Okay, I am SO sorry that I have been MIA. This last week has been CAH-RAZY busy, as I'm sure you can guess. (I got to see New Moon early on Wednesday for a special screening at my local theater, plus I got really wrapped up in this chapter…) And don't worry, to make up not having a new chapter for like, 2 weeks, I'm writing another chapter and I promise I'll update tonight again! Love love LOVE you guys!!
As we sat in the restaurant I saw the waitress quickly give Edward a once-over and I rolled my eyes. Just because he was a vampire and had ridiculously good looks meant that every girl on the face of the earth was madly attracted to him. Personally, I wasn't as spellbound as the rest of them. While he did in fact look handsome, there was just a trace too much sadness in his face. His smiles didn't reflect warmth like Jake's did; rather they were filled with a hint of loneliness that just didn't feel right to me. The waitress gave us menus and went off on her merry little way.
"So what do you feel like eating?" Edward asked conversationally. I peered through the menu and came to one dish that I got simply out of irony's sake. Garlic chicken and Alfredo pasta. Perfect. As I explained my choice to Edward, he laughed.
"Hey!" I said, "Better safe than sorry." He rolled his eyes and the waitress came back and took my order and Edward of course, got nothing. As she walked away, his golden eyes were immediately on me, sizing me up uncomfortably. "So," I began. "What was going on this morning?" His eyes widened and he shifted slightly in his seat. I raised an eyebrow.
"Um…well…" He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the table. "I just did something that displeased them," he said, "No big."
"Like what…?" I said, crossing my arms. He sighed.
"I had hoped to never have to actually discuss this," he murmured slightly under his breath, his fist clenching tightly on the table. I just waited patiently. After he didn't respond for a few minutes I rubbed my temples.
"Alright," I said in defeat. "If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine." I rolled my eyes and the waitress arrived with my drink. Edward was silent as she set it down in front of me, and as soon as she was out of earshot, he decided to speak.
"I promise, I will talk about it at some point in time. Just not at this very moment, okay?" His eyes looked almost vulnerable, and I found myself feeling strangely sympathetic towards this odd creature.
The rest of the conversation wasn't nearly as strained, thankfully. We got off the topic of his scolding by his parents and began to talk about nearly everything else. When I finished lunch, we thanked the waitress and left a nice tip. We walked out of the restaurant and got into his car.
"Where to next?" Edward asked, peering straight ahead. I thought about it for a second.
"How about we actually go back to Forks? I kind of want to decorate the place for my dad, since he'll be home somewhat soon." Edward smiled.
"Okay. Let's go then." We sped off in the direction of Forks, and when the conversation came to a slow standstill, I turned on the radio awkwardly. The song playing? Vampire by The Antsy Pants. I switched it to another station. This one was playing Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett. I switched it yet again to another station in frustration. This station was playing Vampires Will Never Hurt You by Fall Out Boy. I sighed and turned off the radio. Edward appeared to be trying not to laugh.
"What's so funny?" I snapped slightly. "The fact that the universe seems to have a fetish with reminding me about the fact that vampires do in fact exist?" He shook his head.
"Nah, its moreso the fact that you get into such a little tizzy about it. It reminds me of a frustrated child." I glared at him. He rolled his eyes in response. "Oh please," he said with a smirk. "You are so not intimidating. You're 5'2 and you're human. I think I could take you." I crouched lower in my seat, crossing my arms and grumbling. Stupid vampire. I was intimidating. He just couldn't realize it. He poked my arm, and I bit his finger quickly. He looked surprised. "Isn't that technically my job to do the biting?" He asked, failing to keep a smile off of his face. I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing.
"True," I admitted. At this point, we were almost at my home, so when we finally arrived back home, I was hit by a small wave of nostalgia upon seeing my real home and my truck. I hopped up to the front step and flung open the door. It smelled like home. However, it looked like chaos.
My jaw dropped. Lamps were strewn everywhere; chairs flipped and papers scattered wildly around the room. It looked like a tornado had been in here. Edward arrived by the door, taking in the scene with a wry expression.
"Nicole's work, I presume?" He asked, crossing his arms. I nodded.
"That's the only person I can imagine doing that." He sighed and then was gone. In a flash, things began to be rearranged, and fixed with a white blur that I assumed to be Edward flying about the room. After about 5 minutes, everything was back in perfect order in both up and downstairs and it looked like nothing had been done. I looked at him in amazement.
"Ever think about going into the home-cleaning business?" I asked incredulously "I'm sure they could use someone like you." He laughed.
"That's not exactly my style," he said. "Let's get decorating for Charlie though." I nodded, still somewhat in shock. In a matter of an hour or so, all the fine china was out, and the house was decorated more cheerfully than it had been previously. I smiled at Edward.
"I think we've done quite a job, if I do say so myself." I said to him. "Great job!" He looked at me with that smile that held a hint of sadness within it.
"It does look pretty good," he said. "We should probably get going to meet Alice though; she'll be getting out of school at any moment." So we left the house, and went back to the Volvo to meet Miss Alice. As we pulled up to the school, she looked at us with an almost paternally disapproving look.
"And where were you today?" she asked, tapping her foot, arms crossed. Edward rolled his eyes.
"I'd think you could figure that out," he started dryly, "Seeing as you are the psychic here." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"You should think more cautiously. What if Nicole had ditched class too and decided to stalk you and Bella?" She said. Edward put his fingers to his forehead.
"I think I can take her on," he said sarcastically. Alice just rolled her eyes.
"Be more careful. Don't let there be a next time." Edward just shook his head as she got daintily into the car. We drove home with a Spanish inquisition from Miss Alice, as was expected. When she realized that nothing really interesting had happened, she simply elaborated on what had happened at school while we had played hooky. "Tyler and his bunch of cronies appear to be following Nicole," she said with a slight grimace. "And I don't think that Nicole would be greatly opposed to having one or several of them as snacks." Edward just shook his head.
"What could she do? She wouldn't want to attract attention; that'd get her found out and her mission for hunting Bella would be ruined. No Alice, there's got to be some other thing; think deeper," Edward urged. Alice frowned, the flipped smile foreign on her stony face.
"Maybe," She started, and then shook her head. "No, that's ridiculous."
"What?" I asked, "What's ridiculous?" She hesitated.
"She might be trying to, and mind you, this is only a guess, but she may be trying to be a succubus. She might try to seduce the guys here to do her own business, and basically do whatever she wants. It seems she's already got them under her own kind of spell." I thought about that.
"Well, I think it's unlikely that it's a spell. I mean, she wears miniskirts and high heels daily to a school full of hormonal teenage boys. That alone gets their attention. Plus the fact that she's gorgeous and flirts with them just adds to the fact." Alice shrugged.
"I honestly don't know Bella," Alice said. "I'm trying to figure this out so we can keep you safe." I smiled.
"Thanks Alice. We'll figure it out, however long it takes." She smiled.
"That's the spirit Bella! Now, let's make Charlie a welcome home dinner he'll never forget." We sped down the road towards my house, all ready to make a delicious supper.