Author: self_composed | It has been six weeks since Bella sent out her applications and it is now the end of March. She has been on the soccer team since that time, winning the one game they've had against the team from the Quileute reservation, and has introduced Charlie to her flute (he's nonplussed but proud), and has been keeping straight A's in everything.
She has received four rejections (Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Princeton). The other schools are still quiet on the subject of applicant Bella Swan. Except Stanford.
Stanford thinks she is interesting, and would like to interview her in person, when would be convenient for her?
Hmm.
[Hey Alice. If anybody asks you, would you mind telling them you bought me a motorcycle?]
She can drive herself to the airport. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Sure!] he says cheerfully. [What kind and when?] |
Author: self_composed | [Custom one just now. Come over and watch me conjure it up,] Bella says cheerily. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | [Fuck yes!]
He turns invisible and zooms up out of his lair. |
Author: self_composed | When he arrives, Bella's standing in the garage; it doesn't have room for a car - Charlie parks on the street and Bella used to park in the driveway before her station wagon got busted. But it has room for a motorcycle.
She's had a while to design it now, and what she doesn't know about motorcycle functionality she can let the magic handle. "Behold," she intones, and burns a pentagon.
It appears.
It's sleek and beetle-black and detailed in brilliant gold with patterns like thin vines twining around all its edges. If it were an inch long and strung on a chain it'd be jewelry; instead it's like a metallic animal crouched on the floor of the garage.
"Doesn't need gas," Bella brags. "Can use it in case someone's watching me though."
She wishes on another pentagon, because she wants her riding gear (pants, jacket, fingerless gloves, and a pair of short-heeled half-calf boots) to have certain properties. "Repels water, helpfully temperature-regulating whether warm or cold," she says. There's a helmet too, appearing in the same conjuration, equally shiny, although whether she'll use it or it's just for show is anyone's guess.
It's black with gold designs on it too, and it fits like a sexy, sexy glove.
"After you went and got me such a silly present I just had to go ahead and get my motorcycle license," she shrugs, petting the soft leather on her thigh. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "...I don't know who I want to fuck more, you or the bike," says a stunned and delighted Alice. |
Author: self_composed | Bella bursts out laughing. "Please don't fuck my bike. But I thought you might approve, yes. So this is the kind of thing you might randomly decide to spend a fraction of your damages on."
She tilts her head. "There might be extra requirements to drive a motorcycle at my age, actually. My birthday's not till September... I wonder if I need Charlie's permission or something. I will look into that." She strokes her bike. "But I'm keeping this regardless. I like it." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "I promise not to fuck your bike," says Alice.
He does not promise not to go home later and think about fucking it. Mmmmmm.
(Promising something doesn't mean the same thing to him that it does to most people. The promise, by itself, is meaningless. What he's saying, the thought behind the words, is that he acknowledges she doesn't want him to do that and therefore predicts that he won't. He isn't paying much attention to this definition at the moment, but it's still there.)
"And I am glad that you are keeping it, because it's fucking awesome and so are you." |
Author: self_composed | Bella grins. "Now I have to find out if I can get licensed to use this thing in time to drive myself to the airport so I can go interview at Stanford. You'd think I'd be nervous about leaving it at an airport, but it won't start or even roll if anyone but me tries and when not operating it's way too heavy to lift." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "...A motorbike this sexy that's also unstealable is gonna get noticed," Alice points out. |
Author: self_composed | "What, just because there's a bit of a trick to the ignition, the wheels lock up when it's turned off, and it weighs several hundred pounds?" Bella says. "It might get keyed, but I can fix that." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Mm," says Alice. "Guess it's not that likely that somebody really determined is gonna try." |
Author: self_composed | Bella nods. "I mean, I guess I could also put an alarm on it, but no one pays attention to those." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "The only thing a car alarm ever does is annoy the fuck out of people," Alice asserts. |
Author: self_composed | "Right. They were a significant component of making that poor defense lawyer lose so much sleep," Bella says sweetly. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | ...Alice cracks up.
[I love you,] he says by brainphone, because he is laughing too hard to use out-loud words. |
Author: self_composed | "I'm gonna go look up what I have to do to be licensed to use my silly, excessive present that I cannot sensibly return because you had it made custom for me," Bella says, heading into the house after petting her bike one more time. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Alice gives the bike one last lingering look, and then follows her. That thing is gorgeous. And it suits her perfectly. He wishes he could actually get her a present that cool. But it's pretty much guaranteed that anything he might think to provide is inferior to what she could wish up for herself. |
Author: self_composed | "You're covering for me. I can't get that for myself, not readily," Bella responds to this thought. "You as good as got me this, because otherwise I'd have to fabricate the plausible ability to build the damn thing in order to have it in public. Oh, and you got it for me from a super secretive private hobbyist you met on the Internet who did you a one-time favor and who does not want his or her name publicized." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Cool," he says, and starts inventing hilariously implausible lies to cover for this imaginary person, because that is what he would actually do in that case. |
Author: self_composed | Bella looks up motorcycle laws in Washington. It turns out she needs Charlie's permission to take a sixteen-hour course and then pass a written test to be allowed to bike hither and thither. "Sixteen hours, dang," she says. "Oh well. If it turns out it would help, can I borrow some cash to pay an instructor to let me do that over a weekend instead of sitting through some regularly scheduled class that meets for an hour every evening for two and a half weeks?" |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Yup," says Alice. |
Author: self_composed | "Grand. If you care, I'll pay you back when I too become a millionaire. If you don't, I will forget about it altogether after about twelve minutes of mild guilt." She starts looking for motorcycle instructors. She can just fly wherever, land a few blocks away, and claim to have gotten a ride. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "I so don't care," he says. "Oh, uh, people are really gonna think we're fucking if you show up to school on that thing. You cool with that?" |
Author: self_composed | "Meh," says Bella. "Don't care enough to not use it. I will carry on denying it and say you're just buying me things with your court-awarded money because I helped you with the trial stuff." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Okay, cool."
A few things click in his head. Presents; beautiful things; designing for function and form.
"Hey, can I make you hot clothes?" he asks, already running through possibilities in his head. Dresses, various lengths; suits; assorted other items. |
Author: self_composed | "Not a fan of dresses or suits on me in general, although if I have to show up to something super-formal I'd wear a dress. Maybe now that I don't trip on imaginary things all the time I'll start showing up to dances? I'd wear dresses to those, and I'll let you make 'em if you want if you let me vet the design." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "You got it."
Dancing. Oh, he can definitely design dresses for dancing. |
Author: self_composed | Bella grins. "Spiffy. I wonder if dancing is one pentagon, or one per type?" She tries it. "Huh. Works with one, but I probably couldn't win a waltz contest, I think this is just general I-can-dance-now." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "...Wanna dance?" he suggests, grinning. Because why not? |
Author: self_composed | "D'you know how?" Bella asks. "Yet?" |
Author: edgeofyourseat | He shrugs and burns a pentagon. |
Author: self_composed | Bella can see it disappear. She shrugs and puts some waltz music on, and leads, even though he's taller and she's a girl. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | That is because Bella is perfect.
Completely for the fuck of it, Alice wishes himself a magnificently twirly pleated skirt. |
Author: self_composed | Bella laughs, and twirls him accordingly. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | He loves her so much. |
Author: self_composed | Bella doesn't get tired at this level of physical activity for hours. She can dance as long as she wants. But the music ends eventually and she spins Alice into a closing dip.
"That was fun," she says. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Whee!" says Alice, sitting down on the floor. |
Author: self_composed | "I love being magical," crows Bella. "I love it lots." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "I love it too. And I love you being magical. And I love you," Alice recites happily. |
Author: self_composed | "Charlie'll be home in under an hour," she says, glancing at the clock. "Time to start dinner. You staying?" |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Yep," he says, smoothing out his skirt. |
Author: self_composed | "I'm kinda impressed with Charlie for not having remarked on your new clothes," Bella says, heading down the stairs and starting on some rice to serve with fried fish. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Me too," he says, laughing.
Once again Charlie defies Alice's experience of dads! That is a good thing. He should keep doing that. |
Author: self_composed | Bella cooks. She hands Alice things to stir, and stale bread to turn into crumbs. Charlie's home on time, remarks neither on Alice's presence nor on his attire, and is loudly appreciative of the food. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Alice is also loudly appreciative of the food, although half of his remarks thereon are technically silent. |
Author: self_composed | "So Dad," says Bella. "Alice got me a ridiculous present, and I can't return it because he went and got it custom and anyway I really like it. So... um..."
"Mm?" Charlie asks. "Why would you return it if you like it?"
"Well, I'm not licensed to drive it," says Bella.
Charlie's silent for a beat. "Laney, did you get my daughter a motorcycle?" |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Yup," says Alice, sunnily. |
Author: self_composed | "It's gorgeous, Dad, and I'd be safe, because - y'know - and I was thinking I could drive myself to the airport so I can fly to California to get interviewed by Stanford..."
Charlie blinks.
"Stanford?"
"Yeah, they want an interview!" Bella says sunnily. "I can fly down on a weekend, and you won't have to drive me... if I can get your permission to take a motorcycle course." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Alice beams. Bella is just delightful, okay? |
Author: self_composed | Charlie hems and haws. "Well," he says finally. "If you're sure you'll be safe?"
"Quite sure," Bella says.
"Well, fine, if you need my permission I suppose you've got it." |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Alice continues to beam! He is thinking about Bella on her motorcycle. They are pleasant thoughts. |
Author: self_composed | "Wanna see the bike, Dad?" Bella asks when the food has all been tucked away into various tummies.
"Sure," Charlie says.
So she takes him out to see the bike.
"Damn," he says. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | "Yup," says Alice. |
Author: self_composed | "Yes, you may learn to drive that," Charlie repeats.
Bella grins. |
Author: edgeofyourseat | Alice twirls joyously. |