For two nights Paloma found herself within the same dream. A dream that she couldn't even begin to understand. She wasn't one to dream very often, and if she every did dream her dreams were long forgotten before she could even wake up.
But this dream didn't change, like her mind simply refused to let go of any detail. Even when she was awake it was like she could smell the flowers in that meadow. She only wished she knew what the dream meant.
As she walked deeper into the meadow she looked down at the violet and yellow flowers at her feet. It was an oddly placed meadow in the middle of the woods, and she wondered how she could so vividly imagine a place she had never been to before.
But the meadow was not what enchanted her even when she was awake. It was the shimmering figure on the other side of the meadow that seemed to look back at her. She could not explain the pull that the figure had on her, only that she could not help but take slow steps towards them.
And the closer that she got the more familiar the figure became, and although fear began to mix with the enchantment she could not stop. In fact, she started walking a little faster. It was like the fear made the figure all the more compelling.
Edward Cullen stood only two feet away from her, his skin shinning like powdered diamond or like a million stars under the sunlight. His skin was like nothing she had ever seen before.
It made him even more beautiful, if that was even possible.
Now he was the one to take a couple step towards her until she was close enough to touch. She felt as he reached forward placing his hand on the back of her neck, his thumb gently brushing against her cheek.
Unlike all the other times they had touched outside of her dreams his skin was warm and soft. Nothing like the cold, marble like skin that she had grown used to in the real world. But it was not the warmth of his skin that she enjoyed, but the warmth behind his eyes.
For a moment Paloma thought he was going to kiss her, but as he pulled her closer he used his hand to tilt her head to the side. The gesture leaving her neck exposed to him, she could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest from uncertainty but as his lips touched her neck her eyes instinctively closed.
It was like she had fallen in a trance. That uncertainty she felt only moments before had vanished and had been replaced by pleasure as his lips explored her neck.
But the sense of security was gone in an instant when she suddenly felt a sharp sensation sun at her neck. And for one terrifying second she realized that he had sunk his teeth into her neck.
Paloma woke up with a sudden gasp, her hands instantly going to her neck. She wasn't entirely sure what she felt, only that she once again was confused by the dream.
Sitting up in her bed Paloma ran her fingers through her hair realizing that she had been sweating in her sleep. Considering the cold weather outside she once again felt even more unnerved by her dream. But it was not the contents of the dream that were unnerving, it was the fact that she had the same dream three nights in a row.
And she was desperate to understand the meaning of it even when it felt so nonsensical.
Port Angeles did not have as many shops as Paloma had hoped for and although Saera and Kennedy had already found their perfect dresses, Paloma had yet to find hers. Arguably she was more picky than the other girls who had had chosen their dresses relatively quickly. But every dress that Paloma tried on left her unsatisfied, but she was determined to find the perfect dress.
"So when are you going to finally accept someone's proposal?" Saira questioned from the other side of the dressing room door. It was a question that Paloma had been expecting, and it surprised her that it had taken her friends this long to ask.
Over the last two weeks she had gotten asked to the dance six times and had turned them all down without little explanation. Initially Saira and Kennedy though it was funny but their amusement quickly faded away into worry. The dance was next week and Paloma was still without a date.
"I just... I haven't been asked by anyone I want." She admitted which was the truth, even if it wasn't the whole truth.
"And you want Edward to ask you?" Ken questioned slowly from the other side.
Paloma froze at the question, slightly annoyed by Kennedy's bluntness. Even when the girl's bluntness was the her best quality, in this instance Paloma found that she did not want her friend telling her the truth. Only because the truth made her feel incredibly foolish, because of course she would be like all the other girls in school that had a crush on Edward Cullen.
It was an embarrassing thing to admit that she was holding out on accepting a proposal because some part of her expected Edward to ask her. It was stupid of course considering the fact that none of the Cullen, expect for maybe Alice, did not seem like the type to go to school dances. Edward especially, when he seemed determined to tell her to stay away although his actions told her other wise.
And even with his weird behavior and her almost terrifying dreams she found that she could not stop thinking about him. She wanted him for herself because he felt unattainable and because her family was so against it, but she also was not going to make a fool of herself and go seek him out.
That was below her.
"No." Paloma lied, because she knew how ridiculous she must seem. Waiting for a guy she rarely knew to ask her to a high school dance, at this rate she was going to not have a date at all.
As she finished zipping up the side of the dress, she looked in the mirror and instantly knew that this was her dress. It was like liquid gold draped across her body, and it was the kind of dress that she knew would catch the eye of every single person at that dance.
"This is the one." Paloma declared as she stepped out of the dressing room, hoping that once she stepped out her friends would end any conversation about her lack of date to the stupid dance that she was stupidly excited for.
The moment that she stepped out and saw her friends reactions Paloma was relieved to find that they agreed. Both Saira and Ken and large smiles on their faces, whether it was because they genuinely loved to dress or that they were happy that the search for the perfect dress had come to an end she was not sure.
But it hardly mattered because the dress was perfect.
"Yes!" Saira said as she clapped her hands together in excitement.
"Finally!" Kennedy exclaimed as she let herself fall back against the cushioned couch. "I thought we would be here for hours."
Paloma simply rolled her eyes at her friend before looking at herself in the mirror once again. The dress was pricey, and she knew that her father would be upset at her. But in some way this felt a little like revenge, there was only so much that she could do to rebel against her father and she had spent the day purposefully looking at dresses above the price range that he had given her.
She was tired of the way her family made her feel, it was like they didn't see her. That she was just something that needed to be protected because it was their responsibility and not because they really cared. It was a lonely feeling, and they never seemed to notice.
A/N: Hey I know it's been a while but I got stuck on this chapter. Like trying to write this chapter gave me some serious writer's block. But here it is finally. I already have the last two chapters of Act One written so its just me finally writing chapter 14. But Act Two is where all the fun starts so I'm excited ti finally get to it.