Nessie's Life

Chapter 18

I heard a knock on the door.

"Nessie, are you ready?"

I took a deep breath and turned to unlock it. The door swung open to reveal Rosalie holding a pile of dresses. She came into the dressing room to hang them up. I turned back to the mirror, and she came up behind me, grinning.

"That dress is perfect on you. You look gorgeous."

I looked from her face to my own reflection. It was ridiculous that this insanely beautiful woman was complimenting me. Sure, the dress was gorgeous. The deep purple brought out my pale skin. The waist made me look just the right size, not too skinny.

I shifted my gaze to the features that Jacob always talked about. He said his eyes were always drawn to my wide lips. My cheeks had the faintest pink tint, distinguishing me from my family. I followed the curls that twisted past my waist. No matter what Rosalie said, I would have to cut my hair eventually.

Finally, I locked eyes with myself. They were the exact replica of my mom's from when she was human. Having chocolate colored eyes was another feature that made people slightly more comfortable around me. I shuddered, realizing that for the first time I felt truly beautiful.

Rose touched my shoulders and rubbed my upper arms. "I promised Alice that I would make you try on all of these dresses, but I don't think that will be necessary. I can't take my eyes off of you."

We heard a tinkling voice from down the hall. "I can hear you."

I laughed, pulling off the dress. "I can't believe I actually picked out something you approve of."

She smiled. "You're learning way faster than your mom."

A huskier, but still unbelievably melodic voice answered, "I can hear you too."

We met them out in the main store. Alice was quite a sight, surrounded by twelve huge shopping bags and absolutely beaming. Mom was less radiant.

After Rosalie paid for the dress, we each grabbed three bags and headed out to the next store. Three hours into shopping, I was almost used to the gawking stares we elicited. Almost.

I was relieved when I saw that Alice was leading us to a shoe store. It would be a welcome change. Just before we walked in, I heard someone call my name from behind.

I turned to see Shelley walking towards me, or hobbling, since she was still on crutches. She was followed by Sutton. I waved at them.

Alice said, "We'll be in here. Come in when you're done. Just so you know, you're not leaving here without a new pair of heels." I rolled my eyes.

When Shelley reached me, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I gasped, because I wasn't used to experiencing much human contact with anyone besides Jake. I concentrated on not freezing and breathing like a normal person as she pulled away and smiled.

"Those are your cousins, right?"

I nodded. She didn't seem flustered by their inhuman beauty like most people.

"It's nice to see you outside of school," she said.

Suddenly, Sutton elbowed her in the ribs. "Ask her!" she urged. "This might be our only chance to get her away from them!"

"Get me away from who?" I asked, worried.

"Oh, just Mackenzie and Beth and the rest of them," said Shelley. "They're very friendly to you, aren't they? Maybe even a little too friendly?" she hedged.

Now that I thought about it, she had a point. Everyone in the group always seemed to be asking me questions, inviting me places, and using other tricks to win my attention.

"Yeah, I guess," I said.

"Well don't worry, they do that to everyone," continued Shelley.

Sutton smirked. "True, but they mainly only do it to you and Nessie."

"Shh, I'm trying to make her feel better! Anyways, Nessie, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to spend the night with me Friday night? Sutton will be there too. Or we could do something else. I just feel like I never get to talk to you without someone else stepping in."

Sutton added, "Plus, can you imagine the look on Beth's face when she finds out Nessie spent the night with us and not her?"

This earned her a glare from Shelley, who finished with, "So, what do you think?"

"Wow," I said. This would be new. It was hard to imagine sleeping in a house with only humans. Carlisle would probably tell me that this would be a good experience. And I was curious to see exactly what teenage humans did for fun.

"Actually, I think that sounds great. I'll just ask my parents and get back to you tomorrow."

"Yay!" said Sutton, and she literally jumped up and down, making her dark brown curls bounce. I would never understand why people seemed to like me so much. Maybe it had something to do with what I'd just seen in the mirror.

I was about to go when Shelley said, "Wait, I have one more question. Please don't kill me for this, it was Mackenzie's idea. But we- well, she- was wondering if... you and Jacob wanted to sit with us tomorrow?"

Sutton giggled, making me very uncomfortable. I didn't want to give her a definite yes because I wasn't sure if I could handle that.

"I'll ask him, ok? See you guys later!" I entered the shoe store.

"Bye!" they both called after me.

I didn't even have time to take a deep breath before Alice was shoving black polka dotted wedges in my face. As I was trying them on, I talked to mom about what had just happened. Of coarse, she had heard everything.

When I asked her about spending the night, she said, "I think you should go for it. I'm not going to lie, it will be a little uncomfortable. You will have to be very careful, and you will probably have to eat human food."

I wrinkled my nose. Alice took the wedges away, leaving me alone with my mom.

She continued, "I never had good enough friends to spend the night with when I was human, except Alice. But I think Shelley is a really nice girl. Maybe she can teach you a little more about dance."

"Alright," I said. "I'll tell her tomorrow that I'm going. But actually, I was more concerned about her second question..."

Mom laughed. "It's your choice. I think Jacob would be ok with it, he's more suited to humans than we are. I know you might be a little uncomfortable, but I promise he won't even notice anyone but you. Trust me, I've been in your place."

At first I thought she was talking about dad, but then I remembered the stories uncle Emmett had told me about the time when dad left mom to protect her. Out of all the unusual things in my life, the weirdest of all that my boyfriend had once kissed my mom.

I jumped up, not wanting to think about it. I was suddenly anxious to get home and ask Jake what he thought about eating lunch with them. I almost ran into Alice, who had added another bag to our collection.

She announced, "Only ten more stores to go!"

Mom and I didn't even attempt to conceal our groans.