Hello again =D Thanks again to those of you that recently alerted/favourited, and to the comments on here and on LJ :)
I have a few days off now so am hoping to get some more writing done =] … wish me lots of inspiration!
Now on with the chapter – it might be the longest one yet :O
Chapter 9:
"What about this one?" The top that Alice held up for my approval sent me cringing. I would be ashamed to use it as a duster, let alone as an item of clothing.
"I thought we already agreed no frills!" I gave her a laboured look as I sieved my way through the racks.
"Well I'm sorry, but frills are in this season" her eyebrows rose and her eyes grew large and round, as if I'd personally offended her. "We can hardly go to Vogue and ask them to change their winter fall designs, can we!?"
"I didn't say that, I'm just saying, frills aren't for me… what about this one?" I offered her a compromise. A checked shirt fashioning a variety of shades of purple, combined with black and grey. Probably not something Alice would ever be seen dead in, but the range of colours I hoped would please her.
"I like the colours" Angela offered her two cents of support, as she smiled up at me from where she was sat trying on shoes. Unfortunately nothing was pleasing Alice. "No. This is all wrong" she shook her head vigorously. She was having a fashion breakdown; I could recognise the signs a mile off. "We need to re-fuel. We should get some lunch" her actions were now so controlled, like she was doing all she could to prevent herself from freaking out.
"Yeah, good idea" I placed the shirt back onto the rack; making a mental note to pick that up later on, before all three of us exited the store. "What do we fancy?"
"Italian?"
"Sounds good".
The decision required very little thought, in fact for the past 3 years we'd only ever visited one café restaurant here in the mall. We were rather loyal in our eating/drinking habits.
My stomach started to rumble at the thought of food, my mouth was parched and in desperate need of liquids. That was until Alice mentioned the 'E' word, sending my thoughts wandering elsewhere, and food and drink were suddenly the last thing I was bothered about…
"Hey, isn't that Edward!?" Alice's sudden outburst almost had me doing back flips; and I immediately felt my cheeks warm up. I felt like a cheetah hunting it's pray; my eyes panic searching the space ahead to locate him.
"Yeah, that is Edward" She added with a smile, pointing towards the direction he was sitting. The small Italian café situated at the far corner of the shopping mall…
But he wasn't alone. There he was, engaged in conversation with a beautiful blonde girl.
I heard the distinct sound of his laughter even from where we were stood, some 30 foot away. And my smile quickly dropped; my heart sinking to an all-time low, as I felt the colour drain from my face. The sickness I felt building up in the pit of my stomach was almost unbearable; and any thoughts or feelings of hunger had now vanished. I doubted I could even manage a single bite with how tender my stomach now was.
"Hey, who's that girl with him?" the obvious intrigue and slight sadness from Alice's voice mirrored the way I was feeling; except for me, sadness didn't cover it, it was more like devastation on my part. And my feet drew to a halt.
"I don't know" I spoke without meaning too; my voice turning soft. "But, maybe we should eat somewhere else. We don't want to disturb them".
"Don't be silly" she turned to me, now smiling. "I'm sure he won't mind" she said, her arm thrown sideways as she tapped me on the arm.
"Nah, I'd rather not. I..I need the toilet anyway" I stuttered recklessly, starting to back pedal, my eyes flashing from Alice's face of concern, to Edward's, who seemed rather wrapped up in conversation.
"Well you can use the toilets in there" her smile was gradually disappearing, her expression simply bewildered.
"That's alright. I'll erm, I mean if you guys want to go eat with them, I'll catch you in a bit. I think I want to carry on shopping anyway" I said as I drew further and further away from them.
"Bella don't be silly!" she laughed a little.
"No it's fine. I'll er, I'll see you later!" I smiled, my voice growing louder as I called across to her. Before I spun on my heel, walking at record speed in the opposite direction to them, as a wave of remorse and self-hatred washed over me.
"Bella!!" I heard my name being called after me in alarm, but I ignored it and kept walking.
I couldn't believe this was happening. I'd just made a complete and total fool out of myself. Causing a drama over the lack of control I had on my emotions. I couldn't have been more obvious even if I'd tried! Now everyone was going to know how I truly felt about Edward Cullen! Not to mention I'd just walked away from my best friend without an explanation. I was never going to hear the end of this.
I eventually found myself back in the changing rooms, trying on the shirt from before; it was something to do if nothing else and I couldn't help but feel a slight sense of delight that it actually fit me.
I wondered what they were doing. Had they really joined them for lunch? And who was that girl? I'd never seen her before. I guess his type really was overly-attractive-blondes; only proving to confirm my worst fears. I sighed, slumping onto the seat in my cubicle, as I stared at my bland appearance in the mirror. If I were him, I wouldn't choose me either.
Not long after I felt my cell phone vibrate. I flipped it open hesitantly, momentarily opting to ignore it, it was probably a death threat from Alice no doubt. But I eventually plucked up the courage to read it. A measly text couldn't hurt me anymore than I was already hurting.
Surprisingly enough, it wasn't who I'd been expecting…
It read - You know it's rude to ignore people! E xx
Edward had just text me! I had received a text message from Edward Cullen! My face lit up in a matter of seconds; I was giddy with excitement. But it also fell just as quickly… He knew I was avoiding him! My heart sunk. And one guess who probably told him!
Alice!
I glared back at the message; my teeth grinding as I typed my response.
FYI I'm not avoiding anyone! I'm trying on clothes. And how'd you even get my number anyway!? Or is that a stupid question! B xx
30 seconds later, and my phone was buzzing again.
Yes that is a stupid question … the culprit is sitting right next to me. She's also not very happy with you =P Her voice grew so high, it nearly pierced my eardrum xP lol…(I smiled at that, very aware of the varying levels of pitch Alice could muster.) And why won't you join us for lunch? =[ E xx
I immediately felt bad; like I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life. I couldn't go now though, all those eyes staring at me, the piercing glares, the ten thousand questions! And that was just from Alice!
I also doubted I could look into her eyes. Not Alice's, the mysterious blonde girls. Just knowing they were together and potentially in love. She was everything I wasn't. Even from a distance I could tell how naturally stunning she was.
She also had everything I wanted. Because despite Edward grating at me the majority of the time. He was also the only guy that had ever spun my head, heightened all of my senses, and made me long for a romantic, loving and passion-filled future. The knowledge of that was all finally starting to hit me. And hard.
But he was out of bounds. And at most, all I could hope for was a friendship.
I wasn't sure what to text back in response, so I just left it; threw my boring old clothes back on, and made my way towards the checkout; feeling utterly miserable.
………………………………..
(3pm)
The prices were ridiculous in this place. I was slightly miffed that I hadn't chosen to look at the price of the shirt before I'd purchased it. But oh well, considering how bad I felt right now, a little treat wouldn't hurt. So much so, that I went back to buy another…
I was simply minding my own business, for once letting fashion overcome me, when reality started to set in…
"Hmmm" a voice appeared behind me, and I couldn't prevent the shiver of sudden apprehension across my skin. "I'd go with the purple one" he said.
I stood frozen on the spot, my movements brought to a stand still. And following several long seconds, I braved a look over my shoulder. There he was, as handsome as ever, his face fresh with a smile.
"Actually I was going to go for the red one" I told him as I hooked both shirts back onto the rack.
"Of course you were" he smirked, amused; a twinkle in his eye. Obviously assuming that because he'd chosen the purple, I'd automatically go with the other one.
"I bought the purple one earlier" I informed him.
"Oh." He gave a cautious nod as he looked at me. "So, you've been shopping all this time then?"
"Yep"
"Wow… don't you hate shopping?" I could sense the merriment hindering his voice. I couldn't deny it. Everyone knew I hated shopping.
I shrugged, "It's growing on me" I answered, and a small chuckle came from behind me…
"Riiight. Well, Alice will be thrilled I'm sure." I glanced back to see him smiling.
"So aren't you hungry already?" his brow wrinkled slightly as he pulled a wary face.
"Nope" I responded, trying to block out the discomfort of my empty stomach as I continued to sieve my way through the racks. The idea was to focus my vision on something other than Edward; otherwise known as a distraction technique.
And I guess to a certain degree it was working. Still, there was no chance of avoiding that feeling of dread that sat at the pit of my stomach; just waiting for him to bring up my slight avoidance issue. My heart sunk at the thought.
"So, where's Alice anyway?" I asked, silently dreading the answer.
"Oh, they're all still having lunch".
"They're not finished yet!?" I asked, surprised as I looked at my watch. It had been a good 50 minutes since I'd left them.
"Yeah well, too much gossiping means a lack of eating … they're discussing fashion trends, or something" he rolled his eyes. "It all got a little much for me. I excused myself for the sake of my sanity".
"Right" I laughed meekly in sympathy. I knew that feeling all too well.
And then it hit me. If he really was on a date, how could he just dump her with his friends and take off? Not very gentlemanly, that's for sure!
It was then that I actually turned to face him; taking in his full ensemble; black jeans, long-sleeved blue jumper; both rather tight fitting from my not-so-casual-glance. Smart shoes and his hair as perfect as ever, but in that messy kind of way.
I found my concentration was abruptly wavering, thanks to the pleasant view set out before me.
"Bella?" he looked at me oddly, his head tilting a little to one side.
"Sorry?" I frowned in question as I came back into awareness, our eyes coming into contact.
"I said, are you ready to face Alice yet?"
"Oh, erm, sure. Piece of cake" I smiled; immediately regretting my choice of words, as my stomach rumbled at the mention of cake. "How'd you find me anyway?" I frowned at him, curious as to how he'd located me within the entire shopping mall, before my words registered with my brain. "I mean, not that I'm hiding or anything" my speech rushed out. "I'm not hiding" I repeated for extra clarity, as I swallowed away the lump of panic that filled my throat.
He grinned back at me, looking delighted at my tiny slip-up, before he simply shrugged his shoulders. "Lucky guess".
Turning back to the shirt, I picked out my size. "Are you actually going to buy that? Or, are you just going to keep looking at it all day?" he questioned me, and I could imagine the grin plastered onto his face.
I glared at him, to which he laughed back. "Come on, how about we take a break from all this shopping crap and I'll buy you lunch … a late lunch" he added with a smirk, his eyebrows rising.
"I dunno" I trailed off, shaking my head indecisively.
"Why!? … What are you so afraid of?" he smiled, his eyes growing with intensity as I looked at him, my mind trying its best to muster up a good enough excuse. But alas, I came up with nothing, and the sweet smile on his face gradually turned into a smile of confusion.
"I'm not afraid of anything". I eventually spoke up, and I hoped he hadn't sensed the strain of anxiety that graced my throat. The truth was, I was afraid, afraid of what spending time alone with him would do to me. I was already in far too deep as it was.
"Good" his smile returned. "Let's go then". And for once, instead of choosing my usual avoidance technique, I relented, and although hesitant, I followed him out…
A/N: Hope you're still enjoying it!?
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