Hey, so I'm not sure if I'm even going to be ready to continue this at the moment, but I figured I may as well post it? I'm really into another fanfic of mine rn but I dunno, I always have loved Jasper… And I've got a few ideas for this one.
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When Wren was younger, her Aunt would never let her have the remote when they sat down to watch TV together. Not because she had bad taste in shows, and not because the older woman simply didn't want her young niece messing up the TV.
No, Angelica 'Angel' Kitt had always refused to leave the remote in her niece's possession for the simple reason that if she did, they'd be stuck watching whatever show was on in slow motion.
Because the thing was that Wren, with every ounce of her little six year old being, had believed that for a moment to truly be experienced, it had to go slow. It had to be slow so that you could memorize every detail, fully live every second, and be able grab hold of it with no regrets. Even then her tiny mind had been vast within itself far beyond anyone's comprehension, including her own, and she'd fixated on this tiny detail.
So, with this quirk firmly in place, Wren had gone through her early years devoid of remote privileges all the way up until she was about 11, when she'd finally gotten a handle on some of her odder behaviors. While she'd never really stopped believing that truly pivotal moments happened slowly, even if they were only a few seconds, she'd let the notion fade into the back of her mind, hidden amidst the wreck that served as her train of thought.
It stayed there for the next five years.
In that time, Wren's life fell apart and came together as it had been doing for the years before, and like always, she took it in a stride.
Her Mama and Papa ditching her with her Aunty Angel to go waste their life away amidst drugs and other unsightly things? All right. Staying with her Aunty was better than the danger of living with a couple of meth addicts as far as she was concerned.
Figuring out that her anxiety around people did not get better with age? Perfectly okay considering she was a homebody anyways. A few close friends suited her fine, and everyone else could keep their drama to themselves.
Being forced to skip a grade so that her school could make themselves look better by having a 'gifted' student? Whatever, it wasn't like what they were giving her would trip her up anyways. (And maybe the idea of slightly more challenging material appealed to her never still mind. If she didn't have something to keep herself occupied, her thoughts would spiral out of control and she'd fall back into the dark places she'd been trying hard for years to keep away from.)
Having to move from her hometown in California to some dreary town in Washington because of her Auntie's job transfer? Fine by her. It wasn't like Sacramento had many happy memories for her anyways.
In the end, that's what she ended up telling her Aunty when the worried woman asked for the fifth time as she drove her to her first day of state mandated hell at Fork's Highschool.
"I know baby, I know… And I'm sorry about that. Maybe it'll be better here? I mean I know you like this weather better at least," Angel responded.
Her Aunty really did try hard to make up for the things her brother and sister in law had put Wren through, and while she appreciated it, Wren could only wish that the woman would just… Stop. The past was the past, and even if it did sneak up on her sometimes, if she needed help dealing with it, she'd ask.
And her Aunty, amazing woman that she was, didn't need the extra stress of having to deal with Wren's demons as well as her own. With that in mind, Wren gave her Aunt a small smile as they pulled up to the school. When the car pulled to a stop, they both sat in silence as her Aunty stared straight ahead, and she eyed the energetic students darting around.
She knew that wouldn't last long, though. She'd been lucky enough to be able to come at the start of the semester, and as soon as the joy of summer break wore off, everyone would be stuck in that ever present teenage resentment for the schooling system that every one she'd ever met seemed to harbor to some extent.
"Baby girl?" her Aunt questioned softly, breaking their quiet.
After swallowing down the ball of anxiety that had begun to bubble up, Wren steeled herself and straightened her clothes.
"It'll be fine Aunty, don't worry. I'll see you at home, okay?"
She gained that extra bit of strength that she'd need to get through her first day at new school from the sudden ease of tension on her Auntie's face.
"Alright, I love you, baby girl. I'll be home around six, but text me when you get home?"
It was a twenty minute walk from the school to their new house, but even so Wren would be home about two hours before her Aunt was, so she nodded. Then, with one more steady breath she was out of the car, her Aunt was driving away, and her glasses were fogging due to the contrast of the cool air and her own warm breath.
"Fuck," she murmured.
Forks was a relatively small town, which meant that their high school didn't exactly have the largest student body. That, in turn, meant that she was getting a few curious looks because obviously no one remembered her face from middle school or elementary or however many years they'd all been stuck together. Her only saving grace was that she hadn't come in the middle of the year. That just would have been a disaster, and she'd have had to turn her ass right back around and walk home before school even started. As it was, she was seriously considering it.
But then again, she knew her Aunty would be pissed, so she shoved her hands into her hoody pocket and soldiered on. She had her schedule, her bag, and snacks to get her through until lunch and then after. She'd be fine.
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And so she was.
Because of her year skip, she'd be graduating that year, which made her a senor at 16. Of course she'd be 17 in a few months, but that was still a ways away. Even though her skip had only been a year, however, her teachers seemed to look at her with very high expectations.
Math had been first, and while it had been one of her better classes because of the ease with which her mind worked with numbers, she could already tell that her teacher, , would attempt to challenge her to the best of his abilities. While she did appreciate it in a way, she was wary of having his attention on her.
All in all, that class hadn't been too bad. She'd even managed to make friends with a tall, willowy girl who'd seen the small Naruto keychain she'd had on her bag for years. Obviously feeling that odd 'nerd vibe' that all anime junkies seemed to give off, Maria Rodriguez had latched onto her within moments. Even thought Wren wasn't one to normally make friends so easily, she felt okay with the girl's attentions. She didn't come off as someone who was gross in their perusal of all things 'anime' and 'kawaii'; rather she was much like Wren in that respect. She enjoyed animation in general as a simple pastime, and it helped that they both had an interest in mathematics.
After checking their schedules together and realizing they had all but two classes in common, Wren was content to trail after her for the rest of the day, even if she did feel a little awkward.
That was how, after an English class she knew right off the bat that she was going to hate, she found herself situated at the end of a lunch table next to Maria as the girl chattered away with her friends.
Wren had intended to go find the school's library, or even find a quiet corner somewhere to sit, but in the spirit of trying, she'd let Maria drag her into what she liked to refer to as the second layer of hell. If high school was one whole hell, then the lunchroom was its inner layer.
People were everywhere, the smells of way too many different foods permeated the air, and she could already hear people gossiping in the background.
Actually, now that she was paying attention, the gossip was in the foreground. Maria's friends were literally all looking at her and making speculations because at some point she'd apparently zoned out.
"Do you think she's mute?" one skinny kid asked, looking just a little too red eyed to not be regularly inhaling some type of smoke.
"No,no, no," Maria chimed in," she's just shy!"
Wren knew her face had gained a light red tinge as she fought not to clench her jaw down on the sucker she'd started a few minutes before lunch without thinking about it. She wasn't usually one for hard candies, but she'd forgotten when lunch started and had been too lazy to check when she'd gotten a sweet tooth. The sucker had been the first thing she found in her bag, so artificial cherry was what she settled for.
"Is shy your way of saying she's slow?" a girl with meticulously straightened brown hair questioned.
That one actually stung a little all things considered. Wren knew she could get a little spacey, and she didn't actually move really fast, but damn.
"Amy!" Maria gasped, and Wren felt marginally better that she was at least being defended.
Amy just waved her hand though, and looked away.
"I was just joking."
Wren sucked harder on her candy, deciding to just sit this one out. Maria had exhausted all of her socialization energy for the day, and even just sitting there was making her uncomfortable. Every time someone new sat down, Mariah would introduce her and they'd all move on, which was nice but nerve wracking all at once. One set of eyes on her was too many.
"Sure you were Aims. Just like you were joking about wanting to take a bite out of Hale's butt last year?" Mariah shot back, seemingly enjoying playing with her friend.
That did have Wren snorting a little in amusement, though. She hadn't had anyone in her class with the name Hale yet, so she had no idea who they were talking about. Still, she assumed that if the person was attractive enough to warrant some girl's lascivious attentions, then they were someone she'd want to stay clear of. Her and people didn't do well together… But her and attractive people? It was a no go. Most attractive people knew they looked good, and even if looks didn't generally phase her, their attitudes did.
With that thought in mind, she took her sucker out of her mouth and tapped Maria's arm lightly. When the girl turned, Wren leaned up so that she wouldn't have to shout above the crowed.
"Who's Hale?"
If she knew what to look for, she knew what to avoid.
Wren was quickly learning that Maria was one for gossip, and if that held true then Hale was some serious gossip by the look on Maria's face alone. She was beaming.
"Well to begin with, there are actually two Hales; they're twins. The one I was talking about was Jasper, the guy, and his twin is a girl named Rosalie. Don't get me wrong though, they're both gorgeous."
'Well,' she thought,' now I have two people to stay away from, then.'
This time it was a girl with hair almost as wild as her own shoulder length locks that spoke.
"Their whole family is gorgeous!"
"She's not exaggerating," Maria laughed," there are actually five of them here. They're all adopted, and they've kind of got this dating thing going on. It's sort of like their dad, who's a doctor by the way, matched them all up. There's Rosalie and Jasper Hale, who are the twins. Rosalie is dating Emmet Cullen, and Jasper and Alice used to date. Now that they're over though, that leaves Edward, who's the youngest, and Jasper free…"
The dreamy tone Maria trailed off with as she mentioned the single siblings was a little off putting, but Wren just added it to the list of things she was planning to ignore right along with 'Jasper, Rosalie, Emmet, Alice, and Edward'. That entire family sounded like a disaster waiting to happen, and she did not want to go anywhere near that. Who adopts a bunch of beautiful teens and puts them in a house together? Who would let them date? Are there reality show cameras somewhere? She really didn't want to find out.
In that moment, she really was quite happy to stick to her plan of not getting involved in any crap. She had one more year, and then she'd be off to college, out of her Aunty's hair, and working to repay everything the woman had done for her thus far. She had a plan.
It only took a few moments for that plan to get blown to pieces.
It only took a few moments that seemed to last forever, because that little piece of her that said important things must be savored slowly came to life with a burning passion before it died in favor of something that was much too fast.
"Bro… I think you guys should be a little quieter, the Cullens are only a few tables behind us," the stoner guy from before put in.
Wren's stomach momentarily dropped before she realized that even if they were close, the Cullens wouldn't have been able to hear their conversation over the loudness of the cafeteria. That was the only reason she even bothered to turn around with Maria and Amy to confirm Stoner Dude's suspicions.
That was the reason why, as curiosity burned dimly and she pushed her now sticky sucker against her lips, she was able to immediately pick out the table of teens that looked like they'd been ripped out of the nearest magazine in their perfection.
That was why as the taste of sugar once again hit her taste buds, she caught the honeyed gaze of the most beautiful male she'd ever seen.
That was why she froze like a deer caught in the headlights because she couldn't believe she had the most unfortunate luck ever to have turned at the exact wrong time.
"Oh my god, Jasper's looking this way!"
That was why time slowed, everything around her seemed to fade, and what couldn't be more then fifteen seconds stretched into an eternity, and she knew she was in for the longest year of her life.
She knew, as her sucker fell from her limp fingers and hit the ground, her cheeks positively blazed, and she came back to her senses in a humiliating rush, that she'd just fallen victim to human biology in a rush of hormones and lack of social interaction.
Because in that moment, in that forever stretch of a sliver of time, she'd never wanted anything as much as she wanted Jasper Hale.
It was in the way her heart stopped, her hands trembled, and warmth she only ever let herself feel when she was alone slid through her body and settled between her thighs. It was in the way she knew she was going to do everything she could to avoid him as thoroughly as possible and crush the far too confusing feelings rushing through her body.
It was in the way she knew looking into his eyes for a few seconds was going to stay with her forever, but she had no idea why.
It was in the way she watched a boy who had to be one of his brother's abruptly shoot up, grab his arm, and drag him straight out of the cafeteria.
It was in the way his face morphed into an expression she couldn't describe beyond the fact that it scared the living fuck out of her.
Then, as he cleared the door and the young man with pale skin and golden hair was out of her sight, the intense emotion she'd been feeling faded, and she was simply left with a bone deep confusion and the certainty that she really, really didn't want to go back to school the next day.
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Anyways I know it's not much, but tell me if anyone's interested?