Friday evening had me standing in front of a mirror, scowling at the third outfit I had tried on for the night. Now, I wasn't one that cared much for what I looked like normally, but for some reason the date with Alice had my inner teen-girl coming out. Everything felt wrong, and it bugged me; mostly because I was supposed to still be holding Alice on probation. But the little pixie had wormed her way right back into my heart, just like she had the first time. Before I knew what was happening she was already one of the most important people in my life, someone I cared for deeply and would protect at all costs. Even the thought of being mad at her had me feeling like a terrible person.
Sure, the panther inside my head probably had something to do with that, but Alice herself definitely did too. She had an aura that just drew people to her, one that just made people want to be around her. And it made people happy to be around her, even the other humans at school who were normally so weary around vampires. It drove me nuts trying to figure the dark-haired girl out.
A light knock at my door broke me out of my inner monologue, and Kat's head soon appeared in the doorway.
"You told me to come get you at six thirty." She told me as a greeting. "You look nice." She added on with a genuine smile as she entered my bedroom. The bedroom I had to start using every since the Cullens got back.
"Thanks." I blushed slightly and looked myself over once more.
I had chosen to go simple; an emerald green button up, a black vest, black jeans, and a pair of boots. When Kat stepped into the room I noticed that she seemed to be dressed to go out as well; she was wearing a light purple V-neck, a pair of black shorts, and a pair of sandals.
"Going somewhere?" I asked, happy to get the attention off of me; I had never been comfortable as the center of attention.
"Uh, yeah." This time it was her turn to blush. "Leah said that some of the more… friendly wolves are having a bonfire and she invited me."
"That's fun." I was happy that Kat and Leah seemed to be trying to get closer. And since Danni and Rikki had been gone all week on an extended hunting trip, mostly for Rikki to cool off, I was happy that Kat wouldn't be all by herself on a Friday night.
"Should be." She agreed.
Not knowing what else to say I turned back to the mirror and started looking over my outfit and hair again. The behavior had Kat laughing after a moment.
"Stop worrying about that and go downstairs. I hear your date arriving."
"What?!" I yelped and pushed past her, running down the stairs, caught by surprise at how much time had passed.
"Have fun tonight!" I heard Kat yell at my retreating figure right before I heard a knock at the front door.
Taking several deep breaths to calm my nerves, I opened the door to see Alice standing there looking like she was holding in laughter.
"Not a word." I huffed at her, which of course caused her to break into full out laughter.
"Sorry." She managed to get out after a moment after taking deep breaths she didn't need. "Shall we?" She motioned behind her rather dramatically.
"We shall." I chuckled as I left the house.
"I expect her back by one!" The distinct voice of Kat called out from the upstairs open window, causing me to burry my head in my hands as I glanced at Alice out of the corner of my eye.
"So early?" Alice turned and mock-whined up at Kat.
"Fine, two. Just treat my little girl well, ya hear me?" Kat mocked a terrible manly southern accent as she leaned out the window and pointed a finger at Alice.
"Of course sir." Alice threw an exaggerated salute.
"Okay, we're done now!" I groaned up at Kat.
"You're no fun." Kat chuckled and thankfully closed the window.
Once I was certain Kat was done trying to embarrass me half to death, I raised my head to find Alice's car so that we could leave. Upon seeing the car however, I had to take a slight pause.
"That's your car?" I breathed out as my eyes roamed over the body.
Now, I wasn't a car person, but even I could appreciate that the vehicle parked in my driveway was incredibly nice, and definitely ridiculously expensive. The car itself was painted a bright yellow, and according to the symbol it was a Porsche of some sort.
"Gorgeous, right?" Alice beamed and pulled my along. "Just wait 'till you see how she drives."
"If it works half as well as it looks then it will still work at least fifty times better than anything I have or ever will own." I chuckled as I got into the car through the door Alice had so graciously held open for me.
Alice only met my remark with a laugh of her own as she started the car, the noise sounding a strangely satisfying purr, and smoothly backed out of the driveway.
"So, where are we going?" I asked as the vampire raced down the back roads at a speed that would definitely be frowned upon by any law enforcement.
"It's a surprise." Alice turned to give me a bright grin before turning her attention back to the road.
"Alice." I complained, which came out as a long and drawn out whine. She simply smirked and turned down a small dirt track that didn't even appear to be a road.
After only a short while the car started to slowly come to a stop, Alice opening my door before I even really registered that she had apparently arrived at our destination. As I stepped out of the car Alice ran to the trunk, retrieving a small basket smelling strongly of food. Scanning the surroundings quickly, I found nothing but the dirt road we drove in on, and woods surrounding us.
"I hope you don't mind a picnic. I figured it would look weird if we went out to a restaurant and I didn't eat anything." Alice said, suddenly sounding very unsure of herself.
"A picnic sounds perfect." I assured her. "Lead the way."
A bright smile replaced the look of uncertainty, and she quickly took my hand and started leading me through the forest. After a moment Alice's smile turned into a challenging smirk and she picked up her pace, effectively dragging me behind her.
"I thought you were all fast and graceful now Bella." She teased as she led me on.
Matching her smirk I picked up my own pace, slowly closing the gap between us and eventually running right next to her, our joined hands swinging between us. I knew she was holding back, after all there was no way I could keep up with a vampire in my human form, but it still felt good to have her push me, and me being able to rise to the challenge. For once I felt like an equal compared to the supernatural beings that had intertwined themselves into my life.
Eventually Alice began to gradually slow her speed, making me realize that we were getting close to wherever her destination was. I was proved right a moment later as Alice pulled me into a moonlight clearing, already bearing a blanket spanning a large portion of the ground. We made our way over to the blanket, and Alice released my hand to sit down, setting the basket next to her. Immediately I missed the feeling of her hand in mine, but I pushed that feeling aside and sat down on the other side of the basket, facing the raven-haired girl.
"The food is courtesy of Esme. Sadly I'm hopeless in the kitchen, but she was more than happy to help me. I told her to keep it simple, so I hope everything is okay." Alice informed me as she flipped open the basket.
I peered inside to find three sandwiches nestled next to two bottles of water, a bag of chips, and an apple.
"The food is perfect, thank you." I responded as I pulled out a sandwich and unwrapped it. As soon as I started eating I noticed Alice watching me with obvious curiosity. "Do I have something on my face?"
"What? Oh, no! Sorry, it's just… I don't remember anything about food, or what it's like to have to eat everyday." She admitted, her hands flailing and revealing how flustered she was.
"Oh, right…" I mumbled and took another bite of the sandwich, not knowing how to fill the sudden silence.
"Anyway," Alice was the first to speak, "did you ever figure out why Rikki was being difficult?"
"Well," I swallowed my bite before continuing, "she actually took off shortly after she went back to the house. Her and Danni have been on an extending hunting trip for the past few days."
"Oh, so that's a no?"
"Actually, I thought about it and figured it out." I answered. Alice was very obviously trying not to let loose a barrage of questions as I took a sip of water to clear my throat for the explanation. "Rikki had an interesting childhood, but it lead to her becoming very protective of those she actually lets close. Apart from Danni, Kat is the most important thing in her life."
"And you? You're her pride-mate after all." Alice interrupted.
"Rikki would give her life to protect the pride, but I'm a new addition. She's always going to defend Kat over me."
"But you didn't threaten Kat, or do anything to provoke her." Alice protested.
"I didn't threaten Kat, but I hurt her." I murmured, staring into the trees before taking a deep breath and returning my gaze to Alice. "Rikki was mad because, in her mind, I led Kat on, then dumped her." I elaborated.
"But you can't control Imprinting. It wasn't your fault. That and Kat found her Imprint!"
"That is true, but Imprinting doesn't eliminate the feelings we had. I still care about Kat, so I feel terrible that I left her so suddenly. And Kat has been left by two people now because of Imprints, so she'll bear those emotional scars her whole life. Rikki was pissed that I made Kat relive that pain.
"Not to mention, Rikki had been hanging around your family all day, which put her on edge." I elaborated. "She'll be fine when she gets back. And Danni will make sure she behaves. Sadly, Rikki thinks with her claws more than her head most of the time."
"Would Rikki's behavior have anything to do with the past you won't tell me about?" Alice poked me in the side, barely hidden curiosity in her eyes. I was glad that she didn't hone in on the Kat thing.
"Kind of." I grimaced, knowing that she was going to try and get the story out of me. And knowing the girl next to me, she would succeed.
"Can you give me any details?" Alice pleaded, a pout on her lips. And with that one expression I crumbled completely.
"Look, if I tell you the general story will you be happy?" Alice met my question with a small squeal and a vigorous head shake. "Alright, but you have to promise not to let her know that I told you, alright?"
"I swear." She even went as far as crossing her heart with her finger to prove her point.
"Great… Now, you remember when I told you that my kind can be made or born?" Alice nodded. "Good. Another piece is that born shifters tend to have better control, and are slightly stronger than shifters that are made. Bearing that in mind, there was a shifter that wanted to make an army of born shifters to challenge the Volturi."
"That's insane!" Alice gasped.
"Yeah, but shifters really don't like vampires, so it was a risk that the shifter was willing to take. So, he went around to villages and, well… mated with women to get them pregnant. One of those women was Rikki's mother. When she was born her father stole her from her mother, and added her to the growing number of shifters he had.
"Rikki grew up with a group of shifters that were taught that their only goal in life was to kill vampires, especially the Volturi. Luckily, Rikki realized that her father was insane and ran as soon as she shifted." I explained.
"How old was she then?"
"For out kind, born shifters will phase on the first full moon after their sixteenth birthday. And with Rikki, she just didn't shift back; she didn't see a reason to. Eventually she met Danni, then Kat, but that's another story." I finished.
"Wait, that's it? You're not going to tell me how they all met up?" Alice questioned.
"Like I said, that's another story. You'll just have to take me out again to get that story." I smirked at her and continued my meal.
"Are you bribing me to get me to date you?" Alice laughed.
"I think I am."
XXXXX
We sat and talked in the clearing for a while after the story, but we eventually agreed that it was late enough that I needed to head home to sleep, and the Cullens would probably wonder where Alice was if she stayed out much later.
So Alice drove me back to my house in her amazing car, and was walking me to the front door all to quickly.
"I had a great time tonight." I smiled and squeezed the hand that was currently intertwined with mine.
"I'm glad. I can officially say our first date was a success then! Except…" Alice trailed off as we reached the door.
"Except what?" I asked, curious as to what her sudden silence was all about.
"There's one more thing to make this night perfect." She explained.
"Wha-"
I was cut off but a pair of very soft lips touching mine, making any words or thoughts stop in their tracks. As gentle as the kiss was, it still set off fireworks and colors exploding behind my eyes, and all those other ridiculous clichés.
"I'll see you soon." Alice murmured as she leaned away from me and made her way back to her car.
I don't know how long I was standing there in a trance, but it was obviously far too long as a door opened behind me and a gentle hand pulled me into the house.
"We definitely need to work on this whole paralysis thing." Kat teased me, punching me lightly on the shoulder before she headed back upstairs.