TODAY'S QUOTE: One day YouTube, Twitter and Facebook will join together and be called... 'YouTwitFace'
My life was, in a word, chaotic. In two words, a giant mess. In three, well, you get the picture.
Not only did I have to deal with the chaos that came with being best mates with a group of vampires, have to work out the kinks in an over the top power, and try and not kill the idiots at school, I now also had to deal with a melodramatic, age obsessed drama queen of a sister.
Honestly. Just kill me now.
Today was her eighteenth birthday, a day I couldn't wait to have for myself and still had to wait a whole year and a half for, and yet here she was near bawling her eyes out because she was now a legal adult.
"I'm going to be so much older then Edward!" she moaned. I passed her a tissue from the coffee table and she blew into it loudly.
"You know he's like, a century old, right?"
She gasped. "Not you too," she complained. "He's seventeen physically."
I rolled my eyes. It was hard to feel sorry for her. If she was just a little upset, then sure, it sucked for her. But for her to be lying on the good parts of the couch, tissues thrown around her and a birthday card from some great aunt I didn't remember torn in half - that's where the pity stopped.
"You do realise he's not gonna break up with you over this, right?" I asked. I used one of Bella's books to flick away a snot covered tissue that was dangerously close to my bare foot.
Bella shot up, standing back straight with her hand covering her mouth in horror. "What if he does?"
"Then he's an idiot. Hey Dad," I said, giving a tiny smile to the man in the doorway. Dad had been amazing towards me in the last couple of months. He had done his best to give me plenty of space, but also watch out for me, which I appreciated.
"Morning Morgana."
He gave a confused look to Bella, to which I shrugged my shoulders. "Hormones," I lied, rolling my eyes. Obviously I couldn't tell him the truth through. Maybe he didn't believe I was crazy now, but I think rambling about vampires would be a little too much for him.
"Right. Well, um, Bella, here's your present."
Bella rolled over on her stomach and stared wide eyed at Dad. "I thought I told you no presents!" she complained. She buried her face into the couch and let out a half scream.
"If it's any consolation," I said, "I didn't bother getting you a present."
She blindly reached out and patted my knee. "Thanks, M. You're the best."
Dad and I shared confused/completely weirded out faces. I hoped she'd realise I didn't get her anything because of 2 reasons. 1, I just honestly couldn't be bothered with putting up with her moods, and 2, I didn't have any mode of transport.
Oh yeah. There was one, tiny little thing I was mad at Dad for. He may have confiscated my bike. And yeah, I was totally pissed at him for it, but the logical side had won over my emotional side with arguments surrounding the fairness of that punishment. I mean, I had basically run away.
This meant I could either ride with Bella, or, the better option, ride with Carlisle. Guess which option I took.
Speaking of which, I could hear his car pulling up now.
I pushed myself off the couch and stood up. "I gotta go Dad, have a great day."
He gave me a tight hug that I endured for all of 3 seconds, before I flew to the doorway. Not only did I want to see Carlisle, I also really needed to get away from Bella's mood swings.
I tugged on my boots (I had been dressed in jeans and a cropped shirt for the past hour) and opened the door to find Carlisle waiting there patiently on the step.
"Good morning Morgana," he said. He nodded his head at the living room. "Am I right I assuming that those sounds are coming from your sister?"
"Yeah. It's her birthday," I said, as if that explained everything. Judging from his face, it didn't. "She's freaking out over being older than Edward. She wants to be a vampire, you see."
Carlisle frowned. "She's only eighteen through, right? That's not that old."
"Tell that to her."
"Your birthday isn't until next year, is it?" he asked. I followed him down the driveway to the car, getting in the passenger seat.
"It's a week before Christmas," I said. "Do you all celebrate birthdays, seeing as how you don't really age?"
"No. Hence why Alice is having a giant party tonight for Bella. She's very excited."
I remembered now - Rosalie and Emmett were picking me up at 7 to help set up. "Bella will love that," I said sarcastically.
Carlisle hummed in agreement. "Morgana," he said quietly, a moment later. "Can I ask you how you feel about something?"
"Sure."
"Esme and I thought that a nice present for Bella would be a roundtrip to visit your mother. She would be able to take someone too. I doubt you'd want to go, but I thought maybe she'd take a friend."
I pursed my lips. I wasn't exactly happy, but Bella would be, which was the idea.
"I'm sure she'd love it," I said, a little stiffly. "Maybe she'd take Alice, although she'd probably prefer to take Edward."
"Sun," he reminded me.
"Then Jessica. Point is, she'd love to see Mum again. It's a good gift."
"Thank you."
I walked into the carpark, Carlisle having dropped me off outside to avoid suspicion from people like Jessica whose mind would go crazy with theories, and met up with Rosalie.
"How'd Bella take having a birthday?" she asked, rolling her eyes. Rosalie was the one person I could count on understanding why I disliked my sister.
"Like she was dying a slow and painful death," I joked. "It was slow and painful for me to watch."
"I bet. I can't believe how horrible she's being about getting older - I'd give anything for a grey hair." Her words sounded light hearted, but I knew they were anything but. "Oh, Emmett!"
Emmett jogged towards us, stopping right in front of Rosalie so he could spin her and then plant a kiss on her lips. They were a gorgeous couple, a term I rarely used. They just seemed to fit together, like two halves of a jigsaw puzzle, or something.
"Hey Shortcake," he said, turning to me and waving despite being half a metre from me. I waved back. "Where's your sister?"
"At home, I think."
"Or not," he said, turning his head so he was looking at the entrnce to the parking lot. "I'm no Alice, but I'm pretty sure she'll get here in five, four-"
Bella's Chevy truck appeared in our line of vision, and Emmett pouted.
"It's okay babe, maybe next time," Rosalie said, patting him on the head. Bella pulled into an empty parking space and I watched as Alice (who had been waiting with Jasper on a bench) ran much too fast for a human towards her.
"Alice," Rosalie warned, her voice low. Apparently Alice heard because she very visibly slowed down to a speed walk.
"Should we go over?" Emmett asked. Rosalie shook her head.
"I don't want to deal with any of that," she said, gesturing at the scene that was playing before us. Alice kept trying to push a little present into Bella's hands, and Bella kept trying to shove Alice off.
"What'd you get her?" Emmett asked, turning back to me.
"I didn't. She doesn't want presents, so I didn't get her any." I narrowed my eyes at him. "What did you get her?"
"Nothing."
I stared hard at Emmett, and he caved easily. "It's a new speaker system for her car. She needs a new update, and besides, it was Rosalie's idea!"
Rosalie sighed. "It's true. But really, we should be blaming Esme - she's the one that convinced us we had to get her something."
"I think it's a good idea."
"Really?"
"Yeah. If you set it up for her during the party, then she won't be able to complain because it's already done."
"True," Rosalie said. "Emmett can help me set it up this afternoon."
Emmett spluttered. "How did I get dragged into helping?"
Roslaie and I just laughed.
"They're pulling up now," Alice said, passing a pink, floral vase to me. "Put that behind you, will you?"
Alice had decorated the place for a pink loving queen, the design entirely elegant, yet with a playful tone.
Alice, Jasper and I had covered every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses. There was a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward's piano, holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents.
Fairy lights were strung around the place, and for the occasion a fake fireplace was lit up. It was almost annoying, although when the one thing that could harm you was fire, it made sense for the vampires to go with fake fire rather than real. Still, it was almost insulting.
Even I could hear Bella's heavy feet now, and I waited for her to open the door to the living room before joining the chorus of 'Happy Birthdays'.
She wore jeans and a brown shirt, which was annoying because I had actually dressed up a little for this, and she hadn't even tried. I wasn't even wearing black tonight - instead it was a dark green, strapless dress.
Bella blushed brightly, and Edward wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. Esme and William were the first to reach Bella due to them being closest to the door, and Esme hugged Bella carefully, and then William put his arm around her shoulders. It was odd how quickly Bella had gotten over his part in her injuries.
"Sorry about this, Bella," Carlilse stage-whispered from beside me. "We couldn't rein Alice in, although we certainly tried."
Rosalie and Emmett stood by the fake fire. Rosalie didn't smile at Bella, but she didn't glare wither. Emmett's face however, was stretched into a huge grin.
"You haven't changed at all," Emmett said with mock disappointment. "I expected a perceptible difference, but here you are, red-faced just like always."
"Thanks a lot, Emmett," Bella said, blushing deeper. I laughed with Emmett, before he winked conspicuously at me. I imagined he was going to go set up Bella's truck.
"I have to step out for a second"—he paused to kiss Rosalie's cheek—"Don't do anything funny while I'm gone."
"I'll try."
Alice let go of Jasper's hand and skipped forward, all her teeth sparkling in the bright light. Jasper smiled too, but kept his distance from Bella. He leaned, long and blond, against the post at the foot of the stairs. I knew Jasper had more trouble sticking to the Cullens's diet than the rest of them; the scent of human blood was much harder for him to resist than the others—he hadn't been trying as long, apparently.
"Time to open presents," Alice declared. She half dragged Bella by the elbow to the table with the cake and the shiny packages. Bella sighed and visibly pouted. God, what was her issue?
"Alice, I told you I didn't want anything—"
"But I didn't listen," Alice interrupted. It was easy to hear the smugness in her voice. "Open it."
Alice took the camera from Bella's hands and replaced it with a big, square silver box. Tentatively, Bella tore at the corners, before finally running a nail down the sides and slitting it open.
It was something electrical, with lots of numbers in the name. Bella shook it slightly, before opening the box up in confusion.
"Um… thanks," she said, awkwardly holding the box in her hands. Rosalie cracked a smile. Jasper laughed.
"It's a stereo for your truck," he explained. "Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it. Morgana's idea."
"No it-"
"Yes, it was," Rosalie said, giving me a hard look that almost made me laugh. What she really meant was 'If Bella gets pissy with me, I'm not going down alone.' Or you know, something along those lines. Honestly, I couldn't blame her.
"Thanks, Morgana, Rosalie," she said, grinning for once about her presents. "Thanks, Emmett!" she called more loudly. I heard his booming laugh from the garage truck, and laughed with the Cullen Clan.
"Open mine and Edward's next," Alice said, so excited her voice was a high-pitched trill. She bounced on her heels hard enough I swore I heard a crack from the floor. She held a small, flat square in her hand. Bella turned to give Edward a basilisk glare.
"You promised," she cried. Before he could answer, Emmett bounded through the door. He pushed in behind Jasper, who had also drifted closer than usual to get a good look at the scene in front of us. Me? I was good with missing her dramatics.
"I didn't spend a dime," Edward placated. He brushed a strand of hair from her face, and Bella sighed deeply, nestling her head into his chest.
"Give it to me," she grumbled. Emmett chuckled with delight, and Rosalie elbowed him. Bella took the little package, rolling her eyes at us. Beside me, Carlisle wrapped his arm around me as if sensing my annoyance. ]
"Shoot," Bella muttered, holding her finger up in the air before sucking it. "Paper cut."
"Shit, Bella," I swore, as Edward loudly shouted something unknown. He threw himself at her, flinging her back across the table. It fell, as she did, scattering the cake and the presents, the flowers and the plates. Bella landed in the mess of shattered crystal. If she wasn't bleeding before, she certainly was now. "Bella!"
Carlisle tried to hold me back from running to her, but I let my skin sizzle and he jerked his hands back quickly. Jasper slammed into Edward, and the sound was like the crash of boulders in a rock slide. There was another noise, a grisly snarling that seemed to be coming from deep in Jasper's chest. Jasper tried to shove past Edward, snapping his teeth just inches from Edward's face.
"Hey! Cut it out!" I screamed, crouching next to Bella, who was bleeding heavily from her arms and back. Neither of them listened to me, and I instinctively sent a whip of flames at the two raging vampires. It didn't work. Apparently angry vampires don't like being close to fire. Go figure.
Both Jasper and Edward stopped in their tracks, before charging at me. I barely had time to react before I was throwing my hands up and sending scorching fire at their chests all while being shoved into a wall.
I met Jasper's black eyes as he pushed me into the drywall, and then had to snap my head to the side as he tried to go for my neck. Even with James, I don't think I had been as worried about death as I had been then. There was something utterly frightening about the way Jasper had no control, and yet knew exactly what he was doing.
And then there was another terrible crash, and I watched as Carlisle slammed Jasper through a window. Carlisle looked like he was ready to continue chasing after Jasper, but Emmett stopped him, holding an arm out to block Carlisle, before Emmett himself jumped down the two stories and wrestled Jasper to the ground.
"Okay, that's, um, that was something," I said, a little breathless.
"Yeah." Carlisle's eyes flicked from my hands to my neck to my face, but on repeat. "Definitely something."
I looked at the room, noting the scorch marks that marred the carpet, and the ashes from what appeared to have been a bouquet. "So."
"So."
"Bella?"
"Bella."
We moved in sync, making our way over to Bella and keeping her calm as she freaked out over having a couple vampires fight it out over her blood. I was fairly sure she wasn't this worried about James, but then again, she actually knew Jasper.
As I helped pick out shards of glass from her hand, I was overcome with a nagging feeling that this would only be the first of many things to go wrong.
Guest - I probably won't write different POV's in this story, but maybe I'll set up a separate Fic that replays scenes from other's POVs... Let me know if this is something you'd like to see.
DxGRAYxMAN - She's definitely gonna give him hell. (I think - that's where it's going, anyway.)
GomezAddams1 - I agree, it was really bad of Edward to just up and move his entire family
Ghostwriter71 - Real life can suck sometimes. I'm really glad you like this fic - I do my best to make it as original as I can.
TemporaryShadow - Thanks for the support, and don't worry, give it a bit (like a book) and they'll be together. You'll get your happy ending.
UltimateFan-girl15 - Thanks!
34magoberry43 - I'm really happy to be the first fic you've commented on, it definitely boosts my writing ego. And yeah, I'm trying for a completely new angle in New Moon. You just might have to wait a little bit to see it, as it won't happen for a couple chapters.
Brookie Twiling - Anyone Esme approves of can't be all bad, and it's good to hear that you like Mama Esme.
eeeeaud - Thank you. I have the absolute worst writing schedule, but I always aim for at least a chapter a month (which is pretty bad, but still)
Ventari SylverFox - The muse is good, I have about a million ideas running around in my head, but sometimes real life gets in the way... Still, I'm gonna try my absolute best to get all the stories down (or at least the ones that make sense. Voldemort being bffs with Santa is a little odd for me, and yet my brain still begs me to write it, for zero reason.)