Even as we exited the parking lot, my brain struggled to catch up. This girl; this beautiful, amazing, graceful girl had practically seduced me into her car (okay, maybe seduced was stretching it, but still), had drawn me in volumes not possible for how long she'd known me, and now she was telling me she was a friendly vampire who'd seen me coming a hundred years ago.
A thought snapped into my head, and I turned towards her, skeptical once more."So this is some sort of hazing, right? Get the new girl, and leave her in the middle of the nowhere?" I sighed, the pieces fitting so well. "Not that this place isn't all middle of nowhere," I added quietly to myself.
"I wouldn't leave you anywhere, Bella," Alice started, reaching out towards me and laying a cold, perfect hand on one of my own. "And I promise, this is no teenage social ritual."
"You're so..." I started, my gaze dropping to the hand that had curled its fingers into mine.
"Cold? Yeah, vampires run a little colder than regular people," Alice replied, her voice light and airy.
"You're not a vampire, Alice," I insisted, my gaze snapping back to her face. She was hardly a blood sucking monster: no fangs, no hungry eyes, not a single flame licking off her skin from the sunlight—not that much got through the clouds.
"I most certainly am," she insisted, turning to meet my gaze and holding it. "The first time I saw you was the day I was changed. It was just your face then, a smile, not much else – but it was enough." She spoke the words almost like she was nostalgic.
"Enough for what?" I managed after a moment of silence, and Alice finally turned to look at the road again.
"Enough to know I had to find you, and that I had to be worthy of it when I did," she replied, and flicked on her turn signal. The car slowed to make a turn onto a dirt trail that led into a bunch of trees, and she gave my hand a small squeeze.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into, in this car, driving with a girl I just met into the woods so she could prove to me she's a vampire. But then again, I didn't feel like I was in danger. I felt like I was standing in that electric moment before the storm, that slice of time when the air is practically buzzing with anticipation, and the rain is hanging above you; wet and cold, but refreshing and oh so welcome.
Pulling off into a small clearing, Alice turned the engine off, and then turned towards me in her seat. She took my hand in both of hers now, and leaned down to kiss it softly. It was endearing, and made me want to lift her chin and kiss her right there. If this had been a more typical interaction, I might've gone for it, but something said not yet in my head.
"Don't be afraid, okay? This is just me," she said softly, letting go of my hands and looking me in the eyes, her gold irises practically glowing at me from beneath her thick lashes.
And then she was gone.
"Alice?" I asked, undoing my seatbelt and leaning across her side of the car towards the now open door. I searched for her, unable to believe my own eyes.
"Over here, Bella," I heard her shout from my right, and I turned to face the direction of her voice.
There, standing in the middle of a tiny patch of sunlight, was a girl on fire. No – it wasn't fire. It was almost as if she was made of a million pieces of jewelry, reflecting the sunlight in a billion tiny facets. She shone like a diamond, every inch of her skin lit up by this radiant reflection.
"Oh my god," I mouthed, frozen in my tracks for a moment, leaned awkwardly across into the driver's seat. Slowly, with much precision, I crawled the rest of the way across and out her door, not once taking my eyes off of the impossible sight she offered. Once outside, I walked towards her slowly, still hardly believing my own senses.
"I don't burn in the light, but you can see why we live in Forks: the overcast capital of Washington. If anyone saw me, they'd think I was-"
"Beautiful." I said, finishing her sentence.
"I was going to say unnatural," Alice said, twinkling at me.
"Eye-catching," I corrected, not caring for the negative connotation of 'unnatural.'
The sun twinkled across her once, and was gone, back behind the eternal cloud cover that plagued the area. I looked up, not a single slice of blue left visible in the sky.
"It was the only spot with sunlight for miles or hours, depending on which distance you want to use," Alice said simply, guessing my train of thought.
"You... know that kind of thing?"
"I do if it has to do with my intentions, or the intentions of someone I'm focusing on. I was intent on showing you, so I was able to... find it." She wrinkled her nose as she gave the explanation, but then shrugged it off – seemingly happy enough with that version for now. I watched her, hungry for more information.
"So if you only saw my face, how did you find me?"
"Well, I only saw your face at first. The closer to now I got, the more of the picture filled in, so to speak. And then when I got close to Forks, I got a large chunk of it all at once."
"So you saw me coming." I said, not phrasing it as a question on purpose. For a moment, I could almost see the red string connecting us, not only thought space but time as well. My mind boggled, and I shrugged off the train of thought before it overtook me. When I looked up, Alice was standing right where she had been. "What else did you see?"
"That's just it, Bella. I've seen bits and pieces of possible futures, but the only thing that was ever solid in my mind was something that hasn't happened yet. Something that... scares me. Not because it's bad really, but because of what it means." Her eyes dropped, and she folded into a sitting position on the ground.
"What does it mean?" I asked, stepping closer to her. She looked up, meeting my eyes.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I think it means I'm supposed to be yours."
My head swam, the words coming out of her mouth intoxicating. Alice Cullen was supposed to be mine? A vampire, beauty goddess like her was supposed to be with me? Clumsy, geeky, not-even-close-to-perfect Bella Swan? How was that ever supposed to be true? Was this vampire just dazzling me into submission? I swallowed, trying to muster some sort of response.
Instead, stars began to burst in front of my eyes, I felt my legs go weak, and then...
Alice.
My eyes shot open, revealing the pale goddess just inches from my face. I gasped and tried to get my bearings, but just a moment later I realized she was holding me up. Tiny, little Alice Cullen was holding me like she'd just dipped me mid-Waltz, and she didn't even seem to be struggling. In fact, she let go of me with one hand to brush a strand of hair out of my eye, tucking it behind my ear.
"Okay, Bells?" she asked, using Charlie's nickname for me. My heart thudded in my chest.
"Fine, I just..." I started, but trailed off – unsure how to answer that.
"Forgot to breathe?" Alice asked, a hint of a teasing tone in her voice. I felt my cheeks go red hot.
"Maybe," I conceded, unsure.
"Hmm, want me to blow in your face next time? I hear that makes cats reset their breathing, might work on humans too," she teased, and I felt myself relax a modicum. She must've noticed, because I felt her grip on me tighten a fraction.
"I'm no cat, cats land on their feet," I replied bluntly, motioning with one arm to emphasize our current situation. Alice laughed, and tipped me back up onto my feet.
"Technically, you did. I never let you hit the ground, Bella."
I blinked, considering that against her lightning fast move from the car, and decided she was probably telling the truth. My eyes snapped back to her face, scrutinizing it. "How can you be real? How can this be real?"
"The world must be exactly this, because we're here to witness just such a world," Alice said, a smile creeping across her lips.
"Poetic," I admitted, leaning slightly towards her in an almost involuntary attraction.
"Truth," Alice quipped back, beginning to close the gap as well.
My hands slid around her arms, and her arms around my waist as we met in the middle, our lips nudging softly at first, before devolving into soft, deep kisses. After a few moments, I felt her grip on me change, and I became more hungry for her. My fingers slipped off her arms and dove to the palms beneath the waist of her leather pants. I gripped at her, claiming partial handfuls of her cute bum. She froze, pulling back to look at me.
"Bella, what are you doing?"
"I... I'm sorry," I began, biting my lower lip in subdued embarrassment, my gaze decidedly down towards my feet. Alice laughed softly in response, her elevating tones fluttering through me, fighting gravity in ways people aren't meant to.
"Not your fault, but I should warn you that though I'm sure I won't do anything... bad... to you, controlling myself when your scent is so lovely and new to me is hard. It's best not to poke the kitty inside."
"I was just squeezing your bum, no kitty-poking intended," I said softly, meeting her eyes once more. The smile she wore shone through them, crinkling her nose ever-so-slightly.
"You are going to be trouble, aren't you?" Alice asked, closing the distance so her sweet, citrus breath tickled my nose.
"I promise I'll try not to be, but probably; yeah," I breathed, my lips brushing hers.
For the longest time, we stood there in the middle of a clearing in the woods; arms wrapped around each other, lips so close that I could feel the electricity between us, eyes unblinking—locked in a stare that bore into each other's very being.
"Bella Swan?" Alice asked.
"Yes, Alice Cullen?" I replied.
"Can I be yours from now on?" she asked, tilting her head ever so slightly.
"But aren't you, I mean—Jessica said you were with Jasper," I prodded, not wanting to be someone's little secret, or side piece. If Alice wanted to be mine, she could only be mine.
"I won't lie and say we haven't had a little fun here and there-I've been around a long time, Bella—but we were only ever together because it was easier to stay insular that way. Easier to keep people out." She raised her hand to my cheek, brushing it with the side of her thumb, and then tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "He knows I was waiting for you, and where he stood. He's an adult, and he can handle it."
"So you're going to break up with him?" I asked, needing a clear answer at least before I did something stupid.
"I broke up with him last night, Bella. I told you, I saw you coming."
Her words hung in the air for a moment, binding with everything that was stopping me from saying yes; my insecurity, my worry, my disbelief, and my fear. The more I looked into her bright, golden eye the more I felt everything that held me down slip away. My arms slid around her, and I folded into her shoulder, pulling her against me.
"So is that a yes?" Alice purred in my ear, matching my hug with her own.
"Yes," I whispered in her ear, before kissing her once more.