Chapter 14 – Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Despite the mayhem the Halloween party had caused, it didn't take long for our household to fall back into its normal routine, except that now, Emmett and Alice had to do chores along with me and Edward. Mom and Elliott were still working way too many hours, despite their efforts to be home more. Carlisle kept threatening to put mom on bed rest if she didn't slow down, but with being worried about losing her standing when she took her maternity leave, she was determined to keep her status and continued her crazy hours. It was becoming harder, because the baby was getting bigger by the minute, making her more and more uncomfortable.
When we'd finally let mom see the nursery, she'd cried and said it was exactly what she would have picked. Elliott looked around, smiling softly. He left for a moment, coming back with a box of toys that had been his he had saved from his childhood. Most of them were little boats. "My grandpa was a fisherman from Alaska, and I've always loved the water. Maybe once I get some of my workload transferred, we can take a vacation up there as soon as our boy is big enough to travel. I miss the ocean so much."
The jocks came back for breakfast again, and several of them brought me flowers and apologized to me for having been present during the party and not doing more to make people act like civilized human beings in our home. Apparently, there had indeed been people having sex on the sofas, a food fight, and then a regular fist fight over someone's girlfriend doing a drunken striptease and lap dance for another guy, hence the abandoned panties and the broken table. With that story recounted, Elliott hugged me and Edward again and thanked us profusely for being "normal" kids. Normal was a term I would have used loosely in describing me, considering I couldn't fight the urge to scrub the house down a second time after hearing about everything that had happened, just for good measure and my own peace of mind. I was beginning to wonder if maybe I wasn't developing OCD tendencies.
Edward and I were in the middle of making dinner when Rosalie came bounding into the house with Emmett and Alice in tow, waving an email printout and squealing as if she had just won the lottery.
"Jasper's coming home for Thanksgiving!" she screamed, jumping up into Emmett's arms. I didn't think I had ever seen her so excited. Jasper's father, Gerald Whitlock, had approached him and Sue shortly after we'd moved to Portland, wanting to know Jasper better. So, for that summer, he'd asked if Jasper could come spend some time with him down in Texas. Jasper had liked Texas and his dad's new family so much that he'd asked to stay and finish high school down there, and his dad had promised to pay for his college if Sue would allow him to stay.
My dad and Sue had taken Rosalie and Alice with them to Texas several times to visit him, but he hadn't been back to Portland since he had left. He was now almost twenty-one and a junior at UT Dallas Southwestern, studying health sciences in preparation for medical school. I remembered him saying he had always wanted to be a doctor, and he had decided on being an otolaryngologist as his specialty. He'd joked that, seeing as Texas was the allergy capital of the country, he figured he'd have a very lucrative and busy practice there.
He had been sixteen the last time I'd seen him, and I remembered the final thing he'd said to me as he left: "I sure hope you don't get any uglier as you get older, Beluga. You're near unbearable to look at now as it is. If I never have to look at your ugly face again, it'll be too soon."
That memory stung sharply, and I discreetly wiped away my tears, while everyone else was celebrating. Maybe seeing Jasper again was an exciting idea to them, but for me, it only held the promise of more painful memories. Edward noticed me wiping my face and came to wrap his arms around me.
"I know why you're crying, and I remember what he said, Bella, but I have a feeling he'll be eating those words when he sees you now." I smiled at his sweetness, as he gently kissed my forehead.
I had a new mission. When we all went to pick Jasper up at the airport, I was going to make good and sure he choked on those words.
After our encounter with Mr. Anderson at the mall, Performing Arts class seemed a bit tense. Edward kept a physical presence between me and Mr. Anderson at all times. I didn't think he was even consciously aware he was doing it. I kept my distance, but I still noticed Mr. Anderson staring at me on more than one occasion. His sad smile when our eyes met called to my heart in an odd way, like I wanted to comfort him, but I knew that wouldn't end well with Edward. The next event was coming up, and I was looking forward to it, mostly. I didn't want there to be any problems with Mr. Anderson, because I really liked him as a teacher, but if he came anywhere near me again, I was afraid Edward would do or say something to cause trouble for him. That thought bothered me more than it probably should have.
The next big event was the Thanksgiving food and donation drive for the Greater Portland Area Food Bank. We sat in class, having a brainstorming session, and as per usual, the guys were at a loss for a viable game plan. I was half listening to their arguments, and half watching a couple in the hall making plans for a date, when the inspiration struck.
"We should have a charity dinner," I muttered absently. Everyone looked at me like I was smoking something, so I finally pulled my full attention back to the planning session and expounded on my ramblings.
"Everyone donates food to the bank, which is important, but they need money, too, to fund operations and purchase perishables, right? What if we borrowed the cafeteria, opened the divider to the gym, decorated it like a fancy restaurant, and then we cooked and served dinners for, say, fifty dollars per couple? If we could get the food donated, or at least procured at a deep discount, the take per plate would be mostly profit for the food bank." Everyone sat there quietly, thinking over my idea for a minute, before heads started nodding. "So, you guys probably have some ideas, too. Let's hear what you've got."
"Well, we could use the stage and provide live entertainment for the evening," Edward jumped in, "maybe even set up a dance floor."
Patrick, one of the quieter guys, suggested that we could get a photographer to come in and take digital portraits that could be printed there that night, so people could have something to take home if they also brought a bag of non-perishables to donate to the food bank. Someone else suggested that it could even be coordinated with one of the grocers in the area to offer a prepackaged "Thanksgiving bag" people could either preorder or pick up and bring themselves. Everyone began jumping in and adding ideas, as the concept started gaining momentum.
"Great minds think alike, gentlemen," I bowed to everyone. "Let's do this!"
"You don't think small, do you, Bella? I'm beginning to believe there's no limit to your genius. If you all can pull this off, it'll be the planning coup of the year." Mr. Anderson had been sitting behind us the whole time, and when I looked up, he was grinning hugely at me. "It seems our girl wonder strikes again. Well, gentlemen, the lady has spoken, and it sounds like all of you have some amazing ideas to make this great. So, what do we need to do to get this ball rolling? Remember, though, you only have three weeks to go live with this, since it needs to happen the Saturday before Thanksgiving, so the food bank has time to get the donations out to the public. If you guys can pull this off in that short a time, I'll personally take you all for a long weekend at my parents' mountain ski lodge over spring break…skiing, indoor heated pool, game room, the works. Sound good?"
Everyone was cheering and talking excitedly, until James called us to order again. The first item of business was getting permission from the principal to use the cafeteria. I made a quick call to Esme and told her about the idea for the food bank event. She squealed into the phone, excited to help.
"Bella, are you sure you're not really a Masen? That's a wonderful idea! My father would've fallen totally in love with you, child!" Esme was still on the board of trustees as the Events Director of The Masen Foundation, the entity her father had set up to handle his philanthropic endeavors. "This is your class's project, though, so I'm just going to give you kids the contact information. The phone calls and negotiations will be up to you." I could hear the smile in Esme's voice as she continued.
"I have faith in you, my love, and I know you'll have them begging to do your bidding. Be sure and let everyone help you, though. I know how you are, always trying to do everything by yourself and obsessing about how it's done, but you don't have to do it all alone, honey."
Esme offered to help us with a list of people we could contact for whatever we might need to make the event happen. Her position with the foundation had necessitated contacts and connections all over the place, in just about every industry imaginable, so she was our golden ticket to great things.
She came up to the school the following afternoon and went into the meeting with Edward, Mike, James, and me to convince the principal of the merits of our plan. He immediately put up a fight about us using the school cafeteria. That was until Esme smiled at him in that way she had and reminded him of the good this would do for the community, and suddenly, he was very keen on the idea, even offering us use of the adjoining gym without us asking. I was in awe of Esme's ability to get just about anyone to do her bidding with just her smile.
I ran to pick up Esryl, and then everyone met back at our house with Esme to start planning. I called Jake and had him put out the SHAGNIC call, and they met us there as well. We had a house full of hungry teenagers, so I went into the kitchen to see what I could come up with for a quick snack for a crowd. A few people wandered in to help, and thirty minutes later, we had set out an impressive impromptu spread.
"Bella, this is delicious!" Summer had a look of pure bliss on her face, as she was stuffing a cracker into her mouth that was covered in a quick cheese spread I had whipped up. "If the food you guys are planning on serving at this thing is going to be this good, I want in for sure."
Everyone was nodding as they ate, raving about the simple things I had thrown together. It was no big deal, but they seemed to be enjoying the food.
After everyone had finished eating, we got down to business. Alice, Rosalie and Emmett had come home and sat in, listening to our discussions. Since they were so severely grounded still, I was sure they had to be bored senseless. Alice's eyes got big, as we discussed transforming the cafeteria and gymnasium into our restaurant, and I thought she would explode with excitement, as we decided on an Italian theme for the night. She finally burst.
"Bella, you HAVE to let me help!" she squealed. "I love this sort of thing, and I have some great ideas for décor that'd take the school from Portland to Tuscany in the blink of an eye!"
I was floored. She'd never offered to help with anything of her own free will, so the boredom and chores must have surely been getting to her.
"Okay, Alice," I stammered in shock. Rosalie looked almost as excited as Alice did and wanted to help, too. Of course, that meant Emmett was onboard as well. Edward grinned at me, as he clapped Emmett on the shoulder. This seemed to be becoming a habit, all of us working together. Maybe I could talk Elliott into extending their punishment until they left for college. I could get used to their new-found enthusiasm for something besides their usual selfish endeavors.
After two hours of planning and discussions, the basics were mapped out, everyone had an assignment and a "to do" list, and we had our overall strategy and a tentative menu. Part of the SHAGNICs agreed to join our waitstaff for the event, which was great, since most of them had experience as servers at their part-time jobs. Alice begged and pleaded pitifully, until we all agreed to let her be one of the hostesses. That was on the condition that she spent time training with Beccah and Angela, who both worked at a nicer restaurant and had hostess experience. Edward and Emmett promised to talk to the jocks and see who all would be willing to help as the additional waiters we would need. The rest of the SHAGNICs would be with me in the kitchen.
Esme had brought her list of contacts and passed out numbers for suppliers we would need to call. "I think you kids are really going to do well with this," she beamed at all of us. "I love your idea for an Italian-themed dinner, and I think I know someone who might be willing to help. He's a dear friend of ours and a real sweetheart. I'll give him a call in the morning and see if he'd be able to lend a hand." I had no idea what Esme had up her sleeve, but the sparkle in her eyes had me excited.
The friend Esme mentioned was Executive Chef Daryl Kurtis, who owned Valencia's, one of Portland's top Italian restaurants. To say that I was intimidated would have been an understatement when he offered to let us invade his restaurant on a Monday when they were closed to give us a crash course in the culinary arts. He allowed those of us who would be in the kitchen to come and spend an entire day at Valencia's to see what we were taking on, and we got a chance to learn how to handle ourselves in a commercial kitchen setting. Emmett decided he wanted to cook instead of serving, and he was actually naturally talented with a chef's knife. Who knew we would bond over cutlery?
Chef Kurtis was wonderful and helped me solidify the menu. I brought my recipe file with me and showed him the dishes I was confident with, and he agreed that they would be a hit. I was so proud when he praised my recipes and said he was impressed that I had developed them myself. "If whatever career you choose in college doesn't fulfill you, dear, just come find me. Esme sings your praises, so I'm sure you're a very special young lady. I have friends in the local culinary arts school I could pull a few strings with to get you in, and I'm certain I could find a place for you in my kitchen afterwards," he said to me with a huge grin. That made my day!
He led us through demonstrations of all the dishes we would be making, so we all got some experience cooking on a large scale under pressure. Working in a commercial kitchen was nothing like cooking at home, but the rush of adrenaline was exciting, as we practiced filling orders quickly. He also had his best waitstaff on hand to work with everyone who would be serving to train them how not to dump food on the guests and getting orders right. By the time we left, I was a bit more confident we would be able to pull it off without embarrassing ourselves too badly.
Esme made copies of my recipe cards for everything we were serving, so she could make up the menus. I smiled and blushed profusely when I gave Chef Kurtis permission to use any of the recipes he wanted on his menu in the future when he asked if I minded. As a parting gift, Chef Kurtis provided each of us who would be in the kitchen with white chef coats, hats and aprons. He also was loaning us one of his best sous chefs for the night, so we could use wines and liqueurs in our cooking, since we were all under-aged still. Esme had us gather around Chef Kurtis, and she snapped a few pictures of us all in our whites, grinning like the crazy teenagers we were.
While we were busy getting the food and décor handled, the rest of the guys from class had been working on the entertainment for the evening. The Orchestra Club agreed to join in for the event, and they'd decided to go with a "Rat Pack" theme for the evening. They had been practicing old Sinatra songs and ballroom favorites to give the guests some good dance music that didn't involve grind moves or booty drops. Hopefully. I didn't think anyone else wanted to see their parents, or worse yet, their grandparents, attempting those moves. I would have been amused, but that was just me.
After many phone calls, lots of negotiations, sweating some bullets, and a little begging, we finally had everything in place, most of it donated, or priced at cost to be paid for afterwards. The Thursday afternoon before the event, everyone who was participating met in the cafeteria for our final strategy session. After running to pick up Esryl and grabbing the box I needed to bring, I walked in to find Mr. Anderson trying to get everyone to take a seat. I was surprised at the number of people present. It looked like most of the jocks were there, and Alice and Rosalie had recruited some of the nicer cheerleaders and color guard members for cleanup and setup details. And, of course, all the SHAGNICs were front and center.
"Okay, everybody, first and foremost, I want to thank all of you who are volunteering your time to help us with this important event. Thanks to you, a lot of people will have a good meal for Thanksgiving who might not have had anything otherwise," Mr. Anderson said, his voice cracking slightly at the end. "I'm proud of all of you. Give yourselves a hand."
The applause was loud, as it echoed through the open room. "Next order of business, we need to get these two areas cleaned a little better and the lunch tables stowed away, so anyone who can stay for a bit and help, please do. We need you. There's also a treat for those who stay," Mr. Anderson grinned at me. Edward, who had come and sat beside me, tensed for a moment before reaching his arm around the back of my chair and pulling me and Esryl into his side. Mr. Anderson's smile fell a bit, but he continued. "Bella has been gracious enough to bring one of her Italian crème cakes for everyone who helps out tonight to enjoy." The mention of food had the jocks pumped.
"Finally, everything should start coming in first thing in the morning, so you all need to get here as early as you can tomorrow to get started. Mrs. Esme Cullen is having breakfast catered in for you all, so show your gratitude and get here early to enjoy it. Bella, did you have something to add?"
I nodded and stood up, passing a card and a pen around. "This is a thank you card for my Aunt Esme. Without her help, this would've been so much harder and not nearly as awesome. Plus, some of you guys wouldn't be having a great breakfast tomorrow, since I won't be at home cooking in the morning," I teased the jocks. "We got a lot of help here, and we need to acknowledge it. There are also going to be banners posted on the walls in the hallway with all the companies' names that have contributed, and we need to thank them for their generosity. Be sure to sign those as well."
I sat down, and Mr. Anderson took the floor again. "Okay, folks, the awesome invitations you guys designed and distributed did their job. We have reservations confirmed for over three hundred couples at fifty dollars per couple. Things are going to be incredibly busy for the next couple of days, so make sure you're clear on everything. Let's focus and get it done. This is our community, our friends and our families. Let's do this right!" he cheered, and we all joined in.
With that, we dispersed and began stacking the chairs to the side and folding the long tables to store under the stage. We would be using the chairs, but with gorgeous red chair slipcovers Alice had gotten donated as part of the linen rental to coordinate with the red and white checked tablecloths and red napkins. I was helping stack chairs when I felt a pair of strong arms encircle my waist. I turned quickly to find James standing there.
"Bella, it's been too long since we've been here," he said, leaning in quickly toward me, missing my lips and getting my cheek instead, as I'd turned my head too fast for him to find his mark. He squeezed me to his chest and whispered in my hair, "I've missed you."
I looked around for Edward, but he was nowhere to be seen. He must have taken Esryl to the restroom. I looked back up at James and tried to be as polite as possible, but firm, as I pushed him off me.
"James, I like you as a friend, but this is making me uncomfortable." Edward walked in at that moment carrying Esryl, and James dropped his arms from around me and backed away, nodding when he noticed where my gaze had fallen.
"My apologies," James said with his hands up. "I'd assumed the rumors of your interests being more family-oriented were just rumors. Looks like they were really true after all," he said with a smirk and turned to go help with the tables.
"What was that all about?" Edward asked, as he handed Esryl to me and wrapped an arm around my waist, glaring at James's back.
"Just James being James," I said, not repeating what he had told me. I had more pressing matters to deal with right now than stupid high school gossip fallout.
Photography services were being provided by our photography class teacher, so he was at the meeting as well. I found him and pulled him aside to ask for a favor.
"Thank you so much for helping out with the photography, Mr. Dobson. I'd like to put together a couple of commemorative albums of this event, and I was wondering if you'd be available to wander around and take some candid pictures, while we're setting up and cooking and stuff before you start on the actual guest portraits Saturday night?" I asked in my best persuasive voice.
"I'd be happy to, Miss Swan. Besides, the principal already asked me to do it for the yearbook, so there'll be a couple of other photography students taking pictures as well. I think this is going to be a great night, and you kids deserve a huge pat on the back for pulling this off," he said kindly, pulling out his camera and snapping a picture of me by surprise. He grinned at my expression and started snapping pictures of what was already going on. Some of the pictures were going to be really funny, given the group of hams in the room already cutting up for the camera and having a blast.
I just hoped they would still be as enthusiastic when the real work started tomorrow.