Chapter 5
I sorted through my clothes the quickest. On the right side wall half of it was shelved so I put my shoes on the bottom rows and handbags on the upper ones. The other half held drawers so I put shorts, skirts, workout clothes, underwear, swim wear anything I couldn't hang up in them. The back wall had a bar on the top and a bar on the bottom to hang things; on the bottom I put all of my pants: ordered by quality (sweatpants to dress pants). On the top bar I put my tops, sorted by color: light to dark. Then on the left wall I hung my dresses and stored my suitcases under it on the floor.
After two days of unpacking, my closet was finished. Alice and Rosalie finished about three hours after me. On Thursday, Alice had planned a shopping trip after school. Jasper said that there was a mall right off the free about 15 minutes away, but the way Rosalie drove we would be there in 7 minutes.
"Ready, Bella?" Alice called as I was getting my purse ready with my wallet, cell phone, gum etc.
"One sec!" I yelled, hurrying. I slung my bag on my shoulder and hobbled out the door. Alice and Rosalie were standing by the door waiting.
"Okay, let's go," I breathed and they led the way through the door and after locking the door, down the hall. Alice was excited and began walking faster than normal,
"Wait up!" I squeaked, my crutches moving as fast as humanly possible. Rosalie and Alice stopped, took one look at me struggling and started cracking up laughing. I scowled at them,
"Sorry Bella. It was just so funny," Rosalie spoke in between laughs and tried to catch her breath.
"Sure, funny to you guys," I grumbled.
"Hey only another week or if you're lucky, sooner; maybe you'll be able to just limp around with the crutches in a few days," Alice soothed, trying to make me feel better. I forced a smile.
When we got to the elevator, instead of going all the way to the bottom floor, it stopped at the one right below us. The doors opened and Emmet, Edward, and Jasper were waiting to get in.
"Hey guys!" Alice was the first one to speak. They stepped into the now full elevator.
"Where are you guys going?" Edward asked me.
"The mall," I said unexcitedly. Jasper smiled,
"That's where we are headed now, want to go together?" Jasper suggested. I looked to my best friends, we nodded, accepting the offer.
"Sure," Rosalie agreed. I didn't wait a second and neither did Emmet.
"I call my car!" we shouted at the same time. Everyone laughed at our simultaneous outburst.
"Well there's six of us, so that would work."
"Girls in one and boys in the other?" Jasper asked, unsure of the seating arrangements.
"No, no, that wouldn't be going together… mix it up," Edward smiled mischievously.
"Who ever gets to Victoria Secret first has to buy the other Jamba Juice," Emmet smiled, he obviously was competitive.
"And all of your teammates have to be there…" Emmet eyed me, I gulped.
"Okay, but Bella gets to have two guys with her then... to make it fair of course," Edward agreed.
"So how are we going to make teams?" Alice asked, energized for the race.
"Emmet and Bella are on separate teams because of the cars so girls with Emmet and boys with Bella," Jasper answered logically. Alice's face fell a little but then smiled brightly. I could have sworn I saw Jasper wink at her but I couldn't exactly tell.
"Game on! Let's go!" Emmet clapped his hands together boisterously.
"The race starts on the highway, don't speed on campus," Edward instructed, thinking from all angles. Emmet, Rosalie and Alice were crowded in one corner, creating a game plan and Jasper, Edward and I were in the opposite one.
"Bella, you aren't driving," Jasper demanded.
"What?! I can drive just fine!" I argued back.
"It's not that I wouldn't let it you… but you can't walk," Jasper said kindly.
"Oh," I said, taking back what I said.
"I'll drive, if that's okay, Bella," Edward asked me.
"Sure… but if you crash it, I'll kill you," I warned him. Edward smiled,
"I'm even ticket-less," he winked at me. The door on the elevator opened and we walked out, calmly, so nobody grew suspicious.
"Keys?" Edward asked when we got out to the parking lot. I drew them out of my purse and tossed them to Edward. I led the way to my car, I had a good parking spot so it didn't take long.
"Nice…" Jasper elongated the word, complimenting my car when he saw it.
"Fast," Edward corrected. He pressed the button on my keychain that popped the trunk,
"Put your crutches in their, you won't be needed them," he instructed. Jasper steadied me and I laid my crutches on the floor of the trunk. Jasper pushed the seat forward and got in the back and then I got into the passenger seat, myself.
"Seatbelts," Edward reminded us and then he pulled out of the parking lot. We drove the speed limit in the school grounds and were tailing Emmet's red Jeep. Once we got on the high way, Edward floored it, blowing past Emmet.
"Okay so here the plan, when I tell you to, Bella, you're going to pull up your seat so Jasper can get out quickly. He's going to help you out of the car and then I'll give you a piggy back ride for the rest of the way," Edward said while keeping his eyes on the road and constantly checking the rearview mirror.
"Good plan, you're faster than me and with Bella's on your back you're still going to be faster than Emmet," Jasper thought out loud. I took a look at the speedometer and saw that we were going 100 mph.
"120," I said.
"What?" Edward said, confused.
"We could be going 120 mph if we wanted to," I explained.
"Oh, if you say so," Edward accelerated. Jasper was laughing in the back seat.
"Emmet's car can only reach 110, we'll beat him there easy," Jasper mused looking at his watch.
"But he could beat us inside," Edward stated, thinking of possible outcomes.
"Where is Victoria Secret, anyways?" he asked, looking at me like I would know. I shrugged,
"I don't know, I've only been living here for what, 5 days?" I said.
"I got this," Jasper affirmed and pulled out his cell phone, calling an operator most likely.
"Yes, I need the number for Victoria Secret in Forks, Washington… Hello, where is your store located in the mall?... what is the quickest way to get there?... okay, thank you." Jasper hung up and smiled widely.
"Okay, they are on the second story, so the lady said to park by the South entrance which is by Macys and make a left, up the escalator and we should see it."
Edward nodded seriously… they took this very seriously.
"Okay, we are almost there so remember when I tell you 'now' scoot your chair forward," Edward reminded me. We were getting off onto the exit; I could see the mall down the street.
"No cameras, no cars, no police… lets go," Edward said to himself and ran two red lights and made it into the parking lot within a minute.
"Now!" he alerted me and I moved my chair forward and undid my seat belt. Jasper took off my seatbelt and got into a position to spring out of the car. Edward took of his seatbelt also.
While we were swerving I opened the door and Jasper jumped out right when the car slowed down enough so it was safe. He pulled me out and shut the door behind me. Edward was already out and running around my car, pressing the button to lock it. Jasper lifted me onto Edward's back and Edward started running at full speed.
Edward was fast... very fast.
Jasper ran ahead of us to open the door and we sprinted through Macys.
"Hey, watch it!" people yelled at us for cutting them off.
"Sorry Ma'am, we are in race!" Edward called back, trying to be a gentleman.
We weaved through a half empty mall and then saw the escalator.
"Come on, only a little farther!" Jasper yelled, I could taste the victory… the Jamba Juice.
Edward and Jasper sprinted up the stairs of the escalator. Edward was going so quickly that he was keeping pace with Jasper and that you wouldn't even notice that I was on his back. We could see the Victoria Secret, it the third store on the right. That made Edward and Jasper run even harder.
"Yes!" Jasper yelled out when we got there. Edward walked us over to the railing and we looked down. You could see Emmet, Rosalie and Alice running through the entrance.
"Hey guys!" I called out to them. Alice looked up and us and stopped running. She was unhappy. Rosalie stomped her foot on the ground and smacked Emmet on the arm.
"It looks like you guys need an energy boost!" Jasper teased. Edward and I started laughing.
"What is your favorite Jamba Juice, Bella?" Edward asked me, while we were waiting for the others to arrive.
"Orange Dream Machine with a Vita Boost," I replied. Everyone had their signature Jamba Juice, what they ordered every time.
"Yours?" I asked Edward.
"Strawberry Surf Rider with an Energy Boost," he smiled and ran a hand through his disheveled bronze hair.
"Jasper?" I asked and turned towards the tall blonde.
"Mango Mantra with an Immunity Boost," he replied. He looked excited; maybe he has a Jamba Juice addition or something.
After a few moments, the losers showed up. I thought that they would be a little depressed or disappointed but Alice and Rosalie were ecstatic.
"Bella, they have a Juicy Couture here!" Alice called out from about a100 feet away. I could see her bouncing figure from here.
Oh god, that was on one of Alice and Rosalie's favorite stores. We would be in there for hours, I thought. I groaned while they walked towards us.
"Juicy Couture, did you say, Alice?" Edward asked, he had something up his sleeve, I could see it in his eyes.
"Yes," Alice said just as guarded as I was.
"Bella, isn't that the sweater I ruined on the plane the other day?" turned to me. I was not going to let Edward buy me another sweater; it probably was going to be one hundred dollars or more.
For my response and didn't answer, I just pretended I didn't hear it.
"I'll take it as a yes," Edward smiled, seeing through my little act.
"Edward you really don't have to," I said while shaking my head.
"No, Bella. I feel guilty for ruining your other one so I am replacing it," Edward stated, not budging. I huffed and rolled my eyes.
"Come on, Bella, let's go right now," he instructed and bent over, expecting me to jump on his back again. He waited for a moment and then turned back around.
"Bella…" he warned. I shook my head defiantly. Edward shrugged and turned to Jasper.
"Jasper, care to help me a little?" he asked and Jasper picked me up and placed me on Edward's back.
"You'll be sorry you just did that, Jasper. You wait…" I growled. Edward grabbed my legs and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Alice would you like to come? I'm quite certain that Bella won't pick a new sweater out and I'm sure you would help me," Edward asked. Alice beamed.
"Yes! Yes! I'd be happy to," Alice squealed. She loved Juicy too much. Edward nodded a thanks to her and Alice led the way, she knew where she was going because she saw that the mall directory.
"Bella, they have a Coach, Lacosse, and a Nordstroms!" Alice told me overjoyed; we would be making many trips to this mall, guaranteed.
"Yay," I grumbled mockingly. Edward shook with laughter. We went down the escalator and walked to the middle of the mall… unfortunately for me all four of the stores Alice wanted to go to were in that general area.
"Omigosh!" Alice shrieked. I suppressed a groan and Edward resisted bursting out laughing at Alice's melodramatic state.
"Let's go!" Alice screeched and tugged Edward's hand toward Juicy.
Once Alice got inside the store, all hell broke loose. I've never seen her move so fast, she had piles of clothing picked out for all of us… even Edward, Jasper and Emmet.
"Alice, where can I find the sweatshirts?" Edward asked patiently. Alice pointed to a portion of side wall that had shelves and hangers full of sweatpants and hoodies in all of the colors in the rainbow, my mouth dropped open… there were so many.
"Color?" Edward asked once we got to the section of the store. I decided to be rebellious and didn't reply. Edward huffed, frustrated.
"If you don't answer, I am going to buy you this hot pink one," Edward threatened. I sighed and surrendered.
"Blue," I moaned.
"Which kind of blue?" Edward giggled, pointing to the four hoodies on the wall that were all different shades of blue.
"Navy," I mumbled, hoping to be incoherent, but Edward heard me perfectly. He walked us over to the rack were they were and pulled one out for me to see. It wasn't so bad; it had a design on the back with some kind of key thing… wearable.
"What size?" Edward asked, about to pull one out for me.
"Medium," I replied. Edward pulled one out quickly.
"You do not wear a medium, Bella! Get her a small Edward, she likes everything too big!" Alice yelled from the other side of the store… she has really good hearing.
"The boss has spoken," Edward laughed and put back the medium and grabbed the small.
"Want pants too?" Edward asked, brightly. I nearly screamed,
"No!"
Edward just laughed in response and went to the cash register; I tried to protest at when he was paying but he told me, very rudely,
"Please, Bella, just shut-up." I was insulted and stayed quiet.
"Do you know where Rose it?" I asked Alice after Edward finished paying and he walked over to her.
"Nope," Alice said quickly not even looking up from the clothes rack.
"Do you need me?" I asked again, trying to catch her eye.
"Nope; I know your sizes," she replied in monotone, super fast. Edward turned his head to give me a look, it made me laugh. Everybody who has seen Alice shop has had this reaction.
"What do you want to me to do, then?" I inquired.
"I don't know; whatever you want." Alice answered… but I wasn't sure if she was talking to me or the clothes that she had here eyes glued on.
"Okay, I am going to leave then," I said, hoping she wouldn't notice and keep shopping so I could leave. Alice nodded, not paying any attention and I nudged Edward to let him know that I wanted to leave. Edward took my cue and started walking out of the store with one bag in hand. Once we got outside I exhaled heavily,
"I can't believe I just got away with that!" I laughed.
"Who is she shopping for anyways, she had so much stuff in her tiny arms?" Edward chuckled. I gave him a sympathetic look,
"Everyone," I answered, feeling bad for him.
"Who do you mean by 'everyone'?" Edward was clueless.
"I mean you, Jasper, Emmet, me, and Rosalie," I answered, filling him in on Alice's doings.
"This is not good…" Edward stated… definitely an understatement.
"Now you know how I feel," I breathed.
"Why did you even agree to come then?" Edward questioned my sanity. This wasn't an easy thing to explain, I didn't exactly want to tell him I had a date with Tristan… but he deserved to know. I mean it was just a date.
"She and Rosalie wanted to shop for me for tomorrow." I held my breath waiting for the questions that he was almost guaranteed to ask.
"…and you have a date tomorrow, right?" Edward guessed it, I wondered if it was written on my face. His face was sad, no longer bright. I just nodded; afraid my voice would crack if I tried to speak.
"Who with?" Edward asked, looking straight ahead, not even glancing in my direction. I evaluated the side of his face before answering.
"Tristan Ashburn," my voice was so quiet, almost a whispered. I could feel Edward clench his jaw but his face showed no emotion. He gave me no answer.
"Want to head home?" I asked, not wanting to bother or hurt him more than I already had.
"If you want," he replied and he stalked to the sliding exit doors. In the parking lot he pulled my keys out of his pocket and unlocked my car.
"Okay if I drive?" he asked like a gentleman. I nodded and gave him a slight smile, he gave me a forced one in return. After he helped me into the passenger seat he got in the driver's side and sped off back to Bridgeton.
I opened my glove compartment box and pulled out a CD.
"Do you mind?" I asked before putting it in.
"Go ahead," Edward said, I could tell he was trying very hard to be cheery. I slid in one of my favorite CD's and let it begin playing. Edward looked surprised at my music choice and raised an eyebrow.
"Sing it Loud?" he asked.
"Yup; are you a fan?" I wondered if we has similar music interests. I smiled, a genuine smile this time.
"Yes, I actually am. What's your favorite song from them?" he asked, glancing in my direction and off the road. I thought for a moment, I just about enjoyed every one of them.
"Probably "Come Around" or "No One Can Touch Us"," I replied confidently. Edward nodded, approvingly, thinking about something.
"What else do you like?" he asked. I liked a lot of different kinds of music… I could name a few of the bands I liked, but I forgot about many of them.
"I don't know… The Fold, Mayday Parade..." I tried to think of some more but was coming up blank. Edward was silent, an odd look on his face. He looked like some kind of statue you would see in an ancient city.
"You?" I asked him.
"Classical, jazz, unusual stuff," he shrugged. That was odd, but when I thought about it, I never really could imagine Edward listening to anything like Britney Spears or something like that. He was just too… classy. I laughed at myself, not being able to come up with a better adjective than that. A small, brief smile passed my lips.
"What?" Edward said, defensive.
"I was just imagining you listening to Britney Spears, that's all," I told him truthfully. He rolled his eyes at me, playfully, no longer seeming so upset. 'No One Can Touch Us' came on and I began singing along with it, Edward joined in because I could see his lips moving, but I couldn't hear him. As I looked out the window I noticed that we were almost to the entrance of the school, but mostly because Edward slowed down to the speed limit.
We went through the gates and Edward parked my car flawlessly, getting me a great parking spot. He cut the engine and pulled out my keys and gave them back to me.
"Thanks for letting me drive," he smiled, looking deep into my eyes. I blushed.
"No problem, thanks for driving me." I don't know how long we sat there just staring at each other, trying to see what the other was thinking. But finally, I broke the oddly peaceful silence.
"We should get going now," I advised. Edward's face held a sad smile,
"Yeah, probably." He got out and came around to help me, he really did have great manners.
"Here," Edward handed me my crutches to balance on after I popped my trunk. He still held the Juicy Couture shopping back in one hand, holding it for me.
"Thanks," I mumbled while putting the supports under my arms.
Edward walked me through the main area of the dorm building, and to my room… all in silence. When I opened my dorm room door, Edward stayed in the entry way.
"Before you stick me with it," Edward handed me the shopping bag and I frowned.
"Thanks, although you didn't have to," I repeated what I had been saying for the whole time I was with him. Edward just shook his head, blocking me out. There was an awkward silence.
"See you tomorrow in English," Edward finally spoke and left my doorway, walking down the hall, comparable to a male runway model.
"Bye," I whispered, but he was well out of hearing distance.
I closed the door and retreated to my bedroom were I snuggled up under the covers and just… thought. I thought about my new school, new classes, Emmet, and Jasper… but mostly I contemplated about Edward and Tristan. I deliberated so much between them, after a while I didn't even know what I was thinking about anymore. I heard Alice and Rosalie come home, but I didn't bother to go out to say hi to them, I just closed my eyes and went to sleep.
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"Bella, get up," Rosalie's voice commanded for afar. I yawned deeply and rubbed my eyes.
"What time is it?" I asked, mostly to myself and took a look at my alarm clock. I had an hour before school started and I still wanted to get breakfast. Quickly, I shoved my warm comforter off and sat up, sleepily. I grabbed some random clothes and headed into the bathroom.
"I'm taking a shower!" I yelled to Rosalie and Alice. The glass on the doors were frosted, but I didn't really care anyways. I turned on the water and I stripped off the clothes I fell asleep in. I hopped in the shower and quickly washed my hair with my strawberry scented shampoo and went through my normal habits. After drying off with a fluffy, white towel and changing into clean clothes I massaged some mousse into my hair. It controlled my frizzy, curly hair into beachy waves and it didn't require blow drying or anything that took valuable time.
"Breakfast?" Alice asked me when I came out, I still had 30 minutes until class started and nodded, grabbing and double checking I had everything I needed. Moments later, our dorm room was empty and we were all on our way to the cafeteria.
School was… school. During lunch and classes I had with him, Edward and I hung out, and I talked to Tristan about the details of our date for that night in Art Class.
"So what are we doing?" I asked, curious while playing with some watercolors. Tristan gave me a smirk.
"It's a surprise." He winked at me. I exhaled.
"Well can I at least know how to dress? Alice and Rosalie want to know… if I had my way I would just wear jeans," I pleaded. Tristan laughed.
"Well if it's for Alice and Rosalie, I guess I can tell you a little bit…" he allowed.
"On a scale of 1- 10, how dressed up should I be?" I asked.
"If a 10 is the prom, I would say around a 5; which would be one above jeans," he explained.
"Okay, I'll try to dress according to those standards, but if I look ridiculous when you pick me up tonight, you have to tell me," I laughed.
"I don't think that you could ever look ridiculous," he murmured shyly… I blushed bright pink and thought my heart was about to explode.
There was an awkward silence, but we started up another topic about movies and talked the rest of Art Class away. The bell rang, signaling our release from class and Tristan gave me the time he would pick me up. We said our goodbyes and I slowly hobbled to the dorm room.
As soon as I opened the door and set my things down I was bombarded by Alice and Rosalie.
"Dress code?" Alice asked immediately, not playing any games with me.
"One a scale of 1-10, ten being prom, he said a 5 which would be a step above jeans," I answered without delay and very military- like. I felt like saluting but I thought that it might hurt their feelings. Alice and Rosalie nodded, thinking, and then dragged me to the bathroom.
They sat me down in the chair in front of the mirror and Alice handed me my iPod. After putting the ear phones and turning the music's volume about half way up in I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the constant pulling and prodding. If this time was anything like the others, this was going to take a while…