A Certain Metamorphosis || Rosalie Hale

Chapter 19 - An Unforeseen Consequence

Becca and Amber, with the help of Alice, wasted no time in preparing Lily for her last-minute prom date. Lily did appreciate their enthusiasm even if she found the whole thing kind of ridiculous. It was common knowledge that most of the Cullen family tended to roll their eyes at high school dances. Usually, only Alice got caught up in the festivities. Edward seemed to be more excited than usual. Since the situation with James was resolved, Edward and Bella seemed to try to spend every waking and non-waking moment together. Lily tended to agree with most of her siblings in regards to dances. She wasn't interested in her classmates in that way, but she had agreed to go with James. A decision she was greatly regretting by now. There was no escape. If she was at school, all her classmates were gossiping. If she was with her friends, Becca and Amber wanted to talk about her date and know every little detail of every little interaction. If she was at home, Alice was begging her to let her go shopping with her or style her. Even her parents took more of an interest in the upcoming prom. Not only was Edward going with his new girlfriend, but this was the first prom that their youngest would be attending. They never wanted to hold Lily back, but they worried if they did the right thing letting her skip a grade. They knew sometimes younger students struggled socially so they were glad she was fitting in. It doesn't mean that they were ecstatic about the fact that she was growing up or her choice of date. Lily had narrowly avoided multiple versions of a "talk" with her parents over the two weeks. Alice, when she caught a glimpse of them in the future, would warn Lily as a bargaining chip to let her plan more about the evening. Lily was about at her wit's end. This is why she was more than frustrated at one of the Cullen's lack of attention.

Over the past year, she had started to find refuge hanging around Rosalie during her family's craziness. Rosalie acted as a breath of fresh air and calmness even when she was raging internally. Even if Lily knew it was determined to her overall goal of distancing herself from her family and her un-admitted crush, she couldn't seem to force herself to pull away from the blonde vampire. However, this backfired rather quickly as Rosalie seemed to vanish overnight. Well, maybe not vanish. Lily could recognize that she was being dramatic. She saw Rosalie every day. Between school and home, there was no shortage of sightings of the girl, but for all intents and purposes, she could have been across the country. Lily wasn't able to spend a moment alone with the girl. Any time prom was mentioned around the vampire, she visibly tensed or scoffed at the idea. She had even gone as far as making snide comments about Lily's date or taken down at her for going. It's not like Lily could voice her frustration at Rosalie. She knew she needed to remember that for most of her life, Rosalie had kept her distance. This was no difference, but man does she wish it didn't hurt so much.

Rosalie couldn't lie to herself. She was angry. Most of the time, her anger burned quick and hot and faded. This wasn't the case this time. It sat right under her skin. It itched, it squirmed, and it was making her crazy. She knew she was taking her anger out on this around her, but her family did not pay her any mind. She would occasionally catch Lily watching her from across the room, but the girl seemed fine. She had her friends, Alice, and Emmett to a certain extent. While Rosalie could admit to a certain part of herself she missed Lily's company, she was doing fine. Lily seemed to spend her free moments with Emmett rather than her now. She could hear them laughing or messing around throughout the day. It was fine, even if it did want to make Rosalie walk upstairs and tear Emmett's loud head off of his body. Lily even had James. God, what she would give to be able to rip that smug smirk off his face whenever he talked to her. He had even put an arm around her shoulder at lunch. If Emmett's hand wasn't gripping her wrist, she would have ripped the offending limb off without thinking. She thought that she would take advantage of the quiet afternoon in the Edward-free house to sort through her feelings, but she was interrupted when she heard footsteps coming in from the garage. She could make out Esme's and Lily's conversation about prom. Talking about how Lily would ride with the family and meet James there. Rosalie closed her book and left. It wouldn't hurt to hunt. She could think another time, and if she could sense Esme's eyes watching her leave, she ignored them. She did turn around to see pity in Esme's eyes.