Pain. Death. Darkness.
I sit up with a gasp. The word exits my brain as fast as it entered. The back of my hand touches my forehead and it connects with damp, balmy skin. My mind thinks back to what the dream could have been, but, once again, it's completely wiped from my memory.
My alarm blaring loudly next to me wakes me up. I groan and switch it off, throwing myself out of bed just as my mother yells my name downstairs. "Lucy, I'm leaving!" I throw on my robe and swing my door open to run downstairs.
My beautiful mother stands at the door in her scrubs and a coat, holding her purse tightly against her under her arm. I sling my arms around her and give her a peck on the cheek. "Love you, Mom. Have a great first day!"
"You, too, darling." She smiles warmly at me. "Also, I'll be home late, but there's some leftovers still in the fridge." I nod my head and open the door for her. "Bye, honey!"
Just like that, she's off to her first day at the hospital. Soon, it'll be my first day, too. In about 2 hours.
I run back upstairs and take the quickest shower known to mankind before throwing on the clothes I had picked out yesterday. Nothing too fancy. I don't want it to seem like I'm trying too hard. I blow dry my hair, deciding to straighten it before I leave. I don't want to look too over the top, but I also would rather not look like a wet rat on my first day.
The minutes count day faster than I imagine. I don't even bother with makeup, not that I've ever bothered with it. I grab an orange before checking on the time. If I leave in 10 minutes, I'll get there 5 minute early. Perfect. I take my sweet time peeling the orange and eating it before slinging my almost empty backpack over my shoulder and walking out of the door.
Forks High School. The only high school in the immediate area. I have to start again in the middle of the school year, only half of a semester before I graduate. I shake my head from frustration, which is something I've felt a lot of in the past week or so. Just as we moved here. I'm lucky I didn't have to take more classes to graduate, so I'm able to leave in June with all of the other seniors.
As I pull into the parking lot, I recite my plan in my head. Don't make too many friends you'll just have to leave again. You're going back to California. Don't get attached.
I step out of my car, and dozens of pairs of eyes are glued to my face. I drop my head and stare at my map as I walk to what I hope is the Office. "Nice ride!" Somebody shouts to me. I ignore them.
I open the door to the building to be greeted by a woman sitting behind the desk. Her glasses fall off as she jerks back in her chair, obviously startled by me entering. "Oh! Sorry about that." She exclaims, picking up her glasses from her desk. I walk to the desk as she asks my name.
"I'm Lucy Vogt. I'm new here today. I was told to come here first thing." I tell her with a warm smile, drawing my jacket closer to me. She smiles warmly at me before shuffling with a bunch of papers. Great start to the day.
After a second of searching, she hands me a schedule and a map with a small slip of paper for all of my teachers to sign. "Have a great first day, hun." She tells me. I smile back and tuck my hair behind my ears before walking out.
I walk in the direction of what I think is first period, but I was too into looking at my map and schedule to notice someone walking in front of me. I bump straight into a girl, bouncing back immediately as she struggles to keep her balance, grabbing the boy next to her.
"I am so sorry," I tell them. She shrugs it off.
"You're Lucy, right? Lucy Vogt?" The boy asks me. He sweeps his black bangs out of his eyes before reaching forward with his hand for me to shake. "I'm Eric. I wasn't stalking you, I promise. It's not very often that we get new seniors so close to the end of the year."
I nod, taking in all of the information and letting go of his hand. The girl just chuckles and shakes her head. "I'm sorry about him, he's a bit of your spaz. I'm Angela. Do you need any help finding a class or anything?"
I glance down at my map, then look back up and realize I'm not anywhere near the right building. "Yeah, kind of actually." I tell them, laughing nervously. I hand Angela my schedule and she glances at it for a second before smiling back at me.
"We have first period and lunch together, so we can just walk there together." I grin slightly, happy that I've already made a new friend that I can tolerate. Angela seems sweet enough. However, Eric might be a challenge.
Eric says goodbye, walking into the building that I thought was where my first class was supposed to be. Angela and I make small talk as I follow along beside her to class. AP Biochemistry. This will be fun.
We arrive early, being two of the first five already in the classroom. "Maybe you can sit by me. The other half of my table is empty." Angela tells me. She goes to sit at her desk, which really is more like a table. It's one desk, but big enough for two people to sit. Maybe fate will be on my side, just this once.
I go up to the teacher's desk and hand her my teacher, Ms. Iber, my slip to sign. She looks up at me over the top of her glasses, analyzing me, as if I was suddenly a bad student for being new. She signs it and grabs the seating chart, looking at the empty seats. "You can sit by Mr. Jasper Hale." Ms. Iber states, pointing to a desk with another boy sitting there. He looks down at his notebook, already open, with a pencil at the top of his desk. His golden hair frames his face, covering his eyes and making it hard for me to get a good look at him. As she says his name, he tenses, though he sits in the back of the class.
I glance at Angela as she shrugs and grimaces. I slowly walk over to the desk, setting my stuff in the corner and scooting my seat out, trying to seem normal. "Hi," I say softly, "I'm Lucy. I'm new." I greet with a smile. There's still 5 minutes until class technically starts, so I'll make the most of it instead of just sitting in awkward silence.
Jasper looks over at me, and as his hair moves out of the way of his eyes, I gasp audibly. I can't help the sound. Something in my body just… shifted, as soon as I looked at him. I think I'm being unrealistic or overreacting until I see the shock in his eyes, too. It's as if as soon as I looked at him, a string was tied between us, tugging at us and pulling us slightly towards each other.
I don't realize how long it's been until my throat gets dry and I have to actually close my mouth. I've just sat here staring at him for who knows how long. How embarrassing! My face flushes red as embarrassment floods through me. Jasper's eyebrows draw together, but his face still shows confusion and shock. He finally speaks; "I'm Jasper Hale. It's nice to meet you." I gulp down air.
His sweet and slight southern drawl makes me want to melt into a puddle and become one with the mud in the earth. My phone vibrates in my pocket and it jerks me out of my hypnotized state. What is wrong with me? I sharply turn back to the front in my seat and take my phone out of my pocket hurriedly, on edge.
Mom: "How's school going, sweetie?"
Me: "It's okay, just got to first period. Will update later."
I rest my head on my hand, conscious of how jittery I'm being. Can he feel how nervous he makes me? My eyes slightly shift to the corner of my eye to see him still staring at me in… amazement? I have never been more eager for class to start.
After 3 more minutes of me trying to look busy and Jasper continuing to look at me, Ms. Iber finally stands to start the lesson. My anxiety slowly dwindles without me doing much to control it. My body must have just realized how much it needed to calm down.
All throughout the lesson, I catch Jasper looking at me in slow gazes. I can't exactly complain because I'm doing the same thing to him, but it's a strange feeling. It feels as if as soon as we walk out of this classroom and go separate ways, the tug in my heart towards him will get stronger. It's almost as if as soon as we locked eyes, our hearts synced and our bodies naturally gravitated towards each other. I've never felt like that with anyone before.
Class ends sooner than I thought it would. I quickly stand and scramble to get my stuff together as soon as the bell rings, but as soon as I stand, a hand falls on top of mine. "Wait," I hear Jasper say. My eyes widen as I freeze in my spot and resist the urge to turn my hand over and hold his. His skin is smooth and cold, but not so cold that I have to shy away from it.
"Yes?" I ask, after a moment of silence. He looks into my eyes for 2 more seconds before removing his hand, shaking his head, and muttering something. He walks out of the door before I even have time to process what happened.
"Lucy?" Angela beside me snaps me out of whatever state I fell into again. My brain feels fuzzy and clouded. I glance at my new friend and notice we're the only ones still left in the class.
I shake my hand much like Jasper did and laugh nervously, tucking my hair behind my ears and picking my backpack up off of the ground. "Sorry, I'm just a little tired," was my excuse. I follow her quickly throughout the door as she helps explain where my next class is. It's almost impossible to keep Jasper out of my head, but something tells me that that wasn't the last time I'll see him today.
The rest of my classes before lunch are incredibly boring. The only memorable one was gym, and it was only because I was hit on the arm with a basketball. Angela saves me as soon as she spots me in the cafeteria looking around like a lost puppy. She grabs Eric's arm and he grabs my tray from me, offering to help. He sits it on the table next to a blonde boy who offers me a smile.
"Hey, I'm Mike. You're Lucy, right?" I smile and nod.
"Yep, that's me." Mike smiles back at me. Two other students come to the table and sit across from me. They both have dark brown hair and pale skin. The boy gives me a strange look before muttering something to the girl he came with. Anger sparks in my brain. What is his problem?
"Anyways, I was saying, anything is possible if you just believe… right?" Mike continues.
"Nice," Angela tells him, shaking her head in exasperation. Another girl at the table adds another comment, but I don't pay attention. The boy across from me staring at me makes me feel uneasy. Something out of the corner of my eye jerks my attention away from him. Jasper walks up to the table with another girl with the same dark hair as the boy and girl that walked up previously. Are they together? My cheeks flush. I'm developing feelings for somebody already in a relationship.
My heart starts beating erratically just like first period when my eyes click with his. The girl he came with smiles at me widely and sits down. "Hi, I'm Alice." She states. "I'm so excited to get to know you more." I smile back without helping it, responding with a polite reply. She points over to the other pair. "That's Edward and Bella. They're just kind of quiet. And Jasper told me that you've already met."
"Nice to meet you," I tell them all. Jasper talked about me. Curiosity goes through my brain as I wonder what he would've said. Hopefully good things.
"I've decided to throw a graduation party, and you're all coming." Alice speaks. "Especially you, Lucy." What does that mean?
"After all, how many times are we going to graduate high school?" Jasper adds in his husky voice that sends chills down my spine. Edward and Bella glance at each other and smile, as if there was an inside joke between them.
I look down at my food, my appetite gone with the coming of nerves. "Wow, that sounds cool. What time?" No reply. "Dress code?" Again, no reply to Mike. I glance up and see Alice's smile long gone and a dazed look in her eyes. Awkward silence fills the air.
Jasper nudges her slightly and gives us a small smile. "She didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Just then, Alice snaps out of it right as the bell rings for lunch to be over. I stand slowly as everyone else leaves. My eyes can't help but find Jasper's once more before they disconnect from mine. And just like that, I find myself yearning to know more about him. I'm obsessed with him, and I've only just met him.
A/N: I'm so excited to start writing this story! Just a disclaimer, I don't own Jasper and the Cullens, the only thing I own is Lucy Vogt and other characters and ideas I might develop later in the story! Also, yes I'm aware that Jasper isn't a senior in Eclipse in the books. However, for plot convenience, we're leaning towards the movies side of the series, since he was a senior in Eclipse in the movies. With that being said, this story will start off in Eclipse! I just feel like it's a great place to start in the series with a Jasper/OC story. Twilight and New Moon barely focused on Jasper, and I feel like this way it will make a better story line. Please review and give me your thoughts on this! Thank you!