again sorry for the delay, i've been out of town and dealing with migraines so please excuse my lateness! i hope everyone had a great holiday season and a happy new year!
to everyone who commented/review/pmed, thank you soooo much you all are incredible and thank you to everyone who's been following the story; thanks for going on this adventure with me.
a big thank you to ms pennylane, as always you've been crazy and dealing with me, lol.
all outfits are on my profile and there are also a couple songs that go along with this chapter as well
i'll stop yammering on now...
BPOV
"Riley's so tiny; when can we actually start doing things with her? When does she start getting fun?" Emmett said looking down at the month and a half old baby. She stared back at him with a quizzical expression of her own. She looked like she was trying to figure him out – it was actually pretty funny. "Right now all she does is eat, sleep and shi…poop," he continued, correcting himself before he finished his last word.
"We could say the same about you –minus the tiny part. Were you ever even that small?" Jasper quipped with an arched brow protectively over his little sister.
Out of everyone he was the one who was most baby focused: he would make sure her diaper was dry, that she had a bottle, or if she needed to be burped. He loved being around his little sister and jumped at any opportunity to just be around her – it was really quite odd behavior for an 18 year old male. Maybe it was the mama's boy in him, wanting to help out Esme, or maybe he just really liked babies; I couldn't figure it out. The only people around Riley more than Jazz, though, were Esme and possibly my mom who had basically been living at the Cullens'. Mom had caught baby fever and wanted to get her fill before she had to leave for press tour for her new film.
Edward made a face at Riley, getting her to smile. Jasper had been trying to do that for the last ten minutes but, unlike Edward, had been unsuccessful causing him to frown. It really irked him that the baby had instantly bonded with Edward even though it was Jasper who always cared for Riley and was around her. Edward was only around Riley for the easy stuff; he basically ran away anytime someone mentioned the word diaper or burp. But any other time Edward picked her up or paid any attention, Riley reacted… just like any other female who was around Edward. Whether it was that she was fussy and crying or just trying to get her to laugh, Riley always responded to him. It was kind of sweet watching the two of them, even though Edward had no idea what the hell he was doing: he was not a baby person instinctually.
"Emmett, you're doing it wrong; you're going to drop her. You're holding her like a football," Alice reprimanded him, reaching for the baby.
Em pulled Riley away, shooting her a 'bitch please' look. "Well, then there should be no problem since I've never dropped a football before," he commented, slightly insulted that she thought he had ever dropped a football.
And the usual bickering over Riley commenced: everyone wanted to hold her and everyone thought it was their god given right to do so. This always started small with one or two people squabbling which would quickly erupt into a full-fledged argument until someone had enough sense to intervene. I waited a couple minutes to see if anyone else realized what was about to happen before I jumped in. Since no one stepped up, I took that as my cue.
"Alright, enough," I scolded them, quieting everyone down. "Playtime with Riley is over. I'm taking her back to Esme," I said, scooping her up from Emmett and extracting her from the group of bickering teenagers. It was only a matter of time before Riley picked up on all the arguing and noise and weighed in with her own, much louder and shriller, vocal contributions.
If you would have told me last month that all of us would be yelling at each other over holding a baby I would have said you were off your fucking rocker but, apparently, I was wrong.
"Let's get you away from the crazies," I told her which made her giggle. It was the first time she'd ever done that while I was talking to her. I grinned in amazement that Riley actually seemed to understand and like me. Before, I hadn't really thought of her as anything other than a baby but now I seemed to realize that she's just a very small little person with her very own personality.
Edward shot me an appreciative glance and a warm smile as I took Riley out of the room. I replied back with an air kiss. What a difference a month made. This time last month I was miserable, moping around, basically a supreme bitch to anyone and everyone and now I couldn't be happier. I couldn't deny how happy he made me; what being in love could do. Ugg…I had to stop before I made myself nauseous with my sappiness.
"You're just the happiest baby, now aren't you?" I cooed, bringing my face closer to hers so that our noses were almost touching. She giggled and blew spit bubbles back at me, making me laugh even more. I liked how we were already communicating with each other.
"Delivery," I announced, loudly, walking into the family room and walking over to Carlisle.
He put his finger up to his lips, signaling me to be quiet, as he took Riley. Esme had fallen asleep on the sofa and he wanted to let her rest. She barely slept anymore with the baby; even though Riley had a nanny, Esme barely let her do anything – she was very hands on.
"Oops, sorry," I whispered sheepishly since I hadn't noticed her there originally.
"There's no need to apologize, you didn't know she was sleeping," Carlisle reassured me, bouncing Riley gently. Her little green-grey eyes groggily started to droop immediately. I was pretty sure she would, eventually, have the same color eyes as Edward but with Rosalie, Jasper and Carlisle's bright blonde hair. She was a total combination of her siblings and she was going to be absolutely stunning when she got older.
Carlisle had almost the same effect on Riley as Edward did, though, their connection made a little more sense since he was her father…
"Did Riley wear you guys out already; you guys only had her for half an hour. Weaklings…" he teased with a laugh, displaying his dimples.
Man, was he good looking. If only he was 20 years younger, unmarried, and without kids… I bit my lip, silently reprimanded myself over thinking this – I was dating his son for Christ's sake and he was like my second dad. But that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate his total hotness… No, no, no; this thought was so beyond inappropriate. Edward, Edward, Edward, I made myself think. At least Edward inherited his genes; something to look forward to as we got older.
"Quite the opposite – everyone wanted to play with her and your big kids almost had a temper tantrum over who got to do it. I figured I should take her out of the room before things really got out of hand," I explained.
He gave me an appreciative nod, knowing full well the types of tantrums we could pull out. "In that case, thank you very much," he chuckled again. "Are you guys ready for tonight?" he asked.
"We will be as soon as Mike and James get here. They needed to make a brief stop at Neimans, I believe James mentioned something about more shoe options. Apparently between Rose, Alice and I we still don't have enough stilettos options," I explained.
"That is not possible," Carlisle responded in all seriousness.
"That's what I told him but there's really no point in arguing with James; he's worse than Alice when he sets his mind to something," I stated.
"Oh boy," Carlisle replied, still bouncing an almost fast asleep Riley.
Prom was tonight and the boys had flown up for the week, since they had finished with midterms, to help get us ready – well, that, and to assist in the Victoria take down. Everything was all planned out and ready to be implemented; we just needed to go over everything one more time before we left. Things needed to go off without a hitch. Everyone had a role and I needed to make sure we were all on the same page. I wanted things to go as smoothly as possible.
"Are you getting ready here?" he inquired, putting Riley down in her crib. It was like Carlisle had some sort of magical baby power the way he had gotten Riley to go to sleep so fast. She was wide awake five minutes ago.
I laughed, "Shouldn't you know that?"
He shrugged. "I just live here; they don't tell me anything," he replied, picking up the baby monitor and turning it on.
"As far as I know we're getting ready here… unless James has decided we don't have enough hairspray or something and carts us off to a salon," I joked.
"Alright, I won't keep you any longer so you can get back to getting pampered and glamed up," Carlisle said as we made our way out to the hallway, me going back up to Edward's room to rejoin the group and he off to his study down the hall.
"Oh Bella," he called out, as if he had forgotten something, and turned around before heading into his office, "I'm glad you and Edward worked everything out. You both are in much better spirits these days, which I'm very happy to see," he said with a warm smile. "He'd kill me if he knew I was telling you this but he was really starting to lose it; he wasn't acting like himself at all. Actually he was acting like a sullen, pain in the ass, who didn't want to do much of anything – so maybe it wasn't that much of a stretch. Your break really hit him hard; he wasn't even playing anymore. I'd never seen him like this, not even when Elizabeth died but he was so young when that happened…" he trailed off and looked down at the baby monitor but not before I saw his eyes begin to dampen.
He was silent after that. Carlisle seldom spoke of his Edward's mother, which I had always thought was out of respect for Esme. I had never really given it much thought that it was because it was too emotionally difficult for him.
"Carlisle are you alright?" I asked, gently touching his shoulder. I was curious about Elizabeth. Edward never spoke of her, aside from that his car was his mother's; it was a topic of conversation that almost seemed off-limits. I hoped that Carlisle would open up and elaborate on her but I didn't want to press and seem too intrusive.
His eyes focused back on me and he seemed to come back to conversation. "Yes, yes; I'm fine – I just hadn't said her name out loud in quite a while," he sighed looking away from the monitor now, the tears glossing over his eyes like he had composed himself a little more.
"What was she like?" I asked, unable to keep the question back. "He never talks about her and rarely ever even mentions her name."
"It's been hard for Edward – I don't think he remembers her as well as he thinks he should which bothers him. He was just eight when she passed and before that we were in the hospital a lot with her, so I don't think he has a lot of clear memories of how Elizabeth was before she was sick. I think he feels guilty about that and for that reason never brings her up," he commented.
"But no one's memories are that great when they are that young; most people can't remember every single detail from their childhood. Most just remember the big things and the general details," I added.
"Exactly, but he thinks he should be the exception, especially about his mother. And that's where I believe the guilt stems from. In time he'll come to this realization. But back to your initial question, Elizabeth," he paused, choosing his words carefully, "was exquisite," he concluded with a saddened smile.
I felt my own eyes begin to dampen as he talked about her; his emotion seemed to wash over me and I sympathized with him. He didn't need to say much I could tell how much he meant to her.
"She was magnetic: everyone loved her even though she never sought the attention, much like you Bella. She was beautiful, smart and very quick witted; she had a great laugh – it was infectious. She wanted the best for others and pushed them to be that. She went out of her way to help everyone; she was very generous and altruistic. The two of you had a lot of similarities; I always wondered if Edward had picked up on that when you two first met. She was also as stubborn as an ox – a trait Edward naturally inherited from her. This made the cancer even worse because she was determined to not let it get the best of her. She never wanted anyone, especially Edward, to see her weakened. In fact when anyone was around, excluding myself, she was her old charismatic self, which expended a lot of her energy; she was the nurses' delight on the floor. She fought the cancer with everything she had, every step of the way, but in the end it wasn't enough. She hung around a lot longer than she was supposed to, though, because of her stubborn streak… at least that's what I choose to believe. She was one of a kind and I was lucky to spend as much time with her as I did. It saddens me that Edward was cheated of his mother," he stated glumly.
"He had you and you're a great dad," I told him, in an attempt to cheer him up a bit. And I wasn't lying; Carlisle really was a fantastic dad. "And Esme's phenomenal; he loves her as much as Elizabeth."
"I know. And you are entirely correct, Esme is really phenomenal; I don't know what I would do without her," he said a little more upbeat. "Anyway," he said, changing the topic of conversation and giving me a weak smile, "I just wanted to say you've been a good influence on him and he cares a lot about you– I hope you know that. He's been a hell of a lot more pleasant to be around."
I smiled back at him, knowing I wasn't going to hear any more about Elizabeth. I was glad that he had shared so much with me; that he had opened up about Edward's mom. I was, also, genuinely pleased that Carlisle thought I was a good influence on Edward because I questioned that all the time; he was different around me and I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. "Well I care a lot about him too, in case that wasn't apparent. And the parentals have said the exact same thing about him – they adore him; like a crazy amount, it's kind of sickening," I told Carlisle with a chuckle. "I think we're good for each other."
"Well, both Esme and I think you're fantastic as well," he said, giving me a hug. "Now, I've really kept you long enough; they'll be wondering what the hell the old man is doing and why he's talking your ear off. I'll let you get ready and thank you for listening. It was really nice chatting with you," he said, retreating into his study for some much needed time alone. I knew our talk had raised some emotions he hadn't thought about for a while.
"It was really my pleasure – thank you for opening up," I replied back, making my way through the house, back to Edward's room. I could hear them loudly discussing something as I made my way up the stairs.
"There you are! I've got James and Mike on the phone so we can figure out logistics for tonight - they're running late," Alice announced. I sensed her annoyance with the fact that they were not abiding by her schedule. Alice had planned today down to the minute and the two of them being late was throwing off everything: she had even printed out a schedule for each of us. God forbid we had to cut short our allotted bathroom/water breaks.
"We're not running late – he is. I'm being held captive by an insane, shoe-crazed, gay man," Mike stated, rather dramatically, into the phone.
"If the man needs shoes, let him be," Rose ordered, staring down Alice who looked like she was about to say something about how this was inconveniencing her.
"Here, here! Thanks Rosie," James called out. "And you didn't think I was so shoe-crazed when I got you those limited edition Varatos loafers, now were you – jack ass," he sniped at Mike.
"Anyway… back to the task at," Alice yelled, her voice drowning out everyone else who was talking. "Bella, you have the floor," she said handing over the phone to me as I made my way between her and Edward.
"When exactly are you guys going to be here – we can just do this when you get here," I suggested.
"Well looking at the schedule," she said, punctuating the word schedule to drive her point home and holding up the itinerary for the day in front of my face, "we're already five minutes behind since we had to wait for you to come upstairs and for Mike and James to get here so, no, we can't just wait for them to get here."
"How dare you ask such a ridiculous question," Edward whispered in my ear, "our itinerary is set in stone."
I elbowed him in the side, trying to conceal a laugh; jokes would not be tolerated by the Gestapo over there. The schedule was not a laughing matter…
"Damn straight it is," Alice answered him, totally straight faced.
"She hears everything," he muttered, relaxing into the couch and pulling me back with him.
"So let's dive into this then," I said, shooting Alice a glance to make sure this is alright with her. I didn't need her getting on my case anymore about "not following the schedule," when I had enough going on. And I was starting to get anxious. I wasn't nervous about my plan, I just wanted to get things going and for it to go smoothly. Alice nodded her head in approval so I continued on. "Has everyone's part, thus far, gone according to plan?" I inquired, looking around the circle at my friends who were nodding their heads.
"What's going on?" James asked, unable to see what was going on.
"You would know if you were here…" Alice mumbled under her breath.
I hit the side of her leg to get her to shut up. If she was going to make snarky comments towards everyone that would just drag things out even more. Besides, I wanted everyone to get along tonight; I didn't need a mutiny on my hands later on.
"Why don't we go around and double check that everything a go," Edward suggested, interlacing his fingers with mine when he had, had enough of me taping my finger nervously against his leg. I relaxed a little with this small gesture and leaned a little more into him.
"Sounds good; I'll go first," Rosalie declared, plucking the phone from my hand. "So I managed to get some pictures of Victoria at a party from some of the JV girls. Don't worry, none of this can be traced back to us, the girls submitted it for initiation…" she explained.
Alice shot her a death stare. "She meant… er, an end of the year wrap up slideshow for the girls, with some, uh, comedic pictures…" Alice said, attempting to cover up Rosalie's slip up.
"Alice, chill. I know you're a stickler for the 'rules' but we're about to kick someone out of school; I doubt anyone here's really going to mind if we haze the freshman," Rose snapped back at her.
Jasper snorted at his sister's response, warranting him a very angry glare by his girlfriend. His face was expressionless after that.
Rose ignored Jasper and Alice's interaction and continued. "I only had to doctor the pictures slightly; you know, blur out the other people's faces and enhance hers, though, I don't think anyone could mistake that hair of hers… The pictures were pretty incriminating on their own: one had her doing body shots and coke off some sophomore I think, the other was giving some guy a lapdance, and a couple where she was about to kiss another girl from the squad. Her uber conservative parents are going to lose their shit when they see their darling, little angel in these," she explained.
"One, how are the parents going to get and see these pictures? And, two, how do you know they're conservative?" Mike asked.
"They've donated a very large amount of money to the Republican Party here in Washington and they're avid church goers: never missed a service, are pretty Jesusy, and like to keep a certain public perception. They're also big contributors to the MoveRight movement; they might've been one of the founders though they're trying to keep that under wraps for business purposes since they have to work with a lot of Dems," Emmett interjected. Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions on their faces. "Don't look so shocked; I have my ways – I'm not as stupid as you all think I am," he grinned.
"And I'm going to go over to their house and personally deliver the pictures. You know how I enjoy having sit downs with parents: basically playing the role of the concerned upperclassman worried about their child's wellbeing. That is kinda what I'm known for and parents eat it right up," Alice chimed in.
"Yeah, we figured Alice would be more believable and convincing in this scenario, especially being ASB president as well," Rose interjected.
"Yea, her being ASB president is the reason Alice is doing it over you…" Jasper quipped, adding his own two cents.
Rosalie and Jasper stared each other down for a tense moment before they busted up laughing and she handed him the phone. Twins, I'll never get them… maybe it's just these twins.
"J, your update," I suggested.
"My role is already taken care of and has been for a couple weeks now," he announced with a cocky grin. "Tyler's bringing her as his date to Prom. It actually wasn't that difficult to arrange. I think he's had a thing for her ever since New Years but hasn't done anything about it. I just had to give him some words of encouragement, a little nudge if you will, and everything was set into motion," he told us, handing the phone over to Alice.
He seemed bored by this whole thing: Jazz wasn't much of a plotter or someone who worked behind the scenes. The boy liked to get his hands dirty and this was a bit too underhanded for his tastes. Maybe he just wanted a task that was a little more high profile, like Alice, or more involved like Emmett's. If that was the case, he shouldn't have been upset because his role was just as important as anyone else's. Everyone served a purpose in making sure Victoria wouldn't find out about this ahead of time. But more importantly, so nothing could be traced back to them. It was one thing if I took the sole responsibility for this if there was some sort of fallout but I didn't want the rest of them to get dragged into this. This was my battle, not theirs.
"So my role hasn't happened yet – just in case you haven't figured that out," Alice piped in. "Once the initial talk happens tonight, my role comes in next. As Rose mentioned, I'll be the one speaking with Victoria's parents. But, I'm also on the school's academic's ethics council with Aro, Caius and a couple other teachers which will prove very helpful. Once the cheating scandal hits and the hearing begins – I'll have an inside look on what's going on and can spin that to our advantage. In addition to talking to her parents about the pictures, which were 'brought to my attention', I'll be speaking with them about Victoria's academic integrity and how the drugs and partying have all lead to her downward spiral, blah, blah, blah... But my role isn't until phase two, which might not happen, though that is highly unlikely. I don't see Victoria going out quietly, which is perfectly fine with me; I'm always up for a good fight," she concluded with a mischievous grin spreading across her face. Unlike Jasper, she lived for these underhanded schemes.
"Can we finish up phase one before we leap into phase two – to limit any confusion," Mike offered. "Sorry munchkin."
My eyes flickered towards Edward to see his reaction. The corners of his mouth curled up; he liked how his nickname for Alice was catching on. I snuggled into his side more and tilted my head up to give him kiss on cheek, making his smile more pronounce.
"Totally understandable, wanting to go in order from beginning to end; I can appreciate that logic," she replied. "I'll hand it over to Em then," tossing the phone to Emmett.
He relaxed into his chair and put his feet up on the coffee table; it looked like he was settling in for a while. "So I took care of switching out a term paper Victoria wrote in English on Wuthering Heights for one that's been circulating on the web for a while. I had to drop something to Tanya, who is the aide for Victoria's class, since her mom is helping my mom with the AMFAR fundraiser. So I just happened to visit Tanya while she was aiding. When she was out of the room, I switched the two papers. All sorts of red flags will go off when they start grading it. I hid the real paper in some folder in that cluster fuck of an office Mr. Hernandez has, just in case Victoria brings in her actual paper to refute it – they can just say it was misplaced in the dozens of folders he has in there. Just like Jazz, my part's finished and in Tanya's possession since the paper was due last Monday…" Emmett began.
"I thought there were two separate cheating allegations?" James butted in, interrupting Emmett's train of thought.
"I'm gettin' to it," Em responded with a slight irritation in his voice. He wasn't a fan of being cut off, especially since Rosalie did it so frequently and there wasn't much he could do about it with her. Well, nothing he could do if he wanted to stay in her good graces.
"As I was saying, the plagiarized paper was only in her English class. There's also a sting set up in her geometry class but Edward handled that one and can give you the details. Only the paper was my responsibility so it didn't seem suspicious or easily traced back to the same person," Emmett concluded and threw the phone over to Edward.
"Everything's a go in this department as well. Jane's just waiting for me to say the word - she's the aide in that class. She's already scheduled for one of the other students to come in and take the fall," Edward explained.
"How can you be so sure Jane can be trusted?" Mike asked.
"Because she's got as much to lose if it comes out that she was helping to set Victoria up: Jane's getting paid for test answers. I simply happened to find out about her little business venture and suggested it was in her best interest to help us out," he said with a smirk. "Jane's going to take Victoria's test and tell the student making up the exam that her answers are the answers from the teacher. Therefore, when Jane goes to grade the makeup exam, Victoria and the other student's answers will be exactly the same. They won't know who's telling the truth between the two students but with Victoria's prior cheating record, expulsion will be the only logical conclusion. No one involved will open their mouths about what happened: the student won't want to get into even more trouble for cheating and Jane wants to keep her business afloat. It's a win-win situation for us. And later on if we want to brush all of this under the table, if Victoria decides to leave on her own volition, Jane can just attribute this as a grading error: that she mixed up the tests and graded the same one twice. It works out perfectly," he concluded.
"Genius," James said with a smile, as he and Mike walked into the room, ending the phone call.
"All praise should really be directed at Bella: she masterminded this whole thing," he commented, kissing the side of my head.
"When the hell'd you get here?" Emmett asked, surprised they were now in the room.
That question went unanswered though. "Shocking lil sis…just shocking," Mike teased. "I'm impressed; you've really outdone yourself."
"Just see what a little motivation can do," I joked. "No, what this really means is that I've been hanging around Alice for too long…"
Alice lit up, taking my statement as a compliment. "You've done well my young Padawan," she replied, trying to imitate the guy who plays Obi Wan.
Jasper beamed for a brief second at her Star Wars reference: he had taught her that. He was really such a nerd sometimes. Alice quickly glanced sideways to see if he had picked up on her comment that was solely uttered for his benefit – cause neither Alice nor I could give a shit about Star Wars. A tight smile spread across his lips as he knocked his knee into hers, acknowledging that he got that reference was for him.
"Yes! After all my efforts you finally used a Star Wars quote!" Em exclaimed, taking full ownership for Alice's Star Wars knowledge. "It only took you 13 years but that's okay; it takes someone that long to understand its greatness."
"How am I dating you?" Rosalie asked him in all seriousness, turning to look at him.
"Cause you love me and I'm great in the sack," Em replied with a wide smile, not missing a beat.
All of us busted up, unable to control ourselves. Alice, Jasper and I exchanged knowing looks, though. If Emmett wanted to think he was the reason for Alice's sudden Star Wars interest, that was totally fine; besides, no one wanted to burst his bubble. He was so cute when he got this excited.
"Okay, so back to tonight," Alice said, bringing the conversation back, in-between giggles. "We've got to start getting ready in like five minutes so can we please try to finish this up."
"So James, your role tonight is simple: get Victoria alone. Preferably in the back bathroom area that's been closed off so we're not disrupted," I explained.
"The philanthropic society wanted to contain all the rowdy teenagers from destroying the estate, so they're keeping them in a designated area – we're not allowed to roam about the house which is lame. It was actually one of the main issues of conjecture for booking this location – we even have a clause in the contract about it," Alice mentioned.
"Is that my entire roll?" James asked, slightly dejected.
"It's larger than some…" Mike muttered, unhappy.
I sighed and tried not to roll my eyes; we'd had this conversation a thousand times already. At this point he was just beating a dead horse. "Mikey, I've already told you: you're too recognizable. She knows you're my brother – she would get suspicious," I commented back, trying to suppress my annoyance.
"He was in the damn lip synching contest – how is that not recognizable? He gets to do everything," he pouted, stalking off into the corner. James suddenly found his fingers totally engrossing so as to not make eye contact with Mike.
"You're integral to all of this – you know that. You're going to be with Alice when she goes and confronts Victoria's parents," I said, trying to cushion the blow. I knew he was feeling left out, being the only one not there tonight, but I couldn't risk it; he was a liability. "You're the one who's going to tell Victoria's parent's that she's basically obsessed with me and explain that to them."
He still sat there, arms crossed, sulking in the corner. I knew my brother, nothing was going to make him change his mind – if he thought he was getting the short end of the stick and that was that. He needed to have his moment where he could pout, mope, and be a whiney bitch.
"Sooo… are we through running down everything because we really need to start getting ready," Alice said, breaking up the awkward silence that had fallen over the group while Mike had thrown his tantrum. "I mean, you know what you've got to do Bells; there's no reason to go through that."
"Yea, I've got it covered; after James texts us – I go in there and deal with Victoria," I replied calmly; that was something I was very much looking forward to. "Any other questions?" I asked, looking around the group but they stayed quiet.
"Alright," James said brightly, "hit the showers; we've got work to do."
"What the hell are you and Jasper going to do tonight?" I whispered to Alice as I put on my diamond solitaires; this was the first time we'd been totally alone all day and had an opportunity to talk. "With all this Victoria stuff I kinda lost track of everything else. I should have been around more to help you figure out what you were going to do; sorry I've been so self-involved."
"God I know, you're just such a bitch," she teased and scrunched her face a little. "Though, I suppose I can forgive you; working on your first major takedown and all... I'm so proud; how quickly you grew up," she fake cried, wiping invisible tears off her cheek and sniffling.
"Thanks," I replied flatly but arching my eyebrows afterwards signaling her to continue with her Prom scheme.
"We're just going to walk in," she answered me, like it was no big deal and walked into the other room.
I stood there slightly baffled. "You're just going to walk in?" I uttered, following her into the other room.
She nodded back at me. "We're just going to let the cards fall where they will; I'm over the whole hiding thing. Besides, it was kind of assumed we were going to go together anyway since the rest of you were all coupled up. It was actually Rose's idea 'to keep the group intact'," she said, air quoting that last part with a stifled laugh.
I shot her another look of disbelief which she brushed off again. Apparently, being so absorbed in my own drama left me oblivious to everything else that was going on.
"What was my idea?" Rosalie asked sauntering into her room, almost ready except for her shoes.
"Seriously, you've got some crazy bat hearing when it comes to your name; you know that right? Weren't you like two rooms away?" I asked her; surprised she had heard that at all since we were speaking in hushed voices.
Rose just rolled her eyes and looked to Alice to see what we were talking about.
"About Jazz and I going together tonight," Alice stated.
"Oh yea – that was me," Rose replied, again, like it was no big thing. "So it would only be the six of us, since we're going to be dealing with Victoria. It was the logical conclusion."
The logical conclusion? Yeah right; this was in the self-serving interest of Rosalie and nothing more than that. This wasn't because we were dealing with Victoria. It was because she didn't want to be bothered with playing nice with anyone else tonight: feigning interest in others, making small talk and other common courtesies. She liked the group with just the six of us and that's how she intended to keep it. She could be her typical bitchy self, well bitchier than the general public has seen, and none of us would even bat an eyelash.
"Yea, great idea Rose," I commented, playing along because it did work to everyone's advantage. Jasper and Alice would be happy since they got to go together. Edward and I would be at east because this would make things run a lot smoother and we could be less secretive. And Em would be happy because he wouldn't have to hear Rosalie bitch all night about some random person "invading" our group, which is the term she always uses when we're in mixed company. She's a fickle one: she loves people doting on her but then doesn't really want to be bothered with them – go figure.
"Alright ladies, let you me give you another once over before calling in the gentlemen and putting on your glosses and or lipstains," James stated, bursting into the room, glam squad in tow, holding different types of hairspray in each hand. He motioned for Alice first.
He looked her over, appraising her overall look and then went back and slowly examined each, specific, area: makeup, hair, dress, shoes – in that order. "What did I say about her having a freshness with her makeup? She needs dewiness and a tad more blush, like an after sex glow – that kind of pink, got it? Do not make her look like a whore though; there's a big distinction," he instructed the makeup artist. "The hair's perfect; just the right amount of sleek and messy: just makes sure it stays in place," he said, closing Alice's mouth with his hand and dousing her head in maximum hold hairspray with his left hand. "Dress is perfect; just get the Atwoods on her. Use a berry stain with a gloss overlay for her lips which you can do now. She doesn't have anyone she's going to be kissing anytime soon," James said, concluding his evaluation of Alice.
I tried to suppress the giggle that was rising in my throat – sucks to be them right now. I saw Alice's perfect Cupie Doll lips turn into a frown as the makeup artist carted her away; she was hoping to sneak away for a moment alone with Jasper but that wasn't happening now.
James moved onto Rose now. He stood there contemplating her look much longer than he had with Alice which worried Rosalie. She starred at him, trying to read his face to understand what was taking so long. She was not pleased and looked like she was getting worked up. "Just spit it out! What's wrong" she asked, concerned.
"The hair needs something," he answered biting his bottom lip in thought and peering out the window. "And more mascara," he barked at the makeup artist, turning towards her.
Boy was he getting bitchy…
He thought about it a little more and then lit up; he figured out what was needed. "The chignon needs to be a little messier in the front – more volume too. Also, let a couple strand down in the front and get a small flower from the yard to tuck into the back. Make sure it's a dusty rose or off white so that it goes with the dress," he snapped at an assistant and pointed towards the garden. "The dress also needs to be steamed at the bottom so that it flows properly. The lip is going to be nude with some shine but Emmett need to come in here first. I'm sure there's going to be kissing with those two; so get that over and done with and then shellac her," he instructed the makeup artist.
I was next as James shuffled Rose over to get her dress steamed. "Finally Bella," he exhaled, like he was now getting a chance to relax. That, or he was glad that his talents were almost done being utilized – it's probably been a stressful day for him. "You need a touch more bronze, a little more of a sun-kissed look. And you need more fullness to your hair – I want Victoria Secret waves meet Barbarella height and fullness – but I want it touchable, not stiff. I want to be able to run my hands through it; oh, and a touch more of that shine serum. Other than that, I want high shine on her lips: a little pink sparkle but all gloss and shiny," he said to the team and he pushed me over to get my finishing touches.
I stood there and let them do their thing; I didn't want to ruin anything and have to go through the process again.
"Edward! Emmett! Your services are needed," James yelled, poking his head out the door. "Bella and Rosie, you may go and have your moment – then back to finish up," he said, turning back towards us.
"You rang?" Emmett sang, strolling into Rose's room completely dressed. He looked fantastic in his Armani suit. It was a deep blue, almost black, with a blush boutonniere and diamond cufflinks to match the crystals on Rose's dress.
"I wanted to check you guys out and give you all a moment. Kiss, do your thing, but do not ruin my work: got it? I'm serious, as soon as lipgloss goes on don't touch those lips – I know what you're thinking…" James warned wagging a finger at him.
Em threw his hands up. "I wasn't going to do anything," he said innocently.
"I never said you were going to," he said, turning his gaze towards Rosalie. "That goes for you too," he said glancing at the door.
I followed his gaze to the door and saw Edward leaning against the door frame with a relaxed smile, sipping a glass of scotch. He looked ah-ma-zing in his black on black Tom Ford Suit; the suit looked like it was made especially for him. His generally tousled bronze locks were slightly more coifed than usual but that wasn't going to last unless James had hairsprayed the crap out of that too – his hair never stayed in place because he just played with it too much. There was a deep green hue in his tie which brought out the green in his eyes and a white boutonniere to match my dress. He looked absolutely perfect. I was about ready to jump him right there. Forget all the time I had just gotten ready or the whole Victoria thing, Edward and I had to make up for lost time. I inadvertently licked my lips.
"I'll be right back, I'm going to go do a very quick change – behave," James instructed, looking squarely at me before heading out. Apparently, he hadn't missed my lip licking…
As soon as James left the room, Mike came in. "Do whatever but please remember I'm in the room; just don't do anything that's going to get me into trouble," Mike said, laying on Rose's couch engrossed in the latest issue of GQ.
Edward put down his glass on the armoire and grabbed my hand, pulling us into Rose's closet. He slammed the door behind us. I wasted absolutely no time, as soon as that door was shut and Mike couldn't see us, I crushed my lips into his unable to control myself. His arm instinctively wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer. The other went on my bare back which sent an electric charge through my body; thank the lord my dress was strapless. I let my hands drift up towards his neck but stopped before I reached his hair, tugging on his collar a bit. The kiss intensified as we nipped at each other's lips and as my tongue slipped into his mouth; my heartbeat picked up tenfold, I'm sure Edward could feel it race. As quickly as this kiss was getting out of hand, we were both very aware that it couldn't go much further. We knew what we could and couldn't do which made the kiss a little awkward. I couldn't run my hands through his hair the way I was so accustom to or actually pull him close, not wanting to ruin or wrinkle the suit and I could sense this same feeling growing within him too. We slowly started to end the kiss with one final peck as we pulled away. I took a breath as I rested my head onto his chest.
"Do we really have to go anywhere tonight?" he asked with that crooked smile of his.
"You should really dress like this more often," I told him smiling. "I like it – a lot."
"Oh this old thing? I just found it in the back of my closet," he joked. "Now you… you look incredible," he said, spinning me away from his chest so that he could really see the dress in its entirety. "It's a little short," he commented and tried to pull it down, which then brought the front down and exposed more cleavage so he pulled it back up. It was one or the other which caused him to laugh.
My white and pink, strapless, chiffon Marchesa gown was teeny tiny and barely covered my ass, though, the bow in the back did help. It was supposed to have a long train but I had it shortened it so that only the enlarged bow was left; it just looked weird with the train. With the nude stilettos James paired it with, I looked especially tall, well tall for me; I was still a half a head shorter than Edward.
"We'll be best dressed for sure," I told him.
He nodded, holding my hand and pulling me closer to him again and kissing me. Man, how I loved the way he kissed me. He moved his hands to my waist as I straightened the lapel on his jacket and we looked at each other for a moment. "Are you ready for tonight?" he asked me in a far more serious manner than was necessary.
"Definitely," I answered him confidently. And I was; I wanted Victoria gone and I couldn't wait to get it done.
"Well, I've been thinking a little more; I've changed my mind, I want to be there when you talk to her – so it comes off as a solidified front," he said.
We had gone back and forth about this for days now: he wanted to be there but I didn't want him involved, end of story. The last time he had brought it up, he had been on board with letting me do this on my own but I had a creeping suspicion that he wasn't going to go along with that.
I moved away from him and sat on ottoman in the walk-in. "You're starting to sound like Mike… We've gone over this already – there is no reason for you to be involved. If something goes wrong I don't want you to get suspended or worse. She went after me, so I'm going after her. You don't have to get involved – I will be fine," I told him. He had been trying to play the overprotective boyfriend role and I really didn't need that.
"Why are you so worried about me? When have I ever gotten in trouble with the administration?" he replied, with a snippiness to his voice.
"So are you then saying that you think I can't handle Victoria? You think I'm going to get into trouble?" I answered him defensively, crossing my arms and legs in a huff.
He took a moment to breathe as he declenched his jaw – he wasn't looking for an argument and was trying, very hard, to not make this into one. "No, not at all; I have no doubt that you can handle the situation. I just think it will be better if we're both there to confront her so she doesn't feel as ambushed; so it looks like we're both on the same page. Stop trying to protect me over this, I will be fine – we should be doing this together," he commented.
"Well, then stop trying to protect me," I snapped back at him. I took a deep breath before continuing – I didn't want to get in a fight with him either but I was adamant about my point. "I don't think you get that, that's how it's coming off to me. Maybe that's not your intention and that I'm misconstruing what you're saying but it seems like you just want to be there to make sure that things don't get out of hand. That if things go wrong, you want to be there to take the fall. I don't need you to do that; I don't want you to do that. You don't have to be my knight in shining armor, in fact, I would prefer you weren't that person," I said, in a much softer voice trying to get him to understand where I was coming from.
He sat with that for a moment not saying anything; we both stubbornly sat there in silence. "I get what you're saying but think about it what I'm saying. It makes sense: it looks like we're a unified, that we're on the same page," he reasoned. "From the get go you said we're in this together, so let's do this together. I'm just going along with what you proposed initially when we were in the meadow," he said with that damn crooked smile of his. He was trying to use that smile against me now, cause he knew that could wear me down.
He knew I couldn't argue with that since I was the one who had said that in the first place. And, as much as I didn't want to admit it, we were in this together. This whole thing with Victoria had affected him too, so it only made sense that he wanted to confront her as well. Regardless, I worried of what he would do if things didn't go according to plan – I didn't want him to intervene. This was my plan, my takedown; if there were going to be any repercussions to the chain of events that were about to take place I wanted to be the only person who took the fall.
"But…" I protested but Edward cut me off.
"But nothing, you know I'm right. I've let you do everything else without really saying a word, which is fine – I'm happy you did. All I'm asking is to just be there to see what is going on and see that it going smoothly. You want everything out in the open – well this is it. I'm not about to let something she says come between us, again," he said authoritatively. "Alright?" he asked with an inflection in his much softer voice, as if he wasn't sure what my response would be and extended his hand.
I considered just flat out saying no again but I knew that wasn't going to get us anywhere. There was no way I could argue with what he said, since he was using rational thought as his reasoning as to why he should be there. Damn him. I, begrudgingly, took his hand. I just hoped nothing unforeseen were in the stars for tonight.
"Fine, we're in this together," I replied flatly, as he helped me up.
"I told you we should have taken pictures when we first got here," Alice lectured, fusing with her dress.
She was wearing a brown, white and yellow, strapless gown with a flamenco influenced skirt and very high slit up the front. It deviated from what Alice typically wore, which was usually very girly and on the shorter side to give her more height. It was nice to see her in something different for a change. Her dress fit perfectly with Jasper's suit: a slim fitting, single breasted, deep brown velvet cocktail jacket with a lavender collared shirt and pocket square, a deep drown velvet bow tie and black evening pants. The Cullen boys had a thing for Tom Ford tonight and totally made it work.
"Yeah, you've said that already," Rose stated, preening in her compact and basically ignoring Alice.
"We might miss King and Queen announcements if we're here much longer..." Alice continued just to mess with her.
"Don't even kid about that," Rose replied, snapping her mirror shut at her.
"Well it's your fault – you're the one who wanted to make the rounds before we took pictures. Trying to schmooze people for last minute votes," Alice stated, tapping her foot and growing more impatient.
"Just locking in the crown," she replied, flashing a dazzling smile to the rest of the line and smoothing out her dress.
Rosalie's dress was something new to her as well: a blush pink, asymmetrical, Swarovski adorned, long Grecian gown that neither prominently displayed her boobs, ass, legs or back – the only thing the dress displayed was her collarbone and shoulder. It was quite conservative for her, though; Rose somehow managed to make the dress look way sexier than it actually was. I swear she could still look smokin in a Birka.
She and Emmett didn't look like they fit together as nicely as Jasper and Alice but I doubted anyone tonight really would – aside from maybe Edward and I. They really pulled out all the stops tonight.
"Nice find," I commented, motioning towards Jasper's suit.
"I had nothing to do with it," Alice replied, not even looking at me but staring down the group who was currently taking their pictures.
If she made them feel uncomfortable enough maybe they would just leave? We were the next group up though; she just needed to fucking relax.
"You found this on your own?" I asked, not even trying to cover up the amount of shock in my voice.
"What? I do like fashion," Jasper replied with a laugh. "I'm quite the dapper dresser... when I actually give a shit," he said, glancing over at Alice, as a smile spread. He really was head over heels for that crazy pixie.
"Are you sure you're just not a gay man in disguise?"Em interjected.
I elbowed Emmett in the ribs; there was no reason to hate on Jazz. "Really J, this is quite impressive," I complimented Jasper and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"I'm glad some of you appreciate fashion. Unlike certain people, I don't need my girlfriend to hand pick what I wear," he quipped, staring down Emmett in the process.
Emmett opened his mouth to respond back, with some inappropriate girlfriendless retort not less, when Alice jumped in. "Our turn!" Alice squealed in glee.
"Alice, they're about to announce Queen; I can see Davidson up there. If you make me miss the announcement for a fucking picture, I will end you," Rose growled as Alice pushed her into position in front of the camera.
Rose continued to bitch as Alice arranged us. I went where Alice instructed me, ignoring the photographer altogether. She had moved the lights around, creating a softer lighting for the picture, which did not sit well with the photographer. We were in our couples, girls in the front, guys in the back: your standard Prom picture just with better lighting. Alice stepped back from her position, inspecting her work and consulting with the photographer – mostly just to humor him. She nodded to him and then rushed back to the picture.
"Rose, just shut up for a minute and smile," she snapped at her through a brilliant smile.
The picture was over in less than 30 seconds. 20 minutes of waiting for not even 30 seconds. What a waste of time. That picture better be phenomenal.
"Alright, now for the couple pictures," the photographer stated.
"No time," Rose said trying to make her way towards the stage.
"No, one more," Edward instructed with a twinkle in his eye, grabbing Rose's waist and stopping her in her tracks.
Alice and Rose looked like they were about to murder him. I didn't really care if we missed the King and Queen announcement but the other two were all about it.
"We're going to do a fun one – not one that's so god damn stuffy," Edward commanded, releasing Rosalie, swooping me up and cradling me in his arms.
Em laughed, picking Rose up and wrapping her around his shoulders. She tried to resist having a good time with it but she couldn't help herself – she eventually cracked a smile.
"Hey Tarzan, if you're going keep me hung over your shoulders like this, can Bella at least fix my dress?" Rose asked in-between laughs. Emmett brought her closer to me so I could take care of it. The way he had hoisted her up there made her dress hike all the way up her thigh turning it into a micro mini.
Alice and Jasper were the last to get into position. J got down on one knee and Alice sat on his lap. In a quick swoop he dipped her, very close to the ground, making her yelp, causing the rest of us to laugh. Rose was in the process of kissing the side of Emmett's mouth when then happened. It was the perfect photo opt.
"Now!" I instructed the photographer, mid laugh, while the others weren't ready and weren't paying attention. This was a picture that was worth waiting 20 minutes in line for, the one to show the grandkids later on, not that stuffy first one. I sat up a bit and gave Edward a surprise kiss that he wasn't expecting at all.
"I wasn't even ready!" Rosalie protested once she realized the picture had been snapped.
She tried to get to the photographer to check out the digital preview. Alice grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the stage, though.
"Trust me, it'll turn out fantastic," I told her.
"Besides there's no time; they're presenting the Court now," Alice added on.
Emmett and Jasper followed closely behind. Edward put me down, pretending to adjust the back of my dress when in reality he was just trying to grab my ass. I playfully swatted his arm away but interlaced my arm with his as we made our way towards the other four in the crowd.
"Welcome everyone! I hope you all are…" Mr. Davidson spoke into the microphone.
"Just get to it already," Emmett commented, drowning out Davidson's voice entirely.
All of us looked at him, surprised. If anyone was going to be freaking out, we all thought it would be Rosalie. I glanced at her who looked relaxed as could be.
"Chill out, man," Jasper whispered to him. Em blew him off and began tapping his foot nervously.
Rose shushed us, losing her cool for just a moment, and motioned towards the podium to where Mr. Torrence was holding an envelope.
"Now the moment you've all been waiting for. Can we please have Alice Brandon, Edward Cullen, Rosalie Hale, Jasper Hale, Bella Swan, Emmett McCarty, Jessica Stanley and Erik Yorkie come to the stage? Please give them a warm round of applause," Mr. Torrence said, indifferently. Apparently his hatred for all student events included Prom…
The eight of us made our way to the stage in the pairings we were announced in. Emmett almost dragged me onto the stage the way he was prancing; the boy seriously needed to calm down.
Davidson took the mike from Mr. Torrence, unhappy with his lack of enthusiasm. "Congratulations to all of you," he said with a toothy, yet creepy, grin as we went across the stage. "As you all know, there can only be one winner… well in this case two," he said with a chuckle and looked to the rest of us to laugh along with him; though, nobody did.
He cleared his voice when he noticed no one else was laughing with him. "And your King from this year is…" he paused, tearing open the envelope, "Jasper Hale!"
"What?" Emmett shrieked, absolutely shocked.
An amused smirk spread across Jasper's face as he stepped towards Mr. Davidson to accept his crown.
"This is ridiculous! I could maybe understand you," he said looking at Edward, "but Jasper - really?" Emmett continued. "This can't be happening."
"You didn't," I whispered to Alice who was just smiling.
"What? That's preposterous," Alice whispered back with a laugh.
"I guess the people have spoken," Jasper quipped with a shrug as he turned back and looked at Emmett.
Rose gave Em a sympathetic look of understanding and patted him on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort him but that was short lived as the Queen envelope was handed to Mr. Davidson. She gave him a final pat, which was more of a push towards Edward so that he could deal with the Emmett situation. Her focus was on the envelope now and that held her undivided attention.
"And this year's Queen is," he paused again, opening the envelope as Rose took a step forward, "Bella Swan."
I won? I won! I was shocked – no, shocked wasn't a strong enough word, floored might be better. How did that happen? I didn't really know how to react. I've always been nominated but never won or cared about winning. But now that I had; it was awesome. People had chosen me. Me, over Alice, Jessica and Rose. Oh shit, Rose…
All of us, including Mr. Davidson and Mr. Torrence, turned to look at Rosalie who was standing as still as a statue. Alice pulled her back so no one in the crowd would notice that she thought she won. I quickly came in front of Rose to accept the crown and to block Rose from everyone's gaze.
"You okay?" I whispered to her. She nodded but remained silent. She looked like she was alright, just surprised. At least she wasn't having a total diva moment like her damn boyfriend.
I quickly turned back and faced Mr. Davidson as he put the crown on my head. I thanked him for the flowers and looked out into the audience of people who were clapping politely. I could really see everyone for up here and they were clapping, except for Victoria. She did not look pleased which made me smile even more.
I glance over at Alice to see if she had a part in this. She just shook her head, looking equally surprised. To the rest of the world I might have seemed like a logical choice for Prom Queen but here in Fork, I was just a normal girl; Rose was the star and this crown rightfully belonged to her. I smirked just a little, knowing that crown should have been hers but for some unexplainable reason was mine.
The others were ushered off the stage with their flowers and sashes in hand, allowing Jasper and I to have our moment. Em was still freaking out - I could hear him from the sidelines. Rose was trying to calm him down; she didn't want him to make a scene. It looked like she was okay with not winning or maybe in comparison to Emmett she looked calm and collected – he was really throwing a hissy fit.
"Now if you could make way to allow the King and Queen to have their customary dance," Mr. Torrence announce drably; really, he was just so enthusiastic.
"Well come on King," I told Jazz with a giggle.
"After you, my Queen," he said joining me in the laugh and signaling for me to go first.
Neither of us looked like we believed what had just happened; we could barely contain our laughter especially when we looked up and noticed the crown on each other's head. Paramore's The Only Exception started blasting over the sound system and we started dancing. It was weird having everyone just stand there and watch us dance. I mean they did that in the lip syncing contest but this was just so noticeable – at least then the audience was blotted out by the spot lights.
"So were you in on this?" Jasper asked quietly.
"No, I had no idea about this. Didn't you know?" I replied.
He shook his head. "It's that best friend of yours – she did this," he commented.
"You mean that girlfriend of yours," I chuckled back.
Almost as if on cue she gave the two of us a little wave like she heard everything we had just said. Knowing Alice, she most likely had; she probably had the damn tiara bugged. Then she disappeared into the crowd, something was up.
"Check out Em; he's about to have a meltdown – it's fantastic," he gloated.
"I'm just surprised that isn't Rose," I replied honestly. "She's not exactly what one would call a graceful loser."
He just shrugged. "I don't think she really cares all that much if she was Queen or not," he said glancing over to her. "No, correction, I don't think she minds losing this to you - especially after the year you've had. In fact, I think she wanted you to win, though, she would never admit that."
I looked at him like he was crazy. "I really doubt that," I told him.
"No really. I overheard her saying it to mom the other day but if you repeat that I'll deny every word," he stated.
The music faded out in the middle of the song as Alice came out of the DJ area and came over to Jasper and I. The song had been replaced by And Then You by Greg Laswell came on instead. "Thank you very much," she yelled back at him and the DJ gave her a wide smile and thumbs up.
"Excuse me B, I believe I'm needed elsewhere," he said with a wink and started to walk over towards Alice.
Oh something was up between the two of them and I had a feeling that song was the trigger. "By all means," I told him with a smirk, "good luck!"
She already caught up with him before he had taken three steps towards her. "I believe this is our cue Mr. Hale," she said with a smile as she ran into Jasper's arms as he spun her. "Nice look, by the way…"
Jasper kissed her, in front of everyone, cutting her off. She didn't even protest she simply went with it. He finally put her down and the two of them started dancing, kissing each other intermittently, like they were the only people in the room. They were utterly adorable together.
People immediately started whispering. Everyone was trying not to watch but they couldn't help themselves. This couldn't be any more of a public display of affection and I'm sure this is exactly what they had planned. I should have known as soon as Laswell came on that this was their plan because he was one of Jasper's favorite artists.
"What's going on?" Edward whispered in my ear, wrapping his arm around my waist as I faced Jasper and Alice.
I turned so that I was facing him. "Well, I believe that they just announced that they are a couple to the whole senior class," I stated.
"A couple?" he asked, slightly shocked. "I thought…? Since when…? Did you…? How long…? When…?" he stammered, unable to finish a coherent thought as he stared at the two of them.
"It doesn't really matter," I said, brushing my lips against the side of his chin. "Would you rather…," I kissed him again as he turned his head towards me. "Discuss them…," kissing him again. "Or dance with me…," I said giving him one more lingering kiss.
"Um, I'll stick with this option," he said, returning my kiss as we danced.
"Ahem," Rosalie said clearing her voice and trying to, discreetly, get our attention. "Sorry to interrupt but your phone's been going off like crazy; James' texting you – he's ready."
Fuck, with all this going on Alice had taken my clutch away when I won so I wouldn't have to carry it around. Apparently, she had entrusted Rosalie to watch it when she went to the DJ booth. "You're a lifesaver Rose; we would have been screwed without you," I said hugging her.
She smiled and hugged me back but then I felt her body go rigid. "What. Is. That," she asked, punctuating every word. I knew that was when she saw Alice and Jasper together – I was a little scared at what her reaction would be. Fortunately for me, I wasn't sticking around to see it.
"Ahh… gotta go," I told her, keeping her in a vise like grip as I kept her in a hug and started backing away from the dance floor. I wasn't about to let her make a scene about this in front of everyone – if she was about to flip out, which she was, it should be done in private.
But her adrenaline was kicked into overdrive and she easily broke away. Edward came to the rescue. "See, you do need me when things get out of hand," he said, sticking his tongue out at me. "Come on Rose," Edward said grabbing her arm and ushering her from the dance floor. "Em…" he called out.
"I saw – I'm on it," he said meeting us half way and steering her out the door and into the courtyard. "Wait, did you know about this," he whispered to me.
"This isn't really the time Em," I muttered back to him, "got some other things to take care of right now."
"Got it," he said almost out the door with Rosalie, who was still fighting him every step of the way; at some point he finally picked her up and just carried her. "We're talkin' later toots," he yelled at me.
"Emmett – put me down!" Rose growled at him but by that point they were already out the door and a safe distance away from her brother and Alice.
"Well he's got that right, 'we're talkin' later toots," Edward commented, mimicking Emmett.
I rolled my eyes and briskly walked towards the back bathroom. "Fine but we've got more pressing matters at the moment."
James was staring at his phone as we came down the hallway towards the bathroom. He finally noticed us coming when we were a couple feet away. His eyes lit up when he saw the crown. "YOU WON?" he said loudly.
"Shhhhhhh!" I shushed him.
"You won!" he said much quieter but still cheering. "This is incredible! Wait, pose; I've gotta send a picture to Mike," he said taking out his phone and snapping an unsuspecting picture of me. "Well that would explain why she came down the hallway in a huff five minutes ago. Victoria is not a happy camper right now… She looked all frazzled so I suggested that she freshen up inside. My part is over and done with, I can finally relax. I'll stand on watch out here. Have fun in there," he said, pushing the bathroom door open for us.
Edward and I walked into the hallway of the bathroom. I paused for just a moment causing him to stop. "Just give me a minute alone with her before you come in. Okay?" I asked him.
He looked at me skeptically but eventually nodded. I didn't even hesitate to gather my bearings; I proceeded into the bathroom excited and ready for whatever.
sorry to do that to you guys and have a cliffie but it was just too long; it would literaly be the neverending chapter. what did you all think? per the usual i would love to hear from you. le tme know what you think! the next chapter will be the victoria take down; i hope you guys will think it's appropriate.
can't wait to hear from ya :)