-claps- I'm so proud of you guys who are reading and reviewing! I love getting reviewers – it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (P.S.- no one is allowed to complain of chapter length – Shakespeare did not design his acts to be overly long!)
So anyway, this is my long term project piece, for when I have spare minutes cobbled together in my (limited) time before the next sport begins and afterwards. If you don't see updates for a long time, don't get discouraged (I feel like forewarning).
And I'm proud of ME, too, for coming up with a plausible reason for them to be able to live in Forks again. I was dying over that, because I needed a sound REASON! And it makes sense, too – Bella's always felt like one of the crowd, and now she can make herself and the others seem like one of the crowd, too. –does weird little dance-
Sorry this took so long. I am way past busy and more like run into the dirt with sports, service and school – the three S's of DEATH!
And so we enter Act I Scene III, in which Lady Capulet reveals the impending marriage plans for her daughter. Oh my – Ellie's not going to like this one bit! I am envisioning her temper tantrum in my head.
Let the curtain rise, and the play resume…
Enter BELLA CULLEN, who is worried and scared over what happens next, and ALICE CULLEN, who is Ellie's little confidant…
Bella paced the floor of Ellie's room, keeping her eyes on the pale blue carpet. Alice, on the other hand, was not affected by nerves at all, choosing to lie sprawled out and content on the bedspread.
"Alice, where is she!?" Bella asked, agitated. Her fingers worked constantly – Carlisle was at the hospital and so needed to keep up appearance.
Alice raised herself onto her elbows and glared at her. "I told you 5 minutes. It's only been four minutes and 34- no, 35 seconds. Be patient." With that, she flopped back down, humming absentmindedly.
Bella sighed, then stiffened as a door opened downstairs.
Enter ELLIE CULLEN, who probably won't like where this conversation heads…
"Bella?" Ellie's voice called. "Bella, I finished setting stuff up!"
Attempting to keep her voice level, Bella replied, "Can you come up to your room a minute? Alice and I need to talk to you."
In a blink, she was there. She was a little shorter than Bella but not quite as tiny as Alice. Though she was a blonde, like Rosalie, her vampiric beauty wasn't so dramatic. Ellie looked exactly the part of the all-American girl.
Her brilliantly gold eyes gave away that she had been hunting as she asked, "What's up?" and joined Alice on the bed.
Bella glanced at the black-haired vampire. "Alice, will you leave…? Or no, stay. I want you here. You know Ellie as well as I do."
Alice snorted. "I hope so. I spend much more time here because I don't have to play the part of housewife." Ellie laughed. "Yeah, well, you spend a lot of time with Jasper too," she said with a slightly sad edge to her voice.
Alice shot a rapid glance to Bella, then patted Ellie's hand. "You're young yet. You won't wait forever," she told her kindly.
Bella coughed softly, reclaiming attention. "Actually, El, that's kind of why we're here…" Under the girl's curious glare, she took a breath and asked:
"What would you think of taking a mate now?"
Clearly this was not the expected question, as Ellie looked caught off guard. "A mate?" she asked incredulously. "No, not now. I'm in school. It would draw scandal. I'd be the third generation of Swan women to do so. I'll pass for now."
She looked between her surrogate mother and confidant. "Why?"
Bella glanced at Alice. The latter sighed, and said, "Because the Volturi thinks the Cullens number too many, and sent Alec to take you as his mate."
"WHAT!?" Ellie sprung to her feet, eyes wild. "No! This is my home, my family! He so can't do this!"
"He can," Bella said sadly. "He has the Volturi on his side. We don't have any other choice for now."
"What about Edward?" Ellie gasped out. "He thinks if we buy enough time, we might be able to get out of it. But that's a big 'if', El."
A dry sob racked Ellie's body as Alice added quietly, "It would help to get yourself used to the idea of going with him."
As the younger girl shook, Alice tried, "He's handsome, anyway."
Bella caught on, and added, "Just about your age forever, too. You won't have to go with a twenty two year old. That's good, anyway."
Ellie wailed into a pillow.
It was then that Esme's head appeared in the doorway, looking like a kindly grandmother thanks to Bella's illusions. "Soory to interrupt," she whispered, "but the guests are expecting the birthday girl." She smiled. "No one told me it was a costume party."
Alice nodded, and followed Esme out. Bella put a hand on Ellie's back. "Go with your friends. Be happy. We'll try to fix this, I promise." With that, she swiftly left the room.
Ellie raised her head from the pillow. Rolling over, she looked at the costume on the back of her door. Life may not be the best right now – ok, it was really bad – but at least for a few hours she could lose herself to the human Ellie behind the dark blue mask.
Wow. That went badly. Whoops, Bella, looks like this will be a challenge…
And brace yourselves, readers. The next chapter is the first time our star-crossed lovers come face to face…
XO to my fans.
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