Disclaimer: Own it, I do not.

Chapter Eight

-Shopping With Alice-

When I felt myself wake up the first thing I noticed was that Edward's cold arms were not around me. I forced my eyes open to see if he was in the rocking chair and felt my eyes widened when I saw he wasn't there.

Somewhat scared as to where he could be at, I quickly jumped out of my bed and quickly searched my room. After about a couple of seconds I was sure he wasn't in my room. Somewhat panicked, my mind began trying to come up with reasons that he might not be here.

Calm down, I am sure there is a reasonable explanation for this. The rational part of my mind told me. I forced myself to calm down. More calmly this time, my eyes scanned the room for any sign of a note or something. Then, I spotted a bit of white that I immediately made out to be paper lying on my windowsill. I mentally scolded myself for not noticing it before and quickly walked over to it.

Almost immediately I recognized Edward's neat handwriting on the paper. Sighing in relief, I picked up the paper and began reading it.

Bella,

There is something I have to go do. I will tell you about it once I get back. Alice should be arriving shortly. Make sure you don't get into trouble.

Yours forever,

Edward

Well, that was certainly short and to the point. I wondered what he could possibly of had to do. Then, I remembered what else the letter said. Alice would be coming over soon. If she wasn't here yet he must of left right before I woke up. I groaned in annoyance. I guess he had meant it when he said that whenever he wouldn't be able to watch me he would send someone else to do it.

As if on cue, my bedroom door opened to reveal a happy looking Alice. I looked at her questioningly, but she seemed to take no notice as she danced inside.

"Hello, Bella!" She greeted me cheerfully. I managed a small smile.

"Hello." I replied. I tried to keep the curiosity out of my voice, but failed miserably. What could Edward be doing? He knew I hated surprises. One thing was for sure, Alice sure seemed happy about whatever it was. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. After all, Alice's definition of 'fun' was usually taking me shopping and using me as her personal Barbie doll.

Yes, I reflected, definitely not fun. I felt my mouth move into a slight frown. What was being planned? Probably sensing my curiosity, she gave me a mysterious smile.

"Sorry, Bella. It's a secret." She said mysteriously. After she said that she winked and the mysterious smile disappeared from her face. Oh how I wished sometimes I had the power to read minds like Edward could. He didn't know how well he had it.

"Fine." I said with a sigh that clearly said 'I give up.' She smiled at this and quickly led me to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She pulled me out of my room so fast I just barely had enough time to grab the things I would need.

She practically dragged me to the bathroom. Well, at least this way I don't have to worry about tripping. I couldn't help but think as I was dragged along. I couldn't help but smile. Of course, I just had to think about the good thing that came with my being 'kidnapped' by my boyfriend's sister.

After a few moments I found myself in the bathroom. The bathroom door shut and I heard a small 'click' signaling it had been locked. I sighed and turned on the shower. Yep. Alice was definitely excited. No good could come of this.

After I finished undressing, I stepped into the warm shower and let out a content sigh. I used my strawberry shampoo and washed my hair. Soon, I was finished. I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off before getting into my clothes.

As soon as I unlocked the bathroom door it burst open, taking me by surprise. I barely got out of the way as Alice strolled in. She paused for a moment to look over me. I felt myself stiffen under her gaze.

"We definitely need to go shopping," Alice commented after a moment, then her face brightened "But first, we need to do your hair!"

I began trying to tell her that I was perfectly fine, but my pleas where met with deaf ears as Alice pulled me out the door and back into my room. Once I was in my room brushes and combs immediately began attacking my hair.

I continued to try and protest, but it was no use. By the time Alice finally deemed me suitable, I was feeling truly sorry for all the Barbie dolls out there.

"Done!" Alice said happily. I let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over…

"Now it's time to go shopping!" Alice announced. I felt my eyes widen. Of course, I finish with one thing and she wants to take me to do something else. Just perfect…

"Are you sure Charlie will let me go? After all, he still isn't completely happy with me after the whole motorcycle thing…" I said, using the only excuse I had to possibly get out of this. She continued to look unfazed, though.

"I already asked him. He agreed." She replied simply. I let out a small groan, not being able to think of another excuse.

Gee, thanks a lot, Charlie. I thought sarcastically. Weren't parents supposed to protect you from these sorts of things?

"Oh, come on, Bella. It's not that bad." Alice said in what I would assume to be a fake scolding voice "Besides, I can't do anything too bad or Edward might kill me." She joked. I let out a small smile, but I still wasn't too happy about shopping.

"You know I hate it when you spend money on me." I complained.

"But you will look so nice!" Alice exclaimed. I gave her a look that said clearly 'are you crazy?' but she seemed to take no notice. She seemed to be too busy thinking of which stores would be the best to go to.

"Lets go!" Alice finally announced. Before I could reply, I was being dragged down the stairs by the pixie-like vampire. It was actually amazing how such a small girl could posses so much strength.

Because of how fast Alice was and the fact that she was dragging me, we soon reached her car. I got into the car, knowing there was probably no point in arguing any more. Alice, like many vampires I knew, enjoyed speed. So in a trip that would usually take a lot longer, we arrived to our destination rather quickly. During the ride, Alice and I talked about many things, but it was only half-heartedly on my part for two reasons. One, I didn't want to shop or have Alice spend money on me in any way, and two was that Edward wasn't there. Though, with the second I felt kind of pathetic for thinking like that, even if it was true.

Once we were there Alice proceeded to drag me(not literarily this time) into the store. Almost immediately I was blinded by the sheer number of clothes that where in the store. They didn't look cheep, either.

"Alice…" I warned, my voice showing my dislike. It really was too bad she was to busy throwing many clothes at me to really pay attention to what I was saying.

After a while of getting clothes thrown at me I was beginning to wonder if I could hold anymore. Then, the barrage of clothes stopped. My load became lighter as Alice took them from me and brought me to the dressing room to try them on. On the way I once again tried to dissuade Alice, but nothing seemed to work. I sighed. Where was Edward when you really needed him?

I was practically thrown into one of the stalls and watched as the door shut behind me. After this happened a dress was thrown over the stall door. I caught it just before it hit the ground. I looked at it, and then I saw the price tag on it. I nearly dropped it in shock when I saw the price.

"Alice! Do you know how much this costs?" I asked, still in disbelief at the number I saw. There was no way I would ever be able to pay this back. I suppose I was right when I said all the outfits looked expensive…

"Not really, but that doesn't matter! Just try it on!" Came Alice's voice from the other side of the stall. I felt like rolling my eyes. Of course, typical Alice response. Of course the price mattered!

"Alice, I would never be able to pay you back for this." I said as I eyed the dress with distress. It certainly was beautiful, but I didn't feel right having Alice buy something so expensive for me.

"I am not going to let you even try to pay me back if we buy it. Just try it on." I heard Alice say. Knowing I wouldn't win this battle, I sighed and began trying to put on the dress. After about a minute I successfully got the outfit on without damaging it in any way, to my relief.

I was kind of reluctant to show Alice. After all, compared to her… well, perfect ness, I was really no comparison. Still, I opened the stall door and presented myself to her. She smiled widely when she saw me, but for what I am not really sure. After all, I didn't look that good, did I?

The dress was nice-looking, that was for sure. If I looked good in any way, it would only be because of this outfit. It was light blue and seemed to fit me perfectly. Since I didn't know cloth very well, I wasn't very sure what it was made out of, but I could tell the cloth was expensive because it was nice to the touch and smooth looking. It stopped at my knees and was long-sleeved. The area around the neck was somewhat loose and high, making it almost look like a turtle neck t-shirt. And last but not least was that near the bottom right of the dress where a few small butterflies that had been made out of what looked to be onyx stone.

"It looks so good on you, Bella!" Alice commented rather loudly. Because of how loud she said it many of the people in the dressing room turned to look at me. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I saw this. People then began to either just look at me or comment me. My face just got redder as this happened. Why did there have to be so many people here? It seemed that luck just was not on my side. Of course, was it ever? I swear someone up there hated me.

"I'm getting that for you!" Alice said happily. I was currently too embarrassed to complain. Why did I ever agree to this? Oh, that was right. I didn't.

Alice shooed me back inside the stall to try on more outfits. She threw another outfit over the door and I once again managed to catch it before it fell to the ground. I got out of my previous dress and began to try on the other outfit.

The rest of my experience of trying on outfits was kind of a blur. It seemed to happen so fast, and yet agonizingly slow at the same time. It was especially embarrassing because after I had tried on my first outfit people seemed to want to watch me try on clothes. It didn't help that Alice seemed to be helping them with comments about my looks. Luckily, like most dressing rooms, this was a girl-only dressing room so no boys where watching me or anything. I could just imagine what Edward would say if boys watched me as well. I could tell you it wasn't the prettiest thing. Jealousy wasn't the best thing with Edward. That was certainly true.

Finally, after about an hour, it was over.

Alice took all the clothes she was going to buy for me and took them to the counter with me following. Or, at least I had been following her, but I quickly lost her in the crowds. I began trying to spot her again, but unfortunately without success. It seemed that, once again, luck was not on my side. This just wasn't my day.

In my worry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and felt myself bump into someone. "Ow…" I mumbled to myself as I fell backwards and hit the ground. Really, shouldn't I be immune to the slight pain I always experienced when I hit the ground by now? Maybe I had been getting soft because I was so used to Edward catching me…

"Are you okay?" Asked the person I bumped into. I looked up at the person and felt my eyes widen. The person reminded me of the Cullens in the fact that he was an unbelievably beautiful person. I wondered for a moment if he was a vampire. I quickly looked at his eyes and knew he wasn't when I saw green eyes. Though, he seemed certainly pale enough to be a vampire. For some reason, this fact concerned me.

"I'm fine." I replied, keeping my voice as polite as possible. "I just kind of lost my friend in the crowds. I'm sorry I bumped into you."

"It's okay." He said, giving me a brilliant smile. To most girls, it probably would have made them melt, but it only made me think about how much better Edward's smile was. He held out his hand to help me off my position on the ground. I took it and let him help me to my feet.

"I'm William, but my friends call me Will." He said, being polite. I decided I should tell him my name since I had bumped into him, after all.

"My name is Isabella, but I prefer to be called Bella." I replied, keeping my voice as polite as his was. He looked as if he was about to reply, when I my name rang through the crowds.

"Bella!" Came Alice's voice as she spotted me. I turned my head to where her voice was and saw her walking towards me. The clothes where now in bags, showing she had just finished buying them.

"Oh! There's Alice. I guess I will see you later." I said with a small wave. Of course, I didn't actually mean I would meet him later, but it seemed like the right thing to say. He nodded and seemed to disappear in the crowds as Alice finally came beside me.

"Sorry it took so long for me to find you, when I noticed you where not there I was already getting the clothes checked out." Alice explained. I shook my head.

"I don't mind, I just don't know if we should let Edward know that you 'lost' me." I joked. She let out a small laugh.

"That might be best." She agreed. She obviously didn't want to face Edward's wrath. I couldn't really blame her.

"So, who was that you were talking to?" Said the ever-curious Alice.

"Oh, well when I went looking for you I accidentally bumped into him. He said his name is William, but to call him Will." I informed her. She looked thoughtful for a moment, but it passed as soon as it appeared.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell Edward about that, either." Alice joked; reminding me of the over-protectiveness Edward had been experiencing lately. I let out a small laugh as I pictured Edward's reaction.

"Probably." I agreed.

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There is the end to chapter eight. I hope you all enjoyed it! Now, I have to admit, I was kind of disappointed about the reviews, or should I say lack of reviews, I got last chapter. Was it really that bad? It makes me wonder if you guys really like the story or not. I mean, only two reviews. It kind of put a damper on my mood. Believe it or not, reviews seem to inspire me to write. Still, I appreciate the reviews I did get . Anyway, I kind of wanted to make a chapter that was happier with all the really serious chapters I have been making lately. I think I accomplished that, but I am not really sure. Also, about this William person, if all goes according to plan he will play a bigger part in chapters to come. Don't worry, though! Edward and Bella will always be together. If you ever doubt that, just close you eyes and think 'Edward.' It always works for me. Also, sorry it took so long to update! If you want to know the truth, I have had this chapter written since last weekend, but havent found the time to put it up. Anyway, until next time!

Yushia-san