Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer
CHAPTER 3
FRIDAY APRIL 5, 2013
Alice
I know I'm impatient, but usually I have at least some semblance of control and calmness. Today, though, I'm anxiously tapping my foot as I wait for Jasper to show up at the park.
I texted him just a few minutes ago, so technically I can't blame him for not being here yet. But in all honestly, I just had to get out of the house, since Mom seems to be having random flashback episodes every time she looks at me. She just freezes up in the middle of whatever she's doing, and Dad even had to step in once since she was using the blender.
That would've made a mess, I think as I slowly swing back and forth on the swing set.
And then there's still the fact that they took away my car. I'm pretty sure my parents can tell that I'm pissed, so they just stayed out of my way when I stormed out of the house. A part of me knows that I'm probably overreacting, but that rational voice is constantly being overshadowed by my dominant, impulsive, teenage voice.
I jump out of the swing seat, narrowly avoiding it when it swings back down, when I see a familiar car turn into the parking lot of the park.
Jasper drives his dad's car, since he knows he isn't really responsible enough to handle his own. At least with his dad's car, he can drive around knowing that the car is insured.
He walks to where I'm waiting by the swing set. "Hey, Ali," he says, placing a light kiss on my cheek. "So what did you have to tell me?"
I sigh. "Well . . . it's a long story. Kind of. I think." I take a few steps back and sit back on the swing.
Jasper raises an eyebrow and sits down on the small platform a few feet away. "Alright then . . . might as well start."
So I do. I tell him about how I got my car taken away, and even about how my parents were really weird about the whole car thing before he and I went to dinner. I also tell him about the weird flashback things my mom seems to be having, and he nods slowly, thinking.
"Maybe she's just remembering stuff . . . "
"That's what a flashback is, Jazz."
"No, I mean serious stuff. You said that they were acting strange when they were giving you the car, right? Like when they were telling you the 'rules'?"
"Yeah . . . "
"So she's probably remembering something about that. Do you think Emmett did something stupid when he got his car?"
"Well, he's Emmett, so . . . " I laugh. "Probably."
Jasper chuckles, shaking his head. "Thank God he has Rose to keep him in check now."
I nod, agreeing. "And Masen. He would do anything for that kid."
"Including robbing the ice cream truck?"
"Shhh!" I look around quickly to make sure no one is listening to us, all the while trying to hold in my giggles. "No one knows about that but us and you and Kate!"
Jasper laughs, the sound echoing through the empty park. I join him soon after.
As we quiet down, I remember the thing I had originally wanted to tell him. The reason I had texted him in the first place.
"Um, Jasper?"
"Yeah?"
"There's something else, too."
He nods, urging me to go on.
"So . . . you know about the attic, right?"
"Doesn't Emmett call it the 'Forbidden Fucking Attic' or something?" he asks with grin.
I smile. "Yeah, the one and only. And you know how no one's supposed to go in there? Because it's kind of forbidden?"
Jasper nods.
"Well, I went in there."
His mouth drops open, and he gapes at me. "You what?!"
"I went into the attic." I take a deep breath. "I really didn't want to talk to my parents, not after they just took my car away like that, so I locked my bedroom door from the inside to make it look like I was in there before I just ran into another random room at the end of the hall. I'd forgotten about the attic altogether in the rush of the moment . . . "
"So you hid in there, and let me guess . . . you explored it, didn't you?"
I give a wry smile. "You know me so well."
Jasper smiles. "So what did you find? Was it old and haunted like Emmett said it was?"
"You do know that he's never been in there to this day, right?" I point out, and then shake my head. "But no, it wasn't like that. Yeah, it was kind of dusty and there were a few cobwebs . . . " I shudder a little. "But it was actually pretty neat. And there was a grand piano in there, covered by a sheet!"
"Do your parents play the piano?" Jasper asks.
I shake my head. "They used to, when they were younger, apparently. But they stopped for some reason, and haven't played since. So I have no idea when they bought the piano, or even why."
Jaspers starts to say something, but I quickly cut him off when I realize what I forgot to mention. "Wait, Jazz, I almost forgot! There were these boxes surrounding the piano, and I opened one of them. It was full of letters," I say.
His eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Letters? Like the alphabet?"
I smack my hand to my forehead, understanding for a fleeting second what my parents always mean when they say the new generation is being corrupted by technology. "No, I mean actual letters, which you address to people and they receive them in the mail!"
"Oh, okay, got it." He smiles sheepishly. "But what's so exciting about a box of letters?"
"The two people who wrote them to each other are named Edward and Bella . . . Edward Cullen and Bella Swan."
Jasper freezes, and it seems like he doesn't know what to say for a few seconds. When he speaks again, it's with a voice full of disbelief. "Chief Swan has a daughter? And I didn't know there was an Edward in your family . . . "
"That's just the thing!" I bite my lip. "Chief Swan doesn't have a daughter, and there is no Edward in my family!"
Jasper is about to reply, but pauses when a group of middle schoolers passes by. I recognize Jane, the head cheerleader, and her two sidekicks, Bree and Irina. "You know what? How about we head back to your house, and maybe sneak back up to the attic?"
Jane is Queen Bitch of Forks Middle School, and gossip spreads around the town through her and her posse of Bitchy Wannabes. But this information about what is in my attic is important, and something that could not leak out, so I don't think twice before agreeing.
"Yeah, let's do that."
-:xoxo:-
"Jasper and I are here!" I shout out as soon as we step through the door.
"Hello, Jasper," Dad says as he comes out of the living room.
"Good evening, Mr Cullen," Jasper replies respectfully.
Dad frowns. "Jasper, I've been telling you for a while now, call me Carlisle."
"Alright, Mr Cullen."
I laugh, and so does Dad. "Anyways," I say, "Jasper and I are going upstairs."
"What are you guys gonna be doing?" Dad asks, raising an eyebrow.
I huff. "Nothing stupid, Dad," I say before Jasper can say something like 'homework'.
Dad laughs. "Don't worry, I know that you're a good kid, Jasper. I was just messing with you two."
Jasper laughs awkwardly, trying to laugh with Dad, but I just glare at him, still not over the fact that he supported Mom on her decision to take away my car. "Yeah, whatever. We're going up now."
I grab Jasper's hand and drag him upstairs, ignoring the gaze of my dad on my back.
-:xoxo:-
"Ready?"
Jasper nods.
We quietly step out of my room, and I once again lock it from the inside. I lead the way toward the attic, and while Jasper checks the staircase to make sure my parents aren't near it, I push the door open. I cringe when it gave a little creak; I'll have to oil the hinges later.
Jasper is at my side in a second, and I motion for him to go in ahead of me. I follow him inside, shutting the door softly.
"Wow," Jasper breathes out. "You're right; this place is pretty amazing." His gaze lands on the massive object that's covered by the sheet. "Is that the piano?"
I nod. "Yeah. Come on, let's go closer."
We start toward the piano, and Jasper takes into account all the boxes surrounding it. "These boxes . . . did you move them like this?"
I frown. "No, they were like that. Weird, isn't it, how they're in like a circle around the piano?"
Jasper nods, and moves a few boxes around so that it wasn't as hazardous to get to the piano. "It's almost like someone arranged them like this on purpose." He grunts while moving one of the boxes over. "This one's pretty heavy," he comments.
I head over to the box I had opened yesterday. "This is the box that I told you about. The one with the letters in it."
I hear Jasper come up behind me, and he takes a seat across from me on the other side of the box.
He meets my eyes. "Open it?"
I nod. "Let's open it?"
I lift one of the flaps open while he opens the other flap, and he raises an eyebrow at the amount of letters that are in the box.
"Wow, these guys are pretty old-fashioned," Jasper says. He takes one of the letters out and opens it.
Digging to the middle of the box, I take one out as well, and start reading.
Bella,
Are you sure you want to help out during Christmas? I remember you mentioning that you and your dad usually go somewhere . . . I'm sorry about Rosalie, again. I know you don't want me to apologize (and I know Rosalie wouldn't, either, since she's Rosalie) but I still don't think she had the right to just sign all of us up for the volunteering thing. Especially since it'll be over the break.
And if you still want to write like this even though you got your phone back, I'm not complaining :P But I wonder if your dad's getting suspicious by how obsessively you seem to be watching the mailbox . . .
Edward
I smile. This Edward reminds me of Emmett―Emmett doesn't use 'dear' when addressing letters either, nor does he have any kind of 'love' or 'sincerely' at the end. Bella on the other hand seems to be a more formal, traditional letter-writer. If that's even a word.
"Hey . . . Alice . . . ?"
I look up. Jasper's holding up the envelope of the letter he read.
"These letters are from seven years ago."
My eyes widen, and I look at date on the envelope of the letter I'm holding.
5 November 2006
I gasp. "What the hell?"
Jasper looks at me. "Why are there letters from seven years ago in your attic?"
"I have no idea! I didn't even notice that," I say, still in disbelief at the fact that these letters are that old. Then again, I shouldn't have expected them to be new; who writes letters nowadays?
Suddenly remembering the letter I read before, I glance at the top of the box and breathe a sigh of relief when I see the familiar light pink envelope. I read the date.
17 December 2006
This was written a little more than a week before Christmas.
"Jasper?" He glances at me. "How old do you think these people are?"
"They're teenagers," Jasper quickly replies. I look at him questioningly, and he holds up his letter. "This one talks about how Edward's sophomore graduation ceremony in Chicago was different than the sophomore one Bella described took place in Forks the year before."
I remember what she's talking about. The one in Forks is a small one, since people just wanted there to be ceremonies for freshman, sophomores, and juniors as well as the obvious, grand graduation ceremony for the seniors. It was just so that there was an opportunity to gather.
I didn't know they did that in other places too.
"Wait a minute," I say, "That means they were juniors when they wrote these letters. Since they're talking about sophomore graduation the year before."
Jasper nods. "It's so weird . . . to be reading letters written by people our age but in a different time period."
I laugh. "It's not even a decade ago."
"Same thing."
"Right."
What do you guys think of this chapter? Next update will be sometime next week or over the weekend . . .
And thank you so much to everyone who reviewed to the last chapter. You guys just make my day: VanessaJJ, Doclover, Guest, Blue Girl98, Kalypso146, Guest, Sonia Raziella
