BPOV
"Alice," I whined. "I really can't dance. I won't go."
"Bella. Your parents are throwing this stupid ball thing. You sort of have to be there," she said apologetically. "And I figured a ball is a perfect occasion to give you a lovely make over."
"And buy me, you and Rosalie lovely dresses," I said, mocking her lightly. She stuck her tongue out at me and laughed.
"That too," she agreed.
"I mean, honestly, who throws a ball in the twenty-first century? Nobody, that's who," I ranted angrily.
"I think it's kind of cool. You get all dolled up and buy vintage dresses and dance. It's all so romantic," she sighed longingly. "I just have a feeling this is going to be a good night for all of us."
"My parents would be glad to hear you say that," I said, smiling slightly. I highly doubted this would be a good night for me. Any night that involved me and heels and dancing, was definitely not going to be a good night. But Alice was usually right about things like this. And I wanted the ball to be a success. I just didn't want to be there. Plus, it would make my parents happy.
"It's going to be good for you too Bella," she promised me. "I can feel it." I just rolled my eyes. Good nights didn't happen often for me. Sure, I had fun with Alice and Rosalie, and my parents were nice, and we were very well off, but this stuff was monotony to me. I was at a party every other night, or a cocktail dinner or something. Whether it be my parents, or the Brandon's or Hale's. But no matter what, there was a party. That's just what happened when you were some of the highest families in Washington state.
Normally, the parties thrown by my parents, and my friend's were unrivaled by anyone. It was hard to outdo them. But that didn't stop the Masen's, Whitlock's or McCarty's. They threw the only parties that were equivalent to the one's I was used to. They made just as much money as us, and were just as good looking, or so I've been told. My parents didn't allow me anywhere near those families.
I don't even remember how their feud got started. I think it was something like, the Whitlock's threw a part on the same night as the Hale's and guests were undecided about which party to attend. The entire city was basically separated into two groups, us and them. The us was everyone that attended the Hale's party, so basically, my family, Alice's and Rosalie's, along with half the state. And the them was the McCarty's, Whitlock's and Masen's, and the other half of the state. Our families had been working to outdo them for years.
So the reason my family was even having this ball, was because the Masen's had thrown a masquerade and my parents just had to one up them. So I blame the Masen family for this one. The usual families would be attending, but you could always count on at least one crasher from the other side. Someone to report on what the party was like. They were normally allowed. No one really said anything, as long as they didn't cause trouble. If we wanted the enemies to know what our party was like, the crasher needed to stay.
Luckily, Rosalie, Alice and I had never been recruited to crash one of their parties. So far a few kids from our school had- Angela Weber, Mike Newton, Jessica Stanley- but that's about it. Mostly adults had gone. But since we were eighteen and just graduated high school, we were most likely going to be sent along. And, although I'd never admit this to anyone, I was sort of excited to see what all the fuss was about. To see if their parties were really all that great.
"I have arrived." Alice and I both turned to see Rosalie Hale in the doorway, her blond hair curled into a Marie Antoinette type hairstyle. Not the really tall one, but the nice one. She was wearing a gorgeous red strapless dress. The top part was tight and had silver beading that ended in a small, red bow. The rest of her dress flared out until it hit the floor in a splash of red. A beautiful ruby necklace was draped around her neck, the only item on her bare neck and shoulders. She looked stunning. (Pic on profile)
