Wedding Wishes

"Well, I guess this is it," I said, mostly to myself, my tone a strange mix of joy and excitement. Smiling at me dazzlingly in her brilliant white dress, the small gorgeous vampire placed a tiara, sparkling with countless diamonds, tenderly on my head.

Combing my hair and straightening my long wedding gown for the hundredth time, Alice exclaimed, "You look wonderful, Bella!" and carefully pecked me on my powdered cheek.

"Thanks so much for everything," I told her sincerely. I glanced at the tall mirror in front of me. "Your makeup could make a slug win Miss Universe."

She beamed at my compliment. "You really like it, Bella? I tried not to overdo it. I feel like I didn't do as much as I would've liked… You weren't a slug to begin with, you know."

"Oh, thanks," I layered my tone with sarcasm but still smiled smugly, satisfied with my charming appearance that I never had before. Would this be how I would look when I transform into a vampire? "Now I'm being compared to a slug."

Alice gave a hearty laugh. At that exact moment, the flowing sound of the grand piano filled the room, making me jump.

"Oh my gosh," I muttered.

Alice lightly tapped my bare shoulder. "Don't be nervous, Bella. That song's for Edward."

I murmured, "But I'm next. I think I'm might hurl."

"Bella," Alice whispered in my ear, sounding calm and soothing, "this wedding's going to turn out fine. And think this: Edward's going to be yours forever."

Seeing my reflection grin pleasantly, I could hear my own heart beat slow into a steady rhythm. It was incredible. He was going to be mine forever. I childishly wondered how long forever could last.

Soon the song ended and applause was heard. When the audience, which consisted of very few people on my request, stopped clapping, the piano began to play again, this time a different song. My stomach did a back flip.

Alice pushed me gently out the door, saying, "You'll do fine." Clumsily, in my big wedding dress, I stumbled slowly down the aisle, carpeted red and adorned with white lilies. Alice, assisted by the other Cullens, had clearly done a wonderful job. The church that had looked like nothing more than a bunch of rubble somehow standing in the shape of a building had been transformed into a beautiful chapel with both the feeling of comfort and the hint of elegance for such an occasion. Its colorful window panes were draped with shimmering white cloth so the atmosphere seemed bright although barely any sunshine shone through. I marveled at Alice's cleverness and good taste.

It was extremely tough for me to look around and keep a straight posture as Rosalie, my walking coach, directed, but miraculously I managed. I could see Angela, my loyal friend, looking as nervous as me beside her boyfriend, Ben, who was seemed quite bored. In the front row along with all the Cullens was my mother, wiping her eyes with a small handkerchief. Charlie tried to put on the emotionless face but he was slightly shaking, both happiness and sorrow in his eyes. In between them was Phil, looking a bit uncomfortable.

But something caught my eye. A wary man in a black suit sat in his wheelchair next to Charlie. I had to look twice before I believed it.

Billy Black. That name led to another and I could see a boy with an easy going smile, his long black hair reflecting the bright sunlight…

My head, acting on its own accord, whirled wildly about, and although I could see Rosalie slightly frowning and Esme's eyes fill with worry, I didn't even see a glimpse of Jacob, not even a russet-furred wolf standing by the door. My heart was pained as I realized that he was gone from my life, that he belonged to a different world where I did not exist.

The rest of the wedding was a blur. My body somehow did everything it was told to do when my mind was somewhere out there, screaming, Jacob, Jacob…

When everything was finally over, I rushed into the changing room and, being too exhausted to undress, I sank into a chair in front of the mirror and began to weep. I couldn't believe that I was crying sorrowful tears when I had imagined this to be the best day of my life. It was totally unreasonable for me to be so miserable on a day like this after all the trouble Alice and the others went through to make this the greatest wedding of the century. But I couldn't help it. I missed Jacob so much.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and, realizing I only had seconds before the intruder discovered me, I wiped my face on my gown and buried my face under my hair so that it was half hidden.

"Yes?" I replied, my voice cracking.

I was expecting Alice or Edward to come in so I was definitely surprised to see Billy wheeling himself in, closing the door behind him. Again I was reminded of Jacob and shook my head, trying to stop my tears from falling.

"Bella," he said in his powerful ancient voice. "Happy Wedding."

"Thanks," I muttered, feeling slightly nervous. Billy looked quite uneasy.

He hesitated then spoke quietly, "Um, I actually came to ask you something." A small pause. "Do you know where Jacob is?"

I blinked. "What do you mean? He's not with you?"

My response seemed to disappoint him as he put on a sad expression. "No," he replied. "He disappeared after he received your invitation."

"What?" I cried, raising my voice so high without meaning to that I had to glance at the door before I continued in a smaller voice. "Jake's missing? And what invitation?"

Billy looked at me funny. "Your wedding invitation that you sent. He left right after."

"My wedding invi--" I started then remembered I wasn't the only one to hand out them out. I would deal with him later. Sighing, I mumbled, "Never mind.''

"I thought you might know his whereabouts 'cause you two seemed pretty close. I guess not."

His words were like sharp needles poking every inch of my body.

He turned around to leave. "I sincerely hope you'll be happy with this decision. Hope you know the consequences of your decisions. Hope you won't lose too much.

"Have a good life, Bella."

Frozen, I watched him leave. When the door closed, my body began to shake and, unable to control myself any longer, I rolled into a tiny ball in my chair, put my head between my legs, and sullied my dress with tears.

There you have it. I don't know if it's any good cause I don't have much ideas. Please give me your suggestions. And also, this isn't yet edited by my god-brother (aka my "editor") so I might make some changes on this and on the preface. I don't know about the name of the next chapter yet but I'm planning to write about more Bella, more Jacob, and some Edward (since we all miss him already :D). I'll update as soon as possible (progress might be put up on my profile) so check soon!