Hey everyone! I'm so sorry this took so long to get out! Term papers and midterms galore! Can anyone say nightmare? Well, here it goes!
Chapter 3: Conversations
Jasper continued to stare at me as his lips pursed and his brow furrowed as if he were trying to make a difficult decision. Then, slowly but deliberately he walked over to me.
"Um, hold on let me stand up," I said shakily.
He smirked. "Here, let me help you" he said and extended a long white hand.
I too it gratefully and let him help me stand up. His skin was so cold! I gazed at my hand for a moment and then made the mistake of looking into his eyes.
I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing at that point. But really, who could blame me? His irises were a captivating gold and I suddenly felt like a small child staring at a shiny object. Every thought that had been in my mind before flew out the window. I forced myself to look down at my shoes.
"I wanted to personally apologize for the way my siblings and I acted when you greeted us at our table. It was completely unacceptable behavior; I hope you can forgive us," he said. I heard a slight southern twang in his voice I hadn't noticed before. I found it very...attractive.
"Of course," I managed to say and he smiled flashing a set of brilliant white teeth. My heart sped up a little.
Suddenly a strong gust of wing blew against my back pushing me forward a little. He stiffened and his jaw clenched. He took a slow step back and he appeared to be holding his breath.
"Jasper!" a voice called out. We both looked up to see where it came from.
It was Bella. "Jasper, it's about to rain. Let's go," she said impatiently from the passenger seat of a silver Volvo. I could see Edward in the driver's seat.
Sure enough, a giant group of black clouds were quickly approaching.
"Bye," I mumbled and climbed into my enormous truck. He watched me for a moment and then jogged over to join Edward and Bella in their car.
Then I had a vision.
Lauren was standing in the hallway blushing. People were standing around her whispering and giggling. Her hair was a total frizz ball and it looked as if she hadn't washed off her makeup from the day before. It was just an image but the sight nearly had me doubled over with laughter. 'Serves her right,' I thought.
A loud plinking sound above my head alerted me to the rain that had begun falling in sheets. I started my truck as quickly as I could and drove back to the house. I didn't really think of it as home yet seeing as I'd only lived here for two days.
I rushed to get inside fumbling with the key in my haste, only to find that the door was already unlocked. I stomped through the hallway and shook the buckets of water out of my hair until I realized that I had left my key in the door. I grabbed the key and shut the door, grumbling all the way to the kitchen.
Linda was standing next to the stove humming as she flipped a grilled cheese sandwich.
When I plopped down in one of the wooden dining chairs, she turned around startled. As soon as she saw it was me, she put down her spatula and walked over to lean on the table next to me.
"So, how was school?" she asked with a smile playing on the edges of her lips.
"Ugh," I groaned and rolled my eyes.
"That bad?" she asked sympathetically.
"You have no idea." I proceeded to tell her about my day. When I got to the part about Lauren, she pressed her lips together and her nostrils flared. I decided not to tell her about Jasper and the other Cullens and concluded the story there.
"That's awful," she muttered. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, Alice."
"Thanks for letting me open up to you, Linda. It feels good to get that off my chest."
"Any time, sweetie." She opened up her arms and invited me in for a hug, which I gratefully accepted. When I finally pulled away my nose wrinkled involuntarily.
"Is something burning?" I asked.
Linda jumped up and gasped. "My sandwich!" she shrieked sprinting over to the stove. I quickly followed after her and turned of the burner.
"Do you think there's any hope for it?" she asked referring to the miserable excuse for a grilled cheese before us.
"It's a goner," I giggled. She agreed and tipped the charred square into the trashcan.
"May it rest it peace." We laughed and talked for a little bit until Linda looked over at the clock on the microwave and announced that she needed to make a real dinner.
"You don't have to help me," she said when I asked her what I could do. "It's your first real day here, you deserve a rest."
"Okay," I said, "I need to go check my email anyway."
"I'll call you when it's ready. Robert should be home in about an hour."
I nodded and ran up to my room taking the stairs two at a time. I turned on the ancient computer and waited for it to warm up. The background was green and I immediately knew I'd have to change it.
I only had three messages in my inbox and two of them were spam. The last one was from Cynthia.
From: Cynthia Brandon
Subject: havin' fun yet?
heyy! What's up on your side of the country? Are u havin fun yet? It's totally no fun without u around here. U definitely have to invite me to visit soon b4 I go crazy!!!!!! I miss you like nuts so tell me how you're doing so I can miss you more :)
btw…how is your little problem?
Luv Ya!
Cindy
I giggled at my little sister's message and felt a pang of sadness. I hadn't even realized how much I missed her; I had just been so wrapped up in my own problems. I groaned and nearly slammed my head on the keyboard, accidentally entering a ton of random numbers and letters and opening four different programs.
"Oops," I mumbled and erased the letters. I closed the filed and reopened the email so I could respond.
From: Alice Brandon
Subject: Re:havin' fun yet?
Uhhhh. Let's see…its raining cats and dogs…some chick at school totally had a freak out moment when I tried to have a simple conversation with her…a totally scary (but gorgeous!!) guy watched me have a mental breakdown because of a combination of said chick and PMS…my foster mom burned a grilled cheese sandwich…there isn't a mall in this forsaken town to speak of…oh and its really green here. All in all…I WANNA GO HOME! Just kidding, it is really pretty here but I think everyone in Forks is a head case. Oh well. My little problem is…under control for the time being. After I get settled in a little I would love if you would come visit!!!!
Love you too!!!!
Alice
I read the line about my visions with scrutiny; it was a total lie that she would see right through, I was sure. All the same, I couldn't tell her what was really going on with them. I didn't fully know myself.
I sighed at my long-winded reply, and then clicked send.
"One down, a hundred more to go," I mumbled gloomily. I sent some more emails to my few friends at my old school, and went downstairs to see if dinner was ready.
"Hi Alice," said Linda as I walked into the kitchen.
I stood in the doorway; surprised she had heard me come in. "How do you do that?"
"Maternal instinct. Oh, by the way, Robert called. He said he was going to be home later then he planned so it looks like we're having take-out tonight. I'm not risking the stove again."
"Okay," I said. For a few moments I idled around the kitchen, playing with a loose button on my shirt; I was suddenly struck by inspiration. "Linda," I said slowly, "Do you know where any good clothes stores are?"
"Um, I think there's a Wal-Mart about fifteen minutes away from here. Or were you looking for a department store?"
"What about a mall?" I asked.
"Well there's a fairly nice mall up in Port Angeles, but it takes a while to get there."
"Can you give me directions?"
"Sure," she said while pulling out a notepad and a pen. "Is there anything in particular you're looking for?"
"I just need some new outfits for the cold weather," I replied simply.
Linda just nodded as she finished sketching out a map. "Here you go," she said handing it to me. "Just be back before eight because that's when Robert should be back."
"Bye Linda!" I called and grabbed my blue raincoat. I was out the door before she could say 'bye' back.
The drive to Port Angeles was pleasant, and once it stopped raining, I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery. After a while, I turned on the radio and cranked up the remix version of Avril's Girlfriend. When the song ended I pulled a CD out of its case on the dashboard and slipped it in, letting the music get me pumped up. I sang along with the CD the entire way to the mall and I only had to look at the map once.
Oh, fine. Twice.
When I finally stepped into the all-familiar sights and smells of a typical mall, I felt at ease for the first time that day.
'Maybe moving to Forks won't be a waste after all,' I thought happily. I wandered aimlessly through a few stores and ended up buying a couple of sweaters and some jeans. My stomach growled and I debated waiting until I got back to Forks to eat. My stomach won that one. I called Linda's cell phone and left her a voicemail saying that I was going to eat at the mall. I closed my cell phone and began walking toward the food court.
Suddenly the sound of a gunshot and a shriek came from a store to my left. A middle-aged man with a shotgun and a large backpack ran out. As he was running, he grabbed me by the shoulders and pointed his weapon at my head. I could feel the cold metal against my scalp and I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming.
"NOBODY MOVES," he shouted at the top of his lungs, "OR THE GIRL DIES!"
Hah. God, I love that cliffhanger. So, I made a decision to start doing a Q&A sort of thing at the end of the chapters. I'm getting all of these questions that I really want to answer but I hate that you can't put a reply link without having an account. I'll try to get almost every question answered as best as possible without giving anything away. So here are the questions so far…
Q: "Is Alice Bella's singer?"
A: No. And I'm not saying anything else :)
Q: "Where did you get your idea?"
A: Honestly, it was provoked out of me my sheer boredom. I was just sitting around and I suddenly wondered what the story would be like if Alice was in Bella's position and vice versa. And of course I couldn't have her and Edward together so I made Jasper the single one…and so on. Since then the story has kinda spiraled out of my control! Hopefully everyone will like it though!!
Q: "why aren't bella and edward all, well IN LOVE…"
A: Oh trust me, they're in love. They just aren't quite as public about their relationship as, say Rosalie and Emmett, that's all.
Q: (via PM) "whats the deal with (Bella and Edward) being so mean and cold to alice?"
A: Bella was channeling a bit of Rosalie right there. She doesn't dislike Alice, she just prefers privacy. So when Alice tried to be all friendly, she put up a wall. And since Edward has that almost annoyingly endearing to always be on Bella's side, he just went along with it.
Q: "wht r bella's powers?"
A: It's a secret!! But I will tell you it doesn't have anything to do with the way she is in the books. It was plot-important that she have the powers she does.
Q: "Is Alice human and Bella is a vampire? kind of back wards don't you think?"
A: Exactly. And yes, very backwards but that's the point :)
Teddy, if you're interested in being my beta, shoot me an email. We'll talk :) That goes for anyone else as well. I'm only going to have one official beta but it's always great to get feedback!
Click the Shiny Green Review Button of Wonder and tell me what you think!
~S~
