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 Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:24 pm
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Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:26 pm
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A/N: Anyways, I feel incredibly tired. Late nights combined with early mornings don't work well together and I'm suffering the backlash of them. Anyways, here's the FIRST chapter of Poison. Complain all you want about pairings and such; I won't take much into consideration when it comes to those. This IS an alternate retelling of the book.
Gah, why are the stupid education systems so different? Forgive any inaccuracies, I'm only a pitiful grade ten student who lives in Canada. I don't know anything really about the American education system; like how when Bella said 'Biology II', here it would be Biology 20. Eh, I'll talk more about it later.
I think I made Jasper a little like myself. Well, just in habit and interest wise. I'm back into Bleach, and it's affecting my writing. Ne, anyone know where I can find some good ByaRen?
Words: 6016 words
Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, not me. Any original characters/ideas that appear in this story are my own, and I semi-own the plot. Oh, and I don't own the song that plays during the car ride either; it's by Nightwish.
Chapter 1: Exile
There's not much of a difference I guess between the town of Forks and my home of Vancouver. Both are pretty rainy places; only it rains a lot more in Forks. Oh, and it's much colder there too then here; Vancouver's a rather warm city. And that's what I liked about it.
But then, Vancouver had been my home since I was only a few months old when my parents' divorce was finalized and I moved here with my father Carlisle. Even then, I still had had to go back to Forks every summer until I was old enough to realize that I could just put my foot down and insist on going somewhere else instead of Forks. Instead, Esme and I went to Florida, or maybe Arizona; somewhere warm and with lots of sun. It's nice to take a break from the rain sometimes, even though I can't tan.
Not that I don't mind the rain, in fact, I actually really love it. See, it gives me an excuse as to why I'm so pale. Honestly it's weird that I am, if you look at my parents, you'd never think that I was related to them. I'm ivory pale. It makes me look strange with my blond hair. It's not a bleach blond; it's more of a gold-brown, but it still looks a little off. I look too fragile; even with my height and slightly muscular build; I look delicate. It's not even funny.
“You know, there's still time to change your mind Jasper,” Carlisle told me, for about the thousandth time since I'd announced my decision. “You don't have to do this.”
I shook my head; I wasn't changing my mind anytime soon. See, Carlisle had started again; and I can't stand some of the women who he's brought home. They see me as a burden or that I'm a rebellious teenager. I'd elected to go back to Forks to bolster Carlisle's love life. He'd be looked after; he'd be fine without me.
“No. I want to do this.”
Carlisle sighed and ruffled my hair. I smiled, now a little more hesitant to go. I'd miss the solitude that living with Carlisle afforded me; and I'd miss the big city feel. Living in Forks was going to be hell.
Giving me one last hug, Carlisle ushered me out of the car and unloaded my luggage from the back. There wasn't much. We'd shipped two boxes of my stuff to Esme a few weeks earlier, so I didn't have all that much else to bring. I had one large rolling suitcase; my carry on was my backpack and a parka.
It's a long flight from Vancouver to Seattle, then another hour in a small plane to Port Angeles, plus an hour drive with Esme. I wasn't looking forward to that.
Carlisle is a world class surgeon; so he's hardly ever home, and when he is, he and I aren't all that talkative; we mostly stick to ourselves. Esme's the opposite. Eccentric and talkative, she's also incredibly perceptive when she wants to be. I wasn't looking forward to the car ride with her.
The moment I was off the plane in Port Angeles, I was immediately swept into one of Esme's bear hugs, “Jasper, was your trip good?”
“Hey mom... yeah it was fine.” The sky was gray, nothing new there.
“Dear, dear. You're always so pale!” she remarked as we stepped outside. I sighed, heaving my suitcase into the back of her Jeep.
“I don't tan mom; I freckle,” I responded as I pulled myself into the front seat. “Besides, it's not like there's all that much sun in Forks.”
“How's Carlisle?”
“He's fine.” I unzipped my bag, riffling through it quickly, I pulled out a few CDs.
“That's good... Oh, and you can use the Jeep,” she was changing the subject. “It's secondhand, I know; but it's still good for your first car, right?”
“That's alright mom; I was planning to buy my own car.”
She shook her head, “Don't worry about it Jasper. I bought it off Billy, you remember him right? Well, anyways, he's in a wheelchair now so I was able to buy his Jeep off him cheap. Besides, I still have my old Honda, so it's all okay.”
I gave her a small smile, “Wow, thanks mom.” She nodded.
“It's a welcome present. Besides, I missed your birthday; so it's also a birthday present!”
Popping my CD in, I waited patiently as it loaded; thanking Esme again before the first strains of music filled the car.
'The end. The songwriter's dead. The blade fell upon him, taking him to the white lands of Empathica, of Innocence. Empathica. Innocence.'
Esme cast a dirty look at the stereo, “Why don't you listen to something more upbeat?” I shrugged; it was just something I liked. And it did get the focus off me somewhat, I knew that Esme wouldn't want to have much of a conversation over this music. It would work in my favor.
Shaking her head, Esme asked, “Well, do you have a girlfriend?” I turned bright red, and shook my head wildly.
“Girls don't really notice me all that much...” Which was partly true; mostly the girls back at my high school in Vancouver thought me too fragile and thought it unlikely that I was straight, mainly because I was in their Home Economics classes. Besides, I was pretty much invisible at school.
“Oh... well, maybe you'll found the girl here in Forks.” She paused, “Or maybe you've been looking at the wrong people. You know Jasper I would have no problem if you were-”
“Mom!” I was shocked. Sure, I was used to hearing it from other people; but my own mother? This was downright embarrassing.
“Oh alright Jasper... I won't push the subject.”
Silence filled the car, only filled with the music that continued to play from the stereo. I knew Esme was a little unhappy about the lack of people in my life; truthfully, I didn't have many friends, the closet person I was too was my cousin, Emmett.
We arrived in Forks late in the evening to a light mist and heavily overcast skies. It wasn't anything unusual, it was the typical weather in Forks. The house looked exactly as I'd remembered it. The same white paint, with green trim; same walkway that wound around the house from the driveway and garage to the front door; nothing had changed. Well, except now there were no plastic toys left out on the lawn; they'd been sold years ago.
I followed Esme inside, my suitcase thumping up the steps loudly. She unlocked the door and held it open for me with a smile, “Welcome back Jasper.” I returned the smile, but I wasn't sure that I was very convincing as Esme's slipped a little before she disappeared down the hall.
Slipping upstairs and to my room, I found it exactly the same as it had always been. Same pale green walls, white linen curtains, bed, desk, and nightstand. The quilt was folded just as I had left it on my last visit. The only new addition was the two boxes of my stuff.
It only took me a little while to unpack everything and shove the suitcase into the hall closet. It was systematic for me now; I'd always taken care of the house for Carlisle.
Neither of my parents cooked, so I trumped back downstairs, my faithful recipe book tucked under my arm, before Esme could even think to order something in or attempt to try and make something. Esme's cooking was always strange; she'd deviate from the recipe and come up with the strangest things. Like spicy cake or something.
Luckily, it seemed like Esme had gotten caught up in a call with someone, and was busy on the phone. I sighed and made my way into the kitchen and set about making something edible for dinner. Esme's kitchen wasn't all that well stocked, but there were some vegetables in the fridge and rice in one of the cupboards. I muttered to myself, “Alright, stir-fried vegetables and rice for dinner then.”
I find cooking calming; so when Esme came in to see whether I'd started a fire or something, or it might have been to investigate the smell, I didn't notice. In any case, she starred at me in open shock as I started serving the food onto two plates.
“Jasper... is it safe to eat?” was the first thing Esme said as I set the plates on the table. I'd already set the table, complete with two glasses of milk. I rolled my eyes.
“Of course it's safe mom, who do you think did all the cooking for Carlisle?”
She poked at it. I rolled my eyes and took a bite of my own vegetables; there was nothing wrong with them. Esme watched intently as I did so, only chancing to eat once she saw me swallow it without a grimace or anything.
“Oh wow...” she muttered after trying some. “Seems you didn't get my terrible cooking skills! Or Carlisle's for that matter.” She smiled, “This is good.”
I returned the smile, sincerely this time, “Thanks mom.”
Dinner was finished up with some slight conversation; nothing as embarrassing as earlier. I knew that Esme had enrolled me at the only high school in Forks, Forks High, and that I'd start tomorrow. I didn't tell her how nervous I was; I hated having the spotlight on me, and I knew that I'd have it on me for the next few days. At least I wouldn't be walking now.
After dinner, I did the dishes; Esme didn't have a dishwasher, and cleaned up the kitchen. I couldn't think of much else to do, so I slipped back upstairs. My room was pretty empty, but I was hoping that I might be able to add some more of the character that my room back in Vancouver had. I'd have to send Carlisle an email, or call him, and ask him to take my posters down and send them to me.
There's another reason I didn't really fit in back at home. I'm a bit of an anime geek. Not that I'm a hardcore one or anything, but I am one; it's one thing that I'm proud of. But I was that because of it, I'd stand out here even more. After all, if I couldn't blend in at a school of seven hundred or so students, then how would I blend in at one that was just over three hundred? Besides, I don't think that many kids around here are into anything remotely the same.
I picked through my books that I'd left in the box, arranging them sparsely onto my small bookshelf. Back in Vancouver, I'd had floor to ceiling shelving that ran the entire length of one wall; here, I had to make do with a tiny little book shelf Esme had bought secondhand. I hadn't been able to bring the majority of my books, so I'd brought only several of my favorites, including a lot of my manga collection; mostly Bleach.
Plunking the final volume into place, I noticed with dismay that I wouldn't be able to fit all of my stuff on it. Great... now where was I supposed to put my figure collection? Okay yeah, a slightly girly thing; but I'd been doing it since I was young... at least I'd gotten rid of all of my Disney ones.
I left them in the box, I'd figure out what to do with them later. Tucking the box away into the closet, I turned to the computer that sat on the small desk. Flipping it on, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't take forever; it was only then that I realized that Esme had bought a new computer. Good, that meant I wouldn't have to wait forever for the stupid thing to boot-up.
Carlisle wouldn't email me until the next day at the earliest, but I knew my cousin Emmett would have. Emmett is about two years older then I am, and attends the University of Washington there. He's probably the only other person, apart from Esme, who was excited about my moving here. I knew he'd be the one who'd send about ten emails within the space of today, waiting for me to get in and check them.
Opening up the Internet, I quickly signed onto my email. It seemed Emmett had decided to be patient today; there was only one email in my inbox. I clicked on it.
'Jasper.
Hey, still can't believed ya moved down here. Anyways, email me when ya get in. Emmett.'
Replying to the email, I typed in:
'Plane ride was fine. I was kinda worried about the drive with mom, but it worked out. Again, thanks for the Nightwish CD, saved me from one heck of an embarrassing conversation. Jasper.'
Hitting send, I leaned back in my chair and stared at the screen for a few moments before sighing. The reality only just sank in that much more, and it made me more depressed. Letting loose another sigh, I stood up and flicked off the monitor before heading for the bathroom. A hot shower was in order.
About fifteen minutes later, I reentered my room. Tossing my clothes into the hamper, I flopped onto my bed; flicking the light off. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and I might as well try to get as much sleep as possible; even though I pretty much knew that I wasn't, the wind was too loud. It was howling outside my window. I'd have to get used to it.
It was past midnight when I finally drifted off. My thoughts had taken a decidedly unhappy turn, and the wind didn't help either. My sleep was uneasy and not very restful. I didn't know that this was just the beginning of what was going to be the worst week of my life.
~*~*~
Rolling out of bed the next morning, I was at least somewhat happy that it wasn't too windy, and it wasn't raining. I took that as a good sign. I stumbled into the bathroom, still mostly asleep, to brush my teeth and yank a comb through my hair. Once that was done, I splashed cold water onto my face in an effort to wake myself up; I'm not a morning person.
I pulled on the simplest things that I could find in my closet; grabbing my favorite hoodie before trotting downstairs for breakfast.
Esme wasn't there, but I'd expected that. At first, I had been slightly surprised when my mother announced four years ago that she'd taken the position of police chief in Forks; but now, I figured that it was a good thing. It meant that she might not be around too often; I might still have some of my solitude.
The butterflies fluttered in my stomach, making it difficult to choke down my cereal. But once that was done, I steeled myself and grabbed my jacket, backpack, wallet, and keys before heading out the door. I knew I would probably be early for school; but I'd have to go to the main office first, and I wouldn't like to have countless eyes on me when I did. Plus, I didn't want to be late.
Pulling my jacket on and zipping it up, I pulled my hood up, hoping to hide my face somewhat; slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I headed out. Locking up the house, I walked down the walkway to the driveway before unlocking the Jeep and climbing in.
The interior was clean, but there was still the lingering smell of tobacco, gasoline, and... something that smelled like cinnamon I think. I shoved that aside; it was a car, at least I wouldn't have to take my mom's beat-up old Honda, or worse, accept a ride in her cruiser. I don't think I'd live through the embarrassment that would cause.
Starting up the engine, it roared to life before quieting down somewhat. Still, it was kinda loud. Oh well, old cars have their quirks. It was good enough otherwise. Lowering the volume of my music, I concentrated on trying to find the school with the heavy fog.
Finding Forks High wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It was just off the highway, like almost everything else, with a large sign proclaiming it as Forks High School; it looked nothing like my high school back home. For one thing, it was a collection of buildings instead of the one big building I was used too. I groaned; it meant I'd have to spend more time outside in the cold. The only positive thing was that there weren't any hallways, good; that meant I wouldn't be pushed up against lockers.
The first building had a small sign over the door, which read FRONT OFFICE, I pulled into the empty parking lot there, sure that it was off limits, but I didn't want to drive around like an idiot. Killing the engine, I left the warm car, taking a few deep breaths before heading along the little stone path to the door.
It was a small office, brightly lit and warm. There were a few padded chairs, and the carpet was a horrendous, ugly orange color. The walls were covered with notices and awards, a big clock ticked loudly. Potted plants had been placed around the room, what was with the obsession with green around here? I stepped up to the desk which ran the length of the room.
A middle-aged woman with bright red hair and glasses was the only one at the desk, so I approached her. She looked up when I stepped up to the desk, “Can I help you?”
“I'm Jasper Whitlock,” my voice quiet. Her eyes seemed to light up in recognition, great, just how many people had my mom blabbed about me too? Today was going to be difficult.
She smiled at me, “Of course. I have your schedule right... oh dear, where did I put it again?” She began shuffling papers around, before finding the right one. Then, she pulled out a few more and handed them to me. “Here we are, your schedule and a map of the school.” In a few minutes, she'd highlighted the best routes and gone over my classes. “Good luck Jasper, I hope you like it here.”
I gave her my best fake smile as I left the office.
Once I was back in the safety of my Jeep, the other students had started trickling in. Following the line of traffic, I found a spot in the student parking lot. I was glad to see that my Jeep blended in, the cars were all mostly old or secondhand. Back home, the student parking lot had been a diverse collection of cars; but I hadn't had one, I used public transit. The nicest car here was a shiny, new Volvo; it stood out. I was suddenly glad that my truck wasn't as loud as I thought it was.
I tried to memorize the map in the Jeep, I didn't want to walk around with it in front of me all day. After I was sure that I'd at least gotten it somewhat committed to memory, I shoved it back into my bag, slung it over my shoulder. Now all I needed was some confidence in myself, I could do this. I climbed out of my Jeep.
Keeping my head slightly bowed and my face firmly pulled back inside my hood, I joined the pack of teenagers on the sidewalk. I was immensely relieved to find that my black jacket didn't stand out, but I was still nervous as hell.
Once I'd rounded the cafeteria, I spotted building three. I fought back the urge to panic as my feet brought me closer and closer to the door. I followed two others inside.
It was a small classroom, and rather bare too. I was so used to the group tables and colorful pictures that my teacher had plastered all over her classroom. The two people I'd followed in turned out to be girls, and both were extremely pale; good, my skin wouldn't stand out too much then. I copied them as they hung their coats up.
The desk at the front of the room bore the name Mr. Mason, and a tall, balding man sat there. I blanched a little internally, but walked up to him and handed him my slip. He stared at it, then at me, before signing it. The only good thing about him was that he sent me to the back of the classroom after handing me a reading list. I was grateful for that; he hadn't forced me to introduce myself. I was doing good so far.
Even though my desk was at the very back of the classroom, the other students still managed to stare at me. I tried to ignore them, instead focusing on my reading list. I'd already read everything on it. I wondered if I could ask Carlisle to send my old assignments to me, but that idea was quickly shot down; Carlisle would see that as cheating. Mr. Mason droned on about something, I didn't bother trying to register what.
The bell rang suddenly, startling me. I quickly shoved my stuff into my bag, as turned to leave, I was stopped by a boy with skin problems and black hair that looked incredibly oily. I fought back laughter; it wouldn't do to make enemies on my first day.
“You're Jasper Whitlock, right?” He looked to be one of those over helpful types, maybe a suck-up; one of the types of people who I generally tried to avoid. I nodded. “I'm Eric. Where's your next class?”
I fumbled a little as I checked my schedule, “Legal Studies with Johnson, in building seven.” I couldn't look anywhere without meeting curious eyes.
“I'm heading for building four, I could show you the way if you like...” Yep, definitely the over-helpful kind.
“Thanks,” I gave him a fake smile.
Retrieving our jackets, we headed out into the rain. It hadn't been raining this morning; but now it was. Even in Vancouver, there weren't as many rainy days as there were here.
“So,” Eric was trying to start a conversation. “This a lot different then from where you're from?”
“Not really, it rains quite a bit in Vancouver.”
“Vancouver... where is that exactly?”
I nearly glared at him, “Umm... it's up north in British Columbia; it's a province in Canada.”
“Ah,” he said it like he understood; I groaned, why did so many people seem to not know where Vancouver was? Well, at least here they didn't. Oh well. A disadvantage to living in a small town on the other side of the continent.
Eric walked me almost all the way to the door, before peeling away to head to his class. I groaned as I stepped into math; not this class... I'd rather be anywhere but here. The teacher, Mr. Varner, made me stand at the front of the class and introduce myself; I muttered rather murderously under my breath as I walked to my seat; careful to make sure that no one heard me.
It didn't take me long to start to recognize people. There was always a brave person who'd approach me to ask questions about where I was from, if I was liking Forks, and such. Mostly I lied. They didn't need to know the truth; and I didn't want them to know either.
Apparently, since I was new, several girls decided to hit on me. Some were a little too friendly, but I just smiled at them, kindly turning them down. One girl though, was incredibly persistent, but I was sure that she wasn't interested in me that way. She was in my math class and my Spanish class; and walked with me to the cafeteria. Then, she dragged me along to her table, and introduced me to all her friends. Eric waved at me from across the room; I felt embarrassed about that, I don't like having attention drawn to me.
It was in a crowded cafeteria, trying to avoid the questions of several strangers, that I saw them.
Well, to be more specific, that I saw him.
My eyes drifted to their table, immediately focusing on them. They sat at the opposite end of the cafeteria from me; and they weren't looking at me, so I was safe to look at them.
None of them looked alike, the two boys were opposites of each other. One was tall and lanky, but still muscular, with dark, strawberry colored hair. The other boy was slightly shorter, less bulky, and his hair was a bronze color, and fell about his face and head untidily. He looked younger then the other; who looked about college age, or maybe he could have been a teacher here.
The girls on the other hand, were nothing short of beautiful. The tall girl was statuesque, with long wavy blond hair that fell to the middle of the back; she looked nothing like any of the girls I'd ever seen, except for the ones on the covers of magazines. The other two were shorter; one had long mahogany hair that fell to just a little passed her shoulders; she had prominent cheekbones within her heart-shaped face, and her eyebrows seemed a little too straight. The last girl had wild, spiky black hair that went in every direction. She was the shortest of the group, and was almost pixie-like in her appearance.
Each of them was pale though; paler then me, the oddity. Their skin was chalky white, their eyes dark; and under those eyes were dark bruise-like shadows, like they were recovering from a broken nose. But they're features were all straight; perfect.
And yet... this wasn't what drew my attention to them.
They were all beautiful; like they'd just walked off the covers of airbrushed magazines. It was inhuman how they looked; so perfect and flawless.
None of them made eye contact with each other, looking at nothing in particular. I noticed how secluded they looked from the rest of the school; no one else really seemed to look at them.
I poked my neighbor, a boy whose name I'd forgotten already, “Who are they?”
He looked to see who I meant, and suddenly, the boyish one with the bronze hair was looking at us. He looked at my neighbor for the fraction of a second before his eyes flickered to me. He looked away just as quickly; and I dropped my head, surprised when I felt blood rush to my cheeks. Why the hell was I embarrassed?
My neighbor looked at me, “That's Edward and Riley Swan. The girls are Rosalie Hale, Isabella Swan, and Alice Weatherford. They live with Dr. Swan and his sister.” He whispered all of this under his breath.
I glanced at them again, my eyes drawn to the younger looking boy for reasons I couldn't name. He was picking apart a bagel with long, slim fingers; his mouth moving very quickly. The others were still looking away, but I knew they were listening, that what he was saying was meant for them.
Their names weren't what I'd expected; older names, names you'd expect grandparents to have. Small town names. I finally remembered the names of a few of the people I was sitting with, the girl who'd dragged me here was named Jessica, and my neighbor's name was Mike.
I fumbled with what to say next, “They're... very attractive.” That was an understatement.
“Yes, but they're together though. Riley's with Rosalie, and Alice and Bella are together.” I could hear the condemnation in those words; obviously relationship between people of the same gender were looked down upon here. Even in Vancouver it was unusual, and people still weren't comfortable about it. “And they all live together.”
“They don't look related...”
“They're not. Dr. Swan is really young, in his thirties or late twenties maybe. They're all adopted; except, Isabella is Ms. Swan's daughter.”
“That's... really nice of them. Taking in all those kids.”
Mike shrugged, “I guess so. But you shouldn't waste your time with them; Edward's turned down every girl here and the others won't even accept a dinner invitation.” Sounded like someone was irked. But there was one more question niggling me.
“Have they always lived in Forks?” I was sure that I'd have noticed them on one of my forced trips here. Mike was already shaking his head.
“They moved down here from somewhere in Alaska two years ago.” I nodded, my eyes once more drawn back to them. They were like me here; newcomers. I was just glad that I wasn't the most interesting.
The youngest one met my gaze, unmet expectation in his eyes; at least, that's what I thought. He watched me, I couldn't help but color a little as I turned my gaze away from them.
“Which is the one boy with the reddish brown hair?” My voice didn't shake, I peeked at him again; he wasn't gawking at me or anything, in fact, he seemed... a little frustrated. That confused me as I looked down again.
“That's Edward, all of the girls would kill to go out with him; even a few of the guys, but no one's good enough for him here.” His tone told me he was jealous, as did the vibes I was getting off him. I'm pretty good at knowing what mood someone's in, it's a talent or skill of mine.
I bit my lip to hide my smile, glancing at him one more time before he and his family left. I swore I saw his lips twitch upwards a little, like he was smiling too. I sat with the group for longer then I would have if I sat alone, but eventually we got up and left, one of the girls, the quietest one, reminded me that I had Biology II with her next hour. I walked with her in silence; she was shy, I thought of her as someone who I might become friends with.
The classroom looked a little like the labs did back at my school. Black-topped lab tables with metal stools, just like the ones I knew. There was only one available seat that I could see, the on next to Edward Cullen in about the middle of the classroom.
I was vaguely aware of his eyes on me for a brief moment, my senses seemed to heighten at that realization. I nearly tripped as I made my way to the teacher's desk, my eyes only flicking upwards when I was a a short distance from him. He stared at me again. His eyes... they were angry, hostile. I nearly froze where I stood. He hated me already? Life wasn't fair.
His eyes were pitch black, like coal.
Mr. Banner signed my slip, handed me a textbook, and wordlessly pointed to the empty seat. I kept my eyes down as I walked back up the aisle to take my seat beside him, confused about the antagonistic glare he'd given me earlier.
I refused to look at him as I took my seat, setting my book on the table. His posture changed though. He leaned away from me, his face averted from mine, body as far from me as possible. It was like he smelled something bad. Shyly, I sniffed a bit of hair, it smelled of mint, nothing terrible. Unless he hated that smell. I refused to look at him, but my eyes betrayed my resolve and kept sneaking peeks at him throughout the class.
It didn't help that the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd done already. Unnecessarily, I took notes, anything to keep my mind off of the strange boy next to me. His fists were clenched, and he looked much more muscular then he had next to his brother. His muscles were tense beneath his pale skin.
Class dragged on for reasons I didn't know. When the bell finally rang, he was out the door before I'd even put my stuff away. Was this normal behavior for him? It didn't have anything to do with me. He couldn't know me enough yet to take such an instant dislike to me, I told myself. Yes, it had to have been something that had happened before I'd entered the room.
My convincing suffered when Mike asked as we headed to gym, “Did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or something? I've never seen him act like that before.”
I felt like I'd been slapped. I hadn't been the only one who'd noticed; and this wasn't Edward Cullen's normal behavior. “Oh...”
“He looked in pain.”
“I didn't do anything; I didn't even say a word to him.”
“Oh... well, if I sat next to you, I'd talk to you, you seem like an interesting person Jasper.”
I gave him a tiny smile, thankful that someone seemed nice.
Gym wasn't going to be great, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform, but didn't make me change or participate on the first day; of which I was glad. I'm okay at sports, but only at a few. My coordination skills aren't that great; the only sports I'm really good at are swimming and badminton.
When the final bell rang, I tore out of the gym and headed straight for the main office, eager to get out of here and get home. I wanted this hellish day to end. Walking in to the office, I nearly walked right back out.
Edward Cullen was standing at the desk. I recognized his hair again, he luckily didn't notice me though, and continued arguing quietly with the receptionist as I pressed myself against the back wall, waiting for my turn.
It didn't take me long to get the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade out of period four Biology into any other period. I didn't want to believe this was just me, it couldn't be just me.
The door flew open as a girl stepped in, the wind rustling everything. My hair fluttered a little in the breeze. The girl stepped up, placed something in one of the wire baskets, before walking right back out. My stomach felt like it was doing flip-flops as Edward tensed the moment the door opened; he turned around slowly to glare at me. I was suddenly aware that he was absolutely, perfectly attractive; but his coal black eyes were boring into me with such anger and hatred. I would've stepped back, but I was too terrified to move. My feet were glued to the floor, my body frozen.
“Nevermind then,” he replied quietly. His voice like liquid velvet, I nearly staggered at its effects. “I can see that it's not possible. Thank you so much for your help.” Then just like that he was gone, out the door.
Timidly, I approached the desk, my face whiter then normal, and thoroughly shaken. I handed her the signed slip.
“How was your first day, dear?” the receptionist asked motherly. I didn't trust my voice too much, so I smiled at her as convincingly as I could.
“... good.” My voice was weak and cracked a little. She didn't look like she bought my lie.
I raced out of there, climbed into my Jeep and tried to calm myself down. It felt safe in here; a haven in this alien green world. I placed my head to the steering wheel for a few long moments as I tried to calm myself down, to slow my rapid heartbeat. Eventually, I got too cold and had to start the engine. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to Esme's house.
For the first time in years, I thought I might cry.
~*~*~
I formed a crink in my neck while typing this chapter out. Whew, but I'm happy with it and looking for some reviews on it; so COMMENT.
And no complaining about the pairings; it won't get you anywhere.
Twilight.
To be continued...
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:47 pm
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