No copying of this work, no reproduction of this work, no created downloads of this work, and/or no linking of this work to another website is allowed without the express written permission of the author.
I Should Go copyright 2013 nikkipattinson
I Should Go
Chapter 21
I awoke Saturday morning with an urge to actually touch a comic book rather than peruse one on my iPad. In Chicago, I would stop by Graham Crackers every Wednesday on the way home from the office. I always loved New Comics Wednesday, but I wouldn't have subjected Alice to Cosmic Comics in Port Angeles on Wednesday. She'd be bored to tears.
I threw on jeans and my Marvel Universe t-shirt, grabbed my necessary crap, and left the house with a skip in my step. I truly love comic books.
My parent's house is on the way to Port Angeles, so I decided to stop in to see how they were before I lost myself in comic geek Nirvana. I parked in my normal spot and got out of the car. I tossed my keys in the air before catching them and shoving them in my pocket. I hopped the steps onto the porch and was reaching for the doorknob when my dad jerked the door open.
"Save yourself!" he exclaimed. "Run now!"
"What?" I asked. I should have just turned and ran like my dad had suggested.
"Is that Edward?" I heard Mom ask.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Dad mumbled. "Yes, dear," he yelled over his shoulder.
Mom appeared in the doorway and said, "Well come in."
I couldn't help myself. My mother had reached the age where she thought that she could wear extremely large pieces of costume jewelry and get away with it. So, I made what I can only assume was a gang sign with my fingers and said, "Yo, MTV Raps, whassup!"
"I beg your pardon," my mom said with a very confused expression on her face.
"I figure that since you're wearing a hubcap necklace that you have assumed your rapper persona… YoYo Mama."
Mom glared at me while my dad snorted with laughter. "You're not funny," she deadpanned.
"Dad disagrees," I replied. "Take that thing off. It's ridiculous."
"I will not. I love this necklace and it is not a hubcap." She turned to my dad and said, "You shut up. He's not funny."
My dad threw up one hand and left the room in tears. I gave my mother a smug smile, which was probably a mistake, because I soon found out why Dad told me to run.
She jabbed me hard in the chest and said, "You're dating that lovely Brandon girl and you haven't invited her to have dinner with us. Did you think that I wouldn't find out? This is a small town, Edward, I will always find out." She had continued to jab me and I had tried to retreat until she had me backed against the front door.
"Whoa, calm down. I wasn't trying to hide it from you. It's only been a little over a week and we've only been on one official date. She works weekends at the diner, so most of the time we just eat dinner together during the week. I hadn't really thought about bringing her here to meet you since you guys met at the housewarming."
"That doesn't count because you weren't dating her then."
"Who told you?" I asked.
"Mary Whitlock told me, but that doesn't matter. I want to meet her. You'll bring her to the banquet."
"What banquet? What are you talking about?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
"The annual Man of the Year banquet next Saturday night," she replied.
"I told you that she works at the diner on the weekends. I'll bring her by one night next week."
Mom rolled her eyes at me. "The diner will be closed next Saturday night for the banquet. The whole town will be there. She probably already knows about it and is wondering why you haven't asked her to go."
"She hasn't said a word to me about it," I said in my defense.
"She might have mentioned it to Mary," Mom replied as she pretended to pick at her perfectly manicured nails.
"Aw, shit," I muttered, which got me slapped upside the head. "Mom! I can only take so much abuse. Please spare me a concussion."
"That's for swearing and for not asking that lovely girl to the banquet."
"I can't ask her to an event of which I am unaware. Who's being honored, anyway?"
"Charlie Swan is for his work with the youths on the Quileute reservation. Everyone will be there; including you." She emphasized this by jabbing me again in the chest.
I rubbed the bruise she had created and said, "I don't remember you being this violent when I was a kid."
"You weren't as obstinate then," she replied. "Do as I say and bring her with you Saturday."
"Yes, ma'am. May I go now?"
"But you just got here," she pouted.
"Well, it would seem that I have to stop by the diner and rectify a misunderstanding. Tell Dad that I'll talk to him later." I kissed my mom on the cheek, flicked her hubcap, and then squeezed out the front door. I drove back into town and parked in the diner's parking lot.
Alice looked confused when I walked in the door and sat at the counter. She brought a glass of Sprite to me and said, "Hey, handsome. What brings you here this fine morning?"
I took a sip of Sprite and said, "It seems that there has been a misunderstanding."
"What are you talking about?"
"I didn't know about the banquet, Alice. If I had, I would have asked you to go sooner."
She blushed slightly and said, "Did Bella say something to you? I asked her not to."
I furrowed my brow in confusion. "Bella didn't say anything; my mother did. You've talked with Bella about this?"
Alice nodded. "She has to go because it's her dad. Jasper doesn't really like those kinds of things, but he's going for her. I might have mentioned that I wanted to go too, but that you hadn't mentioned it, so…."
"You could have asked me, you know," I replied.
She looked down at the counter. "I know, but I guess I didn't want to assume anything."
"Well, we're going, so find a pretty dress in the closet/room of yours. I'll pick you up at six, okay?"
"Okay!" She smiled and her entire face lit up. I leaned over the counter and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before walking out the door.
*****ISG*****
It was well after dark when I turned into my neighborhood after my trip to Cosmic Comics. I noticed that all of the street lights were out and that the street was eerily quiet. As I got near Bella's house, I saw her sitting on her front porch reading by flashlight. I pulled in behind her Mustang, lowered my passenger window and yelled, "Hey! What's going on?"
She turned the flashlight on me and I could tell that it took her a minute to figure out who was yelling at her. She finally answered me with, "The power's out."
"Okay. Why?"
"Hell if I know, Edward. What do I look like? An electrician?"
"Smart ass," I replied. "How long has it been out?"
"Are we playing twenty questions? A couple of hours, I guess."
I rolled up the window and turned off the ignition. I got out and looked at her over the roof of the car. "Bad day?" I asked.
"You could say that," she replied.
"Wanna see something that will make it better?"
"Nothing that you have to show me will make it better," she snapped.
"I beg to differ." I reached into the back seat and took out my Cosmic Comics purchases. I started for the walkway to her front door and realized that I couldn't see past my nose and would probably break my neck trying to get onto her porch. "Give me some light."
"Seriously, Edward, I'm not in the mood."
"You'll want to see this. I promise." I heard her sigh, but she shined the light out into the yard for me anyway. I carefully made my way up her walk and onto her porch. I set the box and the bag I had with me on the table next to her chair. "You ready?" I asked. She rolled her eyes. I lifted the lid of the box and removed the Rogue battling Ms. Marvel figurine I hadn't had the willpower to resist.
"Holy Jesus," she whispered.
"I told you," I said, smugly.
"That is beautiful," she said as she gingerly touched it with her fingertips.
"I couldn't leave it at the store. I have no willpower."
"I don't blame you. It's awesome. What's in the bag?"
"It's a guilty pleasure and you're definitely going to make fun of me, but I don't care. She's quite possibly my favorite character and she's really underrated."
"What did you buy?" she asked, with a smile.
I pulled out the complete 'Dazzler' series. "Before you say that she's lame, let me explain myself. She's blond, she's built, and she's a lawyer. I don't care that she shoots light beams out of her fingers and sings disco, she was my teenage fantasy. I couldn't pass up a complete set in this good of condition." I could tell she was suppressing her laughter so I said, "Go ahead and laugh."
"It's not that. I love her too! I always have. You're right; she's totally underrated. Remember when she joined the X-Men for that year or so. I devoured those issues."
"Really? Most people laugh at me about her. The guy at the comic book store sure as hell did."
"At least it's Dazzler and not Jubilee," Bella replied.
"Like they'd give that little poser her own book series," I said with indignation.
"It really is amazing what we have in common," she replied.
"Hmm." I nodded in agreement. "So, why are you having a bad day? If you don't mind my asking."
She sighed again and lightly touched the figurine. "Guy trouble."
"Did Jasper stand you up again? What an asshole!"
"No, no, nothing like that." She looked at me and shook her head. "Jasper and I were never meant to be together. I've always known that. I should have let him go a long time ago. He deserves better."
"Actually, you deserve better, Bella. Like you said… he's a shit boyfriend."
"And he's in love with someone else. He just refuses to admit it to himself."