Summary: Based of a certain song that will remain nameless till the end. And also it's somewhat based off Romeo and Juliet, but mostly the song. Bella and Edward fall in love at first sight. But will other circumstances keep them apart? Can their love survive? Modern day, all human. Canon pairings.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
BPOV
"Alice," I whined. "I really can't dance. I won't go."
"Bella. Your parents are throwing this stupid ball thing. You sort of have to be there," she said apologetically. "And I figured a ball is a perfect occasion to give you a lovely make over."
"And buy me, you and Rosalie lovely dresses," I said, mocking her lightly. She stuck her tongue out at me and laughed.
"That too," she agreed.
"I mean, honestly, who throws a ball in the twenty-first century? Nobody, that's who," I ranted angrily.
"I think it's kind of cool. You get all dolled up and buy vintage dresses and dance. It's all so romantic," she sighed longingly. "I just have a feeling this is going to be a good night for all of us."
"My parents would be glad to hear you say that," I said, smiling slightly. I highly doubted this would be a good night for me. Any night that involved me and heels and dancing, was definitely not going to be a good night. But Alice was usually right about things like this. And I wanted the ball to be a success. I just didn't want to be there. Plus, it would make my parents happy.
"It's going to be good for you too Bella," she promised me. "I can feel it." I just rolled my eyes. Good nights didn't happen often for me. Sure, I had fun with Alice and Rosalie, and my parents were nice, and we were very well off, but this stuff was monotony to me. I was at a party every other night, or a cocktail dinner or something. Whether it be my parents, or the Brandon's or Hale's. But no matter what, there was a party. That's just what happened when you were some of the highest families in Washington state.
Normally, the parties thrown by my parents, and my friend's were unrivaled by anyone. It was hard to outdo them. But that didn't stop the Masen's, Whitlock's or McCarty's. They threw the only parties that were equivalent to the one's I was used to. They made just as much money as us, and were just as good looking, or so I've been told. My parents didn't allow me anywhere near those families.
I don't even remember how their feud got started. I think it was something like, the Whitlock's threw a part on the same night as the Hale's and guests were undecided about which party to attend. The entire city was basically separated into two groups, us and them. The us was everyone that attended the Hale's party, so basically, my family, Alice's and Rosalie's, along with half the state. And the them was the McCarty's, Whitlock's and Masen's, and the other half of the state. Our families had been working to outdo them for years.
So the reason my family was even having this ball, was because the Masen's had thrown a masquerade and my parents just had to one up them. So I blame the Masen family for this one. The usual families would be attending, but you could always count on at least one crasher from the other side. Someone to report on what the party was like. They were normally allowed. No one really said anything, as long as they didn't cause trouble. If we wanted the enemies to know what our party was like, the crasher needed to stay.
Luckily, Rosalie, Alice and I had never been recruited to crash one of their parties. So far a few kids from our school had- Angela Weber, Mike Newton, Jessica Stanley- but that's about it. Mostly adults had gone. But since we were eighteen and just graduated high school, we were most likely going to be sent along. And, although I'd never admit this to anyone, I was sort of excited to see what all the fuss was about. To see if their parties were really all that great.
"I have arrived." Alice and I both turned to see Rosalie Hale in the doorway, her blond hair curled into a Marie Antoinette type hairstyle. Not the really tall one, but the nice one. She was wearing a gorgeous red strapless dress. The top part was tight and had silver beading that ended in a small, red bow. The rest of her dress flared out until it hit the floor in a splash of red. A beautiful ruby necklace was draped around her neck, the only item on her bare neck and shoulders. She looked stunning. (Pic on profile)
"Whoa girl. You look hot," I exclaimed. Rosalie smiled and thanked me, doing a little twirl to show off her dress.
"Tell your parents I love the theme. They should throw balls more often," she gushed. I rolled my eyes. Of course Rosalie would love it.
"I'm going to change into my dress. Bella, go get yours on so we can finish with your hair," Alice instructed. I gave her a military salute and she shook her head before turning to Rosalie. "And Rose I love that necklace. Where did you get it?" I left for the bathroom, leaving the two of them in a discussion on accessories. I walked into my master bathroom and peeled off my sweats. I grabbed the dress Alice had given me.
My dress was a dark, midnight blue, with spaghetti straps. The top was tight with two black beaded designs going across my chest and stomach. It was sort of tight and scrunched a bit at the top, but it flared our into ruffles as it fell to the floor. It complimented my body shape, and my skin color, and I had to admit, I loved it. (Pic on profile)
I pulled it on quickly, being careful not to rip the silky smooth fabric. I looked at the death traps called shoes Alice had given me. They were silver sandals with high heels. Very high heels. I would just have to sneak some flip-flops into my bag for later. After all, my dress went all the way to the floor, so it's not like anyone would see them anyways.
"How do I look?" I asked as I carefully exited the bathroom. Alice and Rosalie's jaws both dropped. Alice was still in her day clothes.
"You. Look. Amazing!" they exclaimed in unison. I giggled and blushed.
"I knew that color blue would look fabulous with your skin," Alice gushed instantly.
"And that dress hugs your curves so great. It makes you look so much older. More mature," Rosalie said excitedly. "It's perfect. Almost like it was made just for you." I could feel my face heating up to rival a fire truck, so I quickly changed the subject.
"Well Alice? Where's your dress?" I demanded. Alice grinned eagerly and grabbed it, rushing into the bathroom.
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One," Rosalie and I counted together. Alice popped out of the door, already dressed in her gown. Alice could put Superman to shame.
Alice's dress was a gorgeous black and white tube top dress. The top part was white, with three sort of thick black stripes going horizontally, and three smaller ones above those. There was also one vertical strip going down the side. Once the dress hit her waist, it flared out in a black, netting material. She also had black gloves that reached up to her elbows on her hands. (Pic on profile)
"Before you comment," Alice said quickly. "Let me put on my jewelry." She strolled past us and grabbed a string of pearls off of my dresser, draping them around her neck. She also grabbed dangling pearl earrings that almost hit her shoulders, as well as a pearl bracelet, which she slid over her black glove. Then she turned back to us, waving her hand to let us know we could comment now.
"You look fabulous!" I squealed instantly.
"Oh my God, I love it!" Rosalie said eagerly. Alice did a small twirl.
"Okay Bella, plant it. Time to fix your hair." I groaned and Alice pushed on my shoulders and I fell onto the chair by my vanity mirror (mostly for Alice's use.) She instantly went to work with my hair. She fixed it so it was in loose waves, a few pieces clipped back out of my eyes. She handed me a diamond necklace and bracelet to put on, and I did. She touched a bit of make-up to my face and announced I was done. I couldn't help but smile at my face in the mirror. I certainly wasn't as gorgeous as the rest of the upper class in Washington, but I looked beautiful.
"I love it. Thanks Alice." I stood and hugged her. She beamed back.
"My pleasure. Trust me." Alice's hair was short enough that she didn't need to do anything to it but brush it. It fell to the tip of her chin.
"Everyone ready to go? The party starts in like ten minutes and Bella, being a hostess, needs to get her ass over there," Rosalie said, planting her hands on her hips.
"Yes, we're ready," Alice decided for both of us. "Let's go." She grabbed a black beaded clutch and the three of us made our way outside, to the small limo that was waiting for us. I managed to sneak a pair of flip-flops into my bag, having to cram them in to fit, along with my cell phone. But it was well worth it to save myself from the horror of heels.
The car sped towards the hall where my parents were having the ball. It was a few floors up, so we had to take an elevator up. The three of us made our way inside and I couldn't help but gape at what I saw. The room was decorated to look exactly like something out of a romance novel, or a19th century novel. Everything was draped in velvet, their were waiters strolling around with trays of food and champagne. It was amazing. Everyone who had arrived looked like movie stars, taken straight from the set.
"Isabella, darling!" Renee came over to me, kissing both of my cheeks. "How lovely of you to come dear. I was beginning to think you would never arrive," she trilled, laughing delicately. She sounded so formal, like I wasn't even her daughter, merely another guest. Alice and Rosalie gave me sympathetic looks and went off to find their families, so they could be treated in the same manner I was being treated in now. What a wonderful life.
"Of course not Mother, you can always count on Rosalie and Alice to drag me to parties," I said softly, giving her a small smile, wishing she would just drop the façade and be a mom.
"Of course dear, of course," she said, sounding distracted. I looked over my shoulder and saw the Newton family arriving and I bit my lip to hide a groan. Of all people, did Mike Newton really need to come to my family's party and torture me? Mike was in puppy love with me, and was as close to a stalker as you could get without actually breaking the law. I hated him with everything in me, but since he was part of the "acceptable" crowd, my parents expected me to be cordial to him.
"Mr. and Mrs. Newton!" Renee sang, taking a few steps towards her newly arrived guests. "How marvelous of you to come! Isabella come say hello to Michael." She grabbed my hand and yanked me to her side.
"Hi," I said awkwardly.
"Hi Bella," Mike said huskily.
"Isabella, dear, keep Michael company while I show Mrs. Newton the lovely clothe napkins we were able to find," Renee said dismissively. If she had known me at all, she would have seen how miserable I was with Mike. But she didn't care. She blew me a kiss and turned off, already talking to Mrs. Newton. "These napkins were actually created in the early 1900s, sewn by hand, each on is completely unique…" I just rolled my eyes and turned back to see Mike, looking eager and excited.
"Hey Bella," he said again. "It's really great to see you again."
"You too Mike," I said, lying through my teeth. I used to be a horrible liar, but I was so used to it now, having to lie in front of my parents, or people like Mike.
"You look really beautiful," he said awkwardly. I could tell he was nervous and uncomfortable. I was just annoyed, praying someone would come save me soon.
"Thanks," I replied. "And you look…nice." Another lie. Mike looked anything but nice. He looked like his mother had picked out his tux. She probably did. He shuffled his feet, trying to think of something to say. How about goodbye? I thought to myself.
"Your parents did a great job with the party," he said, gesturing to the crowd around us. It had grown immensely. People were dressed in their finest gowns, and everyone looked beautiful, the men all looked dashing in their suits. There were tons of faces I didn't recognize. I wondered which one of these people could be the crasher from the other side.
"Oh Bella there you are!" I felt a warm arm lace through mine and I sighed in relief. "I've been looking all over for you."
"Jacob," I said in response. "How are you?"
"I'm fine Bella. I haven't seen you in what feels like years!" he said, overly exaggerating his words. I bit back laughter. Jacob is my best guy friend, part of the Black family, one of our closest friends. He was luckily part of the "acceptable" crowd.
"It has been too long Jake," I agreed. "We must catch up. I'll see you later Mike." I gave him a small goodbye wave and strode off with Jake, both of us breaking into fits of laughter.
"Thank you so much. I thought I was going to have to stand there with Mike all night," I giggled. Jacob chuckled.
"You practically had a big sign over your head, flashing 'help me,'" he teased. "I know a damsel in distress when I see one."
"My hero," I said in a fake southern accent. Jacob laughed again.
"So would you honor your hero with a dance?" he asked, holding out his arm.
"I can't dance Jake," I whispered. He bit his lip to keep from laughing at my panic.
"Sure, sure. Let's just get out there." He took my hand and placed it in the crook of his arm, holding his hand over mine to keep me there. I fought against him uselessly. He was a million times stronger then me. He led me out to the dance floor, where a few couples were already dancing. I could see Alice and an unfamiliar blond man. Their gazes were locked intensely, as if they were drinking in each other's faces. I looked away quickly.
"I can't dance," I said, my voice panicky. Jacob just rolled his eyes. He took one of my hands and placed it on his shoulder, and kept the other in his own. Then he placed his free hand on my waist and the two of us were twirling. I kept my pace with him, and he kept it slow for me, making sure my feet could keep up with his.
"See, this isn't so bad," Jacob said after a few minutes. I nodded my head in agreement, keeping my face focused on my feet. I mean, Jake's feet are big, and I didn't want to step on them. The song ended and everyone clapped for the live band my parents had provided- more of an orchestra, with the violins and such. I pulled my arms away from Jake and clapped along with everyone else, mostly just glad that the song was over.
"Hello." Jacob and I turned to see a pretty girl, about our age, with bronze hair and chocolate brown eyes, smiling sweetly at Jake. Jacob's eyes glazed over as he looked at her.
"Hey," Jacob said, his voice low and husky. The girl smiled shyly.
"My name is Ren. Are you two…together?" she asked, turning to me, biting her lip, her eyes anxious. I was slightly surprised she seemed so intense.
"No, we're just friends," Jacob answered before I could even open my mouth. The girl let out a breath and smiled. "Would you like to dance?"
"I'd love to," she answered eagerly. Jacob swept Ren into his arms and she giggled excitedly. From the look in both of their eyes, I suddenly believed in love at first sight. They looked so cute and sweet together. I backed off, feeling oddly lonely. Alice was dancing with the cute blond, Jacob was with Ren, and I had no clue where Rosalie was off to. I sighed, and made my way out to the balcony. I slipped off my heels and slid on the flip-flops I had snuck for myself. I leaned on the railing and gazed at the streets below me, not really seeing as cars and people bustled about.
Out here, I was comfortable being alone. Sure, I wish I had some company, someone who would always be there for me. But being alone was okay too. I let my eyes slide closed as I took a deep breath, the scent of summer potent in the air. It wasn't things like balls and gowns that made me happy. I liked the simpler things, like the warm summer air. Like a cute romance novel, or a sweet love story. The simple things.
A/N: Okay, not a very eventful first chapter, but I had to lead into the story. This is slightly based off Romeo and Juliet, but mostly the secret song. If anyone can guess, send me a PM and you'll get a dedication. But DON'T review it. Only PM's, so people can't steal your answer if you're right. Also, can anyone guess who Ren is? I mean it's pretty obvious. REVIEW!!