Rain Falling
Chapter 4
Alice POV
'I'm scared to meet her…what do I say? What do I do?' "Umm…" I hum nervously, looking at Edward.
"Come on, sis, spit it out before I answer your mind instead," he says laughingly with his hands beginning to run across the piano.
'Can he just trynot to read my mind while I figure this out?! Oh my god…jerk.' He looks at me and smiles bigger.
"Hey, hey now, I'm just trying to help…" He notices my death stare. "Okay fine," he says, picking up the tempo of his music. "I'll try." He shrugs his shoulders without missing a beat.
"Alright, well…what should I say to her?" I say, lightly hopping up to sit on the edge of the piano, crossing my legs. 'I wonder how creepy it would be for me to just meet her in the airport and say 'hi I'm Alice, nice to meet you finally. I'm a vampire, wanna hook up?'… I really gotta think of something.' I chuckle to myself, and sneak a quick peek at Edward. He looks like he is struggling to keep a straight face. "You are so not even trying to stay out of my head! Eddy!" He bursts out laughing, and the music stops.
"Okay, okay," he gasps between giggle fits. Finally, moments later, he stops laughing and looks at me seriously, a smile still playing at his lips. "Well, you could tell her you are coming back from Alaska. Tell her...that you went up there to visit with some…family? It would be the truth if you booked a ticket from Denali to Seattle, and went up to visit the Denali Clan." He tells me, and then closes his eyes, picking back up at a particularly intricate part of the melody.
"Alright, that sounds good…but then what?" I ask earnestly. He chuckles, eyes still closed.
"Dazzle her, Ali…dazzle her." He ends his piece with a great bit of musical flourish, opens his eyes and smiles at me crookedly. I cock an eyebrow, and look down at him, tilting my head forward.
'Of course, dazzle her…I want her to like me, that is soo not even playing...' he cuts me off mid-thought.
"Yes, it's fair, Alice, before you even think it." He looks at me seriously. "You don't need unholy beauty and a sweet scent to dazzle her, Alice; you can dazzle anyone, including her, without it." He stands up, walks over to me, and puts his arm around my shoulders. "Just be you, and that's it." He gives me squeeze and then starts to head upstairs.
'Wow, thanks, Eddy,' I think to him.
"You're welcome" He tells me as he disappears upstairs to his room.
***
Bella's POV
I open my eyes and turn my head to the left, seeing a short, dark haired man, with thick glasses. He was muttering to himself, and looking around nervously. I shake my head, 'I hope he doesn't freak out,' I think to myself. I lean my head back and sigh.
Ding
"Please place all seats and trays in the straight and upright position, and fasten your seat belts for takeoff. Turn off all electronic devices, and stow your carry on items under the seat in front of you, or in the overhead compartment. Please stay in your seats until the fasten seat belt sign has been turned off. As always, no smoking, and thanks for flying with us!"
Ding.
Moments later I feel the plane roll backwards. After a few minutes of turns and twists, we begin to taxi down the way runway, building up speed. As we get ready for takeoff I close my eyes, feeling the plane slowly lifting. For a moment I feel a small lurch and sudden weightlessness in my stomach. I giggle at the pleasant feeling. This has to be my favorite part of flying, the takeoff. To my left I hear a quick shuffling noise, and then…
"Humpf…blaahht" I keep my eyes closed.
"Seriously" I whisper under my breath, as the smell of vomit reaches me. I turn my head slightly and peak over at the man next to me. His sweaty face is in a barf bag, shoulders heaving.
"humff..hwlaatt" He heaves into the bag, and lets out a soft whine. Yuck…If I didn't think this day could have gotten any worse, I was so utterly wrong. I stopped breathing through my nose and pulled out my beaten and battered copy of Wuthering Heights. Four hours of this…I wish time would move faster.
***
Alice's POV
I looked up at the clock again: 1 hour left. My foot was bouncing as if on its own accord as I looked around the small and slightly crowed airport. It was Friday, and I could finally see the storm rolling in from the window opposite of me. I sighed. I hated waiting, especially for her, I wanted her here now. To see her, to talk to her, to hear her voice, to hear her name. I smiled. To hear her say my name. I chuckle to myself. I am positively pining over this girl…
I looked at the clock again: 56 minutes left. Damn, I could swear that clock is being intentionally slow. The urge to break it left quickly as I felt the buzz of a vision pushing its way to the forefront of my mind. I welcomed it eagerly.
She is sitting calmly, reading a book. Her soft beautiful hair is acting as a curtain between her and the short, sweaty, dark haired man next to her. He has a green tinge to him, and a small bag in his hands. A sudden hard bout of turbulence rocks the plane. The short man to her left begins to scream shrilly. She sits back, a panicked look on her face, the little color that was there seemed to have disappeared. Her book is quickly dropped as she grips the arm rests tightly. More turbulence. She turns her head to the man next to her, wearing a half panicked and slightly annoyed look.
I look out the window as I pull out of my vision. The storm is becoming exponentially worse. My chest tightens as I quickly scan the future. I relax; she is going to be fine. I let out a nervous breath, just out of habit, and check the clock again: 50 minutes. I need to do something to pass the time more quickly…
I scan the airport again, looking for anything to do. All I see that is remotely interesting is a Borders book store. I stroll into book store and begin to peruse shelves for something interesting. Shopping, even for books, can take my mind off almost anything.
Bella's POV
My book falls from my lap, the second bit of hard turbulence causing the plane to jolt. With an iron grip I hold my arm rests, trying to block out the high pitched screaming to my left. 'God he's irritating.' The plane steadies and the screaming fades out to some sort of nervous whimper. I look over and see him crying softly into his barf bag.
Ding
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We seem to be experiencing a rough patch of turbulence due to the progressively declining weather. This is nothing to worry about. We are beginning our decent, and will be landing shortly. Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened, tray tables up, and seats in the upright positions. Thank You."
Ding
I breathe a sigh of relief. "Finally," I say, loosening my death grip on the arm rests. I quickly pick up my book and stuff it into my bag. As we descend I feel a slight pressure against my ears and yawn to pop them. The plane bounces slightly on impact, and then decelerates quickly. I look over at my neighbor and give him a pitying look.
"I recommend taking a sedative," I whisper, sincerely feeling bad for him, "for next time." He looks at me with exhausted eyes and nods his head. He is still shaky, but you can see relief etched into his face, now that we have landed. I reach under the seat grab my carryon, standing up as soon as the seatbelt light goes off.
A loud crack and resounding boom startles me. Thunder. Shuffling slowly along in my line to exit the plane I glance out one of the small windows. It is pouring, gray, and gloomy outside. I sigh to myself and then mumble quietly, "Good bye, sun."
As I step out of the tunnel, noticing I am in concourse B. I follow the arrows to the central terminal, wanting to check the arrival and departure board. As I turn the last corner I run head long into a wall, no, wait…a person?
A/N: Thanks for reading, and for all of the positive feedback. A special thanks to my beta Jocelyn Torrent.
