Disclaimer: If I were Stephenie Meyer, I would be putting my energy into Midnight Sun, not into a fanfiction…and I wouldn't have to grovel to ask for forgiveness, because everybody just accepts whatever she says with no issues. I wish that happened to me…
Chapter 18—Bella P.o.V.
Bella had quite enjoyed her outing with the younger Cullens; despite the one argument they had had when they had decided to speak about Bella as if she weren't there, and the situation in the car back home, everything had been rather fun. Even if she did despise shopping, the trip itself and the company had been refreshing. She never did things like that with Rosalie, let alone Jasper. And, to be entirely sincere, she liked the dress Alice had gotten her, no matter how expensive it had been.
Jasper had gone to pick her up from the Cullens' about an hour before (not before Esme asked repeatedly if she was sure she did not want to sleep over again) and had driven her to his house; Bella did not have to go back to James' house until Monday, after school. Jasper bombarded her with questions about the outing, if she had had fun, if she had felt at all uncomfortable at any point… Bella replied positively to everything; she said nothing about the car. She knew Jasper would overreact.
"Edward was a gentleman. And Alice was wonderful. Isn't she an amazing girl, Jasper?" Bella asked, teasingly. She smiled when, for once, it was Jasper blushing instead of her. She was glad Jasper had found somebody to fawn over; she had often worried that he was so centered on her that he would never find somebody for himself. She had once tried to explain this to him, but he had shot down her argument before she had even finished her sentence.
"Bella," scolded Rosalie playfully from behind her magazine, "leave poor Jasper alone. Can't you tell he's so in love?" she asked, stressing the last three words.
Bella and Rose laughed at Jasper's embarrassment and the rest of the evening passed quite enjoyably for the three of them. Bella cooked while Rose and Jasper worked on their homework and they all ate together in the dining room. As usual, Mr. and Mrs. Hale were out, this time at a charity event. After dinner, Rosalie helped Bella clean the kitchen. Then, the three of them settled in the living room to chat and watch TV. Bella felt herself relax considerably; just being with Rose and Jasper, whom she considered her family, was enough to make her forget about the bad in her life.
At around one in the morning Bella fell asleep. Jasper, who was getting tired himself, picked her up and started taking her to her room carefully. Rosalie followed behind him and opened the door to Bella's room for him and pulled back the sheets on the bed, where Jasper set her down. He kissed her forehead and went to his room. Rosalie took off Bella's shoes and socks and set them aside. She tucked Bella in, brushed the hair out of her face, and kissed her on the forehead as well before going to her own room.
The next morning, Bella woke up feeling refreshed, although slightly uncomfortable. When she realized she had gone to sleep in her jeans things made more sense. She got out of bed, grabbed some clothes from her closet, and headed into the bathroom. She showered, washed her hair, and changed into clean clothes. She let her hair to dry on her own and made her way down the stairs. She was surprised to find Rosalie already awake.
"Good morning. What are you doing up?"
"What? Oh, morning," Rosalie replied, looking every bit like she should still be in bed. She took a sip from her mug of coffee.
"Rose? Are you OK? Why aren't you in bed?"
"Emmett," she answered, using the word like a curse. Bella could not help but giggle, coming to realize what had probably taken place.
"He had practice today, didn't he?" she asked knowingly. Rosalie nodded, groaning. Emmett called Rosalie first thing in the morning every day. He claimed she was his lucky charm and that, if her voice was the first thing he heard in the morning, his day would turn out perfectly. It was actually very sweet. However, once a month the football team had practice on Sunday mornings. True to form, Emmett would call as soon as he woke up. Unfortunately, his phone calls were not very well received on Sunday morning at seven.
"What do you say to some pancakes, then?" Bella offered as she walked over to the pantry to gather the ingredients, "I can make enough for just the two of us, and Jasper can just be jealous when he wakes up."
Rosalie smiled—or attempted to, at least—and nodded, "that'd be great."
Bella got started quickly, gathering the ingredients and mixing them quickly and efficiently. Rosalie watched her over the rim of her mug; she loved to watch Bella cook. Her mother did not cook much; they had a cook during the week. Since her mom did not cook, Rosalie did not really know how to cook much either. Watching Bella move so comfortably around the kitchen, creating food so easily out of what seemed like entirely detached ingredients, seemed like a sort of magic to her.
"Bella?" she asked tentatively. Bella turned around, dropping the bag of flour in her hands in the process. The flour went all over the place, covering Bella in it. She sighed and dusted it off as well as she could. Rosalie smiled, holding back her laughter. Bella stuck out her tongue at her, but she could barely contain her laughter either.
"Yes?"
"Would you…" now it seemed silly to Rosalie. She was afraid Bella would think she was being silly, or that she was joking. She forced herself to ask, though. "Would you like to teach me how to cook? Not anything big or overly complicated," she amended quickly, "but, you know, enough to get by. Please?"
Bella's smile widened and she rushed over to hug Rosalie.
"I would love to! You'll see, cooking is so much fun!"
They pulled away, and that's when Bella realized that she had hugged Rosalie while still covered by flour; Rosalie was now just as dirty as Bella.
"Oh, you're going to pay for that!" screamed Rosalie, rushing over to the counter and grabbing the bag of flour. She took a fistful and threw it at Bella, who held up a plate as a shield. She then rushed over to the counter with all the ingredients and grabbed the carton of eggs. She rushed for cover behind the breakfast island, miraculously not dropping the eggs, and settled where she could see Rosalie but Rosalie could not see her. She then took out an egg and threw it at Rosalie. Unfortunately, her aim was not as good as she would have wished, and the egg hit the wall instead. On top of that, Rosalie now knew exactly where she was and what her plan was.
"You little cheater!" she called out, grabbing the carton of milk and running over to where Bella was. She grabbed Bella tightly, so that she could not escape, and poured the milk over her head. Since she was holding her so close, she got dirty as well, but she did not mind anymore; this was about revenge.
"Ow, ow, ow, Rose!"
Scared of hurting Bella, Rosalie let go of her, only to find herself flat on her back, Bella tickling her.
"Cheater! Cheater! Not fair!" she got out between laughs. Suddenly, however, both girls stopped laughing when they felt something sticky being poured on them. They looked up and found Jasper, holding a bottle of maple syrup aimed at them. He suddenly looked scared, when he realized that two very angry teen girls were glaring at him like they wanted him dead.
"Was this not an open party?" he asked innocently. Seconds later he was running up the stairs, towards his room, both girls running as fast as they could after him. He was too fast, however, and locked himself in his room. Now, the girls looked at each other and couldn't help but break out into laughter. The flour had mixed with the milk and had hardened into a hard, gluey substance sticking to them. At some point during their fight, they had rolled over the eggs, and they had egg and eggshells sticking to them in weird places. And, due to Jasper's rude interruption, they had maple syrup all over their hair.
"I'd just showered and washed my hair!" complained Bella, whose curly hair gave her more trouble than it was worth.
"Well, look at the bright side," Rosalie replied, "egg is wonderful for your hair."
Bella couldn't help but laugh some more as she headed into the bathroom to wash for a second time that day. Rosalie headed to her own bathroom to do the same thing. Both were happier than they had been for quite a while; it had been a long time since they had had so much fun.
Jasper was worried. Very worried. Worried didn't even begin to cover it. And that made Bella and Rosalie very happy.
They had been plotting their revenge ever since they had gotten out of their showers that morning. Jasper had been wise enough to stay in his room for the rest of the morning, but, when he had finally come down to try and get some food, fully expecting an attack, he'd been met with smiles and kind words, which had scared him even further. That was, of course, the girls' plan. After all, revenge is a dish best served cold, and part of the fun of it was getting the victim when he least expected it. Since he was obviously expecting it now, it would be no fun to carry anything out. Besides, it was too much fun to watch Jasper squirm.
It was Sunday night now, and he still had not received an attack. They were heading off to bed, and he was jumpier than ever. Bella was starting to feel guilty—poor Jasper, he'd just wanted to have fun with them!—but Rosalie would hear nothing about it; they had to have their revenge. The problem was, neither of them could come up with anything!
Monday morning came and Bella got ready and went down to breakfast lethargically. She despised Mondays, not because school started—in fact, they had no school that day, due to Labor Day—, but because she had to return home. She packed up her things slowly, as if she were waiting for something to stop her, and once she had finished everything that had to be done she reluctantly headed over to the garage, to put her bag in the car so she wouldn't forget it later. She was surprised when Rosalie came downstairs earlier than Jasper—she usually took the longest of them all!—and told her to get in her convertible. Bella did as she was told and got in. Rosalie shot out of the garage just seconds later, heading towards the Cullens' house.
"Rosalie, what are you doing?"
"Since we couldn't come up with anything to have our revenge on Jasper, I though we could do with some help. Don't you?"
"We're asking Edward for help?" Bella asked, confused.
"Edward? Puh-lease, I doubt he could come up with anything if his life depended on it. No, we're asking Alice."
Bella stared at Rosalie, confused. Alice liked Jasper, she thought. Why would she help them get at him if she liked him? She asked Rosalie as much.
"Bella, Bella, Bella… you are so naïve. Trust me, Alice will be elated to help us out. And she strikes me as the sort of girl who has a twisted mind…"
When they were almost to the Cullens', Rosalie handed Bella her cell phone.
"Call Alice, will you? Tell her to meet us with her things in front of her house in three minutes."
Still doubtful, Bella took the phone and did as she was told. Alice sounded adequately confused, but very willing to do as she was told (which struck Bella as somewhat strange). Indeed, when they got to her house they found her sitting in the front porch with her bag at her feet. As soon as she saw them she jumped up and rushed to the car, leaping in gracefully.
"So, what's the emergency?"
Rosalie took the initiative and explained everything. To Bella, it sounded increasingly silly. Not only had they had a food fight, but when they'd been joined by their 'brother' they had gotten so angry they had demanded revenge. Really, how mature was that? Not very, in Bella's eyes, and she always felt a need to be mature in front of the Cullens; they seemed to be wiser and more mature than their age would indicate, despite how silly Alice acted at times.
Bella wondered if it had something to do with Edward's being Deaf. Had that caused him to have to grow up faster? Had it also made Alice age faster, since she had to act as an extension to her brother as well as a sister? They were questions that plagued Bella's mind, but she did not dare ask at a risk of offending them or sounding ignorant.
"You ready, Bella?" interrupted Alice's voice, snapping her out from her thoughts.
"For what?" she asked, feeling somewhat confused. By the annoyed looks Rosalie and Alice were sending her, it seemed as if they had already come up with a plan and all.
"For our revenge! You were not listening at all, were you?" Rosalie asked, halfway between annoyed and amused.
"Sorry…lost in thought and all that."
Rosalie groaned and shook her head. Alice just smiled.
"Edward does that all the time. It's rather annoying when I have been interpreting for him and all of a sudden I realize he has no been paying attention to a single word. Anyway, the plan…we decided to go with a classic. We're going to set off the fire alarm while he's in the shower. And then we'll proceed to pouring a bucket-full of eggs all over him."
At Bella's surprised eyes and unsure gaze, Alice clarified.
"The eggs won't hurt him, and they are good for his hair. It's a win-win situation."
Bella decided to just do as she was told—who knew, maybe they could have fun with the prank!
Rosalie filled the bucket with the eggs and went upstairs, to hide in the balcony that came out right above the front door. Rosalie and Bella went to their rooms, so they could leave running when the fire alarm went off and Jasper wouldn't try and go looking for them. Rosalie was the one who set off the fire alarm, using a match held next to the smoke detector. A minute later she and Bella were running down the hallway, just slow enough for Jasper to see them when he left the bathroom. The two girls got out first, then turned around to see the show.
Jasper came out, clad solely in his towel, which was wrapped around his waist. His hair was wet and, much to everyone's amusement, covered by some sort of hair product. Before any of them could ask what it was, however, the product was practically washed away by the dozens of eggs that fell on his head. Rosalie full-out laughed, with no restrictions whatsoever. From the balcony, Alice's laughter tinkled down. Bella smirked for a minute or so before breaking out into giggles, followed by laughter, only to finish with a snort. Jasper glared at them for a few seconds before breaking out in laughter as well and taking off running after his two "sisters."
"Come on, I just want to hug you!" he screamed between laughs. He caught Bella almost immediately, when she tripped over a rock. Rosalie was harder, but he caught her eventually. From the balcony, Alice recorded it all with her camera.
Author's Note—DON'T KILL ME. Please? I am so sorry I left so suddenly and without warning for five months. I am very disappointed on myself, too, don't worry; you are not the only ones. It was kind of an agglomeration of different things that just…kept me from being able to write. I had school work, drama, AP and IB exams, and then it was the last bit of summer I had with my friends knowing we would see each other at the end of the summer, so I absolutely crammed my week in the States with activities with them…and then I flew out to Spain (where I still am), where I had no computer and no Internet. I know. I'm an awful person. I apologize. How can I make it up to you? I don't want you all to hate me! And I really hope you don't take out your resentment on my story…the poor thing has not done anything to you! Please, if it is not too much to ask, keep reading my story, even if you now think that I am a very unreliable author? I promise to try and get back to my original updating rate of a chapter a day or every two days as soon as I'm back in the States, in two weeks, OK? Until then, I'm afraid, my Internet connection is iffy, because I'm in the middle of nowhere in the mountains and we have dial-up and only one phone line, so if I plug in the Internet that's bye-bye to the phone, which I can't very well do for three hours a day…My family would kill me. But when I'm back home I'll write a lot, I promise, OK? And, once more, sorry! As for the quality of this chapter…Well, I realize it seems kind of rushed and patchy, but that's because I am currently at an impasse on what the /immediate/ action should be. I will have decided by the next chapter, though, so not to worry!
Special Thanks to:
Hollywood Girl—thank you for reading my story so eagerly! I looked at the link you sent me, but it didn't lead me anywhere… =[ Anyway, I had no idea about the balance thing, although I did know that your balance is controlled by your inner ear…I hadn't made the connection. Thanks, I'll work with that!
Hannajamesnivek—the last message you sent me was exhilarated about my having updated…and now I feel utterly guilty. Sorry. I did not mean to abandon you all. I hope to get back to my usual rhythm in two weeks, when I return to the States, OK? Don't give up on me just yet! Anyway, on to the "big" review. First off, I do not mind at all about the "directing from the sidelines," as you call it. It gives me new ideas and allows me to get an idea of what I do right and wrong plot-wise. I hope that I have enough of a backbone to say no when I think an idea doesn't fit my scheme of things…Moving on to your review on Edward, I am flattered. I always feel like I'm weakest at writing him, because he's a guy, he's Deaf, and he seems so entirely different from me, so I have to get myself in a completely different frame of mind. Usually there is at least a little bit of me in my characters…But I really enjoy writing Edward. I can't explain why, but it's soothing. Bella, on the other hand, seems like a whirlwind…She changes too much for my taste (as you pointed out). I don't really understand why, sometimes it seems as if she is getting away from me…like when it seemed like she wanted to go off with Jasper (oh, no!). To quote…well, Bella, sometimes she "gives me whiplash." I'll try and improve that. I think that, together, I write them at their best…because I can use both visuals and words, and because I can change the personality I'm dealing with…writing just one personality is very hard at times. And I'm glad you liked it. And I'm glad you did not think the car scene was forced. As I sat writing it I shook my head in despair at myself, thinking about how utterly clichéd it all was. Alice was more difficult. You say she comes out as slightly manipulative, but that it works…I don't know, as I look back, I think she is out of character…I don't quite understand why she was so mean in the car. But part of my writing process involves no editing published chapters until the story is over, so I'll hold on. I'll also work on the "attuned" thing between her and Edward. Any suggestions? Truth be said, I don't quite know how to write a very cohesive sibling relationship. Anyway, I am very glad you liked my little bit of drama. I really don't like those stories where something does happen in every chapter…there is no room for character development! Anyway, as always, thanks so entirely much for taking the time to review in depth! Please, keep doing it! It helps!
Attackoftheemo—I'm glad you like my writing style! I never share my FFNs with my friends in person, so they only know my style from my short stories and such, and they don't find it very good…=[ Anyway, I don't plan out the whole story from the beginning, but I know where I want it to go, and I always plan out a chapter or two ahead of where I am…I also have certain scenes from the future that I have known I want from the beginning, that way I don't get entirely lost! And I do know the whole story behind Bella and her family life, don't worry, I'm not making it up as I go. Well, I'm very glad you like it and don't find anything wrong with it…and I am also looking forward to getting a sign name! I start ASL classes at the closest community college this fall (I think) so it should be easier then. Thanks so much for reading!
Silver Fire Vampyre (aka HONVampireChick)—I'm sorry I've made you wait so long…I'm very glad you like it and read it just for the sake of it if you're bored. I'm very flattered that you like my writing style and I hope to keep meeting your standards. But, as I tell all my readers, you are very free to complain about anything you don't like!
Transparent Dancer—Yes, I've been considering a time jump (time warp!!!) quite a lot lately…I don't think I can keep on with one-day chapters—sometimes it feels like so little happens in one day... Particularly if I do two POVs for each. And as for the character development…That actually helps a lot! I don't know if you read the other review replies (I realize it can be a tedious job), but other people have pointed out similar things. I am working on it…I hope you will notice improvement in the future! Any suggestions as to how to work with Jasper? Whenever I try to add anything else to him he tends to become Bella's romantic interest, which is not at all the way it should go! Well, thanks, and keep reading!
Erin Cade—I'm so glad you liked it! You are becoming one of my most faithful and favorite readers. I hope it doesn't change because of my time away! And don't worry, your secret is safe with me! We wouldn't want one of the only guys in the FFN realm to up and leave!
DaisySweetheart19—I'm so glad you like what you've read! I will read your FFN as soon as I have some time, I promise! And I am very happy you like my Rose….I always wondered what she would have been like if she'd had somebody to pour her motherly ways onto. And no, I am not Deaf…I just find the Deaf community as beautiful as you do. It's such an important part of our world, we should embrace it!
Miss-Lena—oh, shut up! 3
The Other J.—this fandom because…it had untapped potential. If I concentrate on both character and world creating I go haywire. I'm working on de-FFNing it, though.
Defying Logic—geez, did you all find me on the same day?! Goodness.
Thanks to:
Skittleysweet
Anima Bella
CuteyAngel2008
Amylee06
Alison94
Ceara1888
Viper003
Pinkcrystalflame
SparklingTopazEyes
Tianna M.V.A.—I do hope you understand Bella more as we go along! Truth be told, I don't understand her half the time either.
Beckayyboo
Iheartcsinewyork
a. fire. In. the. Attic.—your sign name is so cute! Thanks for sharing it with me.
PrettiaLydia
Sammy73
Reborn-fire-bird
Bemyescape32
Cabtwilighter
FRK921—all in due time!
SunnySkies4Life—thanks! And I'm glad I've inspired you to learn ASL. If you find any good videos, email the link to me?
OECD
HorseCrazyJr
Dramione12
JiAhN101
Mrs. Dom Masbolle
DennyRose—yay, a fellow linguist! Please, keep reading!
Singkat
Ange87
CullenCovenGirl88
Edward-Cullens-Little-Whore
CrazyBandGeek
CheesePuff311—sorry I took so long to update! I promise to try and be good now!
Extragum
xLaurenCullenxx—Bella's grandma was Jasper's piano teacher
OMGitsLucy
LuvAtFirstBite
Bellaleigh2009
Penguincrazy
Bobo's Girl
Itisgood—don't worry, I have found stories like that.
embirsiphonelilathia
Questions:
Cornelia—the Hales are purposefully acting as if Bella were their sister to "protect" her. It will come up eventually, though. Do not worry!
Vixen Hood—in all sincerity, I haven't really used any books, just YouTube…I did buy an ASL dictionary, though. I didn't bring it to Spain with me, but as soon as I return to the States I will send you it's references, OK?