DISCLAIMER : Stephanie Meyer owns all things TWILIGHT
A/N Wow what a huge response for the last chapter! I can't believe how many people checked it out since it was posted! As a reward, here is Chapter 7.. I had a huge epiphany last night and figured out the rest of the story in my head, so as soon as I outline the chapters, I'll work hard to get them to you!
On a side note.. I have a new story lined up to begin as soon as this one is finished. I'll keep updates about it on my profile, so be sure to check it out!
Chapter 7.
'Distractions'
(( ANNALEIGH's POV ))
My hand reached over to my night stand, fingers searching. My eyes remained closed, my legs still tangled in the blankets on my bed. I had had another nightmare last night, but this time the wolf was protecting me. I couldn't figure it out. He was blocking me from seeing whatever it was that was attacking me.
I hadn't slept well, and now my phone was ringing loudly. I turned my head and peeked open an eye, locating my cell phone and grabbing it with my hand.
"Hello?" I held the phone to my ear, my eyes closing again. My voice raw with sleep.
"Hey, Anna? Its Bella.. Did I wake you up?" She sounded so worried that I couldn't find it in my to be mad.
"No.. Well, yes.. But I was getting up soon anyway. What's up?" I pulled my eyes open, and dragged my body into a sitting position. The red letters on my alarm clock blared 8:15am. I groaned. Who gets up this early on a Sunday?
"I was wondering if you wanted to head into Port Angeles today? I remember you saying you were looking for something good to read, and I know this really great book store we could check out." Port Angeles did sound tempting. But, I really needed to work on my assignment.
"I was actually planning on staying in. I really wanted to have a chance to look up that guy that I found yesterday."
"Oh.. Well.. Hm.." She seemed to be thinking of something to say. I combed my fingers through my tangled hair while I waited for her. "What if I promise to get you back early? Didn't you say your dad was living in Port Angeles? Maybe we could meet up with him?"
I hadn't seen my dad in over a week, and I really did miss him. If one thing could convince me to leave the house today, that would be it.
"Yeah, that actually sounds great. How about I drive us there?" There was no way I was trusting her truck to get us to and from Port Angeles. My aunt's Pontiac would have a much better chance.
She laughed, "Why don't people like my truck?"
I didn't think I really needed to answer and state the obvious, so I got directions to her home and told her I'd be there in about 45 minutes.
After I hung up I kicked off the covers and headed to the shower. My aunt would be working all day, so I didn't feel too guilty about leaving.
In my room I picked out an outfit; simple jeans, shit and jacket. And threw together my bag. Leaving a note for Aunty Lyn, I grabbed my keys, locked up the house, and got in my car.
Not too long after picking up Bella, we were on the 101 headed north.
"Thanks for coming with me." Bella said. She had looked nervous for the first half of the drive.
"You're welcome, but you know you don't have to thank me for hanging out with you." She sighed, and I glanced at her. "Everything ok?"
"Yeah.. Its my dad. He's been on me about hanging out with people other than Edward. So I feel a little guilty for using you like this." She gave me a small smile. "I just.. A lot of the girls at school are very, well, high school. I've always felt like I was so much older than everyone. But, you seem similar to me. Maybe that's why we get along so well."
I gave it a thought before replying. "Maybe so.. I was forced to grow up fast when my mom died. I had to take over the mother role in the family and take care of my dad. Couple that with moving every 2-4 years and you become pretty independent."
We continued the rest of the drive comparing stories of how we both felt like we were the parent with our relationships with her mom and my dad. It was one of the easiest and nicest conversations I had had since moving to Forks. I finally felt like I had made a friend who I didn't want to say goodbye to when I moved.
Bella directed me to the street the bookstore was on. We entered the store and I made up my mind what I would be looking for. I headed to the nature books and looked for one on wolves. There was something about the wolf I met in the forest that had bugged me. It was too human, and way too large to be normal.
"What are you looking at?" Bella asked, coming up to stand next to me.
I turned the book to her, showing the cover and title 'Wolf Legends'. She gave me an amused look.
"You'll find some good ones in there." She laughed, looking like she knew something I didn't. "Try this one too." She pulled another book from the shelf and handed it to me. "Its got some legends about the tribe in La Push. Of course, its not the full legend, just a scaled down version. You'd have to talk to one of the guys out there for the full story."
I decided to buy them both, while Bella picked out a classic romantic novel. I pulled out my phone and called my dad, making plans to meet up with him for lunch.
I drove to the Coast Guard station, showing my military ID at the gate. My dad was waiting for us outside in the parking lot.
"Hey Al!" His smile spread across his face as he brought me into his arms for a hug.
"Dad I've missed you!" I pulled back and turned to Bella. "Dad, this is my friend Bella." I noticed my dad's eyes looked tired, and he walked slightly stiffly as we headed into the galley for lunch.
Over what resembled something only marginally better than cafeteria food, my dad explained how rough the seas were in the winter, and the amount of people who didn't listen to the warnings when the bar was closed. As a boats mate, he had been going out nightly for rescues - barely getting him any sleep. That explained why he looked exhausted.
He only had an hour for lunch, and the time seemed to pass by too fast. Before I knew it, he had to go back to duty.
Bella and I left. Since we were already in town we decided to look around at some other stores. Forks really didn't have anything shopping-wise, so we took advantage of the larger town.
"You look so much like your dad." Bella said as we walked down main street, window shopping. It was true that I had taken most of my features from him. We both had the same blue eyes, and dirty blonde hair. But, I was always thankful that I got my mom's body. My dad was tall, but he was thick. Not fat, just, solid. My mom had been tall also, for the average woman, but thin and delicate. If I could dance, I would be the perfect ballerina. Or at least that was the running joke in the family.
We spent the next few hours stopping in random stores and looking at the nick nacs before I realized it was now almost time for dinner.
"We have been out all day! I can't believe I lost track of time." I laughed. The day had been easy and such a nice distraction from all the work at home. It was like we had stepped away from the drama at Forks, into our own little world.
We found a little Italian restaurant for dinner and sat in a booth waiting for our food to be brought.
"So how are you liking Forks so far?"
I played with my straw wrapper as I thought over her question. "Well.. Its interesting.." She just looked at me, brow raised, waiting for an explanation.
"I like it. Its different to Cali, that's for sure.. The people are really nice.." I couldn't help from smiling as I thought about yesterdays kiss with Paul. I felt the heat on my cheeks before I heard Bella's soft laugh.
"Any person in particular?" I glanced across the table at her, biting my lip in a lame attempt to still the blush from rising further.
"Maybe…" I trailed off.
"Maybe.. Paul?" She grinned, "I think everyone at the bon fire yesterday saw that kiss."
I was sure my face was beet red by now. I covered my eyes with my hands. "Oh my God, what was I thinking."
"You didn't like it?" She frowned.
"I did! That's the whole problem!" I explained in a strained whisper, looking around at the other tables nearby.
"That hardly seems like a problem to me."
"It is for me.. I don't want to get involved with anyone right now." Even as I said the words I knew that I didn't feel that way anymore. I really wanted to get involved with Paul.
"But.. Why not? Paul is a great guy, and I know he really likes you." He did? I knew he had shown interest, clearly from that kiss he did. But liked me for something more? That was hard to believe.
"Well, I move a lot with my dad as it is, so I don't date, as a general rule. And, after graduation I plan on moving away for school somewhere. Going out on my own." I smiled as I relayed my well thought out plan. My usual confidence behind my words was lagging this time. I didn't think I wanted to go away anymore.
The waitress bought our food over, breaking up the conversation. Once she left I made it a point to change the subject. I talked about anything I could think of. Anything to stop me from thinking about why I wouldn't want to leave Forks. Because the only thing that made me want to stay right now was Paul. That pull for him made me cringe at the thought of leaving.
It was almost 1am and I was laying across my bed with my lap top propped in front of me - my usual position for doing home work. I had taken the time to complete home work for my other classes before doing a little search for history.
I quickly found the census list from the site I had looked at yesterday and scrolled back to the name: J. Whitlock - Major.
I quickly clicked on the link, and waited for the page loaded. There, in black and white, was a photo of a soldier. A tall man, with intense eyes and a strong jaw, that looked so familiar. Yet I couldn't place where I had seen that face before.
I glanced at the name under the photograph: Major Jasper Whitlock. Jasper. I inhaled sharply, my eyes unable to move from the screen as I pieced everything together.
The reason he looked so familiar was not because I had seen him in family photos before, not because he had the same wavy hair as me, or the same eyes. Even though I assumed his eyes would be blue like the majority of Whitlocks in my family, they appeared black in the photo. The likeness was too much for me. With those black eyes, he looked exactly like the blonde in my history class.
Same eyes. Same name. How common was Jasper anyway? Only, he was Jasper Hale. I frowned as I studied the photo. Could Jasper Hale be some sort of cousin of mine? I squinted at the photo. It had to be more than that. He looked far too similar to the Jasper Whitlock I saw on the page.
I went to Google and searched under his full name. It was limited, and no other pictures were published of him. A glance at my clock and I realized it was too late to call any family members for confirmation. It would have to wait until I got home from school tomorrow.
I put my lap top away and climbed under my covers. Maybe I would be able to find something at the library at school.
(( JASPER's POV ))
Alice's eyes went blank mid-sentence. I watched her, feeling a ripple of fear come off of her. She gasped, and looked back at me with clarity.
"She just figured it out."
Rose and Carlisle appeared either side of Alice, with Emmett standing in the doorway to the room I shared with Alice.
"What happened?" I asked Alice, still feeling the fear from her.
"She literally just now figured out that you are related to her." Alice looked at me, panic on her face. We all knew what this meant: It wouldn't be much longer before Annaleigh would find out our biggest secret.
"We take her out now." Rose stood, determination and anger radiating off of her in waves. "I don't trust her. And I wont wait for her to figure out that we're vampires. We'll have the Volturi here before we know it."
"Rose, we can't do that. We don't know what Annaleigh is going to do yet." Carlisle's voice of reason spoke through, but I could feel that he was just as scared as the rest of us.
"I'll talk to her." I said simply. Maybe I would be able to convince her, if not with my words than with my influence.
Alice nodded as she searched for a resolution. "Yes.. She'll listen. She hasn't made up her mind if she'll believe you or not. But, it's a start, and enough to delay her and give us more time."
So it was decided. I would talk to Annaleigh, and make her see that it was impossible for me to be her great-great-whatever I was. I sat now in the school library, at a computer across from the one Annaleigh was currently working at.
I had already completed my assignment, working for a few hours one day in creating a made up ancestor. I had almost wanted to write about myself, but, that would have only worked if Annaleigh hadn't made the decision already to write about me.
I could sense confusing coming from her, and every now and then I caught her looking in my direction. Was she trying to figure it all out?
I located the program on the computers to be able to chat from computer to computer and opened the window.
Annaleigh.. Its Jasper.
I typed to her. I could tell she had received the message on her computer, when her eyes popped up to look at me. I gave a small wave and a smile.
Have you decided who you are doing your project on?
I already knew the answer, but wanted to see what she would say. Would she ask me about the connection?
Yes.
Her simple reply said more than just one word. I could feel the tension. She knew. And she knew that I probably knew also.
We need to talk.
The only chance I had now was to try and use my influence to change her thoughts. I couldn't do that over a computer chat line. I stood up, catching her eyes and motioning with my head for her to follow me. She hesitated, and I waited.
Looking back at the computer screen she chewed on her bottom lip in thought. She looked between me and the screen before standing up, and following me.
I walked to the back stacks of books in the reference section. I could hear her breath, racing heart beat, and foot steps as she followed behind me. I turned to face her.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you figured out we're related." There. I said it. I put it out there. And it felt so weird saying that to a human.
I had thought all along that my relatives had all died as I had continued to live, never aging. The realization that I had someone in this world connected to me hit me. I wanted Annaleigh in my life. I wanted her to know about ouat relationship, our connection to each other. I wanted to tell her all about my life, and who I am. And I wanted to hear about her life. I had family. The Cullen's had taken me in and in our own way, we were family. But this was real. This was blood.
She studied my face and I couldn't pin point what emotions were running through her: Hope, sadness, confusion, anger.. Everything mixed into one.
"You're.. are we?" She started, I nodded, eager for her to say it. "Are we cousins?" Well, there was an option we hadn't thought of yet. Even though I could easily take that route and lead her on to believe that we were cousins, I found that I wanted so much more. I didn't want to deceive her or myself of our true connection.
"Try again Annaleigh. You're close." I wanted her to figure it out. I wanted her to tell me what she found. She was smart, I thought proudly.
"But, you can't be.. The site said he died in 186-"
"Three." I finished for her. "Jasper Whitlock died in 1863."
"You're Jasper Hale." She said softly, in a confused voice.
"I am now." Her eyes widened as it sunk in. She knew for sure now, and I wouldn't deny it. Her pulse quickened.
"How?" Her lips barely parted as she spoke the word.
"You have to figure that out." I looked behind me when I heard my name whispered through the hum of voices in the room. Rose stood at the end of the isle, her eyes narrowed, and I couldn't tell who she was directing her anger at: me or Annaleigh.
"Come to me when you know." I told Annaleigh and walked swiftly to Rose, pulling her through the library and out the front door.
"Jasper!" She gasped when we were out of earshot from the humans. "Why?"
"I have to Rose. She's the only family I have."
"We're your family Jas.. What are you going to do when she finds everything out? The Volturi will kill her!" She demanded.
"What about Bella?" I asked simply. Bella knew everything, and the Volturi kept her alive. I knew what Edward would have to do to keep her by his side. The thought played through my mind.
"We promised to change her, you know that Jasper." She paused, her mouth parting and the look of shock covering her face. "You can't be serious!" Heat blazed from Rose's eyes as she looked at me.
"He is." Edward appeared behind her.
Rose spun around to face him. "No... He can't mean to change Annaleigh." She whispered.
I have the next few chapters almost ready to go..
I'll try to update for you guys ASAP
Show me some reviews for motivation!
- Lau
