Hello, welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter because I enjoyed writing it. I felt like it was raw, and open, and really showed how much Edward would be willing to give her up to another boy as long as she was happy.. Edward was never a bad guy, stalker maybe? Yes. He was, but never would have ill intentions towards her. He loves her. Vampires mate for life, and she was his mate. Now, Jacob… oh sweet, adorable, questionably problematic in Eclipse Jacob. The boy that I would hold against me on a cold winter night. I guess that's Bella's job, whatevs. Lmao. Okay! So all rights to Stephenie Meyer
Chapter 40: Closure
I could feel the soft vibrations in his chest as he began to hum my lullaby as I drifted off to a new one...And he was gone…
The next few nights were blank, no dreams, no nightmares, no Edward. I panicked the first time I had awoken from that dream that I had of him. Panicking from him being gone again as he had left me before, but it was almost calming in a way, with the reminders in my bottom dresser drawer, locked away, and with him no longer returning to my dreams. I felt serene, serene to have felt almost completely weight lifted. Even if his words were not of my real Edward, it still felt like I was getting permission from him to move on. I wouldn't say I needed the permission, but in a way, I felt like I was betraying Edward before for giving new pieces of my heart away to Jacob. But Edward wanted me to be happy, he wanted me to move on and live my life, even if it was with Jacob.
The dream had felt so real, too real. It felt like he was there, and I had awoken from a dream instead of having fallen into one. But it was the closure I needed. The closure I needed to move on in any possible way I could. I didn't feel completely full, but full enough to not continue to hurt over him from every thought. I still felt like I missed him as I do normally, but not as gaping as it had felt before. Closure, I just needed closure. And he had given me a piece of that, even if it wasn't real.
The weekend had ended, and I hadn't been able to see Jacob. He held many busy days and nights patrolling the woods with his pack to keep our small little town safe from nomad vampires, not that any had come by, but I guess for precaution. It was a daily routine, and Jacob wasn't even close to being caught up on his schoolwork on the reservation. His time as a wolf really had taken a toll on him, and has kept him from studying, or even attending classes sometimes, but he still has time, some time at least. I was a little behind as well. Not on schoolwork, but just understanding. I had a hard time with math. With my other studies, it was basic memorization, but with math, there were many formulas that never made sense to me, along with how to use those formulas to get the right answers. Not my thing.
Jacob had given me a phone call Sunday afternoon about wanting me to hangout next Sunday. Apparently, the water was getting warmer since we were now in April, and he thought it would be a fun idea to take a swim, but knowing Forks, that water would still be ice cold. I missed him. I missed being with him while he kept the cold spring afternoons warm when he wrapped me in his arms.
We also hadn't talked about what happened Saturday either, about the possibility of taking our relationship further. I know he wants to, and I do too. I want to feel him on me, feeling him, feeling the heat of his body pressed against mine. I wasn't experienced in this sort of thing, but I have basic knowledge on it from magazines and internet research. I also read that it would hurt the first time which sounded pretty scary, but with Jacob, I'm sure his warmth would ease any pain; which had me think of another possible predicament. Condoms. Could Jacob even wear condoms? I'm sure there is a limit on how hot that latex can get before it melts, and with Jacob's body running at around hundred nine, the condoms wouldn't last. I wouldn't know the answer to that, but it would be something to talk about.
School went on normally, boring, but normally. I was caught up in my science course, along with my government class and literature reading, but not caught up in math. The bell for lunch rang and I joined my usual lunch mates at the table. Jessica and Lauren were both in conversation about all the boys they were going to meet when they go to California together, causing Mike's face to coil in discomfort, while Angela and Ben were chatting about what movie they should go see.
"I do want to go see that new Amanda Bynes movie. You know, she dresses up as a boy and goes to college to play soccer," Angela said, leaning against the table with her attention towards Ben.
"Amanda Bynes movie?" Ben asked.
"She's the Man," I interrupted them, smiling at her. Angela turned her expression towards me with a bright grin.
"Yes! Yes, that movie! Ben, we watched the previews on it the other night! It looked really good."
"Ugh, Amanda Bynes? Please. She's not classy," Lauren interjected with a disgusted expression on her face as she took a bite into her apple slice.
"Oh, yeah, totally not classy. You saw her growing up. Dancing with lobsters? I mean, c'mon. Get a doll house or something," Jessica said, snorting at her statement. Lauren continued to laugh with her as Angela looked at me with her lips pressed towards her face. "You know what's classy? Meryl Streep. Now that's a classy woman. Did you see the previews of her new movie coming out? Devil Wears Prada!"
"Oh my god, yes! I want to see that so bad," Lauren replied. They continued their conversation while Angela's face fell now looking at Ben as he leaned into her and rubbed his hand against the side of her arm.
"I think Amanda Bynes is pretty cool," I said to Angela, trying to get her attention to validate her interests.
"Yeah, me too, I kind of grew up watching her show."
"Yeah," I nodded at her. "Me too. You guys should definitely go see it, and then tell me if it's good or not."
"Oh, well, Bella I can take you, if you want…" Mike interjected with shyness in his voice. Jessica dropped her conversation with Lauren and kicked the leg of the table to interrupt Mike's gaze at me and proceeded to look back and forth at the both of us. I started to feel uncomfortable by their stares. I could see Angela's eyes gawk open as she noticed the awkward interaction that was placed forward. Lauren then had a smirk on her face, chuckling under her breath.
"Uh… Mike that's cool of you to ask. Maybe, I— I don't know. I'm so busy with school right now, and math is killing me." I replied, nervously.
"Math?" Angela turned her expression towards me again. "I can tutor you, Bella if you like." Jessica then rolled her eyes at Mike who now was looking down at the table, rolling the canned peas in his fingertips. I felt bad for having rejected his offer but seeing a movie with him after the last time was not something I wanted to relive.
"Yeah, actually that sounds great," I replied nodding to her.
"You can come over tonight if you want. I don't have any plans, and my mom is making dinner."
"Actually, can I come too? Got a few homework problems that are really giving me a hard time," Jessica said interjecting herself into our conversation.
"Aren't you going to be valedictorian?" Angela asked.
"Well, yeah. But, if I want to keep that spot, I need to get all my stuff right."
"Okay then, sure. Yeah, you guys can meet me at my house around four?"
"I have work after school, but I can come after that, like around five-thirty," I said to her, looking over at Mike who gave me a half smile that I returned. Jessica noticed our interaction and quickly looked back at Lauren.
I was in a way thrilled to be hanging out with Angela again, even if it was to study. I haven't spoken to Jessica for quite some time either. We talk, but she never seems too interested in holding a conversation with me, so possibly studying tonight would help fix those pieces that were broken in our strange friendship. Her thinly veiled animosity was apparent this past year towards me, but I knew my dry mood had grown very hard for Jessica to be around me. I had felt bad about that and felt bad that my breakup with Edward had ruined our friendship, and with Lauren's noticeable hostility towards me must also have been a factor of my friendship with Jessica, as well.
After school had ended, I continued my day at the Newton's store stocking shelves and helping customers find their items. Mike wasn't scheduled to work until after my shift which was sort of a bummer. I had felt bad about lunch and rejecting his offer to take me to the movies; he was just being nice, and I let him down. I wouldn't mind going, but I knew Jake probably would, not that Jacob was fully the jealous type. I know Jacob had full confidence in his judgement on my relationship with Mike, but still. I do miss talking to Mike a little bit at work with his dry jokes that weren't necessarily funny, just mostly stupid which were what made them laughable. I knew I also could probably catch up to him after my shift and apologize when he walks in the door.
Mrs. Newton eventually had to take me into her office to discuss my day at work in which I had dropped a not relatively expensive item. It was one of the cheaper coolers, but when I had dropped it, the hinge of the lid broke off. So yes, cheap. She said she was going to have to take the cost of the cooler out of my paycheck. It wasn't entirely a problem because it was my fault, but I needed the money for school and gas for my truck.
When my shift had ended, I punched out and headed out the door looking for Mike's car. He had just pulled up and looked to be in a hurry because he was already late.
"Mike! Hey, wait up!" I shouted at him to get his attention. He turned around to look at me with panic on his face as he was running past me with his work vest half on.
"Bells, hi. Sorry, I'm a little bit late," he replied nervously.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about saying no to the movies earlier today at lunch," I said to him, flashing a fake smile at him to gain some of the trust in our friendship back. His eyebrow raised as he was fidgeting with the clasps on the vest.
Mike shrugged, "Oh, don't worry about that. You're busy, I got it."
"No— I mean yes I am busy, but yeah, I'm sorry…" I looked at him wearily, trying to show my sympathy for the rejection.
"Uh, yeah, no problem. See you at school, Bella," he said to me walking away into the front doors of the store. I could hear Mrs. Newton yelling at him for being late which now is another reason to feel bad for. I got in my truck and headed towards Angela's house. When I got there, Jessica's car was already parked in front of her yard, so she had made it here before me which had forced me to feel wearier to knock on her door. Angela had already opened the front door before I made it up the steps. She greeted me at the door warmly with a hug and enthusiasm for having me over and then had me follow her up the stairs to her room where Jessica was sitting on her bed on her cellphone.
I looked over at Jessica whose head did not pop up as I entered the room. She may not have heard me walk in, but it did make me feel uncomfortable about our current status.
"Hey, Jess!" I said to her shyly, trying to give a convincing grin.
"Oh, hey," she replied, in a more enthusiastic tone that I did not expect, but she did not look at me— her face was still towering over her cellphone.
"So, calculus?" Angela asked sitting down on her bed near Jessica where she then patted the side of it inviting me to join them. I nodded at her lifting my bookbag off my shoulder and onto the floor in front of it.
"Yeah that sounds gr—"
"Oh my god you guys, prom is literally in a month, and I'm having a whole panic attack," Jessica expressed aloud with irritation in her voice. She oversaw the decorations and theme this year since she was the senior and had granted herself head of the prom committee. The theme for prom this year was Fire and Ice, which had wounded me a little too close to home. Jessica the past two weeks had been scavenging around for extra prom decorations to add more details to it, which seemed a bit overexaggerated, but I wasn't going to be the one to tell her.
"You're almost done with it I thought," Angela mentioned in a concerned tone, genuinely trying to reassure Jessica.
"No, no. You don't get it. I'm working with idiot juniors who don't know how to put a theme together," she said in a rush and malice tone. She held up her phone revealing a text message from one of the underclassmen to Angela. "I made it clear that I wanted warm fairy lights streaming from the ceiling, and instead they got those gross LED hanging cold lights."
"Well, wouldn't that be more fitting for the prom? I mean it is fire and ice," Angela replied enunciating 'ice' to her, pushing the phone away from her face back towards Jessica's lap.
"Well, duh yah, but this prom is supposed to be pretty, and the warm fairy lights would match both aesthetics of the prom. The LED ones aren't pretty," she said, rolling her eyes back at Angela as if Angela was unaware of the proper aesthetics that lights had to offer to a prom. Jessica continued looking down at her phone, texting back aggressively as I could see her biting her lip and her eyebrows furrowing into her face. "Oh! Have you guys already picked up your dresses?" She asked looking up at us both with her eyebrows raised. "I mean— Angela?"
"Well it's our second prom. Thought I could just reuse the one from last year," Angela said softly to her, as if she was worried about Jessica's opinion on that, and she rightfully should have been.
"Excuse me? It's fire and ice, Jessica. Your dress was pink. Your only options are red, black, white, or blue. You have to get a new one."
Angela looked at me raising her eyebrow in my direction at the disbelief of what Jessica had said to her where then Jessica looked over at me and back at Angela, "What?"
"Nothing, Jess. Do you have your dress yet, Bella?" Angela asked me, smiling.
"Oh me?" I hadn't really thought about the idea of going to prom this year. It wasn't anything I was looking forward to, nor cared about doing. Last year I had gone with Edward and thought it could possibly strike a chord into me at the memories of it, but then again, I was trying to force myself to become happy, and to not think of him anymore. "To be honest, no. I didn't really think about going."
"It's our last prom, Bella. Aren't you dating that reservation boy, Jacob?" Angela asked, which concerned me why she thought we were dating. Jacob and I were dating, I think if that's what you call it, but I don't remember confirming it to her. "You should ask him to come. It would be fun."
"I don't think he'd really want to go to a Forks prom; he has his own school dance to go to." I wasn't aware if the reservation did do school dances. It's such a small area where everyone knows each other and are close family friends, I didn't think the idea of a school dance, let alone prom would be an activity there.
"Has he asked you to go with him?" Jessica now asked, twirling curls into her hair as she sat up impatiently on her bed glaring at me in curiosity, as she clutched the cellphone in her hand noticeably tight.
"Well," I felt nervous and a little awkward to talk about Jacob and my relationship since the only people that I had confirmed it to were my dad and his friends on the reservation. "Not exactly, no."
"Are you guys even dating then if he didn't ask you?" Jessica pushed her question harder onto me, curiosity flared in her eyes as she sat closer towards me. "If not, then ask him. Or I'll go down there and make him ask you." Angela had thought the idea of Jessica confronting a large tall boy that Jacob was to be funny.
"No, no please don't," I exhaled my breath. The idea wasn't as funny to me, more embarrassing for that matter. "He's a sophomore, anyway, I don't think he would be able to go to his prom."
"A sophomore? Jesus, what are they feeding them down there? Wish they would bring it here for the boys at our school," Jessica said, rolling her eyes and then looking back down at her phone. She wasn't wrong. Jacob did look much older than the boys in our senior class. The boys mostly had their young youthful baby faces still, or were barely growing a bristle above their lip, but Jacob did have the wolf genetic advantage. "You should ask him though, seriously. We can all get dresses Friday together."
"Bella, I do think you should invite him. It would be fun." Angela warmly smiled at me with beseech in her eyes as if she really wanted me to go with her and Ben.
"Maybe," I replied. I don't think Jacob would really want to go anyway. The idea of both of us dancing together at prom like we did last year was not something either of us would probably want to reenact.
"Besides," Angela lifted herself off the bed and into her closet revealing the many items hanging in there. She pulled her prom dress from last year off the hanger revealing it. "It's not like it's a deep pink anyways. It's very light, kind of fits the ice theme." Jessica looked up at it and back down at her phone, exhaling a breath of air from her lungs. "Oh c'mon. You agree, right Bella?"
"Yeah, it looks good to me," I replied eagerly, giving her a smile. It was a perfect dress for the theme in my opinion, not that Jessica cared for it since she was planning the event. I knew my opinion would have sparked a reaction from her when her eyebrows raised when I agreed with Angela.
"Yeah, whatever. If you prefer to reuse the same dress from last year's prom and girl's choice dance, be my guest," Jessica said sarcastically. Angela smiled at her then me trying to lighten the mood.
"It's fine, we can go dress shopping Friday. You should invite Lauren. I'm sure she would want to go."
"Yes…" Jessica continued texting on her phone, and I could hear a message delivered by the tone coming from it. "Okay sent."
"Great! Okay, so where should we start?" Angela then said excitedly, putting the dress back onto the hanger in the far-right side of her closet.
"Calculus," I repeated to her, halfway smiling at her.
"Right, okay," Angela then grabbed her book bag and pulled out one of her spiral binders that she had used for her notes in the class, and I did the same. Jessica didn't seem too interested to study with us as she only took a few glances every now and then when we mentioned something important like certain formulas to use for each problem. She was mostly consumed into her phone texting as she sighed in frustration at the responses that she was receiving from the underclassmen about the prom details.
The calculus problems that Angela was trying to teach me were making more sense now with her reasoning and explanation than my teacher's. The main problem I noticed was my teacher not explaining the whole formulas or how you execute certain problems when there are different rules, such in the way that Angela was doing it. She was very smart with her studies and I knew she was going to be able to get to the school that she was dying to follow Ben to. After about an hour and a half of studying, we had closed the books to the problems that I was mostly struggling on. Jessica ended up joining in on the studying about halfway through to go through the problems she also had a hard time understanding, but she relatively knew more than I did when it came to the subject.
When we finally finished the session, I started to entertain Jessica's and Angela's excitement in prom, giving them small details that could possibly help with her predicaments and ideas to add to the decorations. Jessica probably wouldn't consider using my ideas, but she was genuinely excited just to talk about it. I could feel our friendship with each other begin to form again as we continued the conversation comparing her prom ideas to last year's prom, and what she could do better within the next month before it commences. Jessica eventually convinced Angela to be fully on board with the idea of getting a new dress for prom as she persuaded her on what dress style would be most flattering on her that would catch Ben's eye the most. Obviously, Jessica pushed the idea of more cleavage onto Angela which Angela brushed off, but it did make her blush.
"Hold on, let me go check that," Angela said after her computer monitor chimed. She walked over to her computer opening an email that notified her. She looked at it very briefly and invited Jessica and I to come over to read it. I didn't come over to the screen; I knew whatever was on it that was important enough for us to read, that they would tell me about it. I was hoping for some confirmation of school canceling anytime next week. I really wanted to see Jacob since I hadn't seen him since Saturday. Only time I had been able to speak to him was over the phone when he would call me after work to chat when he had a small amount of time to do that before he had to run patrols again.
"Anonymous? What a weirdo." Jessica said to her as she leaned closer in, holding the mouse scrolling up and down on the screen to look for a recognizable email address attached to it. "But it sounds fun. I mean, no adult supervision, and beverages," Jessica said signaling air quotes on the word beverages. "And no cops? Think we should go?"
"I don't know… if there aren't any parents there, I don't know if my parents would let me go. Besides, we don't even know where it is. I mean, an isolated vacant house? Sounds a little bit ominous..." Angela expressed nervously.
Jessica shrugged, "Well of course it has to be isolated, how else would we be able to get away with drinking? Besides, my parents will let me go out Saturday."
"That's because you lie, Jess."
"Yeah, but it works. Just say you're staying with me. You're going." I grew curious at what they were talking about, so I leaned over towards the computer now reading the email.
"A party?" I asked, skimming through the rest of the email.
Hello, Forks High Seniors!
We all know this school year has been a major stress zone, so I am cordially inviting you all to a nice little party to ease the nerves this Saturday! Think party attire when choosing your outfits — dressing casual is not an option! Do not worry about bringing your own drinks, or do if you must, but this party will be completely catered with food and "beverages."
There will be no need to worry about any complaints or interruptions during the event for it will be hosted at a mostly isolated vacant house. Remember, keep this party a secret amongst the senior class so we can continue to enjoy our lovely evening.
Rooms will be offered to any guests that decide to stay the night after a late night of beverages, but if not, a cab will be catered to you for transportation!
(Address)
See you soon, class of 2006!
~Anonymous (;
The address on the invitation was immediately recognizable to me, but not apparent to them of whose house it was for they have probably never been there or any of the seniors entirely. This house was the house of the Cullen's. The Cullen's who had left me many months ago. But the sender was anonymous, which continued to pique my interests of who it must have been.
Panic swept my face— who else would throw a party for the senior class at such a remote location such as the Cullen's? Obviously, it had to be none other than Alice, but she couldn't be back, could she? It wasn't possible. She would have come to visit me, so I thought. But maybe this was her invitation for me to see her again, for it was bulkily addressed to the entire senior class, so I must have gotten an invitation, as well.
"Bella, you're going too right?" Angela asked looking over at me eagerly.
"I—I don't know. Don't you think it's weird that they don't even say who they are?"
"No?" Jessica scoffed, "This person is clearly sending an invitation for an alcoholic party for underage teens at a vacant house. Would be dumb of them to put their name on that email," she snickering at me.
"Maybe I should call Ben and see if he got the invite too…" Angela said in a worried tone.
"Oh, I should call Lauren and Mike then!"
"Mike? Are you two together again?" Angela asked, grimacing at her.
"I mean, yes and no. It's on and off. I'm just having fun." Jessica said walking away from the computer dialing a number into her phone. Her conversations with them both were brief but clear that they both got the invite to it after they checked their emails when Jessica notified them of it. "Now I have to figure out what I'm going to wear to this party, too."
"I mean, it's party attire. Just wear something that you would go out at night in. Like a nice dress or something," Angela said to her as she now turned her computer monitor off and sat up from her seat heading to her closet. She was pushing past a few of her t-shirts that were on the hangers and halfway pulling out some thick strapped dresses that would hang to the middle of her thigh. They were mostly floral prints that seemed both casual and formal enough for the party. Jessica and I both gave her approving tones to each of them expressing that all of them would look good for the party.
"So, what are you guys going to wear then?" Angela had asked us.
"I think I have a few options in my closet. I have a few mini dresses in there that would look totally hot with my gold clutch purse," she replied and then looked over at me, her eyes practically looked me up and down. "Do you have anything for the party?" I knew she was hinting at my usual outfits that were less than presentable for any party. She was correct though; I really didn't have anything to wear to this. The dress I wore to last year's prom was semi-formal in a way. It was not as formal as any of the other dresses that were worn at prom, so it could work. But then again, I didn't want to put that dress back on. It contained too many memories, memories that I wanted to suppress. And wearing a dress that I had worn to funeral didn't seem appropriate.
"Jessica…" Angela said, realizing how rude Jessica's comment was towards me.
"Not really, honestly," I replied in an annoyed tone.
"Well, great. If you want to come over to my house after we leave here, I can give you something to wear," Jessica offered. I was glad she had offered and not Angela. Angela's frame was slimmer than mine, and I didn't want to be impolite to assume her dresses wouldn't fit me. But then again, I also knew of the nightmare that would await me at Jessica's house with her possible dress choices that she had. They would be much less modest than I was used to wearing, but they would fit. I only had enough cash to buy a dress for prom, which I didn't intentionally want to go to anyways.
I gulped at her question, nodding at her with a smile. "Yeah, sure thanks." It really did sound great in a way. Being able to hang out with Jessica some more and possible amend our friendship more than we had done today.
Angela then walked with us down the stairs as we were leaving her house. Angela hugged me goodbye, whispering in my ear to tell me good luck. It was clear that she knew I needed it. I knew she wanted me to be more comfortable around Jessica and the same for Jessica around me, as well. She must have noticed the animosity that had been occurring for a while now. I followed Jessica out down the front walkway to our cars and waited for her to pull out in front of me to follow her to her house. When we got inside of her house, I had asked to use her phone so I could call Charlie to tell him that I was now at Jessica's house and I would be home shortly after.
We headed up to her room which was not surprisingly painted a cream like pink with Christmas lights edging the corners of her room. Her bed comforter was very bulky and white with small grey polka dots on it and with a navy-blue decorative pillow. Her room was almost exactly how I had imagined it would be. She smiled at me nervously as she looked uncomfortable having me here, but I gave her a more convincing smile to show her that I felt more at ease being with her. She showed me her closet which had her outfits that I've seen her wear before, and on one side was filled with many kinds of dresses. Some were brightly colored, others were more paler tones, along with a few black cocktail dresses, but they all held a similar style— they were short.
Jessica pulled out one of the mini dresses for herself. It was a bright pink with a low neckline and spaghetti straps. It was a tight fit dress that would accentuate her curves.
"Do you like it?" She asked, holding it against her body, balancing the straps over her shoulders. It did look nice, and I assumed it looked better on it than it did on the hanger. "I also thought about curling my hair and draping it in front of my shoulders like a half up half down hair do."
"Yeah, I like it. Totally will grab attention," I said to her, trying to insinuate flattery.
"Great, that's what I was going for," she winked at me. She then examined it in the mirror again holding it against herself puckering her lips out and distorting her body in many different angles.
I walked over to her closet, looking at the dresses she had, "May I?" I asked. I wanted to ask permission before I started swiping through her closet.
"Go ahead, pick out whatever you want," Jessica replied, not looking at me as she consumed herself in the mirror.
The dresses weren't a complete nightmare as I started ruffling through them. Some were more modest than others, but again, mostly short. I passed the colors that were too bright as I did not want to stand out in a statement colored dress, and then skipped towards the duller colored ones. One dress in particular did catch my eye, as it was a deep royal blue color that I particularly liked to wear. It was a tad longer than the other dresses with a slit on the thigh that did not go too high up. It was a-lined style with dark royal blue sheer sleeves that were a tad loose fitting that stretched over the chest area. I pulled it out of the closet, still attached to the hanger and held it up to her. It took a minute to get her attention away from the mirror as she continued to imagine herself at the party and what she would look like there in that dress and how she would wear her hair. She kept fluffing her hair up in different styles until she finally looked at me. Her eyes widened in my direction as she looked me up and down.
"Okay, Bella. Yes. Here, I'm going to go to the bathroom and put this on, and I want you to put that dress on now," she said, insisting on me.
"Oh, it's okay I don't need to put it on right now," I said nervously, with my breath shaking as I got uneasily shy.
"No, you're doing this. I need to see it on. I'll be right back," she said already halfway out the door before she closed it shut. I could hear the fan turn on in the bathroom and the hems of her shirt ripping a little bit as she was quickly pulling it off.
I sighed at the gesture and decided I probably wouldn't win this battle. It reminded me of Alice in a way, but from a person like Jessica. Insisting on me to try things on and look at myself in it. I unclothed myself and held the dress against my body before I decided to put it on. When I finally had it on, I realized I couldn't pull the zipper up in the back or find one for that matter. Jessica knocked on the door before she walked in and her face dropped.
"Wow, Bella. You look… well you look amazing actually." Jessica said. I felt flattered by her response as she quickly ran behind me to help me with the dress.
"Sorry, I couldn't find the zipper," I said, still swatting my hand on the back of the dresses looking for it.
"They are individual buttons, Bella," she snickered, taking over and clasping the buttons together for me. It was nice, I felt like we were bonding again. She unhooked the tag on one of the buttons and started shoving me to her long mirror and curled my hair into her fingers trying to make loose curls and then draped my hair behind my shoulders. She held me steady into the mirror and then joined next to me, looking at herself as she spun around into different poses, and pushing her cleavage up.
"You look really great, Jess."
"Thanks, yeah, I look hot," Jessica replied in a more sensual tone that made me a little uncomfortable but caused me to chuckle. She then looked in the mirror at me and gave me a displeased look as I wasn't enacting different poses like she was.
"Bella? Look at yourself. You look hot, too. You picked a nice dress for yourself. It fits your look actually too."
She wasn't wrong, the dress had a more modest feel to it with the sleeves and my chest partially covered with the sheer fabric. The length of the dress was shorter than I was used to, but not too uncomfortable, and neither the slit had bothered me too much as well. I started to distort my body less dramatically than Jessica had been doing and did slightly awkward poses in the mirror. It was an admirable dress, and it fit me well. Jessica continued to smile at me as she saw me admiring myself in it.
"Thank you," I replied to her for letting me wear one of her dresses. I returned a convincing smile to her.
"You can keep it if you want. I don't think I've ever actually worn that before. It's not my color if you haven't noticed," She said chuckling as she gestured to her bright pink mini dress she was wearing.
"Oh, really? I couldn't do that. I would have to pay for it, and I don't have the money…" I replied to her, wearily.
"Don't bother. My mom bought that one for me anyways. She won't care."
"Well, thanks. I told my dad I would be home soon, so I should really head home."
"Okay! I'll see you at school tomorrow, then," She smiled at me, looking me up and down at my dress one more time.
"Yeah, see you at school." I gave Jessica a more enthusiastic smile than before and grabbed my clothes off the floor. I quickly changed in her bathroom and draped the dress over my shoulder as I headed to my car and drove home.