Changing For The Better
Frightening Little Monster
4/28/09
Rated T
JPOV
I sat with my eyes glued to the window. The Texas countryside flashed before my eyes. It felt nice to finally be back. I guess I just never got the change to realize how much I truly missed it here.
Unlike Alice,I was very eager to come back home. I was sort of thrilled to be able to explain my past to my siblings. Even after spending years with the Cullen's, I still felt misunderstood, like I was never fully recognized.
We drove along, trying to get to the town that was located twenty miles outside of Houston. It was two in the afternoon. Alice was in the back with Rosalie and Bella. They were trying to give Bella a makeover. She looked absolutely terrified!
"Um, Edward?" Bella yelled from the back seat.
"Yes Bella?" He replied.
She shot me a tortured look before turning to speak to Edward.
"Can we stop somewhere soon? I have to go to the bathroom." Bella asked.
"Sure. We should be to the town in about fifteen minutes. It won't be very long." He said to her.
I guess he could see that she was in a living hell sitting back there.
I smiled to myself. I felt so bad for Bella, but then again, I was happy it wasn't me back there. It usually was when Bella would call in "sick" or "busy". If that happened to be the case, I was stuck as the victim.
"Jasper? You alright man?" Emmett asked me.
"Yeah. I'm cool." I answered back.
"Ha! I bet you just wish it was you back there instead of Bella!" Emmett laughed.
"No. I can assure you thats not it." I explained patiently, not wanting to let my temper flare.
"Surrrre." He teased.
***************************************************************************
BPOV
Edward parked the car at a rest-stop a few miles outside the city.
"Emmett? Will you please grab me some chips from the machine? I'm really hungry." I asked.
"Sure thing." He responded.
I literally ran from the car, trying to get away from Alice and the makeup she was trying to mask my face with. I ran into the bathroom and slammed the nearest stall door closed behind me. I knew my efforts were wasted. Alice would probably just drag my right back to the car and finish the makeover.
"Isabella? Are you in here?" Alice sweetly called.
"Go away!" I yelled back. I hated when she called my Isabella.
"Bella, come on. It's just a makeover. Most girls would be alright with something like that." Alice pouted.
"Well, I'm not like most girls." I threw back at her.
I unlatched the lock on the door and went over to the sinks. I turned on the faucet and washed my hands in the nice, cool water. I took the moment to look in the mirror and see what Alice had already done to me.
My hair was pulled back and was curled. My lips were sealed in a glossy red lipstick and my eyes had a pale purple eyeshadow applied to them. I didn't look like myself. I hated it.
"Alice!" I moaned in complaint.
"What? You look fabulous, if I do say so myself." She sang with happiness.
"No Alice. I look like a tramp." I simply stated.
"Ugh! Your impossible Bella! Fine, wash it off! I really don't care what you do." She said annoyed.
I went over to the paper towel dispenser and pulled out a few of them. Then I headed back to the sink. I turned the water back on and tried desperately to remove the makeup. After about five minutes, I had it all off, but my face was sore and flushed from all the rubbing.
When I returned back to the car, I opened the passenger door and got in.
"So, whats the plan?" I asked Edward.
"The town that Jasper grew up in is about ten miles away. I made reservations for a hotel there. The plan is to visit the land and barn that once belonged to the Whitlock family. Theres not that much to see, we should be back on the road by tomorrow." Edward said.
"Alright then, are we ready to go?" I asked.
"Um, not yet. Emmett's still at the vending machines." Jasper laughed.
"Why in the world is he at the vending machines? He doesn't need food!" Rosalie shouted.
"I asked him to get me some chips." I confessed.
We all turned our heads to look out the windows at the vending machines. There stood a line of people with Emmett at the front. It looked as if he was buying everything the machine had to offer. On the ground beside him was a colorful pile of snacks.
"He's going to buy everything they have!" Edward said.
We then saw a little boy behind Emmett start to cry to his mom.
"Can he hurry momma? I want my skittles!" he wailed.
Just then we saw Emmett turn around to speak to the boy and his mother.
"Patience, young grasshopper!" He yelled at the small child.
This made the child just scream and cry louder.
"Momma! I want my skittles!" He screamed.
We sat in the car laughing hysterically at the sight of Emmett. The line behind him eventually started to get angry. They yelled a few choice words at Emmett, hoping that he would hurry up and move.
Emmett, at one point, turned around and a yelled something to them all.
"Oh my god! All I wanted was some damn dorritios and you all start acting like spaz heads! Patience is a virtue, you know!"
He then turned on his heel, and stormed back to our car. He opened my door and shoved the snacks into my lap.
"Here you go Bella! All I was trying to do was make sure you ate, but I guess humans get all pissed off when you start to buy more then ten items from a vending machine. So sorry about the delay."
"It's fine. Thanks Emmett." I giggled.
*************************************************
We reached the hotel at about four o'clock that evening. Edward had only bothered to get one room since I was the only one that needed to sleep. We all went to the grand suit that was to be ours. I immediately ran to the soft, plushy bed and plopped down on it. I was so tired of sleeping in the cramped car for hours.
"Ugh! I'm so tired!" I moaned to Alice as she skipped into my room.
"Awe! I'm sorry, but you have to get dressed! We are going to the barn that the Whitlock's used to own and then we are going to take you out to dinner!" Alice squealed.
"Great!" I sighed, laying the sarcasm on thick.
"Don't complain! Oh, and by the way, wear jeans and a sweatshirt." Alice ordered.
"Why?" I questioned.
"Don't question me! Just do it!" Alice said before marching out of the room.
I sighed heavily ans went over the suitcase to pull out a pair of dark wash jeans and a gray, zip-up hoodie. After I was changed I slipped on a pair of flip-flops and walked into the living room area.
"No ma'am!" Alice said, looking over my outfit.
"What? I dressed in what you told me to!" I shouted.
"Not your outfit! Your shoes silly. Your never going to be able to ride horses in sandles." She said.
"Ride horses?! No one ever said anything about that!" I screamed, terrified.
"You'll be fine, love. Now go and change into some tennis shoes." Edward said.
I pouted and walked back into my room. I pulled out a pair of shoes and some socks. A horse? What was I getting myself into?
I walked back out to let Alice approve my new shoes.
"Much better." She grinned.
I went to stand beside Edward. He bent down his head and kissed my softly on lips. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled his body close to me.
"I love you." I whispered.
"I love you too." He replied.
Just then, Rosalie walked out of the bedroom in a sexy, cowboy git-up. She had on a flannel shirt that was cut off at below the chest, showing her flat stomach. She wore a pair of blue jean mini shorts and then a pair of burgundy, leather cowboy boots. She had her curly blond hair pulled up into a high pony tail and a straw cowboy hat on.
"Looking good Rosie!" Emmett whistled.
"I agree. I gotta go change now, bye!" Alice said, flashing out of the room.
"This could take awhile." Jasper said.
"So, what exactly are we doing again?" I asked.
"Well the barn that my parents once owned is located a little while out of town and through a bunch of fields. There are no roads to get there, so we rented some horses from a local barn to ride up there." Jasper explained.
"Thats just great!" I complained.
As I said this, Alice walked into the room, dressed in a flowing plaid dress. She, like Rosalie, had cowboy boots and a hat.
"So. What do you think?" Alice asked, turning around to give us the full view.
"Stunning, as usual." Jasper said, pulling Alice into his arms and kissing her on the forehead.
She giggled and turned to face us.
"Are we ready to go now?" She asked.
"Yeah, we are all set to go." I answered.
Emmett led us to the door and switched off the lights before heading down to the lobby.
We got to the local barn to pick up our horses quickly. We waited for the man to unload the animals and give us our horses.
"This is how its gonna be. You hear? I give you the horse I think is best for y'all and I don't want any complaining." The instructor said.
"Now, when I call you, come down here and get your horse." He said.
"Lil' lady in the dress, you get this one right here." He said, pointing the smallest horse of the bunch. It was a gray, white color.
"This is Sunshine. Take good care of her." The man said.
Alice hoisted herself up into the saddle easily without any help from the man.
"Next, lets have the big boy over there." He said, pointing out Emmett.
Emmett jogged down to were the man stood and was introduced to his horse.
"This is Nacho. Hes the leader and the oldest. Hes very friendly, but don't push him. He has quite the temper when he gets mad."
Emmett nodded and saddled up his horse.
"Next lets have you." He said eying Rose.
Rosalie walked over to the man and swooped up onto the horse that he had chosen for her.
"This here is Beauty. Shes not a very gentle horse, but a good one never the less. Enjoy." He said
"Now, lets have you, the one in the gray." He said motioning to me.
I timidly walked over to stand beside the horse he had chosen for me.
It wasn't a large animal, but still very intimidating for a first timer like me. The horse was a faded cream color. The man gently helped me get hoisted onto the horse.
"This is the baby of the group. Her name is Ivory." He explained.
"Take good care of her, after all, she is my favorite." He said, smiling and patting the horse on the head.
I then watched from my horse as Edward received his own.
"You look like a strong young man. I think this horse will suit you well." He said.
"This is Moonlight." He added.
What a perfect name for Edward's horse, almost ironic.
The last one left was Jasper. He walked over to the only horse left and easily got on.
"This is Shadow." The man said.
"Thanks for doing this for us Robert." Jasper said to the man, bending down to shake his hand.
"My pleasure. You are to have these horses back here at ten pm sharp! You hear?" He sternly said.
"Yes sir." Jasper said.
We all formed a line and rode away from the barn, into the fields behind it. The old Whitlock property was only about two miles away, and it would only take us an hour to get there if we hurried. At the moment I was very scared riding through the fields. I guess Jasper could sense the fear.
"Bella? Is something wrong?" He quietly asked me.
"Well, to be honest, it's going to get dark soon, and it's kinda creepy out here all alone." I shyly admitted.
"What do you mean all alone? We're all here with you! It's going to be fine." Alice said.
"Alright." I answered.
We rode through the dimming light in mostly silence. I could tell that over the course of the last few days, we did seem stronger. Like we were beginning to become more accepting and tolerant of each other. It felt nice.
All of a sudden Emmett speaks up.
"I just thought of the funniest joke!" He boomed.
"What?" Alice asked.
Edward was already smiling to himself, hearing the joke in Emmett's thoughts.
"I made it up when I was thinking about my horse." He explained.
"Just get on with it!" Jasper said impatiently.
"OK. What do you call a wheel of cheese that's not your's?" Emmett asked.
No one answered.
"Na-cho cheese!" He answered and burst into laughter.
I started to giggle at Emmett's child-like joke and I was soon joined by the others.
A little while later, we entered the clearing of the old farm and dismounted our horses.
We followed on foot behind Jasper. He suddenly stopped.
He slowly turned around to face us. He had a grim smile on his face.
"Welcome to my past." He said in a chilling voice.