I raised an eyebrow at her and pointed towards my James Bond tuxedo. "Honestly, Bella, what did you think we were doing?"
The color in her cheeks only turned a darker shade of red as water spilled over her eye lashes and down her cheeks. She quickly wiped under her eyes and looked at her tear stained hand. After watching her reaction I couldn't figure out how the prom - of all the things for tears to be spilt over - was bothering her so much. Prom, of course, wasn't on my list of tear worthy subjects. She didn't even have this reaction when she met up with James in Phoenix. Her reactions now were just completely absurd!
"This is completely ridiculous. Why are you crying?" I demanded in frustration.
"Because I'm mad!" She shouted.
"Bella," I sighed, turning my gaze on her.
"What?" she muttered, folding her arms irritably.
Okay, it was time to try the dazzling trick. "Humor me," I requested while gazing deeply into her eyes.
Her shoulders hunched forward in defeat after a few seconds. "Fine," her lower lip jutted out while staring back at me, possibly trying to glare, but the tears were making it hard to read them. "I'll go quietly. But you'll see. I'm way overdue for more bad luck. I'll probably break my other leg. Look at this shoe! It's a death trap!"
She lifted her dress and pointed at her leg in horror.
"Hmmm." Her soft delicate skin was porcelain white and looked soft, warm and silky. "Remind me to thank Alice for that tonight," I teased.
"Alice is going to be there?"
Didn't Alice tell her? Didn't Bella see her?
"With Jasper, and Emmett... and Rosalie," I added.
Her eyebrows pulled together before she shook her head. I suppressed a sigh, longing to know what was going on in that head of hers.
Then, her lips pursed. "Is Charlie in on this?" She asked suspiciously.
"Of course." I grinned, and then chuckled. "Apparently Tyler wasn't, though."
Her teeth came together with an audible snap. It pleased me that his appearance at her house had a negative effect on her.
Finally, we pulled into the school parking lot, parking next to Rosalie's M3.
The sun was starting to set and the sky was turning a coppery color as the thin layer of clouds casted shadows down on the ground in odd angles turning the white fluff into red and orange. To the east the sky was showing some stars while turning purplish due to the setting sun. The sunset was beautiful, but when I got out to offer my help to Bella, the sunset was suddenly insignificant in comparison. I held out of hand and she tightened her folded arms and humpfed stubbornly. Her chin was jutting out with a superior smugness in her expression. I would have just picked her up but there were too many people in the parking lot.
I sighed. "When someone wants to kill you, you're brave as a lion -- and then when someone mentions dancing..." I muttered while shaking my head.
Her expression changed to fear instantly and she gulped.
"Bella, I won't let anything hurt you," I paused, "-- not even yourself. I won't let go of you once, I promise."
The fear washed away as quickly as it had placed itself on her glorious face. I was relieved at once.
"There, now," I said gently, "it won't be so bad."
Without effort I reached out pulled her to my chest, wrapping my arm around her waist and holding her hand in the other. Her warmth wrapped around my body as we walked towards the school. I held her firmly in my grasp, letting her place all her weight on me if necessary. Our progress was slow, but tonight there were no expectations and we were in no hurry.
Fork's High School prom was in their gym and as we entered Bella fully took in the decorations of balloon arches, pastel crepe paper and twisted garlands that were covering every inch of the walls. Her whimsical giggle shocked me. After all her anger, fear and constant pouting and shouting she was...smiling.
"This looks like a horror movie waiting to happen," she snickered.
Relief washed over me and I joined in with her humor.
"Well," I whispered as we approached the ticket table, "there are more than enough vampires present."
She looked over the ladies shoulder at the ticket area. On the dance floor, Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice were floating fluidly around the enclosed circle of admirers as they danced gracefully around in their evening gowns.
That family makes me sick, look at how perfect they move.
My date probably thinks I'm ugly compared to these women.
Man I'd like to...
I shoved everyone's thoughts from my mind so I could focus on Bella. Looking down at her, she looked up at me with a look of conspiracy in her thoughts.
"Do you want me to bolt the doors so you can massacre the unsuspecting townsfolk?" She whispered.
My brow raised. "And where do you fit into that scheme?"
"Oh, I'm with the vampires, of course," she collaborated.
Though I was happy she was in better spirits, I was afraid that this conversation would turn into a 'let's turn Bella into a vampire' argument. Trying to read her face, I smiled reluctantly. "Anything to get out of dancing," I assumed.
"Anything." She smiled.
After purchasing the tickets I began pulling her to the dance floor. She literally dragged her feet. Pursing my lips, I stared down at her.
"I've got all night," I informed her, not in the least bit worried that she wouldn't fold.
Finally, her stubbornness subsided and we moved onto the dance floor next to my family. This was my first time going to the prom, though my siblings went every chance they got. Alice loved to dress up and so did Rosalie, mainly because of the stares and compliments she received.