Chapter Seven

"Next," Bella said not looking up from the class roster Mrs. Lee gave to her. "Name?"

"Jasper Hale, ma'am," it was his voice, of that she was sure, but his eyes were no longer blood red, they were now a butterscotch gold and she knew Rosalie wasn't his actual twin, he never had a sister, just two brothers, who were long since dead.

"Do I look old enough to be a ma'am?" B asked irritated as she looked back down at the roster to but a check mark by his name. "Please sing O Come, All Ye Faithful, to the best of your ability, with me."

"With you?" he asked. B looked up and answered him quickly and sternly looking him straight in the eye.

"Yes, with me. I will sing the first few lines with you until I know you have found your pitch. Then you'll continue until I stop you. Have a problem with that, Mr. Hale?"

"No, Miss Swan," he answered, swiftly.

"Good, now let's get started."

O come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant.

O come, ye, o come, ye

To Bethlehem,

Come and behold him

Born the King of angels.

The class fell silent as the two sang the well known Christmas tune. Their voices seemed to match each other; blending in perfect harmony.

Bella had forgotten the perfection of his voice; her memory not doing it justice.

The two seemed to have forgotten they were in a classroom; it was like they were in their own world where they didn't have to pretend. Didn't have to pretend they were something they weren't; didn't have to pretend that they were strangers; didn't have to pretend that they weren't once in love with each other.

It took all Jasper had to not take her into his arms. He knew no good would come of it. He had had the shock of his, well, existence when he had looked up and saw her looking at him, her shock even stronger than his. How he had hoped that she and her group weren't coming to make trouble for him and his family. How had he hoped she wouldn't figure out that he had moved on, but still clung to the memory of her. How he had hoped she hadn't moved on; that she hadn't forgotten him.

He had to sit there as she warned his family not to get on her bad side; as she fought through the hurt of having to mean to those who obviously meant a lot to him. He felt her fear as Edward had counter-threatened her, though she never showed it. She stood her ground when most would have run for their lives. He could only guess that somewhere, deep down, she knew that, if Edward had made a move, he would have been there in an instant to protect her. He knew he would have, no matter what the costs.

"Well," Mrs. Lee said, removing Bella and Jasper from there trance. "It looks like Mr. Hale will be our first bass and the role of Kovu in this year's musical. Congratulations, Jasper. Please take your seat and see me after class to get your script. Bella you have five minutes to seat the Cullens and only two seats to fill, get going please."

"Yes, Ms. Lee," Bella and Jasper said at the same time.

"Edward and Emmett Cullen?" neither spoke up, having both agreed not to speak to her. "Very well, don't talk to me. If you would, however, both begin to sing the song that Mr. Hale and I just sang, I can place you into the proper seats with no harm done. Please begin."

"And so they did. It only took ten seconds of listening to figure where each belonged.

"Emmett, second chair bass; Edward, first chair tenor." She wrote down where she placed them, and then wrote down her suggestions as to who they should play in the musical, handed the rooster to Ms. Lee, and went to her seat.

"The musical this year," Ms. Lee explained, "will be a combination of The Lion King and The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. The roles of Nala, Zira, Kiara, and Kovu have been filled. Bella Swan will play Kiara, Angela Webber has been chosen to play Nala, Zira will be played by Rosalie Hale, and as you already know, Jasper Hale has gotten the role of Kovu.

"Bella has suggested Emmett Cullen to play Mufasa and his brother, Edward for the role of Simba base on, I would assume, voice alone. However, thou I trust Bell's ear when it comes to roles, I will be holding auditions for these roles, as well as the roles of Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and Sarabi on Friday.

"As for class roles, I don't have many. You must be in your seats when the bell rings; show respect for others and their properties; and, above all else, what goes on outside of this classroom, stays outside of this classroom. As a choir, you are a team, a family; you must act like one, understood?"

Everyone nodded as the bell rang. Bella took her time gathering her things, knowing Mrs. Wyatt wouldn't mind her being late because most kids were late to class on the first day back.

Her mind was still reeling from the fact that her angel was at her school and, if her information was correct, was now dating the girl she assumed to be Alice Cullen.

"Aren't you going to be late?" Bella hadn't realized there was still another person in the room, especially Jasper.

"Probably, but Ms. Wyatt won't mind, it's the first day after all," she replied with a small smile that quickly turned into a frown. "Don't you hate me too?"

"Why?" he asked.

"Because of how I treated your sister and brother."

"Rosalie is a bitch to almost everyone and Edward needed someone to stand up to him when he's angry, it was good for them. Where did you learn to stand up for yourself like that?"

By now they were outside sitting at the picnic tables; the sun hiding behind the clouds, though, luckily, no rain.

"I learned at a very young age that to survive in the world, you must have backbone and that means standing up for yourself. If that sometimes qualifies me as a bitch, then so be it."

"What do you mean 'I learned at a very young age,'?"

Bella was stumped. She knew he knew what she was talking about and yet here he was asking her about it. Maybe he thinks I've forgotten him, she thought, I guess could play along.

"My mother was neglectful. Caring more about finding a new husband than taking care of me. At three years old, she would leave me home alone for an hour at a time. At four, she'd leave for two hours. Age five, three hours at a time; six four to five hours; by seven, I was left alone for however long her date could keep her interested, sometimes the whole night," Bella sighed. She wanted to add that she was never truly alone, that her angel looked after her; kept her safe. She wanted to let him know that she remembered him; that she remembered their love. "Not many people know this – in fact it's safe to say that other than my dad, Angela, my Uncle Henry, and his wife, my Aunt Helen no one in this town knows – but at seven I was kidnapped. But what no one knows is that it wasn't really a kidnapping. I wanted to go with him. He took care of me; he was my savior, my angel. I left him because it was not only for my best interest but his as well. I left because I loved him. I still love him to this day. I was with him for two years. Then I was placed with my dad, Charlie, because it was discovered I had been left alone foe more than ten hours."

"Did they ever catch him, the kidnapper?"

"I'm guessing not. Charlie would have told me if they had."

"Do you ever miss him?"

"Every day. But I better go, Ms. Wyatt is probably wondering where I am." Bella then left to into her spare clothes from her locker. She'd need a good excuse for being this late.

Jasper couldn't believe it. She remembered him. After seven years she still remembered him and on top of it all she missed him. The world couldn't be a better place.

Then reality hit. Edward had probably been listening to the whole conversation through his mind the entire time which meant that he probably knew his deepest secret and Alice probably saw the whole conversation and his elated reaction.

Alice. She had found him a year after Bella had left him. She loved him. She had gotten him out of the depression Bella had left him in. But Bella left to protect me. She left because she loved - loves – me.

Never had he cursed being a vampire so much. Never had he hated becoming Alice's mate with such intensity. She never knew, he thought incase Edward was listening. She knew I was different but she never knew the secret, leave her alone, please.

Then the bell rang and he decided to head to Third Year Art. Not knowing Bella was on her way there herself.