Ali

Rain fell from the sky as gently as withered leaves float from a tree. Thunder roared like an ocean of seething champagne. This class of weather was calming for Alice. It made her mind feel at ease as she watched the lightening crash within the sky. Of course, there was one downside to the rain and that happened to be getting her newly done hair wet.However, it was a price to pay if it meant getting the chance to go shopping without the intrusion of the sun. That evening, Alice had talked Emmett and Rosalie into joining her for some outdoor fun in Port Angeles. She offered them the oath of just spending some time hiking in the Olympic National Park, but that promise wasn't entirely true. Alice had other plans in mind, and once they realized it - they were none too pleased.


With her arms draped in shopping bags arranging from large to small, the petite brunette twirled on the tip of her toes to the exit door of the boutique. The corners of her lips curled into a sly grin as she turned her head to the side, glancing at her brother and sister behind her. Each of their arms were ensnared in a magnitude of bags, although Emmett carried the most. She could hear the groans of annoyance that slipped from their lips with each step that they took towards her. "Alice, I have no problem going shopping with you, but this is a form of deceit." Rosalie shook her head. She kept a close eye on Alice as she leaned her shoulder against the glass double doors. "Yeah, you told us that we were going hiking. This definitely doesn't look like the outdoors to me." Emmett chimed in, almost walking into a stone column due to his lack of vision as the bags were piled up to his countenance.


"We did go hiking, Em. We hiked into the shopping mall and now we're hiking back out." Alice giggled. "Oh, and please be careful with my items. I didn't didn't buy all of these things just for them to get soaked. So protect them with your life or you'll be paying double for the next mall trip."


"Where are we even supposed to put all of these bags, Alice? You have like fifty outfits and this is a lot to carry. I don't think Emmett's Jeep will even have enough room." Rosalie questioned her sister. One by one, they each began to make their exit through the double doors, planting their feet onto the wet pavement. The earthly smell of rain that wafted through their nostrils was generally pleasant. Musky and fresh, rain falling heavily in a single blur. A sheet of rain cascades off the roof gutters of the boutique, landing directly onto Emmett's head causing him to shutter. Both Alice and Rosalie tried to stifle their laughter as they awkwardly sauntered over towards his Jeep, packing the bags neatly within the backseat. Within a moment, Alice's facial features were frozen in time. A sharp breath filled her lungs, slowly but surely as she gazed into the distance - dissociating.


"Alice? What is it? What did you see?"  Rosalie placed a hand upon her sister's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. Even the slightest touch was enough to draw the tiny woman back to reality. She presented Rosalie with a slight smile, hand gripping the final bag before shoving it into the vehicle with brute force. "It's nothing to worry about, Rose. It's just looking like a baseball kind of night for us." Alice gleamed. She knew that what she had seen was deeper than that, but she had no choice but to lie to her. In truth, what she'd witnessed in her vision was more of an overall concern with Jasper. His feeding habit was more conflicting compared to their own, but it was something that none of the Cullen's were aware of. Feeding from humans went against their sense of morality, but it was more satiating for Jasper. She knew that they'd be disappointed in him if they'd caught on to what he'd been doing in private, but it would be hypocritical if they all denied that mortal blood was at the forefront of their thoughts at some point. Therefore, his secret was worth protecting and she'd do her best to keep it hidden no matter the repercussions.  Glancing over towards Emmett as he traveled around to the driver's seat, Alice rushed over and gripped him by the back of the neck. Her index finger and thumb gave his skin a tight pinch before shoving him away from the car door.

"Ouch, what was that for?" Emmett reached around the run the back of his neck.


"I'm not sitting in the backseat to damage any of my expensive possessions. So that means you have to ride on top of the Jeep while Rosie and I sit up front."


Emmett scoffed. "Oh, come on! I just helped carry a majority of your shopping cart. Cut me some slack." Without saying a word, Alice shot him a deathly glare, prompting him to raise his hands in defeat and leap onto the roof of his Jeep. Sliding into the driver's seat, Alice was followed by Rosalie who crept into the passengers side with ease.



The drive home was short-lived but peaceful. Alice carefully removed herself from the comfort of her seat, slamming her black platform boots into the soil. Phasing up to the front door of their home within a matter of seconds, Alice waltzed through the door with a joyful tune emerging from her being. Of course,it was just like her to leave one of the boys to grab her shopping on their own without daring to offer them any assistance. Her brother's often referred to her as bossy, but someone has to be. Especially someone that holds extraordinary fashion expertise. Trudging into the kitchen, Alice came face to face with Carlisle who held his wallet in tow. Shaking the billfold in his hand, he smiled at her, holding his free hand out. "Carlisle...I can explain." Alice mumbled. She reached into her left cost pocket, retrieving the credit card that she had borrowed from him previously that morning.  "There's no need to. I think we all know by now that your spending habits no longer need an explanation. We plan on going out to the field to play a round of baseball as soon as the thunder rumbles. Tell Emmett and Rosalie to get ready and meet us in the living room when you're all ready." Carlisle smiled, carefully pulling the credit card from Alice's tight hold.


With a nod of her head, Alice trailed out of the kitchen, prancing up the staircase in a single leap. Once she was standing front and center in the hallway, she planted her feet firmly against the floor and gazed around the vicinity. To her left, she could see Esme stalking the hall like a private investigator. Her hair rustled through the recycled air of their home as she walked towards Rosalie's bedroom in high springy steps.


"Alice, sweetheart. Have you seen Jasper? I came to look for him, but no one can seem to find him." Esme's spoke. Hee features were soft, but Alice could tell that she was a bit worried. She was the epiphany of what a true mother figure should be, at least in Alice's eyes. Esme was so kind and so understanding. She cared for them, even loved them as if they were her own children, something that the petite brunette hadn't received the chance to truly experience with her own parents so long ago. That was all in the past, however. She had no room to dwell on it and she wouldn't allow herself to do so either. "Knowing Jazzy, he probably went out for a walk. He'll be back soon, don't worry!" Alice responded. Walking away, Alice took a deep breath and masked her thoughts with the idea of trying on the clothes and accessories that she'd picked out today. If Edward was nearby, she didn't want him tapping into her mental, figuring out exactly what she knew about Jasper venturing out of the house without alerting anyone. She knew that he would make the biggest scene out of anyone else. Certainly if he found out that she knew and kept this from them.

Walking into Rosalie's bedroom, Alice ran straight for the closet where she kept her uniform. Granted Alice had her own room that she shared with Jasper, she couldn't contain herself from stealing some of her sister's closet space as well. With the amount of outfits that she had, it wasn't too far fetched to assume she needed the space more than Rosalie. Stepping into the closet, Alice stripped herself from head to toe, leaving nothing but the sheer undergarments that she wore underneath her clothes. A round of soft giggles filled the area as the cotton fabric of her uniform tickled porcelain skin while she got dressed. Snatching her baseball hat from the top shelf, the pixie grabbed ahold of her wet clothes to straighten them out neatly. The water damage was bad enough, she didn't need her clothes getting creases in them.


Skipping out of Rosalie's bedroom, she proceeded to maneuver across the hallway to her own room. Her eyes were engrossed in the scene  that played out before her. Edward was standing in the doorway, teasing Jasper seconds before he slipped past his form. Alice's cheeks would have flushed a pink tinge if she had the blood to circulate, but instead, she waved towards them. "Edward, Jazzy." She smiled, leaning in to kiss Jasper's cheek softly. Tugging the sleeve of his windbreaker, she wandered off into their bedroom, taking a sharp turn to enter their bathroom. Tidily, she lowered her wet clothes down into the tub and walked out to reach into their closet.
Her hands clasped the thick handle of her bat, canary yellow painted fingernails gracing its wooden structure as she held it close to her side.

"As much as I'd like to hear who wins the 'who annoys whom' argument, we should get downstairs before anyone tries to leave without us." Alice snickered, glancing over to capture a glimpse of Jasper as she exited the room. Giving his arm a playful nudge, she made sure to look into his eyes a few times, just to be sure everything was okay and that there were noticible changed within the overlay of his lineament.