Over 20 reviews! Thanks guys ^^ I know I don't reply to all of them but I really appreciate you guys taking your time to give your opinions. Much love!
Much thanks to my amazing beta Bananas in Pyjamas who not only revises my story but lets me bounce ideas off her =]
I want to dedicate this chapter to "me" - anonymous reviewer - for sending me a picture of two squirrels humping. Made my day ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does...one day it will be mine *bwahahaha
I knew things were going too well for too long. I was actually beginning to wonder when my body would remind me of its newly realized invasion.
After I finished dinner I worked on some homework and then decided to head to bed early. Seemed like a nice ending to a nice day.
That was almost two frickin hours ago.
The hot shower earlier managed to ease some of the tension that was created by new stresses and finishing up my nightly routine took about all of twenty minutes. I was really starting to feel drowsy when I was crawling in bed but the drowsiness only managed to make its presence known for a few seconds... The moment my back hit the mattress I felt like my waist was being stabbed with a sharp knife.
A small shriek managed to escape before I quickly covered my mouth with my hand as I sat up.
Admittedly I always had a sort of pain around my midsection but it was dull and I'd grown used to it back in Phoenix. This however, I was not used to.
Sitting up it seemed to recede a little – it wasn't as...sharp...prominent? Whatever it was there was less of it when I wasn't lying down. I tried a few more times after that but every time the pain would spike back to the excruciating level.
When midnight rolled around I figured I wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight, and if I did somehow I knew it wouldn't be very pleasant. With that revelation I climbed out of bed and headed over towards my single book shelf and grabbed one of my more YA novels – reading always seemed to make the night pass faster.
I managed to finish one of my favorite parts in the book – when Valentine traps Clary and escapes while kidnapping Jace – when my alarm clock went off. I felt a little satisfaction knowing I at least read past all the monumental events except the last one – which I still hated because when I read it the first time the second book hadn't come out yet. Hate cliff hangers...especially good ones, you can't help but appreciate the quality of them...
I veered from my morning routine by taking a shower but I always felt refreshed after taking them so it'll help keep me awake. Wanting to prove to Alice that I owned dresses – since she didn't see the one I wore the other day apparently – I threw on my black tulip dress with the headline 'Vampire Bats from Mars' on it with two large bats flying around. Leo told me I had to get it since it looked like a 60's movie ad...
I was thinking of the day that Leonard found it in the clearance bin, but instead of the usual amusement I felt when I thought of those moments I was left feeling empty. It was as if the memory suddenly held a note of finality...of me never being able to reach that state of happiness again.
"Bella! School! Late!" Charlie bellowed up the stairs.
"I know! I'm coming!"
Just like that my day went like all the others. Dragging my feet to class. Talking to Alice at lunch. Ignoring Edward during AP Chemistry. Evading Mike throughout all of that.
Everything went on like it should.
No one knew any of the shit I was going through...
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"Okay, stop it," I growled to myself. I would not allow myself to have a pity party. School was weird, yes. However, that did not give me the right to blame everyone for not knowing what I didn't want to tell them in the first place. Renee knows. Charlie knows. Leo knows. That's all that matters.
I was putting the final touches on Grandma Swan's casserole when I heard the phone ringing from the hall. There was no way I was in the right state of mind to talk to someone, and be civil, so I just let it ring. It stopped a few seconds later but began just as quickly.
"Crap."
Sighing I put the casserole in the oven and rushed to get the phone before it stopped again – I didn't want the caller to suffer.
"Swan residence."
"Yes hello, this is Jenny from Virginia Mason Seattle Main Clinic. I'm calling for a Miss Isabella Swan."
"This is she," I answered confused.
"Oh, wonderful. Well I'm calling to remind you of your check up next Saturday at eleven o'clock."
"Next Saturday?"
If I had any kind of appointment then Charlie must have set it up. It would be helpful if he remembered to tell me these things, but then again who could really blame him for forgetting a few things, what with all the stress that he's been under lately – even if he did hide it well.
"Yes next Saturday, the sixth of February."
"Okay. Um, thank you very much for calling."
"My pleasure. Have a nice day."
The sound of a dial tone filled my ears before I even had a chance to open my mouth and say goodbye.
"Shit," I muttered to myself as I thought of the implications of this. Oddly enough the first thing that came to mind was that Alice would be getting her wish.
Apparently I was going shopping this weekend, and the feeling of impending doom that settled over me wasn't encouraging. The main problem was how to tell Alice... Today was Friday so I couldn't exactly wait till school.
Going back to the kitchen I grabbed the phone book that Charlie kept in one of the cupboards and looked for the name Cullen.
Unlisted. Fabulous.
There were two ways I could do this. One, call my dad and ask him to look it up for me – being Chief of Police should be taken advantage of once or twice. The other option, sneak into the Hospital's employee records and get it that way. Honestly, I was all for the second option, sounded a hell of a lot more fun, but I figured that having my dad arrest me wasn't on his to-do list at the moment.
I was just writing the station's number on my palm when the damn phone rang again. We've never gotten this many calls in one day.
"Swan residence."
"Bella!" someone yelled, forcing me to jerk the phone away from my ear.
"Alice?"
"Yup."
"Weird. I was just trying to call you."
"Why is that Belly-Button?"
"Not you too," I moaned. It was bad enough Emmett did it.
"It's cute," she replied laughing.
"Whatever. Anyway, about that shopping trip next Saturday, would you hate me if I told you I was just told that I have plans I can't get out of, and we would now have to do it tomorrow?"
"Not at all! Have you seen what you wear? You need clothes now!" she exclaimed.
"So –"
"I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven – don't be late."
"Seven? In the morning? No wa –"
"See ya tomorrow!"
And then I was left with a dial tone. Seven in the morning? Who the hell gets up that early on a weekend? And why did she call in the first place? All we talked about was moving the shopping date.
Shoving the thought away I trudged my way up the stairs to work on some homework. I had a feeling I would be getting home pretty late tomorrow.
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"I am not buying that."
"Bella," the annoying pixie whined.
"No. It's the size of a napkin. There's no way that can rightly be called a dress."
"But it would look gorgeous on you!"
"No. And don't you even think of buying it for me," I added as she reached to grab the offending scrap of material.
"You're being unreasonably stubborn."
"No I'm not. I just don't feel like paying for something that I will never wear."
"How do you knowyou'll never wear it?" She was angry now.
"Because I know me!"
As promised Alice was in my driveway beeping on her annoying horn at seven in the god forsaken morning. Somehow we managed to make it to the Port Angeles mall in less than an hour.
We've been here for five hours now and have visited almost every overpriced strongly perfumed clothing boutique. Alice insisted on buying me the things that would "look fabulous" on me that I didn't want to waste my money on. I was able to talk her out of most of it but she still managed to shove three bags of clothing on me. I was afraid to look at the prices of the clothes inside them.
"How about we talk about it over food?"
"There's nothing to talk about – you're getting that dress," she insisted.
"How about this. We get food, and then if you don't make me get this hideous...thing, we'll go back to that one store with the lime green and gray walls and get that one dress that you wanted me to buy. Deal?"
"Deal! Come on," she said dragging me out of the store.
"Wait, Alice, the food court is the other way."
"Clothes are more important than food," she sang. Literally sang.
"Alice, I'm starving," I said unable to keep form laughing at her. Maybe Emmett was right – I didn't know what I was getting myself in to.
Releasing my hand Alice walked straight into the store, grabbed the dress, and marched to the register. I was about to protest on her spending more money on me, but decided not to when she started glaring at me.
I broke out laughing when a few minutes later she skipped out of the store and daintily handed me the bag. In all honesty it was a cute dress. It was a jade green with big white dots on it – there were only a few so it didn't look cluttered. I imagined it would be a little lower than mid thigh on me, and the sleeves were long and baggy but constricted on the forearm where the material was void of the circles.
After pizza and breadsticks, because let's face it, mall pizza is the best, both of us had our arms full of bags. Somehow it seemed like I was the only one struggling with the weight...
"Alice, we have been shopping for almost ten hours! Don't you think it's time to call it quits? Besides, I don't think we could carry anymore bags."
"But there are still some stores I want to check out."
"More? Alicat, I love you, I really do, but I think you have a problem. No one should be able to shop this much in one day and want to continue."
"I suppose it is getting kind of late..." she sounding like someone just burned down her favorite store. "Alright, let's go."
"Hey, don't be so down. Just think of all the cute clothes you got. I'm sure Jasper will love them," I said winking.
"I can think of someone who will love your clothes too."
I was shocked by her statement and turned to see her smiling deviously before she could hide it.
"What are you –"
"Nothing. Now let's get these bags in the car."
The ride home was fast as Alice took it upon herself to tell me what clothes would look great together and what she would kill me for if she saw me wearing. Alice had to help me carry my stuff in the house, but I refused to let her in my room – it wasn't at its cleanest.
As soon as she was out the door I went to the kitchen and took one of the pain meds I got. My chest was slightly bothering me as was the pain in my abdomen. I don't think my body was used to me doing this much in one day.
I threw the left over casserole in the oven for dinner and set to work on trying to fit all my new purchases in my closet. Needless to say there wasn't room so some of it had to be put in my dresser, but eventually everything had a place.
"Bella?"
"Hey dad," I called rushing down the stairs to check on the food. It was a little over cooked but it wasn't necessarily burnt...
"You okay? You look a little pale..." Charlie asked as he entered the kitchen. I've never seen a man go from calm to panicked so fast. Again I felt guilty for what this was doing to him.
"I'm fine. Just a little tired."
"If you're sure," he said sounding uncertain. "Listen, there's someone in the living room wanting to see you."
"Um, thanks."
I was confused about who would be waiting for me but knew what was going on as soon as I saw his long black ponytail. He had his back turned towards me – looking at the few pictures on one of the small tables – so he didn't see that I was there. I cleared my throat to get his attention.
I must have spooked him because he whirled around so fast he managed to trip on his own feet, his hands shot out to catch himself but it just resulted in him sending the contents of the little table on the floor.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" I asked rushing over to help him up.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered his face his face taking on a red tint behind his copper skin.
I was biting my lip, trying to keep from letting my laughter escape, but it was getting really hard. The whole situation was just so funny.
"Are you sure," I asked as a chuckle managed to burst though.
"Yeah." I felt bad when his face got a little redder.
It didn't seem like he was going to say anything else so I bent down to pick up the picture frame and the lamp...or was going to until I saw there was a giant hole in the glass that made the lamps shape.
"Crap, I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Really. I've been trying to talk Charlie into getting a new one anyway. So, you wanted to see me?" I asked.
"Um, yeah, I did. I'm Jacob by the way, you may not remember me...we used to play together when we were little."
"I remember. You were the one who threw mud in my face." I added a smile to show him I was just teasing.
"Oh, well, um sorry?"
"It' fine," I said laughing rather loudly. I'm sure this wasn't how he wanted things to go. "If I remember correctly I retaliated pretty nicely."
"Right," he said laughing a little with me. "Anyway, um, I just came to ask you...to see if you would like to go out with me? Next Saturday that is."
What's with people and Saturdays?
"I actually have plans next Saturday. Sorry. But any other day would be fine," I added hastily.
"Really?" he asked surprised.
"Yeah."
"Okay, um, how about Saturday after next?" He was smiling so big now my cheeks ached just looking.
"Sounds great," I said smiling right along with him.
"Great. I'll call you to, uh, tell you the time and stuff."
"Thanks."
"Well, I guess I'll go now. Thanks – it was great seeing you again."
"Yeah. See you then."
"Definitely," he said as he walked out the door. Still grinning.
I turned around to head back to the kitchen when I saw Charlie standing there with a broom.
"You heard?" I asked as I took it from him.
"Of course. What kind of father would I be if I didn't keep an eye on the boys asking my daughter out?"
"You're weird."
"And you're a good kid, Bells."
"Thanks dad. I'll serve dinner after I clean up this mess. I hope you don't mind its leftovers tonight."
"It's fine. So what plans do you have next Saturday?"
"I have that check up, remember?" I asked over my shoulder. I guess he really did forget. "They called the other day to remind me. Anyway, I know it's not really an all day thing but I figured I could hang out with Leo afterwards. I thought maybe you could go fishing with Billy or something?"
"Oh that's right... Sorry, must have slipped my mind. But that does sound like a good plan. He was planning on coming over to watch the game with me anyway – our TV's bigger," he said waggling his eyebrows.
"Okay, that's just creepy. No man your age should do that," I said laughing again.
Walking into the kitchen I realized how much today was definitely better than yesterday.
"So you want me to come with you to this check up?"
"I'd like that. Thanks dad."
"Anytime, kiddo," he said giving me that grin that makes his eyes crinkle in the corners.
I smiled back but the pain in his eyes didn't pass my notice.
"Here. I'm not hungry so I'm just gonna head to bed."
Once in my room I crawled in my bed, feeling the pain flare once again, and just let the tears come.
A/N: Think maybe we could twenty-five reviews? It might just make Edward talk to Bella ^^ I have faith in you amazing people! Just follow the arrow and click the button
Side note: The next installment might not be for a few weeks - sorry :( Things at home suddenly got really shitty and chaotic and then I'm starting college next month, so there's basically a lot going on at the moment... I'm not for sure but just in case I wanted to warn you guys - though I promise I'll send the next chapter to my beta as soon as I finish it ^^
Thanks for reading - hope ya enjoyed!
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