1- I love you all. The reviews make me smile so much that I actually jump up and down with happiness sometimes. Yes I know, I'm silly. That's just meee! 2-Enjoy enjoy enjoy!
The rest of the time leading up to the Halloween dance went by faster and faster. I spent every lunch at the Cullen table, and bit by bit, everyone began opening up to me a bit more. I found out that Rosalie was actually a very skilled mechanic, and that Emmett loved playing baseball. Alice obviously was a shopaholic, and Jasper…well Jasper was hard to get to talk, let alone open up. But I noticed that in the time that I was talking to them, they seemed to smile more, and to let their guard down. They seemed even…well, human.
And since I was getting to know the entire Cullen family more, I was also getting to see a different side of Edward as well. The obnoxious ways faded slightly, although he was definitely cocky at times. He was concise in whatever he did though, and he had a great deal of confidence in what he did, although when he was wrong, it was funny to watch him be embarrassed.
Jake and I also got closer as well. He confided in me about the inner workings of his friends, and told me the story of why his mother was missing. After hearing the heartbreaking story of her car crash, I instantly crushed him to me. He tried to be strong and shrug it off, but I could see the pain that was still deep within his eyes. I wished I could have solved all his pain; as if I could absorb it somehow, but that was impossible. He was so strong though, and he was still able to keep a cheerful disposition everyday. I think the fact that he was able to get through it just made me admire him more than ever. Needless to say, I fell deeper in love with him each time I saw him. He always made my day brighter, and warmed my heart, no matter what my day had been like. He was the endless sun to the constant rain of Forks.
He apparently had a superb costume for the Halloween dance, although like Edward, he refused to tell me what it was. I pouted to try and get him to tell me, but to no avail. When he wanted to, he could lock his words up tight. The Halloween dance itself was on the exact night of Halloween, so I didn't have to worry about going trick or treating…since I was so short, I probably could have passed as a ten year old. The seventeen year old body might have been more difficult to pull off though. Alice had insisted on coming over to my house and getting ready with me, so we were able to have our 'girl time'. She helped me shred my outfit perfectly, and decided to curl my hair and give it volume. As she finished, she inspected her work.
"Perfect!" she declared, touching a finger to her cheek. "Can I add a bit of make-up?" she asked with pitiful eyes. I rolled my eyes, and put my pirate hat on.
"I suppose." She clapped her hands excitedly
"You'll look gorgeous!" she exclaimed. I shrunk down in my seat slightly, and shut my eyes for her to apply eyeliner and shadow.
"I feel like a Barbie doll." I said. She giggled. After she had finally finished, I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror to find a more edgy Bella Swan. She had put on black liner, and used a bronze shadow that was perfectly blended to have a range of color from the edge of the eyelashes to the top of the eyelid. There was mascara that made my eyelashes extraordinarily long, and I had a deep red lipstick on as well. I looked a tad more fierce.
"What do you think?" she asked, her hands behind her back.
"I think that I look like Captain Swan." She smirked.
"That ye do, matey!" I raised an eyebrow at her. She giggled. "Wait until you see my costume! Rose is helping Jazz with his make-up to look more like Frankenstein's monster." She quickly changed into her dress, and applied a slightly green tinted makeup to achieve the look of the Bride of Frankenstein. She was able to put her wig on so it looked like it was her actual hair, although it was impossible. Her make-up was more haunting than mine; she rimmed both sides of her eyes with thick lines of eyeliner, and added dark eye shadow to enhance her look. She had a slightly green lipstick that she added, and by the time she was finished, she looked mystical, beautiful, and of course, flawless. "What do you think?" she asked, spinning around so I could see the entire costume.
"I think it's gorgeous," I said, "and Jazz is going to have a hard time not stealing you away from the general population of Forks." She frowned
"He better not take me away, I worked hard on this costume!" I laughed, and went with her to the school. Jake was apparently getting a ride to the school for the dance, because he was going to find me there. He was being so dang mysterious with his costume, but I figured it was silly boy stuff.
When Alice and I arrived in the Gym, we quickly caught sight of the other Cullens. Rosalie was a gorgeous Ann Darrow, with a tight red dress accentuating every curve that she possessed, and Emmett by her side dressed as King Kong. Jazz saw Alice and rushed forward to her. His costume was perfect to detail as well; he and Alice looked like a match made by Dr. Frankenstein himself. Then my eyes came to Edward. I tried to stifle a laugh. He was dressed as Count Dracula. He had a Victorian white ruffled shirt with black pants and boots under them with a black cape rimmed with red on the inside. He had left his hair as it was, choosing its normal messy style rather than the slicked back idea of Count Dracula, and he had realistic looking fangs poking from his mouth. I walked over to him.
"This is your costume?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are those real?" he laughed
"Of course they're not my real ones. The only way you'd see those ones are if you were in danger of turning into a vampire, or if I wanted a snack. And you do look delicious," he said, his eyes raking up and down my body. I wanted to smack him. His attitude had gotten generally better, but I had a feeling that a little one on one time with Emmett had probably brought it down a notch.
"Well, it's a good thing that you're not hungry." I said coldly, crossing my arms. Suddenly, I heard a howl from the back of the Gym. I turned around, confused. Then what I saw next made me laugh. Jake was dressed as a werewolf. Talk about ironic. He had added fake hair to his arms, along with his feet and face. He had yellow contacts and odd ears poking out of his suddenly short hair. I rushed over to him. I yanked on his hair; it didn't budge, which meant it wasn't a wig.
"What happened to your hair??" I asked, worriedly. Had something happened? He laughed.
"I was just getting in character, Bells. It was getting in the way, so I had Billy give me a trim. What do you think though?" he said, turning around and sending me a wink. I smiled coyly.
"I love it. Talk about cliché though," I teased. "You and Edward both." His eyes narrowed for a second.
"Wait, what's Cullen wearing?" His eyes sought Edward and he finally saw him in his Dracula outfit. He burst into laughter and walked over. I suddenly had wide eyes, and rushed to his side, and he wrapped his arm around my waist. The Cullens suddenly had a cloud of a disappointment upon their faces.
"Hello Jacob," Alice said timidly. Jasper and Emmett suddenly had very protective stances, standing slightly in front of their partners, their hands curled in fists. Rosalie didn't look particularly defensive, but she had a look of distaste on her face. Edward's expression was the most interesting though. He had a calm collected look. Jake nodded at Alice.
"Alice I presume?" he asked. "I've heard a lot about you from Bella." She nodded. He turned to Edward. "Cullen." Edward stiffened slightly. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Edward nodded tightly, and they began to walk off. As I tried to follow, Jake turned around. "Don't worry Bells; I just wanted to talk to him about something real quick." I looked at him. He wasn't lying, but there was something he wasn't telling me. He sighed. "I promise, I'll be back in 10 minutes okay?" I nodded, and he kissed my forehead. "By the way," he whispered in my ear. "You look unbelievably stunning." I smiled and kissed him.
"Be nice." I warned, and then let him go to talk to Edward. Alice looked at me with a look of confusion.
"What was that all about?" she asked. I shrugged. I had no clue. A few minutes later, they came back, not a hair out of place. I looked up at Jake though, and took his arm.
"Come on," I said, tugging on him to a more private place. I noticed that Edward had a slightly more upset expression. Jake didn't argue and soon we were outside of the Gym. "What did you say to him?" I asked, not feeling like beating around the bush.
"I just wanted to warn him about some things we've been noticing around the reservation," Jake said, a look of worry coming over his face. "We smell the tracks of vampires, who aren't the Cullens. And whoever they are, they're killing people of neighboring towns left and right. I wanted to talk about him watching over you during the day." He ended his explanation a little shortly, as if there was something else to be said.
"That's it?" I asked, a hand on my hip. Jake sighed.
"No. I also told him while he was watching over you, to not get…too close." He said crossing his arms. "I don't trust him Bells." Now it was my turn to sigh.
"Jake, he is completely trustworthy. He can be arrogant at times, but he really is a good guy." Jake looked unconvinced. "Just trust me on this okay? He's not going to do anything. Now let's enjoy the dance?" Jake took my hand and looked down at me.
"Sorry Bells. I just can't take any chances with you. I love you too much to let you get hurt." I smiled up at him.
"I know babe. That's part of why I love you so much. But you have to remember, I'm not a little girl; I can take care of myself." He held me to his chest.
"I know," he said. "But you're my Bells, and I don't want anything to hurt you ever. I've got something to be protective about you know; not every guy can have such an amazing girlfriend." I reached up and kissed him.
"Thank you. I think I've got a pretty amazing boyfriend myself."
"Even if he's a werewolf?"
"Even if he's a werewolf." He smiled yet again, sending me a burst of his sunshine.
"C'mon Bells, let's dance." And dance we did. We danced from one side of the floor to the other. For some reason though, I didn't see Edward for the rest of the night. When I asked Alice where he had gone, she didn't know, and Jake and I went to whirling around the dance floor soon after that. When the night finally came to a close, I was happy, exhausted, and pretty sure that I had never had such a fun Halloween. So far, it seemed that a truce between vampires and werewolves could work, if they could tolerate each other like they had tonight.