I'm not sure how I found my way there, but the truck comes to a screeching halt in front of Bella's house. I'm hyperventilating. Just focus, get out of here, and everything will be fine. Okay, do a quick search of the house, grab everything that could come in handy, and then I'm gone. Like the wind. Like a shadow. No traces left behind. Except for everything I stole…
But it's not really stealing. Afterall, I am Bella Swan. I shudder. I'm trying to make myself feel better, not worse.
Just focus on finding helpful things to help you run away from Edward and this horrible town.
"Money. Money could be nice" I say out loud as I spot Bella's purse on the counter. My plan is simple. Run away and get as far away from those crazy vampires and Forks, Washington as possible. I'm thinking Moscow. I hear Russia's nice this time of year. And I'm sure the Cullens wouldn't be insane enough to follow Bella across the globe...or would they?
I shudder the thought away and stuff a loaf of bread into a bag. I figure with some nutella I can ration it to last me the entire trip. Or maybe a day or two. I'm pretty hungry.
"Are you that upset about your birthday?" I hear Alice's cheerful voice behind me. I spin around. She's leaning across the counter. She seems to mock me with that joyful smile. I frown at her.
"It's not my birthday I'm upset about…" I mumble to myself.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous. So, do you want to open your present now or later?" She asks eagerly. I narrow my eyes suspiciously.
"No presents." I say. She pouts.
"Okay...later than." She says. "Come on, Edward is waiting outside. You wouldn't want to be late for your own birthday party."
Hang on. Didn't Bella despise her birthday? Why would she agree to let the Cullens throw her a party?
"I don't want a party." I say. Alice just laughs.
"Oh, be fair, Bella!" She complains. "You aren't going to ruin all our fun like that, are you?"
Wow. These people are so considerate of other people's feelings. An idea pops into my head.
"You're absolutely right." I say. Alice beams up at me. "I was being selfish, thinking only about myself on my birthday. Let me just go upstairs and change into something nicer."
Alice nods happily, now that she's getting her way. She doesn't notice me bring my backpack with me as I slip upstairs. I get into Bella's room and lock the door. Then I move to the window, which is already unlocked (probably from one of Edward's creepy night stalking rendezvouses). I roll my eyes and start to climb out the window. A smile creeps across my face as the ground gets closer. I jump off the wall.
Then cold, unexpected arms catch me before I can land. They latch on tightly and refuse to let go. My feet don't touch the ground. I look up in horror to find its Edward who has caught me, and is now holding me bridal style. I try not to cry.
"Ready for your party?" He asks, gazing down at me intently with his unsetting liquid topaz eyes. Eyes should not be that color! It's very unnatural.
"Don't you ever blink?!" I ask him after several seconds of his uncomfortable staring. He blinks in confusion.
"Aren't you going to put me down?" I ask impatiently. He sets me down and I brush off my pants.
"Bella!" Alice yells down from the window. A second later, she's standing right in front of me. I yelp.
"Jeez! You can't just do that to a person." I say. She puts her hands on her hips. Her smug smile has disappeared, only to be replaced by an angry glare.
"This can be easy, or this can be hard, Bella, but one way or the other-" She threatens. My eyes involuntarily widen. Jeez, these people are supposed to be Bella's friends? They seem more like overpowering helicopter moms to me.
"Relax, Alice…" Edward says. Wow, is Edward actually speaking up for me? "She's just antsy about her birthday."
I frown. These people and their strange obsession with Bella's birthday. I suppress the urge to walk back upstairs if only to chuck myself out the window again.
"Edward-" I begin, but Edward cuts me off.
"Let's discuss it later. We're going to be late for your party." He says, pressing one cool finger to my lips. My eye twitches. He's worse than Raoul (if that's even possible). I brush his hand away from my mouth.
"Maybe we'll discuss now because communication is key to the success of a relationship. Not that this forced show of clichéd romance lines is much of a relationship. But understand this: I am a person. I am entitled to my own feelings and opinions, even if they are different from yours! So enough with the condescending attitude because I am not a three year old. I am a strong independent woman who you cannot simply command around like a trained show dog!" I say furiously. My hands rest on my hips defiantly, waiting for Edward's response.
"Understood. So would this strong independent woman like to change before her birthday party or is she going to wear that?" He asks innocently. My hands fall. I'm honestly hurt. He barely even acknowledged my rant! At least Raoul pretended to listen.
"Come on, Bella. Before your birthday is over." He jokes. He takes my hand and starts to lead me towards the car (as if I couldn't find it myself). I just angrily brood to myself. I can see there's only one option here. I have to go to this stupid birthday party. I'm going to keep my eyes open for a chance to slip away though.
When we get to the car, I viciously go to the driver's side and hiss, "I'm driving."
"But Bella-" Edward starts, but the look of pure hatred I give him shuts him up. For the moment.
I climb in and turn the classic rock station up to max volume before Edward can start a conversation.
"Wow, this isn't really your usually station…" He starts. I turn the volume up and pretend not to hear him as we drive to his house. Its clear communication is not going to work. Edward presses his lips together to keep from smiling. He seems to think I am being playful. I resist the urge to puke out the window. When I park in front of his house, he reaches over to take my face in his hands before I can pull away.
"You should be in a good mood, today of all days." he whispers. His breath fans across my face. I recoil.
"And you should respect my right to feel however I like." I say. His golden eyes smolder.
"Too bad."
...What...Is that a threat? I'm a little concerned now. Edward leans closer, but before I can anticipate his move, he presses his icy lips against mine. It's like making out with an ice pop, minus all the delicious flavor. I shiver. Edward seems to take that as a good sign. I pull back before I get hypothermia. Shouldn't this be considered pedophilia because Edward is over a hundred years old and Bella is barely eighteen? I shudder again and try to erase the thought from my mind.
"I thought you said we were already late to the party?" I ask.
"I was lying." Edward smiles at me. I don't smile back. He finally takes notice. "Bella, is something wrong?"
"Nope. Everything is just peachy perfect." I grumble.
"Bella, I couldn't live if you were upset." He explains. I roll my eyes.
"Sucks you became a vampire then. I'm pretty sure you can't kill yourself." I say. You'd think Edward would know this as a vampire himself.
"Well...last spring, when you were...nearly killed." Edward pauses to take a deep breath, struggling to return to his teasing tone. Suddenly images flash across my mind of a vampire with a sadistic smile in a mirrored room, Edward killing him, him biting into my, I mean, Bella's wrist. I stare down at the crescent-shaped scar that has appeared on my hand that I swear hadn't been there a moment ago. "Of course I was trying to focus on finding you alive, but part of my mind was making contingency plans. It's not as easy for me as it is for a human."
"Contingency plans?"
"Well, I wasn't going to live without you." He rolls his eyes as if that fact were childishly obvious. "But I wasn't sure how to do it - I knew Emmett and Jasper would never help… so I was thinking maybe I would go to Italy and do something to provoke the Volturi."
"Volturi? Is that a pasta?" I ask.
"The Volturi are a family." Edward says, laughing at me. "A very old, very powerful family of our kind. They are the closest thing our world has to a royal family, I suppose. Carlisle lived with them briefly in his early years, in Italy, before he settled in America- do you remember the story?"
I'm painfully aware of this none-too-subtle foreshadowing going on here, but I could care less. I doubt Carlisle's life story is really going to be that important to the plot.
"Yeah, sure." I say.
"Anyway, you don't irritate the Volturi," Edward says. "Not unless you want to die- or whatever it is we do."
"Suicide is never an option." I say. I don't like Edward, but that doesn't mean he should kill himself...even if he is just a fictional character. "I'd have to slap you if you killed yourself for me."
"Bella, can you do me a favor?" Edward asks, changing the subject. "Bella, the last real birthday any of us had was Emmett in 1935" ...what… "Cut us a little slack, and don't be too difficult tonight. They're all very excited."
Hmm. So, I should stand there and look pretty and do what I'm told. Fat chance.
"Oh. Don't worry. I'll be a perfect little angel." I lie.
With that, we head into the house. I realize with horror that I can't remember all the Cullens' names. Uh oh. There's Alice...Jasmine? No sorry, Jasper. Rosemary. Emmett. Carly. And the mom. Close enough I guess. I'll just try not to use names. They are all waiting in the huge white living room. When I walk through the door, they greet me with a loud chorus of "Happy birthday, Bella!" while I force a smile. Alice has covered every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses. There's a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward's grand piano, holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents. It's overkill.
Edward wraps an arm around my waist and kisses the top of my head. I bite my cheek to stop myself from slapping him away.
"Sorry about this, Bella." The blonde dad vampire says. I think his name is the one that starts with a C. "We couldn't rein Alice in."
I exchange pleasantries with the other vampires. I notice one of them is keeping his distance. He's leaning, long and blond, against the post at the foot of the stairs. I think he's Jasper, the newest vampire. He must still be getting over the whole "blood" thing.
"Time to open presents" Alice declares. I hope one of them is a cat. Or a puppy. Or a pony. Or all three. Anything to make this worthwhile.
I analyze the presents and grab one that looks promising. I tear off the paper, and open it.
"It's...nothing." I say, kind of very confused.
"It's a stereo for you truck." Jasper explains. "Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it."
"Wow. Thanks for taking my opinion into consideration." I say. Everyone laughs, apparently missing my sarcasm.
"Open mine and Edward's next." Alice says, handing me a small flat square. I take it. It's definitely not a pony.
I start to open the little package.
"Oh fudgesticks." I mutter when the paper slices my finger. A single drop of blood oozes from the miniscule cut. Honestly, I can barely see it without a microscope. But suddenly Edward roars as Jasper runs towards me.
I move without thinking, my instincts taking over. Edward throws himself at me, ready to push me out of Jasper's way, but instead I dodge him. Edward flails face first into the cake. I stand just in time to see Jasper run straight towards me. I can feel everything I've learned from Mortal Instruments, Maximum Ride, Warriors, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, and Percy Jackson surge into action. My hands come up to block Jasper's attack. I swipe his hands out of the way, and knee him in the gut. When he leans forward in response to my gut hit, I punch him in the face. He tumbles backward, but catches himself. As he runs forward for another attack, I kneel down and instead propel him over me, and flip him upside down. He lands on Edward and they crash into the table, shattering the glass and sending cake and flowers scattering everywhere.
"Not the cake…" I mumble. Jasper moans. I feel a little bad for hurting him, but he was trying to kill me. Everyone looks at me in shock.
"Call it cat-like reflexes?" I joke. Emmett grabs the disoriented Jasper. Edward gets up shakily.
"B-Bella are you okay?" He asks. Pieces of cake speckle his hair. His words are a little slurred. I hope I didn't give him a concussion. Can vampires get concussions?
"Emmett, Rose, get Jasper outside." Carlisle says. They obey him, and pick up the close to unconscious Jasper.
"I'm so sorry Bella." The mom vampire says. I think her name's Emily. Or Esmerelda. Or Esme. Something like that.
"It's okay. I'm actually fine." I explain. "I feel bad for breaking your table. And possibly giving two people concussions."
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Alice asks. Uh oh.
"Well. Um. It was actually after that last experience I had with that other vampire, the one that tried to kill me." I lie. "I decided I should learn some basic self-defense, and it looks like it worked!"
Edward's face is like stone. I can't tell if it's because of what just happened or simply because he doesn't like the idea of Bella doing something as independent and free willed as learning self-defense.
"Alice, could you go check on Jasper?" Carlisle asks. Alice nods and leaves.
"Sorry about the cake...and the table." I say.
"It's not your fault." Carlisle says comfortingly. There's an uncomfortable silence. Then Alice returns.
"How's Jasper?" I ask.
"He's very unhappy with himself. It's all so much more of a challenge for him, and he hates feeling weak." Alice sighs.
"I'm not mad at him, if that makes him feel any better." I say. "Although he does owe me a new cake!"
No one laughs at my joke. What a sober group.
"The cake is demolished, so I guess the party's over? I'll just take my leave." I say, relieved to finally have an excuse to leave early. When I get to the door, Edward is waiting for me. He holds the front door open without a word.
"Take your things!" Alice cries as I walk out. She scoops up the two unharmed packages. "You can thank me later, when you've opened them."
"Thanks." I say, and take the presents. Edward and I make our way to the car. I slip into the driver's seat, and throw the presents in the back. I eye the new stereo. There's a big red ribbon on it. I pull it off. Edward silently sits down in the passenger's seat. He makes no attempt to start conversation. I'm not one to sit in silence, so I turn the new stereo on.
"I stay up too late. Got nothing in my brain."
I nod my head along to the wise words of TayTay Swifty. Edward doesn't flinch. I frown. Not that I like the guy, in fact I think he's a huge misogynistic douche, but the deep goodness of my heart refuses to let me sit around doing nothing while someone is upset. I know, I'm such a saint. No need to thank me.
"Cause the players gonna play, play, play" I sing along. "And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate. Baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake it off"
I nudge Edward and give him a little smile. Still nothing. He's a wall of icy annoyance. But that's never gotten in my way.
"Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break and the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake it off! Shake it off!"
Edward just glares at the dashboard. I roll my eyes. What a drama queen. The song comes to an end as we reach Bella's driveway. Edward and I get out without a word to each other. This is getting pretty awkward. If "Shake it Off" didn't make him feel better, then there's nothing I can do for him. I'll just let him wallow in sadness.
"Thanks for the exciting party. Have a good night." I say and start to walk towards the door.
"You can't have it both ways-either you want people to ignore your birthday or you don't. One or the other." He says. I raise my eyebrow.
"Excuse me Mr. SnappyMcSassypants. I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to say thank you for forcing me into a party and nearly getting me killed." I say. "If you don't have anything else cheeky to say, I'll just carry my presents upstairs and go to sleep."
"I'll carry them." He says, clearly feeling a little bad for his outburst. "I'll be in your room."
I roll my eyes. So creepy. I turn and walk inside. The TV is on and Bella's dad, Charlie, is watching it.
"Bell?"
"Hey dad."
"How was it?"
"Alright. The conversation was a little lacking, but besides that…" With that I head upstairs. I walk into Bella's room, and sure enough, there's Edward. He's sitting in the center of the bed, toying idly with one of the silver boxes.
"Hi." He says. His voice is sad. He's wallowing. I yawn. How much longer is this going to go on for? I just want to sleep.
"Are you going to open your presents?" He asks.
"Well, since you went through the trouble of carrying them upstairs, I might as well." I shrug and open the first one.
"They're tickets to Jacksonville." Edward explains.
"Oh my goodness!" I feign excitement. What's in Jacksonville? "Oh wow, and there's a ticket for you too…"
"That's the idea."
"I can't believe it." I say half-heartedly.
"If I'd had any idea that you could respond to a gift this appropriately, I would have made you open it in front of Carlisle and Esme."
I stare at Edward. At this point I'm starting to think maybe he's the incredibly sarcastic one and it's so far past my level that I'm completely missing it. Or maybe I'm a better actress than I realize. I put the tickets down and open the next present. It's a CD.
"What is it?" I ask. Edward takes it and starts playing it in the CD player. I listen. It sounds like someone playing the piano. They hit an obviously wrong note. I flinch. It's only one note though. Then they hit another. Yikes. Not to mention the music sounds very flat. It feels sucked of all emotion and passion. Overall, it's rather disappointing.
"It's your lullaby." Edward explains, interpreting the pained expression on my face as confusion. "I didn't think you would let me get a piano so I could play for you here."
"Yeah. You don't need any more excuses to break into my room at 4 in the morning." I say. Edward laughs softly. I'm glad he's not so sulky anymore, but it would be nice if he left now. Instead he scoops me up off the bed with one arm, and pulls the cover back with the other. He puts me down with my head on the pillow and tucks the quilt around me. He lays down next to me. I grimace. He puts his arm over me.
"Thanks. Because clearly as a full grown woman I couldn't have tucked myself into bed." I say.
"You're welcome."
If my hands weren't under the covers, I would have face palmed. Either way, Edward is just sitting a little too close for comfort.
"I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll go to bed now." I say. Edward makes no motion to leave.
"Are you-aaa...going to leave?" I ask. He looks down at me, a little surprised.
"Do you want me to?"
"What? No. Don't be ridiculous. But yes. Please leave." I say. "Don't take it the wrong way."
Edward frowns, but moves away.
"Goodnight Bella."
"G'night. Don't let the bedbugs bite." I joke. But he's already gone. I try to get to sleep, but that painful CD keeps me awake. Finally, I just have to get up and turn it off.
"Phew. That was painful." I say to myself. With some peace and quiet, I finally get some sleep. I know tomorrow's going to be another tedious day with Edward. Hopefully I won't almost die though…