Twilight Angel

Chapter 24

"Alice," I say. "You're having way too much fun with me."

"Relax," She says. "I'm trying to make you look good for prom."

I've never been to a dance of this magnitude before. I'm pretty sure they had something similar in Japan but I always chose not to go. Takuya had since died and there had been no point in going anywhere without him. It hurt too much. Now, I have Edward and I get the strangest feeling that Takuya would approve of him, his non-human status notwithstanding. I sigh. I'm looking forward to this actually. No. I'm excited. I'm going with Edward and the rest of the family. Speaking of, everyone in the family looks fabulous.

Tyler had come over to my apartment earlier and had wanted to ask me to the prom. Edward told him that I'm already taken, which made me blush and giggle at the same time. I will admit that I nearly chickened out about the prom before the spirits of Sailor Venus and Usagi urged me to go...that I needed to live life more. I surrendered when they said that. 

As for my dress, Usagi told me to use her crystal on myself and wear the dress she had worn as queen. I almost objected but she pointed out that Alice would probably make me wear something else that I wouldn't like. She had me there and, so, I used the crystal and transformed. Alice, per usual, had seen my reluctant decision and approved of it wholeheartedly. I will admit, though, that it feels very strange to wear Serenity's dress. I like the feel of her silk dress sticking to me, but still very strange. 

"Perfect." Alice says. "You look like royalty."

Heh.

The pixie-like vampire looks pretty good herself. She is wearing a nice, black dress that shows off portions of her snowy skin and Rosalie is wearing a red dress with a neckline plunging down to her waist, looking fabulous. The boys look really good in their tuxes as well. I've only caught sight of two out of the three boys but no sight of Edward.

"You should get downstairs." Alice tells me. "Edward is waiting."

She bids me farewell, promising me that she'll see me at prom, before disappearing. I shouldn't keep the golden boy waiting. I stand up from my perch and make my way down the steps of the grand staircase. Down at the bottom, Edward patiently waits for me but the look of awe on his face makes my day. I won't bring it down by thinking about past events and, especially, of Kunzite's possible existence. 

=============================

Edward had immediately spun me to the floor, making me glad that I took waltzing lessons. I can feel the envy of so many in the gym but I don't really care. Furthermore, I don't think any of them dare to step in, much less dance near us. I suppose that they didn't want to feel inferior by dancing near exceptionally beautiful people in the school. I know that may sound vain but it seems to be a fact around here. I sigh as I snuggle up against my dancing partner. It's a very perfect night...until Edward decides to snarl.

"Behave." I warn him.

"Look who's here."

I look up and Jacob is standing nearby in a white dress shirt with black slacks and dark shoes. He's looking rather sheepish and embarrassed. Embarrassed? Now that's worth investigating. Edward says that Jake wants to chat with me. He's loathe to let me go but I promise him the rest of the night with me and if he remains on his best behavior. Reluctantly, he releases me and stalks off to a nearby corner while Jacob politely asks me for a dance, which I accept. Holy crow. This kid must have had a major growth spurt. He's got to be at least six-three or more. Even if I had my boots on, I'd still have to look up at him.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Not bad at all." Jacob replies. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." I blush. "So what brings you here?"

"My dad paid me twenty bucks to come over here."

I cock an eyebrow. Billy paid his own son twenty bucks to come here? What the hell, old man? I know he doesn't want me to be around the Cullens but paying Jacob to get in between Edward and me? That's a dirty move. It's even more dirty since he put his own son in the middle of it. I really need to have a chat with him again and, maybe, show him some Sailor Scout strength. Right now, the idea is very tempting. I don't take kindly to that kind of interference, much less the kind of using one's child in order to get one's way.

"Why is that?"

"Please don't be mad. I swear to god that dad is losing his mind."

Apparently so, Jacob. Apparently so.

"Take your time, Jake. Just say what you need to say. I won't be mad." I say calmly.

"He wants you to break up with your boyfriend. He says 'please.'"

I give Edward a knowing look. His face is expressionless but I know that there's something is gone on inside his mind. There's a tiny girl in a pink dress nearby giving him a shy look over but he's not even paying her any attention at all. He's lost in his thoughts...or maybe in Jacob's thoughts more like it.

"He was upset when he heard you got hurt outside of Forks."

"I'm alright. Everything's fine. Just a sprained wrist was all."

Jacob tenderly touches my wrist. The bite mark James had left is pretty much gone and, obviously, I fibbed about my other injury. He had cracked my skull open when he slammed into me (causing me to hit my head hard on the floor) but that has healed quickly as well, along with the help of Carlisle. He's been very conducive in my healing (Circe notwithstanding) and I'm grateful to him. I sigh and try to turn the conversation in another direction.

"How's your truck coming?"

"It's almost done. Dad also threw in parts that I need if I came here."

He's still looking a little uncomfortable. Something's up and I need to know why that is.

"Jake. I know there's something else you want to say, now spit it out."

"Ah...It's kind of bad."

"Let me hear it, please."

"Dad wanted me to pass this message on to you: 'We'll be watching.'"

"I see."

The dance came to an end. I signal to Edward that I want one more dance with Jacob just so his trip isn't completely wasted. I quickly send him a text message that there might be something else I could possibly uncover. Unfortunately, there's nothing else to discover at the moment but I do have a nice second dance with the boy before the music ended. I bid Jacob a farewell before Edward comes over to me. Well, more like stalks over to me but that's beside the point.

"What have you learned?" Edward asks me.

"A lot."

There's tension brewing and I can feel it. It will manifest itself soon enough. A pair of cold lips touch my neck and distract me from my thoughts.