Hey. Thank you for all the reviews and to those of you who wished me good luck. I'm sorry I couldn't update earlier. I got caught up in a lot of things lately. My cat, Golly (His picture on my profile) died last Sunday. He got hit by a car and we only found out some time later. I miss him :( He just turned one in february... Sigh.
Anyway, here's Chapter 18 -
Disclaimer: The person's name who owns Twilight starts with an 'S'.
Hey, my name starts with an 'S'!
It's also accompanied by a tephenie.
Dang...
But as happy as I felt, the feeling came back - the one which made me feel as if something was about to go wrong. Soon.
"Come on, Bella," Alice said as she tugged on my arm. I followed the little pixie into her bright, yellow Porsche as we sped off to my first photo shoot. We reached a little park in the Northern part of Seattle. There were many beautifully colored flowers blooming everywhere - it looked like a scene out of a fairy tale.
We followed the foot path until we finally saw a few tents set up. Out of nowhere, Caleb popped up with a large grin on his face. "Bella, I'm so glad you could make it. It's good to see you Alice."
"You too Caleb. So, what's the theme for this photo shoot?" Alice asked excitedly. She was probably more excited than I was.
"Well, we're doing a photo shoot to promote a line of prom dresses. We're thinking about the whole 'Fairy Tale' theme. What do you think?" he asked.
I smiled. "That would be nice. This place is just spectacular."
"Glad you think so," he nearly squealed. Suddenly, I felt two hands grab mine, leading me towards the make-up station. It was worse than Alice's and Rosalie's make-overs. I could feel about ten hands doing all kinds of stuff to my face and hair. I just obeyed to whatever they asked.
"Okay. All done," one of the make-up artists piped. My eyes fluttered open, feeling heavy from the amount of make-up on my face.
"Time to look for a suitable dress for you to wear," Alice said, pulling me off the chair and into one of the white tents. Inside, were rows of racks where other models were looking for dresses to wear.
"Hmm," Alice mused as she quickly scanned through the rack in front of us, occasionally pulling out one and placing it in front of me, to somehow picture how I would look like in it. Then, a metallic blue dress at the end of the rack caught my eye. I took it out and examined it. It was so pretty, but definitely not for me. I wouldn't be able to pull this off.
"Good choice, Bella. I take back what I said about you not having any taste in fashion t he other day," Alice smirked.
"No way, Alice. I wouldn't be able to pull this off. I think it would be best if you had someone like her," I said, pointing towards the gorgeous blonde in the corner of the tent who was staring at me intently, "model a dress like this. I would probably make it look bad."
Alice gasped. "How could you think that Bella? I bet you could work this dress better than Gisele Bundchen herself!"
"Who's Gisele Bund - " but Alice quickly cut me off.
"Never mind that. Go and change," she said.
On my way to the dressing room, I spotted a familiar shade of bronze. "Edward," I squealed, running into his waiting arms. He chuckled, picked me up and spun me around.
"Sorry I'm late," he said, flashing me on of his dazzling smiles.
"To tell you the truth, I would have rather you not come. I'm going to embarrass myself," I groaned. Then, I saw Caleb running towards us.
"Edward! Thank God. Would you mind modeling for a photo shoot today? One of our male models called in sick," he pleaded.
"Gee, Caleb. I don't kno-"
"You'll be modeling with Bella," he said, waggling his eyebrows encouragingly.
"Done." Edward replied almost instantly.
I panicked when my brain finally processed that I was going to do a photo shoot with Edward.
"Go, hair and make-up. Quickly," Caleb said, shooing Edward towards the make-up stalls.
"Bella, go change. Your photo shoot is scheduled to start in ten minutes," he said, pushing me into one of the changing rooms. From the corner of my eye, I saw the blonde from before shoot daggers at me. What did I ever do to her?
I carefully put on the dress and the gloves that reached until my elbow. I examined the entire outfit in the mirror. It was a sleeveless dress which hugged my curves tightly. My hair had been pinned up and the white gloves made me look like a princess.
When I got out the dressing room, I saw Edward standin g there in a stunning, white tuxedo. The white contrasted with his pale skin, making his green eyes pop out. He turned to me and smiled. I could feel my breath being taken away.
"You look so beautiful. I don't have any words left to describe it," he smiled. I blushed a delicate shade of pink.
"Waiiiittt!" Alice shouted, running towards me. I quickly cowered behind Edward, not knowing what horrors she was about to do to me.
"Here, a tiara to match the costume," she said, fixing a tiara on my head. I sighed in relief, grateful that she wasn't about to torture me.
"Bella! Edward!" someone shouted.
"Come on," he said, taking my hand and leading me towards the set.
"Edward, I have no idea how to model! I don't know what to do." I looked at him pleadingly, hoping he would scoop me up and take us home.
"Just do whatever first comes to your mind." he said, chuckling at my desperate state to escape.
I pouted as we stood in front of the camera. The scenery behind us was more beautiful than the one before. "It's so beautiful," I whispered.
"Nothing in comparison to you," he murmured in my ear. I blushed once again.
"Okay, let's start." Caleb said as he clapped his hands.
I placed my hands on Edward's chest and leaned towards him, looking straight into his endless green eyes, copying the image that had popped up in my head. I then heard multiple 'click's'.
"That's great!" Caleb complimented from behind the computers.
We then changed poses with Edward standing behind my, my back against his chest as his hands wrapped themselves securely around my waist. His lips were so near my neck, I could feel his hot breath against it. I immediately leaned into his touch. I loved how his arms could spread such warmth through my body just by a single touch.
"Gorgeous!" the photographer voiced. I changed my angle a little.
"Stunning!" Caleb shouted.
Then, I turned to face Edward again. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he place on hand firmly on the small of my back and tangling the other in my hair. We both leaned forward, our lips nearly touching. My eyes never left his the whole time. Just as we were near enough to kiss, Caleb shouted, "That's a wrap!"
I blushed and unwrapped my hands off Edward's neck. He though, didn't let go of me. Instead, he leaned down and kissed me. I couldn't help but kiss him back. We broke apart when we heard the 'click' of the camera.
"Sorry, it looked like a good shot," Caleb shrugged. Edward chuckled and I blushed. I bet my blush could be seen even through the thick layer of make-up I had on my face.
Edward headed for the men's changing room while I headed for the women's. When I got out, I was met by the blonde whom I caught staring at me and Alice earlier today.
"Hello, I'm Tanya. You're Bella, right?" she asked, extending her hand.
"Yes," I said, shaking her hand.
"Let me get to the point. Are you Edward's girlfriend?" she asked, partially glaring at me. I felt like she was going to pounce at me any second.
"Yes, she is Tanya. And my girlfriend and I will be going now. Goodbye," Edward appeared, grabbing my hand and walking towards where all the cars were parked.
We found Alice already waiting there. "Took you guys long enough," Alice said with her arms crossed while she tapped her foot impatiently.
"Sorry. Blame Tanya for it," Edward said in an annoyed tone.
"You mean Tanya Denali? That model whose been after you for months? When will she ever take a hint?" Alice shook her head sympathetically and got into the car.
Months? A girl as gorgeous as Tanya has been after Edward for months yet he chose to be with someone like me. Edward would probably have been better off with Tanya rather than me. I mean, it's no denying that she as beautiful as Edward. They looked like they belonged. But instead, he was stuck with me; the mundane Bella Swan.
"Bella, why the sad face? Is it something I did?" Edward asked worriedly.
"No, it's not you. Its just that, I was thinking. If you could have someone like Tanya, why did you go for someone like me. I mean, she's beautiful and I'm -"
"Gorgeous," he cut me off. "Bella, how many times do I have to tell you. I love you. Everything about you. I love how you always blush the softest of pink when you're embarrassed, I love how you're so thoughtful towards others, I love how every time I stare into those deep, brown eyes, my will crumbles," he looked at me sincerely. "I love you,"
I smiled softly at him and brushed my lips against his. "I love you too, Edward. Thank you."
He smiled crookedly. "Come on. Let's not keep Alice waiting,"
The whole ride home, Edward and Alice were in a heated discussion about how cats were better than dogs. (A/N No offense intended to dog owners. I'm just dedicating this to Golly :D)
"Let's get a cat someday." Edward said, turning to me.
I giggled. "Okay. I've never had a pet before. I mean, I guess I did, once. I had a pet worm once when I was a kid. Mom threw it out when she took a bite out of the sandwich which was supposed to be for the worm. She nearly fainted when she saw Wormy wiggle out from the sandwich."
Alice and Edward chuckled. When we got home, I saw that the dining table had been decorated extravagantly. I turned to Alice. When she saw the perplexed look on my face, she explained, "We're hosting a congratulatory dinner for you, silly."
"There's no need, Alice. Really. You guys didn't have to do this for me,"
"Esme and Alice were more than happy to plan these kind of things. It gives Esme an excuse to use her fine cutlery and Alice an excuse to play dress up, though we only are at home." Edward said, rolling his eyes.
"Dress up?" I voiced meekly.
Alice cheered and dragged me up to Rosalie' s room and took out the bag. So that's how the bag looked like. Now I know how Edward felt the day he was forced onto a chair while Alice played dress up on him. I felt almost guilty for laughing at him that day.
"Bella, go an shower first. Leave the make-up and the dress up to us," Rosalie said.
As I walked towards the bathroom, I was thinking of ways to escape their torture session later. Maybe I could lock the door until everyone went to bed. Yeah, I could do that.
"Oh, and Bella?"
I turned to Alice. "Don't even think about not coming out or we'll be forced to break down the door," she grinned.
I gulped and nodded. This was going to be a long night...
--
After they were finally satisfied torturing me, they handed me a dress and told me to get changed as they left the room to find a dress for themselves.
My dress was a purple halter dress which hugged my waist tightly. (A/N All outfit pictures on my profile)
As I emerged from the room, Alice and Rosalie were already there, dressed stunningly. Rosalie was wearing a black, sparkly dress. Alice was wearing a white, sleeveless dress which complimented her figure nicely.
When we go to the dining room, everyone was already seated. The guys were wearing black tuxes but my eyes were focused on Edward. His eyes focused on mine. No words could describe how he looked. I sat in the seat next to him, our gaze never breaking.
"Okay, let's eat!" Emmett said enthusiastically when he saw everyone was seated.
Everyone started eating. "Esme, this is delicious!" I complimented. It tasted really good. It was better than the food at the restaurant we ate.
"Thank you. So Bella, how did the shoot go?" Esme asked.
"It was fun. I got to model with Edward."
Esme turned to Edward. "I thought you said you would never model."
Edward blushed. I couldn't help but giggle. It was cute to see Edward blush.
"Caleb gave me some of the photos," Alice said, as she passed the photograph's around the table.
"He gave you the photos?" I asked.
"Yup, while you and Edward were changing. He said that he's never seen such gorgeous pictures before," I blushed.
"Whoa, Bella. You look hot," grinned Emmett. I blushed even more.
"I agree. The dress looks stunning on you. You and Edward look really good together," Rosalie smiled at me.
"Thanks." I swear I had blushed three different shades of red already.
Soon, the photos were passed to me and Edward. We flipped through the photographs and surely enough, the last one was a picture of us kissing. I smiled and so did Edward.
The rest of the evening was spent joking around in the living room. "Edward, why don't you go play something on the piano?"
He nodded and pulled me to the piano. "But if I have to play, she has to sing." he grinned. My eyes widened. No way.
"I can't sing! I'm horrible at it. I would probably make it rain. And, I don't know any songs." I argued.
"Yes, you do. I'm going to play 'Kissing You' by Sade. You know that one. Don't deny it," he smirked. Dang, he knew me too well.
"Please, Bella." She gave me a heartbreaking look. I glared at her. "Fine!"
Edward started playing. I waited for the que and started singing.
I looked at everyone cautiously. They looked at me in awe as I sang.
Pride can stand a thousand trials
The strong will never fall
But watching stars without you
My soul cries
As I finished, everyone cheered. "That was great Edward and Bella. You two work great together," Esme said, smiling warmly at us.
We both blushed and muttered a shy "Thanks,"
Everyone had left the room. I suddenly got this eery feeling that we were being watched.
"Edward, it feels like we're being watched," I said, walking towards him.
"Don't worry. If any monsters come, I'll protect you," he said, chuckling. I laughed along with him, but still felt like we were being watched.
I sighed and stood behind Edward and wrapped my arms around his waist. I placed my chin on his shoulder and took in his scent. He started playing a warm, familiar tune. Soon, tears emerged from my eyes and were running down my cheeks.
As he finished, I sat beside him on the piano bench and kissed him. "Thank you," I said, leaning forward so both our foreheads touched.
"Bella," he breathed. "There's something I need to ask you,"
"Yes?"
He looked at me through his long lashes, his eyes full of depth as he held my hands in his. "Bella, will you - " he was cut of when the lights went out.
(This is where I have started editing) I heard him groan and let go of my hands, muttering an "Ugh, crap."
"It's alright everyone! I've got it," we heard Carlisle's voice shout from somewhere in the darkness.
Not very long after, the lights flickered back on. I then remembered what happened before it had gone dark so I turned back to Edward - it seemed as if he were glaring holes into the floor.
"So, what was it you wanted to ask me?" I asked curiously. He seemed to snap out of it and looked at me, trying to gather up all his thoughts.
"Uh, nothing. Nothing much," he lied.
I raised an eyebrow suspiciously but said nothing more. I guess it was nothing that important, I thought.
Okay, the ending of this chapter has been redone. There's more to come later!
-Sabrina-
