Disclaimer: Nope! I'm still not Stephenie Meyer, so none of the characters are mine. Dang…

A/N (please read!): Hey, thanks for your reviews, guys! I appreciate them all! And I'm sorry for the longish wait. I've actually been really busy lately (including hoping to do a story on a certain band with a certain actor in it for our school newspaper…), so that's why I haven't been able to update. The good news, however, is that I have the story completely done on my end, so now it just depends on when I can have time to update. Just a few notes about the story now… Though it's mainly from Alice's POV, there will be a few sections from Jasper's POV (I think either four or five…), so you can see what's going on in his mind too. And though it follows the extremely basic events of Twilight (basically girl meets vampire), it will not be like how Bella met Edward. Just like in the book, I am going to try to get across that Alice and Jasper's relationship goes much deeper, which will actually be explained in the sequel. Yes, there's going to be a sequel (which is in the works), and I'm going to try to combine elements from all four books into two (possibly three depending on how the second one ends), but I am not going to do all four. So, I think that's pretty much it! Enjoy chapter three (this is where things begin to pick up!)!

Chapter 3- Walking on Thin Ice

The rest of the weekend when by fast for me, mainly because I spent most of it sleeping due to a cold and fever I developed due to my first-ever running away attempt. Emmett didn't make it much better since he would often come into my room and switch the CD I would be listening to in my stereo with one of his hip-hop ones, which annoyed me to no end since that was the kind of music I hated the most. Not only that, but to make it worse, my grandma would often come in when I was almost asleep and complain about something or other that wasn't even my fault.

Edward was my only form of solace. He would often sit with me and have conversations about whatever came to mind-sometimes lasting late into the night. On Sunday night, however, our discussion was very serious.

"Do you think I'm crazy, Ed?"

He blinked, and I could see the confusion on his face in the moonlight. "Of course not, Alice," he answered. "What makes you think that?"

I sighed. "Well, with all these visions I've been having…" I began in a mutter. Even when I was sleeping before Edward came into my room, images of Jasper haunted my mind, which had been happening a lot more frequently since I saw him in person. In some he was friendly, in others he was frightening, but in both cases, he was as handsome as ever. And either way, I longed for him.

Edward sighed also at my statement. "Even though I might not exactly believe them, I don't think that you're crazy," he told me, and I could see the truth of it in his eyes. "Now Emmett, on the other hand…"

I snorted, which turned out to be a bad idea. "Emmett just thinks I'm possessed or something," I muttered, sitting up slightly as I reached for the Kleenex box at the edge of my bed.

"No, Emmett doesn't think you're possessed," Edward said with a laugh, handing me the box I needed as I laid back down again. "It's just that… this whole Jasper thing has us concerned. It's not normal."

"How many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to be worried about that?" My voice definitely reflected how stuffed up my now was now. "Everything is under control, Ed. Besides, I think I would have seen something by now if Jasper was really intending to hurt me."

"He did in that one dream you had," Edward reminded me gravely.

But I just brushed his comment off. "That was just a nightmare."

"How do you know?"

"Because vampires don't exist."

Edward didn't have an answer for that, so he just remained silent. I sighed, shifting my position a little so I could look at him better. I had to try to find a way to explain this to him so that he would understand. "It's kind of like you and Bella," I finally settled on. "When you first saw her, you fell for her instantly."

Color rose in Edward's cheeks at the memory. "That's… different."

My eyes narrowed. "How?"

"Well… the first time I saw her was in person, not in my mind," Edward enlightened. "I know her well. You barely know Jasper, and you're only going off of flashes you've seen."

"That doesn't mean that I can't get to know him, Ed," I protested. "When you first met Bella, you didn't know her either. I don't see how this is so different."

Edward appeared torn. I knew half of him wanted to allow me to be happy since I was his little sister, but the other half wanted to protect me since I was his little sister. He was walking on thin ice. "I… I just don't think this is a good idea, Alice," he finally told me. "I don't want you to get hurt."

I sighed, looking at my older brother sadly. "I won't, Ed," I promised him in a whisper, sitting up to kiss his cheek. "I won't."

By the time Monday came, my fever was gone, but my nose was still stuffed up and my head was fuzzy. But since I didn't have a fever anymore, I was well enough to go to school. Besides, it was the last week of the year, and since I was already done with most of my exams except for one or two, it would be a good way to end the year. I couldn't miss it.

I sat in the passenger seat of Edward's small car as he drove toward the school, Emmett speeding down the road ahead of us in his Jeep. It was still amazing to me that he could drive that fast and never get pulled over. It was a complete mystery to me how he did it.

Edward and I finally pulled into the parking lot of the school, and I watched as he parked next to a shiny silver Volvo. My eyes widened in recognition when I saw it. But he wouldn't be here… would he?

"What's wrong, little freak?" Edward asked, a teasing half smile lighting up his face.

"I… I just recognize that car," I muttered, not able to tear my eyes away from it. I could see it clearly in my mind's eye- me walking down the street and seeing that same car fly by… imagining seeing Jasper Hale driving it…

"Hmm… I don't think I've ever seen that car before," Edward muttered thoughtfully. "Oh, well. Probably nothing. Come on. Let's get inside before you get any sicker."

I complied without hesitation, but I did sneeze the moment I stepped into the cold air. Ugh, I hated this. Wasn't it supposed to be summer? Edward laughed a little as he locked up the car, and I followed him across the parking lot into the school building. Since school hadn't officially started yet, everyone was gathered into groups as they waited for the first bell. I spotted Emmett with the rest of the football team since he was the quarterback, and they were talking and laughing much too loudly for before eight in the morning. My pounding headache didn't appreciate it very much… Edward left me then after giving me a quick, one-armed hug to talk to some of his friends in his grade level about a project they had to do for one of their finals. I looked around, and spotting Bella off to the side with Rosalie, I wandered over.

"Alice!" Bella greeted me in her friendly manner while Rosalie just nodded in acknowledgement, hugging me quickly when I approached. Surprisingly, her cold arms felt good that morning… "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," I muttered, sniffing a little. "I have a cold, though. I spent most of the weekend sleeping."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Bella did look genuinely concerned.

"It's no big deal," I shrugged. And really, colds weren't. They were just annoying. "How is everything at home with Jasper coming back and everything?"

Surprisingly, Bella smiled. "Good! He's pretty much back to his old self again. He was just exhausted from traveling when you first met him, which was why he wasn't very friendly."

"I can understand that." Moving from Phoenix to Forks two years ago wasn't exactly the easiest move of my life. But the fact that he was getting back to normal was a good sign. Maybe he didn't hate me after all…

Bella nodded. "He's actually coming to this school for the week since by law, he has to attend a school since he's under eighteen," she concluded.

My heart beat a little faster at her statement. Jasper was going to be here? So, that was his car I had seen out in the parking lot… "Really?"

Before Bella or Rosalie could answer, another deeper voice came from behind me. "Yes. This school is much different from when I was in military school. Larger… friendlier…"

I quickly turned around, seeing that none other than Jasper Hale himself was standing behind me, a small smile on his face. Though he was staying a little farther away from me than Bella and Rosalie were, I could see that I still only came up to his chest. Why did I have to be so short? But the thing I noticed the most was that his eyes were now a beautiful golden color that were similar to his sisters', not black like they had been when I had first met him.

"I'm sorry that I was so rude to you when we were first introduced," Jasper continued, and I noticed that his voice had slight traces of a Southern accent that wasn't too noticeable- had to be from the two years he spent in Texas. "Traveling really took a toll on me, but that was no excuse to treat you like that."

Did he seriously just apologize? Okay, note to self. When Jasper's eyes are black, he's a total jerk. But when they're gold like the rest of his family's eyes are, he's really nice. Quiet and kinda' shy, but nice nonetheless. How the hell did his eyes, not to mention his mood, change so drastically anyway?

But before I could tell him that it was okay and that I understood, the bell that signaled we had to go to our lockers rang. A small smile appeared on Jasper's face again as he looked back at me. "Well, Alice, I guess I'll see you at lunch then."

He remembered my name? But that wasn't the only part of his statement that confused me. "What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

Amusement shone in Jasper's eyes. "I assume you'll be sitting with Bella?" When I nodded, he laughed a little. "Then I'll see you at lunch."

"Are you okay, Alice? You don't look so good."

"Well your face doesn't look so good!" I thought to myself bitterly as I looked up at my annoying friend, Mike Newton. Okay, so I normally wasn't that mean, but I was in a really crappy mood. Why? Number one, we were in math class- my least favorite. Number two, we had already done our final exam, so we were watching a really boring move about guess what? Math. Number three, even though my fever was gone, my cold was still there full force- my nose was stuffy, I had a terrible headache, and I felt as though I was going to pass out. And number four, this kid sitting next to me was now asking if I was okay and telling me that I didn't look good. This really sucked…

"Oh, yeah, Mike. I'm perfectly fine," I answered in a mutter, putting my head on my arms again. Couldn't he recognize the universal symbol for leave me alone?

"Come on, Alice," Mike pressed. Guess not… "What's wrong?"

I sighed in frustration. Might as well get it over with. "I'm sick because of the really crappy weekend I had, okay?" I snapped quietly, hoping my harsher tone would make him realize I didn't want to talk anymore.

"What happened?" Didn't this guy ever learn? "You know you can talk to me."

Could I really? Well, if it would shut him up… "My grandma was giving me a really hard time, so I tried to run away since I just had to get out of the house," I explained quickly. "But it happened to be during when it was raining really hard on Saturday. I went a pretty far distance before almost getting hit by Emmett's Jeep when he and Ed came out to look for me, but the time I spent in the rain was long enough for me to get sick. I spent the rest of the weekend sleeping."

Actually, the look of complete shock on Mike's face was pretty amusing. For the two years he's known me, he always considered me to be the "good kid," not one that was rebellious enough to try to pull a stunt like I did this weekend. Congratulations, Michael Newton, you have just seen the other side of Mary Alice Brandon.

But, he recovered fast. "Gee… I'm sorry that your grandma had that affect on you, Alice," Mike said, his expression troubled. "I had no idea… You know that if you ever need somewhere to go, our place is open to you. Just call and I can come pick you up."

Okay, so quite clearly, the crush he has had on me for the past two years is still there, even though I have turned him down many times. Man, this guy is persistent. No wonder my grandma had tried to hook me up with him… Then, my eyes traveled to the girl sitting at the desk in front of Mike, who appeared to be angry about something. Jessica Stanley. She had been my friend when I first moved to Forks, but we have been drifting apart over the past year, mostly likely because of all the attention that Mike has been giving me. She had the biggest crush on him, but he hardly noticed her. It was kinda' sad, really. They would make a great couple…

"Don't let your girlfriend hear you say that," I whispered teasingly, a playful smile lighting up my face.

Mike blushed slightly while Jessica's eyes flared angrily before she turned back to face the T.V. in front of the classroom. "She's not my girlfriend," he muttered, disgruntled.

I laughed a little, but then a true smile appeared on my face. "Thanks for the offer though, Mike," I told him. "I'll keep it in mind." I was pretty sure I wasn't going to have to resort to that option though. There were others that I would go to before his house. But it was still nice of him to offer regardless.

"Of course, Alice. Anytime."

After that, he left me alone. Since he wasn't talking anymore, I could rest my head on my arms in peace. As my eyes slowly closed on their own will, the last thought on my mind was how much cuter Jasper was when he truly smiled…

Suddenly, I was jerked awake by a hand gently shaking my shoulder. I squeaked with surprise and covered my eyes with my hands when bright light hit them, but after a few minutes, they adjusted to the room around me. How long was I out? The movie was finished, and the classroom was empty except for the teacher, who was checking something or other on his computer, and Mike, who was standing over me. "What…?"

"Sorry I didn't wake you sooner," Mike said, seeming hesitant. "You're sick, and you looked so peaceful, so I didn't think that-!"

"Mike, what time is it?" I demanded, interrupting him when I wondered why he was acting so nervous.

He sighed. "It's eleven-forty…" he began in a mutter.

It was eleven-forty?! I was ten minutes late for lunch… the lunch that Jasper said he would see me at. How could Mike do this to me? Did the teacher even care that we were still in here? "Mike, why didn't you wake me up sooner?!" I shrieked, quickly gathering my stuff together. One of my books fell off my desk in my haste and almost landed on my toe when it hit the floor.

Mike looked truly uncomfortable now as he bent down to pick up my fallen book. "Well, you needed the sleep, and it's just lunch…"

Just lunch?! Today it was not just lunch. I snatched my book from his hand as I slung my backpack over my shoulder before I ran out of the classroom. I dashed down the strangely empty hallways to my locker, quickly stuffing my books inside so haphazardly that I knew they could potentially fall on my later, and grabbed my bag lunch. After shutting and locking it, I ran down the halls to the cafeteria and burst inside. It was so noisy that no one noticed my abrupt entrance.

Well… almost no one. The now three Cullen siblings looked up simultaneously as the doors crashed open from their table in the very back of the cafeteria. That was strange… Could they really hear that from so far away?

Bella smiled and waved me over, and a small smile lit up my face as well as I began to walk past the many tables to get to them. Emmett was sitting with his precious football team, and it appeared that they were comparing the cheerleaders that were sitting with them. I couldn't help but smirk. He would get in so much trouble if Grandma found out about that… Lucky for him I wouldn't tell. Edward was sitting with is group for his final project, stealing glances at Bella every now and then. I smiled to myself at how cute that was as I passed my two older brothers and sat next to Bella across from Rosalie… and Jasper.

"You're late," Bella commented, watching as I began to pull things out of my lunch.

"Yeah. I blame it on Mike Newton." One thing that still amazed me about Bella and Rosalie was that they never ate lunch, making it really awkward for me to eat in front of them. And it appeared that Jasper had the same eating habits… or lack thereof.

Bella laughed a little. "That boy you call a golden retriever that your grandma tried to hook you up with?" she asked. "Why?"

I couldn't help but laugh a little myself. "That's him, all right," I answered. "I fell asleep during the movie in math class, and he didn't think that he should wake me up because I looked so peaceful. I swear, I… Oops!"

As I pulled it out of my bag, the apple I had brought slipped out of my hand and rolled across the table. But Jasper, who was sitting directly across from me, caught it before it could roll off onto the floor.

"A little clumsy, are you?" he asked with a small smile as he handed the apple back to me.

"Most of the time," I answered with an embarrassed laugh as I took the apple from him. My eyes widened when the tips of his fingers landed on my hand for a split second before he pulled it back. They were just as cold as the rest of the family's was…

Though the Cullens were different, I wasn't wary or afraid of them like almost the rest of the school was. I was just curious. That's probably why I was accepted by Bella, Rosalie, and now I guess Jasper so easily. I didn't make a big deal about their differences. After all, I was just as strange as they were.

But I sometimes had to wonder… why were they so different?"

The rest of the day passed by extremely slowly. As it progressed, my headache got worse and worse, my mind got cloudier and cloudier. I fell asleep in almost all of my classed, but thankfully, I didn't have anything important to do in any of them.

But the one thing that was continually on my mind was how mysterious Jasper was. At some moments, he could be very quiet and brooding while being cranky to everyone around him. But at other times, he was more open and friendly, and he was actually fun to talk to, even though I was still nervous around him. Talk about major mood swings… If I was to get into a friendship with Jasper… or more, though I doubted that would happen since he was way out of my league… I knew that I would be walking on thin ice.

So far, though, I've noticed that his mood depends on his eye color- kinda' like a mood ring. Gold meant that he was in a good mood and black meant that he was in a bad mood. That was pretty easy to remember. But the thing I didn't understand about that was how Jasper's eyes were able to change colors in the first place. My first thought had been colored contacts, but I quickly dismissed it. I could tell when people had contacts in, and he most definitely was not wearing any contacts.

But… what other option was there?

I sighed and shook my head as I closed my locker, putting on my hoodie before I put my backpack over my shoulder. My mind was too scattered right now to focus on something like that. I would try to think of something once I got over my cold.

I walked out of the school building with a group of students and instantly shivered. I hated being sick… I quickly glanced around at all the people still gathered around outside, seeing that Emmett was with the football team and cheerleaders yet again- were the only times he wasn't with them at home, work, and during class? I swear, they were like his life… Edward was still talking to his group members- must have been one important final- and I noticed that Bella, Rosalie, and Jasper were standing together near the school building a fair distance away from the rest of the students. When I looked over in their direction, Jasper looked up and gave me a small smile. I blushed and quickly looked away, speeding my pace as I walked over to Edward and his group of nerds.

"Can I have the keys, Ed?" I asked, seeing that I had interrupted them discussing a day to work on their project. "I'm going to sit in the car to warm up and wait for you."

"Of course, Alice. Here," Edward replied, digging in his pocket and pulling the keys out. "I'll be there soon."

"Thanks." I took the keys from him and left, heading toward the parking lot. I looked both ways like I had been told to do since I was a little girl before stepping off the sidewalk and walking toward Edward's car, which was parked beside Jasper's fancy Volvo.

Suddenly, when I was about halfway into the parking lot, my vision blurred- not like the times when I had those visions. This was different. My world spun around me as I staggered a little, my backpack slipping off my shoulder as Edward's keys fell from my hand into the puddle at my feet. I heard Edward shout my name worriedly, but before I could assure him that I was all right and pick up his keys, I heard a much nearer sound that almost made my heart stop. It was the loud sound of squealing tires, and horrified screams came from behind me.

I looked up wearily and watched as the truck I knew belonged to my friend Tyler came barreling toward me. He had taken the turn too fast, the pavement was slick from all the rain we had this weekend… and I knew that he wasn't going to be able to stop in time. What was with me and almost getting hit by things that moved lately? Except this time, I knew it was going to be a completely different outcome…

The terror-filled shouts grew louder behind me, and I could hear Edward and Emmett above the rest. But I knew that it wouldn't help. They wouldn't be able to do anything in time. My head spun dizzily as I staggered again, and I could hear that Tyler's truck was just about to hit me…

Suddenly, a pair of cold, strong hands grabbed my shoulders tightly, and I stumbled back into a sturdy chest and was held protectively there, and surprisingly, I had been pulled back far enough to avoid being run over by Tyler. I felt the wind of the truck forcefully on my back as it sped past, and I shivered when I realized how close of a call it had been. The arms tightened around me, and I placed my forehead against the person's chest as I tried to calm my breathing.

A heavy silence hung around the school grounds at the near accident, but then a lighter, more cheerful chatter arose since someone had saved my life. Speaking of which… I opened my eyes and slowly looked up into the face of the one who had rescued me, and I gasped as my eyes widened when I realized who it was.

It was Jasper Hale.

Oh, my God… I had to be hallucinating. Why would Jasper ever want to save me? But his arms wrapped around me felt real enough, and I could feel the cold radiating from his body. Was it just me, or was he holding his breath?

Okay, so he really did save me. But how in the world had he gotten to me so fast? He was farther away from the parking lot than anyone, along with Bella and Rosalie. There was no way a normal person could have gotten there that fast…

"Are you all right, Alice?" Jasper asked quickly, seeing the paleness of my face and the dazed look in my eyes.

I swallowed, trying to get my voice to work enough to talk to him. "Yeah… I must… still be a little feverish…" I muttered in answer.

Jasper laughed a little. "I wouldn't be a good judge," he said. "My hands are always cold."

I tried to smile back, but I couldn't as all my strength left me. I saw the alarm in Jasper's eyes as my legs collapsed from beneath me, his sturdy arms the only things keeping me from hitting the hard ground. He pulled me closer to support me just as Edward, Emmett, Bella, and Rosalie approached us, all concerned as they asked if I was all right. I wasn't able to answer them though I wanted to assure them that I would be okay, but a small smile still appeared on my face as my eyes closed in Jasper's arms.

A/N: All right. There was my version of the famous car scene. But as I said in my first author's note, their relationship goes a lot deeper, which will be explained in the next one, so no worries. I hope you liked this chapter though! Thanks for reading! Your reviews are much appreciated. Thank you!

Next Chapter: Doctor's Orders