Circle, Circle, Dot, Dot
Disclaimer: Of course none of the characters belong to me, Stephenie Meyer has that honor. Though I wish she could have spent a little more time telling the story of my favorite empathic Texan.
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Not many people can say they found their soul mate before they could tie their shoes, and I knew even at the time how lucky I was. Of course, maybe its overstating things a bit to say I knew at that instant that she would be 'the one.' But even at that young age, I recognized something about that moment; I knew something significant was happening.
It was in first-grade, at a time when all the boys in the class viewed the color pink with abhorrence, recess was a sacred time, and cooties were seriously considered the next epidemic. You were bound to catch them if you weren't careful about staying away from the girls. Of course, I didn't buy into all the talk about how awful girls were, even then. I had a twin sister, after all, and as annoying as Rosalie could be at times, she was still pretty fun. Not that I advertised the fact, especially during the intense girls versus boys battles on the playground.
I should really be grateful for Rose, because without her it may have taken much longer for me to notice her best friend Alice. I don't know what it was about her, exactly, that caught my eye at first. She was a little thing, always talking about whatever captured her fancy in excited chatter as she fluttered her hands for dramatic effect. She was always moving, always dancing or running or bouncing with energy. Maybe she was just on a sugar-high; she always seemed to have some candy stashed in a pocket. I think the reason her hair was cut so short then was because she had gotten gum or something stuck in it and had tried to fix the problem herself with some scissors. She always was independent like that. Not that I've ever minded her take-charge attitude or feisty opinions.
Honestly, I think she was the one who really orchestrated our friendship, which led to that fateful day in April. I say that I noticed her, but I think it was really a case of her forcefully grabbing my attention. All of a sudden, she was just there, always popping up near me. Sometimes she would say something to me, or pass me the crayon I was searching for, or casually stop to ask me where Rose was, even when my sister was clearly in sight. Other times, she didn't really interact with me at all, she just 'happened' to be nearby. She was playing with Rose right beside me at our house, or she randomly sat near me at lunch, or decided to pick the flowers next to my tree house.
I didn't understanding what she was doing, of course, being innocent to her feminine wiles back then. But, without my realizing it, she was slowly worming her way inside my life. She became familiar, such a common companion that I began to welcome her as much as my friend Emmett. And then, one day I realized I was looking for her when I got to school before I did anything else. She was my first choice when I captained a red-rover team. She was the one I tried to make laugh when I learned a new joke. I suddenly recognized Alice wasn't just one of my twin's friends; she was my friend. More than that, she had somehow become my best friend.
I didn't know how it had happened, but it was true. I found myself seeking her out, asking my mom to let her come over, trading lunches with her, even having real adventures with her. She wasn't afraid of the mud, or bugs, and loved to explore the creeks and fields by our house. She did hate to ruin any of her many dresses, though, so before we went off adventuring she started borrowing some of my play clothes. She didn't seem to mind muddying them.
I still knew she was a girl, of course, even if she did have fun catching grasshoppers with me. I often saw her and Rose playing with Barbies and watching shows with a ridiculous number of princesses and ponies present. So, one day when I started feeling an urge to do something really impressive for her, I used the method all men employed when trying to get a girl's attention: I brought her a gift.
It took some clever sneaking on my part, but I managed to smuggle my offering into my backpack without Rose catching me. It wasn't anything I liked, in fact I felt a little embarrassed carrying something so girly in my Woody and Bull's-Eye backpack, but I knew Alice would love it – a set a miniature clothes, designed for one of those Barbie dolls, that had all the necessary requirements for a princess. There was a gown of bright rose and lavender, with plenty of sparkles and "jewels" sewn on, a tiara in matching colors, shoes, and even a princess wand. It was all from the latest set of gifts Aunt Esme had given Rosalie, and I felt a little bad for nicking them from my sister. But she had plenty of doll clothes, and she was always taking the horses from my cowboy figures, so I felt justified. Besides, it was all for a good cause. Alice was sure to be impressed.
When I got to school that day, I tugged Alice over to a secluded corner of bookshelves. There was no need for an audience, and I didn't really want Emmett or, worse, Rose, to see me with the doll clothes. I told Alice I had something for her, and her eyes lit up like ridiculous sparkles on the dress. She immediately started guessing, throwing out ideas a mile-a-minute, though she didn't come close. She was normally the best at guessing games, but then she would never expect me to bring something to school that was of no interest to myself – only her. Feeling shy all of a sudden, I presented the gift by quickly pulling it out of my bag and shoving it into her hand. For some reason I couldn't bear to look at her face, so my eyes were glued to my light-up Sketchers.
I had known she would like it, knew it was perfect for her, but even I didn't anticipate her reaction. All that chatter, all the bouncing and waving of her arms and twirling of her dress, it all stopped. The utter quiet was so unexpected and unusual that my eyes shot up again to see her face, and suddenly I didn't care if Rose did find some horrendous way of getting revenge for the theft. Because my Alice was speechless, and looking at me with wide eyes and a expression painted with joy and surprise and gratitude and such pure happiness. Maybe the dress really was that great, but I liked to think it was all because I was the one to give it to her.
She was certainly impressed, all right. In fact, a few minutes later she stood in front of the entire class and presented my gift as her show-and-tell piece. I probably should have been worried about my twin seeing her Barbie clothes claimed by another girl, but my emotions seemed stuck in a sort of warm, glowy, half-shy, half-excited, and entirely happy mixture of feeling. And then, when she finished describing just how wonderful it all was, Alice gave me a surprise of her own.
She marched across the circle of our classmates, straight up to me, and planted a big, spontaneous, and enthusiastic kiss right on my lips. And I was as speechless and shocked and overjoyed as I had made Alice. I could hear the gasps and the giggles and some vague words from the teacher, but in that moment I was lost in my Alice. Because when she pulled back, I looked into those wide eyes and saw worlds of possibility swirling in them. Her eyes said "thank you," and "isn't life wonderful," and "we have so much to left to explore," and something that looked a lot like "I love you."
If my own had lost any of the starry surprise from the kiss, I think they said it all back.
Over the years, we both changed a lot. We grew up, and all that that entailed. We learned about the world and about ourselves and about each other, and of course nothing is ever the same as it was in first grade. But despite all the changes, we both remained the same in a lot of ways too. And in time, we shared many more kisses, and had many more adventures, and so many moments where we looked into each other's eyes and saw all those same things inside them.
Alice was the first girl I kissed, and when we got married I knew she would be the last. Even back in that little first-grade classroom, with Emmett yelling about cooties and tracing a design on my arm, singing "Circle, circle, dot, dot, now you have a cootie-shot," I knew I had found something special. Someone special.
And my life would never be the same.
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Author's Note:
I hope you enjoyed reading about little Jasper and Alice! I had a lot of fun writing them. The story was inspired in part by a true tale of a friend's first kiss.
I would love to hear your thoughts. I have no real fanfiction writing experience, and would love feedback, or just a comment on if you like it, hated it, wish you still lived in a world of show-and-tell and naptimes, whatever!