Lyrical Melodrama Story Contest
Name of story: Fall At Your Feet
Pen name: bendingmirrors
Song story is inspired by: Fall At Your Feet
Artist: Crowded House
Category: newbie
Main Pairing: Jasper/Alice
POV: Jasper
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all of its characters, I'm just borrowing them.
"I think that I'm beginning to know her
Let it go
I'll be there when you call"
Fall At Your Feet. Crowded House
I met Alice on our first day of kindergarten. I had just moved to Forks from Texas, and was bewildered at the change in scenery as much as the change in my family. The change had come about after my parent's had separated, and my mother chose to move us as far away from my father as she could.
First days can always be a little frightening, but mine was made so much easier by the little firecracker who raced up to me. Alice was all eyes, hair and waving hands as she took notice of the small boy she hadn't met before. Like the little engine that could she charged at me dragging another small girl in her wake.
"I'm Mary Alice, but everyone just calls me Alice, and this is my best friend, Bella" she explained without taking a breath.
"Jasper," I replied, since her eyebrows rose at me, expecting a response.
"You can sit with me and Bella if you want. She won't mind," she declared, as she dragged me over to the table that they had obviously claimed for their own before class started for the day.
Our teacher was a kind older lady, who doted on our little group. For as annoying as Alice and I could be with our hijinks, Bella was quiet and completed all of her tasks. While Alice and I found new and interesting ways to fold our coloring pages into fun shapes to cut, Bella would color as neatly as she could. She actually tried to stay inside the lines.
Bella and Alice had been best friends for as long as they could remember. Living next door to each other, and being born within hours of each other had formed a friendship that they clung to fiercely and nourished as though they were sisters. They rarely fought, the few exceptions being when Alice tried to claim her few hours seniority when trying to protect Bella from herself.
Bella's clumsiness was a perfect foil to Alice's precise movements. Alice was constantly moving, swaying to music only she could hear; dancing lightly through the hallways of the school, and clearing a path for Bella to steam through. I generally brought up the rear of the trio, fumbling along in the wake of these two small girls who became my best friends.
We were lucky that during our elementary school years the school kept us continually in the same classes. We would graduate from one teacher to the next, and while what we learned might change, the bond between the three of us remained consistent until we arrived in junior high. At the start of our last year Edward Cullen arrived. The unusual color of his hair, coupled with his natural tendencies towards silence would have made him a target within minutes of his arrival at the school. However, Alice once again noticed the new boy, took charge, and took him under her wing. I'm sure I must have had the same overwhelmed look on my face when Alice first introduced herself to me.
He appeared to be pole-axed by the diminutive powerhouse who grabbed his arm and dragged him over to our lunch table.
"Edward, this is Bella, Jasper and I'm Alice. Sit with us, we won't bite, or ask too many questions. If you want, you can just sit there and listen. But you definitely won't be sitting and eating lunch by yourself, so suck it up and take a seat." She announced to him, releasing his arm and falling into the seat next to Bella. Edward chose the seat next to me, and we watched, amused, as Alice began describing to Bella how her morning had gone. I thought for most of our early history together that Alice had learned the art of circular breathing, because she never paused for breath.
Edward waited until Alice and Bella were deep in their conversation before he leaned close to me and whispered, "For someone so tiny, she's impossible to resist. I've never known anyone in my life to take charge so quickly and decisively." I cringed as the word tiny left his mouth; I had hoped that I could get him alone before he would utter such a red flag. Alice was never too engrossed in a conversation to miss a word like that.
"Tiny?" her voice rose. "Who are you calling tiny? You...you...giant? I'm not tiny, I'm just perfectly proportioned. Didn't your mother ever tell you that the best things come in small packages?" Her voice was well on its way to registers only audible to babies and animals by the time she had finished. Bella tried soothing Alice, but I knew it was up to me to calm this down before Alice ran Edward off, never really getting a chance to know us.
"Chill, Ali, he didn't mean anything by it. You know that's not what he meant. Take a step back and stop scaring the poor boy off!" I stood and went over to Alice, I knew that most of the time I could calm her down with a few words, but sometimes, if she'd had a bad morning, it would take a little more. I made our excuses to Bella and Edward, took Alice's hand and led her outside into the rain.
"So what the fuck happened this morning to put you in this mood, little lady?" I tried to charm her with a grin that revealed my dimples, but I wasn't sure it would actually help me this time.
Alice glared at me, making me realize that I had just dropped the f-bomb in front of her. "Shit, Alice, I'm sorry. I forgot you had that whole thing about swearing in front of a lady. That totally cracks me up, you know, Ali. You swear more than a sailor on shore leave whenever no one else is watching."
"It's not fair," she said with an almost whine in her voice. "All anyone ever notices about me is my height. Forever more I'll be known as the midget that everyone went to school with, Jasper. I don't want to be known for that, I want people to remember how great I am at ballet, or how much I've helped them." The wind down from her little tirade seemed to take some of the wind out of her sails, and she slumped closer to the ground.
"For what it's worth, Ali, I will always remember you as the powerhouse who made my first day at school bearable, fun even. Compared to me, half of our classmates are shrimps, you can't hold that against me. And you can't judge Edward for what he noticed about you first, either. And, in case it escaped your attention, there were some serious sparks happening between him and our Bella..." I trailed off, hoping that I had distracted her enough that we could go back inside and she would be her fun-loving self again, charming to one and all.
"Ooh, and you dragged me out here where we can't watch?" she brightened considerably, raising up on her tiptoes to look back into the cafeteria through the window in the doors.
From our vantage point we could just make out Bella and Edward, who were still at our table; although Edward had moved around next to Bella now, so they were both facing us. They had turned their chairs inwards and appeared deep in discussion with each other. I could make out the deep flush on Bella's cheeks as she tried her very best to flirt with the new boy. Alice and I cracked up laughing, holding onto our sides and each other as we smushed our noses up against the glass. We failed to pay attention to anything else other than our friends, which resulted in the pair of us being thrown away from the door as Mike Newton stormed out of the cafeteria through the doors we were pressed against.
I was terrified that I would accidentally squash Alice, so I grabbed her in my arms and tried to keep her above me as we fell, landing in an ungraceful pile of limbs at Mike Newton's feet. He glanced down at us, but simply continued on his way over the top of us, obviously upset at something. I had a sneaking suspicion that Newton's problem was currently sitting at the table making eyes at Bella. Alice looked up at me from her current position on my chest and broke out into more giggles.
By the time Alice and I had gotten up, straightened our clothes and started to move back towards the cafeteria the bell had rung and we had to take off to our afternoon classes. We separated at the doors with Alice racing over to Bella, grabbing her hand and dragging her out the door, winking over her shoulder at me.
"What have you got next?" I asked Edward.
"Math with Mr. Boulder, you?" he inquired back, and as I had the same class we took off to math together. I had been sitting alone in the back of the class, but with Edward's arrival I soon found a companion in the most boring class on earth.
Edward eased into our group so quickly and thoroughly it became hard to remember a time when he wasn't part of our discussions. I was no longer completely outnumbered by the girls; I had a new friend to see the latest horror flicks with, or to simply hang out with. There were some other subtle differences at first too, Bella stopped wearing her shapeless sweaters and jeans, and started wearing clothes that were a little more form fitting. Alice also started spending more and more time hanging out with me; and I knew we'd pushed our friendship beyond its normal realm the day she landed on my doorstep with a bottle of nail polish, a pout and a request for me to paint her toenails.
"Jazzy, you know you have the steadiest hand when it comes to art. I hate looking at the damage my Pointe shoes do to my toes. I have to cover up the purple toenails somehow, and I don't trust anyone else to not poke fun at my feet. Please?" Her eyes had gotten huge by the end of her request, and simply by the gleam that appeared I knew I was done for. I never could deny her anything that she asked.
"Fine, but if anyone, and I do mean anyone, including Edward, hears about this then I'll never help you again. Ever." I stated as firmly as I could manage. I knew she'd try to keep it between us, but sometimes she did get carried away. Her mouth moved faster than her brain did, and someone would inevitably hear about whatever completely ridiculous caper she'd talked me into.
"Jazz, do you ever wonder if...." Alice trailed off, with an expression on her face that I just couldn't place. "Never mind."
"Come on, Ali, you know you can tell me anything you want, no judgment here."
"No, Jazz, don't worry about it, it was silly anyway." She sighed, looking out onto the street for a little while and then critiqued my painting job. "Hey! You got polish all over my big toe; you'd better clean that up, mister!"
Sitting on the front porch of my house, with Alice's poor, battered feet in my lap, trying to paint the nails that were left on her toes, I acknowledged for the first time, that the girl who had turned my world upside down on the first day of school, was at it again. She had me performing a completely emasculating act, just because she had asked. I knew Edward wouldn't catch me doing it, he and Bella had gone to see a movie, but all it would take is one person from school to see us, and I'd never hear the end of it. I knew all of this, but I didn't push her feet off my lap. Instead I cherished the opportunity to do something in return for the mighty powerhouse who had asked for something for a change.
Knowing that the way I felt about Alice was changing, I started to worry that it would get in the way of what had become my closest friendship. Alice and I came to depend on each other through the horrors of junior high, and on into the transition of high school.
High school was a different world for us. While we were still a very tight-knit circle, we were also often separated in classes. Each pursuing classes that best matched our interests. English, biology and math were classes that we all shared, but when it came to our diverse interests we were often alone. I enjoyed my history classes, and Edward lived for music; often disappearing, only to be found in the music rooms enjoying free use of the pianos available. Alice became involved in art, and often surfaced from her classes with a dreamy look in her eye; obviously still locked in the world she was creating. Bella had decided early on that she wanted to become a journalist. A political one at that, and so was pursuing a group of courses that would put her on track to achieve that goal.
While our classes and interests diverged, we also found new things to cement our friendships. Edward and I tried out for the baseball team, as a joke, while we were waiting for the girls one afternoon. It turned out to be quite a good decision. We were both first-rate, and Edward's ability to focus for long periods of time, and his speed made him a formidable batter. My control was something of an advantage when I was up to bat, I was usually able to pinpoint exactly where the ball was going to land. The team wasn't bad, and Edward and I both enjoyed the bonding opportunity that it presented.
Bella often came to watch our games and practices, albeit from behind whichever novel she was devouring at the time. Occasionally she was joined by Alice, but increasingly she wasn't since ballet began to consume more and more of her free time. Watching Alice's tension increase as time went on, we began to wonder whether she was really dancing for the love of it; or if her mother's determination that she excel was the driving force between the after school rehearsals, the hours in classes and recitals. Bella had tried to approach Alice about it, but I knew that she had been blown off. I was convinced that if Bella couldn't get Alice to open up about it, then I certainly had no hope.
Alice was the person I confided in when I was considering giving up baseball. It had been fun in the beginning, but the pressure to succeed; not just for myself, but for the whole team, was sucking the joy out of the sport. In return, Ali confided in me when she was asked to audition for a place in the Washington School of Ballet.
"Jazz, I'm scared. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and what if I'm throwing it away and it's what I was meant to do?" She didn't even pause for breath as she continued, "They have a fantastic program that leads directly into the pre-professional program. If I'm good enough to make it there, I'm probably good enough to actually make a career out of this. But then what? I can only really dance until my late twenties, what do I do with the rest of my life? Would I go back to school then? After all of my classmates have already got degrees and careers? Should I just resign myself to teaching small children ballet? What do you think, Jazz?" I could hear the rising panic and earnestness in her voice, and I knew that I had to calm her down before this dissolved into a full blown panic attack.
"Al, take a breath would you?" I poked her in the ribs. "Honestly, sweet cheeks, you do have a pretty big opportunity here, but how good it is all depends on you. What do you really want to do? And don't give me the crap answer you gave your parents when they got the letter. Tell me what's in your heart."
"I love to dance, but I dance for me." She stomped her dainty little foot down onto the patio. "I don't want to turn it into work, into something that I have to do. If I get an injury I want to be able to take the time off to heal it. I hear horror stories about some of those dancers continuing on with stress fractures in their feet. I can deal with a bit of pain, but I don't want to maim myself for life. I want to be able to help people, not just entertain them." She looked up at me through her lashes, as though she was uncertain of my response to this.
"Ali, you know what you have to do then. If it is permission you need, you can't look at me for that, you have to be the one who decides this for yourself. It is your future on the line here. I'm just an interested spectator." She slapped me at that.
"Interested spectator indeed, you just don't want to have to sit through any more recitals. I know perfectly well your stance on watching men in tights 'prance around a stage'." She pranced about, to make her point, the expression on her face priceless, so I snapped a photo of it quickly. Which resulted in a tickle match in an attempt to get the camera from me.
Alice chose to decline the invitation, instead choosing to apply to all sorts of different colleges along with the rest of us. Edward and Bella seemed determined to ensure that wherever they went to college it was together. Alice looked into colleges that offered degrees in social work, but was leaning heavily towards the University of Washington, as their program was well respected, plus it had the bonus of being close to her contacts in dance studios, so she could continue to enjoy her dancing.
I was busily being feted by different colleges for baseball scholarships. I was having little to no troubles deciding amongst them, and since I didn't need a full scholarship, I could still count the Ivy League schools as possibilities, especially when they offered the best history programs. So when Yale offered me a partial scholarship along with a place on the Bulldog's baseball team, I was decided.
Our graduation from high school was bittersweet. On the one hand, we were all so excited to be finished, but on the other, we were being split apart for the first time. Edward and Bella were off to Dartmouth, Alice to UW and I was off to Yale. Saying our farewells was one of the hardest moments I had ever faced.
Edward and I shook hands, we knew that we'd keep in touch — we had each others cell numbers and email addresses, we'd been friends for so long there was no way we'd let our friendship drift apart.
"Take good care of our Bella, Edward. Actually, take good care of each other." I smiled at them both. Then grabbed Bella into a huge hug.
"Don't forget you can always call if you need tips on how to keep the brooder from his favorite pastime! And make sure you guys do keep in touch with us, don't just get to Dartmouth and be all coupley, forgetting your life-long friends." I dropped a kiss onto the top of her head, and released her back to Edward.
Alice and I looked at each other, and by silent, mutual consent, decided to keep our farewells for a more private moment. We waved Edward and Bella off as they walked over to his parent's with their diplomas. Then we hugged and parted to go over to our respective families.
Later that evening, I met Alice on the front porch of her house. We sat on the porch swing as we had done so many times in the past, and looked at the stars in the strangely clear sky, sharing our hopes for our futures.
"Make sure that you keep in touch, Jazz, phone calls and emails, carrier pigeons if you must!" She admonished me.
"Ali, you know that we'll be friends forever, you are my best friend. No matter where we go, we are only as far away from each other as a phone call. I will be there for you no matter what. Don't let your emotions bottle up on you either. I know you talk to everyone, but you confide in very few. Promise me that you'll call whenever you need to?" I made sure I was looking directly into her eyes; I wanted to make sure that she'd heard me.
"Jasper, I absolutely promise that I will call you whenever I need to. You need to promise me that no matter what happens on the field, you will keep up with your studying, and that you'll take your head out of a history book long enough to enjoy the college experience, too?" Her sweet voice pleading for me to have a good time while away from her seemed almost laughable, I was voluntarily walking away from my sunshine, but I knew right then that it was for the best. We had too much at stake as friends to ever let it become something more that might ruin everything.
Alice, don't forget me." I whispered "We'll keep in touch, Ali. I'll start training the pigeons as soon as I get there," I said, trying to lighten the mood a little, but I could see that I was failing. "I'll call you whenever I can, and send emails all the time. We'll still be best friends; there'll just be a little more distance between us. I love you," My last words, just loud enough for me to hear, but hopefully not loud enough for her.
As I got up from the swing, and made my way out to my car to head home, I heard her breathe, "I love you too, Jasper, I'll never forget."
A/N - Firstly, I would like to say a HUGE thank you to small team without whom I would not have written or then posted this fic: Britpacksuccubus, cravingtwilight, miztrezboo and Nostalgicmiss for for fixing my grammar and punctuation, superb hand-holding, cheerleading and ribbon waving. I couldn't do this without you guys, you rock!
Secondly, all of the entries for this competition are available from here www (dot) thewriterscoffeeshop (dot) com, please head over there and check them out.
Lastly, there is a very worthy cause making the rounds at the moment, so if you have the ability to help out in any way then please go to www (dot) thefandomgivesback (dot) com