(8) Dance

Alice reached over me and released my seatbelt lock. The strap snapped backwards and almost hit me in the face. I glared at Alice and my hair whipped in front of my face. She shrugged and moved my jacket that was on my lap to the middle section.

"Alice what are you doing?" I panicked and saw her motion for me to stop talking.

"I am moving you to the passenger seat." She said and prepared to lift me from the seat.

"That's not going to work. We'll crash and you will live but I won't." I said reasoning with her. I started to grip the steering wheel.

"Please, Bella, just work with me." She loosened my grip easily and picked me up sliding me next to her then swiftly jumped in the driver's seat. "Okay now time to get off the road." She swerved the car and we begin to drive on the mountainous road.

Her Porsche veered sharply before she hit the Elm tree. I saw rocks flying by my window and I grabbed the seatbelt. Once the seatbelt was firmly fastened I peeked at the speedometer it was 90 mph.

"This is over right now." Alice said and broke the steering column. A few wires hung out of the console and Alice chose a green and blue wire. The wires sparked when she rubbed them together. Alice brought the yellow wire next to both of them and the engine died. The Porsche slid a few feet and stopped next to a gigantic tree stump. The engine sputtered and smoke was beginning to drift from the hood.

"That was excellent." She said and got out of the car. Her top blew in the breeze and she put her jacket on.

"That was insane. What happened?" I said and walked over to her. She opened the hood and was peering into the smoke filled transmission.

"Umm, I disconnected the engine wires it's a little trick that Rosalie taught me. Can you believe the same thing happened to Edward when she tweaked his engine? Hmm, maybe it wasn't a coincidence." She considered and thoughtfully looked at the water level.

"Everything looks good. Let's go." She said and shut the hood. She walked to the drivers side and opened the door.

"Shouldn't we let the car stop smoking before we go. I mean safety wise it's a good idea right?" I asked and opened the passenger door.

"Yes, we'll wait three minutes. That's a good idea." She sat in the car and I moved to sit in the passenger seat. The smoke was considerably less and the fumes were not choking me to breathe anymore.

"Alice, do you take Jasper for granted?" I asked and stared at her. She had a soothing expression on her face and turned her face towards me.

"Bella, I take none of my family for granted. Although it isn't fair because I have a built in detector for danger and outcomes. I am not right all of the time which is hard for my family to believe because they want to trust in my abilities." She sighed and stared at the steering wheel.

"But to answer your question no I do not take Jasper for granted. I want him to be happy and I want to protect him but I cannot be there all of the time. I have to trust that my family will help him when I cannot." Her answer had two meanings the first was her honesty and the second was a hidden innuendo for me.

"Alice, I want to trust that Edward will be safe and he will be protected but my stupid human fears prevent me from completely fearing for his safety. Silly, I know." I said and grinned sheepishly at her. She rolled her eyes so far back I thought they would lodge there.

"Crazy Bella," she whispered and looked at the wires with a crease in her eyebrow.

"Okay time to go." She grabbed the green and red wires together and the engine purred. She laughed and reversed the car out of the wooded area. She drove the highway and passed the roadblock to the interstate freeway. We saw a sign that said Los Angeles 120 miles. We both smiled in anticipation.

Over time, Alice switched freeways and we were on the Hollywood Freeway. It was packed with many cars beautiful and distinct were crawling along in the lanes.

We saw Ferrari's and BMW's bright and shiny under the streetlights. In Forks, there would never be a cars like this but in California it was a dime a dozen.

Alice moved the car to get off on the Sunset Blvd exit and cut off the black BMW. The person honked and Alice dismissed them with her hand.

We pulled onto the Boulevard and saw two billboards high and lit above huge buildings. The ads were glossy ones about a beer and the other a new clothing line. I saw tons of people walking down the street and a few homeless people pushing their carts. She stopped at a red light and I saw young people gather around the corners, standing in line at the comedy club, and lots of people smoking outside.

I remembered to close my mouth and not stare at people. Alice pulled the car over and turned down Robertson Blvd. We parked in a back parking lot and a man came to the window.

"Five bucks, to park for one hour." He said and put his cigarette on the ground.

"Here." She had a wad of twenties folded. "Please watch my car. I love my car."

The guy had a grin on his face. "Hey no problem consider your car safe." He pocketed the money and gave her a ticket.

We both got out and walked towards the busy street. I saw a group of guys standing outside smoking and joking with one another. Typical frat guys enjoying their Saturday night.

Alice grabbed my hand and pushed her way through the guys and walked up to the entrance. I saw a sign on the door no one under twenty-one not allowed. I nudged Alice to look at the sign but it was too late. The bouncer asked for our ID's. Alice smiled and pulled out hers. He looked at me expectantly. Alice smiled again and gave him five twenties. "She forgot her Drivers License."

The guy gestured for us to go inside. "Alice what is this place?" I asked and my eyes were immediately adjusting to the dim lighting.

"This is The Whiskey A Go-Go." She said close to my ear. The music was blaring and vibrating the walls. The Legendary bar was smoky and had a hazy atmosphere. People gathered near the stage while a rock band performed. Girls danced next to the lifted stage with their drinks sloshing around. Guys hovered by the bar and tried to grab the bartender's attention. Alice claimed an empty bar stool for me and stood beside me.

"Isn't this fun?" She asked and smiled. Alice was almost luminescent under the lighting at the bar and she was wearing her leather jacket. She looked more at home here than I did. Her music appreciation was filled with the multiple performing groups appearing tonight.

"It's really different." I said and cleared my throat. My voice was getting raspy from lack of water or any drink.

"Here let me get you a water." She said and motioned for the male bartender. She immediately got his attention. He sauntered over to Alice and leaned against the metallic bar.

"What'll it be?" He smiled and put two napkins in front of us. I smiled but he was enamored with Alice.

"We'll both have waters." She said and saw him grin.

"Two waters coming up." He announced and went to the soda dispenser. The male vocals were adding to the hallucinogenic room. People were freely swaying to the music and his voice was somber and bluesy.

I was watching the enormous mirror behind the bar. Lights were floating as the machine moved the neon lights across the room. The lights must have been timed to the music because they moved to the beat of the drums.

"This is surreal." I said and moved closer to Alice. A guy had sat next to me with his girlfriend and they bumped into me. "Sorry" he slurred.

"It's okay." I said and motioned for Alice to go to the booths.

We sat and watched the band complete their set and a girl rocker took the stage. She had pink and blond streaked hair with a dog collar around her neck. She wore a torn shirt and ripped jeans. She began to sing and I gestured to Alice. "I know this song."

"Of course you do it's been on the radio. That's Avril Lavigne although she looks quite short in person." She shrugged and watched the performance.

Wow, I've never met a celebrity in person the closest I got was Edward. But he was more of a god then a celebrity.

I laughed and drank my drink and Alice moved hers closer to me. I gulped the rest of mine then drank some of Alice's.

I hiccupped and turned to Alice. "I feel funny." I said and felt my stomach clenching.

"Why?" She grabbed the drink and sniffed it. "He put alcohol in our drinks." She said outrageously.

I was trying to put on a serious face but I burst into laughter. "That sucks." I kept laughing and Alice grabbed my hand from taking another gulp.

"No more for you." She pushed the drink aside. Her eyes turned glossy and she looked like she was meditating. "Edward is coming."

"What? Bummer. I was just starting to have fun." I laughed and punched Alice on the shoulder.

"Let's go." Alice went to grab my arm but I moved quickly. Wow alcohol made me have super fast reflexes. That was awesome.

"No I don't want to leave yet." I got out of the booth and bumped into another guy.

The guy grabbed me before I fell on the floor. I laughed and patted his shoulder. He smiled and motioned for his friends. They had me in a tight circle. I think there were three but they became a blurry mess.

"Hey, you like to dance." The closest guy said and I could smell the alcohol.

"Yup that's why I'm here. Duh." I said and rolled my eyes.

They started laughing and Alice stood behind them. "Excuse me I need to talk to my friend."

They blocked her and one guy turned towards her. "Not so fast."

Alice was torn because she couldn't tear his arm off which I know was what she wanted to do. She clenched her fist and pushed him aside. He struggled to get up and two more friends joined the circle. I shrugged my shoulders.

I saw an empty stool and walked over. I sat down on the stool. The room was spinning. I saw Alice try to push the guys and two bouncers came up to her. One bouncer walked towards Alice and started talking to her. I saw Alice turn to mouth something at me. I couldn't read her lips was she crazy? I mouthed back what? She did it again and I noticed my brain was lagging behind. I saw the two bouncers grabbing her arms.

"ALICE I CAN"T HEAR YOU." I shouted and Alice struggled. "JUST HIT THEM."

I turned to the other guy. "Alice my friend. My best friend we're like this." I entwined my two fingers. "If you mess with me she's going to beat you up." I slurred the last part and saw the guys starting to laugh.

They were being obnoxious. One guy bent towards me and whispered something in my ear. I gagged and turned my head.

I tried to move away from them but saw one was leaning towards me again. I jumped from the bar stool to the table on the bar. Everybody was looking at me. Oops. A song played and they were chanting. "Dance, dance, dance."

I laughed and begin moving to the music. The room looked still again or was it because I was moving? I turned towards the mirror and saw my reflection. I looked horrible. I took my jacket off and flung it out of my way. I heard the crowd rumbling and a spotlight blared on me. I saw the door fly open and I looked into Edward's eyes. Crap!