A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I promised this chapter would've been up already, but have decided to make two long chapters for the month of February. I figured the last chapters, although important, haven't given you what you really wanted. So I promise, this chapter will give you some good news for all the TEAM EDWARD fans. Read and review and let me know your thoughts/questions/concerns.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, I own nothing TWILIGHT related.
BPOV
February 4
I spent last night at Alice and Edward's house after our very long road trip coming home from the basketball game. Alice had already decided that her and I would be going shopping for the most perfect dance outfits or dresses. Elizabeth had already agreed to drive us up to Port Angeles, and we were leaving bright and early. So here I was in a car with Alice and Elizabeth and the sun was barely up over the horizon. Apparently, all the good dresses would be gone after 9 A.M.
On the drive, Elizabeth, Alice, and I caught up on each other's lives. Elizabeth was trying to perfect a new pie recipe. Alice told me about her and Jasper, and even told us about what Jasper did for her on their last anniversary. I told Elizabeth and Alice about Mike and all the cute things he had left me in my locker. Elizabeth didn't say much, but Alice seemed happy for me. We switched our conversation to what kind of outfits we wanted for the dance next Saturday. I told Alice and Elizabeth that I was hoping to keep it simple and get a red or pink dress. I was actually hoping to get some cute shoes or accessories with hearts on them. Alice launched into a long discussion of "acceptable" possibilities, including a black mini skirt with a red sparkly top or a red dress with red heels. Edward didn't have to spend the day with us, because obviously, guys were a lot easier to dress. He already had a pair of black dress pants that he was going to pair with a red top and black tie. Instead, he had opted to spend the day with his girlfriend. Alice and Elizabeth didn't say much more than that when I had asked.
After an hour-long drive, we finally arrived to Port Angeles. Alice and Elizabeth led me to a cute little boutique on the outskirts of town. I would have walked right by it if they hadn't pulled me inside. The bell above the door rang as we came into the showroom. There were dresses and party clothing everywhere. Red, pink, and purple hearts decorated the store in honor of the upcoming holiday. I stopped moving when the most perfect red dress caught my eyes. It was a cute spaghetti-strap dress with a cute little shawl. It covered enough skin to be comfortable, but looked gorgeous enough that I knew Mike would love it too. I quickly found the dress in my size and went over to the dressing room. It was a beautiful dress even on the hanger, but when I got it on, I was suddenly self-conscious. I went out to use the larger mirrors outside the dressing room and Elizabeth came running over to me. (A/N: picture of Bella's dress and Alice's final choice are on my profile).
"Oh Bella! You look beautiful. I've never seen a more perfect dress for you," she gushed.
I of course blushed and was certain that my face matched the dress. I thanked Elizabeth quietly and was turning around to reenter the dressing room. Alice came bounding over to us with an armload full of clothes. She stood frozen in front of me with a slightly wicked grin on her face. I looked at her slightly confused, because I could see that she was up to something, but decided it was better if I didn't know what was going on. Alice pulled herself out of whatever faraway land her mind had gone and spoke to me. "Bella, you are totally getting that dress. And you have to get ready at our house next week. Have Mike pick you up there. He knows where we live, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"Alice, I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, you're going to be busy enough getting ready yourself. You don't need to have me there. It'll take forever, just to get my hair to look like a normal person's let alone making me decent for the dance." I was trying to think of any logical excuse besides the obvious that Mike didn't like me being friends with Edward, and picking me up from his house was probably not an option.
"Don't be silly Bella. Alice and I will be there to make sure you look beautiful. Mike won't know what hit him when he sees you walking down the steps," Elizabeth said as she put an arm around my shoulders. I sighed and nodded my head in defeat. I could probably convince one of them, but not both. I reentered the dressing room and removed the red dress. I hung it up immediately hoping that there would be no wrinkles by Friday. I dressed and sat outside the dressing room with Elizabeth waiting for Alice to decide what she wanted to wear. Occasionally we would hear Alice shout out a "heck no!" or "This is not acceptable" or even an "I don't think so." She never came out of the dressing room and Elizabeth and I giggled at each outburst that came from the dressing room.
Finally, Alice came out of her dressing room in a gorgeous sparkly halter red shirt over a black pair of leggings. She had added a silver heart belt and a pair of simple red high heels to her outfit to complete her look. Elizabeth and I looked at each other before thinking the same thing. Alice the outfit fairy strikes again. Another perfect creation. Alice stood in front of the mirror and bounced up and down like a kid on Christmas morning. She turned to us and said, "Well, what do you guys think? Don't you just love it?"
Elizabeth and I nodded and gave our approval of the outfit. I had to admit, Alice definitely had perfect fashion sense. I would have to get her to help me pick out my prom dress if Mike and I were still dating at the end of the year. Alice returned to the dressing room and soon came out carrying her new outfit over her arms as we walked towards the register to pay for our purchases. I was standing behind Alice and Elizabeth, ready to pay for my dress when Alice reached over and grabbed a pair of black heels with a rhinestone heart on each. She put the box on the counter and ripped my dress from my arms. Before I knew what was happening, Elizabeth was paying for both Alice and my outfits. I tried to protest, but the girl at the register had already put the purchase through the machine.
"Fine, if you are going to pay for my outfit, then I'm paying for lunch." I crossed my arms so they knew that I wasn't joking. They both laughed at me nonetheless and carried the bags out to Elizabeth's car. After putting our things in the car, we walked to a small café around the corner and ordered lunch. Thankfully, Elizabeth did let me pay for lunch. I really felt bad that she bought me the dress, but I felt even worse when Alice explained that the last pair of shoes were for me as well. I was about to protest when Elizabeth told me that she bought them and hoped that if I wanted to make it up to her I would come to her house for dinner at least once a week until the end of the school year and promise to clean up the kitchen afterwards. That would be the only payment she would allow. I conceded eventually and soon we were returning to Forks. Alice had agreed to keep my dress in her room until we were getting ready for the dance.
The following week, I had to work to convince Mike to pick me up at Alice's. I explained that Alice had agreed to do my hair and makeup for me, and it just made more sense for him to pick me up there. He finally agreed, but he didn't look too happy. I warned him that Alice's mother would want to take pictures beforehand, and that my mother would also be there. He smiled when he found out that it wasn't just going to be me and Alice's family. Mike really was bipolar at times, but he still found ways to surprise me and leave me little gifts that made me smile.
February 11
Finally, it was the night of the dance. My birthday was the next night, but tonight I could only think about the dance and how much fun we were going to have tonight. As promised, Alice and Elizabeth did my hair in a cute French twist with curls coming out the top. Alice did my makeup and we were finally able to get dressed. Elizabeth took pictures of just Alice and I in our outfits. I hadn't had that much fun in a long time, which seriously surprised me. There was a light knock on the door and Rosalie walked into Alice's room. She looked stunning in a gorgeous red dress that hugged each of her curves perfectly. Elizabeth took more pictures of the three of us.
There was another knock on the door. This time, Edward poked his head into Alice's room. "Are you ladies ready? Because…." He froze in mid sentence as he saw all of us. I noticed that he looked gorgeous in his dress clothes. Alice and Rose nudged each other when they saw Edward was only looking at me. "Um… sorry to interrupt," he said when he finally started speaking again, "but Mike just arrived, and I thought I would be nice and come get you ladies. You all look amazing. Truly beautiful" He blushed slightly as he stole one last look at us. I turned back to the mirror and gave myself one last look. Alice decided that we would walk down the steps one at a time. First Rose would go down, then Alice, and finally me. I could hear my brother's reaction to Roses as she went downstairs. Next, I could hear both mothers discussing Alice's wardrobe and Jasper's praises when she arrived down the steps. Finally it was my turn. I came down the hallway and stopped at the top of the landing. I laughed at Mike's expression as he saw me come down the stairs because it was identical to Edward's expression upstairs. Mike handed me a single red rose when I reached the bottom of the steps and I took his arms are flashes started going off.
The mothers kept their promise as they started taking pictures of all of us. The doorbell rang as we were posing for pictures, and Edward stood to answer it. I realized that it would probably be Lauren, but decided I wasn't going to worry about Lauren tonight. I felt beautiful tonight, and there was nothing Lauren could do to stop that feeling. That is until I saw her standing by the door in the exact same dress as me. I turned to Alice horrified. Lauren had more curves than me, and I knew she had to look better than I did in this dress. Alice came over to me and reassured me that I looked better than Lauren. I listened as Edward looked over at Lauren and told her that she looked "nice". I had to smile when I thought about how he described us upstairs and how he had just described Lauren.
We posed for another round of pictures and soon it was time to go. Mike led me to his car and we were soon at the school. The decorations were similar to those at the boutique last week. Soon Mike was leading me towards the dance floor and we were swaying to the music. I smiled as I looked around and saw my friends dancing. Alice and Jasper were gazing into each other's eyes. Rose was lightly kissing my brother as they held each other close. Edward was looking around the dance floor while he danced with Lauren. He saw me looking at him and smiled at me. I smiled back and turned back to Mike. Soon the dance was over and we were all heading home.
Mike parked in front of my house and he kissed me lightly. Soon, however, he was deepening the kiss and his hands were roaming my body. I tried to pull away, but Mike's hands refused to pull away from me. Finally I was able to separate myself from him. "Come on Bella. We've been together for over a month. It's time you grew up and accept that you're in a real relationship. You can't just keep leading me on." I gaped at him. He was trying to make this whole thing my fault.
"Well, I guess I don't want to grow up and be in a real relationship then, because I'm not ready for it. And obviously you are, so maybe we shouldn't be together Mike."
I spat that last sentence out as I reached for the door handle and ran up to the house. I opened the door quickly and locked the door behind me. My parents were in the living room watching TV together. I tried to keep my voice steady as I answered their questions about the dance and excused myself to go to bed. As I climbed the steps, the tears continued to fall down my cheeks. I reached my room and quickly got ready for bed. I fell asleep long after midnight and long after the tears finally stopped falling. I was officially my birthday, officially Sunday, and I was officially miserable. Maybe I really wasn't ready to grow up.
Please Please don't hate me. I had to stop it there. A new chapter will be up soon, including what happens on Bella's birthday. (I know her birthday is in the fall in the books, but please humor me for this story). Thanks everyone and please let me know what you think.