FOUND
One leather collar.
Found in my bed after a great night. Didn't catch her real name, but she answers to Tweedledee.
If you see her, let her know she can come and collect it free of charge.
Anytime.
Alice seethed at the black ink on the page, hoping she could make it spontaneously combust.
This was just the crowning jewel of a string of pranks that had gone on between her and Jasper over the last few weeks. First, it had been the lizard-in-her-bag incident, and then there was the 'honk if you're horny' bumper sticker Alice managed to get onto Jasper's car. After that, they had yet another entertaining argument about Freud full of innuendo, and then she may have very publicly compared his intelligence to a grasshopper's a few days ago. His 'pranks' had all been pretty tame up until this point. This seemed to be payback for the flyers that had made him famous around the school.
Even more famous, that is.
Alice scrunched the cheaply printed student newspaper in her hands and slumped against the back of the red plastic chair. Looking around the cafeteria, she could only seem to see an ocean of student newspapers. Everywhere she turned, the pale blue paper was being passed around, laughed at, and even thrown around as paper planes. The unusual uproar was thanks to this so called "hilarious" ad that someone had written.
It had taken a few hours for people to work out who the mastermind behind the addition to the lost and found section was, but Alice knew it was his handy work as soon as she read it. The reason people figured it out by lunch was because some big mouth in her year level (most likely Emmett) highlighted the fact that Tweedledee was Jasper's nickname for Alice. When people realised, the ad then paralleled perfectly to the flyer Alice had sent out two weeks beforehand.
If she had been an outsider to the situation, she would've said that his response to her flyer was borderline genius, but she didn't have the luxury of objective thinking. And so this was just something else she was going to have to try and top.
What infuriated her most was that he had taken her attack and somehow turned it around to make himself look like a hero. He had suddenly made a joke out of her joke and made her look the fool.
A slutty fool.
It was strange because there wasn't a single fibre of her being that wanted to give up this rat race. Despite knowing she was probably in over her head, she found her creativity was somewhat spurred on by his. She also found it oddly liberating that his attacks on her did not make her at all self-conscious.
"Do you want me to kick his ass?" Rosalie asked, noting the way Alice's mouth scowled when some students walked past with the newspaper in their grimy hands. "It's no problem."
Alice shook her head, savagely tearing a wrapper within her fingers to pieces. "I can take care of it. Whenever he decides to show his ugly mug..."
"He's probably got detention..."
"Nah-uh," Emmett chimed in, gulping down a mass of food in his mouth. "Jazz is in the principal's office. He got called out of class for it."
"Good," Rosalie replied. "He's getting suspended for this prank, then..."
"Meetings don't go on this long unless it's serious," Emmett replied soberly. "Getting a suspension is a ten minute job."
"Emmett," Edward said. "That's because your visits to the principal's office are routine. His are not."
"I'm telling you," Emmett simply responded confidently, "something is going on..."
Eric walked past the table at that moment, holding his loaded plastic lunch tray. Most of the table's inhabitants turned to look at him, but not Alice who seethed in the background.
"Hi... Do you guys know where Jasper is?" he asked expectantly. "I just wanted to talk to him about the newspaper..."
Edward sucked in a sharp breath beside Bella, knowing that the newspaper was a touchy subject for one person on the table. Bella also watched Alice out of the corner of her eye and saw her turn her incredulous stare to him.
Earlier in the day, Eric had said that there were more people reading this issue of the student newspaper than ever before and he was clearly elated by the fact. Since everyone was talking about the funny ad in the lost and found section, she figured they attributed the success to Jasper's smart ass. That just put another undeserved gold star to his name.
Eric didn't really notice Alice fuming at the end of the table.
"Eric," Rosalie admonished on her behalf, giving him a famous icy glare. "Get out of here."
He looked a little startled by her response. With a quick uncomfortable smile, he muttered an awkward "okay, see you" and toddled off.
"Honestly, the nerve that idiot has..." Rosalie grumbled. She looked at Alice to ask her something, but saw the livid monster lying dormant in her eyes. "You have my permission to kill Jasper, if it makes you feel any better."
Slaying him would solve many problems, but Alice knew her pride would only be satisfied if she could equal him again.
...
"Jasper," Principal Hubert said. "This isn't a joke anymore, this is an integral part of your future."
Jasper sat on the other side of the desk with his shoulders slumped and mouth clenched. He looked utterly unimpressed.
"But... I've been suspended more than once! Surely that puts a black mark on my name!"
The balding principal placed both his hands on the armrests of the leather chair he sat in, trying to make sure he didn't become too authoritative over the teenager in front of him. "There's no rule at this school that says Valedictorian is someone who has never been suspended. It's just that, usually, people who have been suspended are not as..."
"Academically inclined?" Jasper finished.
"Academically inclined, yes," Principal Hubert replied. He leaned forward and knotted his fingers on the desk in front of him. "I don't understand, Jasper... Why wouldn't you want to be Valedictorian? It's a great achievement."
Jasper shrugged nonchalantly.
The principal grunted, probably thinking about the now infamous flyer that had made the rounds about two weeks ago. "You cannot just give up something like this. The fact is, if you keep up the grades you have at the moment, you will be our top student. Don't you want to go Ivy League like your brother? I know your parents would be incredibly proud."
Jasper huffed out at the mention of Peter, his perfect older brother. It wasn't that he didn't respect his brother, or admire him, it was that Peter was a straight line. Jasper liked a bit more excitement, a bit more colour in his life. He would hate to think that he had turned out as a clone of Peter - being Valedictorian was certainly a step in the right direction.
Jasper wasn't sure that he wanted to go to an Ivy League school and become pretentious, but he understood that it would be the best option if he wanted to become a psychologist. He knew his parents would really like it if he went to one, and that deep down he would be disappointed in himself if he didn't make the cut into a good-name college. It had just never been something that seemed like a real issue until now, like it was always something he would sort out in the future.
"Meh," Jasper replied in contrast to his convoluted thoughts. "Whatever."
The Principal breathed in slowly. "Look, I know finals are still nearly three months away, and a lot can happen in that time, but you need to see that you are more than the class clown you tend to show up as. Your grades have been consistent since middle school, so I want you to realise what you've accomplished, and how easily you may just let it all slip away."
Jasper shook his head and smiled at a private joke in his mind. Though irrelevant, it was not received well.
"Jasper," the principal almost scolded. "You are a highly intelligent young man - don't jeopardise your future for some fun. You will regret it."
"Fun has never held me back before."
He lowered his tone, taking away more of the authoritative edge. "I've known your family for a long time, now. I know your parents would be exceptionally happy to see you reach your full potential. You are more than capable of this, I am sure of it."
Principal Lester Hubert eyed the young boy carefully. He knew that Jasper was a rare sort of intelligence. He may have played around and socialised better than most, but he made excellent grades. While his brother Peter had also been clever, he had been somewhat better behaved than Jasper. Lester knew that Jasper just needed a bit of a nudge in the right direction, because he was an exceptional student and nowhere near 'lost cause' status. His job as an educator was to make sure teenagers were guided into making sensible decisions.
"I know Ivy League is pretty much out of the question because my record is not squeaky clean. I'm not stupid," Jasper replied defiantly.
Principal Hubert caught the hitch in his tone that suggested he didn't quite believe his own words.
"There are ways, Jasper, I assure you. You have quite a few advantages in your court."
The teenager's scepticism didn't lessen. "It's cut-throat at that level. I'd just be another average fish in a very sophisticated pond."
Principal Hubert nodded in understanding. He had prepared an incentive earlier for Jasper that he hoped would make the young man knuckle down and start taking his last few months seriously. "We would be willing to remove a few notable instances from your permanent record if you were to come top of the class... We always aim to give our students the best start to the next step of their education."
Stunned at what had just been said, Jasper coughed out a laugh.
Had he just been cut a deal?
He'd never really thought too hard about attending college, if he was honest. He knew he would further his education, and he sort of thought he would end up at an Ivy League school in the shadow of his older brother, but he'd never given much credence as to how difficult that really was. Now, all the motions were being put in place for grandiose plans he'd never properly defined.
The bell for the end of lunch rang through the office behind him. Neither made a move to end the meeting, however.
"So, I just have to maintain my GPA, and I'll be Valedictorian?" Jasper asked, eyeing the middle-aged man with a greying comb-over.
Principal Hubert nodded, internally jumping for joy that he had gotten Jasper to see how serious this was. "And, please, no more trouble."
Jasper may not have been the squeaky clean student most Valedictorians were, but he had just as much heart and a lot more potential than most. The school was taking a risk putting their reputation on his shoulders, but Lester had a gut feeling that it would turn out for the best.
Jasper let out a big puff of air at the realisation. "Rosalie is going to murder me."
...
"Alright, settle down," Miss S called over the sea of excited students. She stood at the front of the room, cradling a stack of freshly photocopied paper. "Seeing as you all seemed to have had such an exciting lunch, you can channel some of that enthusiasm into a pop quiz."
There was a general murmur of disappointment and objections from the class, and a very loud "Eww!" from Emmett over the top.
"Pens out," Miss S simply said, not even batting an eyelash at their typical response. She began handing the papers out, placing them face down on the tables as she went down the row.
"Damn," Bella hissed beside Alice, withdrawing a pen from her pencil case. "I haven't done the homework yet – I don't even know what's going on..."
Alice just shrugged. "It's a pop quiz, who cares," she tried to comfort.
The truth was that she personally didn't care what was going on for two reasons: one, she'd never been afraid of psychology tests, and, two, she just wanted to know where the hell Jasper was after pulling such a stunt.
She had fury to unleash before she could concentrate properly.
Miss S approached Emmett and Jasper's joint desk in front of Bella and Alice and placed only one sheet down for Emmett.
"Jasper is in the principal's office," Emmett instantly defended, sliding the test paper towards himself. He didn't want Jasper to get into trouble for not attending class.
Miss S smiled softly and nodded. "It's alright - I know. He should be back before the end of class and I'm sure he's just as eager to take the quiz..." She moved a few steps forward and placed two test papers face down on the table for Bella and Alice and then moved off.
The day, in Alice's opinion, couldn't get any worse. Jasper had thrown her a curve-ball that, frankly, was going to be hard to beat, and now she had to do a surprise test. The only consolation was that had finally scraped enough money together to buy a mattress and, more importantly, she had a job interview after school.
After weeks of rejection emails, she had lowered her standards and decided to try her hand at waitressing jobs. She had dreamed of being surrounded by clothing all day, and wearing their latest trends at discount prices, but she had finally given up that idea and threw her standards into the dirt. As such, she was applying for a job at a pizza shop. The pay wouldn't be great, she knew, but it was at least a step in the right direction. Maybe the experience would lead her somewhere fabulous in the end.
She could only hope.
"You all have thirty minutes to finish the test," Miss S called, breaking Alice's thought train. "Off you go."
Alice flipped over the paper like everyone else and began scanning the first question before even writing her name on the page. After a quick assessment of the questions, she concluded that it was all straight forward, with just some definitions needed and an extended response at the end.
She had made her way through half the test by the time the classroom door opened and Jasper stealthily snuck in.
Curiously, Alice thought, Miss S didn't question his whereabouts but simply nodded and handed him a quiz sheet. He took it quietly and walked down to his seat in front of Alice, but not before gesturing to his neck quickly when she peered up at him. His reference to the leather collar that she had apparently left behind was not lost on her. She shot him a colourful hand signal in response and he cracked a purely wicked grin.
It was more than she should have noticed, but he wasted no time in getting started on the quiz paper, furiously scribbling items down on the page before reading through anything.
He seemed to hunch further and further over the paper with every question, as if he could write faster by leaning so close. She'd never seen him so intent on anything school related before. But, then again, this was the first time she had seen him take a test.
When she noticed how focused she'd become on him, she turned back to her own test and continued answering the questions.
She got stuck about three quarters of the way through, just before she attempted the extended question about Pavlov's dogs. She knew she was probably over-analysing it, but she was sure her definition for "punishment" was missing a key word.
Luckily, she had enough time left to fix her error. She knew she was cutting it close as she wrote out her final sentence.
"Pens down, please," the teacher interjected, standing up from her desk at the front. Again, a general grumble of disapproval resounded around the room and Miss S paid no attention to it.
Alice congratulated herself internally for completing the test after such a stupid mishap at the end.
When the teacher came to collect the papers from them, she offered Jasper an extra ten minutes seeing as he was late, but he declined claiming that he was already done.
Alice cocked a righteous brow at his own admission of stupidity. There was no way he answered all the questions in that time.
As the teacher moved on, collecting filled out quizzes and reassuring the dejected that it wasn't as bad as they thought, Emmett turned his big expectant puppy dog face to Jasper beside him.
"Bro, I was getting worried! You were in there for like an hour... What did you-" he paused unexpectedly and put a brotherly hand on his shoulder. "What's up?"
Jasper didn't respond instantly, but did turn his serious face to look at him. From the shape of his profile, Alice thought she almost saw a frown. "I need to get wasted."
"My place! Tonight," Emmett offered, rubbing his hands together cunningly.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but where are you parents? Do they even exist anymore?"
"They're in Africa. Or China or something..." Emmett recalled. "I can't remember... So, what time you coming over? I think there's still a bottle or two left from the party..."
"Later," Jasper replied, pulling his glasses off his nose. He set them down on the table by his pen and wiped his face in frustration. "I have to do stuff first."
"Baseball practice?" Emmett guessed.
"Hell no - I'm not going to that. Those idiots couldn't win against a team of midget amputees!"
"I don't think that's politically correct, Jazz," Bella chastised, leaning a cheek against her palm.
Jasper swivelled around in his seat to regard her. Suddenly his face didn't seem as gloomy as it had moments before. "Why? I said they would win."
She just rolled her eyes playfully and looked quickly at Alice to see her reaction.
Jasper also followed her line of sight.
She stared back at him until he fidgeted.
"So..."
"So..." she imitated, folding her arms coldly.
He cracked another immature grin. "You can admit it: I am a genius."
"I'll die first."
"Of what?" he asked. "Embarrassment?"
She just stared at him, unamused by his gloating.
"Aaaaand, I was right."
Emmett snickered beside him at the exchange of faces.
"Anyway," Jasper said, averting his suddenly harder eyes to Bella as he replayed the meeting at lunch in his mind. "Want to get drunk with us tonight?"
"Jazz," Bella said. "It's Tuesday."
"So?"
She just shook her head firmly. Bella was not irresponsible enough to do that, let alone on a school night.
"Well, what about you?" Jasper suddenly asked, turning back to look at Alice.
For a moment, she was surprised and slightly touched that he had made an effort to ask her. But, then she remembered what happened the last time they were around alcohol and suddenly those nice thoughts fell into an abyss.
Instead of answering, she reached down into her bag and discreetly pulled out a tennis ball. It wasn't a grand prank by any means, but watching Jasper get hurt would help make her feel slightly better.
Curious, Jasper watched her response from his seat.
Without warning, she flung the ball square at his face, only narrowly missing because of his apparently lightning-fast reflexes. She felt somewhat better knowing she had nearly hit his face.
"What do you think?" Alice asked rhetorically.
Emmett leaned over to Jasper, not retracting his eyes from Alice. He made a point of whispering loudly so that everyone could hear, "She's still really mad at you."
Jasper whispered back in the same fashion, "Good."
A/N: Make sure you stick around for the next chapter because some serious mayhem is about to break loose!
Thanks for reading!
