CHAPTER 10
THE RITE OF PASSAGE

AFTER seeing Bella Swan and Edward Cullen hand-in-hand every day, it was almost surprising to not see Forks mysterious couple in school for quite some time. It had been two months since they got together – in public, I should say – and suddenly they were just ... gone? The suppressed Nancy Drew inside of Margo Richards was fuming, wanting to know so much more. But she kept to herself, silently listening in on her classmates' discussions about the matter.

"I'm worried about Bella," Angela Weber had whispered to her friends in their empty biology classroom. There was hardly anyone there besides them and Margo, who intently eavesdropped. "She hasn't been here for days."

Mike Newton had scoffed. "And neither has Cullen. I'm getting really suspicious."

"Who cares?" Jessica Stanley frowned. "Focus on yourselves. Besides, prom is only two weeks away! We've yet to discuss corsages. I need pink to match my dress!"

Margo almost forgot about that: prom. Well, it wasn't like she wanted to go in the first place. Melinda was going with Lee Stephens, who asked her after being persuaded by Mike. Margo was surprised Lee hadn't asked Melinda before that day, seeing as he was apparently crushing on her for a couple months. He had always been somewhat of a coward.

Once aunt Jenny found out about prom being so close from one of the injured students in the hospital, she rushed home and demanded to know why Margo hadn't told her. Jenny had always been a prom aficionado. She was the prom queen at her high school in Seattle, and all she wanted was for her niece to look as beautiful as ever at her junior prom. But Margo was certainly not having it. "I didn't want to go," Margo complained. "No one asked me anyways. It's only prom."

"It's only prom?" Jenny's mouth fell open in shock as she threw down her work bag onto the kitchen counter. "Prom is a rite of passage – I'll have you know. It's only, like, a step below your wedding!"

Margo raised a brow. "I beg to differ."

Jenny put up her hands. "Can't you just ... reconsider?"

"Why?" She sighed, slouching her back. "We can't all be prom queens like you, Jenny."

Jenny held a finger. "You can – with the right dress."

"I don't like wearing dresses."

"Shush!" Jenny exclaimed, slipping off her oxfords and gesturing for her niece to follow her. "Come with me, and maybe you'll reconsider."

Margo scoffed loudly and followed her aunt up the steps of her old house. The floorboards creaked against their heavy feet as they ascended the stairs. Jenny scurried to her room, which was just a couple feet down the hall from her niece's. Margo plopped herself onto Jenny's bed while she searched her closet for something. Several articles of clothing were thrown out of the closet, some hit Margo in the face. "I bought this thing for you a while ago," Jenny explained through her search, "for prom, in case you decided on going."

"But I don't need –"

Margo's rant was interrupted as her aunt finally pulled out what she had been looking for. She took off the plastic wrapping from the dress, smiling big. "I bought it at a consignment shop last year. I think it was made in the fifties." She said. "It reminded me of you." The dress was a dark maroon red with a high, square neckline and no sleeves. The skirt flared out into an A-line, and it looked like it would reach Margo's knees. It was incredibly simple, but even Jenny knew that this dress was so Margo.

The teenager stood up from the bed, hands reaching out to touch the silky fabric. It was soft against her fingers, and Margo looked up to meet her aunt's eyes. "I'm going to be cold in this," she muttered.

"It's spring-time."

"Spring-time in Forks is maybe a high of sixty degrees," Margo replied. She sighed longingly, but soon enough, her mouth began to form into a smile. "I guess I can ... reconsider my options."

Jenny jumped up and down on the balls of her feet. "Yay!" She screamed, flailing the dress around. "And remember, Margo, you don't need a date to have fun at prom. You can have fun all on your own, and you'll look beautiful while doing it."

Margo was about to shoot her aunt a reply when her cellphone began to ring. She plucked her flip phone from her jean pocket, greeting, "Hello?"

"MARGARET RICHARDS!" Melinda exclaimed loudly on the other end, causing Margo to put the phone a bit away from her ear. "Where the hell have you been?! I have news. Bella Swan was in Arizona! That's why she was gone for so long! Something happened to her down there. I heard that she tripped and fell down two flights of stairs, even went through a window."

Margo looked at her phone, realizing that she might've been ignoring calls without realizing it. Her brow knit together. "Wait, what? Is she okay?!"

"I don't know," Melinda replied. "Your aunt might, though. She was in Forks hospital today, getting a new cast for her leg."

Jenny, who had heard Melinda's words from the loud speaker on her niece's phone, nodded. "Yeah, Isabella Swan – the girl who was also in the car accident months ago. She was in today." Margo bobbed her head at the answer.

"We should, like, do something for her," she suggested. "Shouldn't we?"

Melinda paused, static coming through her end. "You're sounding very charitable."

"You act as if I'm a bitch!"

"Okay, okay," Melinda huffed, "whatever. What should we do? Bring cookies?"

Margo looked to her aunt for help, but she was only nodding at Melinda's idea. "Jenny thinks cookies are good."

She heard Melinda snap on the other end. "I'll be over in five."

•••

Melinda picked up her friend in her Sedan and sped down the moisten street to their local supermarket. Margo complained that she didn't need to speed, seeing as there was only one road in their town that went everywhere, but Melinda chose to ignore her. They sprinted through the rain to get inside the supermarket, and then proceeded to walk to the bakery. A bored teenager stood behind the counter with all their cakes, blowing a bubble from her gum as the stove besides her consistently rang that whatever was inside it was burning. Melinda and Margo picked up the most cliché cookies they could find: the vanilla cookies with shitty frosting and sprinkles on top. Every kids' favorite.

After splitting the cost for the cookies and slapping a bow on top of the plastic container, Melinda drove them both to Bella's house. Everyone in town knew where the chief lived, so it wasn't exactly weird for them to be doing this. At least, Margo hoped it didn't come off that way.

Melinda parked her Sedan on the grass in front of Bella's house. They had their hoods up due to the rain, but set them down once they were under the cover of Bella's steps. Margo knocked on the door, and within seconds, Chief Swan appeared, looking at the two teenagers through the screen door. "We came to see Bella," Melinda said with a smile.

Chief Swan didn't say anything, just nodded his head and called his daughter's name. The sound of a cast hitting wooden floorboards arrived, and Chief Swan moved himself out of the way as Bella appeared, opening the screen door to speak with her classmates. "Oh," she smiled nervously, "hey, guys. I didn't expect to see anyone today." She looked down at her sweatpants and stained t-shirt.

"So none of your friends came to see you?" Melinda asked, causing Margo to hit her stomach.

Margo turned back to Bella, sending the awkward girl a grin. "We heard that you were in the hospital and ..." She viewed to the store-bought cookies in her hands. "We got these for you."

Margo thrust her hands out, offering the plastic container to Bella, who took it in her nimble fingers. Bella inspected the box, wondering what they bought, before looking up at the two girls with a big smile. "Are these the blue frosted cookies that everyone hates?" She asked, to which Melinda nodded. "How did you guys know these were my favorite? No one understands that they're the best."

Melinda and Margo shared a joyful look. "We're glad you like them," Melinda said, clasping her gloved hands together.

"Would you both like to come inside and help me eat them?" Bella laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I can pop a movie in, maybe make some popcorn –"

"Do you have any of the Scary Movie trilogy?" Margo asked quickly.

Bella opened her mouth to speak, but didn't know how to reply. She didn't expect Margo Richards to liked those movies; no one did. "They're her favorite," Melinda explained."

"Then, yeah. I think I have the second one." She held open the door more for them, gesturing for them to step inside her warm home. Her cast slid across the floor like a brick. "Please, come in."

•••

Jenny Fowler was practically conducting an entire photo shoot with her small cellphone. It was prom night, but Margo thought it to be Jenny's favorite night of the year. Believe it or not, Margo did decide to go to prom, but almost didn't go due to the tickets almost being sold out. After flirting with the sophomore boy selling the dance tickets, Melinda managed to snag one for her friend.

Melinda met Margo at her aunt's house, with Lee Stephens following her like a lost puppy dog. He got his dad to lend him his old Cadillac for the night, and Melinda's only request was that he would drive Margo to prom as well, even though Margo specifically said she could drive herself fine. Melinda just didn't want to be with Lee alone most of the night, and Margo understood that.

Jenny left Lee out for most of the shots, because she didn't see any use for him otherwise. She took dozens upon dozens of pictures of Melina and Margo in different poses, and finally Margo just had to say, "ENOUGH!" Jenny apologized for holding them up, but Margo knew she was happy just to see her niece going to prom.

Margo flipped her curled hair behind her back as she entered the backseat of Lee's borrowed car. Her vintage dress went a centimeter above her knees, but she didn't mind too much. Her aunt did all her makeup for the night, adorning her eyes with a jet-black eyeliner wing and red lipstick. Melinda was wearing a pale orange, floor-length dress that hugged her curves well and made her dark skin practically glow. She looked beautiful with minimal makeup, and clearly, Lee also thought so too. He kept trying to put his hand on Melinda's knee during the drive, and every time Melinda would shove it off.

Prom was being held in an event hall that had the outside appearance of a cottage. Margo thought it was actually pretty nice. She liked the blooming trees situated across the front of the building, as well as the multiple frames for people to take pictures under. Melinda allowed Lee to open her door for her and escort her inside, but she felt terrible for Margo third-wheeling. That was, until, she saw a familiar face.

Melinda squinted her eyes as her friend was smoothing out her dress. She pointed her finger in the background of Margo. "Is that Jacob Black?"

Margo immediately turned. She was right. Sitting on one of the stone benches near the entrance of prom was Jacob, wearing a pair of black dress pants, an ironed white button-down, and a black tie. Bella Swan was walking away from him, her cast causing her to move slow as she walked steadily with her date, Edward. Once their eyes met, Jacob was waving his hand towards her. Margo looked to her friend, already seeing the smile on her face as she said, "I'll meet you guys inside."

Melinda nodded quickly, allowing Lee to walk with her arm-in-arm. Margo then strode across the parking lot to Jacob, almost tripping over her own small heels. She began to notice that for the first time, she had wandering eyes on her, and boy – did that make her self conscious.

"You clean up nice," Margo complimented once she was feet from Jacob.

The Quileute boy loosened the tie on his neck. "So do you."

Margo's red-stained lips curled into a grin. She took a seat on the stone bench, finding it to be cold against her behind. "Well, Jacob Black," she said, "you told me that you went to school on the Rez. Are you crashing my prom?"

"Maybe," he shrugged, his dark stare meeting hers. "I didn't think you'd be the type of person to go to prom."

"Trust me, I'm not." Margo replied with a roll of her eyes. "So why are you here?"

There was a certain look in Jacob's eyes that Margo didn't understand, and this caused him to view down at his sneakers, which were a complete contrast to his outfit. He moved his shoulder-length hair in front of his vision, but Margo could see still the mysterious look. She furrowed her brow as he finally said, "My dad paid me twenty bucks to come here and talk to someone."

"Twenty bucks?" Margo asked with a wrinkled nose. "That's a pretty hefty amount. I hope he paid for the tie and dress pants too."

Jacob was back to laughing, like he always did around Margo. He didn't reply, not like he really could say anything that didn't cross the lines his father gave him. Their eyes met again, and he knew Margo was confused, but there really wasn't anything for him to tell her. He barely knew why his dad sent him here just to tell Bella Swan to break up with her boyfriend, though he did it anyways.

Margo then stood and placed her hand out. "C'mon," she said.

Jacob's brow furrowed. "Where are we going?"

"I know you're just dying to be my date," she replied in an exaggerated tone. "So why don't you sneak inside with me, and we can have a fun time."

"You don't already have a date?"

Margo shook her head as Jacob stood just an inch above her. "Boys aren't my strongest suit," she excused with a shrug.

With a wide grin, Jacob placed his hand in her own, lacing their fingers together. "Any guy here is crazy not to be going with you."

Margo found herself chuckling awkwardly, a snort emerging from her lips. She walked towards the entrance of prom, her right arm laced in Jacob's left. His skin was soft against her own, and they were both smiling in each other's direction. It was like a scene from one of those frumpy, teenage girl movies that Margo hated, but here she was, practically living inside one.

And as they strode into the casino-themed prom, twilight dawned upon the sky.

END OF BOOK I