Recap of Chapter 23:
Edward has a frighteningly real nightmare about James and Joshua storming the school, looking for his love. The reason? He doesn't exactly know why, but after being startled awake by it, he can't shake the feeling that it might actually happen. He tries his best to put it away for now, and focuses back on the present, though promises to tell Bella later about it. The two of them share some frisky photos and a quickie later on in the day during the Music Group's Secret Santa exchange. By the end of the exchange, Mrs. Idle informs the group that there'll be a surprise Christmas dance happening the next day. Upon seeing the ladies signing up for it, Emmett comes up with a plan for the guys where they'll crash the dance and join in on the holiday "fun". Just how much of a mess will the guys cause for the ladies at the dance?
A/N: It's been quite some time since I've gotten around to updating this story. I was caught in a writer's block and wasn't too sure how to approach this chapter (it's mostly gonna be a filler before we jump into some more exciting plot points of the overall story).
This Chapter will be split into two parts, since I would love to fit the plot into one chapter - but I like having some cliffhangers and drama so I instead chose to split it up.
With that out of the way, lets get into it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
~Bella~
"Bella, come on keep up already!" I tripped over something in front of me, trying to hurry along and catch up to the girls. I minutely glared over at the pixie shouting at me, and she rolled her eyes at me. "Don't give me that sour puss glare, you're slow as a snail back there. I want to get these sweaters bright and early so we can work on some song arrangements for later tonight!" she continued, screeching and earning some questioning stares from other shoppers around us.
I shook my head and caught up to them, with Angela looping her arm through my left one.
"You okay? You seem like you're really thinking hard back there." Angela whispered to me once Alice was distracted by something Jessica had said.
I sighed and then quickly whispered over to her, "E was gonna talk to me about some bad dream he had a night or two ago, and it sounded like it was really bad. But we haven't had a moment alone since the closet so he hasn't gotten around to telling me it."
She made a small noise then of understanding, and with her free hand she patted mine.
It was the next day after the Secret Santa exchange. The time was about early-ish to mid-morning. Alice had woken us up and dolled us up in usual Alice fashion, as if it mattered that we looked our best just going to the mall to shop for some ugly Christmas sweaters. Alice reminded us though that we could still work on getting some last minute Christmas gift shopping in if we really needed it while we were here today, which clicked with me. I had realized that really, I still hadn't found my dad, my mom and Edward a gift for Christmas. So I was gonna have to try and sneak away from the girls at some point to find gifts for them - in reality, I didn't want them to see me get something for him. But first, on our plates was to get some ugly sweaters.
But anyways, she got us up basically at the crack of dawn, dressed and out of the school once buses were set up to start taking in passengers. We arrives at the nearby Port Angeles Mall as that's where we'll be shopping for these sweaters that we need for the Christmas Dance... Party? Something or whatever it really is, later on tonight. It's the cliched theme anyways to get something like this (leave it to the school to go cheesy).
After we had signed up last night and gotten back to the dorm, we briefly discussed with one another of what we could do for songs or how we'd just go about it in general. The girls wanted me to be the lead singer for our songs - from what we heard from Mrs. Idle, we'd be getting at least 3 songs that we can sing. I thought we'd get more considering it didn't seem like anyone else was signing up to sing at this shin-dig except for us. But we didn't look too hard into it. I however, felt like it was time to let them have the spotlight and told them they could be the lead singers for whatever songs we're gonna work pick and work with; they tried their damn hardest to convince me otherwise but I stood my ground and told them they should be leading the charge for this tonight. I wasn't exactly a huge Christmas person despite the fact my birthday shared the same month as the huge holiday and was not that far off from the day. But take into account, for years I never made it a huge fanfare event to celebrate my birthday all out.
"Alright ladies!" Rosalie's clapping of her hands brought me back to the present. I looked over at her to see that she was leading the charge into a huge clothing store. "We are gonna go look for our ugly sweaters in here, and then we're gonna go find some "sexy" Mrs. Clause outfits to wear! We're gonna dress up as such for our music performances because I want us to have some fun." Rosalie announced.
"I heard the guys are gonna be there." Jessica added in suddenly; the rest of us turned to look at her, wide eyed. Well that was something I could've almost expected but I had high hopes they wouldn't be coming to this. "What?" she asked sheepish when she saw the attention she was getting.
"Where did you hear this?" Alice asked.
"Some of the other girls had overheard about the guys talking and laughing about it."
"Who?"
"Lauren, Tanya, Irina." Jessica answered again, pursing her lips.
I heard behind us someone's heels clicking behind us, and I looked over my shoulder. Approaching us were the same three Jessica had just mentioned. It was as if she magically summoned them just by saying their names. They were dressed to be as comfortable in the cold that was the winter, yet they had on high heeled boots; nothing that was entirely practical for the cold, snow and slippery icy ground. But I figured they were doing what they could to be still seen as appealing and slutty as possible.
"So it's true then the guys are taking part in the singing for the dance tonight?" Rosalie immediately asked them once they were standing by us.
Lauren sniffed, looking down at her nails but spoke up. "Yep, heard them talking about it when the girls and I were walking by them last night. Emmett's doing it to torment you all." A sneer, a slight one but still a sneer, broke out on her face; the rest of us groaned.
"Should've seen that coming, I wouldn't put it past that fucking behemoth wanting to find every opportunity that he can get his hands on to annoy us." I grumbled out loud. A small part in the back of my mind also wondered if that's why we were only getting technically 3 songs to our lineup to sing; just to give the guys a fair chance of singing, it was probably to balance it out so not one group gets more time on stage over the other.
"I already overheard from some teachers talking that there'll be mistletoe snuck in around the place we're having the dance at. I don't know why they'd use it as a decoration when they know we hate each others' guts and wouldn't be caught dead trying to kiss any of the guys." Irina had added in while we (all eight of us now) walked into the clothing store together. Alice, Angela and Rosalie gagged while Tanya and Jessica visibly shuddered to themselves.
"Frankly, I'd take this chance just to screw with them. I know I'd take any opportunities to plant a kiss on Edward and his sexy lips." Lauren teased, giggling. Upon hearing her speak about him, I could feel a flare up of anger and jealousy deep within my chest. My nostrils flared minutely as well in response, but I did my best to quickly calm myself down to not cause suspicion.
"Ew, that's my brother you're talking about." Alice hissed, clamping her hands over her ears.
"Well even if we're still doing this feud with the boys, I'm not going to lie about Edward's good looks." Lauren countered, rolling her eyes at Alice's childish reaction.
"Lauren's got a point though; they wanna mess with us by disrupting our chances of peace away from them by joining in on the dance, we can get back at them with those mistletoes." Tanya stated; after saying this, all the girls paused and looked like they were deep in thought over this. Internally, I was lost to being enraged hearing Lauren just talk about smacking lips with my man like that. I wanted to slap that smirk on her face. Ever since this whole feud had started, I knew that all the girls were doing what they promised and wouldn't give into any boys' advances. That didn't stop Lauren from panting over him, considering I'd hear her gossiping about what all she still would want to do to him. Some of the girls in general in the school gossiped about some guys they had mild crushes on - namely just based off looks but nothing concrete that would probably make them break their promise of avoiding them.
The conversation about the dance and any possible mistletoe decorations that would be up at it, dropped then. We went about finding our ugly Christmas sweaters first which didn't take long. The store was holding a sale at the moment and a section in there had ugly sweaters for us to look over, before we settled on the ones that spoke to us the most. We couldn't help but giggle childishly at some of the absurdity and tackiness with the designs. Then we walked around the mall again, trying to find a store that would fulfill our second part of the plan - the sexy Mrs. Clause costumes. It didn't take us long to find one store that had some that fit the bill. I was cringing at just how short and revealing the costume really was, but Alice would jab her elbow into my ribs reminding me that I would look fantastic in it and that it would make the boys honestly salivate at the sight, which was part of our overall plan to get back at them for coming to the dance in the first place. Rolling my eyes, I gave in and agreed to it, which we all paid for our costumes.
"Hey, I need to take some time and find some presents for my parents." I said suddenly, starting to drift from the group. They were wanting to go and find a shoe store to where they could get some matching boots or heels to go with our costumes.
"Oh did you want us to come with you?' Rosalie was quick to try and make this a group trip.
"Nah, I'll be alright you guys, I have an idea of where I can find their presents - and one of them is a sporting shop for my dad which is hella boring that I wouldn't want to drag you guys to." I quickly brushed away the offer. For one, I knew the girls would be extremely bored tagging along with me to the sport shop that was here at the mall. I knew only a very slight bit of knowledge to sporting stuff that I knew what my dad liked, so I should be the only one to suffer shopping for him on it. For another, I wanted to try and use this chance to call up Edward to try and talk to him about the nightmare he had and see if I can calm some of his worries. And I wouldn't be able to do that if the girls tagged along with me.
The girls scrunched up their noses at the mention of sport shop talk, and nodded then. "I know what shoe size you wear Bella so I'll get you something!" Alice called out to me before we fully separated. I waved goodbye to them, and groaned at the mention of Alice getting me shoes. But I knew I wouldn't be able to stop her.
I weaved my way through the crowds of people who were last minute shopping for the holiday, heading to the other end of the mall where the two-story sport shop sat. I was going to wait until I was inside to pull out my phone and give Edward a call. I was just about to enter the shop when suddenly I bumped into someone with a hard muscle-y chest that nearly sent me falling flat on my ass. I let out a squeak and braced myself to hit the hard tiled floor that was the mall, when two firm hands grabbed me by the arms to stop my fall.
"Oh Jesus, sorry!" the voice spoke up in apology; it was a familiar velvety voice, low in tone but one I easily recognized. I froze briefly and glanced up, before I squealed quietly. The person who saved me from meeting a fate with the floor, looked closely at my face, and a crooked grin broke out on his heavenly face.
"Edward!" I hissed in excitement, and threw my arms around his neck. He stumbled a bit having been caught off guard by my sudden open display of affection, but otherwise chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Hey there love." he whispered into my ear, kissing my check while squeezing me.
We stood there for a couple minutes before we slowly disengaged with one another. I took a brief second to appraise him, noting that he wore a deliciously fit deep maroon sweater under a long black trench coat, and had on fitting dark pants with brown combat boots. A matching maroon sweater and beanie accompanied his top well. Edward looked handsome in anything and everything, always looking like a laidback model stepping out from a magazine spread. However when I was finishing openly ogling him, a sudden thought hit my head and I stared at him wide-eyed. "Wait, are you here with the guys? Shit, I hope they didn't see us..." I muttered in panic; Edward however laughed at how worried I sounded.
"Well I'm actually here with Mike and Ben; Jasper and Emmett stayed behind at the school because they're working on the song arrangement stuff for the dance tonight. Mike and Ben are in the store looking for stuff for their dads and older brothers. My dad isn't really... sporty, I guess you can say so I volunteered to just stay out here to wait for them. I had no idea I'd run into you today, much less at this place. Or, well I guess I could say I didn't expect for you to run into me." he teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him childishly.
"I'm looking for some stuff for my mom and dad, so I figured I'd start with my dad before moving onto her. And... I still need to find some things for you." I told him, blushing at the mention of that. He smirked at me, nodding his head.
"Well, how about I accompany you in here while you work on getting stuff for your dad? We'll probably run into Mike and Ben at some point." He offered, and I smiled warmly up at him. I laced my fingers through his inviting hand, and together we strolled into the sport shop.
"Where are the girls? I thought they'd be following you while you're out here today?" Edward asked as I began to lead him towards the fishing section of the store (I had texted him last night at least that we'd be out today; I guess it slipped his mind to tell me though about him and the guys were signing up to sing at the dance). I knew my dad was an avid fisher when he got the chance to go out with his friends from the reservation, so I figured that'd be an easy start for me to find something for him there.
"Yeah they're here, but I separated from them. I told them where I was going and I didn't want to bore them by dragging them here with me. Plus, I wanted to use some of that time finding your gift and I was going to give you a call while I was going to shop." I told him. He made a noise of understanding and nodded his copper head.
"Do you guys find your sweaters for the dance?"
I nodded my head to him, giggling while I also said, "We also got some little costumes we're gonna be wearing when we perform."
He looked at me, perplexed at what that meant. "Costumes?"
I dug around in the bag that had the "sexy" Mrs. Clause outfit, and pulled it out to show him. Edward's emerald eyes got wide, and he fingered the hem of the dress, his cheeks flushing.
"Wh-"
"We were going to get these for ourselves just for some fun, but once we found out that you guys will be there, we're going to use it against you as payback I guess you could say." I interrupted his questioning, snickering when he continued to stare at it.
"Jesus this is cruel of you ladies." He growled, his eyes darkening looking almost predatory. I giggled girlishly while stuffing the dress back in the bag, knowing he wanted to do naughty things to me after seeing that.
"Careful there mister, or you're gonna be on the naughty list this year." I teased him quietly while walking ahead of his frozen figure, swaying my hips intentionally to tease him some more. Thankfully there wasn't anyone on this side of the store - I guess even though we live up north with not a lot to do, not many people wanted to fish around here. My dad was just one of those rare types that enjoy it.
I heard quick footsteps behind me and then Edward suddenly was by my side, grabbing my wrist and forcefully dragging me down a secluded aisle of this area. I gasped briefly but let him drag me along. He stopped suddenly when we were around a corner, with no one around us, and he pinned me to shelving unit, trying not to slam me too hard but staring me down. I shivered at how his usual mischievous and bright emerald eyes were almost a deep jade. He pressed himself up against me, letting me know that the sight of the dress did have an effect on him.
"You have no idea how cruel you are my little vixen." Edward purred to me, and I whimpered at his tone.
Then he planted his lips on mine. I sighed happily at the feel of his lips claiming mine and proceeded to wrap my arms around his shoulders, letting my fingers find their way into his messy bronze hair that was peaking out from under his beanie. We let our tongues dance with one another, trying to savor this moment for as long as we could. We hadn't been together since yesterday in the closet when picking tree decorations. It felt like it had been longer. I couldn't help the quiet groan when his hands had slid down and found their place on my backside, giving a small squeeze before he pushed me closer to his groin - if that was even remotely possible at this point. He made a strangled noise around our lips when I scratched his scalp at the base of his head, grabbing at his hair.
Suddenly we heard a loud coughing noise to Edward's left, and we gasped and let out small yelps before suddenly breaking our kiss and he jumped away from me, almost knocking himself into the shelves behind him. We were gasping and heaving for air. His expression looked wild, with his shirt rumpled; I could see still a bulge happening between his legs. I'm pretty sure I looked no better. We took a few seconds trying to catch our breath, but stopped when we heard repressed giggling. Looking over, it was Mike and Ben who had found us and interrupted us.
My face quickly felt flushed with embarrassment. I glanced over and saw Edward visibly relax but he too was becoming pink in the face after we were caught.
"Jesus you two are worse than rabbits." Mike teased us quietly, with him and Ben laughing to themselves. After Edward and I fixed ourselves, he came by to my side again and took my hand in his.
"Did you guys finish shopping?" Edward tried to desperately change the subject and take the attention off of us.
"We're almost done - needed to get some stuff for our dads. We were trying to find you and texting you to let you know but we had no clue you came into the store with Bella. It's just random chance we found you when we did." Ben explained, smirking at us.
"What are you doing in here anyways Bella?" Mike asked then, raising an eyebrow at me.
"I'm trying to find gifts for my parents and Edward since I separated myself from the girls while we're out today. I figured I'd start with my dad and get something sports related for him - fishing is the first thing that came to mind. I didn't know you guys were out until I literally ran into Edward outside. And well..." I trailed off, waving my hands helplessly. My boyfriend wrapped his arm now around my waist and rubbed circles on my hip with his right hand, reassuring me that I didn't need to feel embarrassed still.
The two of them nodded and then to us, they said they were gonna go to a different section to find the last bits of their gifts before they'd be paying. They told Edward they'd be waiting outside for him when they would be done (and to try and keep us updated if the girls come by the store looking for me so it'd give us time to figure out a strategy to not get caught), before they left us.
"That's not exactly what I wanted to happen when I brought you around the corner like that." Edward had mumbled to me when they were gone, while we worked on looking through some of the fishing inventory here for my dad. I giggled at him, patting his chest with my hand.
"I know sweetie. But you realize it's probably a good thing we were caught then by those two. You and I are always without restraint when together. Lord knows if a worker who might be on the store's cameras saw us if we were to go any further than we did with our make-out." I told him, feeling my cheeks heat up at the thought. He coughed awkwardly into his hand then, nodding his head briefly at the statement.
"Fair enough."
"C'mon, I think I'm going to get my dad a new fishing rod and some gear." I said then, leading him towards the next aisle over which with my luck, was stocked with the rods. I then looked slightly over my shoulder before saying as quietly as I could but have him still be able to hear me, "Do you think you could also tell me about that nightmare of yours while we have this time with each other?"
Edward heard me and made a humming noise.
"Well, let me just say that I'm feeling slightly better the more I focus on other things." he started while we turned the corner to find the fishing rods' aisle. I began grazing my fingers over every one just glancing and looking at the brief details each retail tag would describe what each rod did or was better/excelled in while I waited for him to continue. I heard him take a deep breath before he finally spoke up again. "It was a nightmare that happened in the school. Something about it immediately didn't sit right with me. I was in the halls just walking around, but in my hands I had my gun readied. I felt like I was being watched while walking around as carefully and as quietly as I could. I then heard other footsteps and laughing. I had looked up in my dream and saw... I saw them walking towards me, a pistol also in their hands. When I had seen them in my dream and where they were headed, I had tried ducking out of sight behind some lockers. I waited with baited breath but I had been seen by them as they were approaching me. And they... they called out to me saying they saw me. I had told them they were seriously stupid to be doing whatever they were doing in the school like they had - the whole school was on lockdown or something because no one else was in the hallways. They said they were wanting someone - specifically a she - but I told them that I wasn't going to give her up that easily unless it was over my dead body. They taunted me with that statement and then I peeked out around the corner I was hiding in to shoot them - and then I woke up from my nightmare."
I listened to his explanation in silence, paying attention to both him and the fishing rods still.
"Them? Who is supposed to be 'them' honey? And she?" were the first two questions that escaped my mouth.
Edward didn't immediately answer me when I asked this. I stopped my search and turned around. I froze at the expression on his face. His eyes were looking off somewhere far off, not focused on the here and now. He was licking his lips and gulping down air. I walked up to him and put my hand in his, giving it a squeeze which roused him to come back to reality and stare down at me.
"Edward, who is them and the she of your nightmare?" I questioned him again.
"It... It was Joshua and James, Bella. And they were looking for you." he whispered.
Now it was my turn to freeze. My heart hammered to a stop, my stomach dropped.
"W-What?" I stammered out, staring up at him with my eyes wide as saucers.
"Somehow I knew they were looking for you. They didn't say your name, but I just knew it was you that they wanted. I've been doing what I can to keep you safe from James mostly since he's got a closer shot of getting to you while he's in the music group. I don't know what Joshua is doing since we only have one class with him and I never see him at else throughout the day. But I don't know if you've been noticing them just... staring at you whenever you're in their sights. James especially; yesterday when we had came back from getting the tree decorations, he was just staring at you like you were a piece of meat. It left me sick to my stomach and I wanted to get up punch him straight in the jaw to tell him to fuck off with that creepy shit. But I can only do so much to watch out for you and protect you from him before I have to pull away. Else, Jasper, Emmett and the rest of the school is going to be questioning it. Only the ones you've been able to divulge your past about would understand. It's... It's just something about James is even more unsettling to me than Joshua is, love. I know that both of them are fucking horrible and deserve all types of pain and punishment from what they did to you - but Joshua I feel like is only harmless until he's near James. I fear James would do something extremely dangerous to you if he had the opportunity." he paused again, to grab both of my hands into his and pulled me as close as he could into his chest to try and calm me down. I guess I was starting to go into a panic attack since when he did that I let out a shuttering gasp and tried to inhale as much air as I could.
I looked up at him while he stared down at me with determined eyes.
"I swear to you I'll do everything in my power to protect you and keep you safe Bella. But I do not ever want you to be alone. I want to say this was just a bad and horrible nightmare based on a hyperactive hypochondriac imagination that my brain decided to cruelly come up with. However, I am seriously disturbed by James' presence that I couldn't bear to think even for a second of what he would do if you're left alone with him for a minute. Everything about him screams psycho. If you're to go anywhere and I'm not able to be by your side in a heartbeat, please have someone with you. I'd prefer you'd have two people - be it the girls like Alice and Rosalie, or Angela and Jessica; just never be alone when you're going somewhere. I'm even willing to get you something for protection - a taser, pepper spray, a baton, even let you use my gun. Just anything, I'd feel just some comfort knowing that you have something on you that you can use against him should ever the absolute worst case scenario happens." he murmured to me, his voice low but strong with trying to get me to hear the severity of the situation that deeply scared him to his core.
I nodded dumbly, still feeling a deep rooted fear in my soul. It's bad enough that I'm completely on edge still around the school knowing that James and Joshua are there. I'm trying my best everyday to remain strong, to try and not let them still have a hold over my being like I had tried to promise myself a month ago when James had first managed to weasel his way into the music group. Still, it's not a shock to me that obviously the past trauma that I was put through between Joshua's abusive nature in our broken past relationship and the ensuing rape, to James' pretty much trying to do the same exact thing while I was dating Joshua at the time - and thus Joshua promising his sleazy friend that he could have me as soon as we were done. I was only so hopeful to a point that I could try to be as strong as I could against all that, but I was still going to suffer from it - even if I could say I'm in a better space physically and maybe mentally, I wouldn't get over it so easily.
But what I did have was a good support system of friends. On the day he had gotten into the group, I did tell Alice and Rosalie about who James really was and why I was extremely uncomfortable with him. They were shocked to hear that I had another stalker, much less someone who was friends with Joshua and acted worse then him, and said they would do what they could to make sure I was never alone with him (much like Jessica and Angela had said they'd do when I first told them about him.) And of course, I had Edward in my life. He was so caring, protective and supportive. I knew that since I had this group of people in my life, I felt better about my well being. I never wanted to them to be put in danger, however. I didn't know what Joshua and James could be capable of. For as long as I knew them, Joshua if he was that determined and set on a goal, he'll stop at nothing to achieve it regardless of the how to accomplish it. But he also wasn't as insane as James was; I recall so many horrific stories and rumors from our old school about the things he did before he was expelled from there. He was definitely unhinged. And that alone in my mind, made me worried for those around me or those that associate themselves with me; they could easily be put into danger because of me. I personally hated the thought of that.
"I don't know if, or even remotely when this may happen, Bella," Edward suddenly talking again had me stopping my thought process, and I proceeded to look back up at him to show him he had my attention. "But I'm telling you that something about this dream honestly to me, felt very, very real. I want to chalk it up to something that won't ever happen - but I can't shake the feeling that it will truly happen. I don't know how soon if so, but please... just do your best to keep yourself away from those two. Never be by yourself, always have friends nearby. I'll look into ordering you something for your protection, maybe gift it to you for Christmas or sooner. I'm just scared shitless at the thought that I had this dream, and I don't... I just can't ever imagine what they'd do to you if you were to fall into their hands." his voice slipped into a broken whisper near the end, while he clutched his free hand into a fist and shut his eyes tight.
I placed both hands on both sides of his face, and pulled him down to my level so I could place a kiss on his lips. He engulfed me into his arms then, and deepened the kiss, pouring his fears into me to show just how scared he really was at the thought. I returned the sentiment and we stayed like that in the aisle for awhile, just making out with one another and trying to convey our emotions to one another through our lips. Fear, anger, determination, love.
When we pulled away, we both gasped in air that we desperately needed.
"Edward, I promise, I won't be alone. I will make sure that wherever I go, I'll have my friends with me." I told him after I had caught my breath first. "I don't ever want to be alone with them either. Trust me when I say this though, after Joshua, I did what I could to take up self-defense after my dad shelled out as much money as he could for me to take the classes. It sucks that it was after I was raped that if I had taken it before, much less taken them when he started abusing me - I probably could've done more to prevent it... I feel so useless and weak that I didn't leave when I should've or that I didn't do more to stop him - and now here I am stuck in the same situation with him and his fucking friend trying to get to me; it's even worse because I'm dragging you all down with me because I can't do anything to defend myself against them -"
"Bella! Stop!" Edward's hiss caused me to stop short on my rambling; I could feel tears prickling at the back of my eys as I was starting to get emotional over this. I peered up at him through my eyelashes and saw a flash of anger in his eyes. I balked minutely.
"Never, for one second, think you're in the wrong in any of this." he growled quietly to me, and now put both of his hands on either side of my face to force me to look at him. "You are not dragging anyone down. We're choosing to stand by you, to protect you from ever getting hurt again by those creeps. We care about you, we love you. And you couldn't have known on what to do when you went through everything that you did; you were scared, you were manipulated and feared for the outcomes and what-ifs if you did leave. Your mind wasn't in a good place to think about disregarding possible consequences; anyone ever in abusive relationships goes through it at some point, in some aspect or degree. No case is alike. Some people are able to leave right away the first sign. Some aren't able to leave at all. It's a miracle you could get out of it, and it shows the strength you had to finally put an end to it. But I'm telling you, you're not weak, you're not useless and you are not at fault for anything going on right now. Nor would anyone ever think you're dragging them down. You're seeking help to avoid anything like that happening again. And I am more than willing to do that - as is the girls who are stepping up to help you." he spoke to me with conviction, holding my face to keep our eye contact strong to try and convey to me the truth behind his words.
I could only nod wordlessly, unable to really think of a coherent reply to it all.
"Um... excuse me?" Edward and I released yelps for the second time that day, and scrambled apart, our faces flushed with embarrassment. I looked over when I heard the squeaky voice, and saw a teenaged employee from the store was watching us cautiously; his eyes were darting back and forth between Edward and I while one hand hovered a walkie talkie that sat on his left hip.
"Is everything alright here with you two?" the employee continued to question us, probably having seen us standing the way that we did and was concerned; perhaps worst case scenarios were popping up in his mind thinking Edward was arguing with me or trying to hurt me.
I could feel my cheeks grow even hotter with mortification.
"Uh, no. No! We're all good here! Uh just ah... looking for some fishing rods, is all!" Edward coughed out, shifting around on the spot with a hand at his neck, looking away from the employee. His cheeks were growing darker, mirroring my own.
The employee stood there, still looking between the two of us. He didn't exactly buy what he was saying, but didn't look like he also wanted to prod us for answers. Finally, the employee nodded his head uncertainly, and then slowly walked away from us.
I looked back over at Edward and saw he puffed out his cheeks and blew a harsh breath of relief.
"Maybe having this type of conversation in a sporting goods store isn't the best idea." he muttered. I couldn't help it - I suddenly began to snort with giggles, bending over laughing while he too began to laugh. The absurdity of it was hilarious.
"You make an accurate observation." I said after I had calmed down enough to speak through my laughing. "Well, let's get back to shopping for my dad. The longer I take, the more likely the girls are going to wonder where I'm at and begin calling - or worse, looking for me." I told him, going back to the fishing rods surrounding us.
"There was one other thing I wanted to bring up with you." Edward spoke up then after we had fully calmed down. I turned my head slightly over at him, while I was holding a likely winning fishing rod that would be the best for my dad.
"Carlisle and Esme told me the whole sleeping arrangement that they might go for us when we get up to the lodge after Christmas." he began, taking the rod from me after I had nodded to him that this might be the one to get. I pursed my lips, turning now and motioning for him to follow me so I can get some fishing gear for my dad.
"Alright, what is it?"
"So, the lodge has at least max of two beds for their guests in their rooms. They told me that they were for sure wanting a room for themselves and not sharing it with any of us teens - probably want some privacy being married and all. They said though that one room would be for the girls, one for the guys, and then... one room would be for us." he informed me; I skidded to a stop in the next aisle we had entered, and stared up at him with a raised eyebrow.
"We're getting our own room?"
"Correct. Now, I know what you're thinking - and let me just answer it best as I can. Rosalie, Alice, Jessica and Angela are in a room, Mike, Ben, Jasper and Emmett in another; each bedroom has 2 queens. My parents thought that it wouldn't be fair to anyone that if they were to shove the fifth person in the rooms that they'd have to be sleeping on the floor - which is colder than the rest of the room. Even if we bring air mattresses and blankets, they still felt it was unfair. So they sprung for an extra bedroom for us - and it's a single queen. It would've been more believable if they had gotten either another room with 2 queens or 2 twins. But they wanted us to share - they trust us. I had told them that they're bound to be argued with because the girls aren't going to find it okay that I'm sharing a room with you. For all that the girls know though, I'll be taking the couch in there while you have the bed." Edward quickly explained, talking with his hands while I moved finally after the initial shock of this bit of news, and went about looking through the waders and boots that fishers used.
I pursed my lips taking it all in. Well, honestly yeah I expect that once the others find out the sleeping arrangements, the girls are going to be upset hearing that I'm to share a room with Edward - the guy they're led to believe is a guy who nearly assaulted me in the hallways of the first day of school, the guy who's a pig and a pervert as well as a cocky son of a bitch, and basically the devil's spawn. Jessica and Angela know the truth of who Edward is, but Alice and Rosalie didn't know that and would be completely against this setup. I kind of was shocked in Edward's adoptive parents' 'trust' in letting their teenage son sleep in the same room completely unsupervised with his girlfriend. Most relaxed and trusting parents, ever.
"I could tell them though to change the room for us if you'd like though. I don't want you being uncomfortable while we're up there." Edward's insecurities were coming through soon after he explained his answer. He was taking my lack of immediate response as something negative, that I wouldn't want to share a room with him.
"No! Edward, don't tell them to change it." I immediately did what I could to calm his worries. "Trust me, I'm not having any issues of being able to share a room with you, silly. I'm more than happy with that - gives us some alone time." I continued, winking at him. He barked out a laugh at that. "I'm just concerned about how the others are going to react to it - but I guess we'll have to try and convince them that you're going to be on the couch. You know the girls are going to be trying to steal me away from you often, or try to have me stay in their own room - be it for an impromptu sleepover or something like that." I added, sighing sadly. All the possibilities that I could get when staying in a lodge room with Edward, all alone and with the possibilities that there would be no interruptions after a point. But there was the fear that it'd most likely be the opposite and the expected - that I wouldn't get a single minute alone with him and that we'd be bothered and interrupted at every second we're there.
"We'll figure it out when we get there. I'll admit it though, I kind of spaced out when they told me that I'd be sharing a room with you... all of our pent-up sexual tension can be eased on this trip. At least for the time being." he whispered the last part to me, his eyes darkening ever so slightly while he flashed me his half smile that made me weak in the knees.
I giggled girlishly at him and leaned up on my toes to kiss his cheek; he made a whining noise at me while obviously jutting out his bottom lip.
"You missed the mark there, love."
"My target was your cheek. I can't get distracted anymore - I've spent way too much time as is in here and I know for a fact the girls are going to start sending out the choppers looking for me. So I need to hurry up and finish here in the store, and go find my mom her present before I have to rejoin them. I'll most likely have to find some gifts for you online or come back here without Alice and Rosalie." I explained, snickering at his groan of defeat.
"Ugh, fine. Fair point." Edward relented.
From there, we quickly found the last few pieces of fishing gear that I deemed to be worthy of a gift for my dad. We hurried up to the front of the store, where I shoved my card at the cashier before Edward could pull out his wallet. He glowered down at me, and I shook my head at him.
"It's a gift for my dad, you dork. I know you want to pay for everything but it'd look weird or sound weird that my boyfriend paid for my gift to my dad."
"It really wouldn't." Edward grumbled under his breath. I tutted him, and waited for the cashier to finish ringing everything up for me. The amount wasn't horrible; I didn't go for the best of the best as much as I wanted to but I got the second best. I know my dad wasn't all for the bells and whistles of extra fancy attachments on his things - fishing or otherwise. I wanted to still get him something better than what he last had on his fishing trip so I felt like something just as good as the best type of gear, would suffice for him.
Finally, everything was bagged and paid for. Edward carried it for me and we went back to the store's entrance, finding Ben and Mike standing around waiting for us while also looking around out into the rest of the mall, most likely still keeping an eye out for the girls if they were to come looking for me. When they heard us approach them, they turned and smiled.
"Finally done shopping? You guys sure took your time in there." Mike teased when we stopped by them. I felt my face heat up and Edward rolled his eyes at him.
"It's going to be awhile before I can get some alone time with her, dude. You don't have any room to tease since I know it's been awhile since you last got to do anything with Jess." Edward teased right back, playfully punching him in his shoulder. Mike grimaced at the reality of that statement and Ben snickered at him.
"Well, we've been waiting out here for awhile and didn't see the girls at all. So I think you're in the clear Bella." Ben told me, and I nodded my head.
"Thanks guys. But I probably should wrap up my little side trips of shopping before I need to head back to them." I said then, sighing sadly. My time with Edward was up and I probably won't get any alone time with him until we leave for the ski lodge after Christmas. Edward's sigh sounded just as sad as mine. I turned to him and stood on my toes once again, throwing my arms around his neck and touched my lips with his. He pressed his to mine a bit more roughly in response, dropping the bags of stuff for Charlie's Christmas gift at his feet and then wrapped his arms tightly around my figure. We sucked face for a few minutes before Mike and Ben made obvious noises of fake coughing and snickering. Edward and I pulled away from one another, sheepish grins on our face when we looked back at the two of them.
"We'll be seeing you later tonight, love. And I promise, we're going to make up for all of our time at the lodge." Edward whispered to me, rubbing my back gently. Then with one last quick chaste peck on the lips, we separated from one another. He picked up the bags for me and handed them over for me to carry. They all said their goodbyes to me, and walked away from the sports store, with Edward throwing me one last kiss. I waved at them, seeing them turn the corner and they were gone.
Sighing, I decided that I should get to getting Renee a gift. I pulled out my phone and began walking, sending a text to our group chat that I finished looking for my dad and got his gifts. I offered to them where I'd be looking for a gift for my mom - a large clothing store that was across the way - and said if they wanted to meet up with me there they could. Just as I had entered the store, I got an alert that they immediately replied after seeing my text; reading it, the girls said they were finished with their shoe shopping and would be on their way to me.
Minutely I realized that since I had took so long in the sports store while talking with Edward, I wouldn't have time to look in another store for his gifts. But I guess the best I can do is probably order some stuff online and have it expressed ship so it's here in time for me to give to him. I already have gifts for the girls and Carlisle and Esme sent over to my dad's house so that I can wrap them up and bring them along for our ski trip. So I'll have to do the same for Edward's gifts. I started to think of some gift ideas while I went over to the bag section of this store - maybe I would get my mom a new handbag. Some ideas started coming to mind of what I could do or get for Edward; many of which I decided would be perfect. Many would be used during our alone time when we go up north and I knew I would be able to get them expressed shipped so it'd all be here in time. One other gift I had in mind would involve me texting his parents to try and play it up as it being a gift from them, but I think I would be able to get it here in time and think it would work out. I pulled out my phone and made a note to myself about it, thinking I'd have to go shopping tonight - most likely after the Christmas dance at the school. But I was determined to get it done before it'd be too late.
I browsed around and looked at the bags, finding the right one just as I heard the girls approaching me. I looked up and saw their arms ladened with more bags than what I had last seen them with - they probably found more gifts or Alice being Alice, found more shoes than she probably needed. Thankfully, as I looked down at my bags I saw I had my dad's gift still and the bag that had the clothes I needed for tonight; it's a good thing Edward had shoved it into the bag that held my dad's gifts, else I would've forgotten it.
"You sure took awhile in that sports store, Bella." Jessica said as soon as they were near me. I briefly looked around, internally sighing with relief when I saw that Lauren, Tanya and Irina were not with them.
"Sorry, but honestly trying to shop for my dad was a lot harder than I thought. I settled on fishing stuff for him and that alone took me forever trying to sort through what was the best for him versus what was just extra that he wouldn't need." I explained weakly, gesturing to his bag in my hands. The girls all made noises of understanding, with Alice scrunching her nose up.
"Sports stuff, ick."
I rolled my eyes at her but turned my attention back to the bag that I had settled on for my mom.
"Is the bag for your mom?" Rosalie asked while I took the bag in my hands.
"Yeah. She's been talking about wanting a new purse since her current one is starting to fall apart. So I figured this would be a good one to get her." I said, shrugging my shoulders. Alice appraised it with calculating eyes, while Jessica and Angela nodded in approval of my choice.
Alice walked through the bags and found one that suited her needs; it was a white purse that had white gold metal features, some designer name etched into the leather. It was at least a decent sized purse that you can sling over your shoulder. She approached us, smiling brightly.
"A gift for your mom, Alice?" Angela asked her then, and Alice nodded her head happily.
Alice and I went to pay for the purses we were getting, before the five us finally left the store and headed towards the food court. We decided we'd grab some food before we'd head back to the school since it was only nearing 11am now. We separated to go to different food stops - Alice, Rosalie and Jessica went over to the line for Panera Bread, while Angela followed me over to line for a burger stop.
"So really, Bella - why did you take so long at the sports store?" Angela immediately began to interrogate me once it was just the two of us. I looked around us to make sure that Alice or Rosalie weren't going to sneak up on us. Then I looked back at her and smirked
"If you must know, I ran into someone at the sports store that kept me there probably longer than I had originally planned." I began, and she raised an eyebrow at me. Just before I could go into details about it, I was pleasantly interrupted by the devil himself.
"Well, well - I guess now it's my turn to run into you today my dear." I whirled around to see Edward and Ben walking up to us. Angela blushed when she saw her own secret beau approaching us, but gave him a smile.
"Fancy seeing you here, I thought you guys would've left early?" I questioned them quietly after I gave Edward a side hug. My boyfriend gave me a pout when he heard that.
"Eager to be rid of me already?"
I smacked his chest playfully, snickering when he winced and rubbed at the spot that I hit. "No you goofball. But I didn't expect to see you still here at the mall." I replied, and Ben laughed briefly at our exchange while he held Angela close to him with his arm around her waist.
'Well, we still had some shopping for Christmas gifts to get through. Ed here wanted to look for some stuff for you and his mom, while Mike went off to go look for something for Jess. So we're getting some food first before we find him and get back to shopping." Ben answered then, smirking at Edward who glared at him briefly. I looked up at him confused as to why he was glaring at him.
"He didn't want me spilling that he was looking for some more gifts for you, Bells. Even though he's already gotten you like three."
"Dude!" Edward hissed, blushing. I laughed at his anger while Angela giggled behind her hand.
We went through the line to get our food, chatting idly with the two of them. We put in our orders, with the guys paying for our food like the gentlemen that they were; Angela and I blushed at them when they handed us a tray that held both of our orders of food, but we quickly gave them kisses on their cheeks to express our thanks. Then we hastily said goodbye to them while we left to go find the girls. We saw they were a distance away at a table, thankfully with a wall that was tall enough that they couldn't easily look over giving Angela and I some cover that we weren't spotted with our boyfriends. We sat down at the table and we all ate our food while we discussed on what we were going to be singing tonight at the dance.
"Bella are you sure you don't want to take the lead for our singing tonight? You know you're our leader and you have such an amazing voice!" Alice prodded while we ate, looking up at me with a pout on her lips. Rosalie and Angela chuckled briefly at this expression and Jessica who was sipping her hot soup, rolled her eyes at Alice's childishness.
"Yes I'm sure about it, Alice. I want you guys to have a chance to show off your talent in the forefront - and I think you, Rosalie and Angela are the perfect candidates for it." I reassured her; in the midst of talking through it both this morning and just now when the topic was mentioned again while we ate, we agreed that the three songs we had tonight should be led by Rosalie, Alice and Angela in order to let them showcase their talents for the school to witness. I knew the girls felt I still should be the main lead but I wanted them to have their moment still, and I frankly wanted a break from being the main lead singer considering I've been mentally exhausted from all of our competition practices.
Angela was blushing considering she was still being pushed for this; she was like me in most aspects - shy especially if pushed into the limelight. But I've heard her vocals so many times. She has so much potential in being an amazing solo artist or being the main lead honestly considering she's had vocal practice in the fact she's sang for choir at her dad's church. Of course this was before she was coming to FSA, from when she told me her singing background. But she has been working hard to work up her confidence on stage ever since we were thrusted into this singing aspect of our music group - and the fact before, the guys were so harsh in teasing her and her talent being marred by her stage fright and clumsiness. I just knew she would get there and I couldn't be happier to cheer her on and work as backup for her tonight instead.
Of course as well, Rosalie and Alice were just as equally talented, if not mostly just naturally talented. How I still got to be lead singer over them is beyond me.
"I'm in agreement with Bella here; y'all are just so talented, if I was into chicks I'd be your number one fan asking you guys to sign my boobs." I snorted loudly when Jessica cut in with her joking, and the table erupted into laughter. Leave it to Jessica to try and ease the nerves at the table. She and Mike honestly were so alike, they were made for each other in their secret relationship; Mike was always trying to crack jokes with us if we were ever having our secret hangouts. He was rubbing off on his girlfriend.
"Thanks Jess, I needed a laugh." Rosalie stated, wiping a tear that fell from her eye because she had laughed so hard.
Once we finished eating, we threw away our trash and left the mall as it was just nearing noon. We caught the bus that was heading back to our school and got on, finding seats near each other while we put our purchases at our feet. I got on my phone to text Edward secretively that we were heading back to the school finally and that I couldn't wait to 'see' him tonight at the dance. Thankfully Rosalie and Alice were distracted enough in their own idle chatter that they didn't see me texting. I then got to texting Esme my plans since I came up with it in the middle of our lunch about what I wanted to do for Edward's big gift that I wanted to have delivered to him on Christmas. She was quick to respond to the idea and readily agreed to it with me, giving me their house address soon after and wished me luck in finding what I wanted to get him.
I set about looking for his big gift that he would be receiving on Christmas, as well as some other gifts I had in mind for him when we'd have our alone time at the lodge. I was quick in picking everything out and getting through the buying and checkout procress on the ride back to the school, having everything settled and set to deliver via express shipping - so it would make it in time for me to plan everything accordingly. I managed to just finish and pocket my phone when the bus pulled up in front of the school. We gathered our things and left the warmth of the bus, entering the cold once more to enter the school grounds.
We talked to one another about the songs the girls were going to sing, and just knew they were the perfect songs for the dance tonight. I knew without a doubt the boys would be floored and wouldn't know what hit them.
A Few Hours Later...
"There! You absolutely look perfect, Bella!" Alice stepped back after placing the final touch of bright red lipstick on my lips.
It was only forty-five minutes before the dance was scheduled to start. Once we had returned to our dorm room from our shopping trip, the girls and I practiced the songs we chose to sing tonight, rehearsing how it should all be choreographed between movements, dancing, placement and singing which lyric at what point, etc. etc. We nailed it down quickly, thankfully since we at least knew each song so well. When it was about an hour and a half before the dance was to start, Alice began ordering us in a drill sergeant manner to get dressed and primped for the dance. She took to dolling us up on our hair and makeup, styling us on our ugly sweater gear and what to pair the tops with. She also coordinated for us on our sexy Mrs. Clause costumes, pairing which accessories and heels were to go to whom. She had decided for herself, she got cute Mary Jane high heels and red and white striped stockings while wearing a necklace with a bell on it that rang with each movement. For Rosalie, she paired her outfit with fishnet stockings that showed every bit of skin on her long legs, and had on short deep scarlet gloves; the heel choice was some black booties but they were platform booties.
Angela was the lucky one of the group; Alice relented and let her have long black gloves that came up about half way to her shoulders, while she had black thigh high boots. She was arguably the most "covered" of our little group. As for Jessica, she let her have have tights that were dark but still let her skin peek through, while she gave her knee high black boots. And for me? Well Alice decided that I should wear stockings that were white and opaque, with bright red garters that sat at my thighs, with a garter belt attached that was thankfully covered underneath my dress (we tested it to be sure); she also gave me insane red platform peep-toe high heels that had a white fuzzy fur trimmed outline at the toes and around the rest of the shoe.
I was ready to strangle this pixie for what she was forcing me into.
After we had our outfits settled, she made sure it worked with the hairstyles and makeup choices she went with. Alice chose that Rosalie should have the classic '50s Hollywood wave, Jessica was to have her hair curled even more than it normally was, Angela had her hair braided and Alice gave her hair a finger wave treatment. As for me, she gave my hair some elegant waves and curls in just the right places. She chose that we'd all have the same bit of makeup slapped on our faces; smoky eyeshadow, blushing on the cheeks and highlights in the right places, and to pull it all together, bright red lipstick. She gave Angela contacts too so she could dance freely tonight while she performed without having to worry about her glasses falling off.
I stood from the chair since I was the last one that had my makeup applied, taking in my ugly Christmas sweater. It was perfectly cheesy and corny for the holidays, where it reached mid-thigh on me just before I could see my leggings that Alice also forced me into. She took it upon herself to up the "tackiness' with the Ugly Christmas Sweater theme and gave us tacky leggings to pair with our sweaters. So Alice gave me shimmery silver leggings that clung tightly to my legs and showed off the natural curve to them. Rosalie got the bright red shimmering leggings, Alice got the bright green ones, and Angela got bright shimmery gold ones. Jessica didn't have shimmering leggings but it was still quite Christmas theme considering they were mostly black in color, with Christmas lights being the main design on each pant leg.
"And for the final touch for this outfit as well as our costumes," Alice announced after she set the lipstick tube down. She went towards the bags of our clothes we had purchased today, and then tossed out to each of us in the room Santa hats that had bells attached at the top pompom. I slipped on my snow boots after I received the hat, and snickered at it while fingering the bell.
"I think we're going to look absolutely fantastic tonight, girls." Jessica said confidently, bouncing up and down on her feet in completely excitement. Alice was rubbing off on her.
When we finally got everything else settled and had our costumes in our bags, we left our dorm room and hurried to the gym where the dance was being held. We did our best to hurry through the snow since the night was upon us with the sun almost being close to fully set. We made sure to stick together huddled up to share our heat on our trek through the deep snow, shivering our asses off. Finally we made it to the gym and hurried inside, shaking off the snow that had fallen on our shoulders and in our hair. We stuck our Santa hats on once we were inside and made our way through the lobby of the Gym, before entering what was probably just a well crafted Winter Wonderland. Whoever the school had ordered to decorate the Gym did a great job; The lights were dimmed and some of the disco lights were on and shining through the room causing some sparkles to hit people and tables just right to make it look like glittering snowfall. Paper snowflakes both small and large were throughout the whole room; some hung from the ceiling, some hung from the stands that were pushed back against the wall, some hung or were stapled to the walls. White, red, gold and silver shimmery garlands hung throughout certain spots in the Gym and were often caught in the light of the disco balls. There was fake snow also spread throughout in some corners and spots of the Gym to make it more like a winter dream. There were large round tables spread about in the main part of the floor for the Gym; each was dressed with a silky white table cloth with silky chair covers over the fold out chairs that were tied together with bright green bows. At one wall of the Gym was a large buffet table sections that held big punch bowls of red and green drinks, while the snacks consisted of varying Christmas cookies, sweets, fruit cakes, gingerbread houses, and some cold cut sandwiches for any student that may get hungry tonight. Finally up on the stage, the music students of the school were setting up their instruments on stages for all the performances that would be going on tonight. Currently though on the large sound system they had at the base of the stage, one of the music students was fiddling with it as slightly quiet generic Christmas music played throughout the Gym.
"Ah girls! You've arrived!" Mrs. Idle's voice spoke up and we looked over to see our music teacher and the leader of our competition group, striding up to us. I took note that behind her, there were a few more teachers hanging throughout the Gym to no doubt act as chaperones for the students attending tonight. There were also sprinkles of Juniors and Seniors here in the Gym, dressed up in Ugly Christmas sweaters.
We greeted our teacher, who took note of the bags in our arms. "Did you girls decide to dress up in costumes for your performances?" she asked us with a smirk.
I blushed but Alice spoke up for us. "I hope that's alright if we wear these tonight. I can assure you we won't be giving any peepshows or break any dress codes with these. We just wanted to get dressed up and maybe dish out some payback to the boys with it." Alice breezed out smoothly, giving her a toothy grin. Any and every teacher was usually putty in Alice's hands; something about her was just able to woo over any adult to let her get away with practically everything she wanted.
Mrs. Idle was only a bit different but still gave in. "Well, alright, I'm sure it'll be fine and probably spice up the dance just a bit. You can go ahead and drop off your costumes in the back dressing rooms as it'll be a bit before you will be performing tonight. I should inform you that the boys also signed up to sing some songs tonight - and Bella," she paused to look at me with a meaningful look. Uh oh... "I hope you don't mind but I'd greatly appreciate it if you stuck this out for me and convinced your friends of this - but the boys signed you ladies up to sing at least one song with them. They had told me that you five would be more than willing to join in, but I wanted to run it by you girls before throwing you to the wolves so to speak with no preparation or awareness about it."
I could hear gasps beside me while my mouth dropped open in shock.
"Uh... Mrs. Idle, I don't know if we're willing to go through with that." Rosalie began after trying to get over her initial shock. She wanted to try and get out of performing with the guys, especially since when we first signed up we wanted to take some time to get away from the boys and have some fun together. Now it was being ruined even further than we had planned for - first we didn't know they had signed up to join in on the performing tonight, and now we were basically signed up against our will and without our knowing to perform a song with them. How was this any bit of fair?
"Girls, I know you're not happy about being thrown through a loop like this last minute, but please it would certainly bring so much joy to me as well as really make this dance memorable for the junior and senior class!" Mrs. Idle practically begged of us, trying to get us to agree to this. She told us the song that the guys had picked for us, and I knew exactly the song as well as my brain immediately schemed of a perfect revenge plan.
So, I realized that this would just work out fine for us ladies. "Alright, Mrs. Idle. We'll sing with the guys on that song. I'll work with the girls here on coordinating our dance to it - just know that the boys will surely regret not talking it out with us first." I warned our teacher, smirking and trying to ignore the shocked and confused looks the girls were giving me. Mrs. Idle cheered and thanked me, before walking off to greet some students that started pouring into the Gym for the dance.
"Uh, hello? I don't think we're okay with this Bells!" Jessica hissed at me while we began walking to the dressing room to drop off our costumes.
"Ladies, I have a plan." I murmured to them just as we got to the door. I told them my plan of what we'll do when it comes to that number, showing them through quick choreographing in our dressing room just how I wanted our dance to look and that I'd want them to follow my lead for the most part. They didn't exactly sound thrilled at the idea of what our dancing would involve but I could see the glints in their eyes and the smirks on their faces; it told me all I needed to know. They were excited to get back at the boys even more than what we had first thought of. It was going to be an interesting night for sure.
After we dropped off our clothing, we left the dressing room to see the Gym really filling up with students now dressed in their ugly Christmas Sweater attire. As usual, the girls in the Gym chose to stick together with other girls, avoid the packs of boys that milled about the room.
"Come on, lets get some snacks in us before we have to perform." Jessica told us, pointing to the buffet tables. We agreed that we were feeling peckish so we walked over to the tables to get some drinks and cookies to hopefully fill up on before we'd have to go up on stage. Mrs. Idle had informed us when we signed up that since we were so eager to sing tonight that we'd get to be first. I grabbed a cup and poured myself some punch, reaching out for a Christmas cookie. But before my hand made it around the treat, it bumped into a pale large and very masculine hand that send jolts of pleasant electricity to my skin. I jumped back when I grazed it, as did the other hand and when I looked up, I heard Rosalie scoff behind me.
"Well well, look what the Grinch dragged in." she taunted behind me; I didn't need need to turn around to know she was glaring icy blue daggers at the people beside us. It was the boys of course. They were dressed up in their sweaters and had Santa hats donned on their heads too much like us. Each had on varying tacky sweaters that spat out corny and cheesy Christmas puns, or ugly designs that were hilariously perfect for the dance. It was Edward's hand that had been reaching out for a cookie the same time I was, and when he noticed it was us beside him and his friends, he gave me a cocky grin and winked. Our silent hello; I immediately rolled my eyes at him. Behind him, Emmett and Jasper were snickering at the gals behind me, as Ben and Mike waited off to the side and stood there watching the exchange.
"No need to be so humbug about seeing us, Doll face." Emmett replied back to Rosalie's biting greeting, winking at her. I heard her scoff once more and shift on her feet, probably to haughtily cross her arms at him.
"What, no merry Christmas greeting to seeing us here ladies? Where's your jolly spirit. 'Tis the season and all that jazz." Jasper taunted back with a sneer, making a kissy face over at Alice who stamped her foot.
"You idiots knew we'd be singing here tonight and decided to be absolute shit heads in wanting to ruin our night. Not to mention you forced us to sing a number with you without even bothering to talk to us about it." Alice growled at them, flipping Jasper off from the gestures he was sending her way. I heard Mike laugh behind his hand as Edward rolled his own eyes where I knew he was going to be playing into the teasing tonight.
"Well we knew that you ladies would immediately say no to the number, so we'd figure we just sign you up anyways. Besides if you had told Mrs. Idle no, we knew you'd feel too guilty about letting her down. There really was no way out of it." Edward breezed out in his smooth voice, chuckling while I huffed at him.
"You boys don't know what's coming to you tonight; you'll regret trying to ruin out Christmas fun." I told him, tilting my chin up in defiance; Emmett and Jasper made noises of disagreement while Edward still smirked at me.
"I'd sure love to see this."
"Yeah I'd looove to see what little mousey Swan is going to do to get back at us tonight!" Emmett boasted rudely, sneering at my scowling face.
"Yo check it out! Swan and Cullen are under a mistletoe!" suddenly, a senior boy's voice off to the left of me shouted very loudly and abruptly; people nearby who heard this stopped their chatter with their groups of friends and looked over at our bickering group to stare up at the ceiling. The ten of us stopped arguing for that second to look up. I squinted my eyes and could feel my heart sink to my stomach while my face became hot. Hanging low from the ceiling was indeed a mistletoe decoration, taunting us from up above.
Tanya was right. And man did I hate that she was right.
I looked back down to stare at Edward's face with wide eyes; his own cheeks were turning pink with embarrassment. What are we supposed to do? The traditions surrounding the mistletoe involved just any showcasing of "niceness" - more or less that led to kisses but I know hugs were acceptable too. How am I supposed to keep up with this stupid fued we have with each other when we're caught so precariously under this fucking dumb decoration?! I thought to myself in a panic, trying to ignore the gossiping whispers and the taunting kissing expressions that Emmett was throwing my way.
"Dude what's Swan going to do to Cullen?"
"Do you think she's going to punch him or actually try and kiss him?"
"No way, Cullen's going to try kissing her and she's going to kick him in the 'nads before he can get close to her!"
"What if they're just going to get into a fist fight right there instead?"
"I got it!" Alice suddenly squealed, which caused the rest of us near her to jump about two feet into the air. I looked back over at her to see she held a wicked smile on her face. This can't be good.
"I'm part of the student body committee here at school that organizes some seasonal events - and there's an event that we need organizing here and finalizing." she began, strutting over to where I stood before Edward. She wrapped her dainty arm around my shoulders and looked up at Edward with a toothy grin. "Valentine's Day - we're going to be holding a people's auction to raise money for charity for the local Forks Hospital. We've been debating on asking around and trying to figure out just which group to get involved with this. And I think I just found my solution. Tonight with our final song, you boys best be prepared for the gals and I to blow you away. Whoever on which side falters if at all during our performance, loses the deal and has to sign up for the auction. If us ladies win, you guys and your baseball team have to take part in it!" Alice declared, where I heard the other ladies behind us laugh raucously at her plan.
The boys in front of us blanched at this bit of news briefly, but they quickly slipped a cool hard mask to cover their surprise.
"Fine. But if we win, the junior female student body has to take part in that auction." Edward declared, smirking deviously down at me where I heard from several nearby boys go "oooooooh" when they heard the bet. I could feel nerves kick in just at the mention of that, but I did my best to keep a stone face expression on my face to not give it away.
"Fine, sounds like a bet. Hope you boys enjoy losing." I stated confidently, sticking out my hand for Edward to shake. He snickered and grasped my hand in his (I did what I could to ignore the electric tingles that passed through us) where he winked once more at me, his emerald eyes turning darker in color.
"It won't be us losing tonight, babydoll. I can't wait to see you at the auction in a little number." he purred in his smooth voice, and I nearly melted into a puddle of goo right there and then. But I held steadfast while we should each other's hands roughly, sealing the deal.
Bring it on, babe.
A/N: And with that, I'll cut the chapter there (sorry if it was actually shorter than previous chapters but even though this is once again another filler chapter, I wanted to bring some drama and suspense before we get into part two of the dance). We'll get to the bigger plot points in the story after the next chapter, so hopefully stick around for that!
Any feedback is always appreciated!
Until next time,
~Lady Eleanora~