Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If I did, I'd own my own island, equipped with hot, half-naked men.
A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. I geek out everytime I get a new review. Just ask my beta. Chylex28, thanks for fixing my crap and making it grammatically correct. Once again, I apologize for the delay. FF was, yet again, not allowing me to post a new chapter.
Just a day,
Just an ordinary day.
Just trying to get by.
Just a boy,
Just an ordinary boy.
But he was looking to the sky.
And as he asked if I would come along
I started to realize
That everyday he finds
Just what he's looking for,
Like a shooting star he shines.
~Ordinary Day~ Vanessa Carlton
Surviving High School
I was greeted, Tuesday morning by the infernal beeping of my alarm clock. With a groan, I flopped over and smashed my hand down on the clock, in hopes of quieting it. Getting up, I couldn't help but hope that today would be a little less dramatic than yesterday. Although, telling Mike off had been empowering. It felt really good to let out it all out. And then giving Edward a taste of his medicine. Classic. However, the "talk" with Mr. Laurent had been more than embarrassing. Adding insult to injury, I'd totally forgotten that he was Bitchtoria's father. Yeah. I know. How the hell I managed to forget that, was beyond me. It wasn't until I stepped into his office and saw his glaring red hair, that I remembered he had spawned the devil herself. I didn't understand it. Mr. Laurent was a perfectly nice man, if not a bit emotional, but how the hell he had a daughter like her was beyond me.
After a quick shower and breakfast, I made my way to school. As I pulled into the lot, I noticed Mike, Jessica, and Lauren arguing near Jessica's car. I made sure to park as far away from them as possible. I really didn't want to get sucked into whatever they were arguing about. I did wonder where Jessica stood in all this. After all, she was dating Mike, and was best friends with Lauren. I locked Chuck and was making my way towards the front doors of the school, when Jessica called out my name.
"Bella! Wait a sec."
I stopped and waited for her to catch up with me. I noticed that she seemed a bit flushed and asked her if everything was okay.
"No, everything isn't okay. Mike and Lauren are being complete jerks! I cannot believe them! I thought they were your friends and then to go and do what they did. Well, let's just say Mike is going to the dance by himself."
I was a bit taken back by the venom I heard in her voice. Sure, Jessica and I were friends, but we weren't super close. The fact that she was siding with me, over her boyfriend and best friend, made me realize that perhaps I had misjudged Jessica.
"Oh, Jess. I don't want what's going on with me to affect your relationships with them."
"Bella, please. You're my friend. What they did was wrong and low. I've always known that Lauren didn't like you, but I didn't think she'd do something like this. As for Mike. He's always had a crush on you," she said sounding a bit sad. "And even though he and I are dating, he got jealous because you seemed to like Edward. In a way, I understand his train of thought in that he thought he was helping you, but he can't seem to understand that he's just made things worse."
I threw an arm around her and gave her shoulders a squeeze.
"Thanks for being my friend, Jess."
"Of course. We'd better get going before the bell rings."
The day passed by pretty quickly, and I noticed that while there were still some stares and whispers, they weren't as bad as they had been yesterday. Throwing my books into my locker, I made my way to the cafeteria, got in line, and grabbed a slice of pizza and an apple. I started to make my way to my usual table, but thought better of it when I saw Mike sitting there glaring at me. I saw Jessica nearby and asked her if she wanted to sit with me, but she said she was heading to the library. I looked around the cafeteria and noticed Emmett and Rosalie sitting at a table in the corner.
"Mind if I sit with you guys?" I asked them.
"Stumbling Bella! Of course not. Always glad to have your smiling face at our table," Emmett said, with his usual gusto and a huge grin.
Rosalie gave me a smile and then excused herself to grab something to drink. I sat there with Emmett, discussing his stick drawings, when I saw Angela and Ben enter the cafeteria, holding hands. I waved to them to let them know that I was sitting with Emmett and Rosalie. A few minutes later, Angela and Ben had joined us. Soon after, so did Alice and Jasper. Almost immediately, Alice starting gabbing with Angela about the dance coming up on Friday, wanting to know what Angela and Ben's plans were. Seeing as how I wasn't going to it, I'd totally forgotten all about the dance.
"So Bella, what did Edward want yesterday?" Angela asked me.
All conversation that had been going on around the table, stopped. The sudden silence startled me, and I found six faces staring at me in rapture. Thank you, Angela. Nothing I love more than being the center of attention.
"Oh. He 'apologized'," I said with air quotes. "Then he asked if we could talk."
"What did you say?"Alice inquired. I could see that she was truly interested in finding out what her brother had said to me.
"I told him he needed to work on his apology, cause it was crap. He said, and I quote, 'I'm sorry.' That was it. No explanation, no groveling, just, I'm sorry. Worst. Apology. Ever. As for talking to him, I told him we'll see."
"Good. I'm glad you didn't let him get away with a crappy apology. What a jerk!" Rosalie said.
"Oh you should've heard Bella go off on Mike in English yesterday," Angela said, with a bit too much glee in her voice.
Emmett leaned forward on the table and gave me a devilish grin. "Do tell."
"Well, after Rosalie informed us that Mike and Lauren were giving info to the enemy, I decided to have a chat with Mike. Angela, Mike, and I were in a group together in English. Basically, I called him out. He was going on about how he did it to save me from the hurt that Edward would have bestowed upon me, blah, blah, blah. Such crap."
"He truly believed he was helping her out by putting a target on her back and didn't understand why Bella was mad at him," Angela chimed in.
"What about Lauren? What's her deal?" Jasper asked quietly.
Angela, Ben, and I looked at each other. Where to start? Lauren and I hadn't always been unfriendly towards each other. We'd actually been friends at one point.
"Well," I started. "Lauren and I were pretty close from Kindergarten till third grade. Then in third grade, I had a sleep over, and Lauren to let me cut her hair. Needless to say, being a barber is not in my future. I pretty much hacked all her hair off and she sat there and let me. My mom was mad when she saw what I'd done, so she called Lauren's mother who came over and freaked out when she saw it. Then Lauren decided to play the injured card and said that I'd cut her hair off without her permission and made a big show of crying. So that was the end of that friendship."
"I'd totally forgotten about that!" Ben exclaimed. "She looked like a boy for the longest time."
"Yep. And she's never forgiven me."
We all laughed at that. Personally, I felt it was bit dumb to hold a grudge for so long, but whatever.
"Oh, Bella. What did Mr. Banner want?" Alice asked me.
"He gave me a note letting me know that Mr. Laurent wanted to have a talk with me after class."
"That's what you get for trying to kill yourself," Ben said.
I threw my apple core at him and continued. "It was so embarrassing. He sat me down and told me that a friend of mine had come to him because she was concerned about me. That this 'friend' had mentioned that I was upset about the rumors floating around school and that she was worried I would do something rash. So of course, my jumping off a cliff was only proof of how distraught I was. So he brings out these pamphlets about counseling, and being bullied, then proceeds to tell me that I can come talk to him at anytime. I'm sure I was lobster red by the time he was done. Anyway, I asked him who this 'concerned friend' was and he wouldn't tell me, but I can only assume it was Victoria. He is her dad after all."
"Oh man! I forgot that her daddy's the guidance counselor," Emmett said.
"Tell me about it. It wasn't till I saw his hair that I remembered. I know that none of you went to him, so it only makes sense that she's the one who went to him."
"Sounds just like her. Out to make you seem unstable," Rosalie said.
I spent Biology ignoring Edward, despite his pathetic attempts to talk to me. Part of me felt like a complete bitch, but the other part of me was still angry at him for his behavior and his half-assed apology. Finally, during the last few minutes of class, I told him that I'd talk to him when I was good and ready and not a minute before. I'm pretty sure that pissed him off even more.
Thursday arrived rather quickly, and I was ready for the weekend. I was ready to just kick back and relax and have a drama free weekend. Alice had asked Angela and I if we wanted to hang out on Saturday, and we agreed. Why not? Alice said that Edward wouldn't be around, and if he was, well, we'd cross that bridge when we came to it. I was heading toward gym class, lost in thought, when I almost ran into Lauren. I really didn't want to deal with her shit, and was hoping she'd just walk on by. No such luck.
"Watch where you're going, Swan!" she barked at me. Wow. Had she been taking lessons on being a bitch from Victoria?
"You know Lauren, just because you follow Victoria around like a puppy doesn't mean that you're a member of the in-crowd."
She tossed her stringy, blond hair back and sneered at me. "Whatever, Bella. You're just mad that I ruined your plans."
Good Lord, she was delusional. "What plans?"
"Your plans to seduce Edward in order to get in with the popular crowd. You might have made a fool of me once before, but never again!"
Huh? "Wow. Did you think of that all on your own? Just for the record, I would never do anything like that. As for making a fool of you, it was 8 years ago, Lauren! 8 years ago, when you let me cut your hair. It's not completely my fault you spent the end of third grade looking like a boy. But, whatever. What you've done; telling lies to Victoria about me, shows just what kind of person you are. A shallow, pathetic, jealous bitch. Have fun being Victoria's lap dog, cause that's all you'll ever be."
I stalked off after having my words with her, only to find myself paired up with Mike in gym. Fan-fucking-tastic. Once school was over, with no more encounters, I headed home. I spent most of my evening doing homework and then found myself drawn to Facebook. Yes, I am addict. I can't help it. Bella Swan is wondering what happens if you get scared half to death twice? I loaded up my games and killed the next few hours on mindless games. A great way to relax the mind. I was in the middle of contemplating on whether or not I wanted to try my hand at virtual farming (so far I'd refrained from it) when my chat popped up.
Alice Cullen: hey
Bella Swan: hey alice. whats up
Alice Cullen: not much. youre going to the dance tomorrow night right
Bella Swan: that would be a big N.O.
Alice Cullen: please please please please come to the dance
Bella Swan: first of all I dont have a date. second of all I dont have a dress. third of all I dont dance. Ever!
Alice Cullen: dont worry about the date, we're doing a group thing anyways. i have tons of dresses, im sure to have something that would look good on you.
Bella Swan: i dont think your dresses will fit me
Alice Cullen: im practically five feet even and youre what? 5'2". itll be fine. and dont worry about dancing. just come to hang out with us. please please please
Bella Swan: youre going to harass me til i give in arent you
Alice Cullen: yes!
Damn her! I really didn't want to go to this stupid thing. I would be the only single person in a group of couples. But I knew Alice, and I knew she'd come after me till I caved in. Might as well save myself the trouble. I let out a sigh and wrote her back.
Bella Swan: fine! but im going under duress!
Alice Cullen: duly noted. come over after school tomorrow and ill get you fixed up and then we can have a sleepover as well.
Crap! What in the world had I gotten myself into? I had a feeling, tomorrow afternoon would be spent with Alice playing Bella Barbie. I logged off my computer and went downstairs to tell Charlie all about my new plans. Yippie.
"Hey, Dad."
"Hey, Bells. Thought you were heading to bed?"
"I am. Just wanted to let you know that I'm going over to Alice Cullen's tomorrow," and then I mumbled as quickly as possible that I was going to the dance as well.
"What was that last part?"
I let out a sigh and tugged on a strand of hair. "Alice talked me into going to the dance with a group of them."
Charlie grinned. "What I wouldn't pay to see that. Make sure someone takes pictures of you tripping all over the dance floor."
"Thanks, Dad! Way to be supportive!" I said, then headed back upstairs.
I got all snuggled up in my bed, turned off my lamp, and fell asleep.
I walked into the gym that served as our dance floor. For some reason, I was wearing a sparkly, sequined ,hot pink, floor length gown made of ballerina tulle. It even had ruffles and a bow! How the hell had I ended up in this? I would never wear such a monstrosity. And then I looked down at my feet. Heels? Are you fucking kidding me? Hot pink ones, with straps and 4 inch heels. I was going to die. I stumbled my way to a chair, sat down, and did my damnedest to take the offensive shoes off, but they wouldn't budge. It was like they were glued to my feet. While I sat there tugging uselessly at the stupid things, a hand placed itself on my shoulder.
"Hey, Bella."
Edward. Why was he here?
"Hi, Edward."
"I'm so glad you agreed to come with me. We're going to have a great time!"
Wait. What? Agreed to come with him? I didn't agree to come with him.
"Edward, what..."
Before I could finish what I was saying, the band starting playing and Edward grabbed my hand and tugged me onto the dance floor. I grabbed on to his arms and hung on for fear of falling.
"Bella, it's okay. I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you," he said, smiling and placing a chaste kiss on my lips.
I was so confused that I could do nothing, but cling to him as he swayed us gently back and forth. And then a light appeared over us, like a beacon. A disco ball had aescended from the ceiling and started spinning. It was then, I noticed that my skin was shimmering. Oh God! I looked like one of Mike's sparkly vampires. I took a closer look and noticed that my arms were covered in glitter. Huh. That was odd. Okay, this whole thing was odd. The longer we danced, the more I realized how much I enjoyed being in his arms. I found myself inhaling his warm, spicy scent and resting my cheek against his chest. His arms tightened around me and he pressed a kiss into my hair.
"Oh, Bella. I'm so glad that we're together. I'm so much happier when I'm with you."
And just like that, my heart melted. I was a pile of Bella goo.
"I'm glad we're together too, Edward."
It was a perfect night. Minus the hideous dress I was wearing. But of course, nothing good stays forever. All too soon, a horrible screeching sounded across the room. Edward and I paused, and looked to the entrance of the gym. There stood Victoria, in a barely-there dress, hands on her hips, fire in her eyes. She stalked toward us. Before I could stop her, she grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked as hard as she could.
"You fucking bitch! How dare you show up here!"
Ow, ow, ow! I clawed at her hands in an attempt to get her to let go of my hair, but she had a death grip on it. I could feel the hairs being ripped out by the roots.
"Let go of me, you crazy pyscho!" I hollered at her.
I managed to get a hand free and tried my hardest to claw at her eyes. I managed to leave a nice scratch on her face and just kept going. There was no way I was going down without a fight.
"Don't just stand there, Edward! Help me out!" she screeched at him.
Before I could comprehend what was happening, Edward had my arms pinned behind my back, giving Victoria the opportunity to attack me. To say I was stunned, would be an understatement. With my hands behind my back, I was defenseless. Or was I? I waited until Victoria leaned in, and then I kicked her as hard as I could. I made direct contact and Victoria howled in pain. I then swung my heel back and got Edward in the shin. He too gasped in pain, weakening his grip, allowing me to slip out of it. I hiked up the nightmare of a dress and taking my life in my hands, made a mad dash to the door. I reached it just as Edward did. I tugged on the door, but Edward's hands were pressed against it, preventing me from opening it.
"Edward! Please! Just let me go!" I pleaded with him.
"I can't do that, Bella," he said, with a feral grin.
He reached out and wrapped an arm around my neck, pulling my head to one side. From the corner of my eye, I saw two fangs emerge from his upper gums and braced myself for the pain and death that was sure to follow.
A loud clap of thunder startled me awake, and I greeted Friday morning with my heart pounding and blood racing. Realizing I wasn't going to get back to sleep, I began getting ready for my day. After my morning ritual, I trudged downstairs and found a note from Charlie telling me to have a good time and to make sure someone took pics of me making a fool of myself. Gotta love Charlie. I shook my head after reading the note, then grabbed my stuff and headed to school. I wasn't at my locker for more than a few minutes when I was accosted by Alice.
"We're gonna have so much fun today!" she squealed.
"Sure we are," was my reply.
Alice took note of my less than enthusiastic voice and started to pout.
"Bella," she whined, "we're gonna have fun! It's going to be great. We're going to get all dressed up and fancy and then dance the night away!"
I shut my locker and leaned my head against it. What had I done? Why was I going to allow this to happen? I must be a glutton for punishment. That, or I'm insane.
"Bella? Are you even listening to me?" Alice asked.
"Huh?"
She rolled her eyes at me and grabbed my arm, dragging me down the hall toward my homeroom.
"I was saying, that you can just follow me home, or if you want, I can follow you home and we'll take my car to my house."
"Oh, either works for me."
"Fine. We'll drop your truck off and then go over to my house."
Angela cornered me in homeroom after I talked to Alice, and wanted to know if I was really going to the dance. I told her I was, and then I told her Charlie's reaction and what he said. She thought it was hilarious and said she'd make sure to have her camera ready. The rest of the day was spent by Angela and Ben teasing me, and warning everyone to stay away from me on the dance floor. What can I say? I have great friends. All too soon, the end of the day had arrived. Normally, I live for Friday's bell, but not today. Today, I was going to be subjected to the torture that is beautification. I drove as slow as possible on the way home, with Alice following behind me in her Porsche, honking the horn the whole way. Once home, I ran in and dropped off my stuff, then climbed into the metal death trap that was Alice's car.
"Now, Bella. I realize that you aren't exactly looking forward to this, but I promise you'll have a good time."
"Alright, Alice. I believe you. Just don't torture me too much," I pleaded.
"It'll practically be painless."
Practically? What did she mean practically painless? I asked her what she meant by that and she just laughed at me. I'll admit I was getting a bit freaked out. We arrived at the Cullen house and I was immediately greeted by Mrs. Cullen when we walked in.
"Bella! It's so wonderful to see you! How are you?"
"I'm doing good, Mrs. Cullen. How are you?"
"Perfectly wonderful dear! Why don't you two head on up and start getting ready for the dance, and I'll bring up some snacks."
"Thanks, Mom!" Alice called, as she dragged me up the steps to her room.
Entering Alice's room was like stepping into a wonderland. No joke. Three of the walls were a beautiful pale yellow, and the fourth wall had a forest mura,l on it complete with fairies. I'm pretty sure I was doing a great imitation of a goldfish, with my mouth hanging wide open. She had this marvelous couch underneath some windows, and a huge sleigh bed with a colorful spread. Everything about this room screamed Alice. It was fantastic.
"Holy shit, Alice! Your room is awesome!"
"I know right," she giggled.
She then walked over to a set of doors and threw them wide open, revealing a huge walk-in closet full of clothes, shoes, and handbags. It was like she had a mall in there. She walked into the closet and starting pulling out dresses left and right. I sat down on the couch and just watched the whirlwind that was Alice. Ten minutes later, she emerged from the closet with an armful of dresses. She placed the dresses on the bed and beckoned me over.
"Since you're not that much taller than me, I thought you could look through these and see if anything catches your eye."
She had pulled out six different dresses and some of them were so not me. I wasn't about to be caught dead in pink, especially after yesterday's nightmare. Ugh. And then I saw it. It was a beautiful royal blue dress with a scoop neck halter, a black sash to tie around the middle, and cute ruffles on the bottom. Now, I'm not normally a ruffle kind of girl, but it looked so cute on this dress. Alice pointed me toward the bathroom and told me to go try it on. I quickly undressed and slipped the dress on, tying the halter at my neck. I had to ask Alice to help me zip it up.
"Oh my God, Bella! That dress is so cute on you!"
She was right. It did, indeed, look cute on me. It made me feel feminine, yet not too girly at the same time. The only issue I had with the dress, was that it was way shorter than anything I was used to wearing. I mentioned this to Alice.
"Bella, it's supposed to be short and it looks great! Do you really think I'd let you walk out of here looking like a hobag?"
"Well, no," I told her.
I walked out of the bathroom with her and watched her dive back into her closet.
"Now we just have to find you the perfect shoes."
A few minutes later, she came out with a ton of shoes. I vetoed most of them right away. There was no way I was going to wear heels and I let her know it.
"But, Bella! You have to wear heels."
"If you want me to spend the evening in the ER with a broken ankle, then by all means, put me in heels."
"What about a really, really small heel?" she asked, holding up a cute pair of black patent leather shoes with a ½ inch heel.
"Oooo, those are cute! I think I could manage a small heel," I said, as she handed me the shoes.
I took them from her and slid them on. A perfect fit. Looking at myself in her full-length mirror, I saw they really helped complete the outfit. Even more surprisingly, they were comfortable. I gave Alice a big grin and told her I loved them.
"Well duh. They're Jimmy Choo. Of course you love them."
Holy shit! I had a pair of Jimmy Choos on my feet. These shoes costs more than my truck! Now I was terrified to wear them. I could see myself tripping and scuffing up the leather. Alice must have seen the look of terror on my face.
"Calm down, Bella! They're just shoes, and you're wearing them!"
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Mrs. Cullen came into the room.
"Oh, Bella! Look at you! You look stunning!"
I could feel myself turning ten shades of red.
"Thanks, Mrs. Cullen."
She left us with some snacks and not wanting to ruin the dress, I changed back into my clothes. When I came out of the bathroom, Alice was on the phone. After hanging up, she turned to me.
"That was Rose. She's on her way over to get dressed with us. There's nothing I love more than getting all dolled up. Well, except for shopping. I love shopping!"
I had to laugh at that. Judging by the amount of clothes and shoes in her closet, I had no doubt that she was a shopaholic. Twenty minutes later, Rosalie arrived with garment bag and shoe box in tow.
"Hey, Bella. I see the little demon convinced you to join us tonight."
"Yeah. I tried to say no, but quickly realized it was useless. It was just easier to give in."
"So true."
"Hey! I'm standing right here!" the little demon shouted, and we busted out into giggles.
"Alright, ladies. Let's get beautified. Hit the shower, then we'll do hair and makeup. After that, we'll get dressed and accessorize," Alice said, pushing me toward her bathroom and handing me some towels and a packaged razor. I was a bit scared that she'd put so much thought into all of this.
It felt weird showering in someone else's shower. It felt weirder, shaving in someone else's shower. I showered and shaved quickly, managing not to nick myself, and quickly got out. I wrapped myself up in towels, opened the door, and headed into Alice's room.
"Rose, get in the shower, while I start fixing Bella's hair and makeup," she said, leading me over to her vanity.
She sat me down, started combing my hair, and then brought out the blow dryer. It was nice being pampered, I admit. I closed my eyes, and allowed Alice to work her magic. Ten minutes later, Rosalie was out of the shower and my hair was done. I was afraid Alice would want to make it all complicated with hairspray and a thousand bobby pins, but she didn't. She'd left my hair down, but curled it and added a few sparkly bobby pins to hold it in place. It looked fantastic, as did my makeup. Alice had put a minimal amount of eyeshadow, mascara, a bit of blush and some lip gloss. Looking in the mirror, I almost didn't recognize the girl looking back.
"Wow, Alice! Just. Wow. I look good."
"Damn straight you do! I'm good. Now move aside, so I can get Rose done and then get started on myself."
I moved off of the vanity stool and sat on the bed, watching Alice do Rosalie's hair and makeup. Once Rosalie was done, and Alice went to shower, Rosalie and I got our dresses on. I was a bit embarrassed to be getting dressed in front of someone, so I tried to get dressed as quickly as possible. I stepped into the blue dress and asked Rosalie to zip it up.
"Damn girl! You clean up good."
"Thanks, Rosalie."
"Bella, I think we're at the point where you can call me Rose. We may not be friends necessarily, but we're far from being enemies."
You could've knocked me over with a feather. I was being given permission to call Rosalie Hale, Rose. I think I felt hell freeze over. This was a big deal. Well, to me it was.
"Okay, Rose."
Once Alice was out of the shower and dressed, we all headed downstairs. We walked into the parlor (yes, the Cullens have a freaking parlor), where we were met by Mrs. and Dr. Cullen.
"Ladies, you all look beautiful," Dr. Cullen said.
Damn this stupid blush! I was sure my face was bright red, but I managed to mumble out a thanks to the hot doctor. Mrs. Cullen pulled out a camera and asked us to pose for a few pictures. You would've thought we were going to prom instead of the Sadie Hawkins dance. About fifteen minutes later, we heard a car pull up, and there was knock on the door. Dr. Cullen opened the door and let in Emmett and Jasper. I've got to say, those boys sure looked good!
"Day-am Bellaluna! You look fine!" Emmett boomed when he saw me.
And there went the blush again.
"Thanks, Emmett. You don't look so bad yourself."
"Not so bad? I'll have you know that I. Am. Hot!" and then he started strutting around the room like a supermodel on the catwalk.
Before I knew it, Jasper had whipped out his phone and had I'm Too Sexy blaring from it. I tried not to laugh, but really, what was the point? This shit was fucking hilarious. I started laughing and soon, we were all cracking up at Emmett's antics. Dude was too much. Mrs. Cullen had the couples pose for a few more pics and then took a few more group shots of us all. Just as we finished taking the last shot, I heard a door slam and feet coming down the stairs.
"Mom, Dad! I'm heading over to Victoria's to pick her up," a familiar voice yelled. Huh. I hadn't even realized that Edward was at home.
"Come here, first. I want to get a picture of you," Mrs. Cullen called out to him.
Edward walked into the room and my breath got stuck in my throat. God, he was so beautiful. Too bad he was a beautiful jerk! He was wearing charcoal colored dress pants, with a white button down oxford, and a green tie that matched his eyes. I almost let out a sigh upon seeing him, but managed to contain it. His eyes widened when he realized that I was in the room. Apparently, he hadn't known that I was over here. He kept glancing over at me as if he couldn't believe it was me. You could've cut the tension in the room with a knife.
"Oh, Edward honey. You look so handsome. Let me get a picture of you real quick by yourself and then one with the group," Mrs. Cullen said.
She snapped away with the camera, then made us get into a group. I was standing at the end near Emmett, but Mrs. Cullen wasn't having any of that.
"Bella, dear. Why don't you stand next to Edward?"
Can we say awkward? Cause that's what it was. I moved next to Edward and did my best to smile for the camera, all too aware of his presence next to me. Finally, after what felt like years, we were free to leave. Edward hightailed it out the door, obviously in a hurry to get to his precious Victoria. Ugh! The five of us followed Edward out the door and made our way over to Emmett's Hummer. I stood there staring at this beast of a vehicle, trying to figure out how the hell I was going to get in it in a dress.
"Need some help?" asked Jasper.
I turned to look at the quiet, southern boy and gave him a smile.
"Yeah. Not sure how this is supposed to work when wearing a dress."
"Grab onto the handle and I'll help you up. I promise not to look up your dress," he said flashing me a smile.
"Gee, that's awfully nice of you," I said laughing.
Once situated in the back with Alice and Jasper, we took off towards the school. The dance was being held in the gym, so we pulled into the back parking lot and carefully climbed out. I thought I was in the clear, and then of course I tripped and almost fell out of the damn Hummer. Luckily, Jasper caught me before I face planted.
"Thanks, Jasper."
"You bet."
I walked slowly behind the group, feeling a bit left out. Emmett had an arm around Rose and Alice and Jasper were holding hands and talking softly. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. I was so caught up in my self pity, that I barely noticed that we'd arrived at the gym doors.
"Hey Stumbalina. You gonna dance with me tonight? Rosie says it's okay."
"Um...how do you feel about having your toes broken?" I asked him.
"I'm tough. I can handle it. So you and me. We're gonna get our groove on," and then he started gyrating his hips wildly. I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe. Rose solved the problem by smacking him in the head.
"Behave, Emmett!" she hissed at him.
"Well, we all know who the alpha in that relationship is, don't we?" Jasper drawled.
"Guess that makes Emmett the beta," I said.
"Yeah, the beta-half!" Emmett exclaimed.
We all groaned. "That was horrible!" we exclaimed to him. Which of course, caused Emmett to pout and act all put out.
"Come on, you big baby. Let's go find a table and then hit the dance floor," Rose said.
We found a round table in the corner and quickly claimed it as ours. Looking around, it seemed like the entire student body had come out to this dance. I saw Angela and Ben come in and waved at them to get their attention.
"Oh my God, Bella! You look great!" Angela squealed in my ear, hugging me.
"Thanks. You look pretty great yourself."
"Of course she does. She's gorgeous," Ben said.
"Well, you look pretty dapper yourself, Mr. Cheney."
"Why thank you, Bells. I must say, that you look stunning as well and that I was more than surprised to find out that you were going to be attending. I hope you made sure to bring some personal injury waiver forms for your dance partners to sign."
"Oh ha, ha. Aren't you funny?"
"I am," he said with a grin.
I had a feeling Ben would get along famously with Emmett once they got to know each other better. And then I shuddered at that thought. One Emmett was bad enough, but two Emmetts. Lord help us all. Ben told us he was going to get some drinks and asked us if we wanted anything. Angela and I both declined and sat down, watching our fellow peers start to dance. Rose and Emmett were on the dance floor, grinding away, while it should have looked trashy, they made it look good. Wish my body moved that way. Ben came back, and just then a slow song came on. He took Angela out on the floor and there I sat, at our table, all by myself. So embarrassing.
"Excuse me, Bella. Do you want to dance?"
I looked up and saw Eric Yorkie standing near my chair. Dare I risk injuring him on the dance floor, or sit here by myself all night. I quickly made up my mind.
"Sure, that'd be nice. But to be fair, I should warn you that I'll probably stomp all over your feet."
"No biggie. I'm sure I'll survive." And he did.
We danced to a couple of songs, and then I went back to my table. Pretty soon, Emmett came bopping over to me.
"Ready for that dance, Your Royal Klutzyness?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"You know, you could show a little bit more enthusiasm. This is me you're dancing with!"
"You're right. Oh, Mr. McCarty, I would be honored to be graced with your awesomeness upon the dance floor," I said, giggling.
"That's more like it! Now let's get out there and bust a move."
"More like I'll be busting your toes."
Surprisingly, there was no toe busting. Emmett was a crazy dancer and made me feel less self-conscious about being on the dance floor. And I had a great time. He was so much fun to hang out with. Before long, the seven of us were busting our groove on the dance floor, laughing our heads off. Eventually, I had to take a break and went to grab some punch. Hopefully no one had spiked it. I had just ladled up some punch and put it into my cup, when I heard Edward's voice.
"Hi, Bella," he said quietly.
"Edward."
"Look, I know it's not the best time, but I really need to talk to you."
I let out a sigh. "Can't it wait? I came here to have a good time."
I saw his jaw clench. "Fine. Do you think you can find time to talk to me sometime this weekend?"
"Yeah. I'll let you know."
"Great," he said, in a voice full of sarcasm. Then he stalked off toward the other side of the gym.
Stupid jerk! I was having a great time, and he had to go and put a damper on things. No. You know what. I'm not going to let that jerk ruin my evening. I started my walk back to the table, empty handed, having decided I didn't want that drink after all, when someone walked into me and grabbed my arm. A sense of deja vu came over me. I'm sure I've had this experience before.
"We need to talk, Swan," came the demanding voice of Victoria.
Well, fuck. There went my night.
A/N: Let me know what you thought! Fic rec of the week: Faithfully by LailaB.