A/N: Hey guys! I know it's a mid-week update! Whoa! And even better, the next update will hopefully (keyword hopefully) be up this weekend, and that will also most likely be the last chapter. So, yeah, I don't want to bore y'all with pointless drabble, so I'll thank my reviewer and be on with it. Thanks to Matthias Stormcrow! You rock, and so do all of you who favorited or followed or just read the last chapter! I would greatly appreciate if you guys could review this chapter, but either way, onwards!
*Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight*
After going riding with Jake and coming back unharmed, well except for a scratch or two, Alice calmed down considerably. The "be careful" comments decreased a significant amount, but the phrase still put me a bit on edge whenever I heard it. The end of junior year was fast approaching, and Mrs. Rose told me the other day that since my photography during Spanish was technically an independent study, I would have to submit a final portfolio of a series of excellent pictures on a theme for my final. Thankfully, I had come up with the perfect theme and title for my portfolio immediately: Life from an Unexpected Point of View. I was documenting my life here in Forks from interesting angles, and I was thrilled to get started.
As I sat in math Tuesday, daydreaming about all my awesome pictures, I heard Jessica and Lauren gossiping behind me, something I hadn't paid attention to in quite a while. I figured now was as good a time as any to get back into my observation habits.
"So, who are you taking to prom?" Jessica asked Lauren.
"Why, Tyler of course, but he hasn't asked me yet!" Lauren informed her.
"Well, I heard that he, Mike, and Eric were all planning to ask Bella!" Jess whispered a bit too loudly.
"Humph," Lauren scoffed. "I don't see why. She already has Edward," she said with a scowl.
"Well Katie told Becca who told Meg who told me that apparently she's not just dating Edward. She secretly is seeing a Quileute boy on the side!" Jessica informed her.
Wow, so now I was dating two guys at once. Sure (sarcasm intended). I didn't waste my time by listening to the rest of their mindless dribble. Instead, I pulled out some paper strips I had cut up a while back and began to make little paper stars for the rest of class. By lunch, not only was I dating Jake and Edward but also Mike five other boys whom I saw regularly in Seattle. Rose and Alice both found this hilarious, and so did Emmett. Jasper had to deal with all the jealous feelings emanating from the majority of the school's female population, so he couldn't really enjoy my discomfort. Edward was the only one who was sympathetic to my plight, though Alice assured me that this was one of the most entertaining things that had happened so far this year.
"Splendid," I replied sarcastically as we sat at the lunch table with me snacking off all the Cullen's trays.
"Oh but Bella, Jessica would love to have as many boys flocking to her as you do!" Alice insisted, barely maintaining a straight face.
"Oh! Bells, can I be one of your boyfriends too?" Emmett asked eagerly, cracking up as he said it.
That earned him a smack upside the head from Rose and prompted Edward to reply.
"Emmett, please don't encourage the rumors. This is annoying enough as it is," Edward told him.
"Sorry babe," he told Rose. "But really, come on Eddie, it'll blow over by tomorrow," Emmett assured him.
"Guys, I am a one guy kind of girl. End of story."
"You know what would end this gossip right now?" Rosalie asked me.
"No, what?"
"If Edward were to loudly and romantically ask you to prom now. Then you could declare your love for him, and yes they would sulk for a bit, but then it would be over," she explained.
"Ooh, that's good!" Alice told her. "I can't see if it would work though because dear Bella here has a strange and unnatural hatred for dances," she said, glaring at me.
"I don't hate them Alice," I explained. "I would just pick a quiet evening with coffee and a book over a dance if given the choice. I've never had a date to one before anyways. "
"Bella don't lie. I can feel the horror from just the mere thought of attending prom emanating from you in waves," Jasper told me.
"So what? Who cares if I don't like dances," I grumbled.
"It's fine Bella, we don't have to go," Edward told me.
"Thanks," I told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
The next day during Spanish, Alice was hanging out in the darkroom with me while I developed my initial prints for my project. I still had another roll of film to shoot, but I wanted to go ahead and pick the ones I liked best on this one, which featured my house, Jake and my bikes, his garage, and school. I was planning on getting pictures of the tree house, the Cullens' house, and the meadow with my next roll.
"Bella, you know that Edward really wants to go to prom with you right?" she asked.
"But he said he didn't care if we didn't go," I told her.
"He does thought. He would absolutely love to take you. He just said that to make you happy," she told me, rifling through my bag.
"Oh fine, stop guilting me, I'll think about it," I muttered.
"Yay! Oh, Bella he's going to be thrilled!" she announced as she came upon my paper stars I had made in math the other day. "Ooh these are neat! Did you make them?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'll show you how sometime," I said casually.
"You know I think of you as a sister, right Bella?" she asked randomly.
"Of course Alice. I think of you as one too. And not that this whole subject isn't extremely random, but one day, I'd like to officially be your sister too," I admitted.
"Oh Bella! That would be awesome!"
"Yeah, it would. Edward's not so keen on me joining the family the way I want to though," I explained as I took my test strip out of the developer and put it into the stop.
"We'll see," she hummed, flicking the paper stars into the air and catching them.
"What's that supposed to mean Alice?" I asked her.
"Oh, nothing," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. "And three two one," she counted down until the bell rang loudly.
"Perfect timing as usual Alice," I told her with a grin as I put my things away.
That night, I went over to the Cullens' house for the evening to spend some time with Edward. After we finished our homework, which thankfully only took about half an hour, we went up to his room.
"Edward," I started to say.
"Yes," he responded, sitting down on his couch and gently pulling my hand so that I sat next to him.
"I was thinking, and I decided that if you want to go to prom, well, I suppose dance's aren't all that terrible, and it wouldn't kill me, so if you want to go, we can," I explained.
"Are you sure?" he asked with a chuckle.
"Yes, I'm sure," I replied with a smile. I figured that if I went with Edward I would probably end up enjoying myself.
"Well then, would my lady do me the courtesy of allowing me to escort her to the school dance that is approaching?" Edward asked in a posh British accent, quickly moving to kneeling in front of me with a cheesy grin on his face.
"I would be delighted kind sir," I replied, taking his hand.
From there, he stood up and pulled me into a standing position as well. After picking up a remote and pressing a button, his stereo began to play "Claire de Lune."
"Would my lady care to dance?" he asked, bowing.
"Yes," I told him, accepting his hand.
He pulled me in, and before I knew it, we were dancing around. As I looked into his golden eyes, I could tell that he was truly happy. We waltzed around his room to "Claire de Lune," and when it ended, some more upbeat music varying from fifties to current songs came on and we danced around his room, smiling and laughing.
The last song that came on was "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. Edward pulled me closer and we spun in slow circles reveling in being together. As the song came to a close, Edward leaned in and kissed me, his hard lips moving against my own, creating sparks only the two of us could feel. Before anything could get deeper, he pulled away.
"I love you Bella," he whispered.
"I love you too," I replied honestly. "I probably ought to go," I sighed.
"Hmm, well, would you prefer me drive you home, or do you want to run?" he asked with a grin.
"Run!" I exclaimed. "But won't Charlie be suspicious that there isn't a car?" I checked.
"Alice?" Edward called.
"All clear. Charlie's asleep," she said loud enough for me to hear.
"Let's go then," I told him. "Bye Alice and Jasper!" I called out. The rest of the Cullens were out hunting.
I climbed onto Edward's back, and instead of him running down the stairs like I expected, he slid the glass wall of his room back and jumped down before picking up speed and running to my house.
"Whoo!" I screamed with giddiness as we sped across the ground. When I finally convinced Edward to let me become a vampire, I think the speed would most definitely be one of the biggest perks.
"Here we are," he said as he stopped in front of my house.
"Thanks Edward," I said still smiling hugely. "Goodnight," I told him.
"Goodnight Bella. I love you," he told me before pulling me in for a quick kiss.
I walked up to the front door, waved goodbye, blew him a kiss, and walked inside, being careful not to wake Charlie. I tiptoed up the stairs, strategically avoiding the creaky one before grabbing some sweat pants and a t-shirt from my room and heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I fell asleep that night with "A Thousand Years" running through my head.
The rest of the week went great. The rumors faded away, and I successfully shot the rest of my second roll of film, stopping by the tree house to help Jake with some of his Algebra and getting some good shots Thursday after school. I developed my film the next week along with making contact sheets for both rolls. I ended up choosing ten pictures to use for my portfolio:
The tree house from the view of someone climbing up with Jake sitting on the couch
My truck from the ground up
The Cullen's yard from Edward's room,
Our bikes and Jake's garage taken while sitting on Jake's shoulders so that it looks like it's from the ceiling down
The meadow with the camera sitting on the ground so the grass blades look huge
The Cullens' house looking up the side
My house at an angle so that the corner of the house is in the front
My favorite book store taken through a gap in the shelves so it's like the perspective of a book
A replica of the shot of the Cullens I took my first day of junior year from the same spot
The forest around the tree house upside down at sunset (I hung upside down on a tree branch and took the shot while Jake spotted me)
I was thoroughly pleased with all of them and managed to get good prints of them all finished the week before prom. The only downside was that I spent literally all of my free time in the dark room. Mrs. Rose had gotten permission to give me a key to the art room, which an entrance directly from outside so that I could work on the weekends and when she wasn't there. Because of this, I had spent very little time with Edward or Jacob since I shot the last roll of film. I still spent time with Edward at lunch, only because he insisted that I needed to eat instead of work during lunch as well. Not that I didn't want to spend time with him, I was just engrossed in my project. Alice and Rosalie managed to drag me out one weekend to find a prom dress in Seattle, and I had fun spending a day with the girls, but other than that, I hadn't hung out with them much if at all.
Now that I was done, Jacob who had been badgering me to come hang out with him for weeks, insisted that I had to go riding with him soon or else. I finished on Wednesday afternoon, and Edward insisted that he spend some quality time with me Thursday, so after hanging out at his house for a bit, we went to the meadow. Friday, as soon as I stepped into the parking lot after school, I heard the fine tuned engine of a motorcycle. I looked up just in time to see Jake swerve into the parking lot.
"Come on Bells! I haven't seen you in forever!" he called waving my helmet at me.
I shot Edward a pleading look before saying, "can you take my bag to my house please? I'll call you when I get home."
"Sure Bella, but be careful," he told me, pulling me in.
"I will," I whispered before giving him a kiss and then running over to the bike where Jake was waiting impatiently.
"Hey Jake!" I exclaimed, smiling like a lunatic. I had missed my little brother.
"Bella!" he shouted, pulling me in for a hug. "You ready?" he asked, matching my insane smile.
"You bet!"
"I love you!" Edward called as I strapped my helmet on and climbed onto the bike behind Jake.
"I love you too! Bye!" I shouted back and waved as we rode away.
"We'll stop by my house and grab your bike, and then I want to show you a new trick I've been practicing!" Jake yelled over the whipping wind as we sped down the street.
"Awesome!" I replied just enjoying the feeling of being on a bike again for the first time in what felt like forever.
We arrived at his place relatively quickly, and I practically jumped off Jake's bike and sprinted back to the garage where mine was waiting with a fresh coat of red paint.
"Oh Jake you shouldn't have!" I told him gleefully.
"I was board. My lousy best friend abandoned me for a month," he fake-sulked.
"Some best friend she is," I replied, stroking my bike tenderly. "I am sorry Jake. I just had to get my project done. You know how obsessive I get! You're the same about your car," I added, pointing to the Volkswagen Rabbit he had been working on forever. I did a double take just as Jake responded.
"It's fine Bells. I get it. At least—"
"You finished and didn't tell me!" I shrieked.
"My eardrums!" he moaned, but he couldn't keep the grin off his face for long. "Yeah, I wanted to surprise you."
"It's wonderful!"
"Yeah, she's a beauty. Now are you ready to ride or what?"
"Let's go!" I exclaimed hopping on my bike and revving the engine.
Jake matched my stance and we zoomed out of the garage and into the forest to our usual spot where we rode. There was this stretch of road that hardly anyone used, and it was a great spot to pull tricks. When we got there, I sped up and down the stretch of road a few times, laughing like a maniac before Jake pulled over and indicated that I should stop too.
"What?" I asked sulkily. I didn't want to stop riding. I had almost forgotten how much I loved it.
"I thought you wanted to see my new trick," he responded. "Bet you can't pull it off," he added smugly.
"Come off it Jacob. You know that I am the superior one here with regard to most everything, especially trick riding," I replied with the same smug tone and a matching grin. I needed to one up him and remind him that I was the older sibling here.
"Sure, sure," he chuckled. "Just watch."
"Aye aye captain," I replied, planting my feet as further proof that I wasn't moving.
Jake sped off into the woods, and I wondered what in the world he was doing. Before I knew it, he came flying out of a different spot between the trees, and he was literally flying three feet off the ground and turning in mid-air, before landing on the other side of the road.
"Whoa, that was some big air Jake, but I bet I can do better," I told him, accepting his unspoken challenge.
"Bring it!" he replied before coming to where I was and planting his feet on the ground like I had minutes ago. "There's a clearly marked trail to the ramp," he added before I took off in between the trees.
The path, like he said was obvious from the many tire tracks going along it. I continued to gain speed, getting deeper into my own little focused world before swinging around the turn and gunning for the last bit before the ramp. Just as I passed the edge of the ramp and began to get some height, I heard Jacob shout.
"Bella!" he screamed, sounding terrified.
Not even a second later, I heard the deafeningly loud sound of a truck's horn blasting through the silence as an eighteen wheeler rounded the curve ahead and barreled towards us. They were breaking, but it wouldn't be enough. I wasn't going to make it across before they smashed into me. In the mere seconds it took me to realize this, Jake had already frozen in terror. It felt like it happened in slow motion when I reached the height of the arc of my jump just as the truck crashed into me. The windshield shattered and glass flew everywhere, giving me numerous cuts. My leg and arm on the right side, the side the truck directly hit, hurt excruciatingly. The second my body and bike hit the ground, Jake unfroze and ran over and the truck driver, who had stopped by then, got out and dashed over as well.
One thought was running through my head over and over as I lay on the road. I should have listened to Alice. She told me so.
Please Review! And check out my tumblr! (link on my profile)
P.S. please don't hate me for the ending *author smiles sheepishly before running to hide*