. . . . .
"So Bella, are you coming? To prom?" Quil's eyes were shining and he was grinning ear-to-ear.
I stared dumbly.
"Jesus, Quil!" Jake hollered from across the yard, running in our direction. "Shut up, man!"
"Oh, my bad. Sorry, Bella." He ducked and took off toward the house.
Jake got to me as the screen door slammed, his hands in his hair. "I'm sorry. Quil is an idiot…"
He looked guilty and nervous. I was still staring.
"I, uh, I wasn't really going to ask you," Jake shifted his weight from foot to foot, he wouldn't make eye contact with me.
He was totally going to ask me.
"But since Quil brought it up…" his eyes traveled up to mine, a shy smile on his face. I blushed and stammered something unintelligible.
He put his hands up and I stopped trying to talk. "Listen, I know," his hands came down gently on my shoulders. "You don't dance. I don't really, either. So maybe we could… not dance together?"
I gulped. I had no answer.
Jake sensed my hesitation and kept talking, trying to change my mind before I officially said no.
"So, you don't have to answer me now. Just think about it. You have a week to decide." He smiled sheepishly.
"A week?" I squeaked at him. I didn't know which I wanted to do more—laugh or cry.
"Um, yeah." He looked as awkward as I felt. "I meant to ask you for a while, I just… I kept wussing out."
"I don't know, Jake. I mean, wow. Prom. I, um, I barely made it through my prom alive. I…" I saw him look down and it made me instantly sad. I took a deep breath and gulped. "I'll think about it. Can I call you tomorrow? I want to give you time to ask someone else in case I wuss out."
I tried to laugh, but it came out nervous and shrill.
"You know he won't ask anyone else. He's been dying to ask you for months!" Neither of us had heard Quil make a reappearance. "Come on, Bella. Just come! It will be fun. I'll even save you a dance."
Jake spun out after him with a whoop, and I took the opportunity to climb into my truck. I had to get out of there. There was no way I was giving this day a chance to get any weirder.
. . . . .
The next day at school, Edward was smiley and sweet. I didn't want to let Jake down, but I didn't want to have to ask Edward if I could go to prom with another guy. I'd put up such a fight about letting him take me to our prom, I had a feeling it wouldn't look too good if I suddenly wanted to dress up and play prom with his arch enemy.
But Edward took care of the problem for me.
"I hope it doesn't mess up any plans you'd made for this weekend, but Emmett and I are going to go up to Canada to hunt. His birthday's coming up, and he wanted to hunt some grizzlies to celebrate. I kind of forgot until now."
I sighed—unsure if it was in relief or terror that I had no excuse to hide behind—and threw myself into his arms.
"I love you."
. . . . .
"Um, Angela?" I cornered her at her locker later that afternoon. "Can I ask a huge favor?"
She smiled at me and pulled out a pile of books. "Sure, Bella. Anything!"
"So, I… um, I'm going to… a party this weekend. And I have nothing to wear. Would you let me borrow a dress?"
Angela looked as surprised as I'd expected her to be.
"A dress? This must be some fancy party…" She trailed off, encouraging me to fill in the intentional gaps in my story.
"Um, yeah. I guess. It's… well, it's a prom. My friend Jacob. He, uh, he didn't have a date?" It sounded more like a question than a statement. I blushed and looked at my feet.
"Jacob? Oh! The really hot one from La Push? Oh my god, Bella! That's awesome!" She hopped up and down twice and grabbed my wrists. "I'd practically die to have someone like him ask me to a dance!"
I looked around nervously, hoping no one else was seeing her giddy display.
"Yeah, I guess. Look, I don't really want… anyone to know I'm doing this. You know, for… just—I just don't." I bit my lip and fidgeted as she calmed down instantly and nodded conspiratorially.
"Come over today after school? You can have anything in my closet. And I won't tell anybody, don't worry. Not even Jessica. Especially not Jessica." She giggled.
The rest of the day dragged by and I tried to picture myself dressed up and going to prom. Again. Ugh.
. . . . .
I knocked on Angela's front door after school. Her mom opened it and beckoned me in, and I waved and smiled to Edward, blew him a kiss as I stepped inside. I felt guilty lying to him—he thought we were doing a group assignment for a class.
"Hi, Bella. Angela's upstairs. Go on up, she's expecting you." Angela's mom was so kind. I thanked her and ran up the stairs, wanting to get it over with as fast as I could.
Angela had her walk-in closet wide open and several dresses were spread out on her bed and hung on the closet door. She'd also pulled out a stack of shoeboxes and a plastic bin full of hair accessories.
I took in a big gulp of air. "Angela?" It sounded more like a squeak. There was so much wrong here, I couldn't even start to think about the possible ramifications of what I was doing.
"Hey! I'm in here!" Her muffled voice echoed from inside the closet. "I've been setting out a few things I thought you might like."
She was way too excited about this, almost on an Alice-like level. I took another deep breath and told myself I'd at least try to look happy for her benefit.
Five dresses later, she was splayed out on her bed, clapping and ooohing and aaahing.
I came out of the closet-slash-dressing room and her face lit up. "That's totally it!" She squealed, diving off of the bed and wrapping me in an exuberant hug, my arms pinned to my side. "You look like a goddess!"
She shut the closet door so I could see myself in the full-length mirror hanging on the back. I gasped when I saw myself. I did look like a goddess.
The dress was a deep silver-grey with a draping cowl neck and tiny twisted straps attached by vintage-looking rhinestone brooches. The dress came together just above my hips emphasizing my waist, and the top poofed slightly over a thin belt accented with a third rhinestone brooch that lay off-center at my hipbone. The fitted skirt pooled at my feet because Angela was taller than me, but the effect was dramatic.
Angela dragged me backwards toward her bed, and she climbed up on it and pulled my hair up on top of my head in a messy pile, securing it with a couple of bobby pins and letting a few loose strands straggle around my face. She took a tiny tiara-like headband out of a bag and stuck it into my hair.
"Perfect!" She squealed. "Oh my god, Bella! A little red lipstick and you'll be beyond perfect!"
I smiled at my reflection. Maybe this wouldn't be so terrible after all.
. . . . .
The week flew by, and before I knew it, it was Friday afternoon and Edward was kissing me goodbye in front of my house.
I stood on my front step and watched him pull away, then I tore through the front door and up the stairs. I had two hours before Jake picked me up.
I hesitated in the shower, holding my razor in my hand. I wasn't sure if I should shave or not. I'd just shaved that morning. Was it silly to do it again? If I did, what did that say about my expectations for the evening? If I didn't—did that limit my options? Or make up my mind for me? I shook my head and shook the shaving cream can. Just in case.
In case of what?
I tried to ignore my inner voice.
. . . . .
Charlie's face said it all. Jacob said nothing, he just stared at me with his mouth open wide. He was speechless, and I didn't know what to do. I paused awkwardly in the middle of the staircase. This was the strangest déjà vu moment I'd ever experienced.
Charlie broke the silence by clearing his throat, a sound which seemed to bring Jake back to his senses enough to utter one word.
"Wow."
It was mostly a sigh. I blushed a burning red and came down the stairs to stand between Charlie and Jake.
"You look pretty wow yourself, Black." I tried to make it sound off-hand and punched at his shoulder gamely, trying to detract from his wow, but Charlie was still staring at him uncomfortably.
"Ok. Let's go." I grabbed his arm and hauled him toward the door, kissing Charlie on the cheek before shutting the door behind us.
On the other side of the door, I turned to him and poked a finger into his stomach. "Jeez, Jake! It's just me!"
He smiled sheepishly and reached for my face, before dropping his hand to his side. "It's never 'just' you, Bella. You look amazing. Amazing."
The last word was close to a whisper, and this time, he did put his hand to my face, gently stroking my cheek with his thumb.
"I'm wearing makeup, so maybe don't touch the artwork," I giggled shyly and swatted at his hand.
"Oh, this is for you." He held out a wrist corsage in his other hand, a beautiful white lily. "It reminded me of you. You know, all pale and fragile and stuff."
I laughed, glad he'd finally snapped out of his trance.
He motioned toward the driveway, and I saw that he'd borrowed Sue Clearwater's new car.
He saw my face and started to explain. "I couldn't have my amazing, beautiful, perfect date get her dress all wrinkly and dusty in that old Rabbit of mine."
"But I could have…"
He cut me off with a laugh. "And I sure as hell wasn't letting you drive."
I lifted the long dress up so I wouldn't step on it, and he looked down at my feet.
"Um, Bella? You forgot your shoes."
I laughed and kicked out one bare foot. "I have a hard enough time walking without adding heels to the mix. Besides, I'm so hot in this dress, I thought it was a good thing to try and at least stay a little grounded."
Jake chuckled and shook his head, then opened my car door for me with a flourish. "My lady."
I slid into the leather seat. "You turned on the seat warmer?"
He winked and shut my door.
. . . . .
I'd never been inside the school on the rez, and Jake warned me that Forks High was probably nicer. But he was wrong. The gym was new and spacious, and the decorating committee had turned it into a sparkling wonderland.
Jake marched me in on his arm, his chest puffed out with pride. I grinned and swept along beside him, all hint of nerves gone. This was his night, and I was going to do him proud.
"Bella! You came!" Quil elbowed through the crowd and skidded to a stop in front of us. "Holy wow!"
He nodded at Jake and gave him a double thumbs-up. "Nice work, Jake. She's the hottest woman here."
I felt my face get warm, and I bit my lip and looked at Jake.
He was beaming smugly at Quil. "Was there any doubt?"
Quil laughed and dipped back into the crowd, beckoning us to follow him. Jake pushed along after him, clearing a path for me. Straight to the center of the dance floor. I balked, but the look on Jake's face made me remember my commitment to making him happy, even if I had to pretend not to be nervous.
The music changed, and couples went from hopping up and down to the beat to slowly swaying. Jake smiled and reached for me, pulling me closer.
"You planned this, didn't you?" I giggled. "The timing is just a little too convenient."
He laughed and wrapped his arms around my waist. I tucked my head against his shoulder and took a deep breath in. He smelled divine—like fresh air and rain.
. . . . .
It was almost midnight, but I wasn't ready to leave. I was having too much fun dancing with Jake, his friends and all of the new people I'd met. The pressure of maintaining appearances wasn't there, since I only knew the guys from the pack and a few of their dates, so I felt free to dance without worrying I'd make a fool of myself. The music was still going strong and I had energy to burn, but Jacob checked the time on his phone and then pulled me gently out of the gym. He lifted me into his arms at the edge of the sidewalk so I wouldn't have to walk on the gravel parking lot, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him just under his ear.
He set me down and opened the car door, then helped me scoot in so Angela's dress didn't get wrinkled. He bent down, kissed my forehead and shut the door.
But before we got back into town, Jake pulled onto a partially-hidden dirt road. He smiled over at me, but didn't answer my question about where we were going.
Up ahead, I could see lights through the clearing, and I realized I'd been here before. It was the back entrance to Billy's property, and the lights were coming from Jake's shop. I looked at him sideways, and he was still grinning widely, staring straight ahead.
He parked behind the shop and helped me out of the car, again picking me up to save my feet. He pushed open the back door and paused. The shop was dimly lit with white Christmas lights strung up over the center beam. He'd draped a pretty white slipcover over the old couch and moved it to the center of the room. In front of it, the low worktable was covered in a white tablecloth and topped with candles and covered trays.
"Jake?" I wasn't sure what was going on.
"I thought maybe you'd be hungry after the dance. Quil and Embry were taking their dates to an all-night café in Port Angeles, but I thought you might be up for some quiet time…" He suddenly looked unsure.
"That sounds great—it's really thoughtful of you, Jake. It's so pretty in here!"
He walked me over and motioned for me to sit on the couch, and then lifted the covers from the trays, one at a time. "I had Emily cater in for us, and she just set it up, so everything should be perfect."
The food looked amazing. Spinach and feta-filled puffed pastry, a cheese and fruit platter, and a plate of French bread with flavored oils sat alongside a huge spinach salad sprinkled with cranberries and goat cheese. The perfectly-plated ravioli in an herbed butter sauce smelled delicious, and my stomach rumbled loudly in approval. It was enough food for the entire pack.
Jacob laughed as his stomach echoed mine. "I'm starving!" He patted his belly with one hand and reached for a plate with the other, handing it to me. "Ladies first."
The food was incredible, and Jake's forethought touched me. Leave it to Jacob to be outside the mold when it came to romance. I blushed at the thought of all he'd put into this night. Edward was always a gentleman, but this was above and beyond. I liked that Jake made up for in thoughtfulness and ingenuity what he lacked in finances and contacts. Our dates were never pricey, but they always touched a place deep in my heart. Our dates. I wasn't sure that was the right word.
. . . . .
I giggled as Jacob tried to stuff a chocolate-covered strawberry into my mouth. I'd gorged myself on the appetizers, butternut squash ravioli and salad, and even managed to pack in a giant piece of homemade tiramisu, and now I was bursting.
"God, Jake! I think I'll pop if I eat another bite," I moaned theatrically, flopping back against the couch with my hand over my forehead to emphasize how exhausted I was from eating. "This was incredible—I wish I could sit here the entire weekend and just eat!"
"Be my guest. I won't tell anyone you're here. Heck, I can bring out a cooler and microwave and we can go to town!" He laughed and bit into the strawberry I'd declined.
I watched his lips envelope the red berry and I couldn't resist. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd leaned forward and weaved my fingers through his hair. He swallowed his bite in one gulp and was staring at me, wide-eyed.
I didn't think twice, just leaned in and pressed my lips to his.
"Now who tastes like strawberries?" I licked his bottom lip.
He laughed and pulled me over to his lap, kissing along my cheek to my ear. "Hey, I just said you smelled like strawberries. You never really gave me the chance to see if you tasted like them, too. At least, until now!"
He playfully lunged toward me and the strap of Angela's dress slipped off my shoulder. He paused slightly and raised an eyebrow at me. I raised mine back teasingly and shrugged so that the strap slid even lower. He licked his lips and slowly made his way in, nibbling on the soft skin of my shoulder until I giggled and flopped back into his arms, giving him free reign.
We sat like that for a long while, snuggling and kissing, just being together. When the candles got too low, Jake sighed and stood up without discussion, carrying me back out the door, into the car and dropping me off at my doorstep with a soft kiss.
"Goodnight, Bella." His eyes were warm and happy.
""Night, Jake."
. . . . .
I shrugged out of the dress, washed my face and tied my hair up in a ponytail. I snuggled into bed as the first rays of sun were showing in the sky. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect night.
. . . . .