I awoke again later the next morning more exhausted than when I went to bed. My body ached and my mind was a mess of unwanted thoughts, if it had not been for my plans to help Angela I would have eagerly rolled over and went back to sleep but as it was, I'd already overslept at least a half an hour longer than I had planned. I grabbed my clothes and other necessities we would need for the party and headed into Charlies' small kitchen. I grabbed a piece of toast and some OJ before sitting in my usual spot at the table. For the first time in a long while I just sat and took in my surroundings. The paint on the cabinets was chipped, the curtain above the small pane of glass faded. The small cactus I'd brought with me from Phoenix wasn't weathering well in the gloomy overcast of Forks. It all seemed surreal. Life was untouched, uncomplicated here. I wish I could just sit here and enjoy the tranquility. In this room as well as in all of Charlie's world, things were black and white. I smiled as I remembered a time when my life had been that simple, now I lived in a constant state of gray. It was getting harder for me to tell what decisions in my life were right or wrong. Than again, maybe it wasn't that it was difficult, maybe I just no longer cared.
I finished up my toast swiping the crumbs from my black checkered shirt and waited for Angela outside. It didn't take long before her yellow bug pulled into the spot beside my truck. It looked like a prize you'd find in a cereal box. My truck would have easily crushed it, but it fit her perfectly.
She threw open the trunk as I placed my bags inside and we raced thru town with her wipers flying. I frowned. I still could not get used to all this rain. The trip didn't take long which was a blessing. I wasn't in the mood for chatting. I was thankful she understood I was a person of few words.
By the time we pulled up to the house, the rain was starting to let up; it was down to just drizzle. Jake had left the key under the floor board and Angela and I quickly unloaded the vast amount of party supplies from her car. Apparently, the trunk was much larger than it looked; we ended up making three trips. There was so much to do we got started almost immediately; greenery needed to be hung, food fixed, house cleaned. We had decided that we would do all of the preparations today, cleaning up tomorrow. Angela took the upstairs, I took the downstairs and we met in the kitchen to start the food. It wasn't anything fancy, chips and dip, sandwiches, pizza, pop...normal things teenagers ate, just in larger quantities. Of course, who could forget the piece of resistance? The cake...Angela had special ordered it from a bakery in Port Angeles. It shaped and decorated like huge Roman Coliseum. Eric would flip.
I was still admiring the cake, when Angela announced that it was six o'clock. I hadn't expected the hours to pass so quickly. She went and retrieved our bags from the car; I thanked her I departed to my favorite room downstairs. This room had stuck with me more than the others I cleaned. It wasn't as fancy as the rest. The decor was plain, straightforward. The walls were painted a light sage green, accented by a cream bedspread and curtains. The small space contained a full bed, small wooden vanity and bureau; an antique full length mirror sat in the corner. On the opposite side of the room were two doors, one that led to closet, the other an adjacent bathroom with the same color scheme as the bedroom. It too had a large mirror and small vanity.
The room however lacked in every other basic necessity. It was uncluttered, no knick knacks or personal photos adorned its walls. The tiny closet was empty except for a few wire hangers and some mothballs. It was if no life touched this room. It was an elaborate fake, in all its charm there was no emotional connection here at all. It was a very ornate shell. This room, a guest room, was pretending to be more than it was. I think that's why I found it so appealing.
It didn't take me long to prepare for the party. In the beginning I was worried about the attire I would wear. I mean, really, what does one wear to a Toga party. I found the answer hanging in the back of my closet. I had forgotten about the generic gray garment bag, how it had managed to escape the grand purge of my closet I didn't know, but I was glad.
Earlier in the year, after school had let out for summer break, Alice had begged and pleaded with me to go shopping. It was one of my least favorite experiences in my life. If anyone had a shopping addiction it was Alice. She even had a built in Sale detector. We hit every store I knew of and some I'd never even knew existed. It was in one little shop that I had finally put my foot down.
"No more" I firmly told Alice as she brought out another rack of clothing for me to try on.
"But Bella" she whined "Won't you please humor me"
"No" I flung myself in the seat outside the dressing room mirror. "Alice, I've tried clothes, shoes, hats, scarves, jewelry, for the last six hours....I'm done"
"Please Bella, just this last set and we can go home... I promise" batting her golden eyes at me. I hated when she cheated.
"Fine" I huffed heading back into the dressing room "but you owe me BIG" I griped over the door.
It was in that set of dresses that I found the one I wore now. It was a mid-length white dress that came down to the top of my knees. The neck dropped into a heart shape. The material was almost transparent, not quite sheer. The hem gently swayed when I walked and the sleeves were long, opaque, the dress was a cloudy white you couldn't see through it but it gave the appearance that you could. It looked like something Marilyn Monroe would have worn. Not that I considered myself in the same league as her, but the dress was breath-taking. Even Alice gasped when I came out of my holding cell.
"Wow" she jumped up and down excitedly, "Wait until Edward sees you in this" she laughed. "He'd drop dead if he wasn't already". I gave her a dirty look but she ignored it. She was right though, I couldn't wait to show Edward. I was waiting for a special occasion, like our anniversary, but he left before I could get the chance.
I stood before the antique mirror and quietly placed the memory into the do not open box of my mind. I finished getting ready by adding a simple gold belt and bracelet to the ensemble and placing my brown hair into a golden clasp, letting tendrils fall around my face and neck. I even added clear gloss to my lips, something I normally didn't do.
I returned my stuff to Angela's car, completing last minute things on our to-do list when the first set of guests started to arrive.
A short time later, everything turned into chaos.
"I'm so sorry" Jessica wailed in her pink toga gown. She slid onto the blue and cream sofa that took up most of the living room wall, placing her newly manicured hands over her eyes. "I had no idea he would invite his friends"
The party started out as we had planned. All the guest arrived and Eric was more than surprised he was thrilled. He said he couldn't imagine anything more perfect and he was astounded at the variations of a toga. Most of the guys went with the sheet around the middle. Tyler had accessorized his with dark sunglasses, Lee Stephens had actually rented a Roman Soldiers' costume for the evening and Lauren, sigh, well Lauren looked like she had bought hers from a high end department store. I quickly pondered what Alice might wear. She would probably make the journey to Greece, find a little boutique and ...I stopped myself short. Alice was no longer here, and I wasn't going to pretend she was. I banished the thought quickly.
We had just devoured most of the cake, which Eric proclaimed was the most AWESOME CAKE EVER, when Jessica went into hysterics. Her freshman boyfriend and his burly college buddies all trudged into the kitchen with three kegs of cheap, stale, beer.
"What are we going to do" Jessica sobbed looking at all of us for answers.
Mike was the first to respond.
"Who says we have to do anything" he laughed removing his hand from around my waist and bounding into the kitchen. He returned with an armload of red plastic cups.
"My man, Mike, is right" Tyler grinned from ear to ear, "Why tempt fate"
"I don't know" Lauren said, looking undecided at the drink Lee had just sat in her hands.
"Think about guys" Mike resumed his argument, "Bella's dad is gone, we're out in the middle of No Where, and you know that Deputy Fife isn't going to drive all the way out here to check on us, Lets just enjoy it while we can" he laughed as he passed the rest of the cups around.
Jessica looked confused, Angela uncomfortable, and Eric even more excited than when he'd seen his cake.
I just stared at the golden contents clutched in my hands, debating a long time. It smelled bad, my nose scrunched at offensive odor....I didn't care though; I just closed my eyes and began to gulp down the vulgar taste.
A decision I would regret
A/N-I do not own Twilight or anything else in this story. I hope you enjoy. Please continue to R&R, I love hearing your thoughts.
