Chapter 9 – Magic, Part II
The mysterious light had now completely disappeared and I could see Bella in perfect clarity. She was still standing flush against the bookcase, knuckles white from clinging onto the sides. Her face was pale as if she'd seen a ghost, eyes bulging and mouth hanging open in disbelief.
"Bella?" My voice sounded hoarse as if I was recovering from a bad cold. Bella had heard me though. She'd winced, as unfamiliar with my voice as I was myself. But she'd actually heard me speak! I was elated. I had so much to tell her. But before I could, she seemed to have found her own vocal chords again.
"You… You broke…" she started, eyebrows set in a frown. "And then… White light, everywhere… What happened? How… And now…" She took a tentative step closer. Then her eyes traveled down and suddenly her cheeks turned bright red. She turned around faster than I could even blink and covered her face with her hands.
What had happened now? I panicked again. Was I changing back already? But when I looked down at my new body, I quickly realized what the problem was. I was naked. And humans had a few more body parts than Ken dolls.
"Oops," I muttered embarrassed. Now it was my turn to feel the heat of blood rushing through my cheeks and I was abruptly aware of a heart pounding in my chest.
"Euh, I'll g-go get s-s-some clothes," Bella stammered. She kept her eyes firmly closed and felt her way along the wall toward her bedroom door. "Stay here."
Where was I going to go? I thought to myself. Then I realized that was a very good question. What was I going to do? I didn't know how to live a human life. I doubted I could hide out in here for the duration of it. Come to think of it, would I even life as long as a normal human? My thoughts were going around in circles and I was starting to develop a headache.
The door opened again and Bella stepped back in. One hand in front of her eyes, the other holding a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. "Old clothes from my dad. He won't miss them."
I hold tight to the bedpost and took a small step. The way my ankles bent felt incredibly strange. How did people walk on feet like these? Finally, I was close enough to reach out and take the clothes from Bella. I sat back down and fumbled with the jeans. It took a little while, but I eventually managed to get them on. The shirt was an entirely different matter though. I had gotten my arms though the sleeves, but how anyone could close those tiny buttons was a mystery to me.
"Uhm, Bella? How…" She was still standing with her back to me, but took a careful glance over her shoulder when I spoke her name.
"Oh, here. I'll help you," she said. She reached out and started at the task. I stared in amazement of her buttoning skills. It was the oddest sensation to feel the fabric and Bella's hands graze my skin. It was a lot more sensitive than plastic.
"So what happened? How did you… How is this possible?" she asked when she was done.
"I don't know. One minute I was just a doll. And then the cracks started and the white light… Well, you saw it yourself."
"Were you really in there then? The whole time?"
"Yes. Ever since they made me."
"And you remember everything?" She seemed scared of my answer to that question for some reason, so I just nodded my head slightly. "Oh God. Oh no. You know everything about me! Everything I ever did or told you. That's so embarrassing."
She buried her face in her hands as it turned red once more. But I pulled them away. I wanted to see her eyes now that I was on the same level as them. "It's okay. I promise you did nothing to be ashamed about."
"Oh really?" she challenged me. "Let me think. So much to choose from. How about my disastrous date with Mike?"
"That wasn't your fault." Anger took hold of me as I remembered what he had done to her. Maybe now that I was human, I could finally teach him a lesson.
"Well, what about that day I brought you to school with me and we had to perform that stupid play?" Her questioning face suddenly changed as something dawned on her. "Wait! You were there. You did move, didn't you? I knew it!"
I couldn't think of a reason to keep that a secret anymore, so I finally confessed. It felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off me. Until just minutes earlier I couldn't imagine ever having this opportunity, but here I was having a real conversation with Bella and I was never going to hold anything back from her again. She was going to get to know me like I knew her.
Just as I was about to tell her my life's story, her bedroom door swung open and Renee barged in. "Bella, when are you finally coming downstairs? Your cake is getting cold. What are you even doing up here?" she prattled in one breath. It was only then that she looked up.
"Oh my. Who are you?" She smiled excitedly. Leaning toward Bella and holding her hand in front of her mouth, she whispered a little too loud: "Aside from the baggy clothes; he's cute!"
"Mom!" Bella inched away, embarrassed.
Now I was in trouble. How could I explain who I was? Hello, Mrs. Swan. I'm the Ken doll you gave your daughter on her sixth birthday and I turned into a human five minutes ago. That was obviously not going to go over well. I could see the wrinkle between Bella's eyebrows that always appeared when she was thinking hard. She must be trying to come up with an excuse like I was. I couldn't let her take the fall, so I reacted with the first thing that came into my head.
"I'm moving to Bella's dorm." Renee cocked her head sideways and stared at me. Bella had a panicked look on her face and frantically shook her head. No, that wasn't right. "Uh, I mean… I'm moving some of Bella's things to her dorm. Yeah, I'm helping her move." That was better.
"Is that so?" Renee said. She turned to Bella, who quickly adjusted her expression and nodded solemnly. "You didn't think you'd introduce him before you let him in?" Directing her attention back at me she asked: "How did you get in? I didn't hear or see you coming through the front door."
I looked around for a new excuse. There. "I came in through the window."
Renee looked even more confused now and Bella was about to slap both palms to her forehead.
"I didn't want to interrupt your birthday party," I quickly explained. It came out sounding like a question and it was obvious Renee didn't believe me for a second. But before I could make up a better story, we heard heavy footsteps in the hallway and a knock on the door.
"If you girls don't come down this second, I'm eating that cake by myself," Charlie teased.
Great. Now we had both parents to deal with. How were we ever going to get out of this situation?
Charlie took another step inside and saw me standing in his daughter's bedroom. He was shocked at first, but it didn't take long for him to turn white with rage. "Who are you?!" he shouted. "What are you doing here?"
I backed away as Charlie advanced and positioned himself between me and his wife and daughter. The footboard of the bed touched the back of my legs once again. I tried to come up with a reasonable explanation, but it didn't look like Charlie would listen to reason in his current state. I was trapped.
He was just inches away from me now and I saw his gaze move downward. "Are those my clothes?!" He was appalled and incredulous, but most of all furious. "What are doing in my clothes?!"
Charlie grabbed the closest thing to him off Bella's desk, obviously intending to hit me with it. "Get out of my house, you thieve!" I threw my hands up reflexively as Charlie pulled his arm back, poised to strike me with… Were those… Oh no! Scissors!
I made a break for it, ducking under his left arm and sprinting toward the door. My new legs still felt wobbly and Charlie's jeans were too long, but I moved as fast as I could. I hadn't forgotten what had happened the last time a pair of scissors had stood between me and Charlie.
As I tumbled my way down the stairs, I heard Renee trying to calm Charlie down. But I didn't stay to see if he would come to his senses. I had to get out. I pulled open the front door and ran across the yard, but I stopped when I reached the street. Where to now? I had only been outside the Swan house a handful of times and I'd always been stuck inside a backpack. Did I go left or right?
The sound of someone coming up behind me made me turn and I lifted my arms up protectively on instinct. But it wasn't Charlie who had followed me outside. It was Bella running toward me.
"Hey! Wait up! Where are you going?" she said between panting breaths.
"Uh… Honestly, I have no idea," I confessed.
"I figured." She thought for a second and said: "Let me call you a cab. Do you have any money?" I shook my head. "Of course not. Doesn't matter, I'll pay. Go to my dorm. I'll let Angela know you're coming and she'll show you around. I'll tell her you're a family friend or something, coming to check out the campus before you apply for next year. You remember Angela, right?"
I nodded. I was impressed by how quickly she had come up with this plan. I was immensely grateful that she was doing this. I couldn't imagine where I would go otherwise.
"It's going to be alright, okay? I'll come meet you as soon as I can leave this stupid birthday party and then we'll figure out what to do."
It was amazing how she could reassure me. All the panic and uncertainty from earlier was gone. "Thank you," I said even though the words felt more than insufficient.
"No problem." She hesitated before asking her next question. "So, uh, are you really… real? Human, I mean."
"I think so," I replied, patting myself to make sure I was still in this body.
A beautiful blush crept up on Bella's face again. "Can I…" she asked and tentatively stretched her hand out toward my face.
Guessing her intention, I bent forward slightly and let her touch my cheek. Just as I had touched my skin before I believed it, she was likewise verifying I was made of flesh and blood. A tiny spark of electricity formed where her fingers made contact and it tingled along my scalp as she brushed some strands of hair behind my ear.
"Thank you," she whispered as she pulled away, flustered. "Well, uh, I better get back inside. I think it's best if you stay here. Dad wasn't exactly happy to see you. I'll be back when the cab arrives and then I'll meet you at the campus."
She took a step backwards toward her front door. But there was one more thing I needed to say to her.
"Bella, wait!"
She turned her head up and locked her eyes with mine.
"I didn't get a change to introduce myself. I'm Edward Cullen."
Awww. Did you like it? I'm so sad it's over. There's still an epilogue though, which will be uploaded in a few days. In the mean time, tell me what you thought of the story and the ending. And thank you so, so much for sticking with me and reading my silliness! :)