Another update in less than 2 weeks? Yeah, I know. Consider it my present to all of you for sticking around with me for so long. If you want to see the girls dresses, you can check out my blog (link on profile.)
Thanks Tropical Sorbet for looking this over for me and telling me it doesn't suck.
The next few weeks passed quickly. Rosalie and I still weren't exactly best friends again, but when I saw her in the hallways during passing period, I would give her a slight smile or nod.
By the beginning of May, the Spirit Committee announced our schools Prom theme, Monte Carlo. The school was buzzing with excitement, apparently, the committee was able to book the Elks Lodge for the event.
"So, are you guys going to prom next weekend?" Victoria asked Angela and Ben. It was Friday night and we were all lounging in Edwards entertainment room, eating pizza..
Angela scrunched her nose, looking at Ben. "No, I don't think so. It's not really our thing. Plus, with you guys not going, we won't have any friends there."
"Believe me, you guys do not need to be subjected to my dancing skills. Or lack thereof." Since Forks high was such a small school, both the Junior and Senior proms were combined. Underclassmen were allowed to attend if they came with an upperclassmen date as were students outside of the school, as long as they completed a permission form.
"Let's have our own prom instead." Victoria suggested.
"What are you talking about, Babe?" James asked, grabbing another slice of pizza. I could tell he didn't seem too enthused about the her proposal.
"You know, we dress up and have our own little party at someones house. It will be like the anti-prom, prom."
I shrugged, looking over to Edward who also shrugged. "We could have it here."
"Really?" Victoria asked, excitedly. "That's awesome. What do you say, Ang?"
"Sounds a lot more fun that drinking spiked punch at the Elks Lodge with bunch of people I'm not friends with."
"Awesome! How does dress shopping tomorrow sound? We could go to Port Angeles."
"We don't have to rent tuxes, right? I mean, this isn't really prom," James whined.
"No. Just dress nice. Slacks and a button down." Angela assured the guys.
0-0
That's how Angela, Victoria and I ended up spending Saturday morning in Port Angeles, going from shop to shop in search of the perfect dress.
Three hours later, we were starving and each carrying our own garment bag with our dress in it.
We decided to stop by a little deli to eat at before we headed back home.
"Gah. I can't believe you're graduating next month and leaving in the next few!" Angela said in between bites of her sandwich.
"Shut up, Bella. Don't remind me. I'm going to become such a mess when we get to finals. As excited I am to move to Boston and go to school with Ben, I can't believe I'm leaving Forks."
"But there's lots of chances to come back and visit. When you think about it, Thanksgiving won't be that far away.." Victoria assured her.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry for getting all emo on you guys." Angela waved her hands, changing the subject. "Let's plan our anti-prom more."
With that, we went into planning mode, putting end of the school year worries behind us.
0-0
"Goodnight to you too, Bella. Sweet dreams."
Sighing, I ended the phone call, setting my cell on my nightstand. Edward and I had began a tradition of ending our days with either texting or calling each other and talking for about an hour. Each night, he ended the phone call the same way, causing me to fall asleep with a smile on my face.
I think I was falling in love with him.
Even from the beginning, I had began to think of Edward as my best friend. This solidified during our nightly talks where I would learn all about him; from what he ate for breakfast to his life back in Chicago.
Part of me was terrified of the intense feelings I felt towards him, worried that we were still Juniors in high school and that it was possible he didn't feel the same about me.
There was also the fact that my parents were not the picture of a perfect marriage. Everything had been wrong with them. They had me too young, married too young and in the end, discovered they were all wrong for each other.
I hated those thoughts. I convinced myself that for now, I was content with the sweet words that were the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.
0-0
"Morning, Bells. Sleep good?" My dad asked me as I went into the kitchen the next morning.
"Yeah. You're up early for your day off," I noted.
He grunted. "You know I'm bad at sleeping late. Anyways," Charlie changed the subject. "Do you have any plans for the evening?"
"Um, no. I think Edward wanted to come hang out and do homework, but that's it. Why?"
"Do you mind watching Jacob for a little while? Billy and I want to get in some fishing this evening. But you know Jake. Kid has so much energy, he'll scare all the fish away."
I laughed, well aware that there had been more than one occasion where Charlie and Billy had come back empty handed due to Jacob. "No problem. I'm sure Edward won't mind him here."
"Great. I'll give you a twenty or something for it. I uh, I kinda already told Jacob you could come over. He's real excited."
"You don't have to pay me to watch Jacob, Dad. He's a cool kid. It's really not an issue." I smiled reassuringly. "But, I should called Edward to let him know the change of plans."
0-0
A few hours later, Edward came to my house. When I had called and told him that I would have to babysit later in the day, he wanted to cancel our plans, saying that he thought Jacob would probably want to hang out with me alone.
After a little persuasion, insisting that Jake wouldn't mind at all, he caved.
"Hey!" I greeted Edward, after throwing the front door open and giving him a quick kiss.
"Hey. He here yet?" Edward asked, following me to the living room where he dropped his backpack on the couch.
"Nope. Charlie should be back with him and Billy any time now, though."
We settled down on the living room floor, sitting cross-legged next to each at the coffee table.
It was difficult focusing on anything with Edward sitting next to me, so close. The house was completely silent except for the sounds of pages turning and the scratch of pencil on paper.
Ever since our relationship had become more physical, I found it increasingly harder to not just jump him. And here, home alone, it would be so, so easy to do just that.
Although Edward seemed to enjoy making out and kissing, he never initiated anything more than an innocent kiss, which frustrated me and left me feeling like some desperate girl falling all over her boyfriend.
Before I could continue down the path of my negative, nagging thoughts, Edward spoke up. "Are you sure you want me to be here? I could just go home and hang out."
"Edward, it's fine. Jacob is a cool kid. It isn't even like babysitting. I pop in a movie, we play with his Star Wars toys, and I make mac and cheese and hot dogs for dinner."
Edward sighed. "Okay, Bella. Kids just don't really seem to like me."
"Well, I like you." I leaned over to kiss him, stopping when I heard a car pull in the driveway.
I got up and walked over to peer out the window, watching as Jake leaped out of the back of the car with a backpack, waving frantically at Charlie and Billy as they pulled out of the driveway.
As usual, Jake didn't even bother knocking; instead just barging through the front door.
"Hey, Bella!" Jacob exclaimed, tossing his backpack down.
"Hi, Jake!" I couldn't help but smile back, his energy being contagious.
Jake beamed up at me as I ruffled his hair, then looked past me; noticing Edward standing awkwardly behind me.
"Oh! Jake, this is Edward. Edward, this is Jake." I watched as Edward took a few steps forward and extended his hand to Jacob.
"Hey, man. It's nice to meet you. Bella says you like Star Wars? Me too."
I looked at Edward, almost in awe. How could he say kids didn't like him? He seemed like a natural at it to me.
Jake didn't take Edwards hand to shake. Instead, Edward was left awkwardly holding it out as Jake just stared at it. Weird...
"Is he gonna be staying, Bella?" Jake asked, turning to me.
"Well, yeah. I mean, if that's okay with you?" I turned around enough to see the uncomfortable look Edward had on his face and reached to grab his hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. I had no idea why Jake was acting so strangely.
"He's your boyfriend?" Jake asked, noticing our clasped hands. I couldn't help but smile as Edwards thumb brushed against the back of my hand. "Yeah, he is."
"Well, I don't like it." Jake huffed, folding his arms across his chest and turning away from us to go sit in the living room.
My mouth fell open as I watched Jake stalk away. Once he was sitting on the couch, I turned around to look at Edward and saw that he had a smug look on his face.
"I don't know what just happened."
"Kid's don't like me. Told you so." Edward smirked, causing me to smack him gently in the stomach.
"Hang on, I'm going to talk to him. Will you get the Capri Sun and the Goldfish?"
Edward nodded and left me alone to figure out what was Jacobs problem.
"Hey, Jake. What was up with you and Edward?" I asked, sitting down on the couch besides Jake, who was sitting with his arms crossed.
"I don't like him," he huffed.
"Why not? Edward didn't do anything wrong."
"I don't wanna say."
"Well, I want to know. Edward is important to me. You're my buddy. I want you two to get along." I tried to explain.
"It's just that, um..." Jacob began, his face tinging pink.
"Yes...?"
"Dad said that we were gonna get married!" Jacob blurted out.
I stared at Jacob in shock, but jolted in my seat when I heard a loud crash in the kitchen.
"Billy, I mean, your dad said that you and I are going to get married?" I repeated, processing the words. "Are you sure?"
Jacob nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Last week when Charlie was at our house, Dad said that we were gonna get married one day. Then Charlie said that we would have to wait a long time because I'm only 7 and you're old, but he said it was okay because I was a good kid."
"Oh, Jake." I said, fighting back a laugh. "I'm sure they were just joking around. You know how our dad's like to joke a lot."
"I don't know. That's not a funny joke." Jake said, scrunching his face up.
"I know. Adults can be weird."
"Are you and Edward cool then? We're both way to young to think about getting married. Besides, I bet you'll meet and awesome girl when you get older and you won't want to marry me anymore."
"Yeah. I guess so. I just didn't like you with Edward because I thought you were supposed to be mine and Rachel got mad and cried when her boyfriend was hanging out with another girl."
"Um..well." I trailed off, unsure about what to say. Before Edward came along, Charlie had mentioned once about Rachel's longtime boyfriend being caught with another girl. At the time, Charlie had used it as a sort of scare tactic to keep me away from boys a little while longer.
"That's different though, Jake. Rachel was going out with that guy. You and I are just really good buddies. Okay?"
Jake nodded, a serious look on his face. "Makes sense."
"And you'll be nice to Edward from now on?"
"Yeah." Jacob looked sheepish. "He's not mad at me, right?"
I shook my head. "No way. Let's go to the kitchen, kid. There's a snack with your name on it waiting for you."
0-0
The school week went by annoyingly slow. With prom being just a few days, it seemed like there was drama going on all over the place. People were breaking up, girls were fighting over getting the same dress and people were already talking about hotel rooms and after parties.
Jacob had fallen asleep a few hours into us watching him on Sunday, during which we did a little planning on how our own anti-prom prom would go.
Later that night, after Jacob and Edward went home and I had given my dad a hard time about him and Billy putting those thoughts into Jake's head, I IM'd with Victoria and Angela, doing a little planning as well.
While everyone was looking forward to a crazy prom night, I was looking forward to a fun night with the people I now considered my best friends.
0-0
"Are you sure this dress looks okay on me?" I asked, tugging the top of my black and turquoise, strapless bandage dress up while simultaneously trying to pull it down past my thighs.
"Shut up, Bella. You look hot. Edward has never seen you in anything other than jeans a t-shirts. He's going to die when he sees you in this." We were at my house, getting ready to go over to Edwards for our little party.
I rolled my eyes. "Right, Victoria. I'm sure you'll have James drooling all over you in that dress." Victoria's dress was a skin tight, black, racer back dress with sequins and studs on the front of it.
"I know, right? That's kind of what I'm going for." Victoria wiggled her eyebrows. Angela let out a loud, bark like laugh and slapped her hand over her mouth, her face red with laughter and embarrassment.
"Oh, come on. The Reverends daughter and the Police Chief's daughter need a little corruption. Although, I would say Bella here needs a bit more than you, Ang."
"Wait, what? Angela, are you not a..." I trailed off, feeling intrusive about what I wanted to ask. "Virgin?"
Angela shook her head, blushing. "No." At seeing my shocked face, she laughed. "Bella, Ben and I have been together for a long time. We're going to school together. Just because my father's the Reverend doesn't mean I believe in everything he preaches."
"I just...I'm the only virgin left at Forks, aren't I?" I groaned, figuring out how to sit down in my dress.
"Maybe. Well, besides Edward." Victoria added. In return, I threw her a dirty look.
"Seriously, Bella. You were friends with skanks before us. Not everyone is having sex. Angela and I have been with our guys for a while. We love them. It's natural for a relationship to turn more physical.."
"Natural for you guys, maybe." I muttered.
"What do you mean?" Angela asked, sitting down besides me.
"God, this is so embarrassing. I don't think Edward likes me...like that. I mean, we kiss and make out and whatever, but that's it."
"So, no second base?" Victoria prompted me.
"Not really." I thought for a moment. "Well, kinda this one time. But I think it was an accident, because he moved his hand away so fast you think he got burnt."
"I'm sure there's a reason," Angela tried to assure me.
"Yeah, I'm repulsive."
"No you aren't. Guys are just weird. I mean, really. James does shit all the time that I don't get and sometimes we fight over the stupidest stuff, or he'll do something really idiotic and I'll be like 'why did you do that?' It's just how guys are, Bella."
Victoria walked over to my bedroom mirror, applying a bright red lipstick, then smacking her lips together. "I don't have very good advice, James and I pretty much said to hell with any form of dating etiquette. I mean, this is high school. Actually, I'm pretty sure I have the same advice to give you as your two STD infested ex-friends would have."
I laughed. "And what would that be?"
"Just go for what you want. Edward would be an idiot and an anomaly of the teenage male race to shoot down your boob in his hand."
"Okay. This is getting a little awkward." I laughed, standing back up. "But thanks, you guys. I'll try something."
"Good. Okay, Angela. You still have to get into your dress." Victoria said, taking the dress out of my closet.
Angela's dress was a pretty ruby red with an empire waist and straps that crisscrossed in the back. The top part sparkled with sequins and the skirt part was a shiny satin.
Once we were all dressed and had our shoes on, we looked over ourselves in the mirror, causing all of us to be momentarily stunned by our appearance.
"Damn. We look hot!" Victoria exclaimed, causing us to all burst out laughing.
My dad was watching TV downstairs, but came to stand by the staircase as we came down, a camera in hand.
"You guys look great. You sure don't want to go to the prom."
Victoria shook her head. "No way, Mr. Swan. We've put a lot of work into this little shindig."
"You're staying over at Angela's afterward, right?" Charlie asked, turning to me.
"Yes."
"No drugs or alcohol?"
"No."
"Are you going to put a sweater or some tights on? That dress is kind of...small."
"Oh, my God. No!"
"No boys staying the night?"
"Dad! We're going to Angela's. I'm pretty sure Reverend Weber wouldn't allow that."
"Just checking, Bells. Alright. How about a few pictures and then you kids can go on your way."
I groaned. "Since when did you care about taking pictures?"
"Since your mother has been calling me and making sure that I take some to send to her." Charlie sighed. "Alright, line up and we'll do this."
0-0
The three of us drove over to Edwards, crammed together in my truck. I felt nerves begin to bubble up in my stomach. It was silly. We weren't going to the actual prom. We were just going to Edwards to eat and hang out, like any other Saturday night. Except this time, we were dressing up.
I pulled up to Edwards house and shut off the truck, watching as Victoria and Angela hurried excitedly out of the car.
"Come on, Bella!" Angela yelled, waving her arm for me to follow. "Lets go!"
I grinned, momentarily swallowing the stupid butterflies in my stomach down and taking a deep breath.
Victoria and Angela were already at the door, ringing the bell.
"Oh, girls! You look beautiful. Come in, come in." Esme greeted us upon opening the door.
Victoria and Angela went in ahead of me and I was about to follow behind when Esme stopped me. "Bella, you look gorgeous," she said, wrapping me in a hug. "Edward was so nervous. Silly boy," she whispered in my ear.
"Oh, thank you." I blushed, looking down at my dress.
"Anyways, come in! I shouldn't be hogging you out in the foyer."
Esme gave me a small push towards the entertainment room, which had been transformed into something that rivaled whatever the Forks Prom Committee had up their sleeves.
All the furniture was pushed against the wall with a large collapsible table in one corner, which had an assortment of finger food and drinks on it.
The lights had been replaced with softer colored ones and there was music playing in the background.
The two other couples were already seated on one of the couches, talking and eating. Both girls were wearing corsages around their wrists.
Edward wasn't in the room yet, so I decided to go upstairs to look for him.
Still feeling awkward in my heels, I carefully walked up the steps, letting out a little yelp when I came face to face with Edward at the top of the landing, nearly losing my footing and falling backwards.
"Woah," Edward said, grabbing me by my waist to balance me before I started flailing my arms around.
"Phew. Thanks." I smiled. "I was just coming to look for you."
"Sorry. I was down there, but I forgot something in my room and had to come back up and get it." Edward rubbed the back of his neck, looking nervous.
"So, where is it?" I asked, noticing his hands were empty.
"It's still in my room. I thought I heard someone coming upstairs. I figured it would be you."
Edward grabbed my hand and led me to his room.
I sat down on his bed while he fumbled around with something on his desk, taking the time to admire how he looked. His hair still had that uncombed look, but he was wearing charcoal grey slacks and a white button down shirt with the top two buttons undone.
Holding something behind his back, he walked back over to me. "I got something for you."
I smiled widely at him as he brought his hand out in front of me, holding a clear plastic box with a delicate looking corsage in it.
"Edward. It's...beautiful. Thanks so much." I said, standing up and hugging him.
"It's a white orchid. My mom said that a white color would be best, because I didn't know what color you would be wearing."
I took the corsage out of the box, gently fastening it around my wrist, then holding my arm out to admire it. "I love it. It's perfect."
"Good." Edward looked relieved. "I'm glad."
There was a heavy silence that followed. "So, let's go downstairs?"
"Wait. There's something I wanted to say."
"Okay...What's up?" I asked him, slightly worried at his hesitant tone.
"Umm...crap. I..." Edward stumbled over his words, running a hand through his hair.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Everything is fine. Great, actually. I'm just bad at...this." He said, motioning between the two of us.
My mind immediately went to the worst place. "Oh my God. Are you breaking up with me? Was this a...pity corsage?"
"No! No. Not at all. Quite the opposite. I just wanted to say that. We haven't really been going out for a long time, I know. But if I don't say this now, I'll end up regretting it."
"Okay. Just say it, Edward. Whatever it is."
"I really, really like you, Bella."
I laughed. "Well, I really, really like you too. I'd say it's a win-win."
Edward sighed. "I mean, I love you. I think."
My mouth dropped open in shock. "You love me? I mean, you think you love me?"
"I mean, I know I do. I just didn't want to scare you. Saying that I think makes it less...scary."
Overcome with an odd euphoria, I threw my arms around his neck, kissing him hard.
"That was the most unromantic thing ever." I giggled, resting my forehead against his. "But, I love you too. And I don't just think I do."
"Really?"
I surprised myself with how easy it was to tell him that. My worries over the past couple weeks seemed to vanish as I saw the huge smile spread over Edwards face.
"Yes, really."
So, they said those three words. What do you think?
As always, I'm looking for your baby names/song suggestions. I'm working on a playlist now, it might be up on my blog by the time you read this, or by the next update.
Quite a few of you have asked about EPOV. I have considered it, actually, it was the plan from the beginning to write the story again in EPOV. If there's interest, I will write WCN in EPOV. Or, would you guys rather have certain parts written in EPOV as outtakes? I'm pretty much up for everything.
Anyways, let me know what you think! If you review, I'll send you a teaser of the next chapter.
Until next time!