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Chapter 38

Small Problems

Bella

When we got back, Edward and Rose immediately disappeared again.

The return flight was much more tense than the outbound flight. Nobody talked. Edward's and Rosalie's looks got on my nerves. Every time I snuggled up to Emmett or he gave me a kiss on the forehead, they both looked over at us. I didn't know what Edward was expecting. Should I spend the rest of my life alone because he had cheated on me? Couldn't he begrudge me being happy with Emmett?

"What are you thinking so hard about, my little one?", Emmett asked from under me in my bed.

I lifted my head from his chest and shrugged my shoulders.

"Did you notice Rosalie's and Edward's looks, too?", I asked him.

"Yeah, really annoying. But they're both just jealous because we're so happy even though they both hurt us so much. They should just stay away," he said, and I could tell he had forgiven them just as little. "So what are we going to do about your grounding? Do you want me to smuggle you out the window?", he changed the subject.

When I got home, Charlie was pissed off.

He yelled around, his face was red, and he grounded me for the next four weeks.

"Do you know how I felt?" he yelled. "I thought something had happened to you. I ran to the hospitals and tried to reach your friends on the cell phone. But nobody knew anything!"

You see, Jake had fallen asleep before he could reach Charlie and then didn't call him until the next day to explain the story. So Charlie was up all night thinking I could be anywhere else.

"I thought you had run away like your mother did then, without telling me! I couldn't sleep a wink. And when Jake called me, all he said was that a girlfriend of yours had an emergency! What was I supposed to understand by that?", he continued to yell at me.

I tried to make up a lie that sounded somewhat plausible. I told him something about a Susan, my best friend at my old school, and that she had had an accident. And that I had to fly to her as soon as possible. He said I could have left a message or told him at the police station.

"I'd rather not upset Charlie more if I'm suddenly not in my room even though I'm grounded. We can see each other at school, and you sleep over every night anyway," I replied to Emmett.

I rolled off his wonderful chest and lay down next to him with a sigh.

There was something else that had been bothering me since our return.

I had to somehow explain to Jake and the others that I was becoming an immortal. Which meant that the Cullens would break the contract and that I would become the nemesis of my best friends from before. True, they got along with Emmett to some extent. But I knew Jake. When I was still with Edward, I once whined to Jake that Edward wouldn't turn me, and that's when he went nuts, threw his motorbike down, and started lecturing me about whether I'd lost my mind. I rarely got to see Jacob anyway because Edward would never leave me alone, but after that day Jake wouldn't talk to me for two months. If I told him about my plan, he would never talk to me again because Emmett was going to turn me. This time it wasn't just an unfulfilled wish, this time everything was already set.

"Oh Em, what am I going to say to Jake?", I said with a sigh.

"I don't know. I've been thinking about that, too. But we have to talk to the wolves, especially Sam. He has to give us permission so that the contract is not broken," he said.

I nodded.

Sam would never allow it, I knew that. The job of their pack was to protect humans from vampires. And he certainly didn't care whether I would voluntarily let myself be transformed or not.

"Let's not think about it yet. After all, it's less than two months until graduation. We have a bigger problem before then ...," he said.

I looked up at him in shock.

What was there now? Edward and Rose had left again for the time being, the Volturi wanted to wait until I was transformed, and my grounding lasted much less long than I would have expected.

"What do you mean? What's worse than a pack of wolves who won't let me turn and who might attack us if I'm like you?", I asked, confused.

"Alice!" Emmett said with a laugh.

"Alice?"

What should be with her? And why was Emmett laughing at that? I thought it was a problem.

"Yep ... She thought we hadn't had a party in a long time, and since prom is right after graduation, she wants to have a party in about a month."

"OH NO!"

I hated parties and celebrations, especially Alice's. She always outdid herself in the decoration.

"Oh yes ..."

And he laughed slyly.

"Then I just won't come," I said stubbornly.

Emmett laughed.

"What will you, my little weak fragile Bella, do against five vampires?"

I turned away from him and remained silent.

Somehow I had to be able to prevent it. I would hide with the wolves or something.

Emmett

Ha ... she would not escape the party. How could she not like parties anyway. I used to love parties when I was human. Well, they weren't like Alice parties. Mostly me and my boys just went to a few bars, drank a lot, got into fights, and dragged women home. Those were the days. As a vampire, it was almost impossible to get drunk. For that you would have to drink the blood of a drunken animal. And that, unfortunately, almost never happened. Bella should enjoy it a little more before she became a vampire. But she didn't look at all like she was happy.

"Come on, Bells. Angela will be there, I'm sure. And the rest of the graduating class."

She rolled her eyes.

It seemed that an idea had come to her.

"Well, but I'll only come if Jake and the others from the pack are invited too!", she said triumphantly.

She probably thought that would stop Alice. Sweet naive Bella. She should know Alice better.

"You'll have to check with Alice. I don't really mind the wolves. I'm sure Jasper would rather have a few more stinky dogs in the house, so he doesn't have to keep smelling and resisting the smell of human blood. Carlisle made the deal with the wolves and trusts them. And Esmé is so diplomatic and cordial to every creature in this world that she probably wouldn't even object if one of us married a werewolf," I said with a smile.

Bella snorted angrily as she realized that her threat had gone up in smoke.

I was really less bothered by the wolves than I had previously thought. Most of them were easy going and liked to fight from time to time as much as I did. I wondered if I could fight with them. Not seriously, just a little scuffle, measure forces, let off steam or something. But Bella would definitely have something against it.

"All right, but I'm certainly not going to have any fun!", she said demonstratively.

"Oh yes you will, my darling," I said cheerfully.

I already had a great plan. I couldn't drink any more alcohol, but she certainly could. And with her barely fifty kilos, one or two glasses were enough. That would certainly be funny.

She gave me a nasty look and snorted again.

"I don't care how strong you all are and if you can force me to come to the party, but you can't make me enjoy it!", she said defiantly and stuck her tongue out at me.

She was so cute when she was being childish.

"If you say so," I said, giving her a kiss on the back.