A/N: So… I'm glad you liked the whole boot camp scene. A lot of you appreciated that. I'm not going to skip boot camp completely if that's what you're thinking. No, I'll have some fun with Edward in boot camp. So… the story must go on!

Chapter 12

5 weeks later…

We jogged into the barracks and before anyone had a chance to sit down our drill sergeant Srgt. Walker was coming through the double doors.

"Mail call." He yelled.

I jumped up and fell into line. I was expecting a letter from Bella today. It had been almost five weeks and I only had time to talk to her on pay phones every other Saturday. Of course we wrote letters back and forth but we always had the dilemma of having to wait for the return letter to get back.

"Well, who do we have mail for today?" He shuffled through the personal letters of the recruits in our barracks. "Ah, I see we have one for Black and Jade." My face fell and then Walker smirked at me. "Oh yes, and we can't forget Mr. Cullen. Your letters always smell the best." He held up the envelope with Bella's handwriting on the front of it and took a big whiff of it. "The scent of strawberries."

I hated when he did that. You see he was best friends with the guy I jumped on the bus. Therefore he gave me the hardest time out of anyone. I held my face with a masked expression of calm.

"Very well. They're yours." He threw my precious letter over his shoulder like it was nothing and then walked out of the door.

I dove for my letter and once it was retrieved I went back to my bed. I tucked it safely under my pillow and grabbed a towel heading toward the showers. I joined ten other guys with the same idea and the warm water ran over my skin relieving the aches from today's drills if only for a moment. I massaged my head and thought of what Bella was doing about now. It was a little after five so she was probably fixing Charlie's supper. I missed Bella's cooking.

I washed the soap from my hair and turned the shower off heading for the door. I dressed in some shorts and a t-shirt and fell onto my bed pulling out the letter. I ran my fingers lightly over the writing. Carefully undoing the seal I pulled out the letter.

Edward,

Everything is all the same since we last spoke. I still miss you like Forks misses the sun. I rarely get to speak or hear from you yet when I do, I do my best to savor the time. I've had a pretty easy first semester. The homecoming dance is next week and Angela and Jessica are begging me to go. It's semi formal but I really have no reason to go. A couple of people have asked me to go, but I told them no. I got started on my applications for college. I've been holding them off but Mr. Banner keeps pushing me to pursue a career in chemistry. I really don't think that's the direction I want to head into, but you know Mr. Banner. Well Angela is beeping the horn so I have to get going to tutoring at the elementary school.

Love you as always,

Bella

It was so like Bella to not go to something just because I'm not there. I pulled out a letter and started writing to her telling her about boot camp. I encouraged her to go for me knowing that she would if I asked. I even sent her a check to pay for the dress. I just got my first paycheck last week so I decided to put it toward something useful. I was planning on buying Bella something, but this works too.

I licked the envelope shut as soon as the dinner bell rang. Jake fell into step beside me and we headed to dinner.

BPOV (three days later)

I walked through the crowded halls of Forks high and glanced at the signs on the way down the hall. Many were advertising the homecoming dance while others were trying to get you to vote for the student body. Everything seemed so frivolous now that Edward was gone. His latest letter told me he wanted me to go for some reason. I walked into second period and calculus seemed less than inviting.

I took my seat next to Jessica and she nudged me. "Bella, do you want to go to Port Angeles with Angela and me to pick out a dress for the dance next Saturday?" Her eyes were hopeful.

I didn't have an excuse anymore. Edward had given me more than enough money to pay for the dress, not that I was going to use it. I had started working at Mike's parent's store to pay for gas money. In the little town of Forks I don't really have anywhere to go so I always had left over money.

"Yeah, it'd be nice to have a girl's opinion on how the dress looks." I answered a little to enthusiastically. It wasn't like I had anyone to dress up for but every girl like's to see a guy's expression when she walks into the room. It's just womanly nature.

She grinned. "Really? Well we'll pick you up at five today from you house."

I smiled. "Sure."

I was actually a little excited about the dance now. If you knew me you would think that was completely out of character for me. I usually avoided dances or any kind of socials. Finally the bell rang and I headed toward English four. I dread the class. I took my seat next to Mike and he was twirling his fingers.

"You know Bella, I don't think Edward would care if we went to the dance together." He looked up from the desk.

I sighed. "Mike, thanks for the offer but I'm going to go solo on this. Besides, you and Jessica will have a great time together."

"Yeah, I know." He looked back at the desk as class started.

We spent the majority of class going over grammar and our senior papers when the third lunch bell rang. I picked up my books and fell into step with the English hallway as all the classes headed toward lunch.

Mike seemed to have forgotten his bad mood as he stood next to me in line talking about frivolous dance activities. I glanced at my watch and moved forward in the lunch line. Only one more class after lunch and then I could go home. The block schedule was one of the great highlights of high school.

I sat down with Angela, Ben, Jessica, and Mike. Jessica was going on about how our dresses were going to be so great that Lauren (the head cheerleader) was going to start asking to hang out with us. Apparently her mom knew one of those famous fashion designer people and he lived in Port Angeles.

The bell rang and we all stood up throwing our trays in the trashcans and then headed off to fourth period. I had Chemistry, which was really helping my GPA. I could breeze through this course with my hands tied behind my back. Science had always come naturally to me, as did writing.

I took my seat in Chemistry at one of the back tables. Since I was so far ahead of everyone I had to sit by myself. This was fine for me. I was never much of a socialist. Mr. Banner walked through the door and flipped off the lights.

"I told you yesterday we would be watching a movie on amebas." He turned on the projection screen and I placed my head on my desk. I had already watched this last year with Edward when he was studying for his final exam.

I thought about what kind of dress I was wanting and my mind drew a blank. I had never really gone shopping for a dress aside from when I was in my mom and Phil's wedding. Even then I really had no say in anything. Mom planned it and picked out my dress.

Before I knew it the lights were flipped on and it was time to go home. I shuffled through the hall trying to get to Edward's truck before the traffic got bad. I ran across the parking lot and climbed into the old truck wiggling the key in the ignition to get it to start. I carefully backed out of the driveway looking both ways and headed toward the house. About five minutes later I pulled into my driveway and hopped out of the truck carrying my bags.

Since we had a calculus test today I didn't need to worry with any homework. I had finished my chemistry homework while watching to movie so all that was left was a paragraph on simple grammar in English. That of course took not time at all so I placed my bag in the corner of the kitchen and started on Charlie's dinner. He wouldn't get home till about 5:30 and I didn't want him to have to order pizza.

Deciding on pasta was just a logical idea. I heated up the noodles and then the sauce in the microwave. I poured the noodles into a bowl and then placed the sauce on top slipping it into the microwave. By the time I was done with dinner I had just enough time to freshen up the little bit of make up I wore now thanks to Edward and grab my purse.

I heard the familiar honk of Angela's Corolla and I ran downstairs and out the door. I climbed into the back seat and Jessica turned up the music.

"A.N.G.E.L." Jessica sang. She actually had a pretty good voice.

"Hey Bella." Angela greeted me.

"Hey Ang." I smiled back. "So, where's this designer Jess?"

Jessica turned down the music. "Um, near that new Italian place in town. I thought we should go there for dinner."

We all nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I heard it was good." Angela piped in.

The rest of the trip there took no time. We listened to the new radio station that played all the good music. Jessica read off her mom's directions and in no time we were pulling into the guy's driveway.

I followed Jessica's lead as we walked hesitantly up the steps and she knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal a flamboyantly dressed man clad in a bright orange shirt.

"Jessica!" He raised his arms to give her a hug. "Mwah Mwah" He kissed her on both cheeks. "I've been pondering on your dresses and I think I've found the perfect ones!"

Jessica giggled. "I knew I could count on you Justin!"

He enthusiastically guided us through the house and up the stairs to the attic. I was amazed at how it was turned into a fashion studio. He pulled out a rack of dresses and pulled out a black dress.

"Okay, Jessica first. Don't look at it yet just put it on and then come out." He instructed her with a concentrated look. He pushed her into one of the dressing rooms and a few minutes later with the dress on.

It looked incredible on her. It was a v-neck halter-top that flared at the bottom like a salsa skirt. On her hip there was a tie on the hip and the shoes that he handed her would go great with the outfit. I wasn't one for fashion, but he was incredible with this stuff.

"Jessica! You look amazing!" He squealed like a little girl. "Okay, Angela darling. You're next. Now I know that you're shy about most stuff, so I kept yours simple and innocent. I think you'll like it." He handed her a brown and pink dress with some pink sandals.

She came out in the dress a few minutes and even I couldn't deny how great it looked on her. There was no doubt he had worked with Jessica before. Angela's dress was much more innocent than Jessica's. It was a brown halter-top with pink ribbon weaved throughout the halter-top and under her bust line. She looked stunning.

"Fabulous darling!" Justin sighed. "Now for you." He pointed to me. "Jess showed me a picture of you but that simply did not do you justice. I figured that blue would go best with your complexion." He pulled out a blue silky dress and some silver heels.

I did as the other two had done and walked into the dressing room. I slipped on the blue silky dress. It was so light it was if I were naked. The dress fell to about my knees and then crisscrossed around my back. I tied it behind me and slipped on the silver heels. I looked at myself in the mirror and had to admit that I didn't look half bad. Maybe with my hair in some form of styling and some actual make-up I would look as good as Jessica and Angela. I ran my fingers along the v-neck line and then feeling a little more confident I stepped out of the dressing room.

Justin gasped. "Wow. You look… amazing!"

I blushed and looked around at Angela and Jessica. Angela was grinning ear to ear and Jessica looked a little aggravated.

"You really do look great Bella." Angela smiled.

"Thanks." I smiled back.

(A/N: Dresses on website in gallery.)

We left the house with our dresses. Justin insisted on giving them to us and got our information for future reference. We pulled up to the restaurant and parked walking in. The waitress seated us and dinner went by pretty fast. By the time we headed home I was completely wore out.

When I got home I barely said mum to Charlie. I just trudged up the stairs and fell into bed after changing and cleaning off my face. That night I dreamt of Edward, as always.

A/N: Okay this was mostly just a filler. You'll see the need of all this stuff later. Anyway hope you enjoyed it!

Don't forget to check out the dresses on my website! Leave a comment too!

Review and I'll give you a virtual cookie!

Kayla