Chapter Thirty Two: Trouble
The beeping of my alarm seemed more obnoxious than usual when I woke up. I quickly smacked the off button, I thought about lying back down but knew I'd never make it into the bathroom before Bella if I laid back down now. Pulling myself out of bed I headed to the closest to pick out what to wear, I felt her presence only milliseconds before she spoke.
"You should wear the red shirt with that skirt you never wear." Alice said from behind me. I spun around to Alice perched on my window sill with a smile that made me even more uncomfortable with her presence. She and Bella had been avoiding being in the same room as me for a while, it was unusual that one of them spoke to me, let alone sought me out.
"Go away, Alice." I said and turned back to my closet.
"I'm just saying you'd look cute in it." Alice defended and when I looked back she was no longer at the window, but standing next to my bed.
"I can pick out my own clothes, Alice. Please leave." I said again as I started to pull out a pair of jeans. There was a breeze as Alice moved. Suddenly the jeans that I had been holding were gone and the outfit that Alice had suggested was laying on the bed. Glaring at the annoying corpse now sitting daintily on my bed I picked out another pair of jeans and grabbed a blue tee shirt. If she wasn't going to leave, I was just going to ignore her.
"Edward told me that Embry's taking you to prom." Alice said casually while laid the clothes on the dresser and picked up my hair brush. I didn't say anything as I brushing out the tangles from the night before.
"I was thinking we could go shopping for your dress." Alice said. I turned to look at Alice incredulously.
"And what, pray tell, could possibly have made you think that I would ever want to go shopping with you?" I asked as I braided my hair back.
"I saw it." Alice said and I raised a brow.
"Alice, you and I both know you didn't see anything because that would require my decision to go with you, which will never happen. I don't care if your manipulation works with Bella, but it's not gonna work with me. I have hated every second that I have been in your presence and I'm never going to willingly subject myself to spending more than the bare minimum with you and definitely not in a store setting." I ranted as I secured the end of the braid and clipped back my bangs without looking back at Alice.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to finish getting ready for school alone, please be gone when I get back." I said and picked up the clothes off the dresser before softly shutting the door behind me to head to the bathroom.
I could hear the murmurs of Edward and Bella as I walked toward the bathroom, my aggravation flaring again. I mentally called Edward's name to get his attention.
'Edward. I would suggest getting your sister out of my room and keeping her out because the next time she lets herself in uninvited I'm going to tell Charlie about your nightly visits.' I smiled as the murmurs stopped and I heard the noise of my window shutting and then my door.
Thankfully the day went on as usually when I came out of the bathroom. Bella, Edward and Alice went back to ignoring my existence and I returned the favor. After school I headed down to Billy's, I didn't bother telling anyone about Alice's stunt, assured that Edward and Bella would do their best to rein her in so I didn't shut down their nights spent cuddling while Charlie slept unaware in the room across the hall.
While the food cooked I called Tiffany. Embry had more than likely told her I'd agreed to go to prom with him, so she was likely expecting my phone call at some point. The phone barely got a chance to ring before it was being picked up.
"Hello?" Tiffany answered.
"Hi Tiffany, it's Anna." I said.
"Hi Anna, Embry told me last night." I could hear the smile in her voice and rolled my eyes.
"Was he even off the phone yet?" I asked teasingly.
"Maybe, maybe not." She said cheekily and I laughed.
"Thought you might want to go dress shopping with me? Embry said you saw the flier and you've probably got a better idea of what we should be looking for than I do." I asked.
"I would absolutely love to take you shopping, Anna. It's going to be a little tricky to find something that fits the theme, but I've got an idea of where we can go, we'll have to make a trip to Seattle." Tiffany said and I could practically hear her mind planning out the whole day.
"Sounds fine by me, we can even go to that Greek restaurant you love so much." I heard Tiffany moan on the other said of the phone and laughed at her dramatics.
"I love that place. The earliest we can go is Thursday, I've got the day off for an appointment just before lunch. I can pick you up after school and we head out?" Tiffany suggested and I nodded before remembering that she couldn't see me.
"Sounds great, I'll see you then." I said happily and hung up. When I turned around Billy was sitting in the doorway to the kitchen looking at me curiously.
"Big plans?" Billy asked.
"Embry asked me to prom. Tiffany gonna take me shopping." I explained and Billy nodded.
"I almost forgot this was your junior year." Billy mused.
"Well, it has been a crazy year, Billy. Honestly till Tiffany brought it up to Embry and he asked me, I had completely forgotten about prom. Had to think about normal things when there's so much else going on." I said as I started pulling plates out to set the table. When I turned around I was surprised to see the almost crestfallen look on Billy's face.
"Billy? What's wrong?" I asked.
"I remember sitting on my father's lap when I young, just old enough to start remembering, I watched my grandfather phase and go into the trees with Levi Uley and Quil Sr. It's one of my very first memories. The wolves were never a legend for me, I'd seen them, how could I ever think that our histories were anything else? It was because of memories like that Quil, Harry and I wanted to be wolves so badly. Wanted to walk in the footsteps of out ancestors, be protectors of the tribe. It was a dream I held on to till Rachel and Rebecca were born. I never saw the down side till the Cullens came back to town." Billy said with a deep sigh and rolled closer to the table as I sank into a chair.
"I only saw what a curse being a wolf could be when I saw it through the eyes of a parent. Jake and the younger generation have been raised thinking that the protectors were nothing but a legend and there was no way to prove it was all true without a phasing member of the tribe. When the Cullens came back to Forks I realized that Jacob was going to live my dream, but for him it was going to be a nightmare. Seeing the boys struggle had been an eye opener, but never more than when I look at you." Billy said a I looked to him surprised.
"Why when you look at me? It's not like I'm going to phase, my mother wasn't from any of the bloodlines."
"I boys struggle, sure, but the real pressure is on the imprints. The worry of having the person you love in possible danger, accepting that they sometimes run on four legs instead of two, being told your relationship is destined by something that can't be completely explained. You girls do a good job of hiding it and supporting the boys." Billy rattled on, but I was still confused.
"But why me specifically, Billy?" I stressed and Billy sighed.
"Because you're caught in the middle. Even though it wasn't with your knowledge or in any way your fault, you've been caught between the vampires and the pack. I know you're loyal to the pack and I know you don't get along with Bella, but I know you still love her and Charlie, it puts you in a position that can't be easy. Like you said, thing's have been so crazy that normality falls by the wayside. For Emily and Kim it was easy to fall completely in with the pack and it was easy for you too, when the Cullens were gone. Now they're back and you have to walk a fine line, living in vampire territory while loving a wolf.
Falling in was hard for Emily, not because the boys didn't accept her, but because she fought it for Leah's sake, but once she did she was consumed like the imprints of the past. Kim fell in easy, nothing stopping her, getting pulled in was simple, the only people holding her back are her parents and that's simply because they don't know about the wolves and imprinting and they're looking out for their teenage daughter. You on the other hand have the pack pulling you in, but Bella's pulling you back, holding your family loyalty over your head and effectively trapping you in the middle." Billy finished explaining and I was at a loss of words.
"I pray for the day for the Cullens leave, and I've made peace with the fact that they're going to take with them and the havoc that's going to cause Charlie. But I will be happy with the freedom it will finally give you and the weight that will come off your shoulders." Billy said gravely and if I hadn't heard everything he said I would think that he was making peace with my death. I felt overwhlemed by what Billy had said, he had practically picked apart everything that had been weighing on my mind for months, but couldn't bring myself to say to anyone because I knew everyone was struggling just like I was and there was nothing they could do to help me without adding to their own burden.
Surprisingly my burden felt a little lighter knowing that Billy knew what I was feeling, that someone besides me was aware and was waiting for the day that everything got better. The relief that came with it brought tears to my eyes as I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around Billy in a tight hug as I tried to breathe around the lump in my throat.
Billy didn't say anything else, instead I felt his hand on my back as it moved in soothing circles. I buried my face in his shoulder as I fought to hold it together. When I finally pulled myself together again I leaned back and Billy let me go. I quickly wiped away the lone tear that fell and cleared my throat.
"Thank you, Billy." I said and he nodded, leaning forward and patting my hand.
"You're never alone, Anna. The pack makes sure of that, there will always be someone who can help, who lend an ear. Take advantage of that, Anna. You don't have to bottle it up." I nodded.
"I was just hoping this would all be over sooner rather than later." Billy sighed as he glanced out the window where Jake was coming out of the woods.
"It's what we all were hoping for. Hold on to that hope, but count on it. This one seems to have a knack for evasion, but she'll slip up eventually." Billy said and I nodded with a sigh and stood from the chair as Jake walked through the door.