La Bella Italia
"Alice!" I gasped. I should've recognized the car sooner. We were speeding out back into the brightly lit tourist area of town. "What, what was that?" I asked, "Are those guys alright?"
She looked down at me with a curious expression on her face then glanced up at Rosalie and back down before I could bat an eyelash. "Bella, you do know those men were going to hurt you, right?"
"Well, yeah, but that… thing in the alley! What if they got really hurt?"
"Don't worry so much Bella," sighed an exasperated Rosalie, "Jasper and Emmett will take car of them and whatever else was in that alley." I wasn't very convinced and was going to voice some other concerns when I glanced at the clock.
"OH! I was supposed to meet Angela and Jessica at the restaurant nearly half an hour ago," I nearly yelled, but continued in a softer tone, "They're going to be really worried." Rosalie curtly nodded her head and made a sharp right turn.
"Alice, what if something happens to them?" I asked timidly. I didn't want anyone to get hurt because of me.
"Bella, don't worry they'll be fine, they know what they're doing." Alice looked down at me with her large amber eyes. I couldn't help but want to believe her. She had such an innocent look to her. I had a feeling it was merely a clever façade. (A/N: sweet I typed in façade and Microsoft automatically put in the little accent thingy!! Who needs a beta when I have the awesome power of the spell checker!! WAHAHAHA. Jk I no u can probably spot about a million grammatical errors in here but w/e. onward!!)
I didn't realize we were at the restaurant until Alice pulled me out of the car. Wow, she was strong for someone so little. It struck me then that I had never told them what restaurant we were meeting at. "How did you-," I started, but then I spotted Jessica and Angela worriedly pacing toward Jessica's car.
"Jess! Angela! I'm over here!" They turned when they heard my voice and hurried over. Their faces went from relief to amazement when they saw who I was standing next to.
I could understand their reaction, what with Alice's beautifully graceful looks and Rosalie's Sports Illustrated body. I glanced over at them and realized I must have looked like crap standing next to them.
"Um, hey where were you?," Jessica asked when she got within a reasonable talking distance. "Oh, I got… lost and Alice and Rosalie gave me a lift here." Rosalie and Alice nodded.
I was a terrible liar. It didn't look like they believed me until Alice piped up with, "Would you mind if we had dinner with you?" Jessica and Angela looked at her in surprise. Angela recovered first. "Actually Bella, we kinda ate without you. I'm sorry."
"That's okay I'm not hungry anyway," I shrugged. Nearly being ganged up on and being attacked had actually made me lose my appetite. "Bella, you can eat with Rosalie and I and we can give you a lift home, if that's alright." Alice seemed excited about this for some reason, so I decide to humor her. "Okay, but I'm really not very hungry. See you guys at school tomorrow."
I waved goodbye to Angela and Jessica and watched them drive away. I turned back to see Alice bouncing on the tips of her toes with excitement and Rosalie looking like she wished she were somewhere else. Before I could object anymore, Alice grabbed my arm and literally tugged me through the restaurant doors.
"How many in your party?" asked the hostess. "Three!" replied Alice enthusiastically. "It's a 15 minute wait for a table," she told us.
"Surely there's something open," Alice pouted. It was a big puppy dog pout. I could barely refuse her anything right now and it wasn't even directed at me. "Uhhh. Yeah, I think we have maybe one…" The hostess drifted off.
She seemed a little dazed, but she managed to lead us to our table without tripping. That was more than I could say. I tripped right before we reached our table, but a small, firm hand gripped my shoulder and hauled me back to my feet. "Thanks Alice." She smiled and sat down at the booth next to Rosalie.
I sat across from them. This section of the restaurant La Bella Italia, was deserted. Maybe it had been closed off before we came. I felt awkward sitting across from two goddesses. I could see some male heads peeking over to stare.
"So, whatcha gonna order?" asked Alice. She, herself, was peering at the menu and staring with something akin to disgust. "You don't like Italian?"
"No, neither of us do," she smiled.
"We could go somewhere else so you can eat too. I'm not even that hungry so you can pick whatever you like."
"Oh, no Bella we already ate. We just want to make sure your okay after the alley incident." After Alice was done saying this she pushed the menu she was holding over to me.
"Are you-" but before I could finish Rosalie cut me off. "Jeez Bella! Just pick something to eat!" She did not look happy. The waitress suddenly appeared next to me. "What would you like to drink," She asked to no one in particular.
"Bella?" Alice looked at me. "Um, how about a coke?" I wasn't really sure. I didn't really want it. "Are you ready to hurry up and order as well?" rushed Rosalie. She was tapping her long crimson fingernails on the table. "Yeah sure, I'll have the mushroom ravioli."
The waitress collected our menus and swiftly walked away. The only person she'd looked at this entire time was me. Probably because I didn't make her take a hit on her self esteem every time she looked at me.
There was an awkward silence for awhile that was only broken by Alice hopping up and down on her side of the booth. This seemed to irritate Rosalie more. I wanted the chef to hurry up.
"So you guys just moved here from Alaska, right?" Yeah great conversation opener. "Well, obviously. Haven't you been listening to anything people have been telling you?" Rosalie glared at me.
"Don't mind Rose, she's always this cranky when Emmett isn't around. Actually, she's usually this cranky all the time. Be happy you don't live with her," Alice giggled. Rosalie actually growled at Alice. I was intrigued. In school they seemed so distant, but here they seemed like a family.
Then my food arrived. I hadn't even picked up my silverware when Emmett plopped down next to me on the booth. I nearly bounced a foot in the air.
"Ick, that looks gross. Hello Bella I'm Emmett!" He seemed so happy to see me, but he was so large. I stared up at him for a minute, as he towered over me. He seemed in a better mood than his girlfriend.
"Umm, hi. So, does your whole family hate Italian food?" I managed to rip my eyes of off Emmett's high up face and look across the table. Rosalie was still sending me death glares so I chose to look at Alice's much more inviting eyes.
"We actually dislike most food," Emmett chuckled from next to me.
"So you're picky eaters? Everyone?" Wasn't someone in their family labeled "the garbage disposal"? "Yes," Alice answered before Emmett could speak. Just then I realized that their other brother, Jasper, was missing.
"Isn't there another one of you?" "Another one of us?" Rosalie growled, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I didn't mean anything like that!" I tried to assure her. I didn't need enemies within the first three weeks of school. "Rose, chill out," Emmett told her. "Jasper got a ride home with some friends and aren't you gonna eat that?" He looked pointedly at my untouched bowl of ravioli's. I blushed and grabbed my fork.
"What was in the alley and were those guys okay?" I asked before popping a ravioli into my mouth. It was pretty good considering I'd just picked the first thing I'd seen on the menu. "Your worried about those punks?" Emmett stared at me incredulously.
"Yeah! Of course! What if they got hurt by whatever it was?" I'd realized I'd stopped eating and scooped up another ravioli to pop into my waiting mouth. I was hungrier than I'd thought.
"You have nothing to worry about Bella, they just got scared of a big dog," said Emmett casually. He was obviously trying to close the subject. I figured I could let it drop; for now.
They were all watching me eat. It made me even more uncomfortable. I reached for my coke. "What'd you buy when you were shopping with Jessica and Angela? I don't see any bags," said an overly eager Alice.
"Actually, I didn't buy anything. I was just here to help them pick out dresses for the dance." Alice looked incredulous. Emmett burst out laughing. "What?" I asked. I hadn't said anything funny. Had I?
"Alice. Can't. Go. Into. A store. Without. Buying. Something." This was all said between his giant laughs.
"Not one little bag?" Alice's lip started to quiver. I was afraid she was going to break out in tears in the middle of the restaurant.
"I was kind of looking for a bookstore before…" I stopped. No need to bring that up again. I blushed and looked down into the depths of my Empty cup.
"Would you like a refill?" said our waitress, still attempting to avert her eyes from the goddesses. Luckily, she found something better to gaze upon. Emmett. He was muscular and good looking. "And what can I get you?" She was now full out staring at Emmett. I could've sworn I heard Rosalie let out another soft growl. I think the waitress heard it too because she grabbed my glass and retreated before Emmett even got the chance to answer.
"Rose," Emmett threatened. She glowered at him, but stopped sending death glares to all of the waitresses that passed.
"I KNOW!" yelled Alice, "Rose, Emmett, and I should take you shopping again NEXT weekend!" Oh no. Shopping could be good in moderation, but 2 weekends in a row? I don't think I could handle it, but Alice looked so happy.
"Sure Alice, if you really want to. I don't really need anything…." This was a total lie. My mom and I hadn't had enough money or time to really get me prepared for the weather change from Phoenix to Forks.
"YES!" I was sooo going to regret this. "Are you done yet?" mocked Rosalie. "Oh, yeah we can leave if you want." I blushed. Of course they wouldn't want to just sit there and talk to me for very long. I wasn't very interesting.
I pulled out my wallet to pay the bill that the waitress had set on our table, but Alice beat me to it. I tried objecting, but Alice just waved it off and got up from the table with impossibly lithe and graceful movements.
I followed them to the car and sat in the back seat next to Alice as Rosalie pulled out of the small parking space with perfect ease. I would have at least added a couple of new scratches to both of the cars around us.
I stared out the window at the fastly passing woods on either side of the highway. I jumped in my seat when I saw a shadow in the woods moving as quickly as our car. I tried to get a closer look, but it had already disappeared.