The Other Swan

Chapter Nine: The Date

Well, today is going to be horrible until this afternoon. Carlisle was taking me somewhere outside of Forks and refused to tell me where. He only told me I would need a dress. And Alice knew about so, naturally, she and Rosalie were taking me dress shopping. I rode in the backseat of the car, hoping this shopping wouldn't take long. 

"Where are you two taking me anyway?" 

"You'll see." I rolled my eyes and started rubbing my right arm where the stitches were. 

"What size clothes do you where, Jade?" 

"Small, but for a dress, I don't know." 

"Well, your dress size shouldn't be too different from what you were normally." 

"Okay, I'll tell you one thing now. I need something with sleeves or gloves that go up to my elbow." 

"Okay." It took a few more minutes to get to a dress shop. Alice parked the car and then got out. I groaned before getting out, Rosalie following. Alice grabbed my arm and tugged me into the store. A lady in heels met us right as we walked into the store. 

"Hello. How can I help you three ladies today?" 

"Can we get her sized first? That's all we need." 

"Yes, of course. Follow me." The lady led us to the middle of the store, dresses everywhere. There were mannequins all over the store and I tried not to cringe as I saw a particularly short dress.

The lady stopped and directed me to one of the small, cylinder platforms. I sighed before stepping up onto the platform and letting the lady measure me. After a few minutes, she stopped and pointed us in the direction of dresses to the right. She left us alone and we headed over. I let Alice and Rosalie pick out a few dresses, but I went around and looked at the dresses with long sleeves. 

"We've got a few. You wanna try them on?" I heard Alice behind me and a frigid hand took my shoulder when I didn't answer. 

"I can't do this. I've never worn a dress before and I've certainly never been on an actual date. And I don't think I'm up for this. I mean, I just had a panic attack last week, almost had another one a few days ago, and yesterday Carlisle found out about the-" I stopped realizing too late I had said too much. Alice and Rosalie stared at me as I turned around to face them. 

"All right, hold on a minute." I looked back at the dresses again, my shoulders hunched at the thought of Carlisle being disappointed he couldn't take me out like he wanted to just because I was afraid.

"Jade, here. It's Carlisle." 

"Why did you call him?" Rosalie gave me a look and held out her phone. I took it and Rosalie motioned for me to go outside. I nodded and walked out. 

"Hello?" 

"Jade, what's wrong?" His tone said he knew, but wanted to hear it from me. 

"Why is there always something wrong with me?" 

"I told you that you could've said that weren't ready. Now, tell me why you're afraid." 

"How do you know I'm afraid?" 

"You're my mate. Mating bonds are strong so I can feel some of your emotions. If they're strong enough. Tell me why you're afraid." 

"I've never done this before. I've never worn a dress ever. And the cuts on my arms and what happened to me. How can I go anywhere without being covered in long sleeves, pants, elbow gloves, and a jacket?" Carlisle was silent and I was worried that I had said too much. 

"Quit doing that, Jade. Quit worrying about how much you say to me. I want to hear your voice." I tried not to blush and Carlisle chuckled.

"We won't go tonight, but get a dress anyway. Please. Then go back to my house, spend the night. Tell your father that you will spend the night because Alice and Rosalie asked you to." 

"All right. I'll call dad in a little bit after we're done." I hung up and went back inside to get the dress.