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BAILEY THOUGHT THAT HE WAS absolutely deranged. She had already planned on how she intended to spend the night; she was going to be locked away in her room, revisiting the mountain of notes she had accumulated and then studying her findings so far. Bailey didn't want to socialize, she didn't want to be around loud music, sweaty teenagers, flickering lights—it all sounded traumatizing. But she had been tricked, duped into going over to the Cullen house because Jasper had said he finally had her venom samples ready. He even told her that his family had added an entire laboratory to their house just for her so she could experiment in peace.
Bailey had trusted him, she had put her faith in him and instead, he had betrayed her.
"Stop standing like that," Alice said while adjusting Bailey's dress.
Bailey stood stiffly, her shoulders raised as her eyes shifted around the room uncomfortably. This wasn't a laboratory. It was Alice's room, basically a dressing room. Bailey was getting dolled up as if she were a barbie doll and she knew the exact reason why—prom.
"Refusing to let me go home classifies this whole thing as kidnapping," Bailey muttered.
"Hush," Alice giggled happily. She was having too much fun with this whole thing. "Okay, done!"
Bailey stepped forward as Alice moved away. She looked over at the full-length mirror to her right and saw her reflection. Her hair was straightened and in a 90s inspired blowout that gave it ridiculous volume, her makeup was done so that her eyes were dark (dark shadow, black eyeliner with a sharp wing) and yet she had a light-tone lip. Her dress was made of a light material, nothing too heavy and more on the airy side so she wouldn't get too hot. To go along with everything, she had black, fingerless gloves made of lace. Her heels were also black and the strappy kind that had the strap wrap around her leg up until reached her knee. Bailey blinked a few times as she examined her appearance.
"Tell me you love it," Alice was smiling proudly. The ensemble screamed Bailey, she had done a very good job.
"I suppose it could have been a lot worse," Bailey admitted. She liked the look, but she didn't like where she was going to be wearing it. "But I won't be needing it."
"Aw, you have to go, Bailey. I know Jasper really wants you to."
"Why?" Bailey grumbled.
"Because he's graduating and he wants you to make some more friends," Alice explained.
"Why can't he mind his own business?" Bailey's tone wasn't meant to be rude. She was stating a fact. It wasn't Jasper's place to try and force her to make friends. She didn't need nor did she want his help with that.
Alice ignored her comment. "Come on, Bella and Edward are waiting."
Bailey knew she had no choice in the matter. She couldn't run away even if she wanted to, after all, vampires were much faster than her and she didn't know how to run in heels. She followed Alice through the Cullen house down the stairs and to the garage where Bella and Edward were by his car waiting and Jasper was off to the side giving them some space. Emmett and Rosalie had already gone ahead; Rosalie still didn't like them.
Bailey eyed fixated on something Jasper hand in his hand.
"Okay, okay, she's ready!" Alice announced bouncing into the room and gathering the attention.
Bailey looked positively unamused when eyes fell on her. She ignored Bella's compliments, didn't take kindly to Edward's smile, and stared down at Jasper when he approached her.
"Here you go," Jasper handed her what had been in his hand. On closer inspection, Bailey saw that it was a white rose corsage. She stared at it for a long while then looked back at Jasper with dull eyes. He just smiled, dismissing her lack of enthusiasm and putting the "gift" on her wrist.
Bailey managed to be distracted by the sound of a phone ringing. Edward pulled his cell phone from his pocket inside his jacket, looked briefly at the caller ID before answering.
"Hello, Charlie," he said warily.
"Charlie?" Bella frowned.
Charlie had been very stern since their return back to Forks. While Bailey had come up with a perfectly good excuse for her behaviour Bella had not. So, Charlie had compartmentalized Bella's bad experience into two defined reactions. Toward Carlisle, he was almost worshipfully grateful. On the other hand, he was stubbornly convinced that Edward was at fault—because, if not for him, they wouldn't have left home in the first place. And Edward was far from disagreeing with him.
These days Bella had rules that hadn't existed before: curfews... visiting hours. While Bailey was basking in the glory of being the favourite child.
Something Charlie was saying made Edward's eyes widen in disbelief, and then a grin spread across his face.
"You're kidding!" He laughed.
"What is it?" Bella demanded.
He ignored her. "Why don't you let me talk to him," Edward suggested with evident pleasure. He waited a few seconds. "Hello, Tyler, this is Edward Cullen." His voice was very friendly, on the surface, but the soft edge of menace was easy to catch.
Bailey's eyebrow rose briefly. What was Tyler doing at their house?
"I'm sorry if there's been some kind of miscommunication, but Bella is unavailable tonight." Edward's tone changed, and the threat in his voice was suddenly more evident as he continued. "To be perfectly honest, she'll be unavailable every night, as far as anyone besides myself is concerned. No offence. And I'm sorry about your evening."
He didn't sound sorry at all as he snapped the phone shut, a huge smirk on his face.
Bella's face and neck flushed crimson with anger. She could feel the rage-induced tears starting to fill her eyes.
Bailey looked at her bewildered by this emotional demonstration—why was she crying?
Edward also looked at her in surprise. "Was that last part a bit too much? I didn't mean to offend you."
Bella ignored that. "You're taking me to the prom?" she yelled.
Bailey blinked. Had Bella not realized that this entire time? It was embarrassingly obvious.
"You just realized that?" Bailey was genuinely shocked by Bella's lack of observational skills. Had she not seen the date on the posters that decorated the school buildings? Why did she think Alice had gotten them all dressed up? Not to mention Jasper's corsage, the tuxedos he and Edward were wearing.
Edward pressed his lips together and his eyes narrowed. "Don't be difficult, Bella."
"Why are you doing this to me?" She demanded in horror.
He gestured to his tuxedo. "Honestly, Bella, what did you think we were doing?"
The angry tears rolled over her cheeks. Bella remembered with dismay that she was very uncharacteristically wearing mascara. She wiped quickly under her eyes to prevent any smudges. Her hand was unblackened when she pulled it away; Alice had likely known she would need waterproof makeup.
"This is completely ridiculous. Why are you crying?" Edward demanded in frustration.
"Because I'm mad!"
"Uh, why don't we go now," Alice jumped in front of Bailey and led her to her car. Bailey looked over her shoulder to Bella and Edward—their relationship was such an enigma.
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They were at school now; Rosalie's red convertible was conspicuous in the parking lot. The clouds were thing today, a few streaks of sunlight escaping through faraway west. Bailey opened her door and jumped out of the car. The lot was crowded with people in formal dress, too many people. She contemplated getting back inside the car.
Alice and Jasper had their arms intertwined as they waited for a reluctant Bailey to join. She kept her eyes firmly on the ground as they walked toward the school. In Phoenix, they had proms in hotel ballrooms (Bailey never attended but had overheard that being said). This dance is in the gym. It was probably the only room in town big enough for the dance.
When they got inside Bailey reached up. There were actual balloon arches and twisted garland of pastel crepe paper festooning the walls. She hit one of the balloons before looking at the dance floor; a wide gap had formed in the center of the floor, where two couples whirled gracefully. The other dancers pressed to the sides of the room to give them space—no one wanted to stand in contrast with such radiance. Bailey looked to her side startled when she saw that Jasper and Alice were one of the two couples on the dance floor, they had disappeared from her sight and she hadn't noticed.
Emmett looked intimidating and flawless in his classic tuxedo. While Rosalie, well, she was Rosalie. She was beyond belief. Her vivid scarlet dress was backless, tight to her calves where it flared into a wide ruffled train, with a neckline that plunged to her waist.
Bailey moved to the food table which was the farthest place from the loudspeakers that were blaring music. She picked up a few snacks onto a napkin and ate them silently as she looked around. Her ears were starting to hurt, and she was becoming increasingly aware of the texture of her dress, moving uncomfortably at the sensation against her skin. She wanted to go home.
"Bailey! Hey! I didn't think you were going to come!" came an overly eager voice.
It was just disappointment after disappointment tonight. Bailey's eyes looked over to her side, landing on Michael Newton. He was wearing a blue tuxedo that matched the colour of his eyes. He probably would have been one of the best dressed of the night if it were for the Cullens.
"No choice of my own," Bailey replied and threw an entire store-bought cupcake into her mouth.
"Where's your date?" Mike was adamant about not letting the conversation die with Bailey's half-assed answers.
"No date."
"Oh, really?" Mike tried to sound sympathetic but Bailey didn't miss the sparkle in his eye. "Then who gave you the corsage?"
"A friend."
He nodded. "You probably think I came here with Jessica, huh?" Bailey said nothing. "She's nice, but I don't think she's for me, you know? We all—you know the crew—we all decided against dates. We're flying solo! Ha, we rented a limo and everything it's been pretty fun."
Bailey chewed, her mouth full with more cupcakes. She looked back to the dance floor to see that Edward was twirling Bella, leading her through an effortless waltz. Mike, noticed where Bailey was gazing and instantly got the wrong idea.
"Um, so do you want to maybe dance... with me?" he asked her.
Bailey stopped. Her chewing slowly and she turned back to the table, slowly picking up a paper cup and pouring herself some punch. She, very slowly, raised the cup to her lips and started drinking. She averted her eyes from Mike as she sipped the drink and took her sweet time swallowing.
"Uh, Bailey?" Mike was still hopeful, waiting for Bailey's response. His persistence was starting to greatly annoy her.
Bailey was looking around for a way out when she spotted him. Jacob Black, not in a tux, but in a long-sleeve white shirt and tie, his hair smoothed back into his usual ponytail. He was making his way away from Bella, he had stopped to talk to her when Bailey had her back turned to the dance floor—he was clearly uncomfortable. Good, Bailey thought they had that in common.
She walked away from Mike not sparing him another word or glance as she moved toward Jacob.
"Come with me," Bailey said when she took his wrist.
"Uh, okay."
Bailey dragged them outside away from all the music, people, and especially away from Michael Newton. The parking lot was empty, quiet as everyone was inside for the dance. Bailey took in a deep breath visibly relaxing now that she was in a much more comfortable environment. She dropped Jacob's wrist and sat down on one of the outdoor benches. Jacob sat next to her.
"What are you doing here?" Bailey asked, she took off her strappy heels and raised her legs to her chest, chesting her chin on her knee.
"As ridiculous as it sounds my dad paid me twenty bucks to come to your prom," he admitted, slightly ashamed. "He asked me to tell Bella to break up with her boyfriend. His superstitions have been over the top since you and Bella got hurt in Phoenix. He doesn't believe..." Jacob trailed off self-consciously. "Anyway, he said if I told Bella I'd get the master cylinder I need."
Bailey nodded at his response. "Did you get to enjoy the festivities? Seen anything you like?"
"Yeah," he sighed. "But she's taken."
Bailey stared ahead. "You're in love with Bella." she blurted out.
Jacob's eyes widened as he flushed. He let out a nervous chuckle. "Uh, I don't have a clue what you're talking about. That's, I mean, she's your sister and we're friends so—"
"You're in love with her and you have been since we were kids. I'm getting better at identifying emotions so don't even try to lie to me," Bailey asserted confidently.
Jacob sighed. "I can't believe I've been that obvious."
"Just so you're aware Edward definitely knows. I don't think he likes you. But I suppose that's fair considering that you're pining after his girlfriend." Bailey continued casually.
"That makes me a bad person, doesn't it?" Jacob was looking up at the darkening sky. "That I want him out of the picture, that I think Bella would be better with me. Jeez, that sounds horrible saying it out loud."
Bailey observed him thoughtfully. "I've witnessed their relationship grow and truthfully I don't think there's anyone in this world Bella will love as much as Edward and vice versa."
"We're just teenagers though, I mean who knows...down the line, in a few years, things might change."
"Change isn't always guaranteed," Bailey whispered. She'd been overhearing some of the recent arguments between Bella and Edward. Bella's new desire to become immortal, her desire to be turned into a vampire and stay with Edward, frozen in time for all eternity.
"Twilight again," Jacob said; the sky finally blackened. His eyes were on the shining moon. "Bails, let me give you some advice. Never—and I mean never—fall in love with someone who loves someone else. It totally sucks."
"I've never been in love and it currently seems I won't be any time soon."
"Good, save your heart the trouble."
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃
B O O K O N E