Alice had waited long enough. Emmett and Esme both had their turns with Bella now it was hers. It was with that thought that she marched into the living room to address her audience which consisted of Rosalie,Bella and Emmett.
"Ok enough video games. Bella came for a sleepover. If we don't get started now we won't get to finish everything."
"What is involved in this everything?" Rosalie asked suspiciously.
"None of your business. You aren't allowed to hang out with us. Bella and I need privacy so we can gossip about you without you over hearing." Alice told her.
"We are almost done with this game Alice. Emmett's about lose again." Bella chimed in.
Emmett threw up his hands. "I don't get. I honestly don't get it. We played six different games and you beat me at every single one. I don't understand."
Bella laughed at him. "Sorry Emmett but I thought you wouldn't like it if I let you win so I just played it through."
"Ok now that you guys are done come on Bella let's go to my room. Jasper went out to hunt and won't be back to bother us." Alice said waiting by the stairs for Bella.
"You don't have to do anything she says. Remember that and if you need me just yell. The rooms are soundproof but I'll leave my door open so I can hear you." Rosalie promised Bella.
"You worry to much. I've always wanted to go to a sleepover. I think Alice and I will have fun. You'll come by later though right?" Bella asked her.
"Yes I will definitely be checking in on you guys. I trust you just fine it's Alice I don't."
Bella chuckled at Rosalie's reponse and with a chaste kiss to Rosalie's lips she followed Alice up to her room.
"This is my room. Well mine and Jasper's but he let me decorate." Alice explained.
Alice's room looked exactly how Bella thought it would. It was what she imaged backstage at a fashion show looked like. There was a large vanity with a large number of beauty products on it. She also had a book case with what looked like antique books lining the shelves. Her bed was a huge four post bed that wouldn't have looked out of place in a royal princess's room. What caught her attention most was the case filled with civil war memorabilia.
"That's Jasper's stuff. He was a major for the south during the civil war. This isn't his original uniform or sword just stuff that he's collected over the years." Alice explained when she noticed Bella's interest.
"I had an ancestor who was a general for the union during the civil war."Bella said.
"I think Jasper mentioned something about that. I know he wanted to talk to you about it but it seemed your family was an out of bounds topic."
"I wouldn't mind talking to him about it. I'm really proud of the Shurlongs that came before me. They did a lot of good for humanity."Bella said proudly.
"I'm sure he would love that. Thank you. Jasper's a bit shy as he struggles the most being around humans so it's hard for him to make conversation. You talking to him would mean a lot." Alice told her. "Ok now that's out of the way let's get our sleepover started. I'm not sure when Esme is going to call you for dinner but I think the first thing we should do is change into pajamas."
"It's a little early don't you think?" Bella asked.
"Well we are going to be using those beauty products over there that I bought so we don't want to get them on our clothes." Alice said pointing to the vanity.
"That's a good point. I'll change in your bathroom." Bella said grabbing her bag, she went to get changed into her tank top and shorts.
"Very cute pajamas. "Alice commented.
"Your's are very nice also." Bella replied. Alice was wearing a long nightgown with matching outer cape made of the same lace and silk materials that looked like it came right from the 1920's.
"Do you really like it? It was in fashion in the 20's when I was turned and I always wanted to have an occasion to wear it. Being vampires we don't really have a need for proper bed wear. "
"It's great Alice I just feel under dress."
Alice gave her a beaming smile in reply. "Non sense. Now do you want to read magazines or do skin and hair care first?"
"What magazines?"Bella asked. This was turning out to be a sleepover straight out of a movie. Maybe that's where Alice got her ideas from.
"Well I thought we could do a Cosmo quiz. They have some pretty interesting ones and it seemed like fun."
"Ok let's go with a quiz."
"Bella, Rosalie is right. You don't have to go along with everything I want to do. I honestly just wanted to have the experience of having a slumber party but the only references I have are tv and movies. So if you really don't want to do something please tell me." Alice said.
"Ok let's skip the magazine quiz then. I've never tried beauty products before so that would fun to do together not that we really need them." Bella added. She wasn't vain but she understood that being a shifter came with the perk of flawless skin and really healthy hair.
"Great. Let's try the face masks first."Alice said handing Bella a paper like mask.
"A tiger Alice?You got me a face mask that has a tiger face on it?" Bella asked incredulously as she held up the cartoon tiger face.
"I thought it would be cool to have animal faces. Here if you don't like the tiger you can be the zebra."
"I'll keep the tiger." Bella grumbled.
After getting the masks situated on their faces Alice looked at Bella and started laughing. "Oh man we have to take a selfie. We look Ridiculous!"
"Yeah we do." Bella agreed as Alice put her arm around her shoulders and held her phone in front of them.
"Ok now we have to wait a bit before we wash these off our faces. Can you tell me about your date? Rosalie wouldn't tell me anything except that you beat up a bunch of guys in the park."
Bella thought about what to say. "It was really nice. I feel as though our conversation about nothing bad would happen jinxed us. Everything was perfect until those stupid guys showed up."
"I don't think we jinxed you. I think it was just chance those guys showed up. From Rosalie told us they won't be bothering anyone again."
"I hope not. It's a fine line when it comes to stuff like that." Bella said.
"What do you mean?" Alice asked.
"Men like that will never learn. No matter how bad the beating or how incapacitated we made them they will always have the mentality that they can take what they want. The only thing we accomplished was to make them second guess going after it in the future." Bella explained.
"Why didn't you kill them? If they weren't going to change why bother even trying to teach them a lesson?"
"That's where the line is. Do you cross it and deal out the punishment you think is right or do you hold back because you worry that it's not your place to be judge and executioner?I don't want to be a killer,no matter how bad someone is but then again I still feel guilty because I had the chance to stop them and I didn't. I took away their capacity to follow through on any threat but I didn't take away their belief that they are better than others."
"Bella you can't feel guilty for not wanting to kill someone. You're 17 years old. You shouldn't be involved with something like that to begin with. The fact that you held back at all is impressive. You're to young to have this guilt on your shoulders. You did what you were personally able to do and that's all you can really do in the end." Alice told her.
"I know you're right it's still a lot to think about."
"Tell me how the rest of the date went. Did Rosalie treat you respectfully the entire night?" Alice teased trying to change the subject to a happier one.
"She was the perfect gentleman. The restaurant she picked was really nice and the movie theater we went to was from the 1940's. She looked so beautifully handsome in that setting. With her old fashion suit offering me her arm to lead me to our seats. Many times last night I was close to swooning."
"That's sounds so romantic. I knew underneath her gruff exterior Rosalie was a big ole softy." Alice said.
"She even gave me white tiger lilies when she picked me up." Bella felt happy that she had a friend she could share her excitement with. Of course she wouldn't share the more personal parts but it was nice to feel like a teenager who had a best friend she could talk to about her love life. She never had either before and it made her happy that her life was changing in a positive way.
"That is so sweet. Let's get these masks off and try something else." Alice said as she pulled Bella to the bathroom to wash their faces.