A/N- almost a week early! That has to count for something, right? Because I'm pretty sure after this chapter you're all going to be cussing me. I'll explain more in the end a/n. Please read it, 'kay?

Jacndaniel & amieforshort both tell me that I need not worry, yet I do. katydid2363 had her own words on this chapter. *sigh*

Pictures of the dresses will be on my profile.

Stephanie Meyer got the money off the gang, I spend mine at the mall.

Chapter 12
All Cried Out

I could hear laughter and racket coming from downstairs. I checked the time and knew that it had to be Rosalie and Alice. They were supposed to be here at nine to pick me up so we could go to Port Angeles and shop for our homecoming and coronation dresses. I checked my hair one last time in the mirror before grabbing my purse and making my way down the stairs. Rosalie and Alice were in the kitchen laughing with my mom.

"Hey girls," I said as I entered the kitchen.

"Hey Bella," Alice and Rosalie said in unison.

"Ready to shop till we drop?"

Both girls nodded as they told my mom goodbye. They walked ahead of me as I lingered alongside my mom.

"Here," she said handing me over her credit card with a smile.

"What's this?" I asked.

"You'll need money to buy your dress, right? It's your senior year. I want you to go all out."

"Mom, are you sure? What will Daddy say?"

It wasn't that we were bad off, but we did watch what we spent.

"Actually, it was his idea. Now, go, have fun." She ushered me out of the door to my waiting friends. Rosalie and Alice waved one last goodbye to my mom before situating themselves in the Rosalie's IROC. I kissed my mom on the cheek and thanked her before running through the yard to catch up with my girlfriends.

"Where was your dad?" Rosalie asked as we started our drive out of Forks.

"Fishing, why?" I asked confused.

She shrugged. "Just wondering." After several minutes of quiet she spoke again. "Your dad is kind of hot in a Burt Reynolds kind of way."

Slowly, I rotated my head and looked at her with what I was sure was a look of disgust.

"Oh my God! No ma'am! You are not allowed to say those kinds of things about my dad!" I said in a high shrieked wail.

"What?" she asked with fake innocence. "You're dad is hot, Bella. I can't help it if the stache does it for me."

Alice was giggling from the back seat but I saw nothing funny about Rosalie's revelation. That was until Rosalie joined in with her and I couldn't help but laugh along with them. As gross and dirty as it was, I knew that my dad would have been rendered speechless to know that a knock out like Rosalie was having a Smokey and the Bandit fantasy staring at one Charlie Swan.

We spent the drive talking about their love lives, which were flourishing beyond even their own imaginations. Jasper had met Alice's parents, apparently, and his southern charm was enough to make her mom fall head over heels in love with him.

Emmett and Rosalie had been spending lots of time together after football practices. Rosalie liked to tinker with cars and Emmett enjoyed watching her bent over the hood of a hunk of metal. Rosalie's words, not mine.

I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. I told them how I managed to pass the biology test, thanks to Edward's tutoring, but the subject of Edward was left alone after that. I had a feeling that they could tell I wasn't ready to talk about our non-existent relationship.

The drive went by rather quickly considering we spent the better part of it laughing and singing to the songs on the radio. When we arrived at the Port Angeles mall it was like I had time warped. Well, I guess I had.

The mall. Those two words held so much power in the eighties. It was a place not only to shop, but also to be seen. It was the quintessential eighties hang out place. When we stepped inside people were everywhere. They ranged from mothers with toddlers, older women sporting their Bill Blass coordinated tops and matching bottoms, and teenagers looking for refuge. I was in awe of the stores we passed as we walked to where ever it was Rosalie was leading us. These places weren't around in the future! Foxmoor, Chess King, County Seat, and Merry Go Round, I wanted to look in them all just for the novelty of it! Rosalie it seemed had a similar idea. We browsed several stores trying to get a feel of what all was out there before we made our decisions. In between dress shops, we stopped in Waldenbooks, Musicland, and RadioShack. That was when the day started to turn upside down.

After Alice had decided on a short black silk dress with hot pink taffeta underlay, even the upper part of the dress was accented with the same hot pink, (Jasper had asked her the previous night via a candlelit dinner), we stopped in the record shop where low and behold, Jasper Whitlock was thumbing through the country and western cassette tapes. Alice couldn't hold back her elation at seeing him. She all but ran into his arms, taking the cowboy hat off of his head and leaning down to kiss him gently on the lips. Rosalie and I stood back and watched the two of them say hello.

"Hey Jasper," Rosalie and I said as they rejoined us.

"Ladies," he said, tipping his hat to us.

"What are you doing in the Port?" I asked.

He started spouting off some singer who had a new tape out that he wanted to buy. After that, he went on a tangent about how CD's would never catch on. He was appalled that people would have to restart their musical libraries. I had to hold back from telling him that eventually everything would go digital.

We left Jasper at the record store a few minutes later with a promise that he would join us for lunch in the food court at noon.

After that, the three of us went into the store where I had found the dress I had wanted to buy. It proved to be difficult to shop for eighties fashion when I knew how tragic the styles really were. There was no way I was wearing poofy sleeves, and thankfully, Rosalie and Alice shared my sentiment.

After browsing through several places, I finally decided on an electric blue strapless, mid length dress made of silk, with black taffeta underneath. I was adamant about no shoulder pads or poofy sleeves, however this particular dress had a huge bow on my hip. Beggars couldn't be choosers. Besides, I refused to show up in pink. I was not going to be Jake's Andie. This was as far from Pretty in Pink as it could be.

When we left the dress shop, we ran into the electronics shop where we ran into Emmett who looked baffled at the selection of VHS players. Rosalie, Alice, and I quietly crept up behind him and waited as he shifted from one foot to the other and scratching his chin. He stepped forward a bit and pressed a button on one player that lifted the docking from the top of the player. I gasped out loud at the ancient contraption. It was then that Emmett was aware that we had been spying on him.

"Damn, Bella." Rosalie huffed playfully as she wrapped her arms around Emmett's neck.

"Sorry, it's just this thing loads from the top." I was in awe. Where I came from these things were ancient relics.

"Yeah, I know," Emmett said looking back at the machines. "I can't decide on this one or one that you load from the front."

"Does it really make a difference?" Alice asked.

Emmett thought for a moment before he answered her. "No, I guess not," he said with a laugh. "So, what are you three beautiful ladies doing?"

"Dress shopping," Rosalie purred in his ear.

"Among other things?" he asked and for a moment I felt like I was intruding on a private moment.

"Maybe," she answered with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

I cleared my throat, hoping they would remember that they weren't alone. "So, we have one more place to hit up, Em. How about you join us for lunch? We ran into Jasper earlier and he's going to meet us too."

"Awesome! I could totally eat the ass end of a horse right now."

"Fantastic," I replied dryly, trying not to picture that particular mental image.

Rosalie and Emmett exchanged sloppy kisses before we left the store. Alice and I walked away, arm in arm, laughing at their expense. Rosalie joined us seconds later with her compact out, reapplying her lipstick.

Our last stop along the way was the store Rosalie had found her dress. Like mine, hers was also strapless but it plunged down between her boobs showing off much more cleavage than I could offer. Then again, Rosalie was built like an amazon supermodel.

The dress itself was fire engine red and stopped just above her knee. It was a straight, tight fitting dress, except at the waist where it had another layer of material that formed a short skirt. I knew without a doubt she was going to stop traffic in that thing. It was seductive and hugged all the right places on her. I kind of envied that she had such a rocking body.

When our shopping was done, it was right at noon so we headed to the food court to meet up with Jasper and Emmett. Ah, the food court. If kids weren't walking around the mall, they were congregating at one of the many tables in the area known as the food court. The three of us went our separate ways in search of food. I stood motionless and turned around taking in all the different places I could eat. Did I want pizza? A sandwich? Greek? Chinese? American? The world was my oyster and it was presented as the all mighty food court.

I settled on pizza because, come on! It was the eighties and who doesn't love a huge slice of stuffed pizza from Sbarros? With my tray in hand, I scoured the crowds looking for the girls. I spotted them almost smack dap in the center. It wasn't all that hard once I decided I needed to look for Jasper's cowboy hat.

I could see Jasper as he removed the Stetson from his head, sitting next to Alice. Rosalie was to Alice's left, playfully feeding Emmett a French fry. Barf-o-rama! It was as I neared closer to the table that I noticed another familiar head. Across the table from Jasper was none other than Edward.

"Look who I found wondering around," Emmett said as we approached. Edward eyed me warily; holding out what I guessed what was to be my seat.

"Bella," he said as a way of greeting.

"Edward," I offered with a small nod of my head.

"I'm starving," Rosalie added, as soon as we were all seated. "Shopping really worked up an appetite."

I remained quiet, watching the interactions of the two couples from across the table. Edward remained just as quiet at my side. The lack of conversation between the two of us after a while must have been more than Emmett could stand.

"So, Bells. What color dress did you get?" he asked me.

"Blue," I said.

"Like, navy blue?" Edward questioned.

I looked at him, wondering why on Earth he would be concerned on the exact color of my dress.

"Um, no. More like an electric blue. It's kind of a light blue, I guess."

He nodded his head, which made the whole table erupt into talk about homecoming, the nominations, and of course, Emmett's staring role in the big game.

We dove into our food, everyone opting for a different restaurant chain. That was the gloriousness of the food court. I ate slowly, my eyes downcast on my plate being in the proximity of Edward. My nerves were wound tight and we had barely said two words to one another.

Conversation was mainly dominated by Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett. I spoke when spoken to, or when something particularly interesting was said. Edward, however, hardly said a word. He laughed at the funny things Emmett said but that was the extent of it.

"You know," I said out of no where, dabbing the corners of my mouth with my napkin. All eyes fixed themselves on me. Surprised I'm sure that I offered off conversation without having to be asked.

"We're kind of like the breakfast club in a sense."

"Nah," Emmett said, leaning back in his chair and throwing his arm over the back of Rosalie's. "I like to think of us more like the Goonies."

"Goonies never say die," Edward offered.

We continued to eat, remaining silent to finish up our lunch. I was mid bite when Rosalie brought up the one subject to Edward that I had been wanting to ask, but was too afraid to.

"Edward, are you asking anyone to the dance?"

I looked at her with a hard expression from across the table. She narrowed her eyes at me as if pleading with me to let her take the reins here. She must have sensed that I was uneasy about bringing up the topic myself.

"I'd like to," he replied.

"You'd like to?" Alice asked. "What's that mean?"

"Well, I just don't know yet. I'm not really sure how to read the girl I want to ask. One minute it seems like we're friends and the next I get the cold shoulder."

Typical Lauren behavior, I thought. It was just like her to be hot for a guy one minute, and a cold hearted bitch the next.

"Just ask her," Emmett tried to reason. "What's the worst that could happen? She'll tell you no?"

My hands were trembling so bad that the only thing I could do was fist them in my napkin. I had to be careful of what I was doing. With the rate at which this conversation was going, it wouldn't have been long before my paper napkin was nothing but shreds.

I tried to reign in my anger but it was no use. My mouth had gotten the best of me. The old Bella from twenty years prior was back in full effect.

"Oh, Edward, I don't know," I said as sweetly as I could. My voice was ice cold, however. Edward shifted his body to look at me, his eyes wide with shock. "I'm sure Lauren won't say no. I mean, she's been practically throwing herself at you all year."

"What are you…?" he began to ask but I cut him off.

"Oh, please! Don't play stupid with me! It's Lauren you want to ask. I mean, all the extra time you've been tutoring her. The awkwardness between the two of you, the close and personal lunches you've shared. And don't even get me started on that shit you told me when you helped me study! So how goes it, Edward? You think that practice kiss helped? You think you'll be able to land the school's biggest bitch? Well, good luck with that!"

I stood from the table, five sets of eyes on me as I pushed my chair back with a loud screech across the floor. I picked up my dress and stormed away from the table. I didn't care that just about every patron in there was looking at me like I had just lost my mind. The fact was I was losing my mind. How does someone get sent back in time to make things right, only to feel like things are more messed up than they could have ever been?

It didn't take long for Rosalie and Alice to join me. I was sitting on one of the park benches, next to an ash tray full of littered cigarettes butts. Smoking in the mall? Oh yeah. This was the eighties and royally fucked up. I was huffing and puffing like some kind of big bad wolf as Alice tried to reach out to hug me but I threw my hand up in defense.

"I just want to go home," I said quietly.

They both nodded their understanding. I followed behind them, afraid to look back. It wasn't as if I was expecting Edward to come running for me and explain things. There was no need for any sort of explanation. It was very clear what was going on.

I let Alice have the front seat of the car while I sat in the back. I wanted the extra space around me, hoping that it would help whatever craziness was going on inside my head.

No one spoke for the whole ride home. Rosalie didn't even turn the radio on. Instead, I sat, stoic in the backseat trying to make sense of what I had said and done. A part of me thought that I might have overreacted. That was a lie. I knew for a fact that I had done so. But what was I supposed to do? It was like all rational thought that I had as a thirty-eight year old woman left the moment I stepped back into the Esprit jeans. Maybe it was the AquaNet. Maybe I had been contaminating my mind to think rationally. There really needed to be an instruction manual on time traveling. Winona Ryder had not prepared me at all. At least in Beetlejuice they were given a manual on the afterlife.

It took a few moments for me to realize that we were parked in my driveway. It was when I didn't feel the rumble of the motor under my seat that I composed myself long enough to thank the girls for the shopping trip and apologize to them for my behavior.

I walked up the driveway, my head hung in shame. When I walked inside, no one was there. My mom had left a note explaining that she had to run to the hospital for an appointment and my dad was still off fishing.

Glad that I didn't have to explain my sullen mood to either of my parents, I climbed the stairs to my room and flopped my body face down on to the bed. I started to relive the whole lunch experience. I had been so mean to Edward. My whole attitude was just so off from what I had been trying to achieve. I became that Bella when I spoke to him. The one who didn't take anyone's feelings into consideration. The one who didn't let anyone get a word in. The one that was a bitch.

The tears came freely as I openly cried into my pillow. I wasn't sure if there was some sort of panic button to beam me back to the present time, but I needed one. I felt like I was messing everything up and not helping anyone I was sent back to help. It all felt like one big mess, and what upset me more than knowing that I could be stuck with the same kind of life I had previously lived, was that I could have potentially ruined any and all friendship with Edward.

A/N- and with the way she was acting, she probably should. Okay, I know. As katydid2363 quoted when she sent me back this chapter, "Bella needs to get her head out of her ass when it comes to Edward." Yes. Yes she does and I PROMISE that she will next chapter and NO I won't leave you with some cliffhanger where you're like, "BUT NO! I want to know now!" You'll get your resolve in chapter 13.

So...now that I've hopefully explained that the angst between those to is almost over, let's talk about the mall! Was going back in time as good for you as it was for me? I miss the mall in the 80's. I really, really do. Did I forgot some of your favorite stores?

I'm going on vaca for a week but I'll have my laptop with me. I'm sorry that I haven't replied to reviews yet and I plan to get on that. I hope to have the resolve of Bella's stubborness up next week.

Until then...I'll be on the beach.

xoxo
Holly