An Occasion
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.
Part Eight-Trapped
Bella woke up on the morning of her eighteenth birthday feeling completely rested. With things still remaining tense between her and Edward, she had kicked him out of her room early. It meant she had the opportunity to have her bed all to herself without his icy arms wrapped around her. She slid her legs out of the bed and yawned, stretching her arms up high above her head. One glance toward the window confirmed that it was raining again. It had been the rainiest summer in the history of the Olympic Peninsula, it seemed that it wasn't stopping now that fall was here.
Still yawning all the way, she went to brush her teeth in the bathroom. She stared at her reflection in the mirror above the sink, searching for any sign of change. She had been so worried about turning another year older, panicking that it would bring with it wrinkles and heaps of grey hair. But, of course, nothing had changed at all. She still looked the same. It had all been hysteria brought on by her anxiety about being older than Edward. He was forever frozen at the age of seventeen, something which had bothered her so much once upon a time, but oddly, now the day she had been dreading so much was here, Bella found she didn't really care.
She descended the stairs carefully, avoiding the one that creaked, to find Charlie waiting for her at the bottom. She thought he would have left for work already. "Morning, Dad." She greeted him in confusion. "Aren't you running a bit late?"
"Not today." Charlie beamed.
It was only then that Bella noticed he wasn't wearing his uniform. He was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a red flannel shirt.
"Did you take the day off?" Bella asked as she passed him.
"I did." Charlie was acting unusually jovial which immediately aroused Bella's suspicions. He led the way into the kitchen and pulled out a chair for her to sit down in, like a waiter in a restaurant. "I'm going to spoil you today." He declared.
"Why?" Bella was getting genuinely weirded out. This was not like Charlie at all. She was wondering if she had stepped into an alternate universe or something.
"Bells, its your birthday!" Charlie shook his head, fighting a smile. "It not every day you turn eighteen. So, you just sit there and relax, while I cook you a delicious breakfast."
Bella winced, immediately rising from her chair. "Dad, you know I don't like a fuss. Let me make breakfast – "
"Nope!" Charlie cut in cheerfully. He rolled up his sleeves enthusiastically. "I've got this! Have some faith in your old man, kiddo. It's not the first time I've made breakfast." He chuckled. "I know exactly what I'm doing."
"I don't know what happened." Charlie lamented half an hour later as he stared down at the burned fragments of what was supposed to be bacon and eggs in the bottom of the frying pan.
"Don't worry, Dad. I appreciate the gesture." Bella said breathlessly as she popped some bread in the toaster, while she simultaneously fanned Charlie's newspaper at the smoke alarm to stop its high-pitched squeal. "You sit down and let me deal with this."
"But it's your birthday." Charlie sighed, dumping the frying pan in the kitchen sink. He lowered himself into a vacant chair and looked at Bella apologetically.
"Its's fine, Dad." Bella smiled brightly at him as she breezed around the kitchen like she owned it. Which she did, it was her domain. She loved cooking. While it was a chore for others, she found it relaxing.
Soon the kitchen was filled with the tantalising aroma of pancakes. When they were done, Bella added some berries, as warm as they would be in the sun, with maple syrup threaded upon the top. She placed a stack in front of her father with a flourish. "Eat up." She encouraged him.
"Thanks, Bells" Charlie said contritely, picking up his knife and fork. "Happy birthday."
"Thank you." Bella replied as she sat down opposite him, a mug of decaffeinated coffee clutched tightly in her hand. "It's a just a pity I have to go to school today."
A heavy gloom settled on her shoulders as she thought about having to spend the whole day with Edward and Alice. She wasn't looking forward to dealing with their bruised egos, but she didn't have much choice. It wasn't like she could skip school. Even if it was her birthday, she didn't think Charlie would go for that.
Bella struggled to get a grip on herself as she drove to school. She had warned Edward the night before that she would be driving herself now that the cast on her leg had been removed. Being able to drive again had given her much needed independence and she was determined to use it. When she was halfway to school, her cell phone rang. With one hand on the large steering wheel, she picked up the phone to see who it was calling. She was relieved to find it was Jacob. Resting the phone on the bench seat beside her, she put it on loudspeaker so she could concentrate on the road while she talked.
"Hello, Birthday Girl!" Jacob sang in an off-key voice when the call connected. "How does it feel to be so old?"
Bella rolled her eyes. "I'm not drawing my old age pension just yet."
"You sure?" Jacob teased. "Don't they say the way you drive reflects your true age? How fast are you going?"
"You know this truck can't go above fifty." Bella retorted playfully.
"And there you have it." Jacob declared, chuckling. "So, what do you have planned for your big day?"
His question brought forth the memory of the conversation she'd had with Edward and Alice in the school parking lot the day before. They had openly admitted they were hijacking her special day, despite all her protests that she wanted her birthday to be a low-key event, they were determined to sabotage it and make it all about them. Edward still hadn't forgiven her for the way she had spoken to him and Alice, and he was still peeved that she had rejected the special plans he had made for her.
"I have nothing planned." Bella admitted cautiously.
"Bella, you're eighteen!" Jacob exclaimed in disbelief. "You have to celebrate. I thought that boyfriend of yours would have…"
"I'd rather not talk about Edward." Bella interrupted him. "Let's just say that I had a little bit of a falling out with him about what he had planned. He had some grand affair in mind to celebrate, I wanted something small and much more intimate."
"What a doofus!" Jacob muttered. "If you were my girl, I'd let you do whatever you want."
There was a moment of awkward silence on both ends after he admitted that. A pink blush kissed Bella's skin as she cleared her throat, pretending that she hadn't caught what he had just said. "It's just going to be me and Charlie. Unless…. I mean I was thinking…." She began, before pausing.
"Yes." Jacob jumped in quickly.
"Yes?" Bella echoed him in confusion. "You don't even know what I was going to say."
"You were inviting me and Dad to celebrate with you and Charlie." Jacob said, like he had just read her mind. He hesitated for a few seconds. "You were, weren't you?" He sounded worried now, like he was anxious he had jumped the gun.
"Yes." Bella rushed to reassure him. "You know me too well, Jacob."
"Of course, I do. We're friends, aren't we?"
"Good friends." Bella added.
"Best friends." Jacob cemented it further.
Bella's lips quirked upwards into a fond smile. Jacob was just too adorable. She found she was actually looking forward to celebrating her birthday for once now that he was involved. "Come over after school." She suggested. "I'll have everything ready."
"No, you're coming here." Jacob replied, laughing. "Its your birthday, Bells. You should be relaxing. Let me and my old man take care of it. Why don't you and Charlie come over at six?"
"I can't ask you to do that, Jacob." Bella blinked away the moisture in her eyes. She was so touched that he was going to so much trouble, especially at the last minute.
"You're not asking, I'm offering. I've got to go, Bells. See you later."
"Bye, Jake."
She had reached the school parking lot now. She spotted Edward leaning motionless against his polished silver Volvo, like a marble tribute to some forgotten pagan god of beauty. Bella felt the same heaviness from earlier, weighing her shoulders down as she swung into the nearest parking bay and cut the old Chevy's noisy engine. Through the windscreen she saw Edward raise his head and look in her direction. He did not look happy. Bella sighed, it seemed he still hadn't forgiven her for acting out as he saw it. She figured it was going to be a very, very long day.
As the day progressed, Bella was fast losing patience with Edward and Alice's attempts to change her mind about her birthday celebrations. They sat at their usual table for lunch. A strange kind of truce existed, Bella sat with Alice and Edward at the extreme southern end of the table. Her other friends, Mike and Jessica (who were in the awkward post break up friendship phase), Angela and Ben (whose relationship was still going strong), Eric, Connor, Tyler and Lauren (though she didn't really count the last one as a friend, more an irritant), all sat at the same table, on the other side of an invisible line. That line only dissolved on the rare sunny days when Edward and Alice always skipped school, only then would the group join together, the conversation swelling out effortlessly to include Bella when they weren't there.
People always felt ill at ease with the Cullens, wary for some reason they couldn't explain to themselves. Bella was the rare exception to that rule, and today she wondered why as she sat isolated in-between Alice and Edward.
"You're missing out on so much fun, Bella." Alice chirped, a little too loud for comfort. "Its your eighteenth birthday. You deserve a party to celebrate. I wish you would change your mind."
"Keep your voice down, Alice." Bella hissed as she saw Lauren's blonde head swivel around to face in her direction. She hunched down in her chair to make herself as small as possible, but her all her efforts not to be noticed were in vain.
"Is it your birthday today, Bella?" Lauren asked in her annoying baby voice.
"Maybe." Bella hedged.
She suddenly found herself the focus of everyone's attention. She had always hated the spotlight and now she was the centre of it.
"I thought I heard the word party." Lauren added with a slight sneer on her face. "Are you having a party, Bella?"
Before Bella could respond, Alice answered for her. "Well, we were planning on throwing her a big party to celebrate at our house, but it seems Bella is not too keen." She added with a sly glance in Bella's direction.
The word party seemed to have a magic effect on the others grouped at the table. There was a sudden babble of voices pleading with Bella to change her mind. Bella was like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. The more she tried to protest, the more she was drowned out by the others. Before she realised what was happening the party was back on, but it wasn't just the Cullens this time, her closest friends had been invited too. She remained rigid in her seat, feeling suffocated, while the dawning realisation sank in that Alice had outplayed her.
A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.