I finally got around to updating! In my opinion, this is one of my favorite chapters. There is a lot going on. I hope you enjoy it! Remember to Read and Review!

COLD MOON

Chapter 10 : The Autumn Ball

As the week went by, dance posters began to surface on the walls of the school. The posters boasted of a fun time at an autumn ball. Since the school board didn't want to offend anyone, and some families had problems with the word Halloween in past years, the name was Autumn, not Halloween, but the students were allowed to dress up. Alice had gushed over Renesmee's non wolf date, and began immediately searching for cute costumes for the family.
"The problem with a costume ball is," Alice began, as she drug Edward and me down the aisles at a costume store. " Is that with couples, the girl's outfit may look perfect, but the guy's outfit looks wrong." She had taken every couple to at least three malls, before picking out their outfits. Edward and I were the last to find ours. Alice was starting to worry. The dance was Saturday. Edward was the one that was holding up the line. I would say that I liked an outfit and Edward would turn it down. Edward insisted that we go as something sophisticated. He went as a vampire last year. It was Renesmee's idea. He will do anything his little girl wants. She had us all dress up as vampires from the classic lore. Jacob and the pack had laughed about it for days. The venom in our mouth kept eating at the glue that was used to hold our fake fangs in. We were pretty pathetic looking vampires. This year, Edward wanted to be something classical. Alice held up an outfit and Edward smiled.
"That's perfect!"

~*~

"Are you serious, Angela?" I had whispered, after the class was dismissed for lunch. Angela and I were the only ones left in the room.
"It's classic British literature, Bella, and one of the required readings. DESE insists that I teach it in 10th grade, and Halloween is the best time to have you read it."
"Dracula? Could you get a more stereotypical book?" Angela couldn't hold back her laughter.
"This is nothing personal. As a matter of fact, a few ladies in my council gave Stoker the idea for the book. It was to keep the masses confused about what a vampire looks like and how to kill them. There will be no way that anyone could connect Dracula with….anything." Angela paused and looked around the classroom. Even though everyone was at lunch, she didn't want anyone to know about her secret or the Cullen's secret. I didn't have to look up, I could hear heartbeats and shuffling feet. There was no one near us. "You have to be able to laugh it off, Bella. Look at me." She motioned to herself with a smile. "Alice and I went and picked out my outfit, and I'm going as a witch. It's okay to poke fun of the stereotypical stuff." I smiled. I understood what she meant.
"I know, it's just I don't want Renesmee to start critiquing, or thinking that she's a monster. I'm just a concerned parent. That's all." Angela sighed.
"I thought it would be quite a few more years before I had friends old enough to be my students' parents. I'm getting old." She chuckled. I made a face at her. "I'll talk with Renesmee after class Monday, I'll make sure she doesn't get the wrong idea."
"Thank you. Now you should go get something to eat. You can't go as long as I can without eating." I followed Angela out of her room and we parted. She was walking to the teacher's lounge and I was walking toward the cafeteria.
In the cafeteria, Renesmee was talking, animatedly with Alice and Rosalie about the game tonight. Alice had confirmed that there was going to be cloud coverage, and that the family would be able to attend Renesmee's first big cheer. She had small games, where she would go and cheer, but for this game, she was in the middle. Her acrobatic skills had surpassed the other girls, and she was put in center stage. She was still Junior Varsity, but her flips were more impressive than the varsity cheerleaders.
"I decided to meet Mike at the dance." Renesmee stated.
"Why? We wanted to play with him." Emmet smiled. Ever since Renesmee had told us that Mike was going to be her escort to the dance, Emmet had been planning on scaring him away.
"That's one of the reasons, Uncle Emmet." She laughed. " But he's been asking some weird questions, and saying mean things about Edward." Edward looked up. I could tell he was reading her thoughts.
"He thinks I'm arrogant and nosey?" Edward glared. Rosalie laughed.
"He got one right." She smiled at Edward.
"He thinks the rest of the family is really weird. I just don't want to give him any more bait." She looked at us anxiously, waiting for us to disapprove.
"That's all right, hunny. You can go with him to the dance though." I added.
"No, he wants to go eat dinner with his friends. I don't think I should go." I smiled, last time we took Renesmee to a restaurant, was Charlie's wedding. We went to his favorite diner, and he told us to all order steak. He, of course, meant everyone except the Cullens. Renesmee ordered a steak, and told the guy that it wasn't rare enough for her. He had practically given it to her moo-ing. We had to cut the dinner short.
"We understand." Renesmee started prattling about her classes when she stopped, smelled the air and wrinkled up her nose.
"What's that smell?" She asked, disgusted. I sampled the air. I could smell an odor that was worse than the wet dog smell, Jacob sometimes had. It was like pesticides and urine. Jasper's eyes narrowed on a boy not far from our table. He was laughing and carrying on. Everything seemed funny to him. He was also shaking.
"Meth." Jasper whispered, coldly. The boy sat down near Mike Ogdon and the others. " I remember this from the time we spent in that small town in Missouri. One boy came in reeking of the stuff, then before we knew it, the whole school smelled of it." I looked from Jasper to Edward.
"Why does it make them smell so bad?" I had taken health before, but I never noticed anyone that could be on drugs. It always seemed to happen at other schools, not ours.
"Meth is a combination of chemicals that is either snorted or smoked." Edward sounded like he was reading from a book. " It mixes in their blood stream. It causes their blood to smell noxious. No vampire would attack him unless they were desperate, or provoked."
"But it makes them crazy. They hallucinate and get paranoid. It also turns the users into real monsters." Jasper replied as he continued to warily watch the boy. We watched the boy laugh with Mike and his crew. Carol and a few of the cheerleaders joined the boys at the table. Carol's hand had mostly recovered from the sprain, but she insisted on the brace. I guess if she keeps it on, she still has an excuse to not cheer. She doesn't have to admit that she was kicked off of the squad. She started chatting with the guys, wishing them luck at the game. She then made an excuse for not going to the game. Mike stood up and looked at our table.
"Here he comes." Edward whispered. And sure enough, Mike walked over to our table. He stared at Edward as he approached. When he was close enough to touch me, he broke Edward's stare and looked at Renesmee.
"Renesmee? H-have you picked out a costume yet?" He seemed so confidant, until Jasper filtered a bit of fear through the air.
"Yes, I have." She replied, he looked a little dejected.
"Oh, I need an idea. What are you going as?" He sat down at the table next to ours and faced his body toward Renesmee. Alice tried to start a conversation so it wouldn't be too obvious that their conversation was center attention.
"I'm going as Little Red Riding Hood. A friend of mine is coming down from La Push next week, and we're going trick or treating together as a wolf and Little Red Riding Hood." Edward let out a small breath. Jacob was still considered a friend. That must have been a huge relief for him.
"I don't think I'll go as a wolf, but I could go as a werewolf." He suggested. " I kind of want to go as something scary."
"Go as yourself, dude." Emmet mocked. I tried not to laugh, but a small snicker escaped. Mike looked slightly embarrassed.
"My offer still stands, I could pick you up at your house and you could go to dinner with us." He was trying not to look at any of us, except Renesmee.
"No, I think my dad wants to drop me off." She had that right. Edward was going to be watching her carefully.
"Well, I'll see you there." He smiled at her and walked back to his table.

The game was a hit. Renesmee did a flawless performance. The Johnsons sat near us and cheered on Renesmee also. The Johnsons are the family that moved in around the same time as us. Their boys are 3 and 4 years old. They sat though the football game and cheered. Mrs. Johnson had befriended Esme right off. Esme had even planned a trip to the next town with her. Mrs. Johnson was her first non Cullen friend in a long time.
"Stephanie and I have a lot in common." She had told us. "Mrs. Ogdon drives us both crazy, and she is a master at decorating a house." Ever since the book club, Esme had taken to helping Stephanie Johnson with her boys and giving advice where she could. Mr. Johnson was usually away at work or filling out applications so that they could move somewhere more pleasant, with less cloud coverage. Renesmee had joined us after the game. The Marks High marauders lost to the St. Falls Bulldogs 18-2. Not their best game. But everyone was still in high spirits. Renesmee was ecstatic.
"Our Coach told me that I could take cheerleading and get a scholarship to any college I wanted!" She bounced. "She also mentioned the Olympics!" Her high flips onto the top of the pyramid, without someone to help lift her up was a bit over the top. We'll have to have her tone it down, just a little.

Saturday was the big day. We were getting dressed, or should I say, Alice was getting us dressed. She would pull Rosalie, Renesmee and myself into her salon type room and attack us with make up. Carlisle had studied the mysterious concoction that Renesmee and Esme accidently made. He concluded that the Super glue fumes and the Ben Nye powder were the main ingredients that worked. We added in the extra bottle of medicine from the bottle, just in case. Just as Alice thought, it could be used as an airbrushing system. Due to the fumes, Renesmee wasn't going to receive the airbrushing. But the rest of us were, just in case. The dance started about the same time as sunset, but we didn't want to chance getting hit with the reflective light.
"That's why I always use Ben Nye make up!" Alice smiled, almost like a spokeswoman, "the powder is thicker and it sticks more. Soon everyone, except Renesmee, was covered in a thin layer of the desparkler, or Glitz-be-gone, as Alice started calling it. Rosalie came down, wearing short shorts and a long sleeved pin striped jacket. She put on her hat and took a Charlie's angels pose on the stairs. Emmet came down behind her, wearing a matching pin striped jacket. They were going as 1920's gangsters. Rosalie looked like one of the girls from a pin up poster, only prettier. Her face was pale her lips were a bright red, and her hair was in a tight curl, that perfectly framed her face. I grabbed Renesmee's camera off of the coffee table and began to take a picture.
"We're just sexy like that." Emmet laughed. Rosalie looked up, annoyed.
"Way to ruin a pose, Emmet."
"Bella! Your turn!" Alice called. I walked slowly up the stairs. I was traveling slow, even for a human pace. I walked into Alice's salon room and took in her costume. She was wearing a blue bow in her hair. She had on a short dress. The color was blue with a frilly crinoline skirt underneath. The white apron she was wearing had a spade, heart, Diamond and club. The top part of her dress was short sleeved and low cut. By herself, I probably would be able to guess what she was going as, eventually. But just then, Jasper popped in the room, and Alice adjusted his green hat. In his hat, he had two cards sticking out. His outfit was green, and fit him like a glove, his blonde hair was disheveled. They made a perfect pair. Alice in Wonderland, and her mad hatter. Alice's spiky hair bounced as she bounded up next to me.
"I'm going to do a simple up do, and put in a gold tiara. You'll wear gloves and semi high heels. I nodded, and Alice set to work. Edward walked in wearing a navy blue suit, with gold inlays to match my golden dress. He wore a white ruffled dress shirt underneath. He was a perfect beast. He refused to wear the hair that came with the costume. He said it made him look like Jacob, and he refused to be a furry mongrel. Alice had just finished putting me in my golden dress. The dress had skinny sleeves and was low cut in the front and back. It was a classic ball gown. It was exactly like the Disney version. Alice had found Edward's idea, appealing, but didn't like the mall costumes, so she went and 'borrowed' the Seattle Theater's version.
"Momma! I'm ready." Renesmee skipped in, wearing a fairly short skirt and classic Little Red Riding Hood outfit. She had white legging's covering most of her legs and her little red velour cape came down to her knees. She looked adorable.
"You look like a Gothic little red riding hood." Edward replied
"Just like the Grim brother's intended." Alice shot back.
"You look adorable, Renesmee." I gushed. She smiled.
"Does the skirt have to be that short?" Edward stared at her short skirt, made shorter by the frilly crinoline skirt underneath. The white lace was showing.
"It's longer than mine." Alice reminded him.
"You're not my daughter, about to go on a date with Mike." Edward retorted. "At least Jacob has enough common sense to be afraid of me." Renesmee sighed.
"If Jacob were allowed to go to the dance, I would have gone with him." Jacob living farther away must have been hard on Renesmee. It didn't help that he looked older. If Jacob doesn't have the ID we gave him, saying that he is seventeen, he could get picked up as a child molester. Renesmee looked uncomfortable.
"Can we go now?" She asked impatiently.
"Okay, we're coming." I stood up and walked downstairs behind Renesmee, who was swinging her little wicker basket around.
We arrived at the dance. First Alice and Jasper, then Edward, Renesmee and me, then Rosalie and Emmet. Since Rosalie and Emmet didn't have a mind reader or a soothsayer in the car, they weren't able to slow down in time to avoid the police man hiding behind the sign, patrolling for speeding or drunk high schoolers. Luckily, it was a male cop and Rosalie acted very sorry.
"Thanks for the warning you two." Rosalie growled at Edward and Alice.
"I would be proud, Rosalie." I came to Edward's defense. "It's not everyday, you get just a warning, when you're going 60 over the speed limit. My dad would have had you in handcuffs." Rosalie made a face.
"You're dad would have smiled and nodded and gave me a warning, just like every other police man." She had a point. Dad even admitted that he pulled Rosalie over once and she looked so sad, he gave her a warning. We walked into the gym and noticed that we were one of the early ones. Most of the other students went to dinner. I noticed Angela standing near the wall observing the few students that were on the floor. I walked over to her, and Edward followed. The beat of the techno music was blaring off of the empty walls.
"All looks well."I called as I waved to her. She smiled and waved back.
"So far, so good." I noticed her outfit. She was wearing a Grey sweater top with a white button up underneath. She had on a yellow and maroon tie beneath the sweater top and a grey skirt, and she was wearing a black cloak.
"You went as a witch from Harry Potter?" I asked incredulously. She smiled sheepishly.
"I told you I was going as a witch." Her hair was down and crimpy. She had styled herself to look like Hermoine from the Harry Potter series.
"It looks nice, Angela." Edward nodded in approval. Angela blushed.
"Thank you, Edward." I looked up and noticed that a few more people were filing in. Renesmee was starting to mingle with her friends from the cheerleading team. No Mike yet. The gym was getting filled fast. People were coming in dressed as witches, and monsters. A few girls were told to go home and change out of their Playboy bunnyesque costumes. Angela was the only female chaperone so far, so she was assigned to send the girls home.
"Uh-oh." Alice muttered next to me. She was looking at the door of the gym. I turned to ask her what she meant when they walked in. Mike and his friends, along with their dates stumbled into the gym. They were laughing and pushing each other in. The smell of meth followed them in. The boy was standing their with a girl in a black wig. Carol's eyes met mine and she smiled. Her date had his brown hair gelled and a bit of color had been sprayed on. As the group approached us, I noticed that our family had formed a semi circle with Edward and I on either side of Renesmee, who was the center. Mike stepped forward. He opened his mouth to speak, then he smiled and spit out his plastic white fangs.
"Good evening." He said in a fake Transylvanian accent. " I figured since I was joining the Cullens tonight, I would dress the part, then my friends joined me." He spread his arms out, flaring his cape. The red silky side shimmered. His outfit was an ugly old black pants and shirt. His face was grayed, but only around the face. His neck, hands and ears were still uncolored. His eyes were blacked all around. It looked as if he had two black eyes, and his hair was in the traditional Dracula slicked back fashion. His friends were dressed close to the same. One girl had a short black wig on. Along with the wig, she was wearing a choker. She must have been playing the part of Alice. The wig was a cheap, short, under styled wig. And the boy with her had long blonde hair and was shaking. Carol had her hair in waves. Brown waves. She was clinging onto the boy with the sprayed hair. His hair was styled just like Edward's. The guy imitating Emmet looked nothing like him, and the girl playing Rosalie has on a fake bright blonde wig. Her clothes were cut off making the skirt really short and the shirt looked more like a bra.
"I say we go outside and each kill our imitators." Rosalie muttered, too quietly for the fakes to hear.
"Why would you make fun of us like that?" Renesmee asked, a mixture of outrage, shock and hurt showing in her voice.
"We're not making fun of you Renesmee, you're different." I could tell by the way Renesmee recoiled as if she had be hit, that Mike chose the wrong words.
"No I'm not! I'm just like my family!" She shot back at him. Mike started to laugh.
"No, They're freaks. You have potential. You're not like them." He insisted. The shaking boy let out a giggle and shouted.
"The Cullens are vampires!" The crowd around us laughed, timidly. Mike laughed as if it was the funniest thing ever said.
"See Renesmee? You're not a vampire like them." He chuckled again. In an instant, Alice and Edward's heads shot up. Alice had a vision and Edward could read it.
"No Renesmee!" They shouted, but it was too late.
"I'll show you vampire!" She growled as she lunged for Mike's throat.

I'm working on the next chapter now! Remember I love Reviews! Thanks

Oh on a side note. I'm working on TWO different versions of the next chapter. I want your opinion. Should Renesmee Bite Mike? What do you think!?