Changing The Future (On Hold)

Chapter 46

46. Peeping Mike

BPOV

I pulled Alice aside, while the other girls finished their meals. "Alice, have you seen Edward? I'm worried that he's not here yet. I've been trying to pretend nothing is wrong and have been successfully distracting myself with other things, but I really expected him to be home long before now."

"You worry too much, Bella," Alice smirked. "He just wanted to pick up something special for you, in case you two would be able to steal a few moments alone together."

I blushed. "Oh, have you 'seen' it then?"

She scoffed. "No, he told me before we left school today. You know I can't see anything when I'm surrounded by wolves. You're the one who told me that. You told me how I can't get any visions at all when I'm in close proximity to any of the wolves. Maybe if Leah was completely on the other side of the room right now, I could possibly 'see' something, but certainly not with her this close to me. All I get is a bad headache. Besides, I can't 'see' anything whenever any of the wolves are involved. The entire Volturi guard could descend on our house tonight, and I would be just as completely clueless as the rest of you, since the wolves are with our family and would join us in the fight against them. I love the werewolves and all, but they put a serious hurting on my gift. I'm really not used to being so blind, and I really don't like it. I'm hoping if I get to know them well, I might be able to learn to 'see' them, to expand and develop my talent to encompass them as well. Of course, I have no idea whether or not that will work. Do you know how I feel to have to say something like that about my own future? Ever since I woke up to this existence, I have relied on my visions of my future to keep me on the right path. Now, I have to guess just as much as the rest of you. It sucks to be normal."

I laughed. "Yeah, it sucks to be normal, says the hyperactive, vegetarian vampire pixie who lives comfortably amongst both werewolves and humans. What the heck do you know about normal, Alice? Sorry, babe, but you don't get to whine about being normal until you can't jump fifteen feet straight up into the air and run faster than a jet airplane."

"Thanks for being so supportive, Bella."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right? To drag you out of your self-pity pit when you've dug it too deep?"

She looked at me in surprise and cocked her head curiously. "I never really thought of it that way before." Her expression turned mischievous. "Don't worry; Edward will be here before too long. I refused to let him interfere with the early evening festivities, so he decided to make the trip to Seattle to get what he wanted. The way he drives the Vanquish, it shouldn't take him long at all. I'm sure he'll be back before ten."

I grinned and shook my head slowly. She was so 'Alice'.

MikePOV

I had parked my SUV just inside the Cullens' long driveway, close to the road. I had pulled it off into the trees, parking behind some bushes. I was sure that all the guests had already arrived, but I didn't want to risk any latecomers noticing my vehicle where it didn't belong. The last thing I wanted was to end up facing Chief Swan over trespassing charges. I had only recently earned the kind of trust relationship I wanted with my parents, and I had no desire to endanger my freedom. Obviously, I didn't care enough to stop what I was doing, but I was certain I wouldn't get caught.

What was the good of having all the nifty surveillance equipment at the store if I never got to use it? Besides, this could easily be classified as research—trying to learn how the different equipment worked. It would help me make the sale, as I would appear knowledgeable and trustworthy to a potential buyer if I could demonstrate the proper uses of the item I was selling. It had worked for me before, in the past. So, I was really helping my parents by testing out the equipment tonight. Yeah, that sounds good, just in case.