Sorry this chapter is so late tonight! Took me a while to write…thank you everyone for the LOVELY reviews, they always make me smile (special thanks to Gigi528, I always love to see your reviews)
The first half of the morning went smoothly enough. I was able to fill Jess and Angela in very briefly about why Edward Cullen had picked me up and such. However, when lunchtime approached, things got a bit more complicated. I walked in, and grabbed my lunch with them, when Alice Cullen came running over to us.
"Bella! Have lunch with us?? I want to introduce you to Rose and Emmett!" She grabbed my arm, and pulled me towards their table. I looked back to Jess and Angela with wide apologetic eyes. 'Sorry!' I mouthed. As we arrived at their table, Edward smiled.
"Thank you Alice. I had a feeling she'd listen to you more than me." I looked at him with an eyebrow upraised. This was HIS idea? Alice smirked.
"Well, you are more annoying Edward." She stuck her diminutive tongue out at him, and then took a seat next to Jasper. I noticed there was one seat left, which was in between Edward and Alice. I sighed, and sat down with my tray. Rosalie looked at me in an almost condescending manner, before Emmett nudged her with his elbow. She shot him a dirty glance.
"Hi Bella, as you've probably heard from these jokers, I'm Emmett." He just waved to me, and I nodded my head. "And this is my lovely girl, Rose." She nodded in my direction. I waved gently. Emmett looked more closely at me. "So this is the girl you picked up Edward? Nice." He nodded his head in an approving way. I blushed yet again. "Awhh, she's embarrassed!" He seemed to enjoy teasing me a little bit too much. Alice and Rose laughed, while Jasper smirked, and Edward glared.
"Emmett…" he said in a warning tone, but Emmett just rolled his eyes at it.
"Relax Ed. She knows I'm just joking." I nodded, but cast my eyes downward. Suddenly, I felt a tap on the back of my shoulder. I turned around, and looked up. Then I bit my lip. It was Mike. Lovely.
"These punks bothering you, Bella?" He said, crossing his arms, and attempting to look tough. I sighed. Alice raised her eyebrow.
"Excuse me?" she said, appraising him. "Why I never." Edward got up.
"Newton, if she was bothered, then I certainly don't think she'd call on you for help." He sneered downward at him. Mike paled slightly but still stood his ground.
"Um Mike, I'm fine." I said, embarrassed that they were doing this because of me. Was I going to have to go Harry Potter and get an invisibility cloak? "I'll see you in Gym and Bio, kay?" He didn't take his eyes off of Edward.
"Fine. You have any trouble Bella, you call me. Got it?" he said, not even looking at me.
"Okay Mike." I said hurriedly, hoping they'd just get out of a ten foot radius of each other. Mike took one final glare at Edward and then stalked off. I sighed, and shook my head. Alice just looked at him and glared.
"Jesus, you're not his property." She glared off in his direction and childishly stuck out her tongue at his back. "Jerk!" she muttered under her breath and crossed her arms. We all laughed at her. "What??" she asked. "He is!" the rest of the conversation went slightly better, and when the bell rang, Edward and I went off to Biology. As we sat down, Mr. Banner smiled, and handed out little bells with a handle to each pair at the lab tables.
"You're going to need this for the activity today." He said with a wink "Don't worry, no blood or bleach today" I tried to smile, but on the inside, I was a tad annoyed that he brought it up again. Edward smirked. As usual.
As everyone finally came into class, Mr. Banner explained the point of the bells. We were going to test our basic knowledge on Biology. So, we were playing Jeopardy. The period flew by luckily. Me and Edward won, not surprisingly, since I had just been in AP Biology last year. Thankfully, in the heat of the competition, we couldn't talk much more than usual, and the period ended quickly. The rest of the day ended quickly as well. Me and Mike were paired up for badminton in Gym, so he was happy and forgot about his and Edward's little encounter in Lunch. When that finished, I left the locker room and went to the parking lot to find Alice, Jess, and Angela crowded around my truck.
"Hey Bells!" Alice chirped. "Ready?" I shook my head and smiled.
"Yes, Alice." Angela and Jess looked at me.
"So…are you and Alice going in your truck, and me and Ange going in my car?" Jess asked, puzzled.
"I guess," I said. Alice tried not to look too excited.
"Alright." Angela said. "Just follow us, Bella!" We got in our trucks, and went on our way to Port Angeles. Alice kept a steady flow of conversation the entire way. We briefly talked about dresses, because since I had no clue what I was looking for, we couldn't keep much conversation. She began asking the story of how I'd moved to Forks, which I had surprisingly told quite a few people about. She listened intently, and by the time I had finished, we had made it to the main mall in Port Angeles.
Finally, we went inside with Jess and Angela to one of the major department stores. They quickly found their dresses, but I couldn't find anything I really liked, and neither could Alice. Jess had found a stunning emerald green halter dress, that came just above the knees, and emphasized her curves perfectly. Angela found a more subdued lavender spaghetti strap gown that came down to her knees, and was simply and flowing. Both of their gowns matched their personalities perfectly. Alice kept getting dissatisfied with the store's selection however. Angela then piped in.
"Bella, do you and Alice want to keep searching for dresses while Jess and I get some food? Sorry, but we were planning for the dance during lunch and we kind of forgot to eat…" her voice trailed off and as she said this, her stomach rumbled softly. She grimaced, "Sorry."
"That's fine, Ange. Besides, I have a feeling it's going to take a while to find dresses…" She nodded.
"All right, see you later Bells! Meet back here in 3 hours?" Jess said, eager to get food.
"Sounds perfect!" Alice said, "Meet you guys later!" as soon as they were gone, she turned to me. "These gowns are NOT cutting it for me. Want to go somewhere else? I know just the place." I nodded. I didn't have any better idea, and truthfully, Jess and Angela had gotten the best gowns in the place. We got back to the truck, and she directed me to a little hidden shop that had a large selection of beautiful gowns at a pretty cheap price.
When we got in the store, it was like I was her personal Barbie doll. She picked out gowns of all colors and styles, and we went to the dressing room at least ten times, for me and her both. Then, she finally got her gown picked out. It was a little black dress, with a square neckline and spaghetti straps, with a lightly bejeweled corset waist. The skirt ran mid thigh, and was flowy. I don't think anyone else could have pulled it off the way she did. And thankfully, after that, we found my gown too. It was a bit longer, in between mid thigh and above the knees, and a deep dark blue. It was strapless, and had a thin layer of sheer black fabric that was speckled with silver rhinestones in a swirling design. It fit perfectly to each curve I possessed, and I had a necklace that would go perfectly with it, along with a pair of black stiletto heels my mother had gotten me once for a wedding.
Alice gasped as I came out of the dressing room in it. "Ohmygod Bella, you're going to outshine me at the dance!" I rolled my eyes. The only one capable of doing that was Rosalie. "It does look gorgeous though. It's perfect!" She seemed a bit more subdued while she was shopping; probably because she put all of her energy into it. We bought our dresses, and just wandered around the mall for a few hours, buying accessories and the like before we met Angela and Jess again. On the way home, Jess volunteered to drive Alice home, because it was on the way. I agreed, and got back to Charlie's at eight o'clock.
As I rushed in the door, I saw a note on the table directly next to it.
'Bells- Went to Billy's to watch the game. Come if you want, but I think Jake's out with some friends. Also, make sure you call with the details for the dance tomorrow. I don't think he knows anything? Love you, Dad.' I sighed, and smiled.
I called Charlie, and Jake was indeed not there, so I relayed the information about the dance to Billy. Billy would bring Jake over at 7 tomorrow, and we'd go to the dance, and he already knew it was semi formal. After I had a short conversation with Charlie, I made leftovers from the previous night for dinner. Suddenly tired from the shopping expedition, I went upstairs, and did my normal night routine. As I laid in bed, waiting to finally fall asleep, I wondered if Jake would like the dress I had gotten.