A/N: It's amzing how much reviews motivate me. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and to show you just how grateful I am I finished the next chapter. Right now, I'm just really creative, so it might happen that I update faster...or maybe not because I got my finals coming up -.-
Anyway, thanks to my amzing beta ( You And Me Up In A Tree) I'm able to update so fast, because she forces me to write
Okay, enough talking, have fun reading
Bella POV
"Did you guys hit your head or something?" Emmett asked.
We were walking back to our dorms when Chris and I blurted out our newest insight.
"No," we answered in unison, still very worked up from our revelation.
"How in the world did you come up with that theory?" Rose asked, sounding as if she were questioning our sanity.
"First of all, the things that Irina has in common with the killer," I started.
"She's a woman," Chris started recounting. That obvious fact made everyone roll their eyes.
"And she has a botanical gift," I continued.
"That doesn't mean anything. She's not the only one with a gift like that," Alice interfered.
"Can all of them turn into a plant?" Chris asked.
"Not all, but this one senior can," Emmett replied.
Chris looked at him for she said, "Wasn't that a guy?"
Emmett shrugged.
"Seriously guys, it can't be Irina. How would she have grown out of the ground?" Jasper asked.
"If she has a botanical gift and she was a plant, it isn't all that complicated considering the maze was practically a garden," I answered.
"But when Alistair vanished, she was talking to us. How would she have done that?" Dylan tried to reason.
"You beamed us to the edge of a forest, and since she can grow out of the ground and make ranks grow out of her arm, I don't think it would have been hard too drag Alistair away when we were standing so close to the forest."
"Don't you think we would have noticed if some giant plant took Alistair away?"
"Obviously not, otherwise we would have. Besides, it would explain why Irina was talking to us - to distract us."
"Oh my God, we told Irina where you were," Alice gasped suddenly.
"Okay, so maybe Irina did kill Alistair. But why would she have done that, and how did she vanish?" Edward asked.
"You get a kiss if you find an answer to those questions."
"Do I get a kiss even if I don't?"
"Guys! This is hardly the time," Chris scolded.
"Well there's only one way to find out if it was her or not," Rose said and everyone turned to look at Edward meaningfully.
"What? Am I supposed to just go up to her and ask her if and why she killed him?"
"Good idea," Chris approved.
"Bad idea," I remarked. "As far as we know, she has a partner somewhere. So if Edward does that, and she doesn't kill him then her partner will," I objected.
"To be exact, she works for someone," Dylan muttered, sounding like he'd just had an epiphany, which he probably had. "She said something about a Master who will be pleased when she gets the twins too."
It was like all of us held our breath for a moment before Chris started cussing so loud and harsh that some people actually turned to look at us.
"That would explain why she was so keen on befriending Bella," Rose said.
"And we know why she hates Chris," Alice added.
"But why would someone want the twins?" Jasper wondered.
"Oh I don't know," Emmett mumbled. "Something other than their awesome powers, bond, and heritage, I'd assume."
Just like earlier, Chris' and my mind worked together.
"The text," we breathed in synchronization after a few moments of quiet.
"What text?" Alice asked.
"Some cryptic writing in their wand boxes," Edward answered.
"The boxes you got from Alistair?" Jasper asked curiously.
Chris and I nodded. We had already reached the Blue house, so we both quickly ran inside to get to our rooms. The others trailed behind, whispering excitedly to each other. I found it a bit strange that none of them were scared about the fact that we went to school with a murderer. That should've been a rather disorienting fact.
A few minutes later, we were all seated in Chris' room.
Alice held both pieces of our boxes in her hands and read the inscription aloud. "A long lost might, superior to others, sealed away by the bonded ones. To be found and unraveled, the bonded ones must return to life and find the clues to solve the mystery. In the end, the light and the dark will be in their hands. A keepsake of old times; a reminder of pure times."
"Wow," breathed Rosalie.
There was nothing else to be said about that.
"And how exactly is that connected to Alistair's murder?" Emmett asked.
"That's what I don't know yet, but—" I started, but Chris decided to continue talking for me.
"But it might explain why someone apparently needs us," she finished.
"You lost me," Alice murmured with a sigh.
"Please tell me you're not referring to that whole Heaven and Hell story again," Edward groaned.
"Why not? It could be true," I defended.
"It's just a story. The only thing real about it is the mentioned ancestors, who are not Heaven and Hell."
"Whatever Edward. Even if it wasn't true, it doesn't mean that everyone believes that," Chris interrupted when she sensed that I was going to argue.
"Exactly. There could be someone who believes it's true and wants to find the long lost might." Everybody seemed to be thinking intently as I spoke.
"And for that, they apparently need the bonded ones—" Chris said.
"—and since we're bonded, they could just assume that this applies to us—"
"—therefore he or she needs us to unravel it."
"Could you stop finishing each other's sentences? It's kind of creepy," Emmett asked, looking between Chris and I.
"No," we answered with matching grins.
"We didn't even do it intentionally, Emmett. Sometimes our minds just work in perfect synchronization like that."
"Wouldn't the person have to know this text, then?" Edward asked, getting back to the subject at hand.
"Yes."
"So whoever it is must have had the boxes before," Edward continued slowly.
I caught on quickly. "Which could mean that Alistair worked for that person, but he decided to let us know about the whole thing for whatever reason, but then his boss found out and wanted him dead."
"No. Remember what he said?" Chris asked in objection. "'We are watching you, just like they are. You must know that you are being watched and you need to be careful with who you trust'," she quoted word for word.
"So there are two parties watching you?" Alice asked, looking around the room. "That's scary."
"Well, that explains why I sometimes feel like we're being watched," I mumbled.
"But if he wasn't working for the Killer party, who was he working for?" Emmett asked impatiently.
"Oh, I know who!" Chris exclaimed, suddenly bright.
"Really?" Emmett asked with wide eyes.
Chris rolled her eyes before narrowing them, "No," she muttered darkly.
Emmett slumped back and mumbled something about stupid answers.
"Ask a stupid question, receive a stupid answer," Chris stated simply.
"Well, if you're really being watched, then maybe it's not the greatest idea to talk about this," Edward mused and pulled his wand out of his sleeve.
"How did you do that?" Chris demanded quickly.
Dylan answered her, "A storage charm."
Edward flicked his wand lightly and murmured something that sounded like, "Adpareo."
"What was that?" Jasper asked with curiosity in his voice.
"The spell would have discovered anyone hidden in the room," Edward explained.
"Well, then I'm relieved that nobody is watching us now," Chris grumbled.
"What if there are two parties after you?" Rose threw in suddenly.
"Maybe they have some kind of rivalry thing going on which is why they kill each other."
"Then which side does Laurent work for?" Chris asked.
"What does he have to do with anything?" Jasper countered.
"Alistair told us to talk to Mr. Decour when we found out the reason. He probably meant the reason we were apparently being watched by strangers."
"He probably belongs to Alistair's side, then," Dylan concluded.
"Or not," Chris disagreed. "No one is allowed off campus, but Laurent left. He's the only person that we know of that has left the campus, and one day after he's gone, someone breaks into the IDM's main office."
"Oh shit, our teacher's a killer," Rose exclaimed.
"I think we should talk to daddy," Alice suggested, staring into space.
"Yes, we could talk to Carlisle—" I started, only to be cut off by Alice.
"No, we can't talk to him!"
"What? Why? Wasn't it your idea to go to him?" All of us looked at Alice in confusion.
"Yes, but when we tell him..." she mumbled quietly, "Rose dies first."
"What?" Rosalie shrieked.
"Only if we talk to Carlisle about it," Alice added. "The future seems normal when we decide against it. At least I can see you, Jasper, and your parents at the school fair. That's the furthest I can see, though."
"Well then, we won't talk to Carlisle," Emmett decided immediately.
"That means our suspicions are right," Chris said in a worried tone.
"For now, there's nothing we can do then, right?" Edward asked.
Everyone mumbled some kind of agreement.
"So we'll just have to wait and see what happens?" My question sounded more like a statement than anything else.
"That's the plan," Dylan answered.
All of us fell into silence after that.
Third POV
An unnatural shadow appeared on the wall in Master's conference room. He hadn't expected Shadow to show up during the day.
"Is there a problem?" Master asked lightly when Shadow stood in the room.
"Yes. The twins found out who Alistair's murderer is."
Master's expression changed abruptly. He pulled his wand out and wielded it quickly before placing it back down. Nightmare rushed into the room immediately, followed by Houdini. A few minutes later, Blossom made an appearance.
"Blossom," Master's voice was unemotional as he spoke, "I was just flicking through the file that Houdini retrieved for me and I started worrying that the twins have noticed far too much, but it seems they've noticed even more than I thought seeing as Shadow just informed me that they've figured out who killed the poor wandmaker."
Blossom's expression fell. Just a moment ago, she had a pissed off look on her face. Nightmare chuckled at her reaction with a smug look on her face.
"But...how?...they couldn't have..." Blossom stammered.
"It doesn't matter how they found out. You should be extra cautious from now on. Normally I would have killed you by now, but that would only arise even more suspicion, so count your blessings, child."
Blossom nodded eagerly.
"Now, is there anything else that you need to tell me?" Master asked his minions. Even though he seemed to be calm, there was an unmistakable menace in his voice.
"Master, I managed to intrude the dreams of both twins, and although they know the prophecy, they have no idea what to do with it." Nightmare seemed to be eager for Master's approval.
"At least something has been accomplished properly," Master mumbled under his breath before turning to Nightmare. "Did you get the full prophecy out of their dreams?"
"No, it was only snippets and just the things we already know."
"Well then, it seems one of you must go and get the prophecy. I need to know the exact wording to achieve my goal."
"I would get it for you, but I don't know where it is," Houdini was quick to volunteer like the perfect pet he was.
"It's in the wand boxes. That's what the wandmaker gave them." Master looked out the window, deep in thought. "But you will have to wait a little while longer before you can get it. We have to wait for them to feel secure again before we can strike."
Bella POV
"I'm already so excited to see my little babies. I miss you so much. The house is just so empty without you two," Mom gushed on the phone.
Chris and I had decided to talk to Mom together this time. That's why Chris was laying on the floor next to my bed while I let my head hang over the edge of it. All we had to do was put Mom on speakerphone and it was almost as if she were standing right next to us, rambling on and on about unnecessary things.
"So when are you planning on flying over?" Mom asked.
Before either of us could answer, the door opened and all of our friends piled in. Edward came to sit on the next beside me.
"What are you two doing?" he asked in a cheery voice.
It was hard to believe that only a month ago, he freaked out over the smallest of things and always dragged me away from Irina. As soon as Edward discovered that he could no longer read her thoughts, he instinctively picked me up and brought me somewhere he deemed safe. It had been rather annoying, but I let him protect me anyway since there wasn't really much I could do about it.
"Bella, who is with you there?" Mom asked, obviously having heard Edward and the others since none of them bothered to be quiet.
Now that they all heard our mom, they slowly turned to look at me and Chris.
"No one really, Mom. Just the people that call themselves our friends," Chris replied lightly, still laying on the floor.
"Who is the boy I just heard?" Mom pressed.
"Depends on which one you mean. We have quite a few of them here."
"Oh really? I only heard the one asking what you're doing."
"Oh, that's Edward, but she's not classified as a boy, Mom," Chris answered, snickering at her own joke along with Emmett, Dylan, and Jasper.
Edward just glared at her.
"Chris, that is not very nice. Did I not teach you better than that?" Mom sounded like she was currently occupied with something else.
"Listen to your mother, Chris," Edward threw in.
"Oh, am I on speaker? Oh yes, of course I am. How else would I talk to the both of you?" Mom mumbled.
"Mom, are you okay?" I asked her. When she sounded distracted on the phone, it was never a good thing.
Chris sat up and watched the phone anxiously.
"Yes, yes, I'm al—ouch."
"What are you doing?" both Chris and I quickly asked.
"Nothing really. I'm just trying to make dinner for your father."
"You really shouldn't do that, Mom, your food is hardly edible," Chris said.
"Chris!" everyone in the room hissed.
"What? It's the truth."
"But your father says I'm a good cook," Mom sniffed.
"He's lying because he doesn't want to hurt your feelings. A good cook doesn't try to boil eggs in the microwave, Mom. Just leave the cooking to Bella."
"Bella can cook?" Emmett asked with a surprised yet enthusiastic look on his face.
"Oh yes, my little Jelly Belly is a brilliant cook," Mom immediately started praising. Meanwhile, Emmett and Jasper started laughing at my nickname and even Edward let out a small chuckle.
"Mrs. Swan, may I ask how Bella earned the name Jelly Belly?" Edward asked in a perfectly polite tone.
I reached out quickly to grab the phone and turn the speaker off but Edward was faster and he caught my hand before I could do anything.
"When Bella was five, she refused to eat anything but jelly on toast. She was also quite known for belly flops when she was ten. And when she turned thirteen—"
"Mom!" I whined, cutting her off. I really didn't want to hear these stories for the millionth time. I lived them, after all.
"Aw Bells, don't be like that. That Edward seems like a nice, polite young boy. You should go for it." I could practically hear the wink in her voice.
"Mom!"
"Mom, it's too late for that," Chris chirped. "She already went for it."
"What? Why do I know nothing of this? Isabella Marie Swan, you have some serious explaining to do," Mom screeched from the other end of the phone.
I groaned. "Thanks a lot, Chris."
"You don't want to tell your mother about me?" Edward asked, sounding hurt.
"That's not it," I defended myself. "She just gets annoying when she knows things like that."
"I heard that!" Mom's voice sang through the phone.
"I told Mom and Dad about Damon," Chris boasted proudly.
"Did you tell them about me too?" Dylan asked in an amused tone.
"Shut up, Dylan," Chris hissed back at him, causing him to laugh in response.
"Christabel—" Mom started.
"Mom, don't say it."
"—Haley Swan, how dare you fool around with two boys at once?"
Chris flinched at the mention of her middle name. She'd never liked it much.
"Your second name is Haley?" Alice asked dreamily.
"The name is far too nice for you, Chris. You should have a name like Salazar or something," Rose commented.
"I would prefer it too," Chris muttered.
"Christabel, I'm still waiting for an answer. You know, playing with the emotions of two boys at once isn't something you should do when you're in high school," Mom started scolding right away. "I waited until I was in college before I started misusing my feminine wiles."
"Mom!" both Chris and I shouted in disgust.
"This is not something we want to know," I continued while the others laughed.
"Oh yes, Bella, tell me about that boyfriend of yours."
"I'm right here, Mrs. Swan. You can ask me anything you'd like," Edward replied before I had the chance to.
"You certainly have a handsome voice," Renée hummed. "How old are you?"
Chris burst out laughing when she detected the flirty undertone in Mom's voice while I stared at the phone in horror. Emmett and Jasper hadn't even recovered from their last laugh attack, so I was pretty sure they were going to suffocate soon.
It wasn't rare that dearest Renée was like that. She enjoyed flirting with younger men. At least she admitted it once. For her, it's just a huge joke.
"I'm 18," Edward answered, still as polite as ever, but I could sense he was a little confused with my mom's behaviour.
"18!" Mom's voice yelled, sounding positively surprised.
"Don't get all excited, Renée. He's only got eyes for Bella. Although I had to bend his head in the right direction for that," Chris said breathlessly.
"That's great, my darling Bella. I—" the sudden sound of the fire alarm on her end drowned her last words.
"Mom, what did you do?" I rushed to ask her.
"Oh gosh, the roast is done, I guess. Well, I'll talk to you later, my little puppies. Love you."
"Love you," Chris and I mumbled, dumbfounded when the line went dead.
"Well, she seems a little...eccentric...but I like her," Edward commented while Jasper and Emmett attempted to catch their breath.
"Did she just burn the roast?" Rosalie asked in disbelief.
"Probably the rest of the kitchen as well," Chris answered with a shrug.
"Are you sure you don't want to spend Christmas with us? Esme's cooking is much safer," Alice offered. Ever since the IDM decided to let people off campus, she'd been trying to convince us to stay.
The incident at the headquarters was apparently more important than our safety, so they called everyone back. All except for Ms. Carmina. Carlisle had said that she was the IDM's way of keeping an eye on us students and teachers to prevent any kind of corruption. Hopefully she would soon discover that Mr. Decour was a criminal. But every time we saw them in class or anywhere, it seemed like they were getting along great, so the chances that she'd find out the truth were pretty slim.
"You could come visit us over the holidays," I suggested.
"Don't say things like that, Bella," Rose warned.
"We invited her over once and now our mom never wants to see her again," Jasper added.
"I was just trying to make you breakfast," Alice defended herself with a pout.
"Yes, and you ruined our kitchen in the process," Rose replied.
"Where do you live anyway?" Chris asked her.
"Dad lives in Austin and Mom lives in Concord. We'll spend Christmas with Daddy this year."
"Mom's thinking of moving to New Jersey, though," Jasper added.
"What about you, Emmett? Where do you live?" I asked.
"Nashville!" Emmett answered with a proud grin.
"Wow, we really are all over the country."
"Yes, and you're all flying away in three days," Alice whined, "leaving me here all alone."
"Thanks a lot, Al," Dylan grumbled dryly.
"Alice, you're not all alone. You still have Edward and Dylan and all the other kids that aren't flying home over the holidays," Rose said to her.
"That's not helping."
"Oh, I know."
It took us hours to finally calm Alice's whining.
The next few days leading up to the holidays were pretty hectic. Most students went shopping for Christmas presents and tried to get their things together for for the vacation. Of course Alice made all of us go shopping as well, although she made a special plan for that. We were supposed to go shopping in pairs and had to switch partners every hour. She thought that system was brilliant because then it would be easier to get gifts for everyone without them finding out what it was. In reality, it was just horrible. When Jasper and Emmett were paired up, they somehow managed to get thrown out of a Potionery. When Chris was paired up with Dylan, she'd simply stalked off without him and ignored him as he ran after her, screaming random things. I was pretty sure they got into a fight again at the end because the whole campus heard them screaming at each other.
I actually came to enjoy shopping with Rose when I was partnered with her because she wasn't nearly as forceful as she was in Alice's presence. With Emmett, I ended up getting food in my hair, and with Jasper, I got stuck in a bookstore since we both started reading really good books and couldn't manage to find the will to stop. Shopping with Alice was a traumatic event for everyone except Jasper, but I had a sneaking suspicion that they didn't even go shopping. When I went with Chris, I had to listen to her constant complaining about Dylan, and in the end when I was finally alone with Edward, I was too tired to move an inch, so we just spent the hour in a small cafe, simply enjoying one another's presence.
For the last day before the holidays, Alice had planned to celebrate a "Pre-Christmas" as she called it. I thought it was just an excuse so she could open her presents a little early, and since Alice had big plans for that, Carlisle and Esme agreed to let us celebrate at their house.
When we entered the beautiful Cullen living room, which was literally the center of the entire house, we were all in awe.
There was a beautiful little Christmas tree beside the fireplace, mainly decorated with gold and red ornaments and tinsel. Actually, the whole living room was covered in reds and golds. Even the fire was spitting little golden sparks, and above our heads danced a few golden stars.
"Wow Alice, I'm impressed. I thought you would overdo it," Chris complimented her.
"She would have. That's why Mom decorates the house," Edward said.
"I wouldn't have overdone it," Alice protested.
"Oh yes, you would have. You decorated every room 'till there was no more space left. I had reindeer teddy's in my bed," Dylan complained.
"And bathmats with Santa on them," Edward continued.
"And the doorbell would only play Jingle Bells," Carlisle joined in as he walked in from the kitchen.
"And I will never forget that little reindeer sleigh with the tiny Santa in it that flew around the house the whole time. Santa was either laughing or singing Christmas songs and he never shut up," Esme added this time as she appeared behind Carlisle with a tray of delicious-looking cookies. Emmett was by her side in an instant.
"I guess we don't have enough cookies," Esme sighed and went back into the kitchen after Emmett snatched the tray right out of her hands.
"I'll help," I volunteered and followed after where Esme disappeared to.
"That's sweet of you, Bella. I wish Alice had the ability to actually help in the kitchen instead of blowing it up," Esme heaved a dramatic sigh.
"I heard that, Mom!" Alice shouted from the living room, causing Esme to release a soft laugh. "Come on, Chris, time to choose something for you to wear," I heard Alice say, drowning out the protest that came from Chris.
I grinned to myself, happy that I was smart enough to save myself before Alice got to me. The Christmas party she had in mind wasn't just that. She decided to make a Christmas/Pajama party out of it. I don't know how she got the boys to agree, but then again, there wasn't a single person in the world who could stop Alice once she had her mind set on an idea.
While Esme and I started mixing the dough, we heard the protests from upstairs. The boys, who had apparently moved the PlayStation to the downstairs television, chuckled at the whining and shrieking that came from upstairs.
"Alice, I'm not a freaking Playboy bunny. If you want to put a tail on someone, do it to yourself!" Chris yelled.
Apparently Rose was also unhappy with Alice for once, because a few minutes later, we heard her shout, "When I agreed to a pajama party, I didn't sign up for a lingerie festival! If I have to wear this, you will not see me leave this room!"
"Oh come on, it's cute and looks so Christmas-y," Alice argued.
"Yes, the see-through panties really give off the Christmas vibe," Chris laughed.
It went on and on like this and Carlisle — who was now seated on at the kitchen counter, watching as me and Esme filled the table with cookies — started to get a very worried expression on his face.
"Why in the world is my sixteen-year-old daughter dressing her friends up in lingerie? She shouldn't even own any," he said exasperatedly. It was the first time that I'd seen the worried father look on his face.
I fully agreed with him, though. It was dangerous to let Alice own such items.
"Oh Carlisle, calm down, you know how Alice is. It's not like we can stop her," Esme replied.
Carlisle nodded slowly but the worried expression didn't leave his face.
The look got even worse when Chris yelled, "Alice, can't you just go screw Jasper and leave us alone?"
In the living room, I could hear Emmett and Dylan teasing Jasper while Carlisle's face turned horrified.
"Did we ever talk to Jasper and Alice about their relationship?" he asked anxiously with wide, terrified eyes.
Esme walked over to him and put her arms around him. "Just go upstairs to your study, cast a muffling charm, and concentrate on something entirely different," she said softly to him.
The two of them looked so in love at that moment that I felt like I was intruding on their privacy by looking at them.
Carlisle sighed and nodded before he rose, kissed Esme once, and breezed out of the room.
"Mom, we need more cookies. Emmett's getting hungry," Edward said as he entered the kitchen. He reached for the tray, but Esme snatched it from his hands.
"If he's getting hungry, he shouldn't eat cookies," she advised.
"Mom, we already had dinner," Edward told her.
"Well then Bella and I will prepare a little snack." Esme went to the fridge and started pulling out different ingredients.
"Isn't she great?" Edward asked me with a brilliant smile on his face.
"Yes, she is," I answered truthfully and leaned against the kitchen counter.
Edward leaned closer to me and mumbled, "I really need something sweet and delicious right now."
My breath caught in my throat. Weren't we just talking about his mother?
His eyes flicked to mine quickly and I thought I saw something like surprise in them before a smug smile spread on his face.
"You know, it's really a shame that Alice didn't try to make you wear the Christmas lingerie," he said, leaning even closer. Our faces were only inches apart as he whispered those words.
My breathing still wasn't back to normal and I definitely felt like I was going to faint. Did he really have to do this?
The smug smile on his face grew even wider as I scrambled my mind for some kind of answer. "I simply can't resist," he added.
"I don't think Esme would appreciate you jumping me in her kitchen," I managed to choke out.
Edward looked at me in wonder before he pulled away suddenly. He waved around his hand, which now had a cookie in it and shook his head in mock disappointment. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Bella, such a dirty mind. When I said I couldn't resist, I wasn't referring to you in lingerie, I was talking about the cookies," he said. He laughed to himself as he left the kitchen while I glared at his retreating figure.
Esme cleared her throat behind me.
I turned slowly to see her standing there with an amused smile on her face. I looked down quickly, letting my hair hide my flaming red face.
"I never knew Edward was such a tease," she mused. "Bella, can you cut the cheese into small cubes for me, please? Alice and Rose love cheese and grape kabobs," she continued lightly.
While I did as Esme asked, she prepared sandwiches. We worked in silence for a few minutes.
It definitely wasn't comfortable for me.
"So, how are things going with you and Edward?" Esme asked after a while of quiet.
"Um, good, I guess," I answered her carefully.
"That's good to hear. It's been what...a little over a month already?"
"Yes."
"I'm so happy that he's found someone. He was like the G-rated version of Dylan," Esme sighed. "The only one who wasn't so troublesome in that particular area was Alice. She met Jasper on her first day of school here and after three months, they were already inseparable. It was so cute when they would walk around holding hands." Esme looked like she was lost in memories. After a moment, though, she seemed to return to reality. "Oh, sorry, I guess I was reminiscing just a little too much," she said with a soft, slightly embarrassed chuckle.
"It's okay," I replied, laughing a little.
Esme looked at me with a happy expression and suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace. "I'm so happy that Laurent found you and Chris. You two fixed my boys," Esme gushed.
Just then, Dylan and Edward decided to enter the kitchen.
"What's going on in here? Mom, I thought you were making food," Dylan complained.
Esme let me go and reached for a dishtowel to smack Dylan with. "I'm not your slave, young man," she scolded playfully.
"Mom, I didn't know you were so unhappy with us," Edward commented.
"What? I'm not unhappy with you. The two of you manage to drive me crazy every now and then, but that's not the same as being unhappy."
"And what was this talk about 'fixing your two boys'? I didn't even know there was anything broken," Edward continued teasingly.
"There isn't. You know what I meant."
"Right. I'll just steal Bella so she can fix me up a little more," Edward laughed and pulled me along.
"You better not let her fix you all the way up," Esme warned. "I'm not ready for grandchildren."
Dylan started roaring with laughter.
Blushing once again, I quickly left the kitchen with Edward.
Dylan came in just a second later with the sandwiches Esme made as well as the kebabs. He was still laughing to himself.
"What's so funny?" Emmett asked excitedly while Jasper looked at me with a questioning expression.
"Oh, Esme just—"
"I'll be upstairs," I burst out quickly, snatching the plate from Dylan's hands before he continued to talk. I was just upstairs when I heard Emmett's booming laugh.
"Bella! How nice of you to join us," Alice greeted when I entered her room.
There was a lot of pink, though not as much as I'd feared. Her walls were light pink and so was the carpet, which was also incredibly fluffy. Her bed had white and pink sheets on it as well, but the rest was mostly white.
Alice was sitting on her bed in a light pink babydoll style thigh-high lingerie dress with lace trim along the bottom hem, and Rose had just exited the closet when I entered the room. The sliding door was wide open, revealing a closet that was almost as big as Alice's room.
"I don't care what you say, Alice, I'm wearing this," Rose grumbled. She was wearing a pair of tight dark blue yoga shorts with a light blue tank top.
"But that's boring," Alice whined.
"I don't care, it's comfortable," Rose retorted and threw herself on the bed.
Alice pouted. Just then, Chris walked out of the bathroom.
"Alice, I want you to know that I'm only wearing this because I have black shorts underneath," Chris told her and let herself drop next to Rose on the bed. She was wearing a short white dress-style piece of lingerie with slight ruffles along both the neckline and the bottom hem.
"I don't care. Now Bella, wear this," Alice instructed and threw something at me. It was a short turquoise blue halter dress with white polka dots. "And you'll probably want shorts too," Alice sighed and threw a pair of matching blue shorts at me. "Now get dressed."
Ten minutes later, we were all laying on Alice's bed and somehow managed not to fall off, although we were a bit tangled. Rose had put a pillow on my feet so she could lay her head there, while Chris' head was resting on my stomach and Alice's legs were draped diagonally over Chris' stomach and thighs. It was a little strange.
"Esme told me that you and Jasper have been together ever since you met," I said randomly, breaking the momentary silence.
I heard Rose giggle while Alice let out a sigh.
"It wasn't exactly like that. It was because of Rosalie that he was always around. The two of them were always together back then. I used to think they were twins," Alice said.
"That'd be nice," Rose said. "Then he wouldn't always tease me because he's older. It's only nine months for God's sake."
"You have a nine month age difference?" Chris asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. It's kind of strange, right?"
"Only a little," I answered.
"Anyway, I was telling a story here. So, Rose and I met on our first day here, simply because she was seated next to me. We didn't get along until we discovered that we were wearing the same shoes."
"Ah yes," Rose sighed.
"And for our lunch break, Jasper just went along with us. Ever since then, we always hung out. But I was actually only friends with Rose. And then came Valentine's Day. Jasper asked me to be his valentine, even though he got hundreds of cards and chocolate from girls in our class. I said yes and since then, we were something like a couple. Although we only really held hands every now and then for the first two years. And then on my thirteenth birthday, he forgot to bring my present to the party, so he kissed me instead," Alice sighed dreamily.
"How cute," Chris muttered dryly.
Alice hit her lightly. "It is cute," she insisted.
"Well, since we're already on the topic...how did you end up with Emmett?" I asked Rose.
Alice groaned and Rosalie laughed.
"I hope it's really funny," Chris said.
"It's not, it's annoying," complained Alice.
"Whatever. Until last year, Emmett played football and I was a cheerleader—"
"Why only until last year?" I asked.
"Because the team and the squad were cancelled this year," Alice said before adding, "There was no one to coach."
"Yeah. Anyway, I was only on the squad because of Emmett, but the idiot didn't even notice me. He was just hanging out with his football buddies and threw one party after another for the Green house kids. It was really hard to get his attention. First, I went to every football game, then I joined the cheerleading squad, and I even snuck into his parties, though I was in the Blue house back then. Not easy, not easy at all," Rose laughed. "I even let Edward try to talk Emmett into dating me, but he didn't know who I was which just made me really upset. I dated his best friend Royce, then, and about a week later, both of them somehow landed in the hospital. When I went to visit Royce, he said he didn't want to see me anymore because it was my fault that Emmett beat him up. Apparently Emmett had noticed me, but he didn't know that my name was Rosalie and not Rose, and that's why he didn't know who Edward was talking about when he talked to him. Ever since then, we've lived happily."
"Where's the annoying part?" Chris asked.
"It was annoying to be her friend at the time," Alice explained.
"Well, now it's annoying to be your friend," Rose retorted.
A pillow suddenly landed on Rosalie's face. Judging by the giggling that was coming from Alice, I guessed that she'd thrown it.
"Come on, guys, no pillow fights. You suck at them anyway," Chris groaned.
"Shut up!" both Rose and Alice said as they each threw a pillow at Chris.
"Nevermind what I said," Chris mumbled, grabbing one of the pillows. It only took a few seconds for them to start hitting each other as I somehow managed to crawl off the bed.
"I really don't know why you guys like pillow fights so much," I sighed.
"You could take part, then you would know," Alice answered and threw a pillow at me. She definitely had too many of those.
I sighed and shook my head at them. This was just too cliché.
The door opened then, just when the three idiots on the bed had managed to make the whole pillow fight look more like a photoshoot for Playboy magazine.
"I told you they'd be in the middle of a pillow fight. That's what girls always do at pajama parties," Emmett said, shaking his head.
All of the guys were wearing pajama pants and loose T-shirts. And all of them were watching the scene in front of them.
Edward shook his head at the three girls and decided to end it by asking a simple question. "Alice, didn't you want to open presents?"
As soon as those words left his mouth, Alice jumped off the bed and squeezed herself through the door.
"Huh, I guess the one who started it just ran away," Chris said and let go of the pillow she was holding. She hopped off the bed, shook her hair, and went downstairs with Jasper.
The rest of us followed.
It seemed like Alice had somehow managed to maneuver all the presents underneath of the Christmas tree. She was sitting next to it, vibrating with excitement.
"We should do pajama parties more often," Edward whispered in my ear when he appeared suddenly behind me.
I shivered. He noticed that and laughed quietly. It seemed he enjoyed the reactions he got out of me. I huffed and flicked my hair over my shoulder in a very Chris-like manner. And that's when the impossible happened.
Edward's breath caught.
I grinned to myself, happy to coax this reaction from him and kept it in mind before I settled on the couch next to Rose.
"Can I open the first one?" Alice asked, sounding much like a little child.
Everyone mumbled their agreements. Alice squealed happily and grabbed one of the presents covered in Christmas wrapping paper.
Alice had also made up a rule for the presents. We weren't supposed to write who it was from, so the person who opened it had to guess who had given it to them.
Alice ripped the wrapping paper off the package and soon she held a pink specs case in her small hands.
"I don't need glasses anymore," Alice whined and shot a dirty look at Edward, who was chuckling to himself.
"You used to wear glasses?" Chris asked, sounding like she was suppressing laughter.
"Just for two years and I only needed them for reading," Alice answered with a pout. She looked like she was going to throw the case away. "I don't like this present, Edward," she whined.
Edward rolled his eyes. "Just open it, already."
Alice obliged but didn't look much happier when she held the pink glasses in her hand.
"Put them on," Edward instructed.
Alice did as he said and immediately a huge smile lit her face. "You're all dressed so pretty and it's all so pink and sparkly!" Alice squealed.
"God Alice, your world is awful," Edward complained and looked disgusted. A second later, he laughed.
"Don't you dare tell anyone," Alice warned him and Edward made a big show of locking his mouth and throwing away the key.
"Would someone please explain to us what you are talking about?" Rose asked.
"The glasses make the world look how you want it to look. It's a very complicated illusion spell, that's why they are so rare," Edward explained, despite his locked mouth.
"So pretty," sang Alice.
"I guess Alice will be out for a while. My turn," Emmett said and grabbed one of the presents addressed to him. Emmett ripped it open just like Alice had before. "Awesome! Call of Duty: Black Ops and Halo: Reach. I love you, baby." Emmett was ecstatic as he pulled Rose into a tight hug.
"It's not from me, Em," she told him, her voice slightly muffled from her face being buried in his broad chest.
"It's not?" he asked in wonder. He looked at each of us with a frown. "Edward's not cool enough to buy this, and Bella doesn't know anything about video games. Alice would've bought something like Super Mario Galaxy and Dylan only buys games that he can beat me at." You could practically see the thinking process in Emmett's head. He was looking at Jasper, but Jasper merely shook his head.
"Chris?" everyone asked in surprise.
She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
"How did you even know I wanted these?" Emmett asked.
"You mentioned it when I totally smoked your ass last week, remember?" Chris smiled smugly.
"You won't win at these games even if you are the awesomest friend ever for buying them," Emmett said as he hugged Chris.
"I find that offensive. I got you something nice, too," Alice complained.
"We'll see about that, pixie."
Alice chose to ignore him. "Who's next?" she asked.
"Just toss one over here," Rose said lazily.
Alice did as she was asked.
Rose unwrapped a small jewellery box. She opened it and in it lay a beautiful silver bracelet with a heart-shaped pendant. It looked like a diamond.
"Emmett, you didn't seriously get me a diamond, did you?" Rose asked breathlessly as she looked at the heart. If it was a diamond, it was a very big one.
Emmett chuckled. "No, I didn't. You'll have to wait a little while for that. It's a mood stone. It changes colors with your mood. It's clear now because you haven't put it on yet." He reached for it and put it on Rosalie's wrist. The pendant turned some kind of pinkish red.
Rose read the inside of the box and smiled before she leaned over and kissed Emmett.
"Ugh, you guys, cut it out!" Dylan shouted in disgust and grabbed one of his presents. "Oh, a painting set. I don't think I've ever had universal color," he said, surprised when he unwrapped it.
"What's a universal color?" I asked.
"It's whatever color you want it to be," he explained.
"Your guess?" Alice pressed.
Dylan looked thoughtful. "Edward?"
"Nope," Edward answered, shaking his head a little.
"I didn't even know that you paint," I threw in for his sake.
"He keeps it a secret because it doesn't 'suit his reputation'," Rose told me.
"Alice? Emmett? Jasper? Rose?" he asked one after another, but each of them shook their heads. "Chris?" Dylan asked in complete and utter disbelief.
As a matter of fact, all of us looked at her in confusion.
"What? I knew that he painted," Chris defended herself.
"Is anyone else surprised that Chris seems to be a good friend who actually pays attention to what we say?" Emmett asked.
"Everyone except Bella," Jasper answered.
"Can I open mine next?" Chris asked impatiently. She didn't seem to be pleased for some reason. Alice handed her a package and she unwrapped it quickly. "Seasons 1 to 5 of Supernatural? How great is that?" Chris' mood seemed to be back to normal. "Well, I know it's not from Bella, and since Alice didn't even listen when I said I watched it with Damon, I know it's not from her, so I'll just guess and say it's from Rose."
"You're good," Rose said with a grin.
"I know, I know. Thanks, my sexy candy kitten."
"Sexy candy kitten?" Edward asked slowly.
Rose and Chris started giggling.
"Ugh, I don't even want to know."
"Okay, here Bella." Alice threw a gift at me. Instead of trying to catch it, I instinctively flinched back and waited for it to hit my head.
It never happened, though, because Edward caught it before it had the chance to touch me. He handed it to me while the others let out giggles and chuckles.
I unwrapped a copy of Wuthering Heights. I smiled at that. I'd forgotten my copy back at home, which had been rather tragic for me since it was my absolute favorite book. There were only three people that knew I liked the book and two that would actually buy it since Chris thought it was pointless to read a book over and over again. Seeing the interested look on Edwards face when he examined the book and I instantly knew it was down to one person.
"Thanks Jasper," I said, beaming at him. I'd told him on our shopping trip that this was my favorite book and that I'd left it at home.
Jasper smiled back at me. "You're welcome. By the way, it glows in the dark so you can still read it when you don't have light."
The next to open a present was Edward. He immediately guessed that it was from me. I'd gotten him a notebook for his music compositions. It printed the notes itself when you played them and to delete them, you simply had to tell the book. Edward had told me that he plays piano every once in a while and that he writes his own songs, so this seemed like a rather fitting present. Apparently Edward thought so too because he thanked me with a forceful kiss.
Jasper was the only one who hadn't opened a gift yet, and now it was his turn. Alice had made him a Civil War Confederates uniform. She explained how many documentaries and films she had to watch on the Civil War just to get it right.
After the first round, we all just randomly started opening presents, guessing loudly who they were from while answering the others at the same time.
I got a potion set from Alice.
"The blue one is a Truth Potion, the green one is for Depoisoning, although it doesn't work for every poison, and the third is Brewed Passion," Alice explained after I guessed that the gift was from her. It wasn't hard to tell when I saw that it was in a pink box.
"Passion? What do I need passion for?" I asked in disbelief and confusion.
"How would I know? You and Edward grow old together and you have no real passion in your relationship anymore or whatever. I don't know."
I had to roll my eyes at her.
From Rose, I got a magical Snuffle. It was a little fluffy round creature that could fly.
"It's like a pet in a way," Rose explained. "You need to feed it and it sleeps, but it's also something like a personal assistant. They like to help their owners and keep them happy, it's what they mostly do. To awaken it, you have to tap it with your wand."
"Are we allowed to keep pets in our rooms?" I asked.
"Only the ones that are sold on campus," Rose replied.
I looked at the Snuffle in it's small cage. It looked like an over-sized baby blue cotton ball, but it wasn't big. It looked like it was smaller than a soccer ball, but bigger than a handful.
"You shouldn't wake it yet, since you can't take it along," Rose advised.
From Emmett, I got a simple silver ring that fit my pinkie finger. It was a lie detector that turned red when I was being lied to. Chris tried it out right away, telling me one lie after another, and it stayed red until she stopped talking.
Before I opened my present from Chris, I opened the one I got from Dylan.
"You got me five packs of Tic Tac's?" I asked in disbelief.
"Not Tic Tacs," he said. "These are Blockers. The red ones are Pheromone Blockers and the green ones are Psych Blockers. They block pheromone and psych gifts."
After that, I opened Chris' gift.
It looked like a snowball, but it wasn't. There was a beach inside of it and a house at the beach. When I shook it, little waves erupted in the tiny ocean and I could've sworn that there were little people in there.
"I got it at a Magic Art shop, they customized it for me. Remember when Mom and Dad took us to that little cottage in Jacksonville? That's the cottage there, and you can see Mom and Dad sitting on the terrace. You're swimming there and I'm laying on the beach. We start moving around in there when you shake it, and it'll last for about five minutes."
"How did the shop people manage that?" I asked curiously.
"He cast a spell to see the memory of it in my head."
I launched myself at my sister and hugged her fiercely while Alice and Rose 'awed' at us and eyed the "beach ball" curiously.
The last present for me to open was one from Edward. He'd gotten me a beautiful white wooden music box. The song it played was unknown to me, but the melodies were simply astonishing - it was a beautiful composition.
"I wrote it for you," Edward told me lightly.
"You wrote this?"
"Just for you. I was inspired when I watched you sleep."
"It's beautiful."
"Yes, you are," he said, gazing at me intently.
"Yeah, this is cute and all, but how could you get me a book, Bella? Even if it is about fashion and the cover glitters, it doesn't mean I'll read it," Alice interrupted.
I had indeed gotten her a book. The cover read "Fashion Is My Life" and it was covered in glitter and little sketches of clothes.
"It's not a book to read, Alice. It's a notebook," I told her, laughing softly.
"Oh, nevermind then. I love you, Bella."
The unwrapping of presents was highly entertaining.
Emmett received a pair of socks from Alice. At first, he didn't look too thrilled, but Alice insisted that he try them on and as soon as he did, his face turned into a beaming smile.
Apparently the socks warmed his feet.
Emmett had gotten Alice a set of pixie wings, only a bit bigger so they'd suit a human. They looked like normal costume wings, but when Alice put them on, she suddenly started floating around the room.
"You have to concentrate to fly properly with them," Emmett told her.
Unfortunately, Alice wasn't able to manage it, and soon we all discovered that she was wearing pink panties. After a while, Edward and Jasper finally caught her and pulled her back to the ground. Alice was a little shaky on her legs after that.
It went on and on like this with magical things like that.
I didn't even know that it had taken hours for everything until Emmett suddenly said, "It's already passed twelve. I think we should go to bed, we have to get up early tomorrow."
We all agreed with him and headed upstairs. The guys all slept in Edward's room, wishing us a goodnight from across the corridor when we entered Alice's room.
Esme had set up real pajama party worthy beds for us. Well, not really beds. The floor beside Alice's bed was covered with a giant air mattress that was big enough for us and the boys together. And all of that was covered in tons of pillows and blankets.
"Your mom is an angel, did you know that?" Chris said as she threw herself on the mattress.
"Yes, I know," Alice answered with a giggle. She took off the necklace that Jasper had given her and placed it carefully on her dresser.
Chris was sitting there, inspecting something in her hand.
"What are you looking at?" Rose asked her curiously.
"The present I got from Dylan," she mumbled in reply.
"What is it?" I asked.
"A necklace." She held it up. It was a beautiful, yet simple silver necklace with a stone pendant on the end.
"What kind of stone is it?" Alice asked.
Chris shrugged. "It's dark purple."
"Did he tell you what it is?"
"He only whispered something that sounded like 'magic lapidem'."
Both Rosalie and Alice gasped loudly.
"What? What does it mean?" I asked immediately.
"It means 'magic stone' and it's the spell for a gift stone."
Chris and I looked at them with the same questioning expression but they didn't seem to notice. Instead, they took the stone out of Chris' hands.
"I can't believe he did that! It's almost like a proposal," Alice squealed excitedly.
Chris looked horrified.
"So his gift stone is dark purple. I wonder what mine would look like," Rose mused.
"I bet mine would be pink."
"You want everything to be pink, don't you?"
"No, sometimes—"
"Guys! Would you please explain what a gift stone is."
The two of them turned to us.
"Well, a gift stone is a stone with a gift in it," Alice started.
"Informative," Chris mumbled sarcastically, but Alice motioned for her to be quiet.
"It's quite hard to make one. You see, you have to push your talent out of your body until it takes on the form of a stone. That's a really hard thing to accomplish and also very tiring."
"In our world, this is mostly given when you propose or at least commit yourself to another person in some way because it's a really big deal. You're holding a part of Dylan's gift in your hand. It's like cutting out a piece of your heart and giving it to someone," Rose added.
"With this stone, you can use his talent, although it won't be quite as effective. The stone is obviously not as powerful as the person it belongs to, but yours is pretty big so it should work for a while before it needs to charge energy again. I wonder which talent he put in there," Alice finished thoughtfully.
"Probably the teleportation," Rose said.
"Or maybe both."
"So wait, you're telling me that he gave me a piece of him?" Chris asked.
"Yes," Alice and Rose answered simultaneously.
"Oh God."
"Why 'oh God'? It's cute and it's romantic. In this world, every girl secretly hopes to get one from the man of her dreams," Alice said dreamily. "Dad gave his to Mom on their first anniversary. That's why she wears two rings. One is the gift ring and the other is her wedding ring."
"Can I give it back?" Chris asked.
"Give it back? Are you freaking insane? The guy practically just told you that he loves you and you want to give it back?" Rose screeched. "You can't give it back. I mean you could, but this part is ripped out and it won't just go back inside."
"Basically, yes. He's less powerful now than he was before. Also, it's likely that he can never make another magic stone again."
"What?"
"It takes great skill and a gift is part of your body and soul. You can't just randomly rip parents out. Some people manage a second stone, but that is very rare and they get really weak from it. The gift gets unstable."
Chris looked thoughtfully at the stone in her hand.
Chris POV
I looked thoughtfully at the stone laying in my hand. I could practically feel the energy radiating off of it. There was no way that I could wear this necklace. It didn't feel right.
Why in the world did he have to do that? Does he even know what he's done? Or does he just think that I'd be so thankful for this stone that I'd just agree to be his girlfriend?
It's not like we're exactly on good terms right now. I remembered our most recent fight all too well.
"Seriously Chris, don't you think it's a bit childish to just walk away?" Dylan called after me.
I ignored him. I had been ignoring him the past few weeks already. I spent as much time as possible with Damon and talked as little as I could to Dylan.
I wasn't sure why I acted like that, but I did. It made me feel safe.
"And ignoring me doesn't help at all. I'm just going to keep on talking until you answer."
It was a rather difficult task to concentrate on shopping when there was a guy following you around, shouting random things at you.
"Who do you think you are? You think you can just waltz into my life and ruin everything then expect me to...to...to just go back to my old ways? Do you even know how many girls I'd been with before you came along?" For some reason, he sounded angry now.
"I don't wanna know. For all I care, you can go back to screwing them," I hissed at him.
"Oh, so now she talks."
"Shut up."
"Do you realize that all you ever do is tell me to shut up? Why can't you just be quiet for once and let me talk?"
"Because everything you say is either stupid, annoying, or both."
"And you think that what you say makes sense? Do you honestly think that people want to hear what you say?"
"I don't care what people want. I just—"
"That's right. You don't care about others, you only care about yourself. No one else matters."
"You do realize that this argument has no point, right? If you want to tell me what a horrible person I am and how much better every other girl is, then you have succeeded and you can shut up now."
"But that's not what I was trying to say to you! I had a point, but just like always, you made me go off track. Our conversations always end somewhere I didn't plan for them to end. You could just listen and keep your mouth shut for once until I'm done talking."
"Why would I? All you ever do is tease me, annoy me, insult me, and embarrass me. I really don't need to listen to that."
"Of course I do because there's no other way to talk to you. You don't listen to anything else I say, you don't care—"
"Just get to the God damn point!"
"See? You're interrupting me again and that is exactly my point. It's impossible to have a serious conversation with you, so why should I even bother trying when I already know it's not going to happen?"
"Are you done?"
Dylan roared in frustration. He was still walking behind me and since our conversation hadn't exactly been quiet, people started staring and whispering.
I stopped and turned abruptly to face Dylan. "If I'm such a pain in the ass, why are you so desperate to have me for yourself?" I asked him almost menacingly.
"I'm starting to wonder that myself," Dylan replied.
I glared at him. "You know what? Just leave me alone!" I said after a moment before I stalked off again, but I heard Dylan coming after me instantly.
"The problem is that I can't. Do you honestly think that I like to be this frustrated? Don't you think I kind of liked my life before you came into it?" Dylan was getting worked up again. "I can't look at another girl without comparing her to you. I can't sleep at night because I'm either dreaming about you dead or about you torturing me until I literally cry blood. I definitely didn't choose this, it just happened. The only thing wrong about this isyou, because you don't care. I don't enjoy this game of hot and cold. You can't hit on me first and then be all cold and hating toward me and then kiss me, only to push me away again so you can come back and kiss me again and God knows what would have happened if Emmett hadn't walked in."
"Well if you would just leave me alone like I want you to, then it wouldn't be like that. You could try and distract yourself with some other girls. I heard that there are quite a few around here that enjoy your presence."
"Did you even listen to a thing I just said?" he asked in disbelief.
"Well I definitely heard you talking and I think I caught the words 'you', 'the', and 'Emmett'."
"You're not taking this seriously at all, are you?"
"What is serious about this situation? A nineteen-year-old boy complaining to a sixteen-year-old girl that he can't date other girls because of her. It's hardly serious to me. In fact, it's rather comical."
"You know what? That's probably the problem. It's not that you don't care, but that you're too childish. In your mind, everything is just some kind of game and you don't want to be pinned down on anything. No responsibilities or anything of the sort. You just want the whole world to work how you want it and if things get too serious, you drop out."
I opened my mouth to retort but closed it again.
In my mind, I knew that he was partly right. I honestly didn't like any kind of responsibility, nor did I like to be tied down to anything or anyone except for Bella. But that was not because I was too childish.
"I'm not childish," I replied and started to stare Dylan down.
He just crossed his arms, not looking at all impressed. "Yes, you are. None of this is really even your fault, it's mine for expecting too much out of you," his voice was low now, so that the people around us could no longer hear him. "It's amazing how looks can change ones point of view. I was right in the beginning when I called you a kid because that's what you are, Chris, just a kid. Maybe I should wait for you to grow up." And with that, he left me standing there.
He didn't even turn around as he walked away.
"Chris, wake up," I heard Bella's voice faintly in my ear.
"No, I want to sleep, I'm tired," I whined and rolled over.
"Just stop complaining and hurry up," my sister replied and I heard the voices of Rose and Alice in the background. "Come on or we'll miss our flight," Bella tried again when I showed no signs of movement.
"Is that a bad thing?" I slurred tiredly.
"Chris!" Bella groaned.
A sudden feeling of déjà vu washed over me. A moment later, I realized why. Bella and I had the same conversation when we were back home in Phoenix, getting ready to fly here.
I dragged myself off the bed and yawned as I stretched.
"I picked out an outfit for you," Alice told me excitedly, pointing to her dresser where there was indeed an outfit laying out for me.
"We'll be downstairs, alright?" Bella said.
I nodded and the three of them left the room.
Alice had chosen a long blue shirt with black sleeves with a pair of leggings for me to wear. I dressed quickly, brushed my teeth and hair, and then gathered my things before going downstairs.
Everyone was sitting in the living room. Well, not everyone. The only boy who was there was Edward. The others were no where to be seen.
"Chris, would you like some breakfast?" Esme asked.
I shook my head and Esme looked a little annoyed. I figured I wasn't the only one who had declined.
"Do you have all your things?" Rose asked, looking at the purse in my hand.
I nodded. I didn't really feel up to talking today.
"Emmett are you sure you didn't forget anything?" I heard Carlisle ask and it sounded like he'd asked that for the millionth time already.
"Positive, Mr. C."
"I hope you're right 'cause I am not beaming into your room again," Dylan said.
"Okay. The school bus will pick you up at the corner in about twenty minutes, so all of you better hurry up with whatever it is you still have to do," Carlisle said while he walked down the stairs with Emmett, Jasper, and Dylan following him.
Dylan's gaze swept over me and I saw how his eyes lingered on my neck for a little longer. I looked down only to see the necklace he gave me there. I didn't recall putting it on.
"What a beautiful necklace, Chris. Was it a gift?" Esme asked me.
"Um, yeah.
"Such a beautiful stone. Who gave it to you?"
"Um, Mom, I'm starving, can you make me a sandwich or something?" Dylan suddenly said.
Esme turned her attention to him. "I don't know how often I have to tell you that I am not your slave. Go do it yourself."
Dylan nodded eagerly while Edward watched him suspiciously.
"I'll go help him," he said and gently moved Bella from his lap to vanish into the kitchen as well.
The rest of us stayed in the living room, chatting with one another. Alice promised Bella to watch her Snuffle even though it hadn't been awakened yet, but she still couldn't really take it will her.
"Dylan, are you insane? Do you even realize what you've done?" Edward suddenly yelled.
I flinched, as did everybody else.
I knew what this was about and my hand instinctively flew to my necklace.
"Yes, I'm aware, thank you very much," was Dylan's reply.
"This is reckless. You may think so now, but it can change. What do you think Mom is going to say about all of this?"
"Boys, what's going on?" Carlisle asked as he entered the kitchen.
"Talk to your son!" Edward advised and stomped out of the where Carlisle had just gone.
"Edward, what's wrong?" Esme asked him but he didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at me with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
xXxXxXxXxXxXx
"I'm going to miss you guys so much," Alice sniffled as she hugged us to death.
The Cullens were seeing us off before the bus came to pick us up.
"Alice, we'll only be gone for three weeks. It's hardly the end of the world," Bella told her but smiled sadly anyway. She then turned to Edward to hug him. In return, he kissed her forehead lightly.
"Don't do anything foolish," he said to her, but cast a sideways glance at Dylan who seemed to be lost deep in his thoughts.
I sighed. For some reason, I just knew that he would get in trouble for giving me this stone, and I wanted to return it to him so badly. Not because I didn't like it or want it, but because to me, it felt like a heavy weight.
A mini bus that had the school's logo printed on the side came to a half in front of us.
"McCarty, Hale, Swan?" the guy in the driver's seat asked.
"That's us," Rose answered and waved at the Cullen family before getting on the bus.
A few other buses, some of them bigger, passed us and the gates that closed our campus off from the rest of Forks and the world opened.
We all waved one last time before we were sitting on the bus. Rose and Emmett sat behind us while Jasper was sitting between Bella and I.
"You know what? I'm already excited to come back from the vacation," Jasper said after riding in silence for a while.
"Because of Alice?" Rose asked him dryly.
"Well, that too, but I was referring to the classification classes. The school far is going to be in May, which isn't all that far from now, and we'll finally be taking part in the planning and everything."
"Seriously, it really is stressful, although it is better than being some kind of servant like the junior department," Emmett said.
"I hope Mom doesn't really turn up. It might not end well," Rose yawned.
"It definitely won't," Jasper agreed. "But we'll just have to deal with that."
The rest of the drive, the others went on and on about the fair, but I didn't bother to listen. I was just staring out the window, watching as the scenery passed us by.
"Hey Chris, are you alright?" Jasper asked after a while as he nudged me in the side.
Instead of answering, I released a sigh.
"What's wrong with her?" Jasper asked Bella.
"I don't know. I'm not getting any more emotions from her than you are," Bella answered.
After that, I droned them out again until we arrived at the airport.
The bus driver and the boys took care of our luggage while Bella and Rose decided that we should get a bite to eat.
"Seriously Chris, what's wrong with you?" Bella asked me when I completely ignored the muffin she was waving in front of my face. She sounded both concerned and annoyed.
I felt my eyes start to burn and my bottom lip start to tremble. "I don't know," I choked out, letting my shoulders slump. "He's just such an idiot, you know. It's completely senseless to give me this stone when he just told me that I wasn't mature enough." By now, I could feel fat, salty tears streaming down my cheeks.
"I should've known this was about Dylan," Bella mumbled with a sigh as she led me somewhere to sit. "Okay, now tell me exactly what the problem is," Bella said as she kneeled in front of me with Rose behind her.
"I just said I don't know. I just feel crappy because he made this stone for me. And I know that Esme won't be happy about her song giving something as precious as this to some girl who isn't even being nice to her son."
"You really shouldn't be worried about Esme. I'm sure she isn't going to be that upset," Bella soothed.
"But still, he just gave me a part of himself and I don't know what to do with it. I'm not the one he should have given it to, and now I have to carry this around."
Rose let out a sigh and sat down beside me. "You know what your problem is? You are in love but you're just too scared to admit it. And it's okay to be scared because usually people don't just fall in love, but you have to get a grip on yourself. First of all, nobody can blame you for Dylan's actions, and secondly, as soon as we're back on campus, you will grow a pair and talk to Dylan. Simple as that," Rose told me in a strict manner.
"But—"
"No buts. Do you know how hypocritical you're being? You go and kick Edward's ass because he didn't get his move on, yet you sit here being all whiny and shit because of practically the same thing. You and Edward should get matching shirts or something."
I looked dumbfoundedly at Rose, not really knowing how to reply to that.
"Hey girls, we have fifteen minutes before I gotta leave you," Emmett announced as he and Jasper approached. Then he stopped and stared at me. "Chris, are you crying?"
"Yes. Freaking happy tears. I can finally go home into the sun again. Do you know how I suffered without the Arizona sun?"
Emmett seemed to buy that because he simply rolled his eyes at me while Jasper eyed me in suspicion.
After I went to wash my face in the ladies room, we all just wandered around the airport, occasionally running into our fellow students.
"Okay guys, my flight will be off soon," Emmett said after a little while. He pulled all of us into a group bear hug, except for Rose. He was oddly gentle with her, which made me wonder if he squeezed the rest of us on purpose.
"We should board our plane soon too," Jasper said to Rose when Emmett was out of sight.
"I know, I know." She turned to look at me and Bella. "God I'm gonna miss you guys. Three whole weeks without any craziness or awkwardness," Rose sighed dramatically.
"I think you'll survive," I told her.
"I hope so. Otherwise, my spirit will haunt you."
I rolled my eyes at her.
"Bye bye, my precious chocolate puppy," she said to me and pulled me into a hug. "And remember what I told you," she whispered softly enough so only I could hear.
"What is it with you two and strange nicknames?" Jasper asked.
"Aw, are you jealous? Don't worry, you're my favorite sweaty steak monkey," Rose said to him while I giggled.
"I guess I'll never know," Jasper sighed, shaking his head.
"Ah Jasper, you really shouldn't even try to understand things like that," I advised him as I gave him a hug.
After Bella had hugged both of them as well, they started to leave.
"Well, we'll see each other in three weeks, right? It's amazing how much I love ya'll already even though we just met a few months ago," Rose called over her shoulder as she and Jasper walked off.
"Shall we go now too? Otherwise the best seats will be gone," I said to Bella.
"Sure."
As soon as we were seated on the plane, I dozed off. I hadn't even noticed how tired I was until then.
"Chris, are you hungry?" I heard Bella ask me right when I was in the middle of a very strange dream.
"if they're trying to serve pasta again, I think I'll pass."
"No, it's pizza and it's edible."
"Do you think Mom cooked for us?" I mumbled, still half asleep.
"She mentioned something like that yesterday."
I groaned and opened my eyes to steal a slice of pizza from the plate in front of Bella.
xXxXxXxXxXxXx
"My baby girls!" Mom squeaked so loud that half of the airport stopped to stare at her.
We had just gotten off the plane and retrieved out luggage when she spotted us and started squealing like a crazy fangirl.
Dad was standing next to her, attempting to calm her down to no avail.
"You know what?" Bella whispered to me.
"What?"
"I think Mom and Alice would get along really well."
"I think you're right."
"I missed you two so much!" Mom cried and skipped toward us to pull us both into a fatally tight hug.
"Dad, help us!" I gasped.
"Renée, if you squeeze them to death, you're going to miss them even more," Dad said as he attempted to pry Mom away from us.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy," Mom choked out.
"Aw, come on, Mom, not the happy tears," Bella groaned.
"I just can't help it."
"Come on, girls. Give me your luggage and we'll head home." Dad reached for our suitcases and led us to the car.
"We've got a little surprise for you," Dad told us on our way to the car.
"I hope it's not Mom's cooking," I mumbled.
"I heard that, Chris!"
I shrugged.
"Get in the car," Dad sighed after he'd put our suitcases in the trunk.
Before we even had the chance to open the door, it opened on it's own and Raven jumped out.
"Raven!" Bella and I squealed simultaneously, followed by a session of the three of us jumping up and down whilst squealing.
"Girls! Try to be more civilized," Dad said with a chuckle.
"Sorry Charlie," we all answered together, earning an appointed look from Dad before he got into the car.
We quickly scrambled into the car as well. It was incredibly hot inside, but I didn't complain. It felt like home.
"Raven, why did you dye your hair again?" Bella asked.
"Why not? I've always wanted to have green streaks."
"That's what you said when you got pink streaks."
"Because it's true. Anyway, don't you want to tell me about your school? I mean, you've barely told me anything, especially you, Chris. I got a total of two emails from you. Oh, and I Googled your school once but the website has apparently been cancelled. I find that really weird. Oh, oh, oh! Did you know that Samantha Robins is pregnant? I couldn't believe it when I heard it, but I saw her at the mall last week and she has gotten pretty big. I totally laughed at that. And Tyler has a girlfriend now, who kind of looks like Bella only not nearly as pretty. I swear he even calls her Bella sometimes. It's pretty sick. And did you hear about that—" she went on and on like that for the entire duration of our trip back to our house, hardly even letting Bella or me say anything. I started to get the feeling that we just naturally attracted hyperactive people.
Raven stayed for dinner at our house, mostly because she felt sorry for us and wanted to be a good friend and suffer along with us. To everyone's surprise, Mom had managed to make a pretty decent mashed potato, but judging by her expression when we asked her how she accomplished that, it seemed like mashed potatoes hadn't even been her plan.
After dinner, Rave sat with us in our room and kept bombarding us with gossip and such about our former classmates. She told us everything about her new school and how hard it was for her to find friends that suited her personality, and that the people she hung out with weren't nearly as much fun as Bella and I.
When she let, Bella and I started to get ready for bed. Although I'd slept on the plane, I was more than ready to hit the sack.
It didn't take long before I fell asleep.
We spent most of our free time outside, mainly because Raven wanted us to meet each and every one of her new classmates and wanted us to say hello to our former ones.
Christmas was surprisingly quiet this year. No fire, no pizza service, and no complaints from the neighbours.
But the chaos on New Years Eve was just like we remembered it.
Bella had one of the clumsy moments, the ones that she had every once in a while, and tripped over the grill. It was no surprise that our yard caught fire and Renée was running around hysterically rather than getting the fire extinguisher. I went to get it, although it broke my heart to kill the flames, it needed to be done.
The next thing that happened was Mom wanted to pop the champagne open and succeeded in doing so, but almost drowned the entire living room in champagne. The liquid managed to get into one of the power outlets and of course, that caused a short circuit followed by a blackout. Bella and I cleaned the living room in the dark while Dad tried to get the power back on. Unfortunately, he didn't succeed, and in the end, we spent the evening in candle light.
Overall we had a really good time, even if Mom's occasional disasters were a little troublesome, but we've had to deal with that for years now and our lives would be rather boring without it.
Soon, all of us were standing at the airport once again, saying our goodbyes.
And before we knew it, we were at the airport in Port Angeles once again. This time, it wasn't nearly as hard to find the group as it had been the first time. A few hours later, we drove through the gates of the academy.
"Bella! Chris!" a high-soprano sing song voice shouted as soon as we hopped off the bus in front of the dorm houses.
Of course Alice would be awaiting our arrival.
"You guys look so...refreshed," Alice said as she examined us with a smile.
Edward was right behind her, beaming at Bella.
"Ugh, we better leave those two alone," Alice said and dragged me off to my room.
"Where are the others?" I asked.
"Rose and Jazz are on the next bus and Em will arrive on the last one tonight."
"And Dylan?" I asked, hoping he was no where nearby.
Alice looked away. "He's...somewhere."
I quirked a brow at her but didn't bother commenting on that.
We entered my room and I saw my suitcase was already there. Didn't I just get off the bus?
I shook my head. By now I should be used to strange things happening around here.
"So, how was your Christmas?" Alice asked absentmindedly.
"Great. We laughed, we ate, and we got presents."
"That's nice," Alice mumbled.
I eyed her in suspicion. "Alice, is there something you want to tell me?" I asked her.
Just then, her phone rang. "Oh, Rose is already here. That was fast," she said in surprise and quickly started texting. "She'll be up here in a minute." Alice started pacing around the room until Rose burst in.
"I'm so sorry, Chris!" she shouted and ran toward me.
"Rose, I haven't told her yet," Alice said to her, causing her to halt her motions.
"Tell me what?" I asked.
"You know, I talked to Rose over the vacation, since she called me," Alice shot me an accusing glare.
"A phone works two ways, Alice, you could have called me, too."
"Whatever, that's not the point. She told me all about your little situation, and well...you should sit down."
I sat on my bed and looked at her in confusion while Rose gave me a look filled with sympathy.
"First of all, I want you to know that I tried, I really tried to talk to him, but he just wouldn't listen. He was telling me some bullshit about giving you the time that you need."
"Are we talking about Dylan?"
"Yes, and I'm sorry, Chris, I'm really really—"
"Just get to the point."
"Dylan has a girlfriend."
A/N: Yes, yes. Life sucks and then you die. Don't hate me for that, you should all just be happy that Edward and Bella are a happy couple. I am also very happy, happy to inform you that we are getting closer to the end. I don't know how many more chapters, but I'm thinking about...hmm about 5? I'm not sure yet. There are still a few surprises to come, but for now we can all just take a deep breath..or maybe not. I'm not sure yet :P Well, I think the next chapter will involve a lot of..school actually, except if I change my mind again, but that is the actual plan. The fair should be coming up as well and I'm already excited for that one :D Also will I tell you who Dylan's grilfriend is, because I'm pretty sure that you will never guess it. Okay anything else? hmm...no, not right now. Well, then you all know what to do, I'll just go and start the next chapter. By the way, I'm sorry that this one is not as long as the previous ones, but that's what you get when I update fast. Oh and FASGS has over 60 reviews now yaaayyy! I'm gonna celbrate that, meanwhile you will work on getting to 70 ;)