Stephenie has it all. I just decided to play with her characters and add some of mine.
Pictures of the characters on my web, here: http:/ newdawn-newday-newlife . webs . com/ residentadviser . htm.
As you know by now, remove the spaces. On FB you find me under the name of Cherry Bella. THANK YOU, GUYS! I never expected so many reviews or story Alerts/Favorites or hits. You are great! This is seriously my only story to recieve such feedback! I may update every week, I'm not sure yet.
Beta'edby Pastiche. Lethe. I'd be lost without her. And pre-read by TeamAllTwilight.
So...singing. :) Enjoy!
We came to a screeching halt in front of a small house, the true American type of house. Edward took a big breath and got out. I got out too and found him in front of me, frowning.
"I wanted to do that."
"Do what?"
"Open your door and all that shit," he grumbled, and took my hand.
"I'll let you do it, next time," I promised, and put another change on my ever-growing list.
He leaned down and kissed me softly then rang the doorbell. I heard a woman shouting something from inside before the door opened and something flew to Edward. Spot. He managed to knock him down, and then he proceeded to clean his face.
"Get the fuck off me, Spot!"
"Hello, dear. I'm Cindy Gravel. Sometimes, I wonder if they are twins and I wasn't aware of having Edward as mine, too." She shook her head.
"I'm Bella, and I think Bob picked it up from him." I took her son's side. He wasn't as bad as Edward, but when they were together… you should be aware.
"I heard that, Swan!" Edward hissed, finally managing to get up. "Hello, Mrs. G."
"Edward, are you ever going to change?"
"Probably not," he said, smirking. "Well, I need to talk with that son of yours."
I realized how deep the bond between him and Bob was since he was talking like that with his mother.
"He's out to get food for the dogs," she told him, laughing. "You want to see Missy?"
"Shouldn't it be Stripes? They'd make quite a pair!" Edward said cockily, scratching Spot's head.
"She's not a zebra!" Mrs. Gravel shouted. I think she had said that thing many times in the past. "I'll talk with Esme about adopting you and making you Bob's twin," she muttered.
"Why, I didn't know you love me that much, Mrs. G! So you forgave me for the window?" he asked sweetly, putting an arm around her neck and jerking his head for me to follow them inside. Was he trying to charm her? I'm sure it wasn't working.
"I haven't forgiven you for that one. Where do you want to wait, his room or the backyard?"
"Back," Edward said with a light grin and took my hand, leading me there.
When Mrs. Gravel was without earshot, I asked, "How well do you know her?"
"Better than I know Esme, which is a shame," he admitted and opened a slide door. "I know that motherfucker since high school so you can say that I know his mom, considering I spent most of my time here," he added, dropping my hand and taking the ball from the door. "Want to try?"
"I may decapitate you," I teased him, remembering his comment.
"I'll take my chances." He dribbled and shot to the hoop that was installed. "Think fast!"
I hated when he did that! I tried to catch the ball, but it zoomed past me. I turned to see where it went and saw Bob's mother with the ball in one hand and in the other, a tray with glasses. "Can you wait for my son?" she asked, amused.
"Mooom! I'm hoooome!" Bob's voice rang throughout the whole house and yard. He came outside and when he saw us, he grinned. I hoped Edward wouldn't hurt him in front of his mother.
They looked at each other and crouched. "Goooo, Gooo Huskies!" They bumped fists, muttering some other things I didn't get. It sounded like a song.
"Go purple. Be gold," Mrs. Gravel said, ruffling their hair and going inside.
"Now, that she's out of sight, I can kill you," Edward declared and pushed Bob to the ground.
"Wait, man! I thought it would be fun!"
"Why didn't you ask me first?"
"Sit the fuck down and listen. It sounds fun, really," Bob told him, scrambling. "Look, this is an audition. If you get past this thing, you have rehearsal and things. Twenty credits sounds good, huh?"
"Twenty?" I could see Edward's wheels working. "For how long?"
"It ends on August twenty fourth."
"Practice starts at the beginning of August!"
"Do you think you'll survive for that long?"
"No, of course… I was just saying…" Edward stammered, making me laugh.
"Oh hey there, Captain's Girl!" I hated when Bob called me that.
"Oh hey there, Center!" I shot back.
"She has some sense of humor, unlike you," Bob told Edward, elbowing him. "So, am I forgiven?"
"Who are you doing this with?"
"Me? Come on man, you know I don't sing!" Bob defended himself.
"I don't sing either!" Edward yelled. This got my attention.
"You mean, you signed us up just for the fun of it? I thought you'd be there too!" I shouted, advancing to him.
"No, man… I mean, woman… ehh you know… it's fun?"
"Say your prayers," Edward threatened him.
"Kill me if you pass the auditions," he compromised.
"Deal." Edward shook his hand. "Game?"
"You don't have to ask," Bob said happily and took the ball, dribbling it around.
Edward came to me and kissed my cheek. "You surely don't wanna play? We'd teach you," he said softly.
"I'm not sure…"
Five minutes later, I found myself between them, literally, trying to keep the ball in my hands.
"That's fault, Swan! You don't have to hug the fucking ball. Dribble, pass, throw…but don't hold it like a baby to your chest," Edward grumbled and slapped the ball, which fell from my hands.
Instinct kicked in and I pushed against his shoulder, trying to get the ball back. For some miracle, I got it and decided to try to shoot at the hoop. It even went in.
I turned to the boys to find them gaping at me. Was I that good?
"He rubbed it off on you," Bob grumbled.
"When you're right, you're right, Gravel," Edward said nodding.
"Edward!" I hissed, my cheeks flaming.
"What?" he asked, innocently. I threw the ball to him, but of course, he caught it before it could do any harm.
I let them have another game or two then we decided to go back, but Bob's mother stopped us for lunch.
I was picking at my mashed potatoes and the chicken wing that had survived the boys' hands. They had a chicken leg in each hand, eating as if they hadn't had meat in years.
"Don't mind them," Mrs. Gravel told me. "They do that every summer. They're not really allowed fried food during the year, although they cheat from time to time."
I remembered the pizza and the McDonald's food and agreed with her.
After eating, we had gone to Bob's room and put a movie, but we didn't really watched it. Bob's room, unlike Edward's, had only basketball stars posters and pictures with him and his friends. When we left, it was almost four PM.
"Will your mother be upset that we're so late?" I wondered, once in the car.
"She probably knows I stopped at Bob's. Now, the problem is how we tell everyone about what the idiot did. Alice will go ballistic."
I looked at the flyer Bob had given me and groaned again. The audition was Saturday, in three days.
"If we don't participate, we won't have to continue," I mused.
"He'll tease me endlessly," Edward muttered.
We arrived to his house around eight, because there had been an accident close to the entrance in Port Angels and we had to sit for over two hours. I was tired, hungry and I wanted to shower.
"I thought she had decided to keep you," Esme greeted us.
"She thought of it, but I knew you'd miss me," Edward teased her and handed her the object we had went to Seattle for in the first place. I had managed to forget about that.
She started fussing around us. "Are you hungry?" We nodded and after a shower, we came down to eat. After eating, Edward led me to a room in the basement and we found everyone there. They were huddled around on the floor. I should have expected this. A game room.
"They're alive!" Emmett exclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah. What are you doing?" Edward asked, sitting down and tugging at my hand.
"Playing cards, but it's getting old. Where have you been? Produced the gewgaw?"
"Of course we found it. We also ran into Bob," he said nonchalantly. It was now or never.
"Really?"
"Really," he echoed.
"Why do you two look guilty?" Alice asked, looking between us.
"It's Bob's fault," I rushed out.
"Yes, he did it." Edward nodded and showed them the flyer with the singing contest.
Alice screeched and the boys started laughing. Rose actually came to us and touched Edward's forehead, feeling him for a fever.
"Saturday?" Alice yelled when her eyes fell on the date.
I started pacifying her. "It's nothing. I mean, we can-"
"You have to do amazing!" she cut me off then rushed out of the room.
"Wanna bet she comes with her laptop?" Emmett asked, raising his hand.
"Five bucks, she's making the play list for the whole thing." Edward shook his hand, grinning.
"Ten and you've got a deal." They agreed to that just as Alice made her way back in the room with her laptop under her arm.
"Okay, come here! We need to choose a song for Saturday. I have a few ideas. You need to succeed because I have some amazing ideas for the last song!"
I shared a look with Edward and shuddered. Last song? We were humoring Bob only. Emmett gave Edward ten dollars and slapped his back.
"It says here that you can choose anything for the audition. Do you have any ideas?" Alice asked. "Something light and funny that would catch their attention."
"You're the one that I want?" Rose asked, smirking at us. Alice accepted the idea and put the song on repeat, making us sing along. They wanted to humiliate us.
"Oh yes, Travolta!" Emmett whooped.
Edward glared at him, but tried to imitate Travolta, managing to fall on his ass. Of course, we all laughed at him. Basketball star, captain of Huskies… falling on his ass!
"That was more of a Michael Jackson move," Jasper said, thoughtfully.
"To me, it looked like a bad imitation of Van Damme's split," Rose said, smirking.
"It's not freaking funny! It hurts like shit if you want to know," Edward grumbled, getting up and rubbing his ass.
Alice found the video on YouTube and after watching it a few times, Edward tried to copy Travolta again. After the last lyric of the first part when he said "Electrifying," he fell at my feet as Danny had done to Sandy. Only that Danny had done it gracefully unlike Edward who slipped on the carpet and caught my leg, making me fall along.
"Smooth, bro!"
"Fuck off, Emmett!"
"You know," I said amused, rubbing my elbow, "Maybe Bob's right. Maybe you rubbed it on me and vice versa. You seem to have a problem with gravity."
"Oh, you didn't just insult me, Bella!"
Needless to say, we forgot about trying to dance and sing as we tickled each other to death until Jasper broke us apart.
Saturday had come, and we were in an aula or something that was part of the drama section of the university. I was wearing a flowery dress and Edward had some worn out jeans and a tattered jersey with his number on it, of course. I learned that it had been his first jersey in high school and now, it was his lucky jersey.
I was concentrating on not hyperventilating when Bob came to us backstage.
"I'm going to kill you, Gravel. Seriously. I've never been nervous in my life!" Edward growled.
"Oh, come on! Deep breaths, guys! Do some Sharpay movements." He winked and disappeared from the room before either of us could hurt him.
I made the Donkey sound, which was funnier than the stupid thing that Blondie did. Edward narrowed his eyes at me and I shrugged. "You'll smudge your lipstick and Alice will never forgive you," he murmured after a few seconds.
I rolled my eyes and went to the door. "Let's go see the competition." I smirked and stepped outside.
Some had really good voices, others… well, they sounded like a thousand nails on a thousand blackboards. I saw some familiar faces, but couldn't put a name to them.
"Why must we be the last ones?" Edward groaned, slumping against the wall.
A blonde bimbo came to us, making too much noise with her stilettos. "Are you Edward?" she asked in an overly sweet voice. Someone wasn't sure he was Edward. Interesting.
"Yeah," he muttered, glancing at her.
"I totally love the banner! I'd bed you any moment."
What did she just say? Couldn't she see me? And what banner?
"Ex-fucking-cuse me!" Edward snapped, getting up.
"There's a banner in the public. Go Bedward!" she explained, looking at him in a way that should be illegal.
"We're next, baby." I took his hand, getting her attention. She scowled at me then grinned at him and wished him luck.
"There are sick people in this college," he muttered to me.
"You were one of them, not long ago," I said, nudging him. I looked in the public, peeking around the curtain, and froze when my eyes fell on the banner. It was in Bob's hands.
"Focus on this. Then we're both gonna kill him," Edward whispered in my ear.
I smirked and pecked his lips then took my position. I hoped I did as well as I had sounded the last time we tried it.
The curtain moved, and I started to panic. Why were there so many people at auditions? Of course, when people saw Edward, they started talking.
We had changed the beginning so it wouldn't be like in the movie so he called my name, surprised.
"Bella?" I was on the far corner of the stage, examining my nails.
"Tell me about it stud!" I whispered seductively and walked carefully to him, flipping my hair over my shoulder.
"I got chills./ They're multiplyin'./ And I'm losin' control/ 'Cause the power/ You're supplyin',/ It's electrifyin'!"
I fought the urge to burst in a fit of giggles as Edward spazzed and fell at my feet with an arm over his eyes.
"You better shape up,/ 'cause I need a man/ And my heart is set on you./ You better shape up;/ You better understand/ To my heart I must be true." I grasped his jersey and tugged him up, shaking my finger at him.
"Nothin' left, nothin' left for me to do," he muttered, shrugging. We were making it more like a comic remake of that scene in 'Grease'.
"You're the one that I want.
(you are the one I want), oh, oh, ooh, honey.
The one that I want.
(you are the one I want want), oh, oh, ooh, honey.
The one that I want
(you are the one I want want), oh, oh, ooooohh
The one I need.
Oh, yes indeed."
My problem at rehearsal had been my hands, but now, I suddenly knew what to do with them. I moved my hands from my wrists, at my sides, making some swing moves on my heels, luckily not falling then I put my hands over my heart, singing.
"If you're filled/ With affection/ You're too shy to convey,/ Meditate in my direction./ Feel your way." I didn't like how my voice sounded, but there was no going back, now.
I prepared myself for the small dialogue. We never managed to do it perfectly, always falling because of the moves.
"I better shape up,/ 'cause you need a man," he sang, throwing me a grin.
"I need a man/ Who can keep me satisfied." My voice rose as I put my hands on his shoulders. He roared as John Travolta had in the movie then leaned closer, singing. "I better shape up/ If I'm gonna prove."
"You better prove/ That my faith is justified."
"Are you sure?" he asked, twirling me around. I always ended up on the floor at that point, and after a few minutes of kissing we'd start over. I looked in his eyes just as I felt my feet touch the ground. "Yes, I'm sure down deep inside."
He squeezed my hands and another hard part, Alice's idea… to dance. Two steps back, one ahead. I reminded my feet, praying they would cooperate. We repeated the chorus three times and when Edward decided to improvise and twirl me under his arm… I stumbled over his foot, but he caught me and held me bowed like those tango moves.
There was silence and suddenly everyone started applauding and cheering. He righted me and we turned to everyone, surprised. I hadn't heard them react like this to anyone else. The loudest were Bob and Emmett. We went behind the curtain again and waited for the decision.
"You didn't fall!" Edward chuckled, squeezing me to his side.
"You were the one throwing me!" I defended myself, buoyantly.
"I meant, at the end. I didn't think you'd stumble."
"You know me, clumsy Bella," I teased, leaning into him. "Do you want to go further?"
"Do you?"
"Not sure. I was sure, I'd get stage fright for a second."
"We've got to thank Alice for the song. It was easy, but fuck me if I'd do that again…"
"The ones that are going to the competition would be as say," a loud voice said close by. "Mallory Lauren and Black Rebecca." Had they made a band of skanks? "Denali Tanya." What? I hadn't seen her. "Preston Peter, Wesley Liam, Yorkie Eric and Newton Michael." Oh a boys band, how… cliché! "And the last and most appreciated by our public, Swan Isabella and Cullen Edward!"
My eyes widened and I looked at Edward to see him mirroring my expression. He snapped out of it faster than me and grasped my hand, tugging me on the stage.
"Bow Down to Washington!" Emmett and Bob's shout was all it took to everyone to erupt in singing the Huskies' song.
"Forget what I said a week ago. This is the most embarrassing moment of my life," Edward muttered in my ear.
When the singing died down, the organizer told us about the first task. "You'll have to find a song from the seventies and sing it. Good luck!"
"WE have to CELEBRATE!" Emmett boomed, the second we joined them outside.
Edward had put his cap on his head and tried to hide himself since everyone stopped him on the way to our room backstage, asking if he'd drop basketball or why would he do such a thing.
"Bob will be the sacrificed one," Edward muttered and bumped into Bob, who looked quite shaken.
"But you are in this!" Alice shouted. "You have no idea how many things you have to do! We need to find a new song, to buy clothes! Can I be the stylist?"
"Can we not talk about this and hurry the fuck up?" Edward muttered as a group of people advanced to us.
"My house," Bob decided. He ended up driving with us. With traffic and stopping for pizzas, it took us an hour to get there; an hour of enduring Bob. He kept talking and talking… with no intention on ever stopping. Donkey was nothing to him.
"Could you reach back and slap him for me, love?" Edward groaned.
I didn't have to turn. Bob shut up instantly. Then he started again, three octaves higher. "WHOA! What did you just say, Cullen?"
"She can hit, trust me so if you don't want a bruise, I suggest you keep your trap shut."
Bob talked before I could turn and slap him. "No, man! You said love."
"What?" Edward asked, uneasily. I could see his ears turning pink. "You are hearing things," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. Caught! He realized what he had said and he was nervous.
"Yes, Bob, I don't know what you heard. He said Bella." I took Edward's side. This was so funny. His ears were red, now.
"Are you turning into a pussy? First singing and now this mushy love stuff?"
"You signed him up for the singing shit!" I yelled back just as Edward parked the car. He was out faster than I thought possible, opening Bob's door and dragging him out by his collar.
"What the hell, man? Dude, not even mom tugs on my ear!"
I giggled, getting out of the car, listening to Bob's complaints. His mom came out of the house and stopped in her tracks watching the boys, surprised. They were into a heated discussion and Edward was slapping or punching Bob with every word, emphasizing what he was saying.
"Edward, honey, I love you as my own but what has Bobbie done to you?"
Edward's head shot up and with a final threaten; he made his way to us. "Hey, Mrs. G.!" he said cheerfully.
"That ain't work, young man."
"He's a douche."
"He tends to talk too much, but could you discuss normally?"
"Sure, next time I'll use verbal threats." Edward nodded, making her roll her eyes.
"Hey! I'm right here!" Bob groaned.
"Did you hear something? I think it was a fly," Edward muttered, looking around then he took my hand, leading me inside.
"I'll show you a fucking fly, Cullen, you motherfucker!"
"Robert William Gravel!" I think Mrs. G's voice was heard around the city, and Seattle is pretty big.
"Oh crap," Bob muttered. "Sorry, Mom. Ow! You just told him not to hit me!" he complained when I saw her slapping him.
"You're mine so I can hit you all I want!" she snapped.
Edward stiffened next to me, and I tugged his hand to make him walk again.
"You okay?" I whispered, when we were inside.
"Yeah. I know she didn't mean it in a bad way…"
I hugged him and sat on his lap on the couch. "Every parent gets mad at their kids and sometimes slaps them."
"That makes sense. But it's so much more entertaining when they beat them until the kid crawls in a place where they can't reach him. He waits until they fall asleep and runs to his room and-"
"Shh." I put my hand over his mouth. "Don't think of that." He had never talked about that time, when he was with his parents. As much as I wanted to know what they had done to him, I didn't want him to suffer. Especially not now. We were supposed to be having fun here.
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For those that don't know, the Huskies' song is Bow Down to Washington.