CHAPTER TWELVE
I stood there looking at myself in the mirror. The beautiful floor length ball gown flowed elegantly from my waist. It was a cascade of pearl blue, shining as the intricate beading sparkled in the dim light and the strapless neckline showed off my shoulders. My hair was perfect; teased and blown in impeccable waves before Alice had delicately pinned strands up and away from my face. She'd also done my makeup, making me hardly recognize myself. My eyes had been accentuated by a smoky eye shadow and liner. My skin looked flawless with a little bit of blusher giving me some colour.
I looked like a princess; but it was all wrong. My eyes were sad despite being highlighted. Alice kept telling me to stand up straight but I couldn't help it; my shoulders slumped and head kept dropping.
Tonight was the night of the Everglades Charity Ball. Alice had been so excited to drag out the dresses we'd bought again and get them dry cleaned and pressed, ready to wear. She'd sat me down and given me the makeover, all the while somehow having enough time to transform herself as well. Edward knocked on my dorm door an hour before she was finished, but Alice refused to let him in shouting from the other side that he wasn't allowed to see until it was done.
I wanted to be happy; I wanted to be as excited as Alice was. After all this was the first time I was going to an event of this calibre willingly. This was the first time that I felt beautiful; the first time I'd had a date.
The night was tainted though. Tonight was my last night in Florida.
I knew that it would be a complete success and everybody would have an amazing time, including me. Despite everything I was shaking inside at the thought of being with Edward tonight. Our relationship had grown so much more than I'd have ever imagined, and tonight we were going to be each other's date in front of everyone. It was already very real; for me at least; but it seemed tonight that we were making it official.
But then that would be it. Tomorrow morning I was catching a 9am flight back to London, leaving Everglades.
"Bella? We're ready," Alice gently said from behind me.
I finally snapped out of it and turned around to see Alice in a stunning knee length baby pink gown. She looked like something out of Breakfast at Tiffany's.
"Alice, you look stunning," I breathed.
She blushed slightly, "Stop… thank you."
"No, Alice, thank you," I stepped towards her and took her hand, trying desperately to fight the lump in my throat, "you have been the best friend I have ever had. You've been so understanding," I took a deep breath, "I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had met you."
"Bella, stop. You're gonna mess up your makeup!" She laughed, "Bella, you've been the most honest, and real person I have met in a long time. You're so brave and strong, I know you would have been fine without me; and you will be."
We both smiled as a tear escaped from my eye. Alice lift her hand to gently wipe it away, "Plus, you're, like, the best thing to ever happen to my brother…" she smiled.
We both looked up as there was a knock on the door.
"Alice? Cab's here, we really gotta go now," we heard Jasper's voice from the hallway.
Alice turned and grabbed our little clutch bags from the bed, "Ready?"
"Ready."
-E-
The night was getting colder as Jasper and I waited by the cab at the front of Bella's building. We had been ready for over an hour now, but of course Alice was involved in this process, so we should have known better than to be on time.
I wanted to be really excited for tonight but my thoughts just came back to what was happening tomorrow morning. This was Bella's last night here. Because of the crap going on with her grandpa back in London, her inheritance was being pulled and her parents couldn't afford to let her stay here. Bullshit.
If the government cared so much about this guy's money, they wouldn't make such a big deal about it in the media. They're spending more money on reporting this than they would be by keeping it under wraps – not to mention keeping their own reputation squeaky clean. It was all such a bunch of crap, and I hated it. I hated that Bella was being forced to leave after she finally seemed to be settling in. In reality though, I didn't want her to leave because I knew it was going to destroy me. I could hardly think about it without getting this pain in my chest. I was being totally selfish but I knew my heart was going to be shattered in a million pieces once she left.
I'd racked my brain trying to think of some way to keep her here. I'd even gone to the administrator's office, and asked them if there were any schemes or scholarships available that Bella would be eligible for. Nothing.
Well; there was one thing. But I knew I'd never be able to pull it off.
"What time do you think this thing will go on for?" Jasper asked me.
"Err, I'm not sure. Midnight?"
"Okay, cool. I'm gonna confirm the room I've booked for me and Alice."
"You've booked a hotel room for you and my sister?" I asked.
"Yeah." He looked up after I didn't respond. "Dude, come on we've been dating officially for months now. She's gonna be okay. What, you don't trust me?"
I sighed, of course I trusted Jasper. We'd grown up together and, to be honest, I knew since him and Alice were 7 years old that they'd end up together.
"Yeah, sure whatever." I leaned back against the car.
Before I had a chance to slip into my funk again; the glass doors of the main entrance to the dorm building opened. The second I lifted my head, none of the other little things mattered anymore. I couldn't feel the cutting breeze anymore. The annoying sounds of the electric gates were suddenly gone; and I couldn't even see the glare from the pitch lights because she shone brighter than them all.
She had her head down, looking at her feet as she was carefully shuffled out of the building by Alice. Her dress was the palest blue and it literally shimmered in the moonlight with all its intricate beading, making her look like a star. Her brown locks flowed down in soft smooth waves off her left shoulder. It wasn't until she reached the bottom step and stood right in front of me before she finally looked up.
My breath caught. I knew she was beautiful before, but holy shit was she beautiful tonight.
Her skin was perfect and clear, glowing. Her eyes popped with her sleek eye makeup, the whites contrasting against her bronzed skin. I didn't miss the watery sadness in them though, but I quickly pushed those thoughts aside, even if it was only for a second.
She gazed back at me and for a minute there were no words to describe how I felt. My stomach felt full of butterflies and my mouth became really dry.
She must have misunderstood my expression because she suddenly frowned and looked down at herself again, thinking something was wrong when I was really just staring in awe.
I quickly took her hand and brought it to my lips, trying my hardest to be romantic.
"You look…," I wracked my brain for the word, "Beautiful doesn't even begin to cover it," I whispered.
She relaxed and smiled sadly, looking down again, "Thank you."
I pulled her chin back up to my face with one finger, bringing her lips centimetres away from mine.
"No tears tonight."
She didn't say a word as she stared in to my eyes. But she didn't disagree either.
I dipped my head down slightly to meet her lips. It seemed like every kiss now could be our last. I felt like a schmuck thinking that, like I was in some tragic love story or something; because I knew in my gut that I would never let this girl go this easily. This wasn't a movie, this was my life. My life that had completely changed in the last 5 months. My world now revolved around Bella Swan.
The Academy had a function room that was kept specifically for important conference meetings of the teaching council and sometimes rented out to companies for their own meetings. Occasionally, for times like this, it was transformed into a ballroom. It was amazing how much difference a few little changes can make. The boring office lamps around the hall had been switched for elegant looking chandeliers. The grey oval tables had gone and instead there were hundreds of smaller round tables covered with lace dressings and expensive looking silverware dotted around the room. In the midst of it all there was a clearing where I assumed was serving as a dance floor. To anyone it would probably have seemed very over the top and pretentious, but the Everglades Charity Ball had been a staple of the Academy for over 50 years and its tradition was very important to everyone. The style and prose of the whole evening had not changed and nobody wanted it to.
Bella didn't say a lot for besides polite hellos when we first got there. We weren't the first to arrive, not at all. In fact we were probably a little late.
I really wanted to introduce her to the Doctor's and Specialists that were attending that night; most of whom I knew as my dad's colleagues; but I could feel Bella tense whenever the word Doctor was mentioned. I didn't want tonight to be uncomfortable for her at any degree, and so I left it. After all, if tonight was going to be our last night together (and I still refused it would be), I wanted her to be relaxed and enjoy it.
-B-
The food, the music, the place, the atmosphere – everything was perfect. I felt like I was in a dream. The balls and functions in London were never this way. Charity balls were always purely about sucking up to the rich Lords and Lady's, and pulling every penny they could out of them. Sure, tonight had the same idea about it; Doctors and Professors, millionaires and billionaires alike had attended tonight, all with the intent to be wooed and persuaded to donate to the Academy and its supporting charities; but there was no pretentiousness.
I gazed across the room at a lady. She was in her mid-40's, dressed in a floor length cream gown, the picture of elegance as she laughed and talked to the Dean of the Academy.
"What are you thinking about?" Edward whispered in my ear as his hand slid gently across the back of my chair. His nose touched my cheek, my neck as his other hand was on my shoulder, playing with the beads on my dress and twirling my hair around his fingers.
I smiled and leaned my head towards him, "About how much more beautiful everything seems just as I'm about to leave it all behind."
His hand stopped and I couldn't feel his breath on my neck anymore. I turned to him and his face was expressionless, as it always was when I brought this up.
For three weeks now, after I told him I was going back to London he refused to accept it. He refused to talk about it at all and kept acting like this wasn't going to change anything. As if I was just visiting and everything would be fine when I came back. Only I wasn't coming back. I begged my mother not to send me back, but in the end I couldn't argue; they simply couldn't afford it after my mother's inheritance had been pulled.
I'd stopped trying to fight Edward's disregard to take it seriously. Maybe this was his way of coping with it. I don't know.
He took a deep breath and looked behind me.
"Will you dance with me?"
It seemed like the world stopped turning around us when I danced with Edward. He was no Fred Astaire, and neither was I, but it didn't matter. I put my head on his shoulder and we simply swayed to the music for I don't know how long. We didn't say a word and it was perfect.
After dessert was served, they announced that the firework display was going to start in a few minutes and we were all taken outside to watch. Jasper and Alice stood beside us and they kept giggling at how the sparks made different shapes in the sky. I didn't understand what the humour was or how in the world they could even see anything other than colours, but I laughed along with them anyway, loving the way they could be so sure yet so immature at the same time. Most of all it was beautiful to see how in love they were.
As the excitement died down, and the guests were slowly trickling out, Edward and I were walking along the grassy bank across from the baseball grounds.
I had taken my shoes off – well Edward had taken them off after I'd given up on the straps – and he was now carrying them for me as I kept my dress of the ground with one hand and had the other hand in Edward's.
We were walking in silence up until now, but it was after midnight and I couldn't put it off any longer.
"Edward, I have to be at the airport in 6 hours."
At first he said nothing, he just kept rubbing soothing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb.
Suddenly he stopped walking and bent to drop my shoes on the ground before turning to face me and put in hand in his blazer pockets, looking for something.
"I was going to give you this at the fireworks but tweedle dum and tweedle dee never left." He pulled out a silver watch and held it out to me.
"What's this?" It was a simple design; silver metal links and a pearly navy face.
"It's the first watch I ever had as a kid. My dad gave it to me. It was my mother's. She was wearing it the day she died. It's broken, in that you can't change the time. Look the little screw thing won't pull out," he showed me. "But I loved it anyway, and wore it every day until I was 16. I didn't care it was broken." I shivered involuntarily and he stepped closer.
"You're gonna laugh, and I know it sounds super cheesy, but it reminds me of me and you. I love you so much and I'm never going to stop trying to fix you, just like I've never stopped trying to fix this every morning when I put it on. And I'm never to change the time on it, even when it is fixed. Just like how much I love you is never going to change." He put the watch in my hand.
A tear rolled down my cheek and my voice caught, "Edward I can't take this, it's too much; you love it too much."
"You're not, it's still mine. You're just keeping it for me; taking it with you. And you're gonna give it back to me. When you come back."
"Edward you know I'm not going to be able to come back," I whispered.
"Yes you are," I looked at him in surprise as his voice was suddenly fierce. He lifted his hand and wiped away my tears.
"I don't care how long it takes, or what I have to do. I'm going to see you again. Nothing else matters to me. And nothing; not one tiny thing will change between us. I promise, I will fix this. I'll do everything I possibly can and more. Bella -" he paused and stepped even closer, taking my face in both his hands, "I would die a thousand times for you. I don't care how dramatic that sounds, I'd do it."
I was speechless. I wanted so badly for his words to be true and so I didn't say a thing so as not to shatter this perfect moment.
He bent down and pressed his lips to mine. His hand curled around the back of my neck and held it there firmly as his kiss became rougher. There was a burning in my stomach and chest that it was almost painful. It tingled all across and through to my arms.
He pulled away and leaned his forehead against mine. His thumb trailed across my cheek again, "I said no tears tonight."
And he was right, nothing else mattered.
