Hey everyone! This is sort of a short update, but all I could manage at the moment! If you want to see the outfits Bella & Edward are wearing at the presentation dinner, follow this link—.com/cgi/profile?id=1163576

Ignore the random shoe in the corner :)

Thanks!

EDWARD POV

It was six days since Carlos and Bella broke up, and we were officially off to New York. She was doing somewhat better, and I had seen her smile recently, but she still gave off an aura of sadness. Charlie hugged her goodbye, and then Emmett, Alice, Rose and Jasper. I hugged everyone too, and when Rosalie wrapped her arms around me lightly, she whispered in my ear.

"Tell her." She said quietly. I looked at her, not understanding for a minute. And then she gave me a look, and I got it. I shook my head vehemently, and she rolled her eyes. Everyone wished me good luck, and with one last hug from my mother, we boarded our plane, and settled down in the seats.

"Nervous?" Bella asked me, smiling slightly as I ran a hand through my hair. I nodded. "Don't be."

"I can't help it." I told her honestly.

"You've done this before." She reassured me.

"Yeah, but not on this scale, this is way bigger than anything I've ever performed. It's basically my ticket into the school." I worried, buckling my seat belt.

"Don't be silly, you've already been accepted." She said, turning her cell phone off.

"Yeah, but-" I began to say, but she cut me off with one look, and the plane started to gain altitude.

BELLA POV

The plane touched down smoothly at the New York airport, and I had almost forgotten about Carlos. Edward and I had played games and laughed on the plane, and the mounting excitement for Edward's performance was building up in my stomach, pushing all thoughts of his harsh words away. We left the plane and I breathed the fresh, clean air. It was renewing somehow, and I sighed. Edward looked down at me, and seeing that nothing was wrong, smiled. I wrapped an arm around him momentarily, and gave him a squeeze.

"I'm excited for you." I said.

"Yeah?" He asked as we made our way through the baggage check and then were dismissed to hail a taxi.

"What songs will you play?" I asked curiously as we finally flagged one down and piled in the back.

"Well we all get three songs. You'll see." He smiled mischievously.

"You're not gonna tell me?" I asked, poking him in the ribs.

"Nope." He said, popping the p. I looked out the window, shaking my head, and took in the city. I had been here once before when I was 12 for a family vacation, but only for a week. It was about 5 in the evening now, and the sun was barely setting. The taxi driver dropped us off at our hotel, a five star, high class building that Julliard was paying for it's students to stay in. We took the elevator up to the seventh floor, and as the door opened, Edward bumped into someone, literally.

"Kyle?" His voice sounded surprised.

"Oh, hey Edward." The boy named Kyle looked distracted. He had mousy brown hair that curled, and glasses, but nice lips and teeth. His eyes were brown, and they were framed with thick lashes. He was sorting through a whole bunch of papers, and dropped a couple on his way into the elevator. I bent down and handed them to him. He looked up, and smiled. "Hi."

"Hello." I said in a friendly way. He seemed like a sweetie. Not my type, but definitely friend material.

"Who's this?" He asked Edward. I rolled my eyes, not about to let Edward introduce me like a child. I stuck out my hand.

"I'm Bella." I said, and he shook my outstretched hand, looking awkward as he fumbled with papers again.

"The best friend. Edward told me about you." He said knowingly. I blushed.

"You did?" I looked to Edward. He shrugged, smiling. Kyle said goodbye, hurrying off to organize something. It turned out Edward knew most of the people staying on this floor from his various visitation trips to Julliard and through summer programs, camps, developments and stuff like that. We met a pair of twins who were talented drum artists, a handful of singer/songwriters like Edward, and on the last door before ours, a curvy woman a couple years younger than Esme, named Brooke. She smiled at Edward in a strange way, and he smiled politely back. She was the schools coordinator and apparently a big shot.

"Brooke, this is Bella." He said, motioning to me. I waved, and she waggled her lacquered nails at me. "My best friend."

"Hello Bella, nice to meet you." She said sweetly.

"You too." I said back. There was something weird about her. As we turned the corner to get to our room, she smiled at Edward in what was definitely a seductive way, and then shut herself back in her room, now arguing loudly with someone on her cell phone. I gave Edward a look as he fiddled with the lock on our door.

"She's a piece of work, I know." He chuckled.

"You noticed?" I said sarcastically. He laughed again.

"I have to be nice to her. She's the one who got me here." He said, and I rolled my eyes as he finally opened the door. It was beautiful, with mahogany floors and a large white, fluffy bed. The windows were huge and arched and framed with flowy gauze curtains. The counters of the small kitchen were granite, and the pictures were modern.

"Ooh!" I gasped as we entered. I fell down on the bed, laughing, and Edward smiled.

"It's good to hear your laugh, beautiful." He told me. I sat up, looking at him. "Are you okay?" He asked me.

"Yes, I think I am." I said, thinking about it first.

"Good, cause he was a jerk." Edward said simply as he dropped our suitcases and headed into the washroom. I heard the water start and Edward climb into the shower quickly. I sighed, letting thoughts of my break up consume me again.

EDWARD POV

I let the hot water run over my back and sighed. Bella looked beautiful, even in sweats and a college sweatshirt, her hair a mess, looking travel tired. I couldn't stand it. I had been doing my best these past months to act normal around her, act like I didn't want to declare my love right on the spot. I tried to act like she wasn't the only one, like I wasn't madly in love with my best friend. I felt so caged in, I had always told Bella everything, and now there was something between us that I just couldn't say. It felt wrong keeping something from her. I wondered how long it would take her to find out, she always did eventually. I winced, dreading the moment, and considered just spilling it all out, before coming to my senses and shaking my head. I stepped out of the shower and dried off, pulling on a white dress shirt and some dark jeans. I came back out into the main room to find Bella sitting cross legged on the bed, flipping through TV channels lazily. I couldn't help but crack a smile at the expressions on her face as the channel changed.

"Get dressed, Bella Smella. There's a presentation dinner tonight." I said, and she looked at me in a way that suggested she didn't want to go.

"Seriously?" She asked me. I nodded.

"Oh come on, you're my date. You have to go with me!" I teased.

"Fine." She whined, hopping off the bed and pulling things out of her suitcase.

BELLA POV

Edward emerged from the washroom in a crisp, white linen button up shirt and dark blue jeans. His hair was wet, and he smiled at me.

"Get dressed, Bella Smella. There's a presentation dinner tonight." He said, and my stomach dropped. I was so tired.

"Seriously?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Oh come on, you're my date. You have to go with me!" He said in a teasing tone, and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine." I whined, hopping off the bed. I unzipped my suitcase and wondered what I should wear. Edward had told me to bring a few formal things, and Alice had taken care of that. I held up a soft pink, strapless silk Chiffon dress, and groaned.

"Alice..." I muttered. Edward looked over, now attaching a black tie to his collared shirt. "Too formal?" I asked him.
"No, it's nice." He said, smiling. I looked at it one more time, and then, finding nothing better, sighed and headed towards the bathroom. I slipped the dress on, and was surprised to find that it was very comfortable, fitting very nicely on my frame. Usually, I hated dresses, but this one was maybe the best I had ever worn. How had Alice known it would suit me so well? I shrugged, smiling a half smile, and began doing my hair. I let it fall loosely in a messy bun, but decided that wasn't presentable. I considered straightening it, but then remembered how flat my hair looked when Alice did that. I settled on letting it fall casually over my shoulders in soft curls, one small section pinned back. I walked back out of the bathroom and turned to Edward.
"Do I look okay?" I asked him. He looked my way, and smiled.
"Of course. You look more than okay." He said. I blushed as usual.
"Thanks." I said softly. He finally succeeded in tying his tie. "You look good." I told him truthfully. He smiled brightly.
"Thanks." He said happily. I looked in my suitcase one more time, and found the necklace Edward had given me for my last birthday. It was a tiny, solid silver heart on a thin chain. I put it on, and bit my lip, not wanting to wear the low, light cream coloured heels of Alice's she had thrown in my suitcase. I grudgingly put them on, not having any other shoes, and stood up. Luckily, in eighth grade Alice had taught me how to walk in heels at one of our sleepovers, and I wasn't completely helpless. Usually having uncomfortable stilts attached to my feet wasn't a Bella sort of activity. "Ready?" Edward asked me. I nodded, and we headed down stairs. The presentation dinner was being held in the hotel's ballroom, which was on the ground floor. The room had silver and glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and was lit softly. Round tables were arranged around the room, white tablecloths over them. Glass cups and plates were arranged neatly on top of them, and there was a stage set up at the front, which I guessed was for guest speakers. The room was already relatively full, and we took a seat with Kyle from before and his twelve year old sister, Kira, whom he had brought with his extra ticket.

xox