Bella POV
"Whooo. Fi-nuh-lee!" Rosalie announced. She spread her arms and fell backwards on to her queen-sized bed, which was covered with discarded clothes and bottles of cosmetics. I was leaning against the headboard with my legs tucked beneath me. I decided to break into my new book while my sister finished up packing. "God, I hate packing." she exhaled.
I looked up from my book and looked at the top of her head.
She craned her neck to look back up at me.
"Sure you do." I made a show of glancing around her whole room – an action that she mirrored – and gave a sheepish grin.
"I do..." She croaked.
I chuckled. "Whatever Rose. This room looks like the Cullen's summer house last fall."
I knew my sister well enough that when she opened her mouth to reply it would be to say that that meant her room didn't look bad at all but I cut her off before she could say anything. "AFTER a hundred teenagers raided it and partied for twenty four hours."
Rose huffed and I laughed. She crossed her arms over her chest while her feet still dangled on the edge of the bed. "It was terrible, wasn't it?"
"Ya think?" I snapped my book shut. I don't know what I was thinking bringing a book into Rosalie's room. She's witty and intelligent but she wasn't much for reading books 'for fun' – particularly if said books are historical fictions.
Rose sat up. Her ruffled hair managed to look gorgeous on her. She didn't even bother to fix it. I would have looked like a chicken trying to avoid becoming the main course if I tried to sport that 'do. "Haha. Carlisle totally flipped his lid."
"And Alice was so grounded for a month!"
"And Edward! Don't forget Edward!"
Rose and I couldn't stop laughing. The image of two of our closest friends – practically family – being Cullen Grounded, as we liked to call it, was just too precious. So when Alice, spunky, fashionable, dark pixie-haired Alice, walked into Rosalie's room saying "Did I hear someone call my name?" Rose and I just fell into another round of hysterical laughter.
Alice jumped up on Rosalie's bed, expensive flats and everything, and started bouncing up and down. "What. What. What. What's so funny?" She hated being left out of the loop.
I tried my hardest to collect myself and in between large gasps of air I managed "Cullen." Gasp. "Grounded." Gasp. "Last." Gasp. "Fall."
Immediately Alice stopped bouncing. For a moment her shoulders dropped and it looked liker her short hair, usually sticking up in all directions, actually wilted. She recovered quickly and lithely jumped off the bed then stomped to stand in front of Rose.
Alice was a head shorter than me while Rose was a head taller than me. With me standing in between them, we simply looked like ordinary girls with a slight height difference. You didn't see it so much because of the way we carried ourselves and the way our personalities melded into each other's.
I was of average height so I never got teased about it. But Rose has had to slouch a little. She's the most vivacious, confident woman I've ever seen but everyone has their insecurities and soft spots. As much as she plays along with it and sometimes even uses it to her advantage, Rose is actually quite sensitive about her height. Alice is the same. But different. Being so tiny she's had to work harder to be seen. Literally and figuratively. Now she's all but picking out our daily outfits for us. I've never met anyone with a bigger personality than Alice. Most people who meet her for the first time can't help but act parental around her but give her 5 minutes and she'll show you who's boss. Both girls are smart but where Rose has beauty, Alice has personality.
Somehow I fit in the middle. I'm the grey to their black and white. Or maybe that's the wrong metaphor. The three of us have so much in common that sometimes it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. But once you get to know us, people tell us that we're actually quite different. Rose is the aspiring architect. Alice considering going into PR and me, the photographer. So I guess, in a way, we work.
I couldn't help but laugh at the image I saw before me, though. Rose, doubled over from laughter and Alice standing firmly with her hands on her hips, a slight frown on her forehead and a sharp look on her face.
"Rosalie Swan you stop that giggling right this instant." Alice demanded.
"But. You. Were. So. Miserable." Rose was still laughing but I was already starting to recover. "You're never miserable. It's. It's so funny."
Alice huffed and crossed her arms.
Rose started blubbering as she wiped tears from her eyes. "No credit card or debit card foramonth. Outfitrepeattwoweeksinarow!" She laughed some more. "Oh the horror! Hahahahah."
I looked from Alice to Rose. The height difference seems much more obvious when you take me out of the picture. The leggy blonde and the sparkly pixie. Like… Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake. Except Strawberry Shortcake looked like she was about to pop Barbie's head off. And we couldn't have that. Barbie was about to fly out to a week-long party.
I cleared my throat. Alice was unmoving. Rose had her hand up to her chest and was doing that weird laugh-sigh-heave thing people do when their laughter starts to die down. It sounded like, "Hahahaaa." Inhale. "Haaaa." Inhale. "Haaa."
"Ehe-EHEM." I said again.
Rose still had a dopey look on her face when she turned to me. I frowned and nodded towards Alice who was looking straight at Rose.
Her grin faded quickly when she finally faced Alice. "Oh."
" 'Oh' is right, miss." Alice said. She dropped her hands and stomped her foot. "That was a terrible time! How was I supposed to know that the WHOLE senior class was gonna be there? And how was I supposed to know that the football team turn into mindless apes when they're drunk?"
"Actually, you should know that seeing as you're brothers with one of them." I said meekly.
Alice shot me a glance which shut me up immediately.
"And as for the outfit repeats, those were necessary sacrifices. My father didn't understand my needs at the time." Alice said stubbornly.
"But now you've seen the light." I added again.
Alice wanted to protest but she knew I was right. Seriously, who buys clothes, wears them once and then gives them away?
"I'm sorry but all my clothes go to charity." She said as if reading my mind.
"If," Rose finally spoke up. "By 'charity' you mean Clarisse Harrison's closet, then sure."
"It's not my fault if her treasurer-of-the-local-charity of a mother has itchy hands and nicks donations before it even reaches the committee's table." Alice said.
We all thought about it for a second and then nodded. "That is true." I concluded.
"But we're getting off topic here. You made fun of my misfortune. You're not a very good friend." Alice said it in such a matter of fact way you wouldn't think she was the least bit serious. But Rose took her cue and hugged Alice.
"I'm sorry Ally. You know how that just cracks me up like hell. I swear, it will never get old. In fact it's probably a story I'll tell my kids in the future. 'How Your Aunt Alice Spent A Month with 70% Less of her Allowance – Which Is More Than A Mortal Could Want for a Lifetime'. Oh how my children will laugh."
Alice slapped Rose's shoulder but giggled anyway. "Make sure you tell them about how I colour blocked on a Wednesday and Clarisse was livid because she thought I was going boho-chic so she tried to outdress me."
Rose and I looked at each other. "Oh, we can't forget that."
"And how people still talk about it in the hallway and call it 'Golden' - the party of all parties - and how people say nothing has come close to it since." Rose said.
This time the three of us exploded into laughter.
It was then that mum came in and knocked on the already-open door. We were all in stitches when she asked "Rose, are you read yet?"
More panting. And the weird laugh-sigh-heave sound again. We all turned towards her.
"All set, mother." She pulled her luggage upright and beamed.
Mum blinked. "Woah, you've packed light."
Light was so not the word I would have used. We could probably fit an Alice and a half in that bag. Or two if we folded them up nicely and rolled them like spring rolls and packed them in tightly. But I digress.
Rose smiled. "Oh no. The rest is over there." She nodded over her shoulder and there stood another bag the same size as the one she had, another one that was half the size of the first two, a gigantic handbag and a purse. All, I might add, in the same shade of red.
My mother's face had a mix of panic and reassurance. Panic because of the extra money they'll have to pay for the baggage – once Rose is done packing, Rose is done packing. No one can take or add anything to it, something which we learned the hard way, in a crowed airport in New York, three days before Christmas, on our way to Paris – and reassurance because I guess for a second she thought aliens had abducted her daughter and took her brains out or something.
Oooooo
Ten minutes later we were downstairs saying our goodbyes.
"Phil will be here in 5 minutes, Rose. Do you have everything you need?" Mum asked.
"Yes, mother."
Mum tucked a strand of hair behind Rose's ear. "Have fun and be safe, okay?"
"Of course she'll be safe, Renee. I hope you haven't forgotten who's hosting this party!" Phil's sing-song voice floated into our front lounge as he sashayed in.
Rose laughed but melted into our mother's outstretched arms. "I will mum." She said. "I'll miss you guys." She turned to Alice and myself. "But I will see you two at the end of the week!"
Phil looked at us incredulously. "Whaaaat? These two gorgeous dolls aren't coming?"
Alice pouted and gave Phil air-kisses. "Not this year, Phil. Bella gets to pick so…"
Phil fake-gasped and looked at me in fake-outrage. "Isa-BELLA! Your choice of summer vacation destination but you don't pick me? I'm hurt!"
I walked up to him and gave him a legit hug. "Like Alice said, not this year. Maybe next time… like when we're 18?"
Phil laughed. "But where's the fun in that?"
I just shrugged. "Ghosts won this year so…"
"Ghosts?" He asked.
"Yes!" Alice said excitedly. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet again. "Charlie has a haunted house. Who knew?"
Phil looked from me to my mother with his jaw dropped.
"Oh, she's definitely making it seem more than it is. It's just superstition and rumours. We're there for nature and all that stuff." I assured him.
Phil waved his hand as though punctuating the end of the conversation and he launched into a new one with my mother. His driver, Pablo, started carrying Rose's luggage into the car so Alice and I decided to walk her out.
We followed behind Pablo who actually managed to carry-drag Rosalie's luggage in one go – all but the bag which had all of Rose's essentials and was now hooked on her shoulder..
"You know what, that ghost talk back there reminded me of something." She slowed her walk and Alice and I matched her pace.
"What?" Alice's round eyes glistened as Rose started to talk.
"It's just… I don't know. When was the last time we went there, Bella? 10? 11 years ago?"
"Wow, I didn't realize it's been so long." I muttered.
"Yeah. It was when pops passed away. We went there for the funeral and every summer before that. Dad still goes back every so often but not as often as he used to since Pops died." Rose was solemn. "I guess it reminds him too much of his childhood and our grandparents." She said that mostly to Alice but also partly to herself.
We had all stopped in the middle of the walkway at this point. I could feel a prickling on my skin and I wasn't sure if it was the afternoon breeze or the way Rose was telling her story.
"Yeah? And?" Alice asked eagerly.
"Well…" Rose hesitated and she looked at me. "I've never told anyone this before. Not even Bella."
Alice and I gasped.
"What is it?" I whispered.
Why did I whisper?
"It's… well… the day after the wake, I was in the third floor balcony and I could have sworn I saw something."
a/n: Waaa here it is guys! After TWO YEARS - a new update! If you're still here after two years of nothing, please do leave a message so I can thank you. If you're new, hello! and I hope you enjoy this. I haven't written in two years so this is new and exciting. (Read front page) I think it's gonna be cool so I hope you guys stick around.