A/N: I wanted to thank everyone for the reviews! They are magnificent, and I'm completely appreciative of them. :)
Also, I wanted to say that the story about the bottle of the sparkling water is a true story actually. It did happen to me recently, very amusing, and it's still a good laugh. I thought I would add it in here for some fun. On top of that, the Dragonball Evolution story is true. The experience in Half Blood Prince is also a true story. Enjoy!
Chapter Four: Promises
JPOV
Alice was an aggressive shopper to say the least.
If one could be talented at shopping, she was.
I had never been one to spend all day at the mall, but she made it fun. She was an entertainer without the aid of a microphone or directors left and right.
She told stories whenever they came to mind to whoever would listen. "Sparkling water is really quite dangerous," she told Emmett, who looked so confused both Edward and I laughed. She went onto to tell us a story from her previous year at college.
Out in the parking lot, nothing to do. So Alice and a boy named Ryan, who was present for the shopping trip, decided to explode a bottle of pomegranate cherry sparkling water--I was amazed that she remembered the flavor.
They loosened the lid just enough so that the bubbles could take form. Ryan threw the bottle down; it exploded, the cap went flying off with such force that the bottle went flying into Lace's face and nearly broke her nose.
I cringed. Blood. Just the thought of it...
Emmett laughed, reaching for some sparkling water bottles. I exchanged one glance with Edward. He snatched the newly discovered weapons away and I pushed Emmett down the aisle with some urgency.
Alice grinned. "It hurt! I couldn't smile for a week or my lip would bust open again and my nose was swollen. It was horrible. And I was traumatized."
"How?" Edward asked.
"I hate blood. Even when I can see someone's veins in their arm." She shuddered and continued on down the aisle without us.
I exchanged a glance with Edward, who laughed. Emmett was amazed, but still sulking that we ruined his plans to assault someone while exploding a carbonated drink.
We paused for a moment, then followed the others.
"Dude, wouldn't it be cool if your blood was blue?" Taylor asked, obviously trying to gross poor Alice out.
"It is blue," Alice replied in a disgusted voice, but still smug as if everyone should have known that already. "It turns red when exposed to oxygen." She was smart! Very smart. She could argue anything too. It continued to surprise me.
"Really?" Taylor pressed.
Alice nodded once and shuddered again. "Your arms are grossing me out," she muttered, and pulled down the sleeves of his shirt to cover the veins.
I smiled. She had a unique way of dealing with things, and she could have never known that it helped me as much as it helped her...
"But wouldn't it be cool if you actually bled blue blood?" Taylor continued.
Alice spun on her heel to glare at him. "Go talk to Tenny about reproduction and stop talking about blood."
Tennille grinned at Taylor.
"Try saying that ten times fast," Shelton told me. "Bled blue blood."
"Bled blue blood, bled blue blood, bled blue blood, bled blue blood--" and the entire group began. I laughed at how hard it was for all of them. Poor Alice though! Like me, she seemed to feel pain at the mention of blood, just in a different way and for different reasons. But it still came as amusing that she was so scared of blood. Talking about it, thinking about it, she hurried away from the group quickly when they didn't stop their childish contest. No one was able to say it more than four times fast though.
Alice turned again, walking backwards, and she ended the contest easily by winning. She half-gagged when she finished, but she took my hand gently and led me towards the coffee and tea aisle. Something told me no one would suspect something in her presence there. I assumed it was simply because she noticed I was one of the few who refused to take part in her torture until she smiled up at me.
"I know I've asked you this before, but I don't care; I'm going to ask again," she told me. "Are you okay? You look like you've just swallowed something gross."
"Really?" I pressed. She'd hesitated before she told me what I looked like...
She half smiled, half glared at me. "Okay, I was going to say you look like Edward Scissorhands, but I thought that was mean," she admitted.
I laughed. That was a new comparison, though it was probably true. I grew more serious then and shrugged. "It's complicated," I said.
"Oh, I think I can keep up," she replied.
I studied her, honestly tempted to tell her everything. She deserved to know, didn't she? I and not just for her endless patience and limitless kindness. She was already an unaware victim because she was in danger. And she wasn't trying to comprehend it, she was trying to help me when she already had so much, more than anyone could know. She had helped me. I wanted to tell her.
No need to tell her things she wouldn't understand though...
I shrugged again. "It's many things actually, but it's nothing to worry about. I won't retreat into a mansion and create a new form of precipitation."
Alice smiled. "Are you sure?"
I nodded once. "Yes." I sounded too confident. Lying came too easily now. Lying to her felt so wrong, more wrong than when I lied to anyone else. She hadn't done so much as gawk at me or invade my personal business. She'd challenged me, but the shopping trip did me good. I had never enjoyed myself so much, not for a hundred years. She was better than a mountain lion's blood. She was alive! She was good. She proved not all humans were worth the days without being thirsty.
Alice nodded then. "Let's go," she said suddenly, talking my hand again.
"Where?" I asked, following as she broke into a jog.
"There's a formal ball on Labor Day weekend."
"I have a suit at--"
"That you've worn before, thrown in your closet, and forgotten about. I bet you wouldn't even be able to find it," she said. It was true... So I let her lead me towards the store full of suits, tuxedos, dress shoes, etc.
"Hello, can I help you?" the woman employee asked, rushing forward before the male could. I hated how society looked at me!
"Yes, we need a black suit," Alice answered. I had no objections. She had proved she knew what she was doing when it came to fashion. I would let her dress me in as many suits as she wanted if it would make her smile a few more times.
"We want like a European cut if you have any," Alice announced. I waited patiently behind her, giving no argument. "Single breasted."
"Am I being forced to go to the ball also?" I asked her quietly, leaning in a bit. That frustrated me. I wasn't being careful enough.
Alice flipped through a catalog without looking up. "No, but you need a suit if you change your mind. You could use it for home coming or the fall dance," she told me casually.
"And what if I can't dance?" I pressed. It did imply that I couldn't dance when I could. I was used to waltzes, reels, etc. And even then, it had been years and years since I'd even been on a dance floor.
Alice arched one eyebrow as if she knew I could dance already, but she shrugged. "It's not as hard as it looks," she told me.
"Then you know how to dance?"
She turned to glare at me.
The employee came back with three samples to show Alice, not me. One was clearly blue instead of black, but Alice only said it wouldn't look right on me anyway because it had four buttons. She made me try on the others and I let her decide which looked best. She knew what was in. Besides, her knowledge of men's suits was better than mine. I trusted her to decide, even if I never wore the damn suit.
"It looks almost like a Gucci suit," she commented, checking the price tag. It was expensive, but not that expensive and all my clothes had been paid for by my new mother, Esme. She was generous and usually went for designer clothes that would survive our hunting trips.
"We'll take it," Alice said with a cheerful tone. "It looks great." She clapped a few times, clearly excited.
I changed out of the suit without taking more than a few minutes. By the time I came out of the dressing room, the suit was paid for by Alice--and bagged. "You know I have money right," I mumbled, very annoyed.
Alice's grin only widened as she nodded. "Like I don't. Besides, shopping for other people is more fun, and you'll use it eventually." She handed me the bag before I could argue any further.
We headed back to meet the others. On the way, we saw Tennille and Taylor pressed up against the wall. Alice laughed quietly.
"There you are!" Emmett exclaimed.
"We sent Ten to look for you," Shelton said.
Alice nodded, throwing a finger over her shoulder. "Nice choice. She's making out with Taylor," she replied, shoving past the boys. She went to look at shoes with the girls while we went to look at video games. It would give us something to do at home on the sunny days when we couldn't even step out of the house.
By the time we met the girls two hours later, they had decided to go see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. After her previous act of generosity, I didn't find it surprising that she bought tickets for all of us, except two, claiming that it would save time.
Emmett didn't get a ticket for tickling her in line and she almost elbowed Ryan in the face when she spun around, flailing her arms to get away.
And Taylor didn't get one either for his continuous discussion of blood.
Our group was the only people in the whole theater, so we picked the best seats. Alice leaned against Shelton, showing how close they were, and she stretched her legs over two more seats until Tennille came to sit down, then she gave up one and bent her legs. I sat behind her, Emmett on my left and Edward on his left.
The previews were the funniest and best part of the whole movie. Where Wild Things Are came on and Alice cheered loudly. "That was my favorite movie in the whole world growing up," she told Shelton. "I still have it in my apartment too!"
Shelton laughed and I smiled. She held onto her past. She was still a child at heart though.
Then a preview for The Princess and the Frog came on. It went through the popular Disney movies. Alice clapped when The Lion King was shown, but the boys erupted in whistles when The Little Mermaid flashed across the screen. Alice laughed so hard she almost fell off the seat. Even Emmett joined in, which made me look to Edward in annoyance. He treated Lace like a little sister or something and the only time they'd truly spoken was when she was giving him ways to play pranks on us--exploding carbonated drinks in our faces.
After that, the movie was uneventful and only held my attention when I couldn't see Alice.
The movie ended and we took all of the credits to gather our bags. Alice had taken her shoes off half way through, and I noticed she had cried some. "Emmett, I seriously thought you would throw a whole bucket of popcorn on my head," she announced, slipping into her shoes.
"Dammit! Why didn't I think of that!?" Emmett yelled.
"Hit him with your purse," Shelton muttered.
"I go for fists usually," Alice replied, but she only sent one glare over her shoulder at Emmett, then she hurried out of the theater. It seemed that her friends were her loyal followers. She was constantly followed by them! I could clearly understand why she knew how to five any person, even me, a good time. She had enough energy to feed a hundred people. She was the kind of girl who could date anyone, yet I only saw her alone.
No, that was none of my business.
She didn't pry; the least I could do was give her the same respect.
We stopped to get more coffee on the way to the grocery store to get sushi, salad, pizza, and anything else people requested. "What the hell is that?" Emmett demanded, mostly to annoy Lace, gesturing to her coffee cup.
"It's an Americano," she said in an annoyed tone. "Back in the early 1900s with all the wars, Americans were in Europe would ask for coffee and they were given like lattes and espressos. They kept asking for just plain black coffee. So eventually, they just began to water down espressos which they called Americanos. This is an iced Americano, so cold water instead of hot is added to the espresso. It's got the same strength as an espresso, just a different taste," Alice explained, and offered Emmett a sip.
He declined with a cringe at the thought.
Alice let everyone else have some though.
The grocery store was quick because only Alice, Shelton, and I went. The others went onto her nearby apartment or home in a few cases.
Half an hour later, we arrived at her apartment building. It was nice. Not like most college students could afford. Nice enough to have a door man in the day and an expensive inner-com system for nights.
Alice unlocked the door and I walked in first to drop the bags on the counter. Shelton went to go debate on which movies to watch.
"You need help with anything?" I asked.
Alice smiled, using her foot to close the door. I moved to take the bags off her hands quickly. "Thanks. Um... I'm all set, I think. I just have to put the pizzas in and heat up the artichoke dip," she replied.
I glanced around her apartment. It was well furnished and the decorations were unique, several paintings like you find in coffee shop windows for sale. An entertainment system over the fireplace, a gray couch and a coffee table with a few fashion magazines and a textbook on Shakespeare. There was two bedrooms through a short hallway, a large bathroom, and a good kitchen. Very nice indeed! I saw the four bookshelves scattered in the main room and one of the bedrooms had a fifth in view.
Alice had more money than I thought, which made the suit look like nothing. She wasn't snobby about it though. She had the least bags out of everyone.
Licking her finger, she pointed to the two girls on their way over. "My room mates, Brittany and Amber. Girlies, this is Jasper," she said. Introductions before other business. She was definitely used to hosting parties.
"Hey," Amber greeted, then she hugged Alice's waist in an almost manipulating manner. "Can I ask you a favor, hon?"
"What?" Alice said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
"We need soda and ice ream! Your car is the only one we have, the three of us. And well... you don't like us driving it because we're not exactly caring about damage we inflict on it..."
"I just went to the store!" Alice glared at them for a moment. "Let's eat, watch one movie, and then I'll get your dumb ice cream."
"And soda!" Brittany exclaimed, hugging Lace quickly. They obviously did appreciate what she did for them, and Alice didn't seem to mind as long as she got to sit down for a moment.
The first movie we turned on was Dragonball Evolution. No one argued, like they knew it would be fun no matter what. But before we'd made it past the first scene, Shelton said, "It looks like he's shooting drugs" while Gokku was shown sweating.
"Sh! Don't give away the whole movie!" Alice snapped.
"Wait. Is he seriously shooting drugs?" Brittany asked.
Alice paused the movie to glare at her. "No, he's not. I was joking, you born-to-be-blond."
"Hey! I resent the blond comment," Amber exclaimed.
The rest of the movie was fairly boring. There was an argument between Alice and Taylor about whether or not Gokku was played by Billy Boyd. As usual, Alice was right. The second debate was why Gokku's grandfather was Asian. Alice paused the move until every person was quiet. "It doesn't matter," she told them, and hit play. She played the act of peace maker whenever she wasn't a part of the argument.
"Go get us soda, pixie," Ryan ordered at the end.
"Elf! Not dwarf!" Alice said. "I said pixies were elven creatures, not dwarfs! They're not necessarily short."
"So you are short?" Emmett pressed.
"I'm flipping you off in my mind," she muttered, standing. "Anyone want to come get soda with me? Somebody make a list of what people want while I get different shoes too." She disappeared through the bedroom door with all the books. Since she was smaller than her two room mates, I guessed it was her room. She could not share shoes with either Brittany or Amber.
Shelton made the list, which was very long:
Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Coke, ice tea, Sierra Mist, Sprite, chocolate chip ice cream, cookie dough, rainbow sherbet, mint ice cream, fudge ripple, etc.
"Seriously, I'm almost out of gas, you guys," Alice mumbled, scanning the list. "I'll need to go to twelve stores to find all of this crap that will be stuck in my freezer for the rest of our lives!"
"So use Edward's car," Emmett suggested, and Edward glared at him.
Alice grabbed her keys off the counter. "Not necessary. I can get gas on the way," she said, and it was probably half due to Edward's reaction. Still, driving a truck of that size, then trying to drive a tiny Volvo sedan was a big change. I knew my brother was quite fond of his Volvo too.
"Anyone coming?" Alice asked.
Emmett jumped up. "One can only watch Signs so many times," he announced.
Alice grinned. "Oh, yay?" she whispered at me, a cute question that made me smile.
Edward and I both decided to go after that. I went to make sure Emmett would behave and leave Alice alone, not try to tickle her while she was driving, etc. Edward went to watch my back in case I suddenly lost control. It was unlikely. Alice always kept me distracted from my misery. She was good at that.
"That's right--take the hottest boys here," Brittany whined with a smile as Alice headed for the door, us following closely.
"Taylor's better!" Tennille exclaimed defensively.
"I prefer blonds," Alice replied. "And lean guys. Not the veiny guys with blue blood!"
"Would you shut up about that, please?" Taylor demanded. "So I didn't read everything in the stupid anatomy class last year. Big whoop!"
Alice laughed.
We left without another word then.
My brothers weren't trying to hover or babysit me, but they were and it annoyed me. I'd disappeared with Alice in the mall and nothing happened. They trusted me less than I trusted myself. Edward could read my mind, but he couldn't understand how easy Alice made everything for me. To him, it was only a thought with no specific details.
Alice offered Edward shotgun. "It goes with control over the radio usually," she continued with a friendly voice that could put anyone at ease. She was strangely perfect.
Edward seemed surprised. He'd been in her mind all day though. What was there to be surprised about? Alice was too honest perhaps, yet not purposefully in a mean way.
Edward chose Thriving Ivory because he couldn't find any classical CDs. They were a beautiful band, soft with wonderful instrumental pieces. Alice was singing before we were out of the parking lot. A song called "Angels on the Moon", a song I could relate to in some ways.
"So where are you all from?" Alice asked, glancing in her rear view mirror at me.
"We moved from Forks, Washington," Edward answered.
"Never heard of the town specifically, but it must be rainy if it's in Washington."
"You have no idea," Emmett told her. "It rains like this almost every day." I knew Emmett hated rain, despite the fact that we couldn't go out in the sun.
Alice nodded once. "I love the rain, but I'm from Los Angeles, so we don't get it too often," she replied, switching on her turning signal and she continued to sing. Her voice was stunning! I loved the sound.
Don't tell me if I'm dying, cause I don't wanna know
If I can't see the sun, maybe I should go
Don't wake me 'cause I'm dreaming of angels on the moon
Where everyone you know never leaves too soon
Do you believe in the day that you were born?
Tell me do you believe?
And do you know that every day's the first
Of the rest of your life?
It was interesting. It made me miss the days when I could dream, as far away as they were. I hadn't dreamt in so long. What did I have to dream of anyway? I'd seen it all, heard it all, even if I hadn't felt it all. Some things were still missing from my life.
"Do you have any siblings?" I asked.
"An old brother, Travis."
"Where is he?"
Alice smiled. It told me she was close to her brother and missed him. "He goes to UCLA. I see him on the holidays and call him every weekend," she answered.
"Does sparkling water really explode?" Emmett wondered, and I rolled my eyes. Honestly, how could he not know that? I was out of society for over a hundred years and I knew that it did!
Alice laughed and nodded. "Yes. I'll show you sometime if it won't break my nose," she promised. "Carbonated drinks all explode."
Emmett was far too excited.
"Esme will get very angry if you explode one in the house," Edward mentioned, probably reading Emmett's mind because our big brother looked disappointed suddenly.
"Esme?" Alice repeated.
"Our adopted mother," I said.
"Like you're under eighteen," Alice said in reply.
"They adopted us when we were and let us stay after," Emmett explained because I refused to open my mouth. Lying came too easy for him. It was frustrating for me. I wished he wouldn't lie to her. To everyone else, fine. Someday, I would tell her the truth. Someday... It was a promise! She deserved to know, even if the truth hurt her or us or both. I couldn't do that to my family yet. They had earned my loyalty as much as Alice had earned the right of my honesty.
We spent an entire hour at the store and got every item on the list at one store. We still procrastinated because it was "pay back" for them not requesting ice cream and soda before. We spent most of the time talking about any strange item we found in the many aisles.
Upon returning to her apartment, half of the crowd had left already. We watched Gone With the Wind because Alice said it was her favorite movie, then we watched Titanic and The Family Stone before everyone else was gone. It was late. I knew I should have left with Emmett and Edward, but I couldn't.
Something was almost in my grasp, even if I didn't know what it was. I could not leave yet. I was so close to whatever it was.
No, I would not leave.
So I stayed and Alice didn't object. We sat on the couch together, National Treasure playing softly in the background. It was quiet enough so that Amber and Brittany could sleep. Alice was curled up in a ball, her legs tucked under her chin. She wrapped her slim arms around them. She was quiet and content; I was still restless because I could not place a finger on what I could almost catch, almost taste.
I sighed. "You were kind to invite me," I said softly. "Thank you. I'm glad I came."
"You speak like you don't have anything to say, but you don't want silence," she remarked, glancing over at me. "Jasper, maybe I've lost my mind, but you're not... like others."
I frowned thoughtfully. "Is it so obvious?" There was no sense denying it.
"So there is something?"
I nodded. "It's complex though. You wouldn't understand if I told you."
She turned slightly so she was facing me. "That's only an assumption," she replied. "You don't know what I'm truly capable of understanding."
"Would you tell me then?"
"Some day," she whispered.
How was it? Review, please!