PARTY

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I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure I was dreaming.The reasons I was so certain were that, first, I was standing in a bright shaft of sunlight–thekind of blinding clear sun that never shone on my drizzly new hometown in Forks,Washington–and second, I was looking at my Grandma Marie. Gran had been dead for sixyears now, so that was solid evidence toward the dream theory.Gran hadn't changed much; her face looked just the same as I remembered it. The skin wassoft and withered, bent into a thousand tiny creases that clung gently to the bone underneath.Like a dried apricot, but with a puff of thick white hair standing out in a cloud around it.Our mouths–hers a wizened picker–spread into the same surprised half-smile at just the sametime. Apparently, she hadn't been expecting to see me, either.I was about to ask her a question; I had so many–What was she doing here in my cream?What had she been up to in the past six years? Was Pop okay, and had they found each other,wherever they were?–but she opened her mouth when I did, so I stopped to let her go first.She paused, too, and then we Goth smiled at the little awkwardness."Bella!"It wasn't Gran who called my name, and we both turned to see the addition to our smallreunion. I didn't have to look to know who it was; this was a voice I would knowanywhere–know, and respond to, whether I was awake or asleep... or even dead, I'd bet. Thevoice I'd walk through fire for–or, less dramatically, slosh every day through the cold andendless rain for.Edward.Even though I was always thrilled to see him–conscious or otherwise–and even though I wasalmost positive that I was dreaming, I panicked as Edward walked toward us through theglaring sunlight.I panicked because Gran didn't know that I was in love with a vampire–nobody knewthat–so how was I supposed to explain the fact that the brilliant sunbeams were shatteringoff his skin into a thousand rainbow shards like he was made of crystal or diamond?Well, Gran, yon might have noticed that my boyfriend glitters. It's just something he does inthe sun. Don't worry about it...What was he doing? The whole reason he lived in Forks, the rainiest place in the world, wasso that he could be outside in the daytime without exposing his family's secret. Yet here hewas, strolling gracefully toward me–with the most beautiful smile on his angel's face–as if I were the only one here.In that second, I wished that I was not the one exception to his mysterious talent; I usuallyfelt grateful that I was the only person whose thoughts he couldn't hear just as clearly as ifthey were spoken aloud. But now I wished he could hear me, too, so that he could hear thewarning I was screaming in my head.I shot a panicked glance back at Gran, and saw that it was too late. She was just turning tostare back at me, her eyes as alarmed as mine.Edward–still smiling so beautifully that my heart felt like it was going to swell up and burstthrough my chest–put his arm around my shoulder and turned to face my grandmother.Gran's expression surprised me. Instead of looking horrified, she was staring at mesheepishly, as if waiting for a scolding. And she was standing in such a strange position–onearm held awkwardly away from her body, stretched out and then curled around the air. Likeshe had her arm around someone I couldn't see, someone invisible...Only then, as I looked at the bigger picture, did I notice the huge gilt frame that enclosed mygrandmother's form. Uncomprehending, I raised the hand that wasn't wrapped aroundEdward's waist and reached out to touch her. She mimicked the movement exactly, mirroredit. But where our fingers should have met, there was nothing but cold glass...With a dizzying jolt, my dream abruptly became a nightmare.There was no Gran.That was me. Me in a mirror. Me–ancient, creased, and withered.Edward stood beside me, casting no reflection, excruciatingly lovely and forever seventeen.He pressed his icy, perfect lips against my wasted cheek."Happy birthday," he whispered.I woke with a start–my eyelids popping open wide–and gasped. Dull gray light, the familiarlight of an overcast morning, took the place of the blinding sun in my dream.Just a dream, I told myself. It was only a dream. I took a deep breath, and then jumped againwhen my alarm went off. The little calendar in the corner of the clock's display informed methat today was September thirteenth.Only a dream, but prophetic enough in one way, at least. Today was my birthday. I wasofficially eighteen years old.I'd been dreading this day for months.All through the perfect summer–the happiest summer I had ever had, the happiest summeranyone anywhere had ever had, and the rainiest summer in the history of the OlympicPeninsula–this bleak date had lurked in ambush, waiting to spring.And now that it had hit, it was even worse than I'd feared it would be. I could feel it–I wasolder. Every day I got older, but this was different, worse, quantifiable. I was eighteen.And Edward never would be.When I went to brush my teeth, I was almost surprised that the face in the mirror hadn'tchanged. I stared at myself, looking for some sign of impending wrinkles in my ivory skin.The only creases were the ones on my forehead, though, and I knew that if I could manage torelax, they would disappear. I couldn't. My eyebrows stayed lodged in a worried line over myanxious brown eyes.It was just a dream, I reminded myself again. Just a dream... but also my worst nightmare.I skipped breakfast, in a hurry to get out of the house as quickly as possible. I wasn't entirelyable to avoid my dad, and so I had to spend a few minutes acting cheerful. I honestly tried tobe excited about the gifts I'd asked him not to get me, but every time I had to smile, it feltlike I might start crying.I struggled to get a grip on myself as I drove to school. The vision of Gran–I would not thinkof it as me–was hard to get out of my head. I couldn't feel anything but despair until I pulledinto the familiar parking lot behind Forks High School and spotted Edward leaningmotionlessly against his polished silver Volvo, like a marble tribute to some forgotten pagangod of beauty. The dream had not done him justice. And he was waiting there for me, justthe same as every other day.Despair momentarily vanished; wonder took its place. Even after half a year with him, I stillcouldn't believe that I deserved this degree of good fortune.His sister Alice was standing by his side, waiting for me, too.Of course Edward and Alice weren't really related (in Forks the story was that all the Cullensiblings were adopted by Dr. Carlisle Culler and his wife, Esme, both plainly too young tohave teenage children), but their skin was precisely the same pale shade, their eyes had thesame strange golden tint, with the same deep, bruise-like shadows beneath them. Her face,like his, was also startlingly beautiful. To someone in the know–someone like me–thesesimilarities marked them for what they were.The sight of Alice waiting there–her tawny eyes brilliant with excitement, and a smallsilver-wrapped square in her hands–made me frown. I'd told Alice I didn't want anything,anything, not gifts or even attention, for my birthday. Obviously, my wishes were beingignored.I slammed the door of my '53 Chevy truck–a shower of rust specks fluttered down to the wetblacktop–and walked slowly toward where they waited. Alice skipped forward to meet me,her pixie face glowing under her spiky black hair."Happy birthday, Bella!""Shh!" I hissed, glancing around the lot to make sure no one had heard her. The last thing Iwanted was some kind of celebration of the black event.She ignored me. "Do you want to open your present now or later?" she asked eagerly as wemade our way to where Edward still waited."No presents," I protested in a mumble.She finally seemed to process my mood. "Okay... later, then. Did you like the scrapbook yourmom sent you? And the camera from Charlie?"I sighed. Of course she would know what my birthday presents were. Edward wasn't theonly member of his family with unusual skills. Alice would have "seen" what my parentswere planning as soon as they'd decided that themselves."Yeah. They're great.""I think it's a nice idea. You're only a senior once. Might as well document the experience.""How many times have you been a senior?""That's different."We reached Edward then, and he held out his hand for mine. I took it eagerly, forgetting, fora moment, my glum mood. His skin was, as always, smooth, hard, and very cold. He gave myfingers a gentle squeeze. I looked into his liquid topa2 eyes, and my heart gave anot-quite-so-gentle squeeze of its own. Hearing the stutter in my heartbeats, he smiled again.He lifted his free hand and traced one cool fingertip around the outside of my lips as hespoke. "So, as discussed, I am not allowed to wish you a happy birthday, is that correct?""Yes. That is correct." I could never quite mimic the flow of his perfect, formal articulation.It was something that could only be picked up in an earlier century."Just checking." He ran his hand through his tousled bronze hair. "You might have changedyour mind. Most people seem to enjoy things like birthdays and gifts."Alice laughed, and the sound was all silver, a wind chime. "Of course you'll enjoy it.Everyone is supposed to be nice to you today and give you your way, Bella. What's the worstthat could happen?" She meant it as a rhetorical question."Getting older," I answered anyway, and my voice was not as steady as I wanted it to be.Beside me, Edward's smile tightened into a hard line."Eighteen isn't very old," Alice said. "Don't women usually wait till they're twenty-nine toget upset over birthdays?""It's older than Edward," I mumbled.He sighed."Technically," she said, keeping her tone light. "Just by one little year, though."And I supposed... if I could be sure of the future I wanted, sure that I would get to spendforever with Edward, and Alice and the rest of the Cullens (preferably not as a wrinkled littleold lady)... then a year or two one direction or the other wouldn't matter to me so much. ButEdward was dead set against any future that changed me. Any future that made me likehim–that made me immortal, too.An impasse, he called it.I couldn't really see Edward's point, to be honest. What was so great about mortality? Beinga vampire didn't look like such a terrible thing–not the way the Cullens did it, anyway."What time will you be at the house?" Alice continued, changing the subject. From herexpression, she was up to exactly the kind of thing I'd been hoping to avoid."I didn't know I had plans to be there.""Oh, be fair, Bella!" she complained. "You aren't going to ruin all our fun like that, are you?""I thought my birthday was about what I want.""I'll get her from Charlie's right after school," Edward told her, ignoring me altogether."I have to work," I protested."You don't, actually," Alice told me smugly. "I already spoke to Mrs. Newton about it. She'strading your shifts. She said to tell you 'Happy Birthday.'""I–I still can't come over," I stammered, scrambling for an excuse. "I, well, I haven't watchedRomeo and Juliet yet for English."Alice snorted. "You have Romeo and Juliet memorized.""But Mr. Berty said we needed to see it performed to fully appreciate it–that's howShakespeare intended it to be presented."Edward rolled his eyes."You've already seen the movie," Alice accused."But not the nineteen-sixties version. Mr. Berty said it was the best."Finally, Alice lost the smug smile and glared at me. "This can be easy, or this can be hard,Bella, but one way or the other–"Edward interrupted her threat. "Relax, Alice. If Bella wants to watch a movie, then she can.It's her birthday.""So there," I added."I'll bring her over around seven," he continued. "That will give you more time to set up."Alice's laughter chimed again. "Sounds good. See you tonight, Bella! It'll be fun, you'll see."She grinned–the wide smile exposed all her perfect, glistening teeth–then pecked me on thecheek and danced off toward her first class before I could respond."Edward, please–" I started to beg, but he pressed one cool finger to my lips."Let's discuss it later. We're going to be late for class."No one bothered to stare at us as we took our usual seats in the back of the classroom (wehad almost every class together now–it was amazing the favors Edward could get the femaleadministrators to do for him). Edward and I had been together too long now to be an objectof gossip anymore. Even Mike Newton didn't bother to give me the glum stare that used tomake me feel a little guilty. He smiled now instead, and I was glad he seemed to haveaccepted that we could only be friends. Mike had changed over the summer–his face had lostsome of the roundness, making his cheekbones more prominent, and he was wearing his paleblond hair a new way; instead of bristly, it was longer and gelled into a carefully casualdisarray. It was easy to see where his inspiration came from–but Edward's look wasn'tsomething that could be achieved through imitation.As the day progressed, I considered ways to get out of whatever was going down at theCullen house tonight. It would be bad enough to have to celebrate when I was in the moodto mourn. But, worse than that, this was sure to involve attention and gifts.Attention is never a good thing, as any other accident-prone klutz would agree. No onewants a spotlight when they're likely to fall on their face.And I'd very pointedly asked–well, ordered really–that no one give me any presents this year.It looked like Charlie and Renee weren't the only ones who had decided to overlook that.I'd never had much money, and that had never bothered me. Renee had raised me on akindergarten teacher's salary. Charlie wasn't getting rich at his job, either–he was the police chief here in the tiny town of Forks. My only personal income came from the three days aweek I worked at the local sporting goods store. In a town this small, I was lucky to have ajob. Every penny I made went into my microscopic college fund. (College was Plan B. I wasstill hoping for Plan A, but Edward was just so stubborn about leaving me human...)Edward had a lot of money–I didn't even want to think about how much. Money meant nextto nothing to Edward or the rest of the Cullens. It was just something that accumulatedwhen you had unlimited time on your hands and a sister who had an uncanny ability topredict trends in the stock market. Edward didn't seem to understand why I objected to himspending money on me–why it made me uncomfortable if he took me to an expensiverestaurant in Seattle, why he wasn't allowed to buy me a car that could reach speeds overfifty-five miles an hour, or why I wouldn't let him pay my college tuition (he was ridiculouslyenthusiastic about Plan B). Edward thought I was being unnecessarily difficult.But how could I let him give me things when I had nothing to reciprocate with? He, forsome unfathomable reason, wanted to be with me. Anything he gave me on top of that justthrew us more out of balance.As the day went on, neither Edward nor Alice brought my birthday up again, and I began torelax a little.We sat at our usual table for lunch.A strange kind of truce existed at that table. The three of us–Edward, Alice, and I–sat on theextreme southern end of the table. Now that the "older" and somewhat scarier (in Emmett'scase, certainly) Cullen siblings had graduated, Alice and Edward did not seem quite sointimidating, and we did not sit here alone. My other friends, Mike and Jessica (who were inthe awkward post-breakup friendship phase), Angela and Ben (whose relationship hadsurvived the summer), Eric, Conner, Tyler, and Lauren (though that last one didn't reallycount in the friend category) all sat at the same table, on the other side of an invisible line.That line dissolved on sunny days when Edward and Alice always skipped school, and thenthe conversation would swell out effortlessly to include me.Edward and Alice didn't find this minor ostracism odd or hurtful the way I would have. Theybarely noticed it. People always felt strangely ill at ease with the Cullens, almost afraid forsome reason they couldn't explain to themselves. I was a rare exception to that rule.Sometimes it bothered Edward how very comfortable I was with being close to him. Hethought he was hazardous to my health–an opinion I rejected vehemently whenever hevoiced it.The afternoon passed quickly. School ended, and Edward walked me to my truck as heusually did. But this time, he held the passenger door open for me. Alice must have beentaking his car home so that he could keep me from making a run for it.I folded my arms and made no move to get out of the rain. "It's my birthday, don't I get todrive?""I'm pretending it's not your birthday, just as you wished.""If it's not my birthday, then I don't have to go to your house tonight...""All right." He shut the passenger door and walked past me to open the driver's side. "Happybirthday.""Shh," I shushed him halfheartedly. I climbed in the opened door, wishing he'd taken theother offer.Edward played with the radio while I drove, shaking his head in disapproval."Your radio has horrible reception."I frowned. I didn't like it when he picked on my truck. The truck was great–it hadpersonality."You want a nice stereo? Drive your own car." I was so nervous about Alice's plans, on topof my already gloomy mood, that the words came out sharper than I'd meant them. I washardly ever bad-tempered with Edward, and my tone made him press his lips together to keepfrom smiling.When I parked in front of Charlie's house, he reached over to take my face in his hands. Hehandled me very carefully, pressing just the tips of his fingers softly against my temples, mycheekbones, my jawline. Like I was especially breakable. Which was exactly thecase–compared with him, at least."You should be in a good mood, today of all days," he whispered. His sweet breath fannedacross my face."And if I don't want to be in a good mood?" I asked, my breathing uneven.His golden eyes smoldered. "Too bad."My head was already spinning by the time he leaned closer and pressed his icy lips againstmine. As he intended, no doubt, I forgot all about my worries, and concentrated onremembering how to inhale and exhale.His mouth lingered on mine, cold and smooth and gentle, until I wrapped my arms around hisneck and threw myself into the kiss with a little too much enthusiasm. I could feel his lipscurve upward as he let go of my face and reached back to unlock my grip on him.Edward had drawn many careful lines for our physical relationship, with the intent being tokeep me alive. Though I respected the need for maintaining a safe distance between my skinand his razor-sharp, venom-coated teeth, I tended to forget about trivial things like that whenhe was kissing me."Be good, please," he breathed against my cheek. He pressed his lips gently to mine one moretime and then pulled away, folding my arms across my stomach.My pulse was thudding in my ears. I put one hand over my heart. It drummed hyperactivelyunder my palm."Do you think I'll ever get better at this?" I wondered, mostly to myself. "That my heartmight someday stop trying to jump out of my chest whenever you touch me?""I really hope not," he said, a bit smug.I rolled my eyes. "Let's go watch the Capulets and Montagues hack each other up, all right?""Your wish, my command."Edward sprawled across the couch while I started the movie, fast-forwarding through theopening credits.When I perched on the edge of the sofa in front of him, he wrapped his arms around mywaist and pulled me against his chest. It wasn't exactly as comfortable as a sofa cushionwould be, what with his chest being hard and cold–and perfect–as an ice sculpture, but itwas definitely preferable. He pulled the old afghan off the back of the couch and draped itover me so I wouldn't freeze beside his body."You know, I've never had much patience with Romeo," he commented as the movie started."What's wrong with Romeo?" I asked, a little offended. Romeo was one of my favoritefictional characters. Until I'd met Edward, I'd sort of had a thing for him."Well, first of all, he's in love with this Rosaline–don't you think it makes him seem a littlefickle? And then, a few minutes after their wedding, he kills Juliet's cousin. That's not verybrilliant. Mistake after mistake. Could he have destroyed his own happiness any morethoroughly?"I sighed. "Do you want me to watch this alone?""No, I'll mostly be watching you, anyway." His fingers traced patterns across the skin of myarm, raising goose bumps. "Will you cry?""Probably," I admitted, "if I'm paying attention.""I won't distract you then." But I felt his lips on my hair, and it was very distracting.The movie eventually captured my interest, thanks in large part to Edward whisperingRomeo's lines in my ear–his irresistible, velvet voice made the actor's voice sound weak andcoarse by comparison. And I did cry, to his amusement, when Juliet woke and found her newhusband dead."I'll admit, I do sort of envy him here," Edward said, drying the tears with a lock of my hair."She's very pretty."He made a disgusted sound. "I don't envy him the girl–just the ease of the suicide," heclarified in a teasing tone. "You humans have it so easy! All you have to do is throw downone tiny vial of plant extracts...""What?" I gasped."It's something I had to think about once, and I knew from Carlisle's experience that itwouldn't be simple. I'm not even sure how many ways Carlisle tried to kill himself in thebeginning... after he realized what he'd become..." His voice, which had grown serious,turned light again. "And he's clearly still in excellent health."I twisted around so that I could read his face. "What are you talking about?" I demanded."What do you mean, this something you had to think about once?""Last spring, when you were... nearly killed..." He paused to take a deep breath, snugglingto return to his teasing tone. "Of course I was trying to focus on finding you alive, but part ofmy mind was making contingency plans. Like I said, it's not as easy for me as it is for ahuman."For one second, the memory of my last trip to Phoenix washed through my head and mademe feel dizzy. I could see it all so clearly–the blinding sun, the heat waves coming off theconcrete as I ran with desperate haste to find the sadistic vampire who wanted to torture meto death. James, waiting in the mirrored room with my mother as his hostage–or so I'dthought. I hadn't known it was all a ruse. Just as James hadn't known that Edward wasracing to save me; Edward made it in time, but it had been a close one. Unthinkingly, myfingers traced the crescent-shaped scar on my hand that was always just a few degrees coolerthan the rest of my skin.I shook my head–as if I could shake away the bad memories–and tried to grasp what Edwardmeant. My stomach plunged uncomfortably. "Contingency plans?" I repeated."Well, I wasn't going to live without you." He rolled his eyes as if that fact were childishlyobvious. "But I wasn't sure how to do it–I knew Emmett and Jasper would never help... so Iwas thinking maybe I would go to Italy and do something to provoke the Volturi."I didn't want to believe he was serious, but his golden eyes were brooding, focused onsomething far away in the distance as he contemplated ways to end his own life. Abruptly, Iwas furious."What is a Volturi?" I demanded."The Volturi are a family," he explained, his eyes still remote. "A very old, very powerful family of our kind. They are the closest thing our world has to a royal family, I suppose.Carlisle lived with them briefly in his early years, in Italy, before he settled in America–doyou remember the story?""Of course I remember."I would never forget the first time I'd gone to his home, the huge white mansion buried deepin the forest beside the river, or the room where Carlisle–Edward's father in so many realways–kept a wall of paintings that illustrated his personal history. The most vivid, mostwildly colorful canvas there, the largest, was from Carlisle's time in Italy. Of course Iremembered the calm quartet of men, each with the exquisite face of a seraph, painted intothe highest balcony overlooking the swirling mayhem of color. Though the painting wascenturies old, Carlisle–the blond angel–remained unchanged. And I remembered the threeothers, Carlisle's early acquaintances. Edward had never used the name Volturi for thebeautiful trio, two black-haired, one snow white. He'd called them Aro, Caius, and Marcus,nighttime patrons of the arts..."Anyway, you don't irritate the Volturi," Edward went on, interrupting ray reverie. "Notunless you want to die–or whatever it is we do." His voice was so calm, it made him soundalmost bored by the prospect.My anger turned to horror. I took his marble face between my hands and held it very tightly."You must never, never, never think of anything like that again!" I said. "No matter whatmight ever happen to me, you are not allowed to hurt yourself!""I'll never put you in danger again, so it's a moot point.""Put me in danger! I thought we'd established that all the bad luck is my fault?" I was gettingangrier. "How dare you even think like that?" The idea of Edward ceasing to exist, even if Iwere dead, was impossibly painful."What would you do, if the situation were reversed?" he asked."That's not the same thing."He didn't seem to understand the difference. He chuckled."What if something did happen to you?" I blanched at the thought. "Would you want me togo off myself?"A trace of pain touched his perfect features."I guess I see your point... a little," he admitted. "But what would I do without you?""Whatever you were doing before I came along and complicated your existence."He sighed. "You make that sound so easy.""It should be. I'm not really that interesting."He was about to argue, but then he let it go. "Moot point," he reminded me. Abruptly, hepulled himself up into a more formal posture, shifting me to the side so that we were nolonger touching."Charlie?" I guessed.Edward smiled. After a moment, I heard the sound of the police cruiser pulling into thedriveway. I reached out and took his hand firmly. My dad could deal with that much.Charlie came in with a pizza box in his hands."Hey, kids." He grinned at me. "I thought you'd like a break from cooking and washingdishes for your birthday. Hungry?""Sure. Thanks, Dad."Charlie didn't comment on Edward's apparent lack of appetite. He was used to Edwardpassing on dinner."Do you mind if I borrow Bella for the evening?" Edward asked when Charlie and I weredone.I looked at Charlie hopefully. Maybe he had some concept of birthdays as stay-at-home,family affairs–this was my first birthday with him, the first birthday since my mom, Renee,had remarried and gone to live in Florida, so I didn't know what he would expect."That's fine–the Mariners are playing the Sox tonight," Charlie explained, and my hopedisappeared. "So I won't be any kind of company... Here." He scooped up the camera he'dgotten me on Renee's suggestion (because I would need pictures to fill up my scrap-book),and threw it to me.He ought to know better than that–I'd always been coordinationally challenged. The cameraglanced off the tip of my finger, and tumbled toward the floor. Edward snagged it before itcould crash onto the linoleum."Nice save," Charlie noted. "If they're doing something fun at the Cullens' tonight, Bella, youshould take some pictures. You know how your mother gets–she'll be wanting to see thepictures faster than you can take them.""Good idea, Charlie," Edward said, handing me the camera.I turned the camera on Edward, and snapped the first picture. "It works.""That's good. Hey, say hi to Alice for me. She hasn't been over in a while." Charlie's mouthpulled down at one corner."It's been three days, Dad," I reminded him. Charlie was crazy about Alice. He'd becomeattached last spring when she'd helped me through my awkward convalescence; Charliewould be fore'ter grateful to her for saving him from the horror of an almost-adult daughterwho needed help showering. "I'll tell her.""Okay. You kids have fun tonight." It was clearly a dismissal. Charlie was already edgingtoward the living room and the TV.Edward smiled, triumphant, and took my hand to pull me from the kitchen.When we got to the truck, he opened the passenger door for me again, and this time I didn'targue. I still had a hard time finding the obscure turnoff to his house in the dark.Edward drove north through Forks, visibly chafing at the speed limit enforced by myprehistoric Chevy. The engine groaned even louder than usual as he pushed it over fifty."Take it easy," I warned him."You know what you would love? A nice little Audi coupe. Very quiet, lots of power...""There's nothing wrong with my truck. And speaking of expensive nonessentials, if youknow what's good for you, you didn't spend any money on birthday presents.""Not a dime," he said virtuously."Good.""Can you do me a favor?""That depends on what it is."He sighed, his lovely face serious. "Bella, the last real birthday any of us had was Emmett in1935. Cut us a little slack, and don't be too difficult tonight. They're all very excited."It always startled me a little when he brought up things like that. "Fine, I'll behave.""I probably should warn you...""Please do.""When I say they're all excited... I do mean all of them.""Everyone?" I choked. "I thought Emmett and Rosalie were in Africa." The rest of Forks wasunder the impression that the older Cullens had gone off to college this year, to Dartmouth,but I knew better."Emmett wanted to be here.""But... Rosalie?""I know, Bella. Don't worry, she'll be on her best behavior."I didn't answer. Like I could just not worry, that easy. Unlike Alice, Edward's other"adopted" sister, the golden blond and exquisite Rosalie, didn't like me much. Actually, thefeeling was a little bit stronger than just dislike. As far as Rosalie was concerned, I was anunwelcome intruder into her family's secret life.I felt horribly guilty about the present situation, guessing that Rosalie and Emmett'sprolonged absence was my fault, even as I furtively enjoyed not having to see her Emmett,Edward's playful bear of a brother, I did miss. He was in many ways just like the big brotherI'd always wanted... only much, much more terrifying.Edward decided to change the subject. "So, if you won't let me get you the Audi, isn't thereanything that you'd like for your birthday?"The words came out in a whisper. "You know what I want."A deep frown carved creases into his marble forehead. He obviously wished he'd stuck to thesubject of Rosalie.It felt like we'd had this argument a lot today."Not tonight, Bella. Please.""Well, maybe Alice will give me what I want."Edward growled–a deep, menacing sound. "This isn't going to be your last birthday, Bella,"he vowed."That's not fair!"I thought I heard his teeth clench together.We were pulling up to the house now. Bright light shined from every window on the firsttwo floors. A long line of glowing Japanese lanterns hung from the porch eaves, reflecting asoft radiance on the huge cedars that surrounded the house. Big bowls of flowers–pinkroses–lined the wide stairs up to the front doors.I moaned.Edward took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "This is a party," he reminded me. "Try tobe a good sport.""Sure," I muttered.He came around to get my door, and offered me his hand."I have a question."He waited warily."If I develop this film," I said, toying with the camera in my hands, "will you show up in thepicture?"Edward started laughing. He helped me out of the car, pulled me up the stairs, and was stilllaughing as he opened the door for me.They were all waiting in the huge white living room; when I walked through the door, theygreeted me with a loud chorus of "Happy birthday, Bella!" while I blushed and looked down.Alice, I assumed, had covered every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystalbowls filled with hundreds of roses. There was a table with a white cloth draped over it nextto Edward's grand piano, holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates,and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents.It was a hundred times worse than I'd imagined.Edward, sensing my distress, wrapped an encouraging arm around my waist and kissed thetop of my head.Edward's parents, Carlisle and Esme–impossibly youthful and lovely as ever–were the closestto the door. Esme hugged me carefully, her soft, caramel-colored hair brushing against mycheek as she kissed my forehead, and then Carlisle put his arm around my shoulders."Sorry about this, Bella," he stage-whispered. "We couldn't rein Alice in."Rosalie and Emmett stood behind them. Rosalie didn't smile, but at least she didn't glare.Emmett's face was stretched into a huge grin. It had been months since I'd seen them; I'dforgotten how gloriously beautiful Rosalie was–it almost hurt to look at her. And hadEmmett always been so... big?"You haven't changed at all," Emmett said with mock disappointment. "I expected aperceptible difference, but here you are, red-faced just like always.""Thanks a lot, Emmett," I said, blushing deeper.He laughed, "I have to step out for a second"–he paused to wink conspicuously atAlice–"Don't do anything funny while I'm gone.""I'll try."Alice let go of Jasper's hand and skipped forward, all her teeth sparkling in the bright light.Jasper smiled, too, but kept his distance. He leaned, long and blond, against the post at the foot of the stairs. During the days we'd had to spend cooped up together in Phoenix, I'dthought he'd gotten over his aversion to me. But he'd gone back to exactly how he'd actedbefore–avoiding me as much as possible–the moment he was free from that temporaryobligation to protect me. I knew it wasn't personal, just a precaution, and I tried not to beoverly sensitive about it. Jasper had more trouble sticking to the Cullens' diet than the rest ofthem; the scent of human blood was much harder for him to resist than the others–he hadn'tbeen trying as long."Time to open presents," Alice declared. She put her cool hand under my elbow and towedme to the table with the cake and the shiny packages.I put on my best martyr face. "Alice, I know I told you I didn't want anything–""But I didn't listen," she interrupted, smug. "Open it." She took the camera from my handsand replaced it with a big, square silver box.The box was so light that it felt empty. The tag on top said that it was from Emmett,Rosalie, and Jasper. Selfconsciously, I tore the paper off and then stared at the box itconcealed.It was something electrical, with lots of numbers in the name. I opened the box, hoping forfurther illumination. But the box was empty."Um... thanks."Rosalie actually cracked a smile. Jasper laughed. "It's a stereo for your truck," he explained."Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it."Alice was always one step ahead of me. "Thanks, Jasper, Rosalie," I told them, grinning as Iremembered Edward's complaints about my radio this afternoon–all a setup, apparently."Thanks, Emmett!" I called more loudly.I heard his booming laugh from my truck, and I couldn't help laughing, too."Open mine and Edward's next," Alice said, so excited her voice was a high-pitched trill. Sheheld a small, flat square in her hand.I turned to give Edward a basilisk glare. "You promised."Before he could answer, Emmett bounded through the door. "Just in time!" he crowed. Hepushed in behind Jasper, who had also drifted closer than usual to get a good look."I didn't spend a dime," Edward assured me. He brushed a strand of hair from my face,leaving my skin tingling from his touch.I inhaled deeply and turned to Alice. "Give it to me," I sighed. Emmett chuckled with delight.I took the little package, rolling my eyes at Edward while I stuck my finger under the edge ofthe paper and jerked it under the tape."Shoot," I muttered when the paper sliced my finger; I pulled it out to examine the damage.A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut.It all happened very quickly then."No!" Edward roared.He threw himself at me, flinging me back across the table. It fell, as I did, scattering the cakeand the presents, the flowers and the plates. I landed in the mess of shattered crystal.Jasper slammed into Edward, and the sound was like the crash of boulders in a rock slide.There was another noise, a grisly snarling that seemed to be coming from deep in Jasper'schest. Jasper tried to shove past Edward, snapping his teeth just inches from Edward's face.Emmett grabbed Jasper from behind in the next second, locking him into his massive steelgrip, but Jasper struggled on, his wild, empty eyes focused only on me.Beyond the shock, there was also pain. I'd tumbled down to the floor by the piano, with myarms thrown out instinctively to catch my fall, into the jagged shards of glass. Only now did Ifeel the searing, stinging pain that ran from my wrist to the crease inside my elbow.Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm–into thefevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires.

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