I am reposting all the chapters after having made some revisions... but the story is the same as before nothing less, nothing more, just hopefully with better writing and grammar :)

A story about Edward and Jasper and respect and love. Enjoy.

CHAPTER 1

I was midway through junior year when Jasper Whitlock and his mom moved here, to Forks, Washington. He was like a bizarre, perplexing, foggy ray of sun. I knew it was ridiculous to compare him to a ray of sun. He was grouchy, quiet, and seemed sullen most of the time. But I would still see him as such, because in a weird, unexplainable way, he brightened my days.

My friends immediately shunned him from our group and labeled him as a weirdo. His peculiar long hair, his unusual tan, and his strange cowboy boots casted him as an outsider. People said that his twang and his choices of words made him sound creepy.

I shared three classes with him. He sat in the back and nobody bothered him. He kept quiet and never, ever tried to talk to any of us either.

One day, the teacher called on him during math class, and Jasper was forced to speak. Everybody smirked and gawked at him as if we were in a zoo. I looked at him too, curious to hear him say more than one word at a time. I noticed how his blue eyes raised and looked straight at the teacher without even a glance at us. He uttered his answer clearly and with a confidence that surprised me. I felt a sort of awe at how he was able to ignore us and how he seemed unfazed by our mockeries. As most of the students giggled at him and whispered insults, his drawl rang in my ears like exotic music.

As the days and weeks passed, I couldn't help but pay attention to him from afar. He spent his time alone in a corner, always dribbling something in an old notebook. He always had a frown on in concentration, his long curls falling in front of his face, his lips pursed tightly into a thin white line. I noticed how the light would reflect on his long wavy hair. It looked golden, a perfect reflection of the sun. I peeked his way every time I could, realizing how he could go full days without uttering a word, and it made feel sad.

But everybody laughed at him. So I didn't tell anyone.

A month after Jasper had moved to town, he made his way to the park. Mike, Tyler and I were playing ball when we noticed him approach us. He watched us play quietly for a while, leaning against a tree, and none of us greeted him. I felt a weird jab in my guts, and I trained my eyes on the game as to not stare at him.

After a while, he called out to us, in his usual confident and clear voice, his drawl ringing like Southern chimes.

"Hey, do ya need a forth? We could play a game of two against two?"

Mike and Tyler busted out laughing.

"Shit, it talks!" Mike said.

"But what language is it? Alien?" Tyler laughed.

My guts twisted into a knot. I lowered my eyes and avoided his gaze.

"You don't belong here." Mike shouted after his fits of laughter subdued. "Go back to the freaking goonies."

Jasper didn't retort back to the abuse. I heard his steps parting at last, and I looked up to watch him go. My chest constricted and I felt bad. His head held low and his shoulders slumped. He kicked a rock on his way and disappeared.

"You guys are assholes," I told my friends, finally finding my voice again.

They both shrugged, grins still plastered on their faces.

"We had to be thorough to make sure he wouldn't try to socialize with us again." Tyler explained.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want him to have false hope." Mike said before laughing again.

That following week, Mike and Tyler spread the news of our encounter, exaggerating and embellishing some of the details, and people started teasing Jasper even more.

As I hung out with the clan in the cafeteria that day, I sporadically glanced toward the back table. I had this inexplicable need to see him, to make sure that he was okay with the ridiculous magnitude of the rumors. But he never showed up to lunch. The feeling inside grew even more as I worried for him.

I went to my biology class feeling apprehensive. Mike was following behind me, trying to get me into a conversation but I hurried to class. I was glad when I spotted Jasper's blond curls in the far back of the room. His eyes were fixated on his notebook, but he wasn't writing in it. He looked more withdrawn than usual.

I tore my eyes away from him, a tinge of guilt in my guts. I sat at my regular table and Mike came next to me. He elbowed me when he saw Lauren walking toward us. Mike had the biggest crush on her. Actually, most of the male student body had a huge crush on her. And she knew it.

"Hi Edward," she said in a high pitch voice as she threw her hair back. "Hey Mike," she mumbled then.

She glanced back to Jasper before smiling at us with an evil look.

"He's such a freak," she told us in a loud voice.

I knew that Jasper could hear her. Mike nodded eagerly and added his own insults. They were both purposefully talking brashly and it bothered me.

"I can't believe that he actually thought you would play ball with him. It's absurd. How could he think he could be your friend?" Lauren asked with a look of disgust. Then, she leaned closer to me and placed her hand on my arm. "You are the coolest kid in town. He should know it would never happened."

I pulled my arm away from her and glared at her. I realized at this instant that I despised everything about this girl: her fake high voice, her flirtatious ways, her malicious smiles, her wicked glares. She was cruel and had no heart.

"Class is gonna start. You should go to your seat." I cut her off harshly before opening my notebook.

Lauren's eyes widened for a second before quickly masking her shock. She skillfully smiled at us once more as if nothing had happened and walked away. I could feel Mike's eyes burning the side of my face so I turned to look at him.

"What the hell?" he hissed.

I shrugged. "She's annoying."

Mike shook his head in disbelief.

I glanced from the corner of my eyes to see Jasper. He was writing in his notebook and seemed completely unaware of what had just taken place.

I sighed, both relieved that he might not have heard Lauren and Mike after all, and frustrated that he might not have seen me putting her back in her place.