Alice Cullen was a rare individual with a unique set of skills and talents. The most recent skill, which was also currently the most eye-catching, was her ability to find and scour shopping websites. Fingers flying across the keyboard in a blur that was almost invisible, she scrolled through entire sites in mere minutes, eye moving faster than any mere mortal's could ever hope to match. Bella was almost surprised that the computer hadn't exploded from the effort it took to try to keep up with the speedy little vampire. And Bella half expected the keyboard to start smoking because of how fast Alice's fingers were dancing across the keys.
At the same time, though, Bella knew that this was just a normal day for the Cullens. So to see Alice moving so swiftly and restlessly, although it was impressive, it wasn't anything new. Instead, Bella only reclined in the seat beside Alice's, smirking slightly as she watched her companion click through page after page after page, eyes and fingers never still for even a second as new tabs came and went in the blink of an eye. This was far from the first time they'd ever done this, and Bella knew it was far from the last. Instead, it was Alice's new favorite pastime now that they were all on lockdown. Since the vampire could no longer go shopping in real life, she had turned to online shopping to fill that void.
She'd spend hours skimming the internet and asking Bella what looked good and what she wanted. What looked hot? What didn't? What might Bella like? What would she hate? And she'd use all sorts of programs to try to test out what each thing would look like on Bella (for the most part, Alice always had them shop for clothes, but other times it was other things like makeup or purses). It really wasn't Bella's thing at all, but even though she hated shopping (especially for clothes) the idea of just getting to relax with Alice was appealing enough that she never said no. Instead, as tedious as she found shopping, at least online shopping meant she didn't have to go anywhere to get it done. Furthermore, because this was Alice's passion, she made Alice do most of the work. All Bella had to do was offer up the occasional opinion. Easy! Alice did the rest.
The only time Alice ever ceased her endless and break-neck search was if she found something eye-catching enough that she deemed to worthy of capturing her attention. This time, it was some simple but stunning summer dress.
"Oooooh, I think this would look really nice on you, Bella!" her eyes widened in delight as she turned to face her companion, looking hopeful.
"That's gonna be a hard no from me," Bella replied in a perfect, monotonous deadpan. Alice's face instantly contorted into a pout.
"Awwww, but Belllllllla! You didn't even look at the dress!" Alice whined, chirpy tone also switching to a whiny one to match her expression.
"I don't need to in order to know that that style of clothing just isn't for me," Bella replied, still refusing to look at the screen and pretending to give Alice an uninterested expression. Her eyes were half shut and her arms were crossed. The perfect display of disinterest.
"You're no fun!" Alice's pout got bigger and she also crossed her arms, but in childish frustration rather than taunting indifference.
"I never claimed to be," Bella replied easily. "That's your job. Everyone knows you're the spritely one of the family."
"Mmmm, that is true, I guess," Alice admitted reluctantly. Half of her delighted in hearing Bella call her the funnest Cullen, but the other half was frustrated that it was true. Why the rest of her family had to be so boring and down made no sense to her. They all needed to lighten up a bit and learn to take a lesson in fun and cheer!
True, the Corona virus was making it hard for them to stay light and cheerful (because even though they were vampires who were immune to the virus, they still had to blend in with the rest of humanity, which meant that they were stuck in quarantine just as much as any mortal would be) but that was no reason for everyone go about acting like a bunch of broody Edwards.
As if one of them wasn't enough! Alice thought to herself. Although Edward was her favorite sibling, that didn't mean she liked his constant angst. But it did, admittedly, make sense. Alice had the power of precognition, but as far ahead as she tried to look, the future remained unclear. It seemed as if the current state of quarantine was going to last indefinitely and there were just too many possibilities for any single future to be clearer than the others. Of course something like that was going to leave everyone tense and irritable.
Carlisle was stressed because he was hard at work trying to find a cure for the virus. Esme was stressed because the rest of her family was stressed (and she was so deeply in tune with all of them that she could never be at peace if she knew any of them was under some sort of duress). Emmett was mopey because he couldn't go outside or see his buddies anymore. Rosalie was annoyed at having to be trapped inside with her family all the time, and she was no longer able to go out and just show off herself to any passerby. Jasper was, like Esme, being negatively affected by the dour mood of the rest of the family. Alice, herself, was restless and desperate for some adventure (or at least some shopping, hence her constant skimming through page after page of online stores). Bella was actually at risk because she was still mortal (and even though she was introverted, the loneliness did get to her sometimes). And Edward was… Edward.
So Alice did understand why tensions were so high right then, but that didn't make her happier. Instead, she only gave Bella a small sigh before turning to face the computer, off and scrolling once again at a breakneck speed.
"If I can't take you regular shopping, at least we can do online shopping!" Alice growled under her breath.
"Thank goodness for Amazon and the internet," Bella joked darkly, not even bothering to try to keep up with Alice's fast-paced web searching.
"I've already scoured every nook and cranny of Amazon," Alice answered, still growling a little. "They have a diverse variety, but still none of it is good enough!" (Being a Cullen and a fashionista, Alice had very high standards for the clothing she purchased. Sometimes Amazon had some good stuff, other times it was trash in her eyes. The best place to buy the good stuff was directly from brand websites).
She was currently scrolling through one of her favorite clothing designer's summer wear in hopes of finding something pretty for Bella.
"But it's not like we're going to be able to go anywhere!" Bella sighed and shook her head as Alice continued to click and scroll. She knew that, as vampires, the Cullens were safe from the virus. But she wasn't. Her dad, Carlisle and Esme were constantly checking up on her to make sure she was ok, burying her in masks and gloves and offering to test her all the time. It was sweet, but obsessive (to say the least).
In fact, the only reason Bella was allowed to visit the Cullens at all was because her dad respected, admired and trusted Carlisle enough to allow Bella to basically break quarantine in order to spend time with them.
"He's a doctor, I trust him. If there's any safe place to go right now, it's with him," Charlie had said. "But you still aren't leaving without this." And he'd handed her what was essentially a quarantine care package, containing masks, gloves, soap and spray.
"Perhaps not, but if we can't go and enjoy summer, then the least we can do is bring summer to us!" Alice replied insistently. "Furthermore, I think this is all the more reason you ought to have a nice summer dress or two. This summer has been awful, the worst in years! So in order to balance it out, we need to do something to spruce the place up!"
"And your idea of sprucing the place up is forcing me into a summer dress?" Bella raised an eyebrow and smirked again.
"Yes," Alice replied simply, finally turning to face the human girl again. "How does this dress look?"
"Still too colorful," Bella answered the second she laid eyes on the screen.
"You say that about anything that isn't black!" Alice accused with another pout.
"That's because black is one of the only colors I like to wear, and it's one of the only colors that looks good on me," Bella answered with a shrug.
"Bella Swan! That is not true!" Alice shrieked. "You are absolutely gorgeous and I think you would look good in just about anything if only you would be willing to try! The only reason you think you look boring and plain is because you're so stubborn about not at least trying to look good! You put yourself down too much! You're absolutely beautiful, but you're so opposed to seeing yourself in that way that you self-sabotage!
"And I don't just mean that you call yourself plain! I mean that you dress plain. If you would try to dress nice, you would look nice. But because you don't try to dress nice, you don't look nice. Then that perpetuates the cycle. You dress plainly, you look plain, you think you look plain, you dress plainly. Don't you understand?!" Alice shook her head in disapproval.
"I'm a fashionista, Bella, and I'm not just throwing that word around. I really have earned multiple fashion degrees from multiple universities across the globe! And I have either participated in, or assisted, more fashion shows and design workshops than you could ever imagine! I have helped some of the biggest fashion names known to man! I have worked beside legends! So I know what I'm saying when I tell you that you could be absolutely gorgeous if only you would let yourself try!"
Alice finished her unexpectedly passionate speech, but all Bella could do was gawk. Of course she knew Alice was the living (well, not really living per se) example of the phrase "Small but mighty", but even she had not expected such an intense outburst from the pixie-like vampire. Yes, Alice could be temperamental. Yes, Alice could be extreme. Yes, Alice was very-high energy. Yes, Alice was super passionate about clothes. But that whole spiel was something even Bella hadn't expected. But underneath her shock at hearing how intense Alice had become over the concept of fashion, there was a small place in Bella's chest that fluttered.
As fashion-oriented as that rant had been, all of it had still been centered around Bella and her supposed "beauty". At least three or four times, Alice had insisted that Bella was gorgeous and even though Bella, herself, had a hard time believing it, hearing Alice say it affected her more deeply than she'd expected. She couldn't even stop a small, slightly goofy smile from spreading across her face as she heard Alice's voice echo around her head: "You're absolutely gorgeous!"
And at the same time, Alice seemed to realize what she'd said and it was her turn to look flustered. She could not blush, but she didn't need to in order for Bella to know she felt sheepish and embarrassed. Bella could see it in Alice's face, and the way she'd suddenly looked away from Bella. And she'd also begun to twiddle her thumbs. Seeing this made Bella all the most blushy. It was an unusual feeling that made Bella feel a bit weird and a bit embarrassed, but at the same time, it was kind of nice, actually.
"You really think I'm gorgeous, huh?" Bella finally managed to ask.
"Exquisite. Radiant. Divine," Alice promised, looking torn between shyness and sincerity. "And trust me, Bella, I know this stuff."
"I know, I know," Bella promised. "I didn't mean to make it seem like I was doubting you. I guess I just don't really see it myself."
"Well, you're taking to a girl with eyesight better than any other creature on the planet. If I say that I can see your beauty, then it's true," Alice replied with a small smile. It was enough to gain a small one from Bella in return.
The pair continued to stare into one another's eyes for several seconds more. Nothing but silence reigned between them as they stared. Alice's eyes were soft but passionate and Bella's were, behind the guardedness, full of hope and loving embarrassment. As different as the two of them were, there was a reason that they were friends. In a strange, magical way, they completed one another. Bella fed off of Alice's energy (even though she found it draining at times) and Alice was just happy to have someone who didn't mind indulging in all of her wildest fantasies. While the rest of her family occasionally followed along in her crazy schemes and dreams, it had always been Bella who was the most faithful.
From the very first day they'd met (which was sooner for Alice thanks to her precognition) she had known that Bella was going to be someone she loved very dearly. And Bella, even though she'd been a tad overwhelmed by Alice at first, had found her endearing and safe even back then. That was where the magic happened. Bella was slow to open up to people, but with Alice, she'd felt safe almost immediately. Yes, she'd still needed to get used to the vampire, but it happened far faster than expected and even during those early days, Bella had felt a closeness with Alice that she hadn't felt for anyone else. And it only bloomed from there. Now, even though Bella was fond of all the Cullens, Alice was still easily her favorite of them all. And Alice, herself, had fulfilled her precognition to a T, coming to adore Bella more than she'd ever adored anyone else.
After a few seconds more, Bella finally shook her head and gave a soft laugh. Curse Alice and her adorableness.
"Alright, fine," she said. "Let's keep on with the online shopping."
"Yay!" Alice cheered, face lighting up again. She even clapped her hands a little like an excited child.
"But promise me that after I pick out a dress, we can call it quits for today," Bella was quick to interject, giving Alice a stern look.
"Awwwww…" Alice pretended to pout, but when Bella remained firm in her condition, Alice surrendered. "We can watch some rom-coms next, I guess. Or this summer's blockbuster. I know most films were delayed due to the virus, but I'm sure I can find something."
Bella cringed a little at the thought. Alice's taste in movies were not exactly her taste. But at least it would put the online shopping off. Furthermore, Bella thought to herself, getting to watch a movie with Alice meant the possibility for them to wind up sitting side by side on the couch… That was a nice idea… Bella really was not one for physical contact, but being in Alice's arms always felt like Heaven. Any chance to get there again was one she was willing to take.
"Alright," Bella finally nodded. "What's the next dress?" And Alice was more than happy to show her.
AN: My Amazon bill is actually LOWER than it usually is, but I've got friends who've spent quite a lot of money during this quarantine. How about y'all? Are you an Alice or a Bella in this scenario?