The wait was long. Every few hours I'd check in the mirror only to see that my eyes had hardly darkened. Since Bella and I technically weren't supposed to be together, I hung around the other Volturi members, letting them know that they could trust me.
After our conversation about the plan, Bella and I went our separate ways. I padded along the long hallways until I bumped into Chelsea and her mate, Afton. Chelsea was carrying a rather large mound of clothes in her arms. "I was just looking for you," she said.
"Me?" I asked in surprise. "Why?"
She dumped the pile of clothing into my arms. "These are for you," she said. "As the only person who cares about the Volturi and the guard's appearances, I can definitely say that you don't fit in dressed like that. You better go change."
I looked down at my clothes. I hadn't bothered to change since we'd left the island, and I was still in a blue t-shirt and leggings I'd had to roll up that I'd borrowed from Bella. If I was being honest, Bella's fashion choices weren't always the best. I hadn't focused on it too much at the island because most of my time was being spent with a certain blond-haired vampire, but now, I wondered how the clothes I'd been borrowing for the past few months had slipped my scrutiny so easily. I hadn't even gone shopping in ages.
That thought gnawed at my mind. Since Bella had "died," I hadn't quite been the same. Where was the Alice who spent hours creating the perfect outfit? The one who cared if her makeup was done perfectly? With Bella, she'd disappeared. I missed that Alice now. Maybe, with Chelsea's "gift," I could bring the old Alice out to play for a few minutes...or hours.
"Thank you," I said to Chelsea. I genuinely meant it, too.
She winked at me. "Call me if you need help matching your shoes to the rest of your outfit," she said, and walked away. Of course, I immediately looked down. Oh my god, was I really wearing orange flip flops?
I took the clothes to the room I shared with Heidi and dumped them on the bed before sorting through them. Chelsea actually had a great sense of style. I was just admiring the last top before I noticed the cloak, similar to the ones the rest of the Volturi wore. I froze as I saw it. Would I be expected to wear it? That would be giving into the enemy completely.
I reminded myself that I might not even have to wear it- it was only worn when they left the castle, and there was no reason I had to do so. With that thought in mind, I relaxed slightly, but still tossed the cloak into the back of the wardrobe pushed against the wall.
After a shower just for the sake of feeling human again, I finally dressed in a cute flowy red top with dark jeans and matching flats. In a good mood, I hummed as I brushed my hair after ages and even put on a dab of lip gloss.
Bella sneaked in a while later, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. She saw me and abruptly stopped. "What are you doing?" she asked.
I twirled around to show her my outfit. "Do you like it? Chelsea gave some clothes to me, which was really nice of her, do you want to borrow some? I mean, she had a lot, and I'm sure some could fit you-"
She held a hand up as if telling me to stop. "Chelsea gave you those?" I noticed the sharp tone of her voice.
"Yeah, so?" I asked, crossing my arms.
She threw her hands up in aggravation. "Alice, we can't be friendly with these people! They're our enemies!" she exclaimed loudly.
My eyes widened as I threw my hand over her mouth. "Shh," I hissed in annoyance. "What if someone hears you?"
Her eyes widened as well as she noticed her mistake. She pulled my hand off her mouth and sighed. "Sorry. But seriously, Ali, we can't start forming relationships," she whispered. Her eyes suddenly shone with a hint of sadness. "If you do, it'll only make it harder to leave."
I was about to argue when Heidi walked in. She stared at Bella. "You aren't supposed to be here," she said in a strict tone, like a mother might do with a misbehaving child.
Bella threw her a dirty look before stalking out. I glanced at her disappearing figure with my eyebrows knitting together in worry.
Heidi looked after her in disgust, which annoyed me incredibly. But, turning to me, she said, "Come on."
"Where?" I asked.
She sighed. "Aro wants Demetri, Jane, and I to check out some unruly newborns around Latvia. We'll definitely be gone for a while, so Renata will be babysitting you."
"Renata?" I asked blankly. I had heard the name, but I couldn't quite recall her role in the Volturi.
"She's Aro's personal bodyguard," said Heidi. "You'll probably be around Aro a lot these next few days, since she's practically glued to his side." Her tone turned bitter. Was she jealous of not getting all of her precious master's attention?
Heidi shook her head. "Let's go," she said, and zipped with vampire speed down the halls. I didn't hesitate to follow her. The wind felt good on my face, but it also brought sadness- running so freely only reminded me of my Jasper, of how he'd taken me on his motorcycle around the island so long ago. Just a few more weeks, I reminded myself, and then I would be with him once again.
A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. Updates will definitely be more frequent from now on, I promise. Thanks to thatonefangirl1128 for reminding me to update as well as being the 150th reviewer for this fic!