𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆.
chapter five; Prom Dresses And Catcalls
" Pink looks good on brunettes. "
Sun in Forks was rare, so when the dull and rainy town was blessed with even just a small amount, every single person would be caught outside. Rowan was one of those people, sitting on one of the benches outside of school with Jessica and Bella as they all soaked in the warm rays. But of course the peaceful feeling had to leave as soon as Jessica opened her obnoxious mouth.
"He's not here." She said from the table, undoubtedly talking about Edward who Bella had started to develop a strange obsession over. "Whenever the weather's nice, the Cullens dissapear."
"What, do they just ditch?" Bella asked.
"No, um, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen yank them out for like, hiking and camping and stuff." Jessica clarified, keeping her eyes closed against the sun. "I tried that on my parents. Not even close."
"Guys, guess who's going to the prom with Eric." Vanessa squealed with a proud grin as her and Angela quickly sat down next to Bella.
Rowan looked over at Angela and smiled. "You did?"
"Yup, I just asked him. I took control."
"I told you that would happen." Bella replied as she brought her in for a hug.
"And I'm not the only one who just got a date." She sang.
"Vanessa?" Rowan scoffed, putting her hair to the side. "Who built up enough courage to ask you?"
"Well, after Sacha rejected Tyler, he decided to ask me." She answered, "Of course I said yes, he was literally the only guy that wasn't too scared to. Plus, I'm perfectly hotter than her in every way, so."
The girls giggled as Angela turned to Bella. "Are you sure you have to go out of town?"
"Oh, yeah, it's a little family thing."
"What is?" Rowan asked curiously.
Just as she started to speak, the bell signaling that lunch was over rang. "Uh, Jacksonville."
"Okay, we should go shopping in Port Angeles before all the good dresses get cleaned out." Jessica told Angela and Vanessa.
"Port Angeles?" Bella questioned, "You mind if I come?"
"Yeah," Angela replied in a duh tone, "I need your opinion. You should come too, Rowan."
"Okay, why not?"
* * *
The five girls were in Port Angeles as Bella and Rowan watched the others try on prom dresses. Rowan obviously wouldn't be able to go, she was a sophomore and no junior or senior would want to ask a lower classman. And as for Bella, she was going to be out of town for the event. So they had no reason to buy one.
"I like this one." Jessica said, holding up a pink, no shoulder dress.
"It's pretty. Pink looks good on brunettes." Vanessa commented, gripping onto a tight black dress she was ready to try on.
"But, like, I don't know about the one-shoulder thing."
Angela looked over and pulled out a blue one. "I like this one."
Jessica nodded. "Yeah, I like the beading."
"You wouldn't even need jewelry." Vanessa added.
After a good thirty minutes, each of the three had already found a dress that they really liked. Jessica came out of the dressing room with a pink one, as Angela and Vanessa were admiring themselves in the mirror.
"Nessa, what do you think? Lavender? Is that my color?" Angela asked the redhead.
Rowan let a small smile form on her face. Just a while ago, they were the odd kids in town that no one wanted to hang out with due to their families secludedness. And now, they had found a great group of kids who they were already on nickname basis with.
"I like it." 'Nessa' nodded.
"Me too. I like yours also." Jessica said, looking at herself in the mirror. Vanessa flattened out the silky black dress and gave her a smile. "Okay, I like this one. It makes my boobs look good. Right?"
But out of nowhere, a group of men who looked too old to be teenagers banged on the glass and started to make lewd comments.
"Oh, god." Vanessa scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"That is uncomfortable." Jessica mumbled slightly.
"That's disgusting." Rowan agreed.
"Guys, what do you think?" Jessica questioned the two girls who were barley paying attention, "Yes?"
"That looks great." Bella said, using her default answer.
"You said that about like, the last five dresses though." Jessica argued.
Bella laughed slightly. "I thought they were all pretty good."
"You guys really aren't into this, are you?" Angela asked. Rowan shrugged.
"I actually really just wanted to go to this bookstore." Bella answered truthfully, "I'll meet you guys at the restaurant?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you in a minute." She said, getting up and leaving the dress shop. They all nodded and said goodbye.
"Well, what do you think Rowan?" Jessica asked the remaining girl.
"Um, actually, this I think those are the ones for you." She smiled, "Not too over the top."
"Yeah, it does look pretty awesome."
* * *
Almost an hour had passed, the three juniors had bought their dresses for prom, and Bella still wasn't back. Everyone was hungry, and it was getting dark. Rowan kept on trying to persuade the others to wait another five minutes, but starvation eventually got the best of themselves and they all decided on going to the bloated toad for dinner. Jessica ended up texting her on where they'd be, but never got a reply. So Rowan couldn't help but feel slightly worried for her friend.
"I thought the salad was pretty good." Jessica said as they left the restaurant.
"Okay, clearly, you haven't been to Rowan's. Her aunt makes the best homemade salads." Vanessa replied, nudging the girl. But she was too distracted as she saw Bella walk towards them.
"Hey, you guys, I'm sorry." She apologized, "I just..."
"Where were you? We left you messages." Angela told her.
"Yeah, do you have any idea how worried I was?" Rowan questioned, "I thought something bad happened."
"We waited for you, but we were like, starving so we..." Jessica began but soon trailed off as soon as they all caught a glimpse of Edward making their way towards them.
"Um, I'm sorry I kept Bella from dinner." He said as he stiffened his body seeing Vanessa and Rowan, "We just sort of ran into each other and got talking."
Rowan turned to Jessica and Angela who were smiling giddily. "Yeah, no. We totally understand. I mean, that happens, right?" Jessica grinned, "Yeah, we were just leaving so..."
"Yeah, we were." Vanessa said in a monotonous voice as the group walked towards Jessica's car.
"Bella, if you wanna..."
"I think I should make sure Bella gets something to eat." Edward intervened, "If you'd like. I'll drive you home myself."
"That's so thoughtful." Angela said.
"It's really, really thoughtful." Jessica agreed. The two others stayed silent. "Yeah."
"Yeah, I should eat something." Bella nodded.
Rowan looked between them and hesitated for a moment. "Okay, so we'll see you tomorrow."
"See ya." Jessica waved.
"Okay." Bella said, walking away with Edward. As they did, Jessica and Angela giggled while Vanessa and Rowan quickly got into the car.
* * *
"You came home late." As Rowan shut the front door to her house, she turned to see Evelyn standing in the middle of the living room.
"Sorry, I uh- I-"
"No, no, it's perfectly fine." She assured, "I like that you're getting out there more."
"So... you're not mad?" She asked, not believing it for a second.
"No, actually. I was worried, but it wasn't your fault. I had no way of contacting you if anything went wrong. So for that reason, I went to the store earlier and had decided that it would be idea to get you this."
Approaching her niece, she held out a white box with a picture of a flip phone on it. Rowan tilted her head in confusion and gently took it from her. Opening it, she saw that the exact same picture was inside. Only... real.
"What? No, aunt Evelyn-"
"-Yes." She interrupted, "If you're going to be out of the house more often, I need to be able to know where you are."
"Thank you, thank you!" Rowan squealed, hugging her tightly.
Evelyn chuckled. "Of course. Now get to bed, you have school in the morning."