A/N: Just to say sorry for how long it takes me to upload a new chapter, hope you enjoy it anyway. Thanks for reading!

'Charmer' by Kings of Leon (N.B. I recommend that you listen to the chapter songs because they fit with the mood musically as well as lyrically) -

She's such a charmer, oh no.
She's always looking at me.
She's always looking at me.
She's such a charmer, oh no.

Jasper POV

Why was she sitting next to me? This was painful. My insides were searing with longing and lust for her blood as if she was calling out to me. Each breath she took seemed to draw me closer to her, and I physically had to turn away. I didn't understand why this was happening – Alice and the others had helped me so much over the break. I had spent an absurd amount of time in the mall with Alice, and while she had tried on various outfits, I would try to become accustomed to the varying scents of blood. And it had worked, or so I'd thought.

However, when I stepped into school that morning – late, after saying a long goodbye to Alice and the others – I could immediately sense that something was wrong. In fact no, 'wrong' isn't the word; that would imply something bad. I could sense that something was…different.

The hall was completely empty as everybody was already in their attendance classrooms, and I used the opportunity to stand there taking a deep breath, telling myself this strange new feeling was natural. After all, it was my first real experience of being completely alone with these normal teenagers since going vegetarian. There was something strange going on though – amongst the normal mesh of lust, stress and hilarity that I associated with high school, was a genuine wave of pain and depression, which was getting stronger moment by moment. That was when I saw her running towards me.

I'd discovered my true soul mate in Alice and couldn't have been happier. Or, at least, that's what I thought. Sure, I'd found other girls attractive before, but none of them could hold a torch to my Alice. In that moment, however, as I saw this girl running towards me, all thoughts of Alice disappeared from my mind. This girl was beautiful, no doubt about it; porcelain skin, long, wavy dark hair and strangely large, bright green eyes, complemented by her alluringly long eyelashes. She was tall and thin, yet somehow more awkward than a supermodel-type figure. I have craved the blood of beautiful girls before, but this was more than a simple craving. I needed to sink my teeth into her; I needed to make her mine.

Of course, what I actually needed to do was get away from her before anything happened, but it was too late – her eyes widened as she bumped into me. The waves of depression, lust, shock and embarrassment rolled off her and, coupled with her electric touch and devouring scent, it overwhelmed me. I fell to my knees, a growl escaping from my mouth. I covered my mouth, horrified – "I'm so sorry", I whispered, hoarsely. I realized I was shaking.

She looked down at me, a hint of amusement in her somewhat queasy face, but I looked away, trying my hardest not to breathe in that sweet scent. Thankfully, it seemed she was running with purpose, as she gave me one more curious glance and then sped off towards the nurse's office.

I remained on the floor for a moment longer, eyes closed, breathing deeply and then realized I had better get to attendance. I hurriedly explained to Mr. Frank that I'd been delayed by the departure of my family and he seemed to accept it, asking no further questions. Then the bell rang and, slinging my backpack over my shoulders, I made my way down to music, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the now bustling hall.

And there again, as I tried to concentrate on playing various pieces on the keyboard, I sensed her presence. Despite being sat by the open window, her sweet aroma filled my nostrils making the hairs on the back of my neck stand. I looked up; she was smiling at me, and I didn't know why. I did know that exposing myself to her tantalizing scent any longer would leave me uncontrollable and so I covered my mouth and nose, still gazing at her thoughtfully. She was accompanied by Carrie and Julian. I never really liked Carrie that much as she was always grumpy for no discernible reason, but I guess I felt a little sorry for her as she had a crush on Julian and he didn't return the feeling. They went out once, but Julian realized that he just wanted to be friends so he broke it off. Julian was a really nice guy though, without doubt. In other circumstances I think we would have been friends.

I listened to their conversation, my headphones not obstructing my strong hearing, and was amused to hear the words, "Serena, you don't know what Jasper's like; he's…weird", from the lovely Carrie. I turned back towards the window, breathing in the fresh air floating in and trying to ignore the persistent scent of the girl. Serena, Carrie had called her. I felt her approaching me, and knew she was about to sit down. There was a slight apprehension in her demeanor, but a burning curiosity.

"Hello again," she spoke in a melodious yet bemused tone. I turned to her, and tried to return her greeting, but nothing came out except for a small moan. Smooth, Jasper – so far I'd growled, moaned and said "I'm so sorry" to her – with lines like that it was surprising that she wasn't all over me. Clearly it had been a long time since I had voluntarily spoken with someone outside of the Cullens.

I tried again. "I'm Jasper." It probably wasn't helping my case that as I spoke my hand was still in front of my mouth and nose, causing me to sound muffled, not to mention the fact that I was edging slightly away from her.

Thankfully before she could question my painfully awkward behavior, our teacher – Miss Phipps – entered, chirping in her sing-song voice, "Morning all, how are you? Ah – I see Rosalie has left us for her geography trip, but who's that in her place? You must be Serena?"

She nodded, not elaborating. I noted Julian was also gazing at her intently, feelings of curiosity, lust and tiny flickers of love and affection pouring out of him. So I wasn't the only one attracted to her – an added complication in itself, without mentioning the fact that his feelings only served to intensify mine.

Miss Phipps sighed and attempted to get some more out of her, "So what instrument do you play?"

I felt a flush of embarrassment as Serena spoke, "I don't play an instrument. Well, I can't play anything very well anyway."

"Uh-huh. So, um, Serena - if you don't mind my asking – for what reason have you decided to take music class?" You didn't have to be an empath to sense her agitation.

"Oh right!" She blushed slightly and her delicious rose lips parted. The heat of the blood rising to the curve of her cheeks made me want to floor her then and there. Instead, my nails grazed against the plastic of the table – hard - peeling out a surprisingly large chunk. Why was she having this affect on me? I hated her for doing this to me, yet there was something so titillating about it all – was it possible to love someone you didn't know, solely based on the sweet scent of their blood? I stared into her eyes, not once blinking, forcing a burst of confidence onto her. She looked back up to Miss Phipps and answered her question abruptly. "I'm a singer."

And in those three words suddenly everything made sense and, at the same time, everything got a whole lot more confusing.