She sees him before she sees anything else. He's sitting in a booth by himself, staring out of the window and looking vaguely pissed off. He's wearing a red plaid shirt but manages to make it look designer, Leah can't deny that it could be, with him being related to Carlisle Cullen.
Leah looks down at her own faded red plaid and frowns. Great, we match.
Leah slides into her seat, her long braid trailing behind her, and squares her shoulders. "Casper."
He doesn't even blink, "It's Jasper." He smoothly slides his book shut and folds his hands, "And I think you knew that."
Leah just rolls her eyes, "Maybe I did."
They are silent for a few moments after that. Leah just stares boredly at his forehead, wondering if he is going to start talking about the healing process for addicts or whatever mentors even talk about.
After a few more minutes of silence, she decides that she has something she needs to say. She had considered waiting for him to start off the conversation, but at this point she just wants to make something clear.
"Listen," She begins, "I honesty shouldn't be here right now. I don't have a problem."
The blonde just taps his fingers on his book, starring at her with honey colored eyes. Finally, he tilts his head, appraising her. "Funny, I never said you did."
Again, Leah rolls her eyes. What's with this guy? She raises the menu to get away from his stare and looks at the nice selection of pancake combos. "You're right, you didn't. But I'm here so everyone else must think I do." She winces, and is suddenly glad that the menu is hiding her face. She sounds like petulant child at this point.
"And why's that?"
This time, Leah lowers the menu and narrows her eyes. Now he's just being annoying. Jasper must realize it too because he raises his book and shrugs, "I'm a psych major, I have to ask."
Before Leah can reply, a waitress comes to the table with a cup of coffee and a flirty smile. Leah has to roll her eyes; she's seen this routine a thousand times but she watches with mild interest as Jasper skillfully and politely avoids her advances. The waitress is persistent though, and she winks when she leaves.
The coffee cup placed haphazardly in front of Leah steams and she pours herself a full cup while getting a good laugh at the uncomfortable look on her new mentor's face.
"Oh, come on, you've got to be used to that."
Jasper frowns, "To what?"
Leah doesn't think she can roll her eyes enough today. She gestures to the pretty brunette waitress. "The waitress. She totally wanted your number or something."
"Oh," Jasper shrugs, "I'm just not interested."
"Ah," Leah leans back in the booth, "You're gay?"
"No."
"Have a girlfriend?"
"No." There's a guarded look in his eyes when he says that though, so Leah figures that it's a touchy subject. She doesn't press on any longer and resumes menu reading.
After she finishes deciding what she wants, she puts down the menu and looks at him again. "I have a question."
He raises his eyebrows, "Yes?"
"Since you're a mentor, you've been through this whole addiction thing before, right?" When he nods, she continues, "So how long have you been sober?"
"I guess I'm obligated to answer that."
Leah crosses her arms, "Um, yeah. You kinda are."
"'Bout two and a half years."
She raises her eyebrows, "That's not long for a mentor." Not long at all. How'd he even get this job?
"You're correct." Jasper says, "But Forks is a little short on mentors and just about everything else."
A couple minutes later, the waitress comes back and Leah orders a stack of pancakes and a side of hash browns and eggs. Jasper just orders an omelet and smiles politely when the waitress asks if he would like anything else. Leah tries not to laugh.
When the waitress walks away, Leah asks the only other question that's been on her mind all day. "So if you're sworn against alcohol or whatever, why were you in a pub saving my ass?"
Jasper's eyes meet hers in surprise as if he forgot that part ever happened. "That's a good question."
"Mhm," Leah hums, waiting for his answer. She wouldn't of been as suspicious if he wasn't looking like he'd just run over a puppy.
"I'll just be honest with you, Leah." His southern accent comes out as he says her name and she can feel the corner of her lips tilt upwards. "I wasn't kidding when I said Forks has a lack of services. I'm not really the right mentor for you."
Leah catches on before he can explain the rest. She leans back again, smiling dryly. "Oh I get it. They just figured that any and all addictions are the same and threw you with me."
"Something like that," Jasper agrees. His fingers idly moves his straw in circles in his glass of orange juice. "I'll be honest with you, my addiction wasn't to alcohol, but drugs. I had been addicted to prescription drugs and had occasionally entertained cocaine." He explains to her, his voice light and neutral as if he were discussing the weather and not a multi-year struggle. "I was in the pub that night with my sister and a few friends, but I don't drink too much, and was actually dubbed the designated driver. Then I found you."
They pause again for their food to be delivered. This time, the waitress gets the hint and keeps it moving.
Leah cracks a smile at that. "Okay, got it. You're not even the right type of mentor for me," She summarizes, suddenly amused by this turn of events. "Next question, why are you even mentoring? You're what—? 21?"
"22." Jasper corrects lightly. "And…it's a long story. I'll just say, that my godparent's suggested I do it."
"I get it," Leah says again, and for some reason, she is getting a lot of things about him. "You must feel obligated to do it, too. They're probably paying your college tuition. The Cullens are practically made of money."
"Exactly," Jasper says. "I'd feel bad if I said no, and they've already done a lot of me." He trails off, and Leah figures that, again, that is not a conversation he wants to delve into.
So she lets it drop. They eat in silence until they are both completely finished, and Leah decides that she doesn't mind the guy too much. He's nice and kind of quiet, but is real with her and her problems. She can live with him as her mentor, even if their situations are completely different. She is startled out of her thoughts when Jasper begins to speak.
"Honestly," His voice is soft and Leah leans forward to hear what he has to say. "Honestly, Leah, I don't know how much I can help you. I still have shit I'm dealing with right now."
"So why did they sign you up for this?"
"They figured that being responsible for someone else would open my eyes. But that just makes everything harder," He breaks off suddenly, and looks out the window. After a few moments, he meets Leah's eyes again, "It doesn't matter. What's happening with me shouldn't—and won't— effect you. I'm here to help."
Leah leans back, her smile is large and wild, and her eyes are laughing. She suddenly gets it, and it's hilarious to her. "They just put two very fucked up people together, didn't they?"
Jasper looks up at her, shaking his head a bit, laughing at the reality of the situation. He smiles at her, and his teeth are straight and white. "I guess they did, didn't they?"
-:- -:- -:-
He prides himself on being almost completely honest with Leah. Everything he'd said had been truthful except…
He hasn't exactly been sober for two years.
He figures that she knows that, though. Leah appears to be intelligent and observant, she'd picked up every hint he'd dropped without even batting an eye. She knows he doesn't particularly want to be a mentor, she knows that alcohol was not his problem, and she knows that whatever was his problem still is.
And she'd just thought it was so funny. Jasper guesses that the situation is kind of comical, but in reality, it's pretty sad.
"Jazz? Is that you?" He hears Esme call as he swings open the door. He doesn't respond as he navigates through the house, giving a brief wave to Edward and his girlfriend in the living room. "How was the meeting?" Esme continues. The woman has a gift for knowing when people are listening, even if they don't respond. "Was she nice?"
Jasper breezes into the kitchen. It is Esme's pride and joy, all granite and steel. He leans over the counter and watches her busy herself with the pots and pan that litter the stove. "It was okay," He mutters. "Nothing I can't handle."
"Glad to hear," Esme smiles, she brushes past and kisses her godson on the cheek. "Do you want a snack? I just made this great spinach dip…"
No matter how old they get, Esme will continue to baby them. Edward, Rosalie, and Jasper all live with Carlisle and Esme, but none of them are their biological children. Edward had been there since the beginning, having been adopted by the Cullens at the tender age of two. The Hale twins had followed several years after due to family circumstances. Esme had been their mom's bestest friend, and their godmother, and she gladly took them in when they were thirteen.
Esme had never had any children of her own simply because she is unable to. After her first miscarriage, years and years ago, the doctors had told her that she could never have children, and just trying, could harm her.
Jasper had always thought it was a shame; the best people were always dealt the worst cards. Esme seemed to be born to be a mother. She deserved to nurse her own flesh and blood; not somebody else's.
Not that he's complaining. Without Esme, where would he be? It's not something he particularly likes to think about, but it always helps him appreciate her more.
"No, I ate a big breakfast," Jasper replies. "Nothing too fancy. We went to the Fork's Dinner."
"Mm," Esme hums, "So tell me about her. What was her name again…?"
"Leah," He supplies.
"Leah, right." Esme says. "Do you think you can help her?"
Ah. That dreaded question. For a moment, her amused and wild smirk appears in his head, and her quote to go along with it. They just put two very fucked up people together, didn't they? And Jasper had wanted to disagree, wanted to say no so badly. But she was right.
Jasper is glad that Esme had turned around so that she couldn't see the frown on his face.
"Yeah," And it's not a lie; he may be able to help Leah, but he's not too sure about himself. "She's willing to put in effort."
He doesn't necessarily know if that is true or not, but it makes Esme feel better. In reality, he's sure that Leah is in denial, and is using those Freudian defense mechanisms to avoid all of her problems.
Esme places a plate of fruit in front of him despite the fact that he'd just said he was full. "Did you learn a lot about her?"
Jasper almost scoffs at how much he didn't. Leah was assertive and brash. She had turned the conversation on him before he could even begin to think that it was supposed to be about her. She'd done it so swiftly, that he hadn't thought twice about it until right now. In fact, she'd made it seem like he was completely obligated to answer everything she'd thrown at him, when the whole point of the breakfast was for him to get to know her.
When Jasper doesn't answer, Esme continues, "You know, I think this is good practice. It's like being a kind of counselor or psychologist, you know? It's like training for when you actually become one."
Jasper just eats the strawberries placed in front of him to keep from answering. If that's the case, he'd make a really shitty psychologist. He had managed to get nothing accomplished. The conversation is making him uncomfortable to he changes the subject, "Is Rose here?"
There is an awkward pause, and Esme quickly fills it by filling a pot up with warm water. Jasper knows that this spells bad news. He glances at the clock behind him, reading only 10 am. Rose rarely wakes up before 11 unless…
"Alice called," Esme says lowly. "Rose left earlier to meet her at her house so that she wouldn't have to come over here. I believe they went out on a shopping date— Jasper don't look like that." Then Esme is reaching for him, doing that overprotective mother thing that he guesses mother's are supposed to do. She pats his hands, "I know it's hard but—"
"Rose and Alice are still good friends. I get it." Jasper smiles at Esme, and she smiles back. "I'm not upset, Esme, I promise. I've gotten over her, a while ago, actually." He stands from the counter, "And it's not my place to stop Rose from being with one of her closest friends. She can only hang out around Bella so much before her head explodes."
Esme looks at him, unbelieving. "Shh! Don't be so loud! She's just in the next room, there!"
Jasper just laughs and leaves the kitchen. When he reaches the safety of his own room, his smile falls.
He sits on his bed and stares at the piles of books, waiting for him to read. He's going into his senior year of college at the local university. Usually, 22 year olds would've graduated by now, but he'd taken a year off college due to his circumstances. Because of those circumstances, for college he'd decided to stay close to home. His goal now is to get the hell out. Seattle for his master's sounds good enough for him.
He barely realizes he's doing it, but before he knows it, he's reaching under his bed for the box that had been his savior in his teenage years. Being an adult and doing it feels weird.
Little blue pills. Harmless, if prescribed to you, and taken in the right amount. Xanax. Anti-anxiety.
Except, this time, when he looks into the box, he thinks of the native girl. He doesn't exactly know her problem, but whatever it is he does want to help. He'd told Esme he was going to, anyway.
He highly doubts that he can help her and destroy himself at the same time. The girl is too smart; she'd notice just liked she'd noticed everything else.
He shoves the box back under in favor of his iPad.
2048 is one of the best anxiety relieving games he has and he plays it until dinner time. His fingers move the little squares, concentrating, even though he's already beaten the game 46 times before.
an. ayyeee. Thanks for reading haha.
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