The Wilderness

"Well, I can remember how to do things! Like I can walk and talk far better..." James said, elegantly walking about and doing a twirl.

"I mean, it's freedom... I can do stuff from my past life, although I don't remember anything about it! It's absolutely great!" James said doing a small somersault.

"But you know... it's all because of you!" James said with a smile. "Thanks Alice! Oh... and please... no more Emmett, he scares me!" James said. It seemed his mind was undergoing rapid growth, the lightning excess taking hold of his process, although it was thought it had long estinguished. Little did he know about the business of his synapses.

"You're welcome, my dear," Alice smiled warmly at James. "And hopefully Emmett and you will become friends. Emmett's a nice guy once you get to know him."

Alice exhaled with relief. Oh thank God, we're safe! He hasn't remembered anything! ...Aw snap, Emmett's gone off to get help! I should probably call him off...oh well, I can't leave James.

"Oh... but why was he so horrible to me then?" James asked inquisitively, looking at the door to check if Emmett was there.

"Where has he gone anyway?" James asked in confusion. He was sure Emmett was here a moment ago. Must have missed Emmett on his departure, or maybe he had gone when James had cowered under the table.

Emmett, he scares me... I don't care what Alice says... I'm keeping an eye out on him.

"Because you used to be evil, um, different," Alice amended hastily. "And Emmett went to go get more of us..."

Hopefully, Emmett will shape up. Or else. Poor traumatized James, he could revert back to his old self at any minute, Emmett really should take better care... Alice worried to herself.

"Evil? That's why... I'm sorry for being bad Alice... I'm different now!" James insisted, shocked he could have possibly been evil in the past.

"I can prove it if you don't believe me!" he pleaded, and then he quickly went over and fetched Alice an apple.

"See?" he said.

Alice took the apple and set it down. "Yes, I know you're not evil anymore, but the others have a hard time believing that. It's hard to change a person, sweetheart. So we're all a bit wary, it's just human nature," she hugged James, apologetic for her paranoia. "I'm happy you're good now, really, we all are."

"Happy?" James said with a smile. He sat down on a stool.

"So what now? What do you do for fun?" James asked, rather bored from the stillness of his environment. He realised he liked the rush of things, he adored motion.

He felt like running outside, but didn't want to leave the comfort of the vicinity around Alice.

Especially with Emmett about...

"Um, usually I go shopping," Alice responded. "Jasper doesn't like it that much, but I live off it!" she smiled at the mention of shopping. "What do you want to do? You seem bored..."

Huh...I wonder what he's thinking...Alice wondered.

"Shopping? What's that?" James asked in confusion. He didn't remember what shopping was. He realised it sounded like chopping with a shhh attached, and was hoping that it wasn't related at all to how it sounded.

"Why doesn't Jasper like it? And I thought vampires lived off blood?" James asked in curiousity.

Alice's eyes widened. "You don't know what shopping is?!" she asked incredulously. She thought, trying to explain shopping. "Welllll, shopping is like going out and buying stuff, like clothes or accessories or shoes," she smiled happily. "Jazz doesn't like it because he thinks it's too girly. But it's not. And I meant my soul lived off shopping, honey."

"Oh, that's nice!" James said, still confused by the soul part, but he decided to not to bother Alice unnecessarily.

"Hmm... I want to buy stuff... something... I don't know what..." James said. In fact, he just wanted a memory of the occassion, of this strange meeting which had turned him to his new path. That's why he wanted to buy something. Anything, he didn't care what.

Although he hoped it would be something durable and resistant to wear-and-tear of everyday life.

Alice's eyes glittered with insanity," LET'S GO SHOPPING!" she squealed as she led James out to her car, "C'mon, time's a-wasting!" she cried as she stomped the gas pedal.

"Okay then..." James said, surprised that Alice would be extremely joyful when she was going shopping. Whatever shopping was, it was likely to be very pleasurable.

James sat in the car, admiring the scenery, and trying to memorize everything he could, especially the main landmarks. He was still a tracker after all, he was his own GPS.

"This is going to be SO MUCH FUN!" Alice squealed as she parked the car at the mall.

Alice walked swiftly to the entrance, holding James' hand. She immediately went to the left, ducking into a small boutique, crowded with clothes, jewelery, and the scent of perfume.

"I don't see what could be so exciting..." James said in confusion, and then he looked around him.

"Umm... I don't see anything for me..." James said, seeing what he thought was useless junk sprawling everywhere.

He took one of the pieces of clothing and threw it on the ground.

"These clothes are hideous!" he said, chucking more off their hangers, and then swatting them with feet. Onlookers stared at him with some confusion, stopping their shopping, and eventually, somebody went to look for a security guard, or any other vigilant personnel.

Somebody shouted "STOP IT!" pleadingly. It was the store manager.

"They are very expensive!" he said, shaking at the sight of destruction of his clothes.

"But they're no good!" James told him. "And should be thrown out..."

"WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU CHATTING?" the manager shouted as if he was crazy. "Can you see the label?"

"Yes... and all it has is some gibberish!" James said, crossing his arms. The manager almost fainted.

"Oh, honey," Alice cried in dismay. "You DON'T ruin the merchandise!"

She closed her eyes and began to do deep, yoga breathing to calm herself down. "I think...I need to teach you fashion first..."

"What is fashion?" James asked in confusion, and some of the girls nearby smirked at him.

"Why is everyone laughing?" he added. The manager had left to avoid being humiliated further, but eventually a store manager had fixed all the clothing.

"Has he got amnesia?" a random passerby asked Alice.

"What is amnesia?" James replied.

"Yes, he's terribly confused," Alice explained, keeping a firm hold on James.

"Fashion is what looks good, clothing wise," she clarified. "Like, this," she pulled a white blouse and black vest, "looks good together. However, this," she pulled a lilac T-shirt with red and green plaid pants, "looks terrible. Get it?"

"Why?" James asked. It didn't seem terrible to him. Red and green plaid pants were used by the Gallic tribes of France, and they looked alright. He wasn't keen on the lilac shirt, but it didn't matter too much, as it was the symbol of royality preceding the invention of mauve dye.

And why do I know that? James wondered.

"Because the colors clash, to understand fashion, you look at the outfit as a whole," she explained. "Most newbs just look at the individual pieces, but to really get it, you take in the WHOLE picture.

"Why do they clash? Surely they're just... you know... colors? Is that saying like a car doesn't match with a bus? I thought it didn't really matter if they were put together? I mean, it's just a color... it's not the end of the world?" James reasoned. A lot of people were smirking at him, finding him quite humorous.

"Why are they laughing?" he wondered.

"Sweetie, little do you know that it DOES matter," Alice took out a color palette from her purse. "You see, there are cool colors- blue, green, purple- and there are warm colors- red, orange, yellow. You mix the colors depending on what tone they have. Rarely do you mix an intense cool color with an intense warm color, it looks awkward," she explained. "Get it?"

"But doesn't warm together with cool make luke-warm? That's a nice temperature..." James said, somehow remembering the coolness of the Cullen House.

"I guess I just won't get it..." James figured, and decided to leave it.

Alice sighed, "You are such a guy...let's just go back, okay?"

Gosh, I TRY to teach him fashion and shopping, and he doesn't get it?! It's like Jasper all over again, Alice smiled at the memory as she led James back to her car and sped off towards the Cullen Mansion.

"Well... of course I'm a guy? Why wouldn't I be?" James wondered. James followed her back into the car, and wondered why she was in a hurry, seeing as she seemed to be enjoying herself before.

"Did I embarass you? Sorry... I have never been to a shop before though..." James said, suprisingly honest even without his previous recollections. James the tracker would never have entered a store.

"I wonder, why do you like shopping so much?" James asked her.