A New World Full of Strangers

Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use.

Chapter 50: Dates

"I haven't ever seen Carlisle this bent out of shape," says Emmett. "What are he and Esme talking about, Edward?"

"Us, I'm sure," I reply, carefully. "But I am not going to eavesdrop on their private conversation."

"Since when did you decide to get all virtuous on us?" he asks in annoyance.

"I was just thinking that maybe for once it would be fair to give them some privacy," I say, thinking that unlike them, I really didn't want to know what my parents were saying.

"Yeah," says Jasper. "Especially since you know that they are talking about us."

"Just lay off you two," I say, as I think that it is all the more reason not to listen. "Wouldn't you rather hear what our wives are saying right now? Remember? Dresses? Alice? Fashion show in her closet? Would you really rather listen to Carlisle gripe about us?"

"How do they look?" asks Emmett immediately. "Who cares about what they are saying? I bet that Rosalie is trying to decide if she looks beautiful enough and Bella is grumbling."

"And I bet that Alice is in fashion heaven," says Jasper.

I roll my eyes. Some things never change, including Emmett's short attention span and his lust for his wife Rosalie. We have just concluded a family meeting regarding all of the upset at school in recent days. It's easy enough for these two jokers to laugh, but it's my wife who has been caught up in the middle of the drama. And for the first time in memory, Carlisle almost went ballistic on us.

Actually, before I switched over to the girls' thoughts, I listened long enough to realize that he was continuing to rant about us to Esme over their room. But since Alice had pulled Bella and Rosalie over to her room to show them the dresses that she had bought online for the three of them, I decided that I would rather check in on them.

Looking through Alice's eyes, I can see that Bella looks stunning in a simple emerald green dress. The design is simple, even a little old-fashioned with its high neck and skirt falling below her knees. I didn't care about the hemline. I really don't want a lot of gawky teen boys staring at my wife's legs.

The pearls that I gave her last night are glistening softly around her neck, set off perfectly against the emerald fabric. Even without being styled, her glorious, thick mahogany hair flows loosely over her shoulders. The dresses came from Paris, so I am sure that they cost a fortune, but the designs and fabrics don't scream "runway" at you.

"Rosalie's dress is red," I say for Emmett's benefit. "She looks amazing of course, but is dissatisfied because Alice went with a conservative look. The neckline is too high for her taste and the cut isn't as, um, fitted as she likes."

"Bummer," he says. "I like it when I can see her legs."

"So does Rosalie," I say. "She's disappointed."

"So am I," says Emmett as Jasper rolls his eyes.

"Alice is explaining to her that if the dress looked too sophisticated and sexy then she would have trouble passing for twenty-five, let alone fifteen," I reply.

"Damn!" he says.

"Come on, Emmett," says Jasper. "Rosalie would look like a fashion model if she was dressed in a paper bag. We're in enough trouble with Carlisle as it is. Do you think that he will let her out of the house if she looks too old?"

"I guess not," says Emmett. "But you did say that she looks hot, right?"

"She will have almost all the boys in the place drooling," I say. "And remember that Alice couldn't push things too far. She had to make some effort so that they wouldn't all stand out too much. As it is they are going to outshine every other girl in the place."

"Cool!" says Emmett. "What did Alice pick for herself?"

"Let me switch to Rosalie's mind so that I can see her," I say reluctantly because I really don't like being in Rosalie's head. "She's got a black and pink dress. It's a little girly, but she definitely looks fourteen."

"So what do we have to wear to this shindig?" asks Jasper. "I hope it's not tuxes."

"Don't worry," I say. "The guys wear dress jeans, collared shirts, and blazers or jackets."

"Ties?" asks Emmett.

"I'm not sure," I reply. "I'll see if I can find some kids at school who are thinking about what the guys will wear. Alice might know. She didn't get the dresses until she figured out what the girls were wearing. She was disappointed that she couldn't go all out, but how could a family of kids who just moved here from the middle of nowhere in Alaska know about high fashion?"

"Do you think the girls will let us see them before Saturday night?" asks Jasper.

"Rosalie and Alice are arguing about it now," I say. "Rosalie wants to show us, but Alice wants it to be a surprise."

"What about Bella?" Jasper asks.

"She's already taken her dress off and put on her regular clothes," I say. "And she's not saying a word."

"Smart girl," says Emmett. "But you know, it is kind of stupid for Rosalie to be arguing with Alice now."

"Why is that?" asks Jasper.

"Because if Alice didn't know that she was going to win," says Emmett. "Then she wouldn't still be arguing."

"True," I say. "Look, Bella just left them. She told them she was going back to our room."

"Did they hear her?" asks Jasper.

"No," I say. "But she wasn't saying it for their benefit. She knew that I would be listening and wants me to meet her there."

"That's right," says Emmett. "Just go off and leave us not knowing how the fight turns out."

"I'm sure that each of your wives will let you know, loud and clear," I reply and take off for our room.

I have had enough of family drama for one night. I return to our rooms to find Bella already dressed comfortably in a tank top and shorts. The temperature is too cool for a human to wear such clothes, but for a vampire, it is normal. She is reading something on her iPad.

"I like these spaghetti straps," I say, as I tug one off her shoulder. "I like the dress too."

"I'm surprised," she says looking from the book she is reading. "Usually, you prefer clothing with a little more flesh showing."

"Usually I prefer no clothing at," I reply playfully. "But the dress is appropriate for a fourteen-year old, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, it is," she answers. "Rosalie is pissed because she thinks that her dress is too long and the neckline too high, but Alice told her (as only Alice can) to suck it up until she was 'older.'"

"Well," I say, slipping my hands down her shoulders and leaning over to kiss her neck. "You always look incredible, even if you are modestly dressed. And that dress looks amazing on you."

"It goes very well with the pearls," she says. "There was so much drama in school today surrounding the incident yesterday that no one even commented on them."

"Well, then," I reply. "You're just going to have to wear them again tomorrow. And I told you they go well with everything, even your present outfit."

"Yes, they do," she replies. "I wonder how they will look if they are the only thing that I am wearing?"

"Let's find out," I suggest, picking her up.

"I thought you'd never ask," she says with a flutter of eyelashes.

"Why Mrs. Cullen! Are you flirting with me?" I say as I nuzzle her neck behind her ear.

"What do you think?" she asks in response.

And with that, we disappear into our own bedroom to spend what hours we can as husband and wife.

The next couple of days pass by very quietly at school. On Thursday, Kai and Jed return, somewhat chastened by their punishment. Neither of them dares to look at Isabella. Their thoughts are filled with the reprimands of their fathers who have threatened to send them back to their mothers up north.

Kai is almost lucky that he broke his arm and needs to stay close to the hospital until it heals. His father, despite the fury he displayed to Mr. Griffin, was pretty mad at his son. And if Kai went home, so would Jed. Not that it would have bothered either of their mothers. Two kids their age could be very useful for doing chores and babysitting at home.

In addition to Maggie, Tim has become a regular at our lunch table, as well as two of Maggie's friends Libby and Portia. On Wednesday she had asked Bella very shyly if the two girls could join us since the three of them had always eaten together. With the addition of those two, Alice moved over to the other Cullen table, only too happy to be able to eat with Jasper again.

It was interesting to see how Maggie became more outgoing once the other two girls joined us. Libby is a cheerful little girl with curly blonde hair, who comes from a three-generation family of Yukon settlers. She knew of us because she dances for Madame with Renesmee. In addition to her dance in Act 2, she is going to be the Harlequin doll in the party scene.

Portia is a beautiful African girl whose Nigerian parents are mineral specialists who had come to the northwest for the very good money the jobs up here paid. She is shy and very focused on her academics. Her parents are very strict and want her to have every educational advantage. Bella enjoyed having them at lunch on Wednesday because she was interested in hearing their stories.

Tim was a true gentleman through all of it. I would have thought that after Wednesday's lunch when he once again tried to make conversation with Bella, and didn't succeed, that he would give up. But her kindness to the other girls simply impressed him more. And his thoughts began to take a dangerous turn as lunch ended.

Maybe I can talk to Edward about the Homecoming Dance. Perhaps he can ask Maggie and I can take his sister. Maggie is a sweet little thing. And I know that she doesn't have a boyfriend because she isn't going to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

Inwardly I groaned. The last thing that I needed was for Tim to try and play matchmaker for Maggie and I while I was trying to play matchmaker for him and Maggie. Of course, with Bella's vampire beauty, it was almost impossible to see any girl clearly while she was there. When Alice was with her, the contrast wasn't so vivid. But these three human girls could not possibly compete.

At lunch on Thursday, Alice rushes up to me before the others come in. She stands behind me in line and begins to let me know what she sees.

Edward! Don't sit next to Tim at lunch today! If you do, I see him asking you to double date for the Homecoming Dance.

"I know," I murmur. "I've been following his thoughts. Want to trade tables?"

I don't think that it's a good idea to leave him alone at a table full of girls.

"Why not?"

Trust me that would be worse. See?

I look and see that several of the football players would come up to the table to give him a hard time for sitting with five freshmen girls. And that would make all the other girls very embarrassed. I sigh. Then I notice Bella, Maggie, Portia, and Libby coming in.

They get in line a few kids behind Alice with Emmett and Jasper behind them. Tim is the last one to come in, rushing because his French teacher kept him after class to ask him why he was so inattentive. I roll my eyes, thinking that he could have asked me. Then Emmett decides to open his big mouth.

"Hey, Bella!" he calls out. "Don't forget to save a seat for Tim!"

Back in her human days, this would have made her turn beet red since it starts a lot of whispering around her. Instead, she hides behind her hair and Maggje puts her arm around her protectively. Tim's thoughts are outraged.

I know that he's her brother and all, but he could be a little more sensitive to her feelings. At least Maggie is taking care of her since Alice is farther up the line with Edward.

I move to the lunch table and Bella sits with me on her right side. The other girls giggle and take seats leaving the one next to Bella empty. There is a little bit of jostling to see who will sit next to me and who will sit next to Tim, but Libby sits beside me and Portia takes the seat next to Tim.

He looks pleased when he realizes that the girls have left the empty seat for

him next to Bella. At this point my head hurts. Who knew that sitting at lunch could be so complicated. Within minutes, I am wishing that I had Portia next to me. Libby is talking nonstop about the dance on Saturday.

"I can't believe that I asked Robby and he said yes," she says enthusiastically.

"Well, your families have been friends forever," comments Maggie.

"Yeah," she giggles. "Like generations. But still, I waited until the last minute to ask him. I'm surprised that no one else did!"

Portia is silent, but she is thinking that she would have if Libby hadn't gotten to him first. She sighs, I'm sure to the others, inexplicably. She was afraid to approach him. There are actually more guys out there to ask than the girls realize. I have been listening all morning to boys who were disappointed because no one had asked them. If all the girls were like Portia, I could see why. Maggie is thinking sadly about how things would have been different for her if she hadn't moved.

Libby is so brave. Even if Robby is an old family friend, at least she still has a date. If I had been back home in Dawson Creek, there are several guys that I wouldn't have been afraid to ask. But here, there's nobody. Oh well, I can stay home with the kids and think of something fun to do.

"Maggie, what did you think of the science quiz?" asks Bella to change the subject.

"It wasn't too bad," she says.

Luckily, Portia is in their class so they begin to discuss it. Unluckily for me, Libby isn't in their class and begins to question me about the backcountry hiking that she heard the Cullens like to do. Being that her family has deep roots in the area, she knows a lot about different places. But I am so concerned with being polite to her, that I almost miss it when Tim starts a conversation with Bella.

"Why did you decide to go for the French Immersion program if you had never been to school before?" he asks. "Isn't it a pretty big challenge?"

"Yes," she says quietly. "But I had been studying French online for a while. I knew that if I ever really wanted to learn it, that I was going to have to be around it all the time. And the others wanted to do it too."

"That's very ambitious of you," he says. "And you do have a wonderful accent. I think that you could easily manage Quebec City, Montreal, or even Paris."

"Thank you for the compliment," she says in her flawless French. "I've never been any of those places."

"Where have you been, besides Whitehorse and Fairbanks?" he asks.

"Nowhere," she sighs. "Maybe someday."

"Bella!" says Libby, who has just noticed that I have not been listening to her for the past minute or so. "That is a gorgeous necklace! Did you get it for your birthday?"

"Um, yes," says Bella.

That was a little thoughtless of her to mention the birthday, considering what happened on Monday.

Tim is being chivalrous again, although this time it's not really a big deal. And I actually like the fact that everyone is now admiring her necklace.

"That is stunning," says Portia. "Those are matched pearls, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I think so," says Bella.

"It is such an exquisite birthday gift," she says. "Did your parents give it to you?"

"Yeah," she says. "It's very special to me."

"I can imagine that it would be," says Maggie wistfully. "I have a pearl necklace. It was my mother's, but I don't think that it is anywhere near that fine."

"This is a hand-me-down too," replies Bella. "From, um, Carlisle's mother."

Bella peeks at me, and smiles nervously. I know that she almost said my mother but caught herself in time.

"Bella doesn't like it when people spend money on her," I say to help her out. "But she does appreciate handmade as well as hand-me-down gifts."

"So do I," says Maggie. "It's more special if someone makes something especially for you. And family things often have happy memories attached to them . . . "

Her voice trails off as she thinks about the pearl necklace that her father gave her mother for their tenth anniversary. She would gladly give it up if her mother were still alive. Then I notice her playing with the woven friendship bracelet around her wrist.

"Did someone make that for you, Maggie?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

"My sister Terah made it for me at camp this summer," she says, extending her arm for everyone to see.

"That's beautiful handiwork," says Portia. "Terah's only twelve, right? That is wonderful artistry for a child so young."

I am liking Portia a lot more, the better I get to know her. She has a very kind and sincere mind. And she is always careful to say the most positive thing that she can think of. She also knows about jewelry since she has an uncle who lives in South Africa and is a gemologist. It's a good thing that Bella attributed the necklace to "Esme's mother," since she knew instantly that it wasn't new.

"Yes, it is, isn't it," says Maggie, happy and proud that her sister's talent has been noticed.

"I tried to do that once," says Libby cheerfully. "But my bracelet just looked like a bunch of knots. I don't have the patience to do something as intricate as that."

Thankfully, the bell is about to ring. Suddenly, someone throws something at my head from the direction of the other table.

"Emmett!" I say turning around, to see his grinning face.

Edward! screams Alice in my head. Don't let the girls get away from you! Oops! Too late! Sorry.

Thanks a lot, I think as I turn around to see that the girls have gone off and Tim is looking at them in confusion.

"Edward," he says in a bewildered voice. "Do you understand girls at all?"

"I have four sisters," I reply. "Does that count?"

"Yeah, sure, I guess so," he says, as we begin to walk away to ditch our garbage and trays. "I only have two brothers."

"So do I," I grimace. "My condolences."

He smiles at me.

"My brothers are younger," he says. "But they're still a pain. I thought that your brother Emmett was a little insensitive back there in the lunch line."

"Bella is used to it," I shrug. "Emmett's insensitive to all of us. It's just part if his nature to tease and play pranks. It's all harmless."

"If you say so," he says uncertainly. "You know, I think that your sister Bella is a real sweet kid. I was thinking of asking her to the Homecoming Dance. I thought that maybe if you asked her friend Maggie, then we could double."

"Well, um," I say. "I'm not sure about that. My Dad was saying something about taking a camping trip that weekend. You know, before it gets too cold."

"Oh," he says deflated.

"Are you going to the Sadie Hawkins Dance?" I ask as if I didn't already know that he wasn't. "Maybe we could double on Saturday night."

"Well, actually," he says. "I've already turned down a number of invitations. I guess the right girl hasn't asked me."

Yes, I think, the right girl being my wife.

"Well, think about it," I say. "There are still some nice girls out there who haven't asked anyone yet."

"Oh, really?" he asks uncertainly.

"Yeah," I sigh. "If you haven't noticed, some of the nicest girls are the shy ones who are afraid to go up to a guy and ask him. I mean all my sisters are going with my brothers and me. Even Libby, who is pretty outgoing, asked an old family friend. Oh, well, I've got to get to science, my lab partner will be looking for me."

"Who's that?" he asks.

"Pauline, who by the way, is going to the dance with her cousin," I say. "See? The nice ones don't like to take risks."

As I leave him he is thinking that he really wouldn't call Pauline a nice girl. I follow his thoughts through his history class until we see each other again in math. He is doing some hard thinking about the girls that he turned down. All of them were the pretty, popular girls who he (rightly) had assessed were just trying to latch onto him now that he was a "free agent."

When I see him in math, I am only able to give him a nod because the teacher starts class right away. Since math isn't one of his best subjects, he really has to focus on the lecture to follow along. I have to like his priorities. Rather than worrying about his social life, he is paying attention in class, unlike some of the other bozos in here who are just checking out the girls.

After school, Esme picks us up and Alice makes her announcement.

"Now, girls!" she says. "We are going shoe shopping for the dance."

"Don't we need our dresses?" asks Rosalie.

"I have swatches!" answers Alice.

Rosalie is happy, while Bella looks like she would happily strangle Alice.

"What are we supposed to do?" asks Emmett.

"You boys can go look at camping equipment or something," she says. "Edward did tell Tim today that we might be going camping the weekend of the Homecoming Dance!"

"Getting a little territorial about your wife, Edward?" asks Emmett.

"Hush!" says Esme. "Renesmee is about to get into the car!"

After we drop off Renesmee at the ballet studio, Esme parks at the Trading Post.

"Esme," says Bella. "Just so you know, someone asked me about the necklace today and in addition to saying that it was a hand-me-down, I also said that it was from your mother. I had to cover because I almost said Edward's mother."

"Which would make no sense," adds Alice. "Since it is logical that any of that jewelry would naturally be passed on to Renesmee."

"Boy, Bella," says Emmett. "You just can't get through lunch without messing up."

"This wasn't a mess up," I say. "The girl who asked, Portia, has an uncle in the jewelry business and she knew right away that it wasn't brand new."

"Let's stop talking about the necklace," says Alice enthusiastically. "And talk about shoes!"

"Okay, Alice. You have one hour," Esme says sternly. "I want you back here right on time!"

"Yes, Esme," she says dutifully and then winks at Rosalie.

As we make our way down the street I quickly tell Bella and Alice about my conversation with Tim.

"Interesting," says Alice thoughtfully.

"Alice," I say. "If you and Bella could talk Maggie into asking him to the dance, do you see him saying yes?"

She looks ahead.

"It's pretty iffy as to whether or not Bella can convince her," says Alice. "So it's not easy to tell what he would say. Although planting the idea about a shy girl being a good potential date and doubling sounds to me like a pretty sweet incentive from his perspective. He gets to spend the night with Bella and won't have some aggressive girl chasing after him when he gets back to school on Monday."

"Okay, Alice," says Bella. "I've just decided to talk to her. What are my chances of persuading her?"

"50/50," she says. "She's going to say that she doesn't have a dress."

"She's about my size," says Bella. "And I have a closet full of nice dresses that I've only worn once."

"I think she'll take up your offer if you say that you will lend her the dress," answers Alice. "But you will need to set up an opportunity for her to ask him."

"I can do that," I say. "I'll watch her thoughts in science and then be sure to meet her at the end of class before lunch."

"But what if we have a science lecture and we can't talk then?" asks Bella.

"Nope," says Alice shaking her head. "We have a lab tomorrow. It won't be a problem."

"Good," I say.

"Look at these shoes in the window," says Rosalie. "Let's look in here first."

"That's our cue, boys," says Jasper quickly. "Let's go look at some camping gear."

Emmett and I join him in high-tailing it out of there before Alice and Rosalie start asking our opinions. Bella is looking longingly after us until Alice grabs her hand and drags her into the store.