Toxic Rose
Chapter Four: Halloween Whore
"Alice, I don't know about this..." Bella muttered, feeling very uncomfortable. She was standing in her room on a sunny Saturday evening with Alice there. The two had been lounging on the bed eating some strawberries when Alice had mentioned her idea.
"It'll be great. You have to come!" Alice said, jumping off of the bed in excitement. She began to twirl around Bella's room, her black short dress trailing behind her as she span in circles. "Just think of all the fun it will be. Everyone in town will be there. And even those from outside town!"
"Yea, that's exactly my problem. It'll be too crowded, I won't want to be there."
Alice frowned at what Bella was saying. "But there'll be cake, and sweets, and music, and alcohol, and dancing, and new love blossoming under the light of the Hallow's moon."
"Yea, I'm sorry, I just don't think that kind of scene is for me." Bella brushed her hair back from her face and looked down at her strawberries. Alice stopped her twirling. She put her hands on her hips. "But I already picked out such a cute outfit for you. You can't let it go to waste."
"You did?" Bella asked not in the least surprised. She had known Alice for two months now and the girl was notorious for preparing things beforehand even if the other person didn't know they needed it.
"Yes, look." Alice went to her bag and dug out her phone before showing Bella, who had gone up to stand next to Alice, the image on her screen.
Bella's face turned red at the nearly nude model on the screen. "I can't wear that! Those clothes...those clothes look too small and they'll reveal so much! Plus it's...it's...my dad would have a heart attack if he saw me in it!"
"Bella, you'll be fine. No one is gonna know it's you; no one is going to judge you. It's a night for fun, for letting go!"
Bella shook her head. "I don't know."
Alice smiled. "Trust me, you'll look great in it. Everyone will be so jealous of you."
But that was exactly what Bella didn't need. She didn't want everyone jealous of her. She wanted to blend into the background. She shook her head no and sitting back on her bed, brought her knees up to her chest to defend herself against Alice's persuasiveness. "Fine, what if I give you a less raunchy outfit. Will you still go?"
When Bella didn't say anything, she frowned. "Okay, what if you only come for a little bit. For me?" Alice took both of Bella's hands into her own and gave her a puppy dog look. Bella squirmed under the gaze. "Please? Don't leave your friend behind."
Bella wanted to point out that Alice certainly had a lot more friends she could go with, but didn't say anything. The pixie would probably be able to twist that to her advantage and make Bella feel bad about it. "Fine," she sighed and Alice let out a cheer as she jumped around the room in joy. "You'll love it!" she promised. "It'll be the best night of your life."
Of course, it was only the start of the worst part of Bella's life.
Bella was to meet up with the Cullen's at their house, hours before the celebration was to take place there. As Bella rumbled into the driveway in her old truck she saw dozens of workers running around and setting up last minute additions to the place. Bella had to admit it looked terrifying, just right for a Halloween party. The Cullen's, well Alice more specifically, had spent a lot of money on making the front yard look like a zombie graveyard with real tombstones and actors in zombie costume already walking around. The outside of the house wasn't safe either from a makeover, with skeletons hanging from the windows and rafters and the walls covered in fake blood. Bella parked her car and got out, making her way uneasily towards the house. She didn't particularly enjoy Halloween, finding the idea of scaring people or demanding candy from them a silly premise. And some of the costumes were so terrifying and realistic looking that they gave her nightmares for days after. Bella swallowed hard as she thought about the party. Was it really a good idea to be out on Halloween night? All she wanted to do was curl up on her couch and watch TV as she ignored the trick or treaters who came to the house. She'd done that every year, but now Alice had guilted her into going to her party. It'll only be for a little bit, Bella tried to reassure herself. And then I can go home.
"Alice?" Bella asked as she approached the door and knocked on it only to have it creak open by itself. She walked in, feeling apprehensive, goosebumps crawling up her arms. Where was her friend?
"Booo!"
Bella jumped with a shrill scream, throwing herself as far away from the source of the sound. She turned to face her assailant which was just a mechanical skeleton on the wall next to the entrance, timed to scream when she had walked in through the door. She placed a hand over her beating heart trying to calm it, cursing herself for getting so easily scared, and turned to the noise of thudding footsteps. More ghosts? She thought light headedly. But it was Alice, dressed in sweats, her short hair tied up in a ponytail. "Oh, its good to see you." The running girl threw herself at Bella and gave her a hug. "So what do you think?" Alice asked as she pulled away from Bella, not completely letting go of the younger girl's arms.
"The place looks great," Bella stammered, her heart still hammering from her previous scare. "You put a lot of effort into it. It's quite scary."
"That's good, I was worried it wouldn't look good. There were some issues with a bunch of things during the set up and we're sooooo behind schedule." Alice smiled, finally stepping away from Bella. "I'm sort of busy with last minute decorating and organizing, so I won't be able to hang with you and give you a grand tour of the completed house."
"That's alright," Bella insisted. "I can just go home and wait there."
"Nonsense!" Alice pouted. "You can just hang out with the rest of the family. You don't know them that well yet."
I don't think I want to get to know them, Bella fretted inwardly. She didn't wanna meet the rest of Alice's family and have to spend time with them. Especially not by herself. That was a social disaster waiting to happen.
The shorter girl hit Bella on the arm playfully as she let the taller girl into the splendid house. "I'll just tell you the quick version of what I've done for the party." Alice started, as they passed into the living room. Neon lights hung from the ceiling along with glittery bats and pumpkins. Most of the furniture had already been cleared away to make way for tables of food and drinks. "The food is Halloween themed, obviously. There's mummy sausages, witch fingers, spider cupcakes, worm pudding and brain cake." Alice pointed out to each food object on the trays and Bella felt her face go a bit pale. All of the food was so well done that it looked like the actual thing. Bella could almost imagine the worms in the pudding crawling around and out of the bowl they were contained in, before climbing up her arm and-
"Hey, earth to Bella."
Bella realized she had stopped listening to Alice, too wrapped up in her own thoughts. "Sorry, I was just admiring the food. It's so...detailed."
"I know!" Alice clapped her hands, delighted. "I especially love the brain cake-it looks like it was just taken out from someone's head." Bella pretended to look at it, her stomach churning. How anyone delighted in eating those things was beyond her.
"And of course, we can't forget the punch!" Alice bounced over to the other tables that contained a huge pitcher in the shape of a pumpkin and smaller pumpkin shaped cups. "I made it using the secret Cullen recipe." She put a finger to her lips in a sh motion. "You wanna try it?" Before Bella was forced to make a choice, a man wearing dirty overalls whose hands were covered in white paint came up to Alice.
"Miss Brandon we need you to come look over the rest of the backyard. What color did you want the giant werewolf again?" Alice cast Bella an apologetic look. "Sorry gotta go, just go upstairs and find Emmett. He's a nice and funny guy, plus he's been eager to meet you for a while." Bella nodded her head as she watched Alice walk away. Bella stood in the empty room rubbing her hands together nervously. Should she go meet him? Was it possible to hide out in the Cullen's library for a little bit instead? She could just say he wasn't there so she went to read a book.
Using her memories of when Alice had first given her a tour of the house, she made her way past construction workers to the third floor where it was much quieter. She loved the Cullen's library. It was a spacious room with high ceilings and wall length windows. Bookcases filled up almost all the wall space and there was a bunch of comfortable chairs spread out that were just perfect for book reading. She pushed open the heavy mahogany doors that led to the room. Serenity enveloped her immediately and she took a deep breath to draw in the scent of old books and musty wood. She trailed her fingers over the spines of the books as she deliberated which one to take. Reading helped to ease her, she could completely lose herself in a story and become the opposite of who she really was. She could be brave, or pretty, or strong, instead of average and wimpy. She picked out a green book and settled down in a big brown leathery chair that let out a sigh as she sat down. She began reading the book, a story about a young woman who dressed as a man to join the army to feed her family. She was really into it when a voice spoke up.
"You're in my favorite chair."
Bella startled and dropped her book onto the floor, letting out a small whimper of surprise. A thin blond haired boy was standing over her, having come so close to her without making a noise.
"Sorry, Jasper." She scrambled to get out but he put out his hand to stop her. "I don't mind. Say, what's that book you're reading?" His voice was soft as he asked her, his eyes glimmering friendly.
Bella looked at him, hesitating. Should she leave or risk talking to him? But his face didn't look as down-turned as usual so she figured he must be in a good mood. She quickly told him the general premise of the book and soon he was talking to her about his favorite books, his face more alive and animated than she had seen in a while. "I love books depicting war, especially those centered around the Civil War. The very idea that America, which is such a big country now, stood to be two different countries if the war had not ended differently still gives me shivers."
"Yea, the North really did us a favor," Bella added. She didn't know too much about the Civil War and she didn't want to make herself look stupid in front of a history buff as Jasper.
"The North?" Jasper suddenly growled, his eyes turning to chips of ice. "Those slave lovers get all the credit in saving the USA, but would there have ever been a problem in the USA at all if they hadn't just shut up and stayed out of the South's business?" His body had gone rigid, and he glared at her as if expecting an answer, before he answered for her. "No, it's the fucking North's fault that America almost wasn't." Jasper began to pace in front of Bella's chair now, hands clenched into fists. She sunk back further into her chair, knees drawn into her chest for protection.
"The Southern folk were good folk. They used slaves, yes and those slaves had bad conditions yes, but it was all for the sake of profit. Those dirty Northerners were just jealous of the South's profit. They didn't fight to take away slavery because it hurt people, but because it hurt them and their economy. But they don't teach this in school, do they?" At this Jasper turned to look at Bella, anger in his eyes. "Well, do they?"
Bella realized he was waiting for her answer and so she shook her head no quickly.
"Exactly." He concluded at once, licking spittle off of his lips. He stood there a moment looking hard at Bella as his breathing calmed down. All of a sudden his expression, which had been full of passion and life turned back into his dead expression, the one of disinterest. "My apologizes," he mumbled in his monotone voice, his southern accent which had erupted during his impassioned speech had disappeared. "I just get...it's just that..." When he couldn't find the words he wanted, he just left the library, turning on his heel fast.
Bella sat in the sudden quiet a moment longer before she decided she couldn't bear to be here a moment longer. She put the book back in its place with shaking hands and left. Taking deep breaths to calm herself she wandered the third floor. What had just happened? What was wrong with Jasper? He had seemed so fine and then all of a sudden he had exploded into a rage, over something so trivial. He really was Rosalie's brother, not just in the way he shared her golden tresses and stunning eyes but in his rapid mood changes as well. She would make sure to stay away from him too. Still, she couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened, her heart finally slowing down. Lost in replaying the previous couple of minutes, she didn't notice the person approaching her until he had scooped her up in a big bear hug.
"Nice to meet my favorite sister's friend." He boomed over Bella's surprised shriek. She jerked her legs wildly as they left the ground but then he was placing her down. She stumbled away from him as quickly as possible before colliding with the wall. "Relax," he said over his laughter. "It's just me, Emmett. Alice said you'd be coming over, but you weren't anywhere to be found for half an hour so I got worried and came to find you." He pulled out a phone from which he began to read from. "Alice said to take care of you while 'I run around and finish up. Make sure she doesn't get bored and that you don't get grabby, you hear.' "
"Me, get grabby?" he laughed loudly, directing his answer to a virtual Alice, and wiped away a fake tear before pocketing his phone. "Don't worry about it, Bells, I'll make sure we have plenty of fun." He gestured for her to follow and she did tentatively. She was afraid that he would burst out on a tirade like Jasper had. Maybe she could tell him she felt bad and had to go home? But as Bella tried to come up with an excuse they made it to the room.
"We're here." Emmett spread out his hands, encompassing the huge but messy room. The walls were a bright blue with matching decorative items. The floor and table tops were barely visible underneath all the clothes and empty snack bags and dirty plates on them. At least it didn't smell too bad. "Make yourself comfortable." Bella stood in the room alone with Emmett, feeling really awkward. What did she say to him? She didn't even know him like that, yet here she was, all alone in a boy's room. And she still didn't have a good excuse for leaving the house.
He sensed her hesitance as she dawdled by the door way and nodded his head towards his TV screen. "Let's play some video games. Although I warn you I'm pretty good at them." He dug under a pile of clothes and took out two Xbox controllers. Handing one to her, he settled down against the side of his bed and flicked on the system with his remote. A game started up and Bella recognized it as Mortal Kombat although she had never played it before. Emmett patted the spot next to him, inviting her to come over. She gripped the controller hard, sweat gathering on her palms before she finally decided to sit down. Maybe he wouldn't be too crazy. He smiled at her, encouragingly, and then turned his attention to the screen.
"I don't know if you've played this before, but just in case let's do some practice runs before I totally own your ass." Bella looked sharply at him as the boy intently leaned forward at the screen. Bella fiddled with the buttons at first, trying to get used to the game. It was very violent and she didn't know if she liked that, organs and blood flying this way and that. However, Emmett was acting very silly, making hilarious comments about the game play or how characters looked and Bella just had to laugh at them. She found her real life worries start to drift away as the game consumed her current thought process.
She started getting more into the game after a couple of rounds; time seemed to fly with Emmett. Bella noticed he was an easy going person, and his laughter and talking were contagious. She found herself opening up to him more easily than she had had to Angela. Before she knew it, it was eight pm and time to get dressed for the party. With a knock on the door to announce her arrival, Alice waltzed into the room wrapped in only a towel, her hair still wet from her recent shower. "Alright, all the preparations are done, it's time to get dressed and start the pregame!" Bella shifted her eyes away from Alice whose towel had drifted lower down her chest from the girl's excited movements.
"Hell yea, it's time for the pregame!" Emmett got up and turned off the game. Bella hadn't known there was going to be a pregame. She didn't want to drink tonight.
"Come on Bella, its time to get into your costume." Alice led Bella to her room, which never ceased to amaze Bella with its decor. This month it was a bright pink color with matching bed sheets and curtains. The bed had a canopy with fairies on it and there were vases with various flowers placed all over the room. Glittering letters spelled out Alice's name across the wall and on the other four walls there were lines of varying shades of dark pink. Bella's feet sunk into deep plush pink carpet as she entered the room and Alice strode into her walk in closet coming out a moment later with a bagged outfit.
"Put this on while I finish washing up. I swear those men were so useless. They needed me to be there every step of the way in setting up even though I left clear instructions." Alice shook her head with exasperation and disappeared into her private bathroom. Bella changed into her costume, which was thankfully more modest just like Alice had agreed to do. It was a pirate outfit with a slit in the skirt for 'some sexy leg' as Alice put it, but not enough to reveal too much 'pirate booty'. Really, Alice made such bad jokes.
Alice exited the bathroom her hair now dry and an oversized t-shirt on her body. Bella yet again averted her gaze, this time from Alice's slim legs and tried to fight back a blush. Come on Bella, lets not start this again. She hissed at herself. She's just a friend. "Let's do your makeup and hair now." Alice placed down her makeup kits on her vanity and gestured for Bella to come over. Bella sucked in a breath. She hated getting make overs, the makeup feeling like it was masking her face and stopping her from breathing properly. But she didn't say anything, just sat down. She knew Alice would get her way anyways, like she always did. Alice took a while to complete the look, slathering on foundation, powder, eye shadow, fake eyelashes and red lipstick. Bella sat there and tried to control her breathing as she internally panicked. She'd be fine, she could breathe under the makeup...thinking of a good book to read she helped to ease herself.
Alice then set to work on Bella's hair reworking her usual mousy locks into something luscious and shiny. "You look amazing," Alice noted, stepping away. "All the boys are gonna love you!" Squealing excitedly something about helping Bella find a guy this evening, she went to go get changed herself.
Once they had both finished they had joined the others in the living room to pregame for the party. Bella felt nervous-she didn't like drinking, especially after her last incident, but didn't want to ruin her friends fun. Alice looked ready to explode from excitement now that everything had finally come together. She had worked hard on this event after all and it was her crowning achievement every Halloween to have the best party. They were so good that even kids from other states came over.
Alice had carefully chosen a cute cat costume for the night. Black cat ears lay nestled on her head, matching the shade of her hair perfectly. Her spiky hair had been flattened and straightened before given some volume. She had drawn little cute whiskers on her face, blacked in the tip of her nose and put in green contacts so as to get a more feline look. The eye shadow around her eyes sparkled darkly and her lips were painted on the top half black and on the bottom red. She had on a short tight black dress and pumps that made her as tall as Bella and which also gave her the appearance of having legs for days. Bella yet again had to avert her gaze. Alice had put one some furry bracelets and attached to her bottom a cat tail to complete the look. She looked stunning as usual. But so did all the rest of the Cullen's. They stood in the room, talking quietly to one another, except for Emmett who was always loud, and Bella let her eyes rove over them as she followed Alice into the room. She felt self conscious in the dress. The cute pirate costume was cute, but it made her look like a little girl compared to their beauty, even with her sultry makeup.
Emmett was dressed as a lumberjack. "Sexy lumberjack" he informed Alice who was not happy by his lame choice of clothing and demanded him to get changed as it was an insult to her fashion tastes and to the spirit of Halloween. He had a plaid shirt on that was open to reveal his toned chest and six pack. He had on denim pants, laced up boots and a huge ax dangling from his belt loop. On his head he wore a beanie that Alice tried to reach as she grabbed him by the shirt to get up to it. "That's my beanie," she hissed. "Stay out of my room."
Jasper was wearing a civil war outfit, but from the looks of it and based on Bella's limited history knowledge, it was the South's and not the North's. Bella thought back to their uncomfortable encounter and quickly looked away as he turned to look at her. He looked fitting in his clothes for some reason, the severity of his face matching the sharp lines of his lapel.
Edward was dressed in all black which wasn't a really interesting costume. But the clothing was weird, with a long shirt that almost looked like a dress and low sagging pants. He had tattoos running up and down his arms, his hair more in an up do than before. He stood awkwardly, his legs wide apart and hands held in a mockery of praying.
"And what is that?" Alice asked huffing in annoyance at her failure to get Emmett's hat and instead turning her judgments onto her younger brother. "I'm Justin Bieber," Edward explained and Alice rolled her eyes.
"As if you'd pass for him. He's much hotter than you could ever be." As Alice went on injuring Edward's feelings, Bella's gaze was drawn to the final Cullen who had just entered the room. She walked down the stairs, her long red dress spilling around her as she sashayed towards them. She looked regal yet deadly at the same time, her long locks twisted and curled around her shoulders and tumbled down her back. Her graceful neck was captured by a beautiful gold necklace that doubled as a choker and looked to be more expensive and glamorous than anything Bella had seen so far in the Cullen's possession. But that was nothing compared to the beauty on her face. Her already pretty face had been enhanced by makeup. Long lashes that touched the corners of her cheeks when she blinked, were accented with jewels around her eyes and sultry eye shadow. Crimson lipstick covered her perfect lips which were twisted up into a cocky smile.
She entered the room in what seemed to be slow motion, the spell only broken when Alice huffed. "You're late Rosalie," she said. "Let's get to drinking." And Bella had to remember to pick up her jaw from the floor.
Now, three hours later and sufficiently buzzed, Bella stood in the corner of the room, holding onto her red solo cup filled with Alice's special punch. The Cullen family had pre-gamed in Alice's room with two rounds of the game of Kings before they heard the first ding announcing their guests arrival. People had come before the designated time of 10pm as so good were Alice's parties that people actually came early so they could party more. Alice had run off to host her guests and show off the food and games she had ready for them, leaving the other Cullen's behind.
"Well, I guess that's it for pre-gaming. I guess we better act our part." Emmett smiled and grabbed Bella's hand. His hand was huge on hers and warm but he looked sober despite the fact he had to drink the King's cup twice. "Come on Bells, let's show everyone how cool people party." And before she could protest that she wasn't cool and never would be, he had dragged her downstairs.
Music was already playing, loud enough to vibrate through her body and the lights had been turned off. People were milling around and grabbing food, talking or drinking. Alice was standing by a group of guys who were looking at her with a bit too much interest. Bella felt a bit worried for her friend but Emmett pulled her away and into the next room where more people were drinking and talking. The music was louder here as this was where the DJ booth was. He was busy pressing some buttons, one hand on his ear.
"Let's dance," Emmett suggested and Bella almost bit her tongue in her hurry to say no. "Emmett I can't, I... don't now how-I'm really bad-no, like really." But he just smiled and pulled her closer to him.
"I won't mind if you step on my toes. Your feet are tiny compared to mine." And so ignoring her protests he swung her around in time to the beat of the music. Unfortunately he was a good dancer and didn't insist on stopping until he saw she was out of breath. Sweat was pouring down her face and she went to go wipe at it when she remembered she had makeup on. "Go get some water," Emmett insisted. The place had gotten more and more crowded and the dance floor now was so packed she had to squeeze her way past people to the kitchen to get some water from the sink. Turning the facet she gulped down thirstily and only turned it off when she was satisfied. Carefully dabbing at her mouth she went to look for Emmett again, shoving past people who were twerking and grinding. Where was he? She felt panic claw at her chest. She didn't want to be left alone now. Faces span at her in the crowd, evil clown faces leering at her, demons grinning, and skeleton eyes glowing menacingly.
She felt her head getting light headed, music and people talking mixing in her ears. Where was Alice? She needed her-she-! Bella felt air come back into her lungs at the unmistakable silhouette of Alice. She was talking to a boy by the wall, grabbing onto his arm.
"Alice!" Bella called out as she stumbled closer to her. Alice didn't seem to hear her and Bella was going to call out again when Emmett appeared right in front of her with a cup in hand. "Here," he gave it to her. "Try some of Alice's secret punch." Bella really didn't want to, but she didn't want him to leave her again. So she tipped the cup up, copying him and drank until it was empty. Immediately she could feel the alcohol burn a path down her throat and into her stomach. She felt warm and fuzzy and the room tilted thirty degrees to the right.
"Whoa, that's good. I can never get Alice to spill her secrets about what she puts in this drink."
"Yea, it is good. It's like drinking liquid candy." Bella commented, her eye lids growing heavy. How much had been in that cup, and how strong was it?
"Let's get more." Emmett grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd. They made it to the table with the punch and Emmett shouldered his way past a couple of guys who gave angry protests at being pushed aside. But Emmett didn't care and refilled their cups. Handing it over to Bella, they chugged again. Bella's head was swimming even more intensely after her second cup and she hiccuped loudly. Emmett looked at her.
"You alright Bells? Are you a light weight?" Bella gave a crooked thumbs up and Emmett gave her a concerned look. But whatever he was going to say next was interrupted by his phone going off. "I'll be back," He promised and then left to go outside.
"Okay," Bella slurred and went to go wait in line for another refill. Why had she ever been afraid to drink before? She felt so bubbly right now. And happy.
"Bella? Bella is that you?" Bella turned her head around at the sound of her name being called. "A...Angela?" Bella's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't know her friend was a party person. "What are you doing here?"
"Same as you. Partying." she shouted as she got closer to her friend. Angela was clad in a nun outfit, her skirt sweeping the floor with its length. Her hair was simply done and there was no makeup on her face. Bella suddenly felt a twinge of shame at her own outfit. Would she be seen as a Halloween whore? One of those girls that used Halloween as an occasion to dress as a slut? During the pre-game Bella had stared too much at Rosalie and apparently that warranted an 'accidental' spilling of alcohol onto Bella's pirate costume. Alice, declaring that Bella could not not wear a costume, had presented her with the previous costume. Bella, pressured by the whole Cullen household to wear it finally put it on. Emmett had whistled in appreciation, Alice clapped her hands, Edward given a thumbs up, Jasper smiled tentatively and Rosalie turned up her nose. Bella was now wearing a slutty cop costume, complete with fishnet stockings and a pair of naughty handcuffs. So in short, she looked totally out of character. And forget about her dad seeing her in this. This outfit was the ultimate level of disrespect to him.
"Well, I didn't come here willingly. Lauren and Jessica wanted to check it out and of course they dragged me here. I like your outfit, it's..." Bella flinched as Angela tried to phrase it nicely but she didn't have to. Someone else finished the thought for her.
"It looks hot." Mike came up with Eric trailing at his heels. Mike was sweating and out of breath, his costume askew. He was dressed up as a vampire, his blonde hair gelled and slicked back but now falling into his eyes from the heat. He had a cape but the collar was wilting and his fangs were sticking out of his mouth at a weird angle. Eric was also dressed as a vampire, twinning almost. Except instead of a white puffy shirt, he was wearing a red one.
"Oh, thanks." Bella said with as much disgust as she could put into her voice. Eric and Mike had clearly been drinking, their gazes glazed over and eyes checking her out unabashedly. Mike got uncomfortably close to her, his hand brushing against her waist and wrapping around to her back. "You're welcome, sexy cop." He mumbled and Bella felt her heart race with anger. He was grabbing her ass now! She could feel his sweaty fingers digging in through the thin material and into her flesh.
"Mike, stop. You're drunk!" Angela scolded and pulled Mike's hand away. Mike looked at her, then at his hand, then at Bella. "She didn't mind." He said at last, sleazy grin spreading. She felt sick. He was so disgusting. She could still feel his hand's imprint on her butt and shuddered, the alcohol doing little to dull her anger against him. She needed to leave-now, but she couldn't just leave without an excuse. She saw a familiar flash of blonde and decided she had to follow it.
"Ugh, I'm gonna go. Sorry Angela. I just saw someone I need to talk to." She threw her friend an apology and moved, following the trail of blonde hair. Her head beat with the rhythm of the music and kids were everywhere. How was the house so packed? She could barely move an inch before someone's elbow found their way into her gut, or she stepped on someone's toe. The house had filled up fast and she had lost all the Cullen's in the first hour. And now she couldn't even find the person she had been looking for. Cursing her luck, she decided she needed to drink more. Maybe it would chase away her bad emotions. She sipped on her drink and walked around, trying to find one of the Cullen's. She drifted back and forth for the past two hours refilling her cup and trying to stay away from Mike who had shown up and tried to grab her ass a second time, which Eric only giggled like a little girl to.
Bella was starting to feel less self conscious about her outfit however, which she found odd. She did feel better looking in it, than the pirate one and she felt boys staring and whispering at her. In fact it didn't bother her as much. But maybe it was the alcohol speaking as she felt warm and fuzzy and didn't mind the crowd now. In fact she'd even say a word or two to complete strangers as she walked past. She eventually saw some of the Cullen's but didn't want to interrupt them. Edward and Emmett were off flirting with a bunch of different girls and Alice had disappeared upstairs with some guy. She couldn't see Jasper anywhere. Or Rosalie for that matter. Maybe she was with some guy. Did Alice expect her to hook up tonight with someone too? Bella wasn't looking forward to doing any of that. Out of the corner of her eye long blonde hair caught her attention and before she knew it she was following after it, like a fly to the light, glad to see something she recognized.
"Rosalie," she slurred out, realizing she must had been more drunk than she thought if she could do this, calling out to the blonde so casually. The blonde turned around, her makeup and outfit still intact perfectly despite the heat and crowd, and frowned when she saw who it was. But her hard look was weak as her eyes were too unfocused to glare properly. "What, Swan?" she asked her voice low and slurred.
"I never asked you, what are you dressed as?" Bella pointed to herself. "I'm a cop." As if Rosalie didn't already know.
Rosalie gave Bella a glance over, taking in the other girls too short skirt, wide open shirt and fish net stockings. Something flashed in her eyes, but Bella couldn't tell what, the blonde licking her lips as if she were suddenly thirsty.
"I'm a vampire," she said at last and reaching around Bella's back, pulled hard on the tips of Bella's hair, exposing her delicate neck. Before Bella could let out a scream from that move, she felt teeth bit into the soft flesh of her collar bone. She let out a grunt of pain and tried to push Rosalie away but with a cup in one hand it proved to be difficult. Rosalie at last let go, giving the wound a lick before she smirked hard. Then she left. Bella was stunned for a moment. What was that about? The alcohol dulled the pain a bit but when she touched her neck it came away red. Was she bleeding? She rushed to the bathroom to wash it away.
Several cans of beer later and Bella found herself in the huge walk in closet of Alice's room, or at least it looked like one. She had no idea where she was now, the sounds of party seeming distant. In fact everything felt distant now. The Cullen's were sitting around her laughing and talking loudly about something but she didn't have the strength to listen to it and join in. Edward had lipstick stains on his neck and he was high fiving Emmett who had a matching pair of marks on his face. Alice was sitting practically in Jasper's lap and was playing with his hair. They were really close for a brother and sister.
Bella was bubbly and fuzzy and everything swam around her. She was so happy. "Alright guys," Alice clapped and giggled and everyone turned to look at her. "We're going to play truth or dare. Who wants to go first?"
Bella raised a hand. "I do," she slurred.
"Okay," Alice smiled and put a finger to her chin to think, her motions sloppy and slow. "What's your deepest darkest secret?"
This was an easy one. Bella knew exactly what it was that she had been hiding and wouldn't dare to tell anyone after what had happened last time. She opened her mouth wide, letting out a wild laugh before she spoke. "Guys, this whole time I've been hiding the fact that I'm..."