Wide awake

Chapter Thirty Four. Valentine Pineapple Pairs

B.P.O.V

I reached my hand down to my knee and scratched it in contempt while Alice twirled a large lock of my hair around the curling iron and chattered at Rose who was flipping through a magazine on her bed.

I was fairly positive she had been planning to put me in this outfit for as long as she had been planning her special night with Jasper. She actually pulled out the leather pants the day prior just to make me spend my veto. That should have been a big red flashing sign. That and the fact that February Fourteenth fell on a Sunday this year.

She seemed oddly relieved hours earlier when I informed her that Edward and I didn’t have any plans for the night. That was a complete lie of course. I had already made a fairly extensive menu in lieu of an actual gift; considering the reaction my last attempt at gift giving received.

Sadly, my lack of plans with Edward gave her the green light for this outfit. The shirt was a dark, scarlet red, with a square neck line that was so low on my chest that the top of the ridiculously lacey red push up bra/Chinese torture device she forced me into would peek out if I even moved the wrong way. And then there was always the red tiered knee length skirt. I was fairly convinced that Satan himself constructed it out of the itchiest gauzy material ‘unsuitable to be worn with leggings’.

In reality, it was better than the one she had originally intended for me to wear. She had held up a horrifically pink mini skirt enthusiastically before I promptly refused it. She pouted until I explained the logic behind my refusal with a grimace. Her pout turned into a frown and an apologetic glance as she realized that the mini skirt would expose one of my larger scars.

I was hoping the whole awkward experience would save me from having to wear a skirt at all. I was sorely mistaken.

I had to watch her and Rose gush and coo about how ‘adorable’ I looked as they made me do a little grudging twirl in the middle of Alice’s room. Adorable. It was a new low. I began feeling more and more like one of those poor dogs you see in public. The ones wearing fluffy pink tutus and miserable expressions as their owners paraded them around with a grin.

I shifted my bare legs uncomfortably while I grimaced at my cleavage in the vanity mirror and sent Alice’s reflection a pointed glare.

Valentine’s Day was officially my least favorite holiday. And as soon as she walked out the door at six, I was returning to civilian clothing. My hoodie had never seemed so inviting.

Admittedly, however, I was quite enjoying an afternoon with ‘the girls’, feeling normal with someone other than just Edward for a change. It was rather refreshing to hear them gossip and talk about usual girl stuff like I was one of them.

Alice wrapped another lock of my hair around the curling iron, “So when I finally got the manager on the phone, I insulted her low inventory and brainless employees.” She grinned while glancing over her shoulder at Rose, who was still flipping through the magazine on the bed. “Needless to say, I got the Princess Leia costume two days early and thirty bucks cheaper.” She snickered softly while moving on to another strand.

Rose and I both cringed simultaneously at her mention of the costume she was wearing for Jasper. It was very particular to a fantasy of his, and she had spent hours online ordering and perfecting every detail to surprise him with.

I could never watch Return of the Jedi again.

Rose sighed and flipped a page of the magazine while she lounged against the headboard of the bed. “You’re too extravagant. Em’s perfectly content with ten minutes on my knees.” She smirked at the magazine page.

Alice rolled her eyes at Rose’s reflection before furrowing her brows at a lock of my hair that wasn’t curling to her liking. “Not all of us can be so profoundly talented at the art of fellatio, Rose.” She mumbled distractedly while shaking her head and redoing the lock of hair.