Chapter Three: Shock

So now I'm kneeling on the floor, packing away everything that I own. Rosalie, I assumed, was doing the same in her room across the hall. I had finished packing my clothes and was working on the things in my room. I loaded each of my books into a small box labeled "Jasper's Books." I liked reading, although Rose wasn't too fond of it. Rosalie's voice from behind me caught me by surprise, "Almost done?" I huffed.

"No." She came to sit by me and looked at the books.

"Jasper, I don't want it to be like this. I don't want the crazy, fun Jazz to go away. Otherwise, I'm alone," she said. This took me by shock. I could feel the truth behind her; the emotion was overwhelming. Oh, by the way, I can feel other's emotions and manipulate them, incase I haven't told you yet.

"And I didn't want the baseball-loving, daring Rosie to go away either…but she did." She looked at me with serenity brimming over her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, although I could hear it as well as I could hear anything. That's another thing with vampires: we can hear extremely well and run extraordinarily fast. I guess you could say we're super humans, just inhuman.

"Is this supposed to mean you'll be my twin? You'll treat me like a brother and not a slave or doormat for you to walk all-over?" She nodded, "Yes." So now you're thinkin' aw that's so nice, they're going to stick together, right? Well, for a while, yes, she did. Yes, she did, until our first day at Prince William Sound Community Collage.

We were moved in and ready to begin our new lives. It wasn't weird living without folks because we were both legally eighteen, so we were free from them, that is if we had any anymore. New to this dull school and Rosalie was already working her magic. Guys surrounded her cherry-red Convertible that just had to come with us on this unending journey. They were checking out the car…and her (mostly her). I looked away. I hadn't heard any mention of "Jasper" since we'd gotten there. No "Jasper's my brother, you guys should hang out" to any of the boys. No one spoke to me, but I didn't really mind. I simply focused on the blissful sound of rain, splashing onto the parking lot. Rain and snow, that's all I was going to see in Alaska. Drowning out the sounds of everything around me, I walked with a steady pace to get into the school. I followed a crowd from far behind, since they knew where they were going and I didn't. It was the middle of the year, I knew everyone already set their groups up: jocks, dorks, skaters, and populars. I wouldn't fit in anywhere; I'd be classified as either "that kid" or "him" or something like that. I wouldn't have a group, and like I said, I didn't care.

I got through all my classes easily; I already knew this semester's requirements. Everything seemed to be running smoothly and I didn't want any bumps in the road, but of course, there always has to be one. I walked to lunch without hurry. First I stopped at my locker to put some books away. I looked at the lock and realized I didn't have a combination. I turned around making sure no one saw my stupidity. Coast was clear. I got back to the lock and started punching in numbers. After my thirty-sixth try, I gave up. Once I thought about it, I remembered that I was the strongest creature on the planet Earth. I took the lock into my pale hand and simply snapped it off its hook, breaking metal. That's when I heard a gasp come from behind me. I turned and saw a girl, sitting on the bench against the wall. She looked startled, taken back. I didn't say a word, just speed-walked into the cafeteria for the lunch I couldn't eat and wouldn't enjoy.

I got up to get a soda, just to look normal. I grabbed a Sprite and got in line. There were five guys behind me, all wearing football jerseys. Great, I thought. I just knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Hey, man," one of them said. He was definitely muscular, all of them were.

"Uh, hey," I responded. The closest one to me elbowed the one next to him as if a signal. "You're new here. What's your name?" he said.

"Jasper Hale." One laughed and was slapped over the head by another, telling him to shut up. "Wait, are you Rosie Hale's brother?" he asked.

"Rose-uh-lee's brother, yes." Then he started laughing with the rest of them.

"Dude, you got a hot sister. Too bad you're not a jock; you could have hung with us."

"Yeah, too bad," I said snidely then mumbled, "Wouldn't wanna miss a stupid football game or a party with booze and chicks." And that's what set 'em off, like firecrackers on the fourth. The one that had been talking to me grabbed his already opened Coke and splashed it onto my face and white shirt. Everyone in the cafeteria burst into laughter except a familiar face: the girl sitting by my locker, witnessing my inhuman failure. I walked left my Sprite by the counter and walked away, fists jammed into my pockets. I went to Rose's car and picked the lock with a bobby pin I saw lying on the ground. I sat on one of the white leather seats and closed my eyes. I couldn't sleep, but this took some of the tension off. The tension must have taken a long time to wear off because when I finally opened my eyes, Rosalie was getting into the car to sit in the driver's seat.

"Jazz, Jazz? Wake up. Oh, no wait you can't wake up 'cause you can't sleep, duh," she said to herself. Blond moment, I felt like saying to her, but clamped my mouth shut.

"How long have you been in here? And, what happened to your shirt?" she asked.

"Since lunch, so about three hours, give or take and some huge guys that think you're hot, poured Coke on me."

"Well, I see you're off to a good start."