Chapter 7: Center of Attention

Everything belongs to Stephenie, and this is written for love, not profit. Please don't sue.

Tuesday, August 11th

Angela's pov

The week following our engagement was a bit of a blur. My parents were not thrilled at first, knowing how Ben had treated me. We had to have a long family talk about the past and the future and how we planned to proceed. But before Ben had left me, my parents had really liked him, and not knowing everything he'd done, they were prepared to support us. They believed his intentions were good.

We weren't planning on getting married for a year, so there was plenty of time to plan. That did not stop my parents from marching us up in front of everyone they knew and showing us off. The Aunties and cousins were again summoned for a tea party. My Dad even made us stand up in church while he made announcements. Well, at least that was 'good' attention.

My bratty brothers, Isaac and Josh, were being a pain in the neck. Having recently celebrated their 14th birthdays, they had plenty of blossoming testosterone and plenty of cheeky remarks, which they didn't hesitate to make in front of old church ladies and town gossips. My father had publicly rebuked his boys several times this week.

I would be glad to get back to school. I was blushing so often that Edward asked if I were channelling Bella. Naturally, Bella didn't blush anymore. She was a married woman, and she had no reason to blush about anything. She took Emmett and Jasper's remarks in stride. Unlike me. I'd better keep my brothers away from them, or they would learn a lot of bad things with which to tease me.

The month was becoming fairly hectic, since I was still lifeguarding part time at the community pool, and now that everything was hunky dory Ben and I were socializing alot. He was spending a lot of time with Edward, who shared an interest in the old martial arts movies Ben adored.

It came out that Edward spoke some Mandarin, and had never told Ben in case he said something wrong and Ben teased him. Now that the cat was out of the bag, the two of them were annoying Bella and me by making remarks neither of us could understand. Bella told Edward it was rude and he told her that she would just have to learn the language if she wanted to be included. Ben seconded that opinion. Men. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em, can't kill 'em.

I had seen Jess yesterday. She'd be taking a hairdressing course in the fall. She seemed to be much more mature and sensitive since dropping Lauren Mallory as a friend. Lauren had lost her reputation after the Niagara trip we took with the Cullens and the kids from Forks High. Apparently, the grapevine had been accurate for once. Lauren was cheap and she had contracted an STD. Half the boys in town were infected. Jess had tried to support her at first, but Lauren showed no remorse or inclination to change, and kicked Jess in the teeth for trying to be nice. Jess had given her up as a toxic friend.

Of course, Jess was still with Mike, who had asked her to Bella and Edward's wedding. He was a sensitive, kind person, so perhaps his better qualities had rubbed off on her. Mike was working full time at his parents' store. He was going to be taking over as manager soon, as his Dad wanted more time to himself. Mike and Jess were planning to get married next summer as well. Her ring was pretty flashy. I preferred my simple solitaire.

I thought I'd better book a caterer right away. At least Ben and I could use the church hall for our reception. Maybe Alice would help me plan the wedding. It would have to be on a lot smaller scale than Bella's, however. At least if we had a year to plan it, Alice couldn't drive us too insane by rushing to get things done.

Since I was not working today, and Ben had a shift at the video store, I decided to drop by the Cullens' and see if Alice would help with the wedding. I bet she knew lots of good caterers.

When I drove up to the Cullens', Alice was sitting on the front porch, jiggling up and down and grinning at me. I wondered why.

"Hi Alice. I wanted to talk to you. I wondered if you might consider helping out with my wedding. The budget is small, of course, so it won't be fancy, but-"

"Oh, yes Angela. I'm so thrilled that you asked me!" Alice squealed, jumping up like a jack-in-the-box. "We can do up something really nice for you. Thank goodness the colours in your church are decent. I once went to a wedding and the pastor had painted the reception hall orange because the paint was free. It was awful!

"I hope you won't mind me suggesting this," she gushed, "but I would really like to give you something. You see, I have my mother's wedding dress, and she was tall like you, so I couldn't wear it. And I won't have any kids to inherit it. So if you like it, and you mustn't be afraid to say 'no' if you don't, then I'd like to give it to you." With that, she dragged me up to her bedroom and into her huge, overstuffed walk-in closet. Jasper was sitting on the bed reading something about the Civil War. He took one look at us, smiled ruefully, and slid out of the room.

Alice pushed her way through piles of identical white garment bags until she reached the very back corner of the closet. I could barely see her. She grabbed a garment bag and fought her way back out. How on earth she knew which bag she was looking for was beyond me. Soon, she had unzipped it and was displaying it like a game show hostess. "What do you think?"

"Oh, Alice. It's beautiful."

"C'mon, try it on!"

"Okay."

"Now, you can't wear a bra with it, but don't be shy. It's lined and nobody will see through it." As she said this, Alice literally stripped me and pulled the gown over my head. Once the gown was on, I stepped out of my jeans and socks.

It was ivory silk, classic, backless and sleeveless, with a straight skirt, and it poured down me, draping in all the right places and puddling on the floor behind me. It looked like something from an old movie.

It was exquisite.

Rosalie opened the door, already beginning to ask Alice something. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Wow, Angela, you are stunning. You'd better do what Alice tells you and get some contact lenses. Everybody will be completely blown away if you come down the aisle in that. Are you going to let me do your hair? I did Bella's."

"Really? That would be awesome." I couldn't believe how well this day was turning out. Providence, again.

"And you should ask Esme to cater. She'll feel left out it you don't include her."

"Esme cooked for Bella's wedding?" I couldn't believe it. How had I not known that! I was a bridesmaid, for Pete's sake.

Rosalie nodded. "Of course that was a casual buffet. You could have dinner served, if you ask the women from the church to help. Your church kitchen has place settings, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but there are so many cousins that we might have to rent more. Of course, the hall only holds 120, so mother will have to pick and choose who she invites. Ben's family gets 40 guests and my parents get 40. I've already claimed 40 spots myself, so she can't invite relatives over friends.

"Well, at least the size of the venue gives you an excuse to keep numbers under control. I can't imagine having 500 strangers at my wedding. I have a friend who married a guy from Portugal, and they had 800 people at their wedding. They had to get married in a cathedral, and the meals and celebrations went on for 3 days. I think they're still paying for it, and they got married 6 years ago."

"Wow. And I thought this was going to take a lot of planning."

"Don't worry Ang. Everything will go off without a hitch. This is going to be fun. Trust me. Look, it's a year away, and you already have your wedding planner, your dress, your hairdresser, your hall, your church and your caterer. Oh, Jasper could do the video. Next, you need flowers and a photographer. And you need to choose your wedding party. No big. You could practically get married next week without stressing yourself out." I recoiled a bit.

"No, we aren't getting married 'til we're done school. Let's just take our time and enjoy the engagement, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan." Alice skinned me out of the dress, zipped it back in its bag in a flash, and hung it on a hook beside the entrance to her closet. I covered my chest with my hands until Rosalie yanked down my top halfway and buckled my bra around my middle. I put my arms through the bra straps and hoisted it up. Then I put my arms through my shirt and scrambled back into my jeans. Rosalie and Alice ignored me and talked about whatever question Rose had come in intending to ask earlier. I guess they were used to getting changed in front of girls. Must be nice to have sisters.

"Girls, I can't thank you enough. I am so looking forward to this wedding. Now, where do you suppose I could find your sister-in-law, since I want to ask her to be my Matron of Honour?"

"We thought you would ask her. Ben has already asked Edward to be his Best Man, and Austin and Mike to be ushers." Alice informed me.

"Yeah, Edward and Ben are best buds now. Ben will always be thankful to Edward for being tough on him. I dunno why Edward did it. Why does he like me so much?"

"Don't underrate yourself, girlfriend. You are one of the nicest chicks around. Edward is an infallible judge of character, but don't tell him I said that. He thinks you're his baby sister now, so we're all staking claims on you. Adjust."

"Bella and Edward took Nessie surfing at LaPush," stated Rosalie.

I gaped at her. "Bella is surfing?"

"She's not an avid surfer, but she goes because they like it and she likes to watch. Bella is a pretty strong swimmer, you know, having grown up in Arizona. She didn't do her lifeguarding levels, but she could have passed."

"She didn't surf the time our friends went to LaPush." I argued.

"Wasn't that springtime? It would have been cold. Bella hates the cold. I bet it's warm today." Rose played with her hair as she preened in Alice's huge gilt mirror.

"Maybe I'll drive out there and see if I find them," I mused. It would be fun to see them surf, even if my own suit was packed away at home. Yes, it sounded like a good way to spend the afternoon.