Bella Cullen

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters

Chapter 2

As I sat there in shock, my mind was doing a small 'told you so dance' in front of my eyes. It made sense, but questions such as how and when were pushed aside as I blurted, "why are you telling me now?"

They all looked at Alice, who for once, looked unsure of herself. "Some of us have powers. Um, I can, er, tell the future."

I was speechless. Although the existence of supernatural powers was by far the most difficult thing to process, it was not the first thing that came out. "You can tell the future and you didn't warn me that day that Newton, Yorkie and Crowley all asked me out?"

Everyone just laughed. I knew that they would never lie to me, meaning that the only logical explanation was that they were telling me the truth. With the tension diffused, I became serious. "You guys haven't eaten me though. I thought Alice might have last year when I got the flu the day before prom, but she didn't. Not even then."

"Bella, we think of you as one of us; part of the family. We couldn't hurt you." said Carlisle. He looked certain, but then seemed to reconsider his statement. "Actually, that is what we have to talk to you about."

"When you and Alice graduate, it will be time for us to move on. Because we live among humans, we have to move around before anyone realizes that we don't age. Alice has had a vision of you joining us, being part of our family, becoming like us, but you are the only one who can make that decision, and we want you to be totally informed about what you could be getting into."

I sat in a stunned silence. Become one of them? Although I love them all, I knew that there was more to this decision. I decided that I would learn all I could before making this huge, life altering choice. And so the rest of the night was spent with the family, just talking about their experiences.

Of course, there was nowhere near enough time to hear everyone's stories, but in between studying for my finals, because of course the vampires didn't need to study, I heard all about their lives and afterlives, about being turned and all the abilities and restrictions that vampirism afforded them.

In spending all my time with them, I became used to their vampiric traits; their speed, strength and stillness; their lack of eating, drinking and sleeping; the abnormal hearing, plus Jasper's mood influencing and Alice's visions. I already had a room at the Cullen's and after finals and graduation, I could spend as much time at their house as I liked. Of course, soon enough after that, I would be heading off to college. The Cullens had offered me a fake scholarship, should I choose not to accept their offer of becoming a part of their family, and so, either way, college it was; as a cover story, or in reality.

My sleepovers with Alice and Rosalie became much more full and rich experiences, since I now knew their secret, and they no longer had to hide that aspect of themselves. I had never known all that they had, could and would do for me until I knew what they were, and frankly, when I found out, I was appalled in some ways and relieved in others. They eased my fears about each path I could take, while never letting me forget the gravity of the situation.

And so, I had a huge amount of thinking to do. I knew that if I chose to go to college and live a human life, I would never again see my wonderful vampire friends. I also knew that if I chose my vampires, I would never see my father or other friends again, that they would all soon die, and I would be left to live well past any natural lifetime. With that choice came the impossibility of children, or of growing old with someone, but a much greater chance of finding my someone. I would have longer to reflect and remember my mother and Phil, but also longer to come to terms with the tragedy, and maybe one day, find some peace.

I ranted this to Alice one day in the car on the way to Seattle. She had decided to drag me up there to buy me a prom outfit, partly as payback for last years flu- as if I had any control over it! She just grinned and nodded as I spoke way too fast, and flung my hands all around the small space, gesturing to make my point. She, of course, knew that this was an important decision, which I was not taking lightly, but she still found it amusing when I got flustered. But as always, Alice- the wise and all knowing- bestowed her wisdom on me; wisdom that was the last that I expected from her.

"Bella, just wait. There will come a point when you will know. Just enjoy yourself until then." And with that, we were at the mall.

Let the torture begin

And so, I was dragged around by Alice to every store she deemed relevant. First to the lingerie store, then the makeup store, then the shoe store and finally, any shop she could see which sold any kind of accessory. Of course she went overboard, buying the most expensive of anything, and always more than we would ever use. For me, of course, she had to get shaping corsetry for under my dress; the dress, I soon learnt, was not at the mall. She almost get her way insisting that I get some red and lacy monstrosity, but I won that argument on the grounds that I wouldn't use it for just anyone, and since I hadn't found a special someone yet, I would burn it if she insisted on buying it. Of course, if I had cited any other reason, she would have snuck it in anyway, but I knew Alice very well by now and there is nothing she hates more than violence toward fashion. I could only imagine what would happen if she wore fur and had paint thrown on it.

When Alice had got shoes, lingerie, bags, jewelery and make up to outfit a week long fashion show, instead of just a highschool prom in Forks, we hauled all our bags to the car and Alice drove to a small looking boutique in the expensive part of town.

The name Perrine Bruyere was written across the top of boutique in elegant, cursive letters. Alice walked in as if she owned the place and asked for "the dresses". We left quickly and went back to the mansion.

We arrived back at the house and Rosalie accosted us. "Has she seen it yet?" Alice shook her head. "Then what are we waiting for?"

They went up the stairs ahead of me at vampire speed, a sure sign that they were both excited. I followed grudgingly, not quite ready to be their doll yet, but my fears were misplaced. The dress was a beautiful, simple yet elegant marriage of frills, lace and ruffles in a perfect royal blue. There was no doubt that, in true Cullen style, it was over the top, but it was perfect for me.

And so, the next few hours were spent getting ready for prom. Alice, naturally, was ready and perfect in what seemed like seconds, but they took much longer getting me ready. Rosalie couldn't come as she was supposed to be off at college, but the story was that Emmett had come back to escort me to prom. Jasper was already there.

Of course, it was the hell I had delighted in missing because of that flu, but Alice had this strange idea that I had to experience everything humanity had to offer. Unfortunately that included prom.

Bad decorations in the Forks High gym; bad food and bad punch, not to mention the terrible music; all 90's pop! I was officially in aural hell. Luckily Jasper could sense my pain and convinced Alice to let us ditch.

We picked up some takeaway for me and had a prom in the Cullen's lounge room. As it turned out, Alice didn't get just 2 dresses, but 4; one each for Esme and Rosalie too. She called to warn them that we were coming home and by the time we arrived, they were dressed, as was Carlisle.

We had good music and I was flown around the dance floor by whirling vampires; I loved it all. I think that no one had a better prom.

AN: I was aiming for a chapter every 24 hrs but that got busted.

Hope you enjoy it :)

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