A Bad Deal?
A Night of Mischief
The night of the party started off normally enough. Bella got ready for it by putting on a nicer flannel, a shirt and some black pants, slight excitement and anticipation rolling in her stomach. This would be her first party ever, and no less with the popular kids at school. Everyone was going to be so jealous when Bella told them. She could just imagine Jessica's face, eyes bulging and mouth hanging dumbly open when Bella showed her pictures of tonight. Of course, she was getting a bit ahead of herself. She hadn't even gone to the party yet.
Rosalie naturally did not look as excited. She'd probably been doing this for years.
"Are you ready?" she asked impatiently as Bella hurried down the stairs from her house, clutching her jacket to her as a chilly breeze blew by.
"Yes."
"About time. You took so long it's almost like you want to miss the party," Rosalie snorted and got off from where she was leaning on the car door, waiting for Bella. It was hard to tell what outfit Rosalie was wearing because of her jacket but from what Bella could see of Rosalie's bare legs it was probably a dress. Or a short skirt. Either way her legs looked really good.
"Sorry, I was just...indecisive on what to wear," Bella stammered out quickly, hoping the blonde wouldn't read too much into the context of it and realize that that was because this was Bella's first time and she hadn't known what to wear. She knew parties like these required skirts and dresses but Bella had neither of those so she had to settle for something that would sort of be acceptable.
"Whatever. Just get in the car." Rosalie was acting tense and Bella wondered if it had anything to do with Alice. They had both made a plan of sorts that they would stick together and try to find some dirt on Alice, or in the very least help Rosalie sneak into Alice's room so she could delete some photos off of the pixie's laptop.
Bella hazarded a guess that that was where Alice kept the pictures of Rosalie and no doubt the blonde would want them gone. Bella was going to do whatever she could to help the blonde delete them. She knew too well how unsettling it was to have someone else have their hands on them, with the threat hanging over the head of them being able to leak them whenever.
The two of them got into the car, Rosalie pulling away quickly. "Everything's going to be okay," Bella tried to reassure her companion, shooting her a quick smile.
Rosalie merely tsked at this. "I don't know." Her fingers flexed on the wheel. "I just have a bad feeling Alice has something planned. And I don't know what."
"Maybe you're overthinking it. Alice doesn't always have to have it out for you," Bella mussed. She knew Alice looked innocent and sweet and that she necessarily wasn't but that didn't mean she was always out to cause someone harm or trouble. Rosalie was just overtly paranoid over the whole issue.
Rosalie grimaced this time. "You don't know her like I do."
"Well, maybe if you told me everything..." Bella trailed off pointedly, sighing at the end. She knew it was highly unrealistic Rosalie would automatically just relegate all of her secrets and truths and thoughts to Bella. Even if they were on friendly terms it didn't mean they were good friends, didn't mean Bella had the clearance or privilege to know.
Rosalie didn't respond to that and Bella knew what the wordless answer was anyways. It was no.
The rest of the ride to the party was spent in quiet. Even when they pulled up to the house, a beautiful white mansion as all the cool kids lived in mansions, it was quiet. Too quiet.
"Alice did say the party was tonight, right?" Bella frowned, wondering if there was some mistake in the text.
"Yes, she did," Rosalie also frowned. "Maybe...it hasn't started yet? But that's absurd. Her parties always kick off early. And it's already 10, way too late."It sounded like Rosalie was talking more to herself so Bella didn't respond.
Rosalie parked the car in the driveway right next to Emmett's black BMV, and some other fancy cars like a Volvo and Jaguar, her Mustang fitting right in. The two of them got out, ringing the doorbell and waiting patiently for someone to come get it. A butler showed up just as Bella wondered if anyone was even home, and let them inside, Bella sighing gratefully at the warm air indoors.
"The young lady is upstairs along with all the rest of her friends. Feel free to join her," the older man instructed before he walked briskly off to do whatever else he had been doing previously.
Bella exchanged a look with Rosalie who merely upturned her brows. Okay...so maybe Rosalie had been right to be sort of suspicious of Alice. Who sent a text about throwing a party and then didn't have one? Still, Bella tried to stay positive. There was no point to be worried. Or upset that she didn't exactly get to go a party despite being excited for it.
Rosalie led the way, shedding her coat and throwing it onto Alice's bed when she got to the room. Inside Alice, Emmett, Edward, and Jasper, were sitting on the floor in a circle, surrounded by bottles, beer cans, and solo cups. The room was surprisingly girly, walls and floor in shades of pink and furniture having way too many frills. The boys looked incredibly out of place. Even Alice did, her light blue halter top and black skinny jeans clashing horribly with the unicorns and princess decals on the wallpaper.
"Rosalie, you came!" Alice cried out, popping up in excitement, arms spread out in happy greeting.
"Where's the party?" Rosalie asked coldly, hands on her hips. Under her jacket she was wearing a red crop top and white skirt, both of which were on the extreme side of being short. Bella tried really hard not to stare at Rosalie's exposed stomach, but it was hard when it was so tempting to do so.
"And I see Bella has come too!" Alice ignored Rosalie's previous statement, jumping over to hug Bella tightly, who was not expecting such a warm greeting from the pixie. But the smell of hard liquor lingered over Alice, so maybe her enthusiasm shouldn't have been too unexpected.
"Yea, didn't wanna miss this event," Bella cleared her throat, as Alice was still holding onto her. Wasn't this hug going on for a bit too long?
"Alice, where is the party?" Rosalie almost growled out this time and finally Alice moved a bit back, although one arm remained slung over Bella's shoulder, holding her close. The blonde looked extra tense right now, her eyes tight and shoulders squared up.
"This is the party," Alice shrugged happily, gesturing to the boys still sitting on the floor.
"That's it?"
"What's wrong, Rosie? None of us good enough for you anymore?" Jasper called out, taking a sip from his red cup.
"How you wound me!" Emmett pouted playfully.
"That's not it, I was just expecting a big blow out event-" Rosalie tried to defend herself quickly but Alice cut in.
"I usually do big parties, but this time I decided I only wanted to spend time with my close friends." At this Alice tugged Bella a bit closer to her and the brunette hoped fiercely she wasn't blushing. "Is there anything wrong with that?" Alice cocked her head playfully and eyed Rosalie.
Uh, there is, cause then we can't sneak in and hack your laptop, Bella thought internally but stayed silent.
The blonde met Alice's gaze and some emotion passed between them before Rosalie let a faux grin spread on her face. "Oh course there isn't. Let's get this party started."
"That's what I'm talking about, Rosie!" Emmett cheered.
Alice finally detached herself from Bella and sat down to join the boys, patting the space next to her, indicating Bella should sit there. Bella tried to catch the blonde's eye for what to do now, but Rosalie avoided looking at her and sat between Edward and Jasper who made space for her, the bronze haired boy handing her a pre-made drink.
Bella took her spot next to Alice, discarding her jacket on the bed along the way.
"So, what are we playing?" Bella asked, taking the cup handed to her by Edward uncertainly. She took a whiff of it and the strong smell almost made her eyes water. What was in here? She wanted to inquire but she felt like that would not be the thing to do with the cool kids. She didn't want them to think she wasn't cool enough to earn the right to party with them; that she didn't drink. Which she didn't, perks of being the chief's daughter.
"We were just waiting for you guys to come, but now that we're all here, we're going to play drunk Jenga!" Alice clapped her hands and slid out a box from under her bed. "Help me set it up, will you Bella?"
Bella nodded her head although she had no idea what this game was or how it was played. She figured she'd learn on the fly. While she helped Alice precariously stack the blocks on top of each other, Edward set up the music some edm tracks filling the air. He and the boys and Rosalie were drinking and talking to one another, waiting for the game to be set up.
"It's done!" Alice announced and garnered everyone's attention back to her. "Rosalie, why don't you go first."
It wasn't a suggestion so much as it was a disguised command. "You're damn right, I'll go first," Rosalie threw back her head haughtily, and carefully so as not to upset the balance of the blocks she pulled one out. There was something written on it in sharpie and she read it off. "Take a shot." Tossing the block aside, she held out her hand as Jasper passed her a full shot glass before inhaling it without hesitation.
And from there it was Edward's turn. Bella eventually got the hang of the game. Basically she had to pull out a block without making the wooden structure fall over and do the dare or truth that was inscribed. Most of them were simple like taking shots, or silly, like doing a stupid dance to a song. Bella thought she would piss herself from laughter as she had to watch Jasper strip off his top and gyrate on a wall to classical music.
She found herself taking too many shots, her head spinning after her fifth one. But she was having fun, her lips smiling unbidden as everyone got louder and more loose, screaming and cheering at each other over the dares and truths. She never thought she'd actually come to like spending time with the cool kids. Maybe they weren't all such assholes. Or maybe it was just the alcohol talking.
Whenever the Jenga tower fell, the loser had to drink a shot as penalty.
Already the tower had fallen three times, all of them Emmett's fault. "You know this isn't fair! I have fat fingers!" he protested, wiggling his big fingers in Alice's face as proof.
Alice tried to hold back her laughs at his distraught expression. "Too bad, Em, thems the rules."
He gave a fake huff and then chugged down the shot. He had taken so many, but given his big stature it was hard to get him drunk. The only indication that he had drank was his flushed cheeks and his too loud voice. Alice was on the same level as him, which was shocking. Despite her tiny frame she had been able to meet him shot for shot, only giggling more than usual. Jasper and Edward were having a harder time looking sober, their eyes glazed over and swaying slightly. Or maybe only Bella saw it that way. She was the lightweight out of all of them and she was trying hard to keep her vision straight.
Rosalie, however, seemed the worst out of all of them. The blonde had been plied with shots one after the other. She was having trouble keeping her head up right and had given up and taken to laying it on Edward's shoulder, her attention hard to grab. She seemed separated from the present moment right now. Bella was worried for her. She didn't want Alice to abuse the blonde's defenseless state into making her do something dumb. Bella decided she would keep her eye on her.
And so the games continued, Alice stacking up the blocks again. But this time, she used new blocks, taking them out from her box. "We need some new dares. No point in doing the same ones."
It was this that heralded the domino effect of the night, snowballing it from something pleasant to entirely dynamic shifting. To something that changed the relationship between Bella and Rosalie. Not that Bella knew it would do this at the time. If she had known, maybe she would have done things differently...
The blocks for this round of Jenga were substantially different. They were more risque, more grown up. The previous games had been mere warm ups. This game found people losing their articles of clothing quickly, found them kissing each other, and in giving lap dances. Bella had found her lap full of Jasper's and Emmett's butt several times, laughing as they tried to make their dance seductive.
"Something wrong with my moves?" Emmett had huffed playfully, pretending to be affronted.
"No, their very good. Very good," Bella had reassured behind her laugh.
"That's what I liked to hear," Emmett had smiled and taken to unbuttoning his shirt to add an extra step to his dance, grabbing Bella's hands and letting her fingers trail over his abs. This only made her blush. She had to admit his abs were well defined and if she was into boys she'd be all over him.
Alice got stuck doing a dare where she had to take off a guys shirt using only her teeth. That had been a riot to watch, Bella doubling over from how hard she chortled at the pixie's struggles.
"Stop moving!" Alice had hissed at Jasper who was also laughing, too much to hold still for her efforts. Eventually she got it off, and received a round of applause for her actions, bowing over dramatically, the shirt hanging from her teeth.
After her Jasper had to wear a woman's dress, Alice letting him borrow her's making him look completely ridiculous for it barely fit him, more like a shirt than a dress. Still, he rocked it proudly, even striking some silly poses for their amusement. Rosalie's turn was next and it saw her sliding her underwear down her legs and tossing it somewhere over her shoulder, all to the jeers of the boys. Bella tried to ignore the sudden dry mouth sensation at watching the blonde remove her panties very slowly and clenched her thighs tighter together. Damn hormones, she half panicked and half chided herself, hoping no one would notice her sudden uncomfortable and slightly aroused state. Edward followed up with him prank calling a Domino's and trying to seduce the other person on the line, which admitably was going well until Edward couldn't hold back his laughter and ended the call before it became too obvious. Emmett ended up having to bench press someone, choosing to do that with Alice, the small girl squealing in delight as she got lifted up and down before Emmett finally finished his dare.
And then it was Bella's turn and with shaking fingers-for the tower was close to falling- she pulled out a block and nearly blanched at the words written there. Kiss the person to your left, was written on it. The person to her left was Alice...Bella looked over at her uncertainly.
"What?" Alice asked, squinting at her. "What did you get that's got you so shocked?"
"I-"
Alice didn't wait for Bella to come up with some lie, with some sort of alternative. She snatched the block from her hand. She read it and laughed. "Come on Bells, don't be shy. We all know how you feel about the fairer sex. It doesn't bother me. I assure you."
"Still, I-" Bella stammered, feeling her cheeks heat up. She'd never kissed anyone before. She didn't know how to do it, or if she was going to be any good at it- and oh, looks like Alice was taking the imitative. Her small hands cupped Bella's face and tugged her close.
Warm lips meet shaking lips, and Bella's eyes shot open. She froze, unsure what to do, her hands curling in her lap. Bella's inaction didn't bother Alice, she just kissed more deeply, her mouth tasting of the rum she had been drinking. The sounds of the boys cheering them on faded from her ears as she fell into the soft and warm sensation. Her stomach churned pleasantly and she was aware that slowly her lips were responding to Alice's of their own accord. She forgot her embarrassment at her lack of kissing experience, Alice making it up for her. And then suddenly the warmth was gone.
Because Alice had been unceremoniously ripped off of her by a shaking Rosalie.
"That's enough," the blonde ground out, knuckles white where they clutched the back of Alice's shirt.
"Rosalie!" Jasper got to his feet as quickly as he drunkenly could, worried about a fight breaking out.
Emmett merely laughed at the scene before him, chanting "fight, fight," over and over. Edward was trying to get him to shut up, but the big man would just wretch his hands away.
"Something the matter Rosalie?" Alice casually looked up at Rosalie's fuming face.
Bella was still too wrapped up in the fact that Alice had kissed her to be of any use.
"Enough," Rosalie reiterated and then dropped her hold, sitting back down and crossing her arms over her chest, trying to keep her calm.
"Rosie, are you okay?" Edward asked in concern, stretching out a hand to touch her.
"Don't," she slapped it away and continued to glare daggers at Alice who had recovered, a sly smile on her face that she was doing a bad job of hiding.
"Aww, there was no fight," Emmett complained.
"I'll fight you if you want a fight that badly," Rosalie hissed over at him, reaching over Edward and grabbing a hold of Emmett's shoulder, the big man jerking away with a yelp. "I'm just joking. It's a joke. Sheesh!"
"You alright, Bella?" Alice asked the brunette, placing a warm hand on her knee. This brought Bella back to her senses and she felt her face flush. God, she had just been making out with Alice Branden and publicly. She wanted to bury her face in her hands. Then again, she was sort of proud. She got to smooch with one of the popular kids at school.
"Yea, I'm fine," Bella muttered when she realized Alice was still waiting on her answer, the pixie's fingers rubbing her knee now and making Bella's face more flushed. She didn't like how the smaller girl was looking at her-with too much interest. And her lips...Bella had to avoid them or else she would be reminded of how nice it had felt to finally kiss someone.
She had more or less been hoping to have her first kiss with Rosalie, but...well, things happened. It looked like the blonde would no longer be her first.
Bella continued to feel a bit unnerved when Alice's hand still didn't leave her knee, and Rosalie's eyes didn't leave Alice, narrowing down in anger. "Uh, the tower, it fell over," Bella pointed out, hoping to draw Alice's attention away.
The Jenga tower had fallen over in Rosalie's rush to get to Alice and the pixie finally took her hand away in order to rebuild it. "Looks like its a penalty shot for you Rosalie."
The blonde huffed, finally breaking eye contact with Alice and took the shot. And then another one, and another.
That doesn't look to be a good idea, Bella thought but she didn't dare say anything to Rosalie. The blonde still look pissed. And Bella had no clue why. Was she only trying to protect her from Alice? To keep the pixie from extorting from her like she was doing to Rosalie?
Bella didn't have much time to think about it, her brain too inebriated right now to draw much of a conclusion. All she wanted to do was continue having fun, and maybe kiss Alice again.
Damn it. Bella's hormones were being dumb again.
Maybe she should just excuse herself and go home before she made another dumb mistake that pissed Rosalie off.
But Bella wouldn't be getting that chance. The game was far from over. The Jenga tower was rebuilt and Rosalie was already drawing out a block. When she did, her eyes flickered upwards and to Bella's face, expression unreadable.
"Seven minutes in heaven with the person in front of you," she read.
Bella felt the breath leave her lungs.
Oh shit.
A/N: I'm super pumped for the next chapter. I think its obvious why ;)
