Ever since my debacle of a date with Aro, Alice has slowly been coming around. But she still acts a little off. Sometimes I catch her staring longingly into space and other times, there's an intense sadness in her eyes when she looks at me that makes me wish I could take away the pain. There have been a few times when she looked like she wanted to tell me something important, let me know the reason behind her sullen moods, the reason that spark is no longer in her eyes... but she always looks away and quickly changes the subject. She tries to hide it, probably hoping I haven't noticed. I can tell she's trying to come back to her normal self, though, so I don't mention any of it. She'll let me know when she's ready, although it kind of hurts that she won't confide in me. I don't know what on earth happened, but I'm glad it's over and she's moved on. I missed her immensely. I wanted to be mad at her for avoiding me and acting like a total assface, but she's my Al. I can never stay mad at her for more than 12 hours.

"Alright," I say to Alice as she straightens my hair with her beloved FHI Runway flatiron. "What's his name again? I forgot."

She groans in frustration, as if I'm annoying her to death, but I can see her trying to fight back a smile.

"For the last time. His name's Riley, Bells."

"Okay. Miley. Got it." I smile at her through the vanity mirror and she rolls her eyes.

"And how do you know Riley?"

"Well... he's the brother of one of my classmates, Bree."

It takes a moment for her words to sink in.

"What? You don't even KNOW him?! A classmate? You don't talk to any of your classmates outside of class, Alice! You don't even know her and you set me up with her brother? He's gonna be another basket case! Why would you set me up with a complete stranger?!" I can only imagine the fuckery I'm gonna be put through tonight. I cross my arms and use my patented laser death glare at Alice through the mirror.

"Calm, cleansing breaths, Bella. Everything will eventually work out. I promise I know what I'm doing. His sister is really nice and pretty, so he must be great too. He plays lacrosse, Bella. How hot is that? Besides, Bree showed me a picture and he's totes hot," she casually informs me while grabbing another section of hair to straighten.

"Totes? What the fuck is a totes, Alice?"

She sighs loudly, clearly annoyed and explains, "Bella, 'totes' is only the new 'in' word. It's short for totally!"

"Alright, how about we use our new vocabulary word in a sentence, hmm? If this guy is a nut job, your ass will be grass and I'll totes be the weedwacker."

"Alright. All done!" she says brightly, completely ignoring my threat and laser death glare. "Now, go try on those outfits I left on the bed so I can figure out which one you're wearing."

"Aliiice," I whine, "why do I have to try on four freakin' outfits? Can't you just pick the one you think will look the best?"

"No. Now chop-chop, we don't have all night. I still have shoes and accessories to coordinate depending on what ensemble we choose."

"Don't you mean which ensemble you choose?" I huff while stomping off to my bedroom.

An hour and seven damn outfits later and Alice is done with her torture.

"Oh, Bells. You look so... HAWT!"

"Thanks, Al," I tell her while slipping my lip gloss and Touch Pro 2 into my purse. "Did you put the directions into my GPS?"

"Yep, I'm already ahead of you. Now go. I don't want you to be late."

I walk over and give Alice a big hug, hoping to absorb some of her sadness into my bones. "Thanks, Al. I love you."

"Love you too, Bellaphant." She smiles sadly while waving me off.

--------------

The restaurant isn't too hard to find. When I pull up to it 30 minutes after leaving my place, I see the name Molto Bella. Cute. I smile. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. I love Italian and I'm totes starving.

Upon walking into the restaurant, I'm greeted warmly and walked to my table toward a waiting Riley. He stands up as I approach, looking at me like I'm a Hungry Man frozen dinner. Damn, do I look that good? When I arrive at our table, he reaches out and gently takes my hand, bringing it to his lips. A shiver runs down my spine. And not a good shiver, either. A creepy shiver.

"Isssabellla," he says in a weird, husky voice with an even weirder accent. Where the hell is this dude from? "It's so..." he dramatically smells the air around my head, "nice to finally meet you."

Weird.

"Ummm. Yeah, me too. I've heard so much about you. I hope I didn't keep you waiting long..."

"Not at all."

He pulls out my seat for me and I hear him sniff my hair while he pushes my chair in. He whispers something about me being "mouthwaaatering" while walking back around to his seat. Yeah. Definitely creepy. I look at him and notice he has on sunglasses. At night. In a restaurant.

"So, Riley... Why exactly are you wearing sunglasses?"

He chuckles darkly.

Um. Yeah. Your creep-factor is increasing, dude.

"Oh... Isabelllla. All in due time, my lovely. Let us drink."

He gestures toward my glass.

"I... propose a toast... to delicious beginnings."

The hell?

I hesitantly lift my glass and sniff the red wine. It smells familiar and weird.

"What kind of wine is this? It smells a little funny."

He chuckles darkly again.

Okay, Creepy Riley is starting to... well, creep me out.

"Isabellla... I requested they fill our glasses with my own drink. I brought it here for us. It's very... fragrant..."

Yeah, fragrantly stinky.

I don't wanna be rude to him or his funky wine, so I take a small, tentative sip. And damn near puke my guts out. I try to hold back the dry heaves.

"Riley," I say slowly, trying to find my chi and stay calm before I hyperventilate. "Did you just have me drink blood? Fucking BLOOD? Are you in-fucking-sane?!"

He smiles widely. And I see them and gasp loudly. Long, sharp canine teeth.

Oh. Hell. No.

"Isabelllla, do not be upset. Blood is nature's nectar of life. We are but peasants, suckling at its teat."

"Did you seriously just say 'teat'?"

His creepy smile widens as if I offered him a taste of my milkshake while he slowly lowers his glasses from his face. I damn near fly out of my seat. His eyes are red. Fucking. Red.

"What the fuck?!" I squeak, backing my chair up and grabbing my steak knife.

"I'm a very powerful man in my circle, little lamb. I could give you anything you wish, fulfill your every desire. Give you the finest, the best, of everything. Does that sound good, my pet?"

"As enticing as that sounds, I'll have to pass. I'm not a dog and I'm no one's pet. Besides propositioning me like some whore, there's something else bothering me..." I tap my fingers on my chin as if in deep thought. "Oh! You made me drink blood, Riley! Can't forget that creepy tidbit, you fucker!" I hiss through clenched teeth, trying not to yell and make a scene.

He smirks playfully while I glare death lasers into his brain.

"Do you believe in vampires, Isabella?"

My eyes widen in surprise. Vampires?! Oh. Hell. No. This bastard's crazy! Is he find-out-where-I-live-and-watch-me-in-my-sleep-crazy? Leave-dead-koala-bears-on-my-doorstep-crazy? If this dude really believes he's a vampire, he's nuttier than a port-a-potty at a peanut eating festival. I need to make an excuse. Fast. Hopefully he won't notice what a shitty liar I am.

"Ummm... soooo. Yeeaah... my... niece's boyfriend's cousin is stranded in... California City. Yeah, that's it. And I, uhhh... need to go get her before she... gets herpes from that one guy. Bye."

I hastily grab my purse and get out of my seat, trying to rush toward the door before this maniac sees what kind of car I drive and turns into an undead stalker.

"Isabella! Do not leave! Let us drink nectar together! Let me enlighten you!" Riley loudly yells across the restaurant.

I duck my head, mortified beyond belief when everyone turns to look at me. Hurry up, feet! I give the valet my ticket and tell him to put some pep in his step because I have a blood drinking looney toon on my heels. The valet shows back up quickly with my car. I thank him, jump in and skid the fuck out before Riley turns into a bat or some shit. Un-fucking-believable. Alice has got some 'splainin' to do. I don't even wanna know what he did to get that blood.

Only I could have such a plethora of these types of hell dates under my belt. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I look up toward the sky. Seriously, God? Really?

I pull into a liquor store for some Jack. Hopefully the burning liquid will kill enough brain cells to make me forget about Dracula. Jack and my Snuggie will make it all better. Pfffft. Yeah right.

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I stole the nickname Bellaphant from coachlady1's story Dangerous Corporate Liaisons. Her Emmett is funny as hell and has all kinds of silly nicknames for Bella. Speaking of coachlady1, have I mentioned how great of a beta she is? :-D

A Touch Pro 2 is only the coolest Windows Mobile phone EVER! Fuck an iPhone, I'm a Windows gal and proud of it! *does New Jersey fist pump*

Sorry it took longer than planned to update. I got caught up in a few fics and couldn't tear myself away. I'm sure you all know how that is ;-)

Check out my one shots, The Motion in the Ocean and The Joys of Parenthood. They're my babies.

Until next time! Smooches! ^_^