~ Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight series or its characters. Thank Stephanie Meyer for that. ~
POV: 3rd person omniscient
Realization
Today was just like any other day. It was Sunday and Alice was on her laptop talking through AIM with her best friend, Jasper. They live a few blocks apart from each other and had been friends since the start of elementary school. They had been together throughout elementary school, junior high school, high school, and are now attending their last year in the same university. Others have mistaken them for a couple for as long as they both could remember. Both were bored at home and tried to entertain each other but to no avail. In a desperate attempt to do something, Jasper suggested in going to shoot pool. Alice quickly agreed to go and got dressed.
A few minutes later, Alice heard the honking of car horns outside her door. It was Jasper so Alice took one more look in the mirror and took off for the stairs. Once she looked her front door, Alice happily skipped to the car and got into the passenger seat. Jasper chuckled at her ever-present childish nature even though she was 21 and took off. During the ride, Alice noticed that Jasper was driving the opposite way.
"You're going the wrong way. The pool house is in the opposite direction," Alice stated, "Are you having memory lose already?
Jasper looked at Alice and then quickly brought his eyes back to the road, "Oh yea, I forgot to tell you. I invited Maria as well," he said with a chuckle from Alice's comment.
The only word that came out of Alice's mouth was "Oh," and turned to look though the side window. Maria has been Jasper's girlfriend since their second year at college. Alice didn't like her very much for her condescending nature, but as a friend, she kept her mouth shut. She also kept quiet about the feelings she had for Jasper since the end of junior high school. Hormones raged at that time and contact with boys no longer seemed disgusting to girls and vice versa. She had contemplated on whether she should tell him, fearing it would ruin their long-time friendship. With the appearance of Maria, it was just another reason for Alice to keep quiet. Jasper had never shown any signs of liking her so she just accepted being his best friend.
When they finally arrived at Maria's house, Jasper got out and walked to the door to ring the bell. Alice looked on from inside the car as Maria hugged and kissed Jasper as she finally opened the door. Alice couldn't help but cringe at the sight. As Jasper and Maria started to walk back to the car, Alice looked away immediately. When they finally got to the car, Jasper got into the driver's seat but Maria was outside still. She had her arms crossed and shot a nasty look at Alice. Alice turned towards Jasper with a confused look.
"She likes to sit in the passenger seat," Jasper stated, "Only in the passenger seat." Alice gave him this annoyed look on her face. Jasper continued, "I'm sorry. Can you sit in the back? I don't want her to be mad at me. You know how she can be. Please." Alice didn't want to but Alice didn't want to displease Jasper or his "Highness". Alice sighed and opened to the door to let Maria have the seat. Once both of them were in the car, Maria let out a little chuckle. "Everyone who's anyone knows this is my seat." Alice caught Jasper looking at her through the rear-view mirror with an "I'm sorry" look on his face. Alice sighed and let Maria off for her remark.
Once they got to the pool house, they played four games. Afterwards they decided to take a small break. During the break, Alice turned towards the couple. They were happily flirting with each other as usually. It was too much PDA for her taste yet Alice couldn't stop looking at them. They were in their own little world and she was rendered invisible. Maybe in this lifetime, they aren't supposed to end up together.
After a few minutes of staring, Alice noticed a figure approaching her. She turned toward it and found a tall guy standing in front of her. "Hi, my name is James. You caught my attention when you came through the door. I found myself unable to take my eyes off of you," he stated. Alice didn't know how to respond except blush. Thinking of a way to break the silence, Alice's natural reflex was to introduce herself.
At the corner of Jasper's eyes, he spotted Alice talking to someone. He asked himself if he was her friend. Jasper dismissed the thought when he realized he knew all of her friends and he was definitely not one of them. Maria was talking to him but he couldn't take his attention off of Alice and the new guy. Something within him suddenly started turning. Jasper couldn't decipher what he was feeling. After taking a few seconds to scan a list of emotions, he finally concluded he was jealous. Jasper was confused as to why he felt that way suddenly. Alice was his friend since childhood, nothing more…right?
"I was wondering," James proposed, "do you want to get a drink with me at the bar?" Alice looked towards Jasper, who quickly turned away, to see that they were doing their own thing. She turned back to James and replied, "I would love to." After a few minutes of talking about random things, James asked her another question, "Since your friends are busy with each other and don't want to be interrupted, I thought you might like a ride home later." Alice turned her head slightly towards Jasper and then back to James. She and Jasper were just friends, always have and always will be, nothing more. Alice gave a little smile and a nod.
All the while James and Alice were chatting, Jasper couldn't help but constantly glance over at them. He was getting more jealous by the minute. Jasper didn't know the guy personally but he already didn't like him. He gave off this bad vibe but disregarded it. Who was he to judge someone? Alice knew how Maria was and let it slide. He should be able to do that with Alice's new…friend. When he and Maria started playing again, Jasper couldn't shake off the jealous and angry feelings; thus, performed badly in the games. Maria criticized his playing but Jasper could really care less at this point.
When Alice was ready to leave, she informed James to stay at the bar so she can tell her friends that she was leaving. Alice walked towards the couple and informed them that she wanted to go home. She reassured Jasper that James politely offered to give her a ride. "Have fun you lovebirds" she finally stated with a hint of sadness as she turned and walked towards James to leave. At this moment, everything clicked in Jasper's head. He had feelings for Alice and now it's too late.
Maria was talking to him but Jasper's eyes followed Alice as she headed out the door. Jasper refocused when Maria hit him on the arm. "Are you listening to me? Do you want to play another game?" she asked with an annoyed expression. Jasper shook his head. He then felt Maria coming closer towards him. "Well we can make out at my place. My parents aren't home," she said seductively as she leaned closer and closer to Jasper. Jasper, as a reflex, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her away, creating space between them. Maria gave him a confused and annoyed look, waiting for Jasper's explanation for his actions. "Umm," he started out, "Let's go. I'll drop you off and I'm just going to head home. I'm not in the mood for anything right now." Maria heaved an annoyed sigh and stubbornly followed Jasper out.