BPOV
Over the next few weeks, life went back to normal for all of us. I woke up to Edward every morning, went to school and joked around with the Cullens, hung out with Edward at my house, or with the Cullens at their house, after school, ate dinner with Charlie, then went to bed where I fell asleep in Edward's arms. My weekends were usually spent with sleepovers at the Cullen house, and helping Alice, Esme and Rose plan the decorations for Prom- since Alice had taken my advice and volunteered to do it.
A few days after we returned from Phoenix I received an interesting phone call from Renee, who was now enjoying the sunshine in Florida. She had some news to share. "Bella, you'll never guess what I just heard. You remember our neighbour in Phoenix- Mrs Smyth?"
"Yeah?"
"Well she just rang to tell me some shocking news. Believe it or not someone burned down the old ballet studio that you used to go to."
"Really?" I tried to sound shocked.
"Yes. What kind of person would do such a thing?"
Me, "I don't know mum," I murmured.
"Well It's terrible- the poor owner. At least she has insurance though..." I zoned out while Renee continued to ramble on about the burnt down studio. I felt a twinge of regret- I hadn't even thought about how devastated the owners would be when I burnt it down.
Finally Prom night arrived- something I had eagerly anticipated for weeks since I was really looking forward to seeing Edward in a tux. Alice, Rose and I had spent the whole day together getting ready- we even went for massages, manicures and pedicures in Port Angeles in the morning to- as Alice said, "Make us feel like a million bucks."
We were now relaxed, happy and content as we put the final touches on our outfits and made sure every hair was in place. We all looked spectacular. Alice was wearing a lovely long yellow, one shoulder gown with cut-outs on the sides showing patches of her pale skin and a slit up the side that ended mid thigh. She had coupled it with canary yellow diamond earrings and a matching necklace, with more diamonds in a thin headband in her hair. Rosalie was looking unbelievably provocative in a sexy red dress with a neckline that dropped down to her waist. Rubies at her throat, ears and wrist completed the ensemble and made her look like a goddess. There was no way Emmett's eyes would ever be off her tonight, and I had a feeling most of the males attending the prom would have trouble concentrating on their own dates tonight.
Alice had yet again designed me a dress that suited me perfectly. It was a deep blue long silk dress that flowed beautifully around me when I moved. This time I was wearing jewellery that my uncles had given me when I was fifteen- a collar about 1.5cm wide with alternating vertical bands of sparkling sapphires and diamonds, with a matching bracelet and earrings. The colour of the stones matched my dress perfectly.
All of us were wearing stilettos that Alice had had custom made with the same fabric as our dresses so that they matched perfectly.
As with the spring dance, we made our entrance from the top of the staircase, our three guys waiting eagerly at the bottom. We slowly made our way down to them together, my eyes immediately on Edward as I took in his stunning form in a tuxedo. He was gorgeous and my eyes raked hungrily over his tall form until I finally reached his golden eyes. They were wide with appreciation, and stayed locked on me as I approached. When I neared the bottom of the stairs he moved forward to collect me as if in a daze. I was shocked when he suddenly stumbled slightly, tripping on his own feet in his eagerness to be near me.
Everyone turned around to look at him incredulously- I had never seen a vampire act clumsy before. "Wow, I didn't know clumsiness was contagious," Emmett commented. We all burst out laughing at that, and I was secretly proud of the fact that I had dazzled Edward so much that he had tripped.
This time Alice had arranged for us to share a limo to the prom and it arrived while we were having photos taken. I looked out at it and rolled my eyes. Alice was not known for subtlety. Our limo was a white stretch hummer with blue neon lights underneath. It looked more appropriate for Vegas than here.
We got in and I felt excitement seep through us as Jasper hyped us up. No doubt Alice had ordered him to make sure we enjoyed ourselves. The ride to the school was passed quickly as I snuggled into Edward's arms and we joked with the others until we felt the limo draw to a stop at the school.
We exited to find that the front of the gym was had a large banner in white with gold lettering saying, "PROM." Inside looked amazing thanks to Alice's magic touch. It was all tastefully decorated in black and gold, and white and silver. All of the tables had alternating black and white tablecloths. The black ones had gold trimming and gold centrepieces, while the white ones had silver. Streamers and helium balloons were strung everywhere alternating in the four theme colours. Alice had even hung a large disco ball and neon lights above our heads.
Once we had complimented Alice on her decorating, she dragged us all out on the dance floor. The music this time was classics, including a lot of instrumentals that allowed me to dance properly with Edward. I soon found myself waltzing happily around the dance floor in Edward's arms, thankful for Renata's dancing lessons, and blissfully ignorant of the incredulous and jealous stares we were receiving. At one point though, when we stopped so that I could have a little break, I caught the eyes of Jessica and Lauren as we left the dance floor, and if looks could kill I would be six feet under. Their glares were mean and jealous as they looked at me, and turned desperate and pathetic when their gaze turned to Edward. Beside me Edward winced slightly, and I knew their thoughts were getting to him. I glared viciously at them. They winced and immediately turned. "Mine," I growled lightly under my breath as I turned back to Edward. His gaze was amused and very happy. "What?" I asked, curious about his sudden change in demeanour.
"I loved you calling me yours," he confessed. I had to admit that I was slightly surprised by my own possessiveness, but I realised it was probably a mate thing.
I grinned, "Well that's exactly what you are Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, so you'd better get used to it," I informed him smugly, "Never forget that you're all mine, only mine."
He leaned down and kissed me. "All yours," he promised, "Forever."
Emmett came up behind him then. "Whipped," he announced.
Edward turned to him and cocked an eyebrow. "And you're not?" he asked.
Emmett considered it for a few seconds and glanced over at Rosalie, who, as predicted, was gaining attention from everyone tonight. "Never said I wasn't, welcome to the club man," he said as he clapped Edward on the shoulder and stalked back over to his wife. I chuckled softly, leaning happily up against Edward.
Looking around I noticed Angela swaying contentedly in Ben Cheney's arms and I was pleased for her- it had been obvious since the day I'd arrived that they both like each other a lot, although they had both been too shy to do anything about it.
As the night got later I realised that a lot of the students looked drunk. I began to get suspicious when I saw Alice in the corner shaking her fist as Emmett and getting angry. "Why is Alice mad at Emmett?" I asked Edward.
He looked over at them and his expression turned annoyed. "Emmett spiked the punch," he informed me.
I groaned, "Dad's going to kill him if he finds out." Then again, when I really thought about it, I'd love to see Emmett locked up in a cell for the night, hmm. Then another thought occurred to me. "How come Alice didn't see it?"
"Alice did see it, and she had a spare bowl of punch and switched them when Emmett spiked it, but he just went back and spiked the second bowl too," he answered me.
I rolled my eyes in disbelief, "Of course he did," I grumbled as I headed over to the refreshments table and Edward got me a glass of water. I noticed that most of the punch was already gone, and Edward discreetly emptied the rest into the other bowl of spiked punch sitting under the table. There were a few complaints from people when they realised that there was no punch left, but hopefully it would prevent them from getting too drunk.
Other than that interruption, the rest of the night passed as if I was in a wonderful fairytale with my personal prince charming. The night finally ended in my bed later that night as I was kissed senseless by my prince charming before falling into a peaceful and contented slumber safe in Edward's arms.
The day after the prom Edward let me sleep in a little and wake up on my own- apparently Charlie had decided not to disturb me after such a big night. When I asked what he was doing I was informed that he was looking at the many photos that Esme had taken last night on his computer, as Esme had emailed them to him early this morning. "He thinks you look beautiful," Edward informed me softly, "He can't believe his little princess has grown into such a beautiful woman." I felt myself tearing up at that.
When I eventually got up Edward left and I made my way downstairs, filling Charlie in on my amazing night as I ate breakfast, deliberately leaving out the part about the spiked punch. He showed me the photos, and I had to admit that we all looked stunning.
I left soon after, hopping in my 370z and speeding along the familiar route to the Cullen house. I was excited. Today was the official start of the summer holidays and hopefully, in the next couple of weeks the Cullens would be in Volterra and my secret would be revealed. Charlie and Renee already knew about my visit to Italy- I had been planning to spend some of my summer holidays there before I even moved to Forks. Of course, I hadn't actually decided to go to Volterra because I knew that it would tip Alice off. I just had to hope that Charlie wouldn't think about it in front of Edward for the next week. Instead, I made a firm decision to spend the next ten weeks of summer holidays in Forks with the Cullens.
I arrived to find a very excited Emmett already waiting, with Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and Edward behind him. All of them were holding paintball guns, and Emmett had a second one in his hand. I grinned. Paintballing was yet another activity that I had played regularly with Felix and Demetri and I was a pro.
I was soon armed with my own paintball gun and on Edward's back as we ran out into the middle of the woods- far enough away from humans that they wouldn't see us and in an area with plenty of trees and scrub to take cover in. Emmett had made me promise not to shield anyone other than myself during the game to keep it fair. We were playing in couples, although technically Rosalie and Emmet were at a severe disadvantage since neither of them had a special ability. Edward knew where they were from his mindreading, I could feel them with my shield, as well as protecting both of us from attack, Alice could see if anyone was coming near her, and Jasper could feel if people were close by their emotions. Each team had different coloured paintballs- Emmett and Rosalie had red, Edward and I had blue, and Alice and Jasper had yellow.
When we finally started I simply walked straight out into the open, attracting all the attention as both teams fired at me. Of course, with my shield it was pointless to shoot at me since I couldn't get hit. Instead, I soon had a bubble around me that was quickly turning orange from the combination of paintball colours. Meanwhile Edward had snuck up behind the teams and was firing off shots at both teams. They soon realised that he had ambushed them however, and turned to fire on him since they knew it was pointless to keep shooting at me. Of course, they were still underestimating their human, and while Edward dodged their shots with his incredible speed, I shot at the others, getting every shot. I took great pleasure in seeing Alice's face completely blue from my paint. I knew she wasn't pleased. "I'll get you back for this Bella!" she screamed at me. I just laughed.
We all ran out of ammo at around the same time, and I quickly leapt up onto Edward's back as we raced against the others back to where we had all cached out extra ammo supply. We all quickly reloaded, shooting at each other as we retreated back into the trees.
We continued our game, changing tactics and sometimes changing teams. Our last game was every person for themselves- which was fun, although for some reason I couldn't find Emmett- who I had been particularly wanting to shoot a little more than the others.
When we packed up I realised that Emmett still wasn't with us. Something told me that he was up to no good again. "Where's Emmett?" I asked Alice suspiciously, fully aware of the fact that since I had gotten blue paint all over her face and hair, it was likely that she wouldn't tell me where he was or what he was planning.
She smiled secretively. "Oh he just gave up and went home early."
I raised my eyebrow. There was no way that Emmett would just give up and go home early without a reason. Something was up. I turned to Edward hopefully, but he shook his head, "She's reciting the Gettysburg address over and over," he explained.
I didn't like this one bit, and as we ran back I could feel a sense of dread washing over me. Jasper looked over and smiled sympathetically.
Sure enough, when we arrived back I immediately spotted the reason for Emmett's early departure from our game. My beautiful black car now had a completely bedazzled hood. The plastic gems were in different colours, with a pattern of blue stars in a silver background. In the middle of the hood was green gems spelling Emmett's name. I had to admit that if it wasn't on my car I would have been impressed- it really was a work of art. Emmett was standing beside my car- a self satisfied smile on his face as he admired his handiwork.
His smile vanished as I got down from Edward's back and stomped up to him. "EMMETT!" I yelled, "YOU RUINED THE HOOD OF MY CAR!"
He smirked, "Payback's a bitch Bells," he said cockily, looking pleased with himself.
I glared. "Damn right it is Emmett," I said angrily as I stomped over to the garage and opened the door. Emmett's expression turned to confusion.
I wrapped a shield around his Jeep and levitated it out until it was next to my car, but hanging a couple of feet up in the air. "Remember what I said about your Jeep making a nice cube of scrap metal?" I asked, smirking evilly as Emmett's expression turned horrified. Behind him, Edward, Jasper, Alice and Rosalie's faces lit up into amused smiles, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Esme and Carlisle quietly exit the house to observe. Esme had a camcorder in her hand, and Carlisle had a camera. "No no no, Bella please!" Emmett pleaded, falling on his knees in front of me.
"I warned you Emmett." I said severely, although I was starting to feel a little amused to. The sight of this oversized man in front of me, on his knees begging for little old me to not destroy his beloved Jeep was ridiculously comical. I raised the Jeep another metre in the air.
Emmett upped his begging. "Please Bella, I'll do anything. I'll take off all the gems and make your car as good as new, I won't tease Edward anymore about staying with you at night," he pleaded.
I stopped to consider the offer. I had to admit that the idea of him not teasing Edward was incredibly tempting. I lowered the Jeep gently to the ground. "My car better be better than new in the next two hours," I informed Emmett, who stood up looking relieved, "And if Edward ever tells me you've been teasing him again about him spending the nights with me your Jeep will be a heap of scrap metal, and you won't have any opportunities to beg for me to stop," I informed him.
Emmett immediately ran into the garage and returned moments later with a bottle of some sort of solvent for removing the gems. I headed inside with the rest of the family, and after they cleaned up and got rid of the paint all over themselves we headed to the lounge room. We sat on the sofa as Esme plugged in the camcorder and we watched as the video panned around, getting a good shot of my bedazzled hood and my threatening look as Emmett's Jeep hovered behind me. When Emmett started begging me we all laughed at the comical sight.
When it was finished I asked Esme to email me a copy of the video, and Edward and I went upstairs to spend some time together.
Luckily for Emmet, when I emerged from the house I few hours later to head home I found my car in perfect condition, with not a sign that it had ever looked any different. I headed home satisfied. When I arrived I immediately emailed Volterra with the video of me threatening Emmett, and then called them. As I had predicted, they found it hilarious, and couldn't wait to meet everyone.
I was feeling pretty confident that when my Volturi family met my Cullen family they were going to get along splendidly- as long as the Cullens reacted well to my secret.