"Alice! For the hundredth and last time, no!" I say, exhasperated. "But Bella! This would look SO cute on you!!" Alice Cullen, my vampire sister pleaded. We are in Chantalle's, a charming little boutique in the Seattle Mall. Alice could see that her begging and pleading wasnt going to work on me. Suddenly her eyes grew big and her bottom lip started trembling. "Oh no. Alice, not the puppy dog face!" I groan. "Please,Bella?Please?" She said, her voice getting thick with tears that wouldnt come. The sad look on her face is absolutely heart breaking. I hate making Alice look like this. It feels wrong, like kicking an innocent little puppy.
"Give it here", I grumble as a grin spreads across her face. I grab the dress from her and stalk off towards the dressing room. "How many items do you have?" an overly bubbly blonde employee asks me. I look down at the only thing in my hand. "Uh...One?" I say. Is she really too stupid to see that? "This one is empty" She says, directing me to a dressing room.
Once I get in there, I get a good look at the dress. Alice gave me a strapless peach colored dress. It stops just above my knee, and has delicate gold beading on the hem and top of the dress. "Alice", I breathe out as I shake my head. I throw it on and without even taking a glance in the mirror, I walk out to show Alice. "Bella, you look amazing!!" She squeals and gives me a hug that would break all of my bones if I was still human. "Here. Put these on to go with it." She hands me a pair of 4 inch gold stiletto's. This time, Im not even going to argue with her. "Alright", I sigh. I slip them on,wobbling a little."We are SO getting those! Are you ready to go?" She says, too fast for human ears to hear."Sure!" I say, my mood instantly brightening.
After I change back into my own clothes,I carry the dress and the hooker heels to checkout. Just as I am ready to pay, I hear Alice dance up behind me. I hear a gasp and look up at the sales clerk. "Miss Alice Cullen! What a pleasure. How have you been? We havent seen you in a while" Helen,as her name tag states, says with an excited smile. Alice had brought with her a mountain of clothes and shoes. "Yes, Yes, Im fine. Ive just been given a limit on how much I shop." Alice scowls. "Well, its a pleasure to see you again,Miss Cullen." Helen says. Yeah, more like a pleasure to see your money again. By now she had gotten done ringing us up, and I look at the total. "HOLY CROW!!!" I exclaim as I take in the price. Im pretty sure my eyes almost popped out of my head.
"Bella, this is nothing." Alice rolled her eyes. "This is actually a decent price compared to what I usually spend.". "Umm...Okay" I say. "Will that be all for you, Miss Cullen?" Helen asks. "Yes", Alice says.Poor Alice. I think back to the day Carlisle told her she had to cut back on her shopping...
***Flashback***
It was a normal day at the Cullen house. Surprise,surprise, the sun was shining, and the birds were chirping. Esme was outside working on planting her flowers, I was sitting beside Edward, who was playing me my lullaby on his piano, Rosalie and Emmett,well, nobody wants to know what they were doing up stairs, Jasper was out hunting, Renesmee was over at a friends house, and Carlisle and Alice were sitting side by side, each on the computer. Alice was doing some online shopping,of course, and Carlisle was paying a credit card bill.
Edward suddenly chuckled, which caught my attention. "Edward, what is it?" I ask him. "You'll see. Things are about to get interesting." He says. "Alice, thats it. Hand me your credit card." Carlisle says ubruptly. "Carlisle, NO! You cant do this!"Alice wailed, already seeing what he had in mind. "Alice, you need to learn to control your spending.This is absolutely ridiculous." Carlisle said."YOU CANT CUT ME OFF! I NEED TO BUY STUFF!!!" She yelled,panicking. "Fine then. I wont cut you completely off. But I WILL limit your spending. You can only go shopping three times a month, and only spend $1,000 each tiem. Got it?" Carlisle said calmly. Alice's mouth dropped open. "That wont even buy a good pair of shoes!" She wailed. "Well, you will just have to deal with it. End of discussion."He said as he left his seat and started walking up the stairs "NOOOO"She yelled, defeated.
***End Flashback***
"Bella. Bella!" I hear as I scramble back to reality. Alice is looking at me. "Help me carry all of your clothes to the car" She said and handed me half of the bags. "You mean YOUR clothes." I correct her. "Nope" She grins. "Alice!" I yell. "Okay, okay, some of them are min. But if Carlisle sees us bringing them in the house, then they are all yours"She says. She closes her eyes and concentrates for a minute. "Nope. He's at the hospital all day. We're good to go." And with that she puts on her unneeded sunglasses and walks out into the cold and dreary afternoon.
"How DID you convince Carlisle to let you go shopping today? Your 3 days of shopping have already been used this month" I ask her, wondering how she conned him into this. Carlisle seemed pretty serious when he gave Alice her limit. We were in Alices Canary yellow Porsche speeding off towards Forks. "Oh, I told him you were in desparate need of clothes for your wardrobe, so he let me bend the rules this once to buy you some" She says matter of factly. "You couldnt have at least let me see the clothes you bought for me BEFORE you bought them?" I said. "No, beacuse you wouldnt have let me get them for you. So HAH!" She stuck her tongue out at me. "You were right" I sigh and turn up the radio.
