A/N: I decided I'd get the story going instead of leaving you guys with a preface alone. Here you go! Enjoy and don't forget to review!

[Chapter One]

As I blinked, a breeze rushed across the room. I sat straight up, my heart pounding fast behind my ribs. I quickly scanned the room for any sign of him. The sound of my curtains billowing brought my eyes to the window, left wide open. No one was in here now. I could have sworn I saw him. I know I did. Didn't I?

With a sigh, I laid back down. No one was here, Bella… No one was here. I couldn't bring myself to fall asleep again; after what just happened, my mind was completely alert and panicked. And so, I just laid there thoughtlessly.

Around 5:30, I climbed out of bed and walked downstairs and into the kitchen. I passed Charlie sitting at the table as I made my way to the fridge.

"You're up early," he commented in a surprised tone.

"Who said I went to sleep?" I poured a glass of orange juice before sitting across the table from him. As I took a sip, my stomach growled. Wanting to show Charlie I was getting better, I stole a piece of toast from his plate and ate it.

His face held a cautious yet curious expression. "Alrighty, then. Well, I'm off to the station. Won't be back 'till 10 tonight. You mind picking up some groceries today?" I nodded as he placed his plate in the sink.

"Well, um… 'kay," he trailed off awkwardly. As he exited the house, I jogged upstairs. Entering my room, I grabbed my bag of toiletries and went to take a shower.

As I stood under the warm water, my mind trailed off. The heat of the water made me feel so relaxed. A nap didn't sound bad. My eyes started drooping. Turning off the water, I got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around me, heading to my room.

As I opened the door, I noticed my window was still open. Without thinking, I dropped my towel and closed it. I heard a gasp behind me. Alarmed, I spun around. There in front of me was the one I dreamt about last night. He stood tall, clothed in jeans and a black hoodie. His eyes were a dark burgundy, though I could see them darken greatly. His curly blonde locks hung to his ears, looking a bit disheveled. He looked shocked, his eyes wide and his lips parted slightly. I blinked and he was gone. I felt a breeze rush past me, a cold chill running down my spine. My mind was fogged, though, and suddenly, despite the fact that my eyes were open, I felt my eyes opening up. The fog cleared, revealing the fact that I was still in the shower, leaned against the wall. What the hell?!

A half hour later, I was dressed in dark, ripped skinny jeans and a loose, striped sweater, along with brown ankle boots. I ran a comb through my hair, grabbed my backpack, and left out the door to my truck.

When I arrived at the school, I noticed Jess, Mike, Angela, and Tyler leaning against Tyler's van. I approached them with a smile, trying to get the message across: Bella is back. Angela looked relieved to see me smile. She came up to me, pulling me in a hug.

"I missed you, Bella," she whispered happily in my ear. I smiled again, telling her I missed her as well. When my first class started, I tried my best to focus. It was hard, though. I didn't get any sleep, and my mind kept going back to the weird dreams I've been having. My next class was much the same. I sighed to myself. I guess I shouldn't have suspected to be so alright right away when I spent a long time being not alright.

Lunch came around and instead of sitting by myself, I chose to sit with my friends. As I was walked towards the table, I caught bits and pieces of their conversation.

"…I don't know, it was just him…"

"None of the others…"

"…tell Bella? …"

The conversation was cut off as Jessica noticed me coming. Mike was about to saying something else about the topic when he winced in pain and glared at Angela. I took a seat next to Angela and glanced at each person at the table.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" I asked, greatly confused. Everyone seemed unwilling to bring it up to me. Everyone except Tyler, that is.

"Jess and Angela saw one of the Cul- OW!" He glared at Jessica, reaching down to rub his foot.

"One of the what?" I looked over at the two girls beside me and raised an eyebrow. Somehow, a part of me knew what he was going to say. I just didn't want to believe it.

"Nothing, Bella. Don't worry about it," Angela assured me. Not wanting to find out, I let it go easily. The rest of lunch continued with a small conversation about what we wanted to do for graduation this year. I, however, rested my head on my arms folded in front of me on the table. My eyes slowly shut and my mind slowly faded from reality. I heard my name in the conversation, which caused my eyes to open and look around.

"Hmm?" I asked tiredly. Angela was looking at me with a worried expression.

"Bella, did you sleep at all last night?" I shook my head, sitting up straight.

"Too much on my mind," I replied. Jess and Angela exchanged knowing looks. They were probably assuming that I had been thinking about Edward. They'd be wrong. I'd been thinking about his blonde brother. Ugh, I mentally screamed, aggravated to no end. Lunch finally ended and I dumped my tray before leaving to my next class. Thankfully, I was able to concentrate a little bit more on what the teacher was saying, but not much.

Gym came around. The coach took us outside to run a mile on the track. I had my mp3 player and earbuds with me, so I turned on some Eminem music. As I was running, I saw something move in the woods in front of the track. I looked over and caught sight of a figure. The person was wearing the same dark hoodie and jeans. I had to turn my attention back on the track as I rounded the corner. I looked back over and there was nothing there. Go figure.

School ended and I drove to the store. Walking in, I noticed it was rather empty of people, other than a few elders and kids. I grabbed a cart and walked through the cereal aisle, trying to find something new this time. When I found one that looked good, I put it in the cart and continued to the meat section. As I rounded the corner into the aisle of freezers, I noticed there was another person there. What got my heart pounding was the clothes the person was wearing: a black hoodie and jeans. The hood was down, revealing curly blonde hair. I swallow thickly; this time, I knew I wasn't dreaming. This was real. He looked over at me, surprised. It seemed to take him a minute to register that I was looking at him. He walked over to me at human-pace, stopping a few feet in front of me.

"I… Bella… um…" he stammered. Funny, I thought, not exactly amused. A stuttering vampire. Could I blame him? No. If I opened my mouth, I'd be stuttering just as bad. But I didn't; my mouth remained shut tight. Shock still overwhelmed me.

He cleared his throat and tried again. "Bella…I just… Ugh, how have you been?" Oh yeah, that was definitely successful. I looked him over, ignoring the red eyes. Even from where we were standing, I could smell the sweet smell of a vampire. My eyes started watering. Before I could stop it, a tear rolled down my cheek; seeing him brought back every memory from my time with Edward. And it hurt.

Jasper's eyes looked pained as he took a step forward. Instantly, I backed away without meaning to. The tears started coming faster as I realized what I did. He looked so rejected and pained that I instantly regretted it. Without warning, I took a few steps to meet him, throwing my arms around his waist.

"Jasper," I finally choked out. As I felt his arms wrap around me, I felt so much better than I have in months.

"I'm here," he whispered into my hair.

A/N: Review, review, review! (: