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This one's for Jados, my good ol' buddy ol' pal, who requested this chapter be posted tonight.

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Oh, and EDWARD'S LETTER will appear in the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter Seven: Control Freak

It was Saturday morning, and I wasn't feeling very sociable; which wasn't a good thing considering what was going to happen tonight at six-thirty pm.

"Charlie!" I shrieked, sounding faintly hysterical. I yelled for him again as I thundered up the stairs.

"What? What's wrong?" Chief Swan came barrelling around the corner of his bedroom as I reached the top stair. He had held onto the door frame to make the movement easier and almost smacked into the wall as inertia took its effect. I would have laughed had I not been under so much stress that I'd almost forgotten how to do it.

"Have you done your room yet?" I puffed, leaning back on the wall.

"Almost done," he replied, happy to have the right answer for me.

I felt a tiny sense of relief. "Come downstairs when you've finished, I need you to help me relocate those horrific school photos of me."

"'Kay," he said as he turned back to his room.

So evident was my power as the parent in any relationship that I'd actually ordered Charlie to clean his room before the Newton's arrived – which was in (I looked down at my watch, again) eight and a half hours. And counting.

So far that morning I'd cleaned the kitchen spotless, tidied my room, forced Charlie (amid many refusals and concerns for the townsfolk should he be called out on an emergency) to shove his cruiser into the much-unused garage to make room for the Newton's car. Oh, that reminded me, I needed to sweep the cement driveway before they came and had to dirty the soles of their shoes on the sprinklings of dust – wait. It's raining. There won't be any dust on the driveway. Whew, I thought, mentally crossing that off my list.

I took one look up the hall and decided it could use a quick vacuum. I rushed downstairs and wrenched open the cleaning cupboard door, dodging a mop that fell neatly out of the stack of cleaning utensils, and started digging around for the vacuum cleaner. After only six or seven sneezing fits (maybe I should clean this cupboard if I have time) I kicked the mop back into its place and started pulling the vacuum cleaner up the stairs.

Once the plug was in and the power switch flicked, I hit the 'on' button. It groaned to life and started whining as I dragged it up and down the hall, distracted by my thoughts which were casting around the rest of the house, looking for anything else that needed cleaning.

I was hot and sweaty when the hall (and each individual stair) had been vacuumed, so I pulled off my jacket and whipped it through the door to my room. I then yanked the plug out of the wall by grabbing onto a section of the cord about five feet away from the actual wall. Luckily, it didn't snap off like it would on any other day, and I practically fell down the stairs to start on the ground floor of the house.

In the lounge, I was shocked by the amount of lolly wrappers and crumbed something's that had been shoved carelessly under the couch and into the crevices of Charlie's favourite armchair. It was very close to pulling myself up the stairs to scold Charlie, but decided it wasn't worth the effort and would take an unnecessarily long few minutes of my valuable cleaning time.

Instead, I roughly removed the cushions from the various furnishings in the room and started vacuuming with the hand-held extension as quickly as I could. I was just eradicating the last of the crumbs from behind the couch when Charlie stepped to the doorway of the room. I straightened up and looked at him for a moment, slightly annoyed that he was looking so relaxed, so I directed him with the wave of a hand to start removing the embarrassing pictures of my earlier school-days from off the window sill. I noticed with a wave of dread that there was a fairly thick layer of dust covering each of the frames, and that there was sure to be an outline around each of their places where the dust had not settled.

So, dusting was next.

I heaved the couch back against the wall, and started throwing the cushions back to their places when a knock on the door made me throw my hands into the air in exasperation.

"What now?!" I grumbled, but would have like to have screamed it and let out all my frustration. Charlie looked over his shoulder to me to see if I was going to answer it, then turned back when he saw me trying to untangle myself from the cords of the vacuum cleaner.

When I was free I started heading for the door, but they'd already let themselves in.

Alice and Angela were standing beside each other, blocking the door whether it was intentional or otherwise, each holding bags and bags of unmarked substances. I spluttered when I realised what they were doing here.

Alice looked like she wanted to start straight away, but Angela was far more understanding of my current state of mind. "We'll set up in your room, Bella," she said while she headed for the stairs, Alice forcibly towed behind her.

"Don't make a mess!" I begged breathlessly at their retreating backs.

"We won't," Angela's voice promised from around the corner.

I took a great breath and organised the cushions again. When that was done, I started wiping down every reachable surface for traces of dust. The window sill did have outlines where the frames had sat unmoving for the last – ten years, at least – and I would have to rinse my cloth in the bucket every few seconds for the build up.

Suddenly, a hand appeared at my side, and Angela was helping me with a cloth of her own. On my other side Alice appeared doing the same. I smiled thankfully at each of them, and together we were done in about five minutes as opposed to the fifteen it would have taken me alone.

"Thanks, guys," I said happily as we bundled the vacuum cleaner into its dusty closet.

"Is that all?' Alice asked impatiently. "Can we start out makeovers now?"

I hadn't missed the plural of 'makeover' in her sentence. Slightly glad that there was still more to be done, I shook my head, much to Alice's dismay. "The bathroom. Then that's it."

"Okay," Angela said, her expression turning to enthusiasm. "Let's get going then!"

Charlie was downstairs, making sure the couch cushions were in their best condition and that the television was still working. I was upstairs in the bathroom with Alice and Angela, Alice filing my nails and Angela playing with the boxes of perfumes Alice owned while I lay in the bubble bath. I'd closed my eyes and was imagining what life would be like in technicolour when Alice interrupted my thoughts.

"You're turning into a prune, Bella. I think it's time to get out." She stood up and slapped the file to her palm before turning on her heel and leading the way for Angela to give me some privacy.

I heard Angela exclaiming about Alice's extensive collection of scents from my room while I dried myself. I grabbed my dressing gown from the back of the door and wrapped a towel around my dripping hair, then stepped out of the slightly steamy bathroom.

The carpet felt nice under my water-wrinkled feet as I crossed the hall. Alice was standing behind the chair usually housed under my computer table, and was looking at herself in a mirror I hadn't seen before.

"You brought a mirror?!"

Alice noticed my presence once my exclamation had been made. "Of course," she replied like it was obvious. "Your mirror is pitiful Bella, no offence."

Angela crossed the room from over by my window and steered me gently to sit in the chair Alice was guarding. I plopped down and stared at the incredible mirror in front of me. Some how they'd snuck lights in, too, and they were blazing all around me. The table my legs were hidden under wasn't mine, either, and the stacks and stacks of cosmetics and hair products on top of it were certainly not my own.

"Isn't this a little extreme?" I asked Angela over my shoulder. Ange opened her mouth to respond but Alice beat her to it.

"Nothing it too extreme for the Meet the Parents dinner."

I decided that the best idea was to shut my mouth and endure whatever they were going to be hurtling at me. At least Angela was there to moderate Alice, because if she wasn't I knew that Alice would run wild with the likes of hair curlers and face masks and body-shimmer lotions – I gulped heavily as I spotted each of the criminal items scattered around the table.

"Now, Bella," Alice kneeled beside my chair as she spoke. We looked at each other in the mirror, her reflection looking buoyant and youthful as ever, and me looking excruciating plain and slightly granny-like with my dressing gown and towelled head. "You're going to have to trust us," she went on, standing behind me and pulling the towel from my hair, "because we know what we're doing."

I looked at Angela, and she nodded agreeably at me. "Okay," I said, hoping like anything that this wouldn't turn out to be a disaster.

"Hair or face first, Alice?" Angela piped up.

"Hmm." Alice fiddled with strands of my hair while she thought. "We'll go hair first because I don't want it to dry when I'm trying to work."

Angela nodded and handed her a brush. I asked her for something to read while they were working, and she handed me the nearest piece of reading material she could see. It was Wuthering Heights, a novel that I could have recited in my sleep, but I accepted it and started reading anyway. I knew I would get lost easily in the pages, and that was all I wanted right now.

A while later, Alice's voice chimed "There," and I looked up to see the damage.

Shockingly, it looked good. Very good. She'd somehow manoeuvred two smallish braids to start at the top of my head and extend side-by-side down to my ear, then curve and finish in a messy bun at the back of my head. A few pieces of hair at the front had been carefully blow-dried and styled to fall onto my cheek across my forehead. I liked it. It wasn't overly dressy, but it was dressy enough to let the Newton's know that I'd put some effort into my appearance.

"Make-up," Alice said, and the excitement in her voice was impossible to miss. I groaned and tried to re-immerse myself into the world of Cathy and Heathcliffe.

It was difficult to ignore them and read, however, because everything they were doing was centred on my face. I eventually gave up reading the book and simply lived through the scenes I knew would have followed in my head while they worked.

I was skipping the boring parts, or the parts I didn't like so much, so I was almost at the end when Angela said quietly, "You can look now, Bella."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes!"

I groaned again, and carefully opened my eyes.

Alice had, apparently, been restrained. The first thought I had when I saw my reflection was 'peaches', but it was a good thing. The colouring they had given me reminded me of the fresh fruits in the sunshine hanging off the trees, and the flush my cheeks would have had if I'd been running through the orchard with my best friends. My lips were a gentle pink, cheeks a warm peachy colour, my eyes had been left plain except for a little purple eye shadow barely visible at the corner of my eye to make my brown eyes seem darker; more chocolaty. Again, I looked like I'd put in just the right amount of effort into making myself presentable for Mike's parents.

"Now, for step three," Alice announced. I felt slightly more positive at her words now that she'd finished two out of three tasks. Three out of four, actually, if the relaxation bath counted.

"We decided that since it's you, Bella, we're going to let you wear your own jeans. But Alice went shopping especially for you and picked up a lovely shirt for you to wear."

"Won't it ruin my hair?"

"No," Alice said, swishing a blue silky top around against her body. "It's got buttons on the back."

I was about to ask how I was meant to get it off at the end of the night when they weren't here to help me but Angela cut me off. She shooed Alice out of the room and said just before she closed the door, "You've got ten minutes to get moisturised, deodorised and in clothing before we come back to button you up."

Their footsteps faded as they creaked down the stairs, and I turned to my bed. I decided to not beat around the bush, so I pulled on some undies and hung my dressing gown over the end of my bed. I pulled out a bottle of my moisturiser, ignoring the ones Alice had stacked all over the shop, and did my legs. I dropped the bottle onto my bed and reached for the deodorant.

Once my pants were buttoned around my hips I picked up the silky folds that were the shirt Alice had bought. I held it against my chest and walked to the mirror, wondering how it would look. I pushed my arms through the holes and held the back together with one hand while I observed the effect it had on me.

I looked a little older, I decided. The rounded neckline was royal blue, as was the rest of the shirt, and had a decorated bead patch at the point where my sternum was. From it the material seemed to fan out and caught in a bubblish way at the elastic band around the bottom of the shirt. It was a little overly-dressy for my usual style (I knew I would have been trekking around in these same jeans and a sweater if I was given the choice) but it seemed to suit me, and, more importantly, the occasion.

"Time's up!" Alice shouted as she barged through the door without knocking. Angela appeared half a second after her, looking like she'd just chased after Alice up the stairs to try and stop her from walking in on a half-naked me. I laughed at the both of them and turned back to the mirror. Ange decided she wasn't needed for the buttons so she stayed by the door while Alice clipped the things together in no more than a few seconds.

"Shoes?" I asked, looking down at my bare feet.

Alice darted behind me to one of the bags and produced a pair of plain black ballet flats. She pushed them onto my feet while I stood and held onto the back of the chair for support.

"Now, there's only one thing left," Angela said from the door.

I'd thought I was finished with, but no, apparently not. 'What else?" I said, exasperated.

"Perfume!"

"Oh." I should have remembered that.

Ange went to the bed to claim the bottles she'd carried in here from the bathroom, and produced three. Alice made me close my eyes so I wouldn't be swayed by the pretty bottles and I smelled each of them in turn.

One was a cinnamon smell and reminded me of Mike. I smiled and was about to choose it, but then decided that I didn't really want to smell like my boyfriend for the evening.

The second was lovely and flowery, like lavender with traces of wildflowers in it. I liked it a lot, but it was a little boring and sometimes overdone.

The third had my vote straight away. It was sweet, and reminded me of something long forgotten in a dream. It was smooth and velvety, yet soft and pure like milk. It was so intoxicating that I almost wanted to taste it to see if it could really was delicious, but stopped myself before I looked like a maniac.

"That one," I said, opening my eyes and pointing to the tall third bottle Angela had in her hand.

I noticed the name of the bottle while Angela sprayed it on my wrists and neck. It said 'Blood by Cullen'.

"Cullen?" I asked, thinking of our principal.

Alice rolled her eyes. 'I knew you'd say that! Don't worry; this has nothing to do with school."

I smiled and brought my hand to my wrist to smell the lovely smell again. "Can I keep it?"

"Yeah, sure, I've got heaps of others."

I picked up the bottle and was twirling it in my hands when Charlie's voice was heard through the door. "Bella!' He called up the stairs. I went to the door and opened it, calling a "Yeah?" and Charlie yelled back, "Its five o'clock, are you making dinner or ordering out?"

I swore and turned to Alice and Angela, who were already shoving things hastily into bags. Charlie wasn't expecting an answer so I didn't give one, but rushed over to help them. Angela smacked my hand and ordered me out to start dinner, "Or all our hard work to relax you will go to waste." I hesitated, torn by what I should be doing and what was helpful, so Angela added "Move it!"

I took the stairs more carefully now than I had been all day and was glad to see that everything was still as tidy as I'd left it. Charlie had retired back to the lounge, thankfully staying out of my hair as I started digging through the pots and pans to make dinner. I was planning on a three-course meal so time was money as far as I was concerned.

Around ten minutes later I heard a lot of rustling as Angela and Alice dragged their bags down the stairs. I quickly checked nothing was going to explode if I left for a few minutes, then hopped out into the hall and helped them with their numerous – and heavy – bags.

I called where I was going over my shoulder to Charlie as I pulled open the front door, and he called a response which sounded like "Okay". I squeezed my way through the frame and to Alice's Porsche, where I dumped the bags.

"Thanks so much, guys, I owe you big time!" I swept forward and gave each of them a hug (to which Alice kissed me on the cheek in parting). I was jogging back to the house to make sure nothing was boiling over when I head Alice swear big time.

"We didn't teach her what not to say!"

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