and Josh had kept her from falling flat on her face. They'd only danced twice, slow songs both times so she didn't have to move that much. She'd enjoyed both dances, enjoyed being held close by Josh. She knew that he only asked her as a favor to his friends who were going with Kelsey and Jennifer; but she was starting to think her mother was right, he might actually like her.
"I think I'm going to get some punch, would you like some Bella?" Josh looked at her expectantly.
"Oh, yes please! If you don't mind, I think I will just sit here rather than try and kill someone making my way across the room in these heels!" Really, he did seem to like her. Bella's heart did a little flip as he turned and winked at her from across the room. Suddenly, she was grabbed on both sides by manicured hands and dragged into the bathroom.
"Bella and Josh sittin' in a treeeeee…" Melanie started singing loudly.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Kelsey finished the line screaming each letter totally out of tune.
"Stop it girls! Someone is going to hear you! What if he doesn't like me like that?" Bella hissed at her friends, her face burning with a bright crimson blush. "You said he only asked me out as a favor anyway."
"Silly Bella!" Jennifer shook her head at Bella's foolishness. "We did him the favor of getting you to go out with him, not the other way around! When are you going to see yourself the way most of the boys in our school do?" Jennifer playfully grabbed Bella by the chin and forced her to look in the mirror. "You are just as gorgeous as anyone else here tonight, more gorgeous than everyone but the three of us – haha!"
"Really, he actually likes me? I'd never noticed that before." Bella pondered this for a moment, trying to think of times they'd been together before to see if she could see any preference for her in hindsight.
"Ya think? Maybe because you are usually brooding over your "dream boy" and never give any real guys a chance. What made you change your mind this time, anyway?" Kelsey reminded Bella of her original mission tonight. She didn't answer right away, thinking about what answer she could give her friends that might make sense.
What am I going to tell them? Anything remotely close to the truth is going to sound insane! Maybe I can blame Renee…yeah, that's a good idea, Bella thought as she considered the possible answers she could give.
"Bella, calling Bella back to reality!" Melanie snapped her fingers in front of Bella's dazed expression. "Are you going to answer Kelsey's question or what? What finally convinced you that you are a normal teenage girl who deserves a nice, normal teenage boy?"
"Oh, sorry about that, just day dreaming. Right, um, my mom was pretty adamant that I was going to have to go to Prom, right?" Bella stumbled through her answer, making it up as she went along. "So I figured that I better try out the whole 'school dance' thing before the big event. And then I thought maybe if it was horrible, she wouldn't make me go to Prom! You could have knocked me over with a feather when I figured out I was actually having a good time! Me! At a dance!" Her enthusiasm near the end distracted the girls from her inattention earlier.
"I told you so! I can't believe you waited until Junior year to finally wake up. At least it is the beginning of the year. We still have at least 3 more dances before Prom for more 'practice.' Although we really need to start looking for the dresses for the Winter Formal soon. The theme is WWI, and it is going to be hard to find unique dresses that fit the style in just 5 weeks. I can't believe they waited that long to tell us the theme when it is so complicated!" Happy that Bella was finally getting into the social scene, Kelsey just prattled on about random dance stuff for a little while. "I wonder what the boys will find to wear."
Bella shivered, thinking about the agony that could accompany more school dances. "Let's just get through this one in one piece, okay? Then we can talk about dress shopping." The girls made their way back to the dance floor, into the waiting arms of their respective boys.
"Would you like to dance again, or sit down and talk some more? We haven't discussed favorite movies yet…except for Dracula of course!" Josh looked longingly at the dance floor, but stayed rooted to the spot, not wanting to force Bella into dancing if she didn't want to.
"Oh, it's a fast one! I'm game, let's go and I'll try not to maim you!" Bella was caught up Josh's smile and the happy atmosphere at the dance, allowing herself to try one of the few things she was actually terrified of doing. "I love this song; it makes me feel so free!" The DJ had decided to lighten things up and pay homage to all the teachers in the room by playing "Dancing Queen" by ABBA. Thanks to the rising popularity of ballroom dancing, even some of the students recognized it as a hustle. Soon, tons of kids were whirling and twirling across the floor in their own version of the 70s dance. Bella and Josh were getting in on the action, Josh careful to not let go of Bella's hand. But eventually Bella's luck ran out. She was having such a carefree time, she decided she'd try a spin (like she did on her own out in a soft field listening to her MP3 player). Unfortunately, she'd never practiced in 2" heels and she came crashing down, twisting her left ankle underneath herself as she fell.
"Oh! Darn it, there goes klutzy Bella again, ruining everyone's evening. I'm sorry Josh, but if you could help me over to a chair you can go back to enjoying your evening." Why does this always happen to me, Bella screamed to herself. She tried to keep a sheepish grin on for Josh's sake, so maybe he wouldn't be too mad at her.
"Don't be ridiculous Bella! Here, let me help you." Josh picked her up and carried her to a chair in the far corner, where it seemed they could attract the least amount of attention. However, it was the far corner, so by the time they made it there, the music was almost drowned out by the murmurs coming from the dance floor. "No one will notice you over here; I'll go get you some ice for that. Do you think you need to see a doctor?"
Bella just shook her head; she'd injured herself enough to know that this was just a sprain, a minor one at that. She'd be back to "normal" again in a few days, ready to fall down another set of stairs or trip over flat ground. I thought he said no one would notice me here? Why is everyone staring at me then? Her face turned beet red as she noticed more and more people from the drink bar turning and looking her way. She plastered a smile on her face as Jennifer and Melanie headed her way, with Kelsey pulling up the rear holding a napkin with ice.
"Bella, are you okay? Should we take you to the doctor…he's probably expecting you if he knew you were coming to the dance tonight – ha!" Mel could always be counted on to try and lighten things up. She took the ice from Kelsey and handed it over to Bella. "Seriously, how bad is it? No matter how bad it is, I bet it was totally worth it to have Josh rescue you like that…carrying you like that was sooo romantic!"
"It's just a slight sprain, no big deal. Thank goodness I won't need crutches, you know how much more dangerous I am with them!" Bella joked with her friends so they wouldn't worry about her, but the truth was that her ankle was already feeling better and she felt embarrassed by the early "damsel in distress" scene that had played out. What did she mean "rescue me"? How did she know Josh carried me over here, I saw all three of them walk in from the other room straight to the drink table before coming over here. Bella couldn't understand Mel's last comments. "How did you know he carried me over here? You weren't here when it happened."
"I know, but I heard him telling everyone over at the drink bar what happened. Of course when he asked for ice people assumed you had hurt yourself. So naturally he had to tell the story of how you blacked out and he carried you safely over to the nearest chair. I swear, one date and you get all the romance!" Melanie looked like she was going to swoon.
"What? Blacked out? No, I just fell on my ankle, and closed my eyes out of embarrassment. Wow, I can't believe he thought I blacked out. He must think I am a total wuss." The blood drained out of her face as Bella noticed Josh was now within hearing distance. She looked down at her ankle, adjusting her ice, afraid to look up and meet his gaze. When she finally did, she noticed that all her friends had abandoned her and were winking from across the room. When Jennifer fake fainted into Kelsey's arms, Bella giggled a little and turned to Josh. "I am mortified! I know I am a klutz, but I didn't black out back there. I just tripped a little, these stupid shoes!"
"I didn't think you blacked out, that must be one heck of a quick rumor!" Josh smiled at Bella, not answering the question in her eyes.
"But, Melanie said…" Josh put his hand over her mouth lightly, not letting her talk anymore.
"Now now Bella, don't get yourself all worked up. You need to relax so you can recover. How about I take you home in a few minutes, so you can get comfortable." Josh spoke in soothing tones, but there was something oddly patronizing about his words. "It looks like my explanation at the bar seemed to put you more in the spotlight, and I'm sure that is the last thing you wanted."
Bella just nodded in agreement, slightly mollified by his last statement. I knew he wouldn't do something like that on purpose, she thought as she got up from the chair to take his arm for the long walk to the car.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please, please, please review! I love knowing what you think, and it helps inspire me to write faster. Don't forget to check the poll on my profile about whether Edward should be the one to find Bella when the meet in person. Sorry there is no Edward in this chapter, but that is kind of the point of the whole story arc, and I promise I will make it up to you. BTW, the homecoming storyline is not quite over, but I'll be posting an Edward POV chapter before I finish it up. This was a natural break point. Oh, in case you were wondering, Josh is NOT a vampire…don't get too excited about that Dracula reference.
Also, check out my other Twilight story "Black Friday – Alice Cullen Style!" It is a funny story, set post-Breaking Dawn with canon pairings. Just something fun to chuckle at!
