BPOV
Light in my room, did I forget to turn the lights off before going to bed?
Still sleepy I rolled over on my side pulling the blanket over my head. Perhaps I did leave the lights on, thinking about last night. All I could remember was the first hour of the movie, some blurry scenes and no ending. Just as my mind started dreaming away again, pulling me back in the warm comfy zone of sleep, something laughed. Wait something laughed?
Someone laughed... someone Alice! With a shriek a sat up and realised it wasn't the lights that were turned on, the curtains were open and the sun was shining through the window.
Sitting next to my bed was Alice. She was already dressed in a cute outfit, sleek denim jeans and a flowing top with a waterfall neckline, falling from one shoulder showing off her flawless skin. Her dark spiky hair was already styled perfect making me slump back and want to pull the blankets back over my head again.
"Bella, do you want breakfast? Or do you want to shower first? I picked out your outfit already and don't worry it's not showing a lot of skin and you can still wear jeans. Also I cleared everything with Charlie and we can have a girls day out also, it's sort of sunny today but I still would love to go the mall together." My crazy little friend was talking a mile a minute in her sing song voice, smiling and jumping in her seat. My poor desk chair that admittedly had seen better days was squeaking at every bounce she made in it.
Did I want to have breakfast?......With the blankets still pulled over my head I thought about eating breakfast. No I didn't really feel like having anything to eat.
Shower it is in that case. Sitting up I swung my legs out of bed, noticing they were bare. I was only wearing my T-shirt. With a frown I looked at my legs, did Alice notice the scars on them or was she too occupied with bouncing in my poor chair to notice? Quickly I got up and grabbed the clothes Alice had selected for me. As fast as I could in my drunken morning-mode I stumbled from my room, across the hall into the bathroom.
When I got to the bathroom I stopped in front of the mirror to look at myself. For the first time in weeks I didn't have bags under my eyes and dark circles due to lack of sleep. Perhaps old action romance movies were the trick to a good nights sleep? With a sigh I held up the clothes Alice had picked out for me.... inspecting them they didn't even seem vague familiar. "Alice!"
From outside of the bathroom I could hear her say something to Charlie and then the both of them laughing.
Not feeling in the mood for a conversation on boundaries at this time in the morning I threw the clothes on the towel stand and got in the shower. The warm water was comforting and made me forgive Alice for being bossy.. just for a little while. After an extra long scrub with my favourite shampoo I felt ready to start the day and got out of the shower. Alice had mentioned shopping, that would be interesting. After spending years of shopping with Renee, I had greatly learned to dislike it.
But to Alice who was the most fashionable person I had ever been friends with, it probably meant as much as a quest for the Holy Grail. It would be funny to see how she handled my lack of fashion sense while trying to shop for me at the same getting dressed I managed to bump my toe on the bathroom cabinet. Hopping on 1 foot while trying to pull my hair back I came out of the bathroom.
Alice was sitting at the top of the stairs looking at me with a funny face. " What is so funny Alice?" looking down at my shirt to check if it was inside out or backwards but I couldn't see anything wrong.
"Only you could try and fix your hair while injuring yourself at the same time... then instead of standing still you talk and fix your hair at the same time... while hopping on 1 foot!" Her eyes were twinkling and she had a wicked smile on her face, letting me know she was teasing me.
She did have a point offcourse. Multitasking was supposed to be one of the great skills women have, but somehow I couldn't walk and talk at the same time. I stopped and smiled a sly smile back at her.
"Feeling confident today Alice... besides I'm in a hurry for your shopping adventure"
Alice got up so fast I hardly noticed it and flung herself around my neck. Words flowing from her mouth so fast I could hardly make out what she wanted to say... something about being happy and shopping. Then she turned around and started running down the stairs.
Not wanting to use all my good luck at the start of the day i followed her slowly.
She already stood there waiting for me at the door, ready to go. With a sigh I knew... this was going to be a very long day.
APOV
As soon as Bella went into the shower I got on the phone with Rosalie. Letting it ring just once she picked up and waited for me to start talking. "The shopping trip is on! I had to be discreet, remembering to not be overexcited and let Bella overhear my conversation by accident. I'm taking Bella to the mall, she really needs some help to see herself clearly again."
Saying the words I couldn't help but look sad, ever since yesterday i'd seen Bella hide her body. Afraid the scars would scare me away. In fact they didn't, it was a sign of how brave she really had been.
Rosalie's voice made me focus on our conversation again. " Are you sure Bella won't mind me coming along? She and I... well we never got along." The always confident Rosalie now felt unsure about meeting the human she'd once made life so difficult for...
"I'm sure she won't mind, just try and bond with her. She really needs friends, friends who she can trust. When all that has happened starts coming back to her, she'll need people to talk too that won't freak out. Us being vampires, should be a guarantee that won't happen." My own logic seemed to make sense yesterday, now I wasn't so sure anymore.
It was then I heard Bella yell at me from the bathroom, Charlie who was in his bedroom stuck his head out of the door. Both Charlie and Rosalie at the same time asking: "What's going on?"
I couldn't help but suppress a giggle. " New clothes" I replied as if that told it all. Both Rosalie and Charlie laughed at the same time, me joining them. In the bathroom I could hear Bella complain and get in the shower.
" So you'll meet me at the mall around 11?" Rosalie agreed and we quickly hung up. Giving me just enough time to turn around to see Charlie looking at me. " You're taking Bella shopping? Good luck with that, since the accident she hasn't been wanting to try on anything new" At the words accident his eyes flinched and I could see the sadness in his face. He gave me an encouraging nod "If you need any money for Bella let me know... perhaps you can get her to life a little again"
His words touched me, in a way.. underneath the silent exterior he was a very kind and loving man. Also he'd learned our secret in a very unfortunate way and still allowed me to be in his house, to accept me back as a friend for his daughter.
My cold heart knew, this was a special person and I quickly walked over to him grabbing his hand. " Don't worry Charlie, we all want to spend money on Bella and will look out for her today, make sure nothing happens. Esme feels as protective of her as if she... " My words got stuck in the back of my throat as I realised what I was about to say Charlie. I was going to say daughter, but that felt wrong somehow.
Charlie surprised me even more by finishing the sentence with an eyebrow pulled up. " As if she was her daughter?" I looked down, feeling insecure about my own words. Somehow not sure if I had offended him, but the silent pat on my hand reassured me he was not offended and I looked up to see him standing there with a sad eyes but a warm smile.
"After the way you left, I'm not sure if that is the right way to feel about Bella, but the fact that you still feel that way makes me happy you are trying to be her friend. Right now she needs friends that love her." His words hit me hard but I knew he was right and saying them in a kind way, we had left.... leaving a mess.. and now all we could try was help.
Charlie had gone downstairs and I sat down at the top. Waiting for Bella to come out of the bathroom. I could hear the shower had stopped and but the movements in the bathroom, it seemed as if she was trying to get dressed and had stumbled into something.
Shortly after the door opened and out came Bella, dangerously uncoordinated.
" What is so funny Alice?" Bella stopped and checked her clothes, obviously not realising how funny she looked when trying to multitask. I couldn't help but tease her a little.
"Only you could try and fix your hair while injuring yourself at the same time... then instead of standing still you talk and fix your hair at the same time... while hopping on 1 foot!" For a second I held my breath when I could see my remark made her draw back but then in her eyes the old spark came to life.
"Feeling confident today Alice... besides I'm in a hurry for your shopping adventure"
Her words made me feel overjoys and a little too quick I got up and jumped towards her pulling her in an excited hug. Her sweet fragrance made me snap out of it and quickly I let go, turned around and dashed down the stairs. Grabbing my keys I stood by the door waiting for her to follow. Lucky for me she walked slow, giving me time to compose myself again, knowing that after this shopping trip I needed to hunt.
As Bella reached me I was sure my eyes had gone back to their usual gold again and I smiled my brightest smile possible without seeming to unnatural. "Ready to spend some money?" Bella sighed... nodded and followed out the front door.