I have come up with a new idea for a one shot but I wasn't able to update any of my stories until I got this idea out of my head so hear it is.
This one shot has no mention of Bella so I guess you could say that it's pre twilight.
Disclaimer: I do not own twilight.
Carlisle's POV
Something was up.
I had received a phone call earlier on this morning from the principal of the school that the five of my 'children' attended, regarding Jasper. I felt horrible suddenly assuming that Jasper had slipped or that perhaps he almost had but if that had been the case, they would have asked for me to get to the school immediately. Fortunately, the school principal requested that Esme and I speak to him as soon as the both of us were free.
I had made an appointment over the phone since they caught me on my day off and Esme was free, too which was why we were now sitting in the school principal's office, waiting for him to return to wherever he had wandered off to.
"What do you think this is about?" Esme asked curiously.
I was as unsure as she was. It wasn't the first time that I had to visit the school principle but it was usually regarding Emmett and his bad behaviour, or even the embarrassing talk about how both Emmett and Rosalie have been caught in a janitor's closet but never have I been called in about Jasper. Yes, there have been times where the subject of Jasper had been brought up whenever the principal was finish talking about my other children, usually a comment about his dependency on Alice or his extremely quiet persona but it was nothing more than a small concern for him.
This, however, seemed a little different.
"I'm not sure. I'm sure that if it were serious, we would have noticed something" I assured.
But then again, saying that made me realize that I had noticed something but didn't think anything of it. There had been a small change in Jasper's behavior which started about a month ago. He seemed to be a little more withdrawn that usual around the rest of the family but with no surprised, he was just attached to Alice's side. The reason why I had passed it off as nothing is because it was just a phase he goes through. Sometimes, something will come up that may stress him and he will spend that time near Alice because her emotions calms him. But why was he stressed?
We both heard the office door open behind us as the principle walked in and held out a hand to the both of us.
"Ah, Doctor and Mrs Cullen. I'm Mr Harris. Sorry to keep you waiting" he apologized as he shook my hand and then Esme's.
He took a seat behind his desk, leaning both of his elbows on the desk while entangling his fingers.
"I guess you are probably wondering why I called you in today. It's just I'd rather talk to you about Jasper in person rather than over the phone" Mr Harris started.
With a nod, he continued.
"Is anything going on at home?" He suddenly asked.
I shook my head. "No, there has been a small change in his behavior but that's about it " I explained truthfully.
"What is this about?" Esme asked.
Mr Harris sighed and then pulled out a small folder and passed it to me before leaning back into his chair. I opened up the folder to find that it contained different result papers; his grades from his mock exams. The first one was at the beginning of last year and the last was the most recent. As my eyes scanned his grades from last year, they were, as expected, perfect. He had been in education for quite a while; not as long as his brothers because it took him a while to get used to the humans plus he wasn't in our family until later on but he had still spent more hours in education than all the humans here so it was obvious that his grades would be perfect. But then I noticed a sudden change towards the end; it was the last two result papers, both mock exams had been taken within the last month. And his grades? Not so good.
"His grades have drastically fallen, Dr Cullen. Jasper's quiet in class but he is still most certainly the smartest; especially in History. Most school students improve their grades throughout the years or at least maintain them but your son? It's like he isn't even trying" Mr Harris stated.
I didn't understand. This wasn't like Jasper. He was always so focused on impressing us. Even though he would have been out of school if he had been human, it was still important to him to keep his grades high. Why the sudden change?
I passed the papers to Esme so that she could look as I turn my gaze back onto the school principle.
"Thank you for telling me this. I'll be having a word with him when he gets home to see what it's about" I assured him.
He nodded and put the folder back in his drawer when Esme passed them back to him.
"Good. Jasper is a great student and full of potential. I don't want that to go to waste. Would it make it easier if you brought him home now? I can't imagine you having a talk with him with four other teenagers in the house. It's probably best to bring him home early" Mr Harris suggested.
I nodded in agreement so he picked up the small telephone by his side and requested for somebody to collect Jasper and bring him to the principal's office. We didn't have to wait long until the office door opened once more and Jasper walked in with his eyes glued to the floor; looking extremely nervous.
"Hello, Jasper. Your parents are here to take you home" the principal stated.
Jasper's body tensed but he forced himself to nod, still refusing to make any eye contact with anybody. And this is exactly why Jasper's cover story was that he came from an abusive household. His behavior even had some people suspected that I was abusing him.
I stood up and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. It was wishful thinking to believe that the gesture would make him relax but it was impossible for him to be any more tense than he already was.
"Let's get you home, son" I murmured to him, softly.
My hand moved from his shoulder to his upper back so that I could guide him out of the office as Esme said her thanks one last time to the principal.
Once we were outside and into the parking lot, Jasper stopped walking and for the first time, looked up at me.
"Am….Am I trouble?" He asked anxiously.
I shook my head at him. "No, not at all. We just need to talk to you once we get home" I assured him.
He gave me a questioning gaze and then looked back down to the ground again.
"It's…It's just that Emmett said that…..that I was in big trouble and…that you were mad at me" he mumbled nervously.
"Emmett?" I questioned.
"He was walking passed the principal's office when you were both talking" he admitted, quietly.
I sighed, lightly and mentally noted to speak to Emmett when he gets home from school. He had a bad habit of making Jasper think that he was in trouble and I doubt he realized that it really did scare Jasper.
"Jasper, Emmett was just joking around. You know what he's like. You aren't in any trouble, I promise" I spoke to him slowly so that he would understand.
"We are just concerned, sweetie" Esme added as she looked at him sympathetically.
He took a glance at her and gave her a small smile. My guess is that she made her caring and loving emotions clear to him. She knew he loved feeling those. It was why he liked spending time in the same room as her.
The ride home was extremely quiet as Jasper was just looking out of the car window, watching the trees go passed. I was feeling rather anxious but I knew those emotions weren't mine; Jasper probably didn't realize that he was radiating his own emotions which was something he did often when they became too much or he just lost focus.
"Relax, son" I told him gently.
His gaze shifted from the car window onto me and then he understood the reason behind my commented. He quickly looked down, a little embarrassed and muttered a 'sorry'.
Once we reached home, Esme took a seat in the lounge and patted a seat next to her to encourage Jasper to take a seat. He looked at me as if he was requesting permission so I gave him a nod. Once he seated himself, I took a seat opposite him in hope that it would help him relax.
"The school principal gave me a call this morning" I started. "He wanted to speak to Esme and I in person"
I had expected him to look up at me with a questioning gaze and ask me what it was about but it was clear that he knew the answer as if the dropping of his grades were intentional. But why?
"He showed me your grades, Jasper. What's going on?" I asked him.
He began to play with his fingers nervously and quickly glanced at the both of us before looking at the carpet again.
"Nothing, it's stupid" he muttered.
In Jasper language, it meant that it was something and it was serious.
"Jasper" I scolded.
"Sweetie, whatever it is, we can sort it" Esme assured. "Is something happening at school?"
With no response from Jasper, I decided to question him once more. It was a question that I knew made him uncomfortable asking but he wouldn't tell me unless asked.
"Are you struggling around the human's, son? I can get you out of school if you need a break" I offered.
Jasper's fists suddenly clenched hard and then widened them again so that he could run them through his hair.
"No, that's not…..I'm not weak. I can control it" Jasper said, begging us to believe him.
"Then what is it?" I asked, pleadingly.
The gaze he was holding with me was as if he wanted to tell me what was troubling him but at the same time, he just wanted to hold it all back. Noticing his hesitant look, Esme tried again.
"We are worried about you, honey; and we won't stop worrying until we know what is bothering you. We just want to help you"
Jasper sighed and looked at Esme in the eyes, looking for her honesty. There would be no doubt that she was being truthful, and deep down, Jasper knew that but he was just being sure.
"It's stupid, really. In fact; it rather pathetic" Jasper insisted.
I raised my eyebrows at him, a way to tell him to explain. He hesitated speaking a few words but at the last moment, he chose to let them out.
"Somebody thought it would be funny to tell everyone that I had been abused in my previous home and now the jokers of History class have chosen me to be their new 'victim'" he admitted in a rush.
Did he mean to say he was being bullied? Is that why he felt like it was pathetic? Because he was mentally much older than the students in the school but that didn't change things at all. With a past like Jasper's, it was horrible to think that there were people out there who were willing to verbally abuse others. Especially with someone as sensitive as Jasper; words really got to him.
"How long has this been going on?" Esme asked, concerned.
Jasper shrugged. "Ever since Emmett was transferred into another class" he mumbled.
I mentally cursed at myself. Whenever I register my 'children' into a new school, I always make sure that Jasper is in a class with one of his siblings. It used to be because we were taking precautions with him around the humans but now, it was for Jasper's own comfort.
Emmett had decided that despite being almost halfway through his classes, that he no longer wanted to do History because it was, and I quote Emmett's exact words, "unbelievably boring, how could Jasper possibly like it?"
Jasper being Jasper, told Emmett that he was 'fine' and that he could 'handle it'. Although humans were fragile compared to us vampires, Jasper was still uncomfortable around strangers but his siblings made him feel more comfortable with his surroundings, especially Alice. But Emmett had been transferred to a different class almost a whole month ago. Is that how long this has been going on for and he hasn't even told anybody about this?
"That's quite a while, Jasper. Why didn't you speak to us about it?" I asked him.
"Because there is nothing you can do about it. They'll move onto someone else once they get bored with me. It's not that big of a deal anyway; I just ignore them" he murmured.
"It is a big of a deal if it's affecting your behavior, Jas. What are they saying?" I questioned.
He shrugged as if it didn't matter. "Just things like 'how I'm weak for letting my parents beat me up' and that I was only 'adopted' because you guys feel sorry for me"
I wasn't fooled by his tone of not caring. He really did believe them. He believed that the pain he went through in the Southern wars made him weak so he would also believe that we only accepted him into our family because we pitied him. Yes, there was sympathy there but I truly wanted him to be a part of our family and I had been glad when I found out that there were others out there that were following our diet. Esme, too, knew what was going through Jasper's mind
"Oh Jasper, with everything you have gone through, it proves to us that you are the strongest person we know. Don't listen to them. They don't know what you have really gone through therefore they have no idea what they are talking about" Esme reassured.
Jasper once again gave her a small smile for her support. I was determined to make this right but I wasn't sure what I could do. There are two types of bullies; those who back off when told to, and those who get worse. The question was, could I risk my son being bullied worse than he already was?
"Is this only happening when Alice or your siblings aren't with you?" I asked him.
He nodded. Good. I will take the risk.
"Alright, here's what I'll do. I'll speak to the principle about it, I would imagine that he would give them a warning and if they get worse, he would suspend them. If that still doesn't work, they would probably be removed from the class" I told him.
Jasper shook his head, disagreeing with the idea.
"Or I could just transfer myself to Emmett's new class?" Jasper suggested.
"I thought you loved history" Esme commented.
Jasper nodded. "I do but it's about time I take something new. Besides, you have no idea how irritating it gets when the history teacher hands out false information"
I was slightly against the idea but it was one of those rare moments where Jasper gives his opinion and I was willing to do it if that was what he wanted. I nodded.
"Alright. I'll talk to the school principle again and see what I can do. But only on one condition; your grades must get better" I told him.
He smiled at me, revealing a dimple at the side of his mouth. "Yeah, I promise. I won't let you down" he sworn.
I believed him. Jasper always stuck to his word which probably had something to do with always following orders in the confederate army and then once again with Maria. It was a habit that would never die.
I allowed him to use the rest of the day to catch up on his coursework that he was behind on which was, in disguise, just a way to pass the time so that Alice would hurry home. Esme had smiled sweetly at me after Jasper had left; glad that there was finally something we could do to help him.
I made another phone call to the principle so that I could get this done as soon as possible. Grades weren't a big deal to vampires, but messing with my son? That was a whole different matter. He had spent most of his vampire life being victimized thanks to Maria and I wasn't going to stand by and allow teenage humans to do the same thing to him.
Okay, so it's not my best one-shot but what do you guys think of it? I thought it would make sense if Carlisle had made out that Jasper was 'abused before he was adopted' in order to make people understand the way he would act around humans. E.g. we couldn't ignore how tortured he looked in the twilight movies; especially in the first two but I also think it would make sense that he would be rather cautious around strangers as well because of his upbringing.
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