Ahhh!!! I love my reviewers oh so much!! I'm writing this early, and posting it early since I might be busy later tonight… (Don't know if you all know about it, but there's going to be a really pretty meteor shower tonight, and I am psyched to see it!).
The next few days at school were interesting. I had left Jess, Mike, and Angela to sit with the Cullens, and they didn't really notice or hold a grudge against me for it, thankfully. Alice was ecstatic that I was doing what she had asked of me. She desperately wanted to go shopping for Halloween costume things.
"Bella! I know the store where you can get the cutest striped top, and a vest, and a belt, and a skirt, and boots, and a fake sword, and hat, and-" At this point Edward cut her off.
"We get the picture Alice," he said rolling his eyes, and smiling at me. I just laughed gently.
"What's so funny?" She pouted like a little kid.
"Your reactions just make me laugh Alice, that's all." She thought about that for a second.
"I don't know if that's a compliment or not," she said, tapping her chin with her finger absent-mindedly. I laughed
"It's just you. There's no hidden compliment or insult." She frowned.
"Well that's boring." Jasper, Edward and I all burst into laughter at her comment. She was so ridiculous at times.
"Okay, well since you want to get our costumes done with…do you want to get it taken care of this Saturday? Because I usually hang out with Jake, but I suppose he could hang out with his friends." As I said it, a little bit of sadness came. I wouldn't get to spend time with my other friends; Quil and Embry. I really liked hanging out with all of them and Jake because it was an extension of my life outside of Forks. But as I mentioned Jake, the entire table got a bit tense. Alice struggled to relieve the tension.
"Saturday's great! We'll go to Port Angeles, and we'll get the stuff there." I smiled, and the tension lifted slightly. They may have liked my company, but they still didn't like the werewolves.
I told Jake about hanging out with Alice on Saturday in Port Angeles, and he seemed a tad disappointed, but he resolved to hang out with Quil and Embry.
"At least we'll see each other on Sunday." He amended. I snuggled deeper into his arms.
"Of course. And you're probably missing your friends," I teased. "I keep stealing all of your time away." He looked down at me with his soft dark eyes.
"So? I love you taking all of my time, since it's when I'm overwhelmingly happy." He nuzzled the top of my head, and I felt his breath on my hair as he spoke the next words. "Besides, who wouldn't want to spend so much time with the one they love?" I tilted my head back and reached up for a kiss, which he gave to me freely.
The rest of the week flew by, until Friday came, where I hung out with Jake, until that moment that we both detested; where I had to go back to Forks. As I was leaving, Jake suddenly took my hand, and whirled me back to him. He kissed me roughly, and I indulged him. When the intense kiss ended, I was looking up at him in a bit of surprise.
"What was that about? I liked it but it was a bit…strong?" He smirked.
"Just wanted to kiss you goodbye, baby. Remember, I love you. Be safe tomorrow." I reached up on my tip toes and entwined my fingers in his hair.
"I love you too. Don't worry, I'll be fine." He walked me to my truck, his hand in mine, and my head against his shoulder. As I got in, I rolled down the window, and kissed him lightly through the window before going. He waved at me as I left and I waved in return. I couldn't wait for Sunday.
When I was awoken in my room in Saturday morning, I faced an extremely perky, extremely hyper Alice. In my groggy state, I was very articulate.
"What are you doing in my room?" she spun around excitedly.
"I'm here to go shopping, silly! I figured you'd be up already!" I groaned and fell back on my bed and threw the covers over my head. I heard her tsk at me. Then suddenly, the covers had disappeared. I looked around confused and saw her holding them. "Don't make me make you get up," Alice said sweetly, with a hint of a threat. I groaned and got clothes and changed in the bathroom. I came back to see her lightly sitting on my bed.
"How did you get in?" I asked suspiciously. She looked at her nails.
"I introduced myself to Charlie and he let me in." I rolled my eyes. For sheriff of the town, Charlie was a little overly trusting.
"Come on then, let's go shopping." She got up and clapped her hands excitedly. We left the house, I said goodbye to Charlie, and off we went. We went in her car, which was a bright yellow Porsche. She began speeding out of the driveway, and before long, we were on the highway towards Port Angeles.
"I'm so glad that we're doing this Bella," she said, keeping her eyes on the road. "I don't get to hang out with a lot of people, like a normal girl at our school."
"I can imagine, it seems like it'd be a bit hard, because you could never be sure if they'd keep your secret." She nodded.
"It's extremely hard. Plus, so many people at our school are so…" she wrinkled her nose. "Annoying!" I laughed.
"You've got that right." I was shocked at the speedometer when I glanced over at it. "Um Alice, you do realize that we're going at like, one hundred miles an hour?" She glanced at it.
"Yeah, what's the point of having a fast car if you're not going to use it to it's full capability? Besides, I think I have plenty of driving experience." I rolled my eyes at that one. Being a vampire, I was sure that she did know how to drive. Before long, we had arrived at the Port Angeles mall. We went to several malls where she ordered me to try on clothes completely unrelated to Halloween, and because I was me, I did. Some of them looked really nice, but I only bought one or two tops. Finally, we reached the store that she had been talking about. She quickly found a mystical gown that would do perfectly to show off her assets, and look the part of the bride of Frankenstein. I found a red and white striped long sleeved shirt that I would likely tear apart with scissors later, along with a long black skirt that I would also tear apart with scissors. I found plain black ballet flats which would have to do, since I couldn't find boots. Then I got the two accessories I needed for my costume, a brown leather belt, and a captain's hat. I rushed to the register, where Alice was waiting, and purchased my goods.
"Thanks for showing me that store Alice! Now I can actually look like a pirate somewhat." She hugged me. I hugged back, and as we walked out of the store, I bumped headfirst into a very tall person and dropped my bag. "I'm so sorry!" I gushed, as I tried picking up my stuff. They knelt down and started to help me.
"It's no problem," said a very familiar voice. I looked up to see Jake's face set in a smirk, even with the close proximity of a vampire.
"Jake!" I said, rushing forward to his arms, where he caught me. "What are you doing here though?" I looked up at him "Jake, are you following me?" He shook his head, and laughed.
"No, Quil and Embry wanted to come to the mall today." He shrugged. "I had nothing to do with it, but I'm glad." I smiled up at him, and waved to Quil and Embry who were behind him, their faces set in a grim line with the vampire that was behind me. Behind the anger for her, I saw genuine worry for me in their eyes. Alice picked up on the growing tense atmosphere.
"Come on Bella! We have to go to that store!" she tugged my arm, and Jake frowned. I smiled up at him
"I'll see you later babe. Don't worry, we'll see each other tomorrow." He reluctantly let go, and waved to me as Alice and I went in the opposite direction. We didn't say anything about what had just occurred, and before long, we went home. I got back to Charlie's and I gave her a hug.
"Thanks Alice, I really appreciate having someone to shop with, even if it's not my absolute favorite activity." She broke out in a huge smile.
"Me too! We'll have to go shopping sometime soon! And we'll have a blast at the Halloween dance…maybe Jake can hang out with all of us?" she asked gingerly. I thought about if for a moment
"I would love it if that could happen. We'll have to see though, you know how werewolves and vampires can get," I said. She nodded in understanding. I got out of the car, and took my bags. "See you later Alice! Thanks! She nodded and backed out of the driveway. I went upstairs and put my clothes away, while I thought about what Alice had said. It would be really nice if Jake could hang out with the Cullens without conflict occurring. It would be phenomenal, in fact.
Sunday I went bright and early to Jake's, while Billy and Charlie went fishing. He greeted me with a sleepy smile and picked me up. I rolled my eyes.
"Is this going to become tradition?" I said. He smirked
"I think it should," he said, kissing me delicately. "I like having you here in my arms." I smiled, and kissed him back.
"Being in your arms is my favorite place to be." He smiled at that. We spent the day talking, and cooking breakfast and lunch, waiting for Charlie and Billy to return so we could cook supper. We even indulged in our childish side and had a pillow fight. I found it funny how Jake was my best friend, my boyfriend, and the person I was so happy with, all at once.
The time seemed to go so quickly when I was with Jake though. It seemed like only minutes before Charlie and Billy came back, ready to watch the game and have us make dinner. It didn't take too long to make dinner, but we were always joking around with one another while we made it. As Charlie and I left that night, I was jubilant. I had had a really good weekend filled with spending time with a friend and hanging out with my boyfriend. It would be even better if they got along. But someday, I resolved to myself, someday they might get along.