Author's Note: I would just like to start off by talking about this story a bit. I'm not really sure where this idea came from. It just sort of popped into my head. I'm usually an Edward/Bella and Alice/Jasper shipper, but recently I've been reading a lot of Alice/Bella. It took be quite awhile to get all of the facts straight in my head considering this is AU and AH. This isn't going to be smutty, so you don't have to worry about anything dirty. It's going to be about two people finding love very unexpectedly. Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie were all adopted by Esme, although Jasper and Rosalie are biological siblings. Jasper is 25, Rosalie is 21, Alice is 19. Bella lives with her mother Renee in Arizona where she's finishing up high school, but she's spending her summer in Forks with Charlie. She is 18. You'll learn more about the characters as they learn more about one another.
Summary: Alice's ancient Porsche breaks down while picking up her foster brother from Arizona. A beautiful stranger finds them and helps them get to Seattle, but Alice finds something more than just a ride. Alice/Bella. AU/AH.
Rated: T for language, mild sexual content, and underage drinking.
Disclaimer: I don't own Alice, Bella, Jasper, or anything really. It all belongs to Stephenie Meyer. All I own is the plot and parts of the backstories of the characters.
Jinx
Alice Brandon pulled away from Davis-Monthan Air Force base in Tucson, Arizona with her brother, Jasper, sitting solemnly beside her. His head leaned against the cool glass of her window as though he couldn't be bothered to stay awake. Alice had driven 8 hours from Los Angeles – where she was attending the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising – to here. All because their mother Esme had been so adamant that her adopted children spend some much needed bonding time with one another. And now her brother wasn't even paying attention to her.
The petite girl looked in her mirrors, checking that no one was behind her, and slammed on the brakes of her yellow 1978 Porsche 924. Jasper lurched forward, grabbing the dashboard to steady himself. That's what he gets for falling asleep and not wearing a seatbelt, Alice thought to herself, a smug smile on her pouty lips. "Morning, sunshine." She said in her soft, musical voice. Jasper glared at her and sat back in his seat, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Morning." He grunted, turning to look out the window as Alice started driving again. She took a sharp left, causing the random sheets of paper on her dashboard to flutter around. "Your car's a wreck." Jasper commented as her reached up to grab the papers. He'd always been the neat one out of the kids, helping Esme with all of the chores that Alice and Rosalie had conveniently forgotten about. He shuffled the papers into a neat pile and set them on the incredibly small backseat of the Porsche. When Alice took another sharp left, the papers scattered.
"Where's Rose?" Jasper asked, referring to his biological sister Rosalie. She lived only a few blocks away from Alice in Los Angeles, working hard to kick start her modeling career. She'd done a few small jobs here and there and was being considered to be in a spread by some jeans company that Jasper could never remember the name of. It was obvious why designers loved her; she was 5'10" with thick, curly blonde hair and stunning violet eyes. She didn't have an ounce of fat on her either – a necessity in the modeling business – and her face didn't have a single flaw.
"Back home." Alice answered. "Emmett has his movie premiere tonight, and Rosalie couldn't pass up a chance to show off." She rolled her eyes. The relationship between Rosalie and her action star boyfriend, Emmett McCarty, was laughable. The guy thought angina was a body part. But Rosalie stayed with him cause she "loved him," or, more accurately, loved being in the limelight. "She's flying in tomorrow night."
"Figures." Jasper chuckled, running a hand through his curls. He was expecting this road trip to Seattle with his sisters to be a living hell. He could just picture what it would've been like if Rosalie had come along – the blonde would've sat in the backseat and complained about the lack of room and the long ride while Alice fought the urge to strangle her and throw her in a ditch somewhere.
"Are you one hundred percent sure that this thing will make it home?" He asked, patting the seat of her ancient Porsche. Alice glared at her brother, her tiny hands gripping the steering wheel protectively.
"I'm positive. Just because it's an older model doesn't mean it can't run well." She had always been extraordinarily protective of her Porsche. When she was just fifteen, she'd asked Esme for a sports car, specifically a yellow Porsche. Her dream had come true on her sixteenth birthday, although she'd been hoping for a '05 model or something, not a '78. She couldn't complain, though. For the three years she'd had it, her Porsche had run smoothly, never breaking down. She had faith in it.
"Let's just pray this piece of junk doesn't fuck up. This is a long ride; that's the last thing we'd need."
"Jazz!" Alice scolded. "Don't jinx my car, alright? It runs just fine." She stroked the steering wheel affectionately. "And I'm going to have to have a talk with your little Air Force buddies. They're corrupting you. I mean, since when have you started cursing like that?"
Jasper laughed and leaned back in his seat, making himself comfortable. He quietly listened as Alice talked about all the things she'd learned at school in the few months that the two hadn't seen each other. She had successfully sewn a couple of dresses and shirts, including the floral print, sundress that she was currently wearing. He knew that if he just nodded and occasionally asked questions, she'd continue to carry the conversation. He didn't mind – he was never much of a talker.
Forty minutes later, Alice's phone began playing the chorus of some song by one of those alternative artists she was always going on about. Goldwrap, or something like that. She hit send on her blackberry and chirped a cheerful greeting to whoever was on the line. From the sour look that immediately found it's way onto her pretty face, it was Rosalie on the phone.
"Look, Rose." Alice started, her voice no longer cheerful, taking on an annoyed tone. "I'm sorry that you and Emmett broke up… again. I truly am. But that's not my fault. You chose to come out tomorrow night instead of with me. Sorry, hun. I'm not turning back." She hit end and let out a long, dramatic sigh.
"What happened this time?" Jasper raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know, nor do I care. It's her problem." And with that, Alice flicked on her radio – one of those new, portable ones that Rose had to install when Alice got the car – and sang along to the music that blasted through the speakers.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Two hours later, Jasper found himself at the receiving end of one of Alice's infamous glares. They were in Phoenix, Arizona with nothing but two dead cell phones – Jasper hadn't charged his in at least a week – and a broken down car. The smoke seeping out from under the hood was definitely not a good sign.
"You jinxed my car." Alice hissed, her tiny fist slamming into Jasper's arm. For someone so small, she sure had a lot of strength. He rubbed his sore arm and glared right back at her. "What are we supposed to do now? Look at my poor baby." She sniffled and leaned against the canary yellow exterior of her car.
Jasper shrugged. He'd never been in a situation like this. Sure, he'd had a broken down car before, but it was only once and Rose was with him. If anyone could fix up a car even better than the guys at the shops, it was Rosalie Brandon.
Alice grabbed her slim, black purse and started walking. A truck passed her and honked, the bald driver winking at the girl who could easily pass for eleven. Jasper felt the sudden urge to go and knock the guy out. "Ali! He called out, jogging behind her. She ignored him. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Hitchhiking!" She shouted, crossing her thin arms.
"Are you sure that's even legal here?" He shouted back. She simply shrugged. With a sigh, Jasper ran back to the car, grabbed his backpack, – the only thing he was bringing to Seattle because most of his clothes were already there – and caught back up to his sister. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"And resourceful. God only knows how long it'd take to get a tow truck and get the car fixed. Not to mention how much it would cost." She walked at a brisk pace, her metallic sandals kicking up thick, reddish dirt that stuck to the soles of her feet. "Look for someone normal, okay? No creepy old men, no windowless pedophile vans."
Jasper laughed and watched as a few more cars passed, none of them glancing at the pair. After a few minutes, a sleek, silver car pulled up. The driver, a man of about thirty, peeked out of the window and smiled. "Need a ride?" He asked, although Alice knew from his direct stare that he was only talking to her.
"No thank you." She said brightly, continuing her walk. The guy trailed her, going at a snail's speed. Alice was starting to feel uncomfortable, her eyes darting from the ground to the car.
"I believe she said she doesn't want a ride." Jasper interjected, glaring at the man with his piercing blue eyes. The man put up his hands in a sign of surrender and drove off, kicking up a cloud of dirt. Alice coughed softly.
They walked in silence, waiting for someone acceptable to drive by. Alice's small thumb stayed high in the air in hopes that someone would stop. Finally, after walking a quarter of a mile, a truck pulled up beside them. A young brunette sat in the front seat, her chocolate brown eyes wide and curious. Her skin was so pale she could have been mistaken for a terminally ill woman who'd broken out of the nearest hospital. "Need any help?" The girl asked, looking between Alice and Jasper.
Alice smiled appreciatively. "Nope. Just a ride."
The girl looked skeptical, looking around a bit. She jerked her head back towards the spot where Alice's now useless Porsche sat. "Is that your car? It broke down?"
Alice nodded. The girl pursed her lips and motioned for them to get in. Her rusty red truck looked even older than the Porsche. It was probably a 1950's model. Jasper opened the door to allow Alice in. She smiled gratefully before hopping into the cab of the truck, watching as a few chunks of red paint flickered to the pavement. "We're going to Seattle, so you can just drop us off as close to there as you're going. And the stuff we have with us are the only important things we have, so you don't need to go back to our car."
"Seattle?" The girl raised a delicate eyebrow. "I'm going to Forks, which is only about 3 hours away. I can just drop you off on my way home."
"Sounds good to me." Jasper said, looking down at Alice to see if she approved or not. She nodded her head gently. "I'm Jasper, by the way. And this is my sister, Alice."
The girl smiled. "Hi. I'm Isabella, but you can just call me Bella. I'm not a big fan of my full name."
Alice nodded sympathetically. "I know what you mean. My real name is Mary Alice. It sounds like a name for one of those prim and proper housewives who spend all their time cleaning and baking pies. I just go by Alice."
No one said anything after that. They drove in silence for a few minutes, Bella paying extra attention to the road. If there was anything Alice hated more than silence, it was awkward silence. She clasped her hands on her lap, tapping her thumbs to the beat in her head. Her fingers were itching to turn on the radio, but she didn't want to Bella to yell at her. Or worse, throw them out.
"So…" Bella said, trying to think of something to say. She hated awkward silences almost as much as Alice did. "Why are you two heading to Seattle?"
"To see our mother." Alice answered. "She lives up there."
"Oh." Bella said, pursing her full lips. She could feel Alice staring at her and a light blush crept across her cheeks. "Do you live out here? In Phoenix?"
Alice shook her head. "I live in Los Angeles with my sister, Rose. But Jazz lives on the Air Force base in Tucson. I came here to pick him up on my mother's orders." Bella nodded, waiting for Alice to continue. "What are you going to Forks for?"
"To see my dad." Bella's father Charlie had lived in Forks for as long as Bella could remember. The brutally boring summers and holidays in the Olympic peninsula were unfortunately engraved in her brain. Nothing more painful than spending three months with someone you have nothing in common with. "He's a police chief up there. My mom and him divorced years ago. I live with her in Phoenix."
Alice smiled. "That's nice that you're going to visit your father." She commented.
"My mom kind of forces me." Bella admitted. Her mother and father occasionally talked; they hadn't parted on particularly bad terms. Her mom had just fallen out of love. Bella knew her father loved her and missed her, and her mother always seemed to be able to guilt her into spending sometime with him in Forks. "Trust me, I'd much rather spend my summer with my boyfriend in California. Even though I look albino, I actually really enjoy the sun."
Alice cocked her head slightly to the right and turned a bit to face Bella, accidentally jabbing Jasper in the ribs. She expected him to hiss or to tell her to be careful, but he was fast asleep. No wonder he was no help in the conversation area. "Where at in California?"
"San Francisco."
"Oh."
"Yup."
"That's nice."
"Very."
"California's great."
"I agree."
There was a bit of a break in the conversation between the two girls before Bella finally spoke up. "Do you have a boyfriend?" She asked Alice, turning her head to look at the slightly shorter girl. She was tiny, like borderline dwarfism tiny. She couldn't be over 5'0", even with her spiky hair. Bella wanted to ask her about it – she'd never seen a hairstyle like that. It stuck up at all angles, and was cropped close to her head. She didn't want to pry and also didn't want to offend the girl, especially considering the hair complimented her small face wonderfully.
Alice laughed softly at Bella's question. Bella looked over again when the girl laughed. There was something mesmerizing about her. Her hair, her face, and that laugh that sounded like wind chimes. "Nope. No boyfriend. Never had one before."
Bella was shocked. How could someone who was both beautiful and friendly have never had a boyfriend? "How come?" She asked, no longer caring about not prying.
Alice smiled slyly. "I don't like guys."
"Oh. So you…" Bella wasn't sure how to continue.
"I'm attracted to girls." Alice finished for her, smiling as Bella's face turned scarlet. "You don't have to feel weird around me, you know. I'm not gonna try to jump your bones or anything."
Bella cleared her throat, even more heat rushing to her cheeks. "No, no. I… I didn't think that. I just… Yeah. Never mind."
Alice laughed again – that laugh that made Bella instinctively look over. The small girl's sapphire blue eyes were closed, and her lips were slightly turned up at the corners. She looked utterly relaxed. After a minute or two of silence, Bella opened her mouth again. She wasn't usually so nosey. She wasn't sure what had come over her. "Do you have a girlfriend?" She asked. But Alice was asleep, that soft smile still on her lips.
Hope you liked it! If you read it, please review and let me know what you think. I don't want to continue if I'm not getting any feedback. And if you have any suggestions for future chapters than please feel free to message me.
