BPOV
"Can you cook?" I heard someone ask behind me. Behind me, Meg was clutching her stomach. I pulled my eyebrows together in confusion.
"Uh, yeah, I guess," I said. Her face lit up.
"Will you pleeeeaaasssssseeeeeeee make me something to eat? I'm starving," she huffed. I hadn't cooked for someone in a while, and this was one contribution that I could make.
"Sure," I said with a shrug. She followed me into the kitchen. "Is there anything specific that you want?" She opened the fridge, and I almost laughed at her facial expression—she looked like a kid in a candy store.
"Ooh! Grilled cheese!" she said, and smiled at me. Her long hair swung with every movement she made. After grabbing the cheese and butter out of the fridge, I grilled together her sandwich.
"How do you want it cut?" I asked over my shoulder. Meg made ran her finger through the air in a diagonal motion and laughed.
"I fricken love you Bella, thanks so much!" she said and pranced out of the kitchen. I was sure I had seen her cook before, but I didn't have the heart to tell her no. For some reason today, my body was sore. Every movement that I made sent a pounding sensation to my head. Leaning against the counter top, I put my head in my hands and desperately rubbed my forehead. This headache needs to stop…now, I thought through gritted teeth.
I could tell someone had walked into the kitchen by the sound of their feet padding against the tile. "Are you okay?" someone asked. Looking up slowly, I saw CariDee.
"I'm fine," I mumbled.
"Are you sure?" she asked, coming closer to me. "You look a little bit…off." I sighed and shook my head.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I just have a headache," I said, moving from the counter. "Thanks, though," I said, walking away. I walked right out of the kitchen and into Edward with an 'oof'. Tingles of pain shattered through my head.
Edward's hands reached out and caught my face. "Sorry," he whispered. Ignoring the flashing headache, I grabbed his head and pulled him outside.
"Edward," I started. He held up his hand to silence me. I had never really seen him in broad daylight. He was even more gorgeous than at night. With the sun shining off of his skin, his vibrant green eyes shone, making every other facial feature stand out. Edward grabbed my hand and led me down the path we had taken together not too long ago. When we were at a safe enough distance, he asked,
"Are you alright?" When I looked up at him, she sun shined in my eyes, making me immediately wince and look down.
"Mmhm," I said. "Fine. Are you?"
"I'm great," he said, though his face was scrunched in confusion. "However, I don't buy what you just said for one second." I glanced up at him, shocked at his boldness.
"What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly out of breath.
"It's written all over your face," he said simply. "And, your eyes looked much different the first time I saw you." He noticed my eyes?
"How so?" I challenged.
"The bruise on your forehead, tell me about it," he demanded in a gentle manner, completely sidestepping my question.
"It's not really a bruise anymore, more like a lump," I argued.
"Bella, that doesn't matter. Just tell me the truth." His eyes were pleading, almost like he had pieced this theory together in his head and needed one fact to prove it. I sighed and looked down.
"I fell and hit my head on the banister," my voice was quiet. He stopped walking.
"And you couldn't tell me that in the first place because…"
"Because no one is supposed to know that I'm just about the clumsiest person that can be found within a three-hundred mile radius, that's why," I snapped, immediately regretting it. My headache roared.
"Honestly, Bella, that's childish." His facial expression was almost terrifying. Not even my mother had looked this concerned. Ever.
"God, what is with you? Where did all of this-this- jerky interrogation crap come from?" I asked, shocked. In my mind, that wasn't childish in the least; this would have been yet another thing the girls could use against me. Edward started to walk slowly.
"The judges were talking about you," he said. My face drained.
"Really?" I squeaked.
"Not anything bad, trust me. Jay is concerned about your head. And it all makes sense now. Did it ever occur to you that you might have a concussion?" He asked, his tone a little less menacing.
"I don't have a concussion! What, are you and Jay ganging up on me about this?" I almost shouted. "It's a bruise, Edward, nothing more." He stopped again and turned to face me. Placing both hands on my face, he looked into he eyes. Seconds later, he let me go and shook his head.
"If that's not a concussion, then please, explain to me why your eyes look the way they do, and why you seem to have trouble walking straight. Please, enlighten me."
"Do you even know what you're talking about?" I spluttered, reeling from the feeling of is hands on my face for the second time today. "Just because your dad's a doctor doesn't give you all of the facts in the world."
"That's just it," he insisted. "My father is a doctor Bella, in my twenty two years of life I must have picked something up from him. All of those years of the endless study sessions and conventions, I had to have learned something. You aren't okay." I finally gave up.
"So what!?" I shrieked. "It's not like it matters anyway, I've been fine these last couple of days, it hasn't prevented me from doing a shoot or breathing, so I'm pretty sure I'll survive."
"Do you know what could happen if you just ignore this?" He asked, his eyes penetrating.
"Uh, I get better faster?" I shot at him.
"No. It's called brain damage. Amnesia. Seizures. Even a coma, Bella. You can't just forget about this." He truly sounded like Charlie might have.
"Even if I do have a concussion, I can't get this taken care of—you saw what happened to Monique. She got sick, ended up in the hospital, and went home! I don't want to go home just yet."
"And I don't want you to go home either. But I also don't want you get even more hurt by just acting like it's not there! Especially now with the challenges you're doing today. Can you honestly tell me that you don't care?" I looked down, not willing to meet his eyes.
"Then please, at least take it easy," he begged. "For me." I huffed and walked forward a few steps, expecting him to follow me.
"Fine." I said, and continued walking. We walked in silence until I broke in. "I should go back."
When I stopped, Edward was staring at me. He stepped forward slowly and I felt his arms wrap about my torso, pulling me into him. After resting my face lightly against his shoulder, I looked up at him, and before I knew what was happening, before I knew what I doing, my lips had brushed softly against his.
My breath hitched in my throat and I was sure my face was beet red. I had just made a huge mistake.
That was what I thought until I felt his lips press against mine, harder than I had myself. If felt like there was wing blowing all around us, and goose bumps rose on my arms and legs. I wrapped my arms around his neck, hoping that I would never have to let go of him.
Sadly, all good things much come to an end. And it did, when he brought his lips up to my ear and whispered, "It matters because I care about you, and only you. A lot."
I looked up at him, eyes wide and afraid. What did that mean?
He carefully walked me back home. "And for the love of God Bella, take it easy," he said before leaving. I felt like I was walking on a cloud when I got in. Before getting ready to leave, I walked over to the cabinet and grabbed some more advil.
In the van, I sat next to Brooke with an incredible smile plastered onto my face. My pounding headache didn't even matter now.
"What's with you?" Brooke asked happily. "Why are you so…smiley?" I wracked my brain for an answer—no one could know the truth.
"It's a nice day out, that's all," I said. She nodded in agreement and put her head on my shoulder.
"I miss Texas," she mumbled. "Some days, I just wanna go home. I mean, I'm still in High School, so this is hard, know what I mean?" Momentarily, I thought of when we first met and how she pretty much got drunk and just about partied naked.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't really like the smog," I joked. She laughed and her eyes regained their twinkle. When we arrived, we piled out the van and into a giant building. In front of us, a man began posing in…very painful looking positions.
"Hello Ladies!" A woman called out. Apparently, she was a judge for Canada's Next Top Model. And the man in front of us was an extreme model. He posed in positions that gave me the chills, and we were supposed to learn how to do them.
After changing into incredibly embarrassing spandex and leotards, I found an empty yoga mat and laid down. Edward's warning echoed in my mind. He knew we were going to do this, and just as he had warned, the painful throbbing came back as soon as the instructor told me to fit my leg over my head.
After maybe fifteen minutes of ridiculous pulling and tugging of my limbs, I was about ready to quite. Thankfully, we were 'dismissed' and I crumpled into a chair.
"Oh my god," I moaned. "I was not made to do anything along those lines." A few other girls agreed with me. Anchal sat there quietly—she had done better than most of us.
Back at home, I grabbed a water bottle and crawled into bed. Just as I was about to fall asleep, Brooke pounced. "What happened to your good mood?"
"Stretching, yoga, and extreme poses, that's what happened," I mumbled into my pillow. She laughed and left the room.
Early the next morning, I woke up once again to a pounding headache. With a sigh, I forced myself out of bed and into a scalding shower. My muscles burned with every step I took. When I got out, a few other girls were up, but no one was in a bad mood.
Since Monique had left, the house had been a relatively peaceful place. No one really fought—with the exception of the 'you're competition' mental blocks that we all had.
In all of our minds, I'm sure we all were wondering, "why the hell did we just do that?"
It became clear when we were called to our challenge. Normally, I would be incredibly nervous to model famous designers clothes with so little experience. Add on modeling with the extreme poses we just learned, and you could set me up an appointment with the coroner's office. Now.
While the designer stood in front of us, I couldn't really register her words. They didn't make sense in my head. She began gesturing toward a glass case filled with jewelry. And then we were shuffled into a back room where hair and makeup artists ran around like crazy people.
This was our challenge: while standing on pedestals, we had to do some wacked up pose and somehow manage to look happy and show off the clothes. I failed miserably.
To be honest, I played it as safe as possible. Every time the little timer would go off, I would simply twist my body in the opposite direction and point my toes. In the end, Eugenia walked out being the winner, with 30,000 dollars worth of jewelry. Before we headed into the van, someone whispered, "rich bitch," and I couldn't help but snort.
On the way home, my mind flicked back and forth over Edward. His face, his lips, his touch. Everything about him. Even his hostile glare when he insisted on my concussion. The unbelievable part for me was that I told him I loved him. And I meant it.
At home, I curled up on my bed, trying to ignore my pounding headache—doing as I was told and taking it easy. I longed to be able to see Edward, but at the same time, I was afraid to. Would things be different now? Unconsciously, I started to think of the strange letter that I found.
Was it from him? I hope to God it was. Was there really some creepy stalker or was Edward just looking out for me? Leaning over, I dug through my bag until I found it and examined the handwriting.
It was elegant, unlike any writing I had even seen in my life. Of course, any writing out there was better than my chicken scratch. The writing was mesmerizing. Just like his face…
My eyelids began to flutter and I found that I was quickly falling asleep Today had really worn me out. The next thing I knew, Brooke was shaking me awake—again.
"Come on," she whispered. "We got Tyra Mail last night, but you were asleep. We have to go at 7:30." I looked over at my clock: 6:47.
"Oh, thanks," I mumbled, allowing her to pull me out of bed. "I don't remember what happened."
"You passed out, that's all I know," she laughed and began to get dressed. I pulled together an outfit and crashed on the sofa until the others woke up and began to run out the door. Little did we know that the drive would be two hours.
After two agonizing hours in a crappy van, we ended up in the desert on the site for a photo shoot. The area was set up with trailers and weird looking contraptions like cages and platforms. "What on earth are we doing?" Brooke whispered at me. I shrugged and we walked in a clump to an opening. Jay popped out of nowhere, eyeing me especially.
"Hello ladies! Did you enjoy the car ride?" His voice was laced with sarcasm. We all nodded and then groaned. He laughed and held up a small note card. "Today, we are going to be modeling, and giving justice to all of the circus freaks out there!" My eyes snapped open. Circus freaks?
Jay cast me as an old face with a young body. After being ushered into hair and makeup, I came out looking horrific. They sprayed oils and sparkles all over my legs and stomach, but my face was something else.
The actually pasted fake wrinkles onto my face and painted on the most hideous green eye shadow I've ever seen in my life. In truth, I had seen a lot of make up—Alice had once aspired to be a make up artist. Thank god it passed.
Jay seemed to like my shoot. I felt old being up there, but the mediocre comments about my lovely make up made me pull it off. I only used a few slides before Jay kicked me off of the stage. As soon as I walked out, I had to choke back laughter.
Meg had a beard. A real, full-blown, hairy beard. And the sad thing was she pulled it off. She laughed with me and pranced around saying, "I'm a hairy man!" A few minutes after that, she found an artist and starting pulling at it. "Seriously, I really want to take this off."
Everyone was euphoric on the way home, even though it was almost seven and incredibly hot outside. In a way, it felt like home, but it wasn't home. "I can't believe they painted abs on you! That's hilarious!" AJ and Jaeda joked in the car.
"Oh yeah? They made you the cannibal! You had to pose with raw, bloody meat! That's gross!" She laughed. Everyone in the car laughed about their roles.
"And Bella, man, your face looked like an ass, I'm not even joking," Amanda said. I burst out laughing, regretting it instantly. The advil I took was wearing off.
"Well, thanks," I weezed. "You two make great Siamese twins. Might I suggest it for a Halloween Costume?"
After we had been home for a while, Tyra suddenly appeared. Everyone was excited about it—I for one was terrified. I wasn't exactly sure if having a personal connection with any judge was allowed or not. If I screwed this up, Edward's whole career was down the drain.
Our meeting with Tyra turned into a giant therapy session. "So, is everything going alright with you girls? Any problems?"
We all said no, but Anchal on the other hand shrank into herself in the corner.
"Anchal?" Tyra asked. When she looked up, she had tears in her eyes.
"I-I overheard—I have some problems with my body. It's my hardest obstacle to overcome. E-ever since I was a little kid, I was always made fun of. I was never pretty and because of it, I can't see myself as beautiful or pretty. I over—'' she had to stop to breath.
One of the girls tried to interrupt, but Tyra stopped her. "Let her talk," she said gently.
"I overheard some of the girls talking in the Jacuzzi. And it just really hurt me. It brought me down a lot," she finally got out. Realization hit my senses. The other night, a bunch of girls got together in the Jacuzzi and had a giant gossip circle. That was night I got the note. Had I known they were talking about her…
When Tyra left, I had a hard time looking at Anchal. What if she thought I was part of it? I know I wasn't, but looks may be deceiving. I found her sitting along on the couch.
"Hey," I said quietly. She looked up at me and smiled.
"Hi Bella," she said, and then put her head on my shoulder. I tried my best not to react.
"I just want you to know, I'm really sorry about what happened. Through my eyes, you're beautiful." I felt the side of her face lift into a smile.
"Thanks, that means a lot." As soon as I said it, my chest felt much lighter. I sat with her for a little while, and she ended up venting about everything that was on her mind. It didn't bother me, if it made her happy, I would listen.
The next night, we all took the time to get dressed up. Brooke helped me curl my hair. It didn't have as much 'oomf' and I wanted it to have, but it looked nice. I ended up doing her make up for her.
She gasped at my giant mirror. "How on earth did you fit that in there?" she asked. As I fixed her make up, I explained to her about Alice. "I wanna meet her!" she laughed.
"Maybe," I said. She looked down at the mirror and smiled.
"Ooh, I like this! Can I hire you?" she joked.
"Nah, I'll do it for free," I said. She hugged me and moved onto finding a pretty outfit to wear. Fixing my make up was much more difficult this time. I didn't even like wearing the stuff, but Edward didn't need to see my splotchiness tonight.
"I think you should wear a dress tonight!" Brooke called from the other side of the room. "You wear jeans too much." I sighed and dug through my bag, knowing that Alice would have packed a dress and leggings—she was always trying to get to wear them.
I found a white dress and pulled on some black leggings. "Happy?" I called back to Brooke, standing up. She squealed and laughed. The others looked at us like we were crazy.
As we walked to the judging room, I locked eyes with Edward, trying my best to keep a straight face. Once we lined up, the judging began.
EPOV
They walked into the room and my eyes desperately searched for Bella. They zoned in as soon as I spotted her face. Everything about her was radiating—almost like a halo of light that surrounded her features. I couldn't stop thinking about kissing her. It had been that way all day.
Judging was difficult. When Bella walked forward, I had to restrain myself from saying the things that I truly wanted to say. I wasn't prepared for her to be a young body with an old face.
"Theirs is something disturbing about this photograph, and yet, I'm in love with it," was the only thing I could say. When I looked up, a blush had found it's way to her cheeks.
The decision was easier on my nervous system—Bella definitely wasn't going home.
When they came back into the room, Tyra routinely called them all out, until it was left between Jaeda and Meg. When if became clear that Meg was leaving, most of the girls started crying, including Bella. My chest twinged painfully as I saw the tears stream down her face. It was a sight that I never hoped, in all of my existence, to ever see again.
I am completely sorry for the long wait! Seriously, you guys can mentally smack me if you want. But, on the bright side, this is a longer chapter than usual :) So please, if you must scream at me virtually, don't get too nasty.
And to Vampireme, kudos to you :) I haven't forgotten...though if you have, that's totally okay, I wouldn't be surprised--I've been gone a while, haven't I?