Self Control [Carlisle Cullen]

17

"Carlisle told me you're performing this weekend," Bella said to Anna. Again she asked to have lunch together. Heather had pushed Anna to say yes, even after she decided that she needed a little break from the Cullens.

But here she was. Thursday and at lunch break. Again Bella didn't eat. Anna slowly ate a thick slice of banana bread with chocolate chips and drizzled with honey. You could wake her up for this at night.

Anna tried not to look very surprised. Why would Carlisle tell anyone that? What was the deal?

"Why?" she just asked. She knew Bella tried to be nice, but she wouldn't tell her anything else if she didn't answer this.

"Since we're becoming friends, he wondered if I knew," Bella sheepishly answered and smiled that shy smile again. The other Cullens were sitting somewhere in the cafetaria, barely touching their food.

"Right." Anna didn't sound very convinced.

"What kind of performance?" Bella continued with her questioning and Anna drank her coffee. If Carlisle said that she had a gig this weekend, why not tell that she was a dancer?

"I do burlesque," Anna said flatly. "And I am a pole dancer. It's my favourite. And sometimes I strip." Stripping wasn't her favourite thing to do, because sometimes you had some real dirty men, but it paid so good.

"Burlesque?" Bella asked surprised. She raised her eyebrows high.

Anna noticed that even Bella's eyes looked... dark. The bright amber faded, became dull and turned into some shade of black. "Yes," Anna answered and tried not to stare too much. Why didn't she notice that before? Carlisle and Bella?

"I've never seen a burlesque show." Bella smiled and played with the end of her hair. "You do it often?"

"I have to," Anna said and finished up her banana bread. "I work two jobs, or else I can't pay my rent."

"Clearwater's hardware store, right?" Bella asked and Anna narrowed her eyes, nodded.

"For 10 months now." Now Anna started on her Mars, a snack she rarely ate. But sometimes it was just so good.

"Have you always danced?"

A smile took over Anna's features and nodded. "I started as soon as I could walk. I have done many different styles. Ballet, hiphop, modern... at fifteen I tried pole dancing and I fell in love with it. I stuck to it ever since."

"It seems hard." Bella quickly glanced at her family. Anna took that opportunity to check out her hands - perfect, not a single little wound at all, nothing. And a ring. A gigantic, oval ring filled with diamonds.

How come she never noticed it before. Anna also looked at the Cullens. Edward leaned with his head on his hand and even from this distance, the golden ring was easily to see on his finger, a harsh contrast with the whiteness of his skin.

Now it seemed like all the Cullens had dark eyes. Was it something they often did as a family? Wearing contact lenses that changed?

Nothing was weird anymore. Fuck, they even had furries walking around in the school, wearing tails, ears and some even bad whiskers drawn on their faces.

So people wearing contact lenses with colour? Not strange.

But Anna's mother wore them. And for some reason Anna always noticed it when someone wore lenses. You could clearly see them if you know what to look for.

And she didn't see any lenses by the Cullens.

Alice Cullen caught Anna's eye and the girl smiled broadly. Her teeth were even whiter, perfectly straight in her mouth. Rosalie on the other hand, looked like she wanted to hit Anna with a chair. The look in her eyes was nothing more than pure irritation.

Anna looked back at her hands and didn't feel like eating the Mars any longer. "Pole dancing is hard," she muttered and locked eyes with Bella again. "It takes a lot of training and devotion. I was weak when I started. But you get strong quickly. I can do tricks now that seemed impossible when I began my first lesson."

"That's the best part when you commit to something new," Bella said and played with her ring. Anna tried not to stare. "I was wondering if I can come see the show."

Anna blinked confused. "You want to see my burlesque show?"

"Yes! If you like. I don't know anything about it. But I would love to see it." Bella smiled so beautiful that it was nearly impossible to say no. She truly considered it, saying no. Anna had said before she wanted a break.

But maybe she shouldn't. If she actually wanted to find out anything about them, it might be good.

"I have three acts of the twelve," Anna started. "We have a wonderful host. She's a drag queen. It's at The Wall Flower, Saturday evening. It starts at 9, you can get tickets online. You can come if you want, it's up to you."

"That's great, Anna." Pulling out her phone, Bella started googling. "I'll be there."