Title: The Way You Make Me Feel
Summary: Feeling from Phoenix to Washington, the last thing Isabella Swan wants is a relationship. After a bad relationship, Jasper Hale is ready for one. All Human
Rating: T
Pairings: Jasper/Bella, Edward/Alice, Emmett/Rosalie
Disclaimer: Nothing's mine except the plot. However, if Jasper is for sale, I will happily take him off Stephenie's hands.
Chapter One: Welcome to Forks POV: Bella
My mother thought I was crazy. She understood that I was upset over my breakup with James, but she didn't see how moving to Washington to live with my father was the answer. I didn't bother explaining that it would be impossible to face James, she didn't know what happened and wouldn't believe me if I told her. James could do no wrong in her eyes.
I sighed, staring out the airplane window. Rene and I hadn't parted on good terms. She had been hurt when I'd announced wanting to move from bright and sunny Phoenix to the dark and damp Forks, a small town a few hours outside Seattle. It hadn't been personal, Forks simply was the furthest from James I could get. It had taken one phone call to Charlie, asking if his offer to have me life with him still stood. He'd said yes before I'd finished my sentence.
A week later, I was on a plane.
After landing in Seattle, I caught a smaller plane to Port Angeles. It would take a total of seven hours to reach Forks. Four from Phoenix to Seattle, two on the plane from Seattle to Port Angeles and another hour drive from Port Angeles to Forks.
Charlie was waiting for me as I stumbled off the plane. He shook his head, moving forward to greet me. I had always been less than graceful, clearly Charlie hadn't forgotten that.
"Good you see you, Bells," he said, giving me an awkward one armed hug.
"You too, Dad," I said as he picked up my suitcase.
Charlie had driven the cruiser, of course. Charlie was the chief of police in Forks. He never dealt with anything remotely dangerous. Forks was one of the safest places in the country. All the real crime happened in Seattle, the worst crime Charlie faced was drunken teenagers on prom night.
The ride to Forks was mostly quiet. A few comments were passed on the weather then we fell into silence. Charlie and I weren't big on small talk, at least with each other. It was a relief to reach Charlie's. Everything looked exactly as it always had. The only thing out of place was the old, red Chevy truck parked in the driveway. I glanced at Charlie as he grabbed my bags from the trunk.
"Did you get a new truck?" I asked, pointing at the truck in question.
"What?" He followed my gaze/ "Oh no, I uh, I got it for you."
"You didn't have to do that, Dad" I said, my face flushing. I moved forward to examine my new truck. It was old, late fifties, early sixties at the most. Surprisingly, I didn't hate it. I didn't know how it ran, but I could see myself driving it.
"Yeah, well, I figured you'd need something to drive around," said Charlie, slamming the trunk closed. "Bought it off Billy Black, you remember him, right?"
I nodded. Billy Black was Charlie's oldest friend. They'd been friends for as long as I could remember and probably longer.
"I love it, Dad, thanks," I said, giving the truck bed a smack. Charlie cleared his throat, nodded, and started towards the house. I didn't take offence to his reaction, that was just Charlie.
The inside of the house hadn't changed either. Charlie had left all of Rene's renovations; the only thing that was relatively new was the flat screen TV. Even my bed room hadn't changed much. The old rocking chair was still in the corner and the wood desk had been shoved against the wall opposite the door. The only new thing was the dark green bedding. Charlie set down my bags and left me alone to unpack. That was the best thing about Charlie, he didn't hover.
I hung my clothes in the closet, set my laptop on the desk and moved my toiletries into the bathroom that I would have to share with Charlie. It was raining. I sighed and closed my blinds, hoping not having to see the rain would make it easier to ignore.
About an hour later, Charlie called up the stairs, alerting me that it was time for dinner. He had ordered pizza rather than attempting to cook. From the summers I had spent here, I knew that Charlie wasn't much of a cook. I assured him that I would handle the cooking before we even sat down.
"How's your mom doing?" asked Charlie, grabbing a piece of pizza and setting it on the paper plate in front of him.
I shrugged, picking a piece of sausage of my pizza. "She's good." I said, popping the sausage into my mouth.
"And Phil? How's he?" Charlie's eyes narrowed, taking a long drink of his beer.
Phil was my mother's much younger husband. Though he would never admit it, I could tell how hurt Charlie was to see Rene happy with someone who has barely thirty. Charlie hadn't gotten over my mother and I was certain that he never would.
Awkward silence had set in and neither of us were sure how to break it. We spent the rest the meal in silence.
Charlie slunk into the living room after dinner and I disappeared upstairs to take a shower. I took my time, even taking the blow-dryer to my hair. It was only nine o'clock when I re-entered my room. I shut off my lights and fell onto the bed with a groan, listening to the storm howl on. I groaned again, grabbing my pillow and shoving it over my head, squeezing my eyes closed. Sleep didn't come easy.
The rain hadn't let up until around midnight, but I tossed and turned until two. At seven the next morning, I gave up the effort to get some more sleep.
Charlie had already left.
Stumbling to my closet, I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt. I slung my bag over my shoulder before snatching my coat from the back of my desk chair and headed downstairs.
I attempted to eat a bowl of cereal, but my stomach churned and I gave up after eating about half of it. It had run out of excuses to stay in the house.
It was barely 7:15 when I left the house.
Forks High School, like basically everything in town, was right off the highway. If you missed the sign that proclaimed the group of maroon colored buildings the high school, you'd got right past it. I parked in front of the building marked as the Main Office, took a deep breath, and got out of the truck before I could change my mind.
The red-haired woman behind the desk looked up as the door slammed behind me. I ran a nervous hand through my hair before approaching the desk.
"I'm Isabella Swan," I said, praying that my voice wouldn't crack. "It's my first day."
The receptionist stared at me for a second before nodding and searching through the folders on her desk. Her reaction didn't faze me, the chief's daughter coming to live with him after being taken away by his flighty ex-wife had to be the talk of the town.
"Here we are," she said, handing me my schedule. "We hope you enjoy you time with us." She smiled in encouragement.
It sounded like I was entering prison, not high school. Then again, there wasn't much of a difference.
"I will, than you," I attempted to return her smile with little success.
Students had started arriving. I got back into my truck and the engine roared to life. I followed the line of cars and pulled into the first spot a saw. Right next to a shiny, black motorcycle.
The school was not hard to figure out. Each building had received a number. The only two buildings without numbers were the two biggest, the cafeteria and the gym. I got out of the truck and headed towards building three for English.
"You're Isabella Swan, right?" I looked up to see a nerdy looking kid with black hair next to me.
"Bella," I said, opening to building three's door. I could tell that this was going to be an all day occurrence.
"I'm Eric," he said as we hung up our coats. "If you need a tour guide or something, just let me know."
I nodded in thanks, having no actual intention of taking him up on his offer. I approached the teacher and made him aware of my presence.
"Miss Swan," he said, nodding his head. The name plate on his desk broadcasted him as Mr. Morgan. "Why don't you take the empty seat next to Miss Brandon other there?"
He pointed to a small, pixie-like girl with short, black, spiky hair. I nodded and walked towards my seat. The pixie next to me was already grinning excitedly.
"Hi, I'm Alice," she said, holding out her hand after I had sat down. I smiled and shook her hand.
"Bella."
She let out a musical laugh. "I already knew that," she admitted with a shrug. "You've been the topic of conversation this past week."
I let out a groan to hear confirmation of what I had already been thinking. Alice patted my shoulder sympathetically before grabbing my schedule. She smiled as she slid it back onto my desk after scanning it.
"We have two classes together, counting this one," she dropped her voice as Mr. Morgan began talking. "You have Bio with my boyfriend and at least one of my friends in the rest of your classes."
"Who do I have Trig with?" I whispered as Eric rambled on a random fact about the author of the book we'd be starting.
"Emmett Cullen," she hissed back. "You won't be able to miss him, he's a big guy with dark hair He looks scary but he's really just a teddy bear."
I nodded. Alice and I would get along fine, I could tell already.
Alice walked with me to building five after English. People were staring at us, but either Alice hadn't noticed or she didn't care. A tall boy with dark hair and large muscles was leaning against the building. From Alice's description, this had to be Emmett.
"Hey, Pixie," he said when we approached. He looked at me and grinned. "And you must be Isabella Swan." He held out his hand. "Emmett Cullens."
"Bella," I said, shaking his head.
"Great to meet you," he said, taking his hand back. He looked at Alice. "I can take it from here. I won't let Gelow get to her." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
Alice rolled her eyes. "I'll see you at lunch, Bella," she said, surprising me by giving me a peck on the cheek. "Be good, Emmett."
"You too, Pixie," said Emmett before leading me into the building. "So, what brings you to the ran-filled paradise that is Forks?"
I had been hoping that no one would ask me this until after I had made up a better story. I looked down, shoving my hands into my pockets.
"Bad break up," I muttered as Emmett led me to the back of the room. He raised an eyebrow.
"Moving to another state is a little extreme, don't you think?"
I bit my lip, my hand instantly moving to the scar on the back of my wrist.
"It was a really bad break up."
Emmett frowned and leaned over to see why I was clutching my wrist for dear life. I sighed, someone was going to see it and ask how I got it eventually. Emmett seemed like a trustworthy guy. I slowly rolled up my sleeve to show him the bright, red scar that ran horizontal along the back of my right wrist. Emmett cursed under his breath.
"It was the only time," I said, shoving my sleeve back down. "The last time. I broke up with him and he got beyond pissed. I was too afraid to face him again, so I called Charlie and asked if I could him in with him and here I am."
"Damn, Swan." Emmett muttered. He sounded impressed that I had managed to walk away from that situation when even the most headstrong person can get sucked into some really shitty relationships. It hadn't been easy, if anything I'd just taken the coward's way out.
"Yeah, well," I muttered, looking down.
Emmett patted my shoulder. "It'll be okay, kid," he said as the teacher called the class to order. "If anyone gives you any trouble here, I'll take care of 'em."
I had Spanish with Emmett's girlfriend, Rosalie Hale, a tall statuesque blond who could have been a swimsuit model. She looked nothing less than intimidating, but was actually really sweet if you were on her good side.
After Spanish, I walked with Rosalie to the cafeteria. We both grabbed salads before heading to a table in the back where Alice and Emmett were already sitting. An extremely good looking, lanky, bronze-haired boy was sitting beside Alice, his arm slung around her shoulders.
"Bella, this is Edward Cullen, my boyfriend," said Alice as I sat down on Emmett's left. I glanced up at Emmett then at Edward. They looked absolutely nothing alike.
Edward chuckled and held out his hand. "Emmett and I were adopted," he winked as I shook his hand. "We're not actually related and it's a pleasure to meet you."
I smiled, pulling my hand away. Emmett scanned the room, as if he were looking for someone.
"Where's Jazz at?" he asked, glancing at Rosalie, who shrugged.
"He's around here somewhere," she replied. "His bike's still in the parking lot, so he didn't leave."
My mind flashed to the motorcycle I had parked next to. Whoever this Jazz was must be the owner.
"Talking about me again, Emmy?" a deep voice with a slight southern accent said from behind me.
Emmett scowled. "Don't call me that," he said. "Hey, Jazz, this is Bella."
I turned around and faced the best looking guy I had ever seen. He looked down and smiled.
"Bella, this is Jasper," said Rosalie. "My brother."
The honey-blond angel smiled and held out his hand.