AN: First of all, I would like to thank everyone who read, reviewed, alerted and favorit-ed: You all are awesome! I apologize that it's taken me this long to update, real life is crazy like that sometimes. A very big thank you goes to AHelm, the most awesome beta of all time, without whom, this story would not exist. And to MPants for being my personal cheerleader. I love you both! * Also, there was some thing weird going on with uploading this chapter, so I apologize for that. It seems to be fixed now.*

Black is the New Platinum

(For Cards Not Blondes)

We breezed through the doors at Barneys into a heady cloud of rich perfume and excitement. I scanned the Women's evening wear, looking for Tanya, my personal shopper. She constantly kept an array of items on hand that she thought I might like. And with the dollar amount that I spent in her store, she knew to make herself available when I needed her. I mean, my charge card had to be paying a large portion of her salary and it's not like I was a demanding bitch every day. I inflicted my presence - and money - upon the girl probably once a week. Whatever. Catching a glimpse of her coming out of the women's fitting area, I called out "Honey, we're home!" and she immediately changed route to come directly to us.

"Miss Hale! I'm so pleased to see you again. I actually have quite a few items set aside for you from the new collections. Did you want to see them all or do you have something special in mind for today's excursion?"

"Well, Tanya, we are heading out for a night on the town so we are looking for something with a lot of glitz and glam. Something jaw-dropping," I announced, and felt Bella stiffen at my side. She was no doubt picturing us all dressed in be-dazzled spandex hooker gear. Her enthusiasm for my modeling accomplishments notwithstanding, her own passion for fashion was minimal. She usually just participated because Alice and I had shown her what a difference a little effort and a lot of money spent correctly could make. And honestly? Everyone wants to look good. It's a universal truth. Some people just don't know it yet. So, I patted Bella's shoulder comfortingly and added to my previous statement.

"Bella needs classic lines with a modern twist, Alice will go for something couture and adventurous, and you know what I like."

Both girls grinned at me, and Tanya ushered us into a large private fitting room where we each claimed our own black velvet chaise and accepted a flute of champagne. Tanya set the bottle on a low table between the three of us and said, "I'll be right back with a few options for each of you. Just sit back and relax." With that, she disappeared through the thick, matching black velvet drapes.

"Where are we headed tonight?" Alice queried, downing her glass and pouring herself another.

"I was thinking Trinity or maybe Heaven. What do you guys think?" I asked them, draining my own glass and reaching for the bottle.

Bella snickered. "I want to know why all the hottest clubs have names that make you think of church when everyone's doing things that necessitate a trip to the confessional!"

"We could go to The Last Supper Club." Alice offered with a giggle.

I quirked and eyebrow and tapped my chin, "Nothing religion-related? Hmmm … how about Venom?" I asked "Although," I said with a heavy sigh "I really do want to go to Trinity. It's pretty new and I hear everyone's been going." I pouted just a bit until Bella rolled her eyes and refilled everyone's glasses.

"It IS your night, Rose," she started. "But I reserve the right to bail if it starts sucking."

"Oh, believe me, if it sucks, we'll be off like a prom dress and onto the next hotspot," I agreed quickly.

"But it's not going to suck. It's going to be a good night. I can tell." Alice added with a smile

Tanya entered as Alice finished her statement and added, "I'm sure you ladies will have a great night. Will you need accessories and shoes as well?" Three assistants followed her into the room, each wheeling a garment rack full of possible options.

"We won't need any accessories, but I'll let you know about the shoes," I told her dismissively, eyeing Bella's high-top Chuck Taylors. We would need shoes.

"Girls, let's get started, we only have an hour until Gus is expecting us at the salon."

At which news, Alice actually clapped, bouncing from her seat to attack her designated rack. For the next forty minutes, the room was a semi-violent flurry of lace, silk, leather, tulle and various other fabrics. Alice landed on an alarmingly short Donna Karan creation. It was electric green satin; a bias-cut slip dress that hugged her tiny frame. With her white peep-toe Christian Louboutin slingbacks, she appeared more like a modified retro movie star than the trollop that most girls would have resembled in the same outfit. Bella, on the other hand, was equally stunning in her own way. Her final pick was a royal blue Valentino that had a modest scoop neckline, belying the risqué back of the dress, which ended just before anyone could complain of indecency. I smirked to myself. She looked really good. And as the hemline hit just above her knees, she really couldn't complain. I could and had, in the past, forced much more "daring" looks on Bella. Her shoes, however, would never do. I summoned Tanya and placed my request. A moment later, Bella's feet were clad in sleek, black, four-inch shiny leather pumps.

"Jessica Simpson? Really, Rose?" she asked, inspecting the footwear,

"Hey, I'm not saying that I would ask the girl for advice or help with my coursework, but the shoes are cute." I said with a shrug.

As for my choice? My evening's costume consisted of a gorgeous blood red, ruched silk Diane von Furstenburg dress with a plunging neckline and a flared skirt that made my legs look miles long and my waist nearly invisible. Adding my Steve Madden red and gold round-toe mules finished the compilation. We were nearly red-carpet worthy. And when Gus was finished with us, we would be. I smirked at the thought of all the disappointed faces when we stalked into the club tonight and stole the spotlight. I knew my love of attention was borderline obsessive and possibly unhealthy but at least I was making money from it. Mentally shrugging off those thoughts that seemed to be venturing into darker territory, I summoned Tanya.

"We'll take everything that we are wearing, and a full La Perla black label set in each of our sizes. Go ahead and have everything sent over to our suite at The Four Seasons. Oh, and just put everything on the black card. You have it on file?" Tanya nodded, so I continued. "Girls we need to jet. Is there anything else here that you want?"

When they both shook their heads, I thanked Tanya and we quickly changed back into our original outfits and set out across the city for Impressions, the salon where Gus - King of the Golden Shears - was currently working. The man was magic, and though I had no idea how much I paid him to work said magic when I saw him, I was confident it was worth every penny. I breathed in deeply as we entered the salon, savoring the familiar scent of chemicals, perfume and high-end aromatherapy that did not quite disguise the other two battling smells. We were quickly swept away into a private room for our preliminary treatments. Whereas the Barneys room was champagne and black velvet, Impressions was all white silk and cosmopolitans. I appreciated both in their different ways, I thought as I sat back, sipping on a Cosmo. I turned to the girls.

"What should we do with Bella's hair tonight?" I asked with a mischevous grin at her immediate consternation over my question. "How about a Mullet? What do you think? Or just shave it all off! It will draw the focus to your eyes, I swear, Bella. It will be amazing."

I said completely seriously, as Bella continued to look more and more worried, holding onto her long mahogany hair with both hands. Alice, no longer able to contain her mirth, spilled out a tinkling laugh and said "Oh my god, no! Can you imagine? That would be so awful. I would immediately buy you a wig!"

At this point, Bella leaned over and punched me lightly in the arm, exclaiming, "I swear to god, you have the best poker face ever. I can never tell when you are seriously trying to get me to shave my head or wear hooker boots on ice."

"Well" I said with a laugh, "it's a pretty safe bet that unless you land a modeling contract with some sort of goth clothing label, you will want to keep all your pretty hair. Even if you did snag that contract I would try to talk you out of it," I said, scrunching my face in distaste. Goths never made any sense to me. Why would you intentionally dress like a mime-whore? Whatever. "And they weren't hooker boots, they were regular boots."

"Uh-huh. And if you believe that, I've got a bridge in Phoenix to sell you." She said with a snort.

Alice and I laughed. The boots had been sort of hooker-ish. In a classy way.

Gus and his team of beauty magicians entered and for the next hour and a half there was no conversation as we were exfoliated, manicured, massaged, trimmed and coiffed. There were also a lot of cosmos consumed by both of the girls and myself, so I called for the car service to come pick us up. I was perfectly fine to drive, but the police never factor in tolerance. And the list of things I wanted to do tonight? Getting a DUI wasn't anywhere on it.

Finally fully made up and slightly buzzed, we quickly zipped across town to the Four Seasons. Peter, our driver, informed us that he would wait until we were ready to go out - all we needed to do was give him a call. We thanked him and laughed, the alcohol giving us a nice silly buzz about life as we quickly headed up to our rooms.

Once inside, we found all of our purchases and more champagne, already opened. Three full flutes waited for us on the center table.

As we each grabbed one, I exclaimed, "Wait! We have to feed Bella soon or she will pass out or get sick!" I took her glass out of her hand and replaced it with the room service menu. "Order whatever you want and then you can have your drink back, darling." She scowled at me playfully but traipsed over to the phone and promptly ordered enough food to feed the entire city.

"Really, Bella? Do you even like Steak Tartare?" Alice asked with raised eyebrows

"No," Bella giggled, "I don't think so. But I just ordered one of everything. Food seems like a good idea."

I snorted at that, picking up the phone, "Bella, what sounds really good right now?"

"Macaroni and cheese." She said with a grin.

I redialed the number for room service. "Hi. This is Rosalie Hale in suite 1120. We just placed an order for room service. You can go ahead and cancel all of that except one order of macaroni and cheese, the fruit plate and croissants, and another magnum of Cristal."

"Ma'am, there was no order for macaroni and cheese," came the voice of the lackey on the other end of the line.

"There was no macaroni and cheese ordered originally? Add it then."

"Anything else?"

"No, that should be it," I said, hanging up and playfully swatting Bella's behind. "You didn't even order the one thing that you really wanted, you goofball."

Bella yelped, and leaped behind Alice as she yelled, "Alice, protect me!"

Alice quickly scooted out of the way. "No shenanigans! I hate to be the voice of reason, especially when there's a magnum of Cristal on its way to us, but it is ten o'clock. I'd like to actually see the dance floor tonight." She pointed at Bella. "Eat something quickly and get legit. Then get dressed, ok? And you," she continued, and turned to me. "Get dressed! I know you are going to take forever even though you just had your make up done. So start now, and let's leave in thirty minutes. I think it can be done. I have faith in you both." And with that ending to her soliloquy, she went to answer the door and returned with food and more champagne.

I picked up the black garment bag with my name on it and snagged a bottle and glass before retreating to my room. Alice called out a reminder, "Thirty minutes only, Rosalie Hale!"

As I shut my door, I heard Bella speak around a mouthful of food. "Hey Alice, why so serious?" I didn't need the visual. I'd seen Bellas' Joker impression numerous times. I could mentally add the mac'n cheese to that. I was good without a face-to-face.

I left Alice to whip Bella into shape and concentrated on getting myself ready.

Alice was right. With our visit to Gus, beside my outfit change, I really didn't need too much else. I changed slowly, enjoying the smell and feel of the new dress and lingerie. I spritzed a little J'adore by Dior on my pulse points, added a coat of mascara and some lip gloss. Just like that, I was ready. Tucking my ID, black AmEx, and gloss into my red clutch, I re-emerged to check on Tipsy and Time Nazi.

To my surprise, they were completely ready to go, and Bella seemed stone-cold sober.

They were absolutely gorgeous, sitting on the chaise lounge, sipping champagne and debating the merits of paparazzi press versus press releases. At my inquisitive look, Bella came over and with a smile and whispered, "It's all about the carbs. Insta-sober."

I laughed and the three of us made our way down to the car. It had totally slipped my mind to call him, but Alice had remembered, thankfully. . Peter promptly picked us up and whisked us away to Trinity.

We climbed out and made our way past everyone waiting in line. Must suck to be them, I thought. We approached the bouncers and I noticed with pleasure that I recognized one of them from Temptations, a club I used to frequent. I couldn't remember his name. I glanced at his shirt and noticed the discreet stitching: Felix.

"Felix! It's been too long." I saw some flashes in my peripheral vision and as a group, Bella, Alice and I turned to give a smile to everyone out there with a camera. That was your one free shot of the night, I mused internally.

Felix smiled, clearly pleased over the fact that I had recognized him, and waved us inside "Jane will have your spot ready for you. It's nice to see you too, Rose," he said. I flashed him one more megawatt smile and we headed inside.

The club was crowded and loud; colored lights flashing and bodies gyrating to the latest Lady Gaga travesty of a dance mix. Jane found us quickly and led us up to the glass-walled VIP section. She walked us to a corner table, settled us in with our poison of choice and faded into the background.

I swirled my Long Island Tea and began surveying tonight's prospects. I was here to celebrate and the best way to do that was by dancing until I couldn't feel my feet anymore. You're only young once, right? I smiled to myself, thinking that I certainly was making the most of my high school 'career' as they liked to call it at good ole Forks Academy. Who to pick? I mused, scanning the secluded tables in our section. I spotted a blonde in the far corner that I thought I might have worked with on the Versace show last spring. He was gay, but that just meant he was probably a better dancer than most men and wouldn't expect to be getting any action at the end of the night. He would definitely be fun for tonight.

"I'm going to go dance, girls," I said with a smile, and downed the rest of my drink.

I stood up and was on my way over to Blonde Versace when someone tapped my shoulder.

"Rose?"

I turned around and promptly lost all coherent thought as I locked in on a pair of very familiar, sexy blue eyes.

AN2:

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