Here it is February. With Valentine's Day approaching, poor Bella doesn't have anything like romance in her life. Nothing but a flu epidemic which is all over the news. The worst since 1918.

Warning – character death.

Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer. I just like playing with the characters, especially Jasper.

PROTECT MY HEART

Chapter 1 - Seeing

Bella gazed out the window at the drizzly February day. The drone of the substitute teacher was just too much. Her English teacher, Mr. Mason, was out sick with some kind of flu. He'd been out for a few days. Seemed part of the school, heck, most of the town, had joined him. Sophomore and junior English classes had been combined because of teacher absences and the substitute teacher was teaching Romeo and Juliet. Probably in honor of Valentine's Day.

"Miss Swan?" Drat. Her name was being called.

"Yes, ma'am?" Bella replied, hoping she would be able to prompt her to repeat the question. What was this woman's name again? She kept wanting to call her Miss Potato. There, the woman had written it on the board: Mrs. Prudhoe. Yikes.

"What do you think is the significance of the line, 'These violent delights have violent ends / and in their triumph die, like fire and powder, / which as they kiss consume,' in Romeo and Juliet?"

Thank god for that A.P. class back in Phoenix. "Miss Prudhoe, the friar says that line when Romeo is in his cell. The speech foreshadows the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. But I think the friar contributed by agreeing to marry the couple."

"I agree. The friar and other characters act quite precipitously. The entire play hurtles…" Miss Potato, no Prudhoe, returned to her drone. That voice. She spoke in a slow pace, one that seemed designed to put you right to sleep.

Bella tuned the sub out again. She'd been called on knew the answer. Hopefully she wouldn't have to come up with another one.

Much as she loved the play Romeo and Juliet, it did seem kind of stupid. Who falls in love at first sight? Romeo and Juliet had barely seen one another at the masque ball and were getting married the next day?

Love at first sight. She wondered if this was the original version of it. Probably not. The idea seemed to have been around for a long time.

None of that for her, she was sure. Her life was as drab and flat as the world soaked by the February drizzle outside the classroom window.

The door opened, bringing in fresh air and providing a break from Potato's monotone. The principal, Mr. Greene, stuck his head in the doorway. He motioned to Miss Prudhoe and they had a brief conference at the door. After a moment, he stepped into the classroom.

Someone followed him into the room. And Bella's world came to a halt.

"Class, this is Jasper Hale," Mr. Green said, gesturing to the boy next to him. "He just moved here from Alaska and he'll be joining your class today. I'm sure you'll give him a warm welcome."

The room went silent, everyone staring at Jasper in awe. The guy looked like a Greek god. Or like Romeo. He was tall, with blond hair, and a long, lean physique. He gave the impression of a coiled strength. He looked between the two adults and then out at the classroom, bathing the room in the glow of a smile.

Bella felt at that moment like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Her world had come to a halt and begun spinning again with him at the center.

She snapped to attention as Miss Prudhoe gestured him toward a desk. The only seat available was next to her. She instinctively sat up straighter. Jasper started toward the desk when his eyes fixed on her. For a second he didn't move, unless you counted the flaring of his nostrils. His handsome face, which had a smile on it, transformed into something animalistic.

However, he unfroze and walked closer. Stalked closer, she thought. Finally he sat down in the desk next to her without looking in her direction. He was leaning away and his arm was under the desk, gripping the metal leg. She noticed his forearm muscles were clenched tight. She could see from his profile that he was smiling again, and the students around him started to relax. A low buzz of chatter filled the room. Apparently they didn't see the death grip he had on that desk leg.

This couldn't be about me, Bella thought. She took a sniff at her top. She'd just washed it, and her hair smelled like her regular fruity shampoo. He, however, had brought an amazing scent with him. She wanted to lean closer and bury her nose in his shirt. Something musky, something-she saw him looking at her from the corner of his eye. His eyes, golden to match his hair when he had first entered the room, now were jet black. He turned his head away and she shrank back in her seat, shivering as a fear crept up her spine.

At the front of the classroom, Miss Potato adjusted her collar. It appeared she wasn't immune to his charms. Even slouching in his desk, he was working the whole classroom.

"We're discussing Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Mr. Hale," Miss Potato said. "Are you familiar with the work?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "I played Romeo in a production last year."

Bella thought she could hear the sighs of the other girls.

"I'm sure that was quite a production," Miss What-Was-Her-Name-Again? Right, she had written it on the board. Miss Prudhoe. Jasper's appearance and the contradictory feelings of attraction and fear had turned Bella's brain to mush.

"Yes, ma'am. The young lady who played Juliet was very good," Jasper said.

Lucky girl, Bella thought. But Jasper seemed to talking through gritted teeth.

When the bell rang, Jasper was out of his chair and out the door in seconds. She stood up slowly, not sure what had happened.

Xxxx

New story! Hope you like it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.

This one has three parts. I will post the next chapter on Tuesday and the final chapter on Valentine's Day. Thanks for reading.