Author's Note: Short chapter, I know, but the next one should be the last and wrap everything up nicely. Just wanted to get this one up before too much time passed.
Alice's words fell on me like a ton of bricks that were so heavy their weight kept me paralyzed from shock. Although, I didn't know why I was stunned at all. After my trip out with Bella had exceeded every version of a bad date my closeted lesbian had warned me with, I shouldn't have been surprised by anything anymore, including the lesbian cat being out of the bag. The fact that Alice knew I wasn't of the sexual orientation I had led everyone else to believe, should have been expected. I mean, Edward had hinted at it while we were in the restaurant, so who knew how long he'd known. Since dickwad could read minds, I could only assume he was aware right from the start. How embarrassing my fake attraction to him looked to me now knowing he had seen through it all those years ago. Alice had probably always known too. In my imagination, I saw him mocking me with his family. "Hey everyone, guess what this lesbian chick is doing to fool everyone else. It's soooooo hilarious …"
My mind gave Edward a dudebro accent … you know, for good measure. I needed desperately to gift myself some form of comfort and replacing the smooth wordplay of a hundred year old vampire with a voice I felt suited his personality better, took away some of my mortification. Not enough though to keep me from placing my head in my hands and fantasizing about not being able to experience emotions anymore. It used to be such an easy thing to do when I had been actress Jess, but that was before I'd let myself fall for someone.
"Did you hear what I said?" Alice asked, suddenly cutting through my self-loathing, probably wondering why I had let a whole minute stretch between us with no response from me.
"Edward told you," I finally said from behind my fingers. "He told you I was gay, didn't he?"
Without missing a beat, Alice began talking again like everything was normal, which I guess, for her it was. Me … not so much. "No, you being gay is a fairly recent discovery on my part. You see back when Edward stopped that truck from hurting Bella in the school parking lot, it threw everyone in my family for a loop. Even I hadn't seen it coming. He'd tried to explain it away by saying he risked exposing us, because he loved her, but that wasn't so much of an explanation as it was another problem. To help and also understand his situation better, I tried to focus on Bella's future to see if there was even a chance for them. It would be pointless to cause so much drama for everyone if it turned out she was meant to live a normal non-vampire life. Which, of course, ended up being the case, because I saw her with you."
That's when I remembered the other part of what Alice had said, not just her knowing I was a lesbian, but also that she saw Bella and me together … that Bella was bisexual. I had been so hung up on someone else knowing my secret that I hadn't even registered the weirder portion that involved a glimpse into my future. "You can see what's going to happen?" I removed my hands from my face and stared at her.
Alice raised one hand off of the steering wheel as if admitting her guilt and said, "Yep, that's me. Edward's fortune telling sister." She showed off her perfect set of white teeth with a sheepish grin.
I rolled my eyes like a knee jerk reaction and unable to stop myself, I felt my fallback defense of sarcasm come pouring out of me. "Of course, you can. I bet Edward can too. What about your husband? Can Jasper fix my car and also know where it is, because he saw himself fixing it in the future?" My voice was flat, although that quickly transitioned into a loud cackle as my sanity began to slip away. This was all too much.
Alice pursed her lips, the first unfriendly expression I'd seen her give anyone since threatening her brother inside the restaurant. "Focus, Jess. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm counting on you to help me stop the snowball my idiot brother started rolling down the hill. We're allies remember? I don't want Edward forcing his affections on Bella any more than you do, but you're the only one that can show him that."
I stiffened under her sudden change in demeanor. She was a vampire after all. As friendly as Alice may have seemed, my driver could have easily ripped the skin away from throat with her teeth if she wanted to. "I'm sorry," I squeaked.
Alice shrugged to show she wasn't that angry with me, but when she talked again her tone was stern. "No one else in my family can see into the future, Jess. Only me. With that said, you need to know that the one I saw for you is beautiful, but also in jeopardy. The things I see aren't always so concrete. It's based on choices people make. Your future involving Bella isn't definite anymore, because of Edward's meddling. It's not that Bella is going to end up with Edward. I haven't seen that happening at all no matter what my brother tries, but there is one where Bella moves back with her mom to get away from him. If that happens the two of you won't get a chance to live the life I saw. It's up to you to fix this."
I swallowed loudly, trying to push down the lump in my throat. "What do I need to do?" I asked, a new sense of determination washing over me after she'd mentioned that I could stop Edward, although I wasn't sure how.
"You need to push past your fear of what others think and be true to yourself. I'm sorry if this doesn't feel like the right time and really only you can make the choice in the end, but Jess," Alice paused and turned her gold eyes away from the road for a fraction of a second to look at me. I thought I saw some sympathy in them. "You're going to have to come out of the closet."
"What?" My stomach jumped up into my throat and then plummeted back down with the force of a roller coaster falling. My friend didn't actually need to repeat anything she'd said. I had heard every word. Coming to terms with them though ... that was another story.
We were parked in my driveway now and after removing the keys from the ignition, Alice twisted her body in my direction. I gave her a confused look, but that was quickly replaced with one of surprise as I let out a whoosh of air, a result of Alice's sudden hug. The strength of her arms was almost unbearable, but before I could peep out a request for her to maybe let me keep my arms unbroken, Alice pulled away. I noticed her staring down at something in her hands and on closer inspection I saw the familiar shape and color of my phone.
"What are you-" I began, but Alice thrust the stolen device back in my hands before I could finish.
"There, now you can call me if you need any advice," she answered my incomplete question.
Alice then reached into her purse to retrieve her own phone and dialed a number. A few seconds later I heard the voice of Britney Spears as she began singing from between my fingers. Alice indicated that I should answer the call and I complied. "Hello?" I asked, feeling like an idiot.
"Hey, Jess. It's your best vampire friend. Do you like the ringtone I picked out for myself?" Alice giggled and then ended the call.
"You're really weird," I replied, unable to hold back my own laugh as I placed my phone back inside my purse.
Alice winked at me and then using a swift move that I assumed only a vampire could make, she opened her door to step outside.
"Where are you going?" I asked, exiting the vehicle too.
"Someone has to charm your parents with some vampire mojo, since you know, Jasper is working on your car," she replied. "I want to make sure you won't be getting into trouble for coming home sans vehicle. You've got a lot on your mind right now."
I filled my lungs with air and released my breath; a sigh of relief. "Thanks," I told Alice.
"Anytime, bestie!" she said, maneuvering her arm to link it with mine as we both walked in tandem towards my front door.