Chapter 28

"So would you like peperoni or pineapple on your pizza?", Rose asked as she dialed the number to the pizza place.

"Why not both?", I said as I made my bed on the floor next to Rosalie's bed. Esme had been kind enough to bring down a mattress from the attic for me to sleep on.

"I like the way you think", she said and smiled at me.

The Cullen family had gone to New York the day before and I'd arrived here in the afternoon. We'd spent the afternoon watching a tv-show that Rose found very interesting and I'd have to admit it wasn't all that bad. Now the clock was approaching dinner time and Rose had insisted we'd make a huge pizza order. On top of that she'd stocked up on enough snacks and candy to last this family a lifetime. I could tell she was very excited about us hanging out and I imagined she didn't have that many girlfriends except for Alice and me.

"So what do you wanna do after? Have you reconsidered letting me color your hair?", Rosalie asked. Rosalie seemed to look at me a bit like a Barbie doll that she could give a make-over. She'd shown me pictures all afternoon of different hairstyles and she'd insisted on painting my nails even though I swore I never wore nail polish. Now she was trying to talk me into that my hair would look great with golden highlights. I've never had much interest in make-up or hairdo's, but Rosalie seemed set on giving me a touch up. Maybe I should give it a go?

"Yeah, Rose, I just don't want any drastic changes to my hair so I'm not sure…"

"It's just highlights for god's sake. And I'm really good at it, I've had a lot of practice on Esme and Alice. You're gonna love it. And if you don't like it it will wash out in a couple of months anyhow. It's no biggie getting highlights."

Maybe a change could be good?

"Sure, do whatever you want with my hair. Just not anything too crazy, okay?"

"Pinky swear", Rose cried excited and started digging through her drawer looking for the stuff she needed for my make over. I just hoped she wouldn't do anything crazy.

The pizza arrived about an hour later and after we'd finished up Rose turned on a movie and started having her way with my hair. She'd put a plastic cap over my hair and she started to pull out strands of my hair through it.

"You have a good natural hair color", she said as she started putting bleach on the strands of hair.

"Thanks". I'd never been too keen on my own looks, I had too much of Charlie in me. My mom was beautiful and she always got people's attention. I imagined her being a very easy-going person also had something to do with it. But her good looks definitely helped. My hair was one of my few good traits do, being very thick and actually a pretty good color. I just hoped Rose wouldn't mess that up for me.

"So, do you like it here in Forks?", she suddenly asked. I figured she'd been talking to Edward after all and I could feel myself tensing up.

"I haven't talked to Edward if that's what you're thinking. He didn't tell me anything other than that you'd talked when we'd gone camping and that he wanted us to stop joking and asking about the two of you. He didn't say why, but I'm sure he had a good reason to ask us to stop", she added. What was the deal with the Cullen's? Were they mind readers the lot of them?

"I'm just asking if you like being here in Forks. That's all", she concluded.

"Yeah, I noticed you've stopped making remarks about us", I said at last.

"Because he asked us to, of course", she said, matter-of-factly. "And he didn't say anything about why but I could tell he meant business so I figured we'd be better off not asking. But if I can make a guess, and I dare say a rather well founded one at that, I would guess that you had some trouble back in Phoenix. Some guy trouble? And I suspect said guy trouble is still troubling you now."

"And that would be correct", I said without hesitating. I'd already known that Rose was on to me and there was really no point in keeping her in the dark.

"I had a guy back in Phoenix and he dumped me when he went to college, to tell you the gist of it. I was very much in love with him and I've been having a hard time letting it go. But I'm doing my best", I continued.

"I'm sorry that happened to you", she said as she worked on my hair. "I had a guy before Emmett and I found each other and he turned out to be nothing like I'd thought in the end. I know it's not the same as the situation you are in, but I know it hurts not getting what you want. I really do."

She sounded sad as she spoke, but since I had my back to her I couldn't see her expression.

"Yes, it does hurt".

"Have you managed to remain friends after breaking up?"

"No, I asked him to leave me alone, seeing as I was the one being dumped. But I doubt that he'd wanted to stay in contact even if I'd asked him to. He seems very busy living the college experience."

"Well, if that is his priority, so be it. I just think the important thing you should remember is that he didn't chose you and then you shouldn't chose him. Some things that are broken can be fixed, but most of the time they cannot", Rose added and there was a strange tone in her voice that I couldn't quite understand. "Anyhow", she went on, "you shouldn't spend too much time dwelling on guys. When the time comes you'll know and when the right guy comes along you'll know. All that stuff is true. It happened to me when I finally found Emmett. And you shouldn't worry about Edward either. He likes you, sure enough. But he's a big boy and he will get over it. You just think about you, okay?"

"It's just not something I prioritize right now, the romantic stuff... But to answer your first question, yes. I really like it here in Forks. Sure, the weather is not great and there isn't very much to do. But I'm very glad I've gotten to know you guys. It's been a big help when it comes to adjusting to living here in Forks. I'm really thankful."

"And we are very thankful to you for wanting to hang out with us. You are a very cool addition to our clique, to say the very least", she said and combed out my hair carefully," We needed some fresh blood in our group, we were getting bored of each other."

"Uhm… Since we're being open about things tonight, would you mind if I ask about what's up with Jasper? Because I'm not totally convinced about him living the artist life in New York".

My heart was pounding, had I really been brave enough to ask? I could feel Rose's hands stop moving in my hair and I could sense her working up an answer.

"You are no fool, Isabella Swan", Rosalie said, her voice sounding slightly tormented. "It's true that Jasper isn't away at art school, even though he is actually a quite talented artist. The truth is that he's been having a lot of problems for a while now, he ended up in bad company where we lived before and even though he is really trying to let his old life go it's not that easy. We've all been having a pretty rough time with him for a good while now and my parents decided perhaps it would do him good to get a change of scenery. So he's staying with relatives for the moment. It's not like he's been sent off or anything, he went willingly. But I think all of us think it was for the best. It was getting out of hand."

Old life? Did that entail drugs or stealing or what? I couldn't quite get my head around what Rosalie had meant, but I concluded it was best not pushing the matter further, seeing as she'd spoken so openly about it. She'd told me what she felt comfortable telling me and that was enough for me. I knew enough about family drama to not go digging through someone else's troubles.

"Anyhow, he's doing so much better now. We hope he'll be able to be back with us by the summer, so that he can attend school here in the fall. That's what we're hoping at least", she added brightly.

"And what about Alice?"

"Oh, Alice couldn't be parted from Jasper. We'd hoped she'd come back after he'd gotten settled in, but she doesn't want to. It's fine by our parents. But we miss her, of course."

I felt a bit bad for prying around in the Cullen's personal business. Of course Alice wouldn't want to be away from Jasper, seeing as she was his girlfriend and everything. But Esme and Carlisle seemed to be pretty cool parents since they let her go with him. I supposed she attended school there though.

"Thanks for telling me this, Rose."

"Of course, Bella. Of course. We probably should have told you before, but it's a sensitive topic in this family. Jasper's former behavior has had a lot of consequences for the rest of us, it hasn't been easy."

"I'm just glad you told me. And I promise I won't tell anyone, you have my word".

"I already figured you were trustworthy", she said happily and stroked my hair. "Anyways, you'll like Jasper and Alice when you get to meet them. They're great."

"I'm looking forward to it", I said, and I truly meant it. The Cullen family was for sure full of surprises and mysteries.