The Spotlight is On!

14

The next day, Monday, when I pulled up my red truck in Forks High School parking lot, I could see a huge crowd surrounding a small cart held by Emmett and Jasper. The cart's label above their heads read "Vote for Duo of the Prime to perform at Senior Prom: The Concert of the Year!"

What the hell?

Starting to get upset, I jogged over and pushed people over to get to the front.

"Ok, ok, one at a time," I heard Emmett laugh.

Finally, I got to Emmett and pulled on his arm. "Emmett, what is going on?" I exclaimed.

"I'm helping you get all the votes in for prom concert!" he replied, smiling from ear to ear, "Don't look at me like that! It was Edward's idea! And besides, you should be happy, look at how many votes I've sold!"

I looked into the bucket of tickets and saw that almost all of them were gone.

Wow...he really pulled through. I told him as such.

"Shoosh yeah, I did!" he grinned, wrapping a hulky arm around my shoulders. I smiled, somehow grateful for Em's encouragement for me and his youngest brother.

The morning bell rang, and everyone went inside the school building. I looked around and saw small pink tickets in people's hands. I saw Angela holding one, and she happily gave me a hug. I returned the friendly gesture, smiling, "What's up, Ang?"

"You've finally found your calling!" she gushed.

"My calling?" I questioned, laughing.

"Yeah, your calling to be with your future husband," she replied, and wiped a fake tear off the corner of her eye.

"My...wait, what?" I asked, "My future husband? What?"

"Yeah! This time next year, you and Edward will be engaged to be married, and then have babies and then-"

I stopped her there.

"Oh my gosh, we're making music together, we're not going to end up together!" I shouted at her, getting tired of her antics. She'd been hanging out with Alice for too long.

I immediately regretted my yelling at her when I saw the tears in her eyes. I sighed, and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, honey," I softly replied. Angela didn't hug back at first, which made me think she was mad at me, which made me feel an even horrible best friend. 

But she slid her arms around my waist, and sniffled, "It's ok."

She let go of me and wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve, and smiled.

"I keep forgetting how sensitive you are," I whispered.

"It's ok," she reassured me, "I think I'm too sensitive for my own good."

I gave her another hug, trying to ignore the homeroom bell. We let go and I went to my locker. Since the last day of finals was last Friday, we would spend all of this week making last-minute prep for senior prom, which was this Friday...

Edward and I could be performing in 4 days...

When I shut it, I jumped, startled at the sight of Edward. He looked...nervous, I guessed. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and his whole body was tense.

"Um...hi," I started.

"Hey," he whispered, "Can we talk?" He asked me so unsurely, like he thought I wouldn't say yes.

"Yeah, sure, I just have to go to homeroom first, and so do you," I replied, smiling.

He cracked a smile, nodded, and turned to leave.

"Wait! Where should I meet you?" I asked.

He turned around, walking backwards, saying,"Um, right. Meet me by my locker? After homeroom?"

I nodded, and he turned back around and left.

I went to homeroom in a daze. I had a feeling Edward wanted to talk about his breakdown the other day. Was he embarrassed? Was he scared? Did he regret his dependence on me? I couldn't take it if he didn't want to be friends anymore because this was as close as I would ever get to him in any intimate way. I really liked him, but if he didn't want to work together anymore, I wouldn't be able to handle that. I'd hide my feelings for him if it meant we could fulfill our dreams together.

"Bella?" I jumped at the voice, and. I saw Alice waving a hand in front of my face.

"What?" I asked dumbly.

"Homeroom's over," she laughed, swinging her leather black tote over her shoulder.

"Oh, right," I stood up and grabbed my backpack, walking out the door."Edward said he wanted to talk to me," I told Alice.

"Really? Why, to confess his love for you?" Alice laughed.

I glared at her, replying, "Alice."

"What?" she asked, faking innocence, "Maybe-"

"No, Alice! He probably wants to talk about the other night," I sighed.

"Wait, what? The other night? What?" my sister exclaimed.

I turned a corner and saw Edward leaning against his locker, his thumbs tapping vigorously on his cell phone. He looked up, saw Alice and me, and must have texted whoever it was goodbye. Then he slid the phone in his back pocket, walking over to us.

"Hey, ladies," he greeted us. I could tell he was confused as to why Alice was with me.

"Hey," I whispered, and I looked expectantly at Alice, hoping that she got my message to leave. She received my message, nodded and winked.

"I'll see you guys later," she chirped, then danced off.

I heard Edward sigh of relief, so I turned to him.

"So...What's up?"

"I wanted to apologize for the other night," Edward started," I wasn't myself, and I shouldn't have dumped my whole shit in you like that. I'm really sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"No, Edward, it's fine, really, "I assured him," I'm not mad at you or anything."

"You're not?"

"No, you were upset at what your dad said. If it were me, I'd do the same."

"I've never...cried in front of anyone other than my mom."

"Really?"

Edward nodded silently.

"Well," I said, "if you ever need another shoulder to cry on, mine's always available, if you want anyway."

He smiled, and came over to hug me. "I'll take that into consideration."

I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his waist. I never wanted this moment to end, but once again, the universe wanted to prove me wrong.