Okay, so this is the longest chapter yet! (3 and half on microsoft word!)
Uh...
Yeah.
A huge amount of thanks to all you people who reviewed, 'cause you're awesome!!!
and an even huger thanks to Mrs-H-Jacob-Black, who wrote a LOOOONGGG review, which I completely loved!!!!
Okay, guys, on to the story!
Have fun reading!
Claire POV
In the past 24 hours, various things had happened, the most major being Quil kissing me.
He.
Kissed.
ME!!!!!
I was so ecstatic at this turn of events that I had spent the last 12 hours floating on cloud nine.
Now, that I finally calmed down to analyze things, I realized that this didn't make sense. Quil didn't love me that way, did he? He couldn't! Why would he, anyway? He had even admitted it, right? He had said that he didn't love me that way! Hadn't he? But then why would he kiss me?
I let out a sigh of frustration. Men were SO hard to understand!!!
I let my gaze drift to the window, and felt the sun warm my face. Today was my birthday! I was pretty excited; my older sister, Nancy, was going to be arriving from Hawaii today to celebrate! My mom couldn't make it in time, but I didn't really mind. She was less of a parent and more of a friend for me; she hadn't been to one of my birthdays since I was seven. My father couldn't make it, of course, because he had passed away when I was just a small child. I didn't know him that well, so it didn't really matter. I guess my direct family was pretty nonexistent, but the La Push gang more than made up for my family!
Suddenly, I heard a car pull in to the driveway. As I watched from my window seat, a brown-haired girl popped out of the car. She was clad in an orange halter top, and denim shorts. Her eyes were covered by thick sunglasses, but I knew who it was the second I saw her.
I sprinted out of my bedroom, and down the stairs, and flung open the door to see her standing on the doormat in orange flip-flops. I threw myself into her arms and hugged her tightly. She pulled back after a second, and held me at an arms-length to examine me.
"Nancy Alice Uley, where have you been?" I asked her with a stern look on my face, which quickly dissolved back into a smile.
She grinned back, revealing a row of pearly whites, but then her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to explain herself.
"I'm so sorry I'm late! The plane was delayed, and by the time I got my rental car place, they were closed, and then I had to call a taxi and by then it was already—"
I cut her off. "I was kidding! It's been so long; how are you? You're so tan! How was Hawaii?"
Her skin was a gorgeous color, unlike my pale skin. My sister and I had inherited our skin from our dad, who was Caucasian.
"I'm great! Hawaii was terrific! I stayed with Rebecca and we had a great time. You look fabulous as usual! What are you going to wear to your party? You better have something nice in your closet!"
With that, she rushed upstairs, leaving me at the entrance of the house. I saw the bewildered cabbie outside, holding one of her suitcases in each hand. I gave him a tip and asked him to bring them in, and then followed my sister's lead, up to my bedroom.
When I got there, she was looking at my closet with a completely terrified expression on her face. Here left eye was twitching, and she looked utterly disgusted.
"O-oh-ohhhh-OHHHMIIIGAAAWDDD!!!!" she shrieked.
"What?" I asked her, bewildered.
She turned on me, fuming.
"I leave you alone for six months while I'm in Hawaii, and THIS is what happens to your closet? THIS?!?"
I slowly backed away from her, hoping to avoid what I knew was coming.
"This, Claire Amy Uley, is DESPICABLE, with a capital D!!!! I thought that you promised to take good care of your wardrobe, but look at this! No skirts, no dresses, just jeans and shirts, and T-shirts at that! I can't believe you would do this to me!"
She paused to take a breath. "You are SO lucky to have a sister like me, because if you didn't you might end up wearing sweatpants to this party!"
Nancy darted out of my room, and returned a few moments later with a large suitcase.
"I thought something like this would happen, so I bought you a few things from Hawaii. There are a few things that you could wear to your party in there..."
She unzipped the suitcase, and inside, there was a collage of beautiful colors. It was like a rainbow of clothing!
I stared at the clothes, feeling frightened. Knowing my sister, the clothes would reveal a bit more of me than I had preferred...
She pulled out a few bits of fabric, thrust them into my hands, and pushed me into the bathroom.
I pulled one out of the pile. It was a dress that would probably reach my knees when worn, and was black and white. It was a halter, with black trim, and had designs that reminded me of a peacock's feathers on it, and was quite pretty. I shed my clothing, and pulled it on. I stared into the mirror that covered the entire back of the door, and smiled. It actually looked nice on me, snugly hugging my hips and my small waist. Much to my amazement, I liked it!
Nancy began banging on the door.
"Lemme see! Come on, open the door! OPEN THE DOOR!"
I smiled and opened the door, and she studied me for a moment.
"It looks good, sis! I have a great idea for what I would do with your hair...go try on the other ones!"
I sighed, and closed the door. It was good to have Nancy back, though she could occasionally be a pain. I knew she was just trying to help, though, so I just continued to do as she ordered. When it came to fashion, she was nothing short of a genius!
I pulled the dress off carefully, and selected another piece of fabric from the pile. This was a turquoise colored dress, a slightly lighter color than my eyes. It reached just above my knees, and fell very nicely. It was simple, with twisted straps, and a V-neck that plunged further than most things I wore, but I had to admit—it looked gorgeous on me, bringing out my petite figure. I had to hand it to Nancy; she had picked terrific clothes out for me!
I opened the bathroom door again, and revealed the dress to Nancy. She grinned from ear to ear, and handed me two unidentifiable objects. I took them, and realized that they were swimsuits. I must have looked just as confused as I felt, because she explained the reason that I needed a swimsuit.
"First of all, we're going down to the beach for the party, right? Secondly, we wouldn't want you wading in the water wearing that new dress! Thirdly, it's going to look gorgeous on you! So you ARE going to wear this even if I have to tie you up and put it on you myself!"
Nancy could be very scary. Very, very scary! She closed the door, and I inspected the objects. At first my brain couldn't comprehend the reason that I needed two pieces to a swimsuit...then, I realized the full extent of the torture that Nancy was going to put me through.
It.
Was.
A.
BIKINI!!!
I shrieked, and dropped it onto the floor. The last time I had worn a bikini was when I was three...and it was then that I began to wear one-pieces. Who knew that if you ripped one strap on a bikini top, the whole thing would fall off? Obviously not me.
"Nancy, I am NOT wearing this!" I yelled.
She couldn't force me into this, no way!
"But Claire, Quil will LOVE this!" she replied. I could almost see her face, eyes wide, lip stuck out in a pout.
Okay, she had forced me into this.
I stepped out of the blue dress, and out of my undergarments. I pulled the bottom up and let it rest on my hips. It, along with its evil companion, had dots all over it in retro patterns. It fit snugly. I put the top on, and it clung to my body. I tied the multiple strings and adjusted it. It was actually pretty comfortable! I wouldn't risk a look in the mirror; if I did, chances were I'd be terrified.
I opened the door a crack, to see Nancy's dark brown eyes staring at mine.
She pushed the door open further.
I tried to cover the swimsuit, but she moved my hands aside.
"I do believe that we've done it!" she cried, bouncing up and down with joy.
She gave me a huge hug, and dragged me back to my room.
"So what makeup have you got here?" she asked me.
"Uh..." I stalled, trying to remember where I had put it all when she had left.
"You do have makeup, don't you?" she asked me.
"Uh..." I watched her as she went back to the suitcase, and yanked out a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. It was filled with what looked like medieval torture devices.
I backed away from her.
"What're you going to do to me?", I asked, fearing what awaited me.
She grinned, and brandished a tool.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt...that much!"
So? How'd you like it? I'm going to ask for at least 15 reviews for this chapter, 'cause it was extra long! CHapter one remains the chapter with the least reviews... (
But anyway, YOU GUYS ROCK!!!
Sorry to leave you with a bit of a cliffy...
Imagine Purple
P.S. I'll have the links to some of the stuff that Claire tries on in thias chapter up on my profile. Go there!