Chapter 6
"What?" I asked again, staring at my father.
"We've been here for nearly a month." He told me.
It wasn't a big deal; we always moved on - that's what being in a circus was about! We'd be back in a year or two to do it all again. It had never mattered before, but now a year or two seemed like a long time.
A long time without Jasper.
"Can't we stay a little longer?" I asked.
"There are no more scheduled shows after tonight." Dad said, "We've already stayed longer than we planned. Why do you want to stay, anyway?"
I shrugged, unsure of what to say. How could I say that I wanted to stay because of Jasper? I couldn't even explain it to myself - I hadn't even known him a week, and yet as soon as Dad had said the words, I knew I couldn't leave him.
What about my vision? Me and Jasper, together in years to come. I clung desperately to the vision as the future began to blur and change, more and more possible outcomes coming to the surface.
"Alice, are you okay?" Dad asked, looking at me with a worried expression.
"Yeah." I said absently, "My shift starts soon."
"I'll take you to your tent." Dad said, the worry not completely disappearing from his face. Then again, he always looked worried when it was anything to do with me. Since the accident, anyway.
Dad helped me up and we walked over to my fortune tellers tent. He smiled reassuringly, "You'll love the next place."
How could I love it? I wouldn't be able to go out and see it. All I would ever see would be people coming to get their fortunes told. Every day for the rest of my life. How was that fair? How was it fair that as soon as I found something good in my life, I had to give it up? Nothing in my life had been fair since that day.
~o.O.o~
"How's my favourite fortune teller?" A voice said from the entrance to my tent. I almost started crying when I looked up and saw Jasper smiling at me. He came and sat down opposite me.
"Hey." I said, hiding my sadness as best I could.
"Long time no see." Jasper joked. It's going to be even longer before I see him again...Dad had said tonight was the last show. That meant we'd leave tomorrow. "So tell me," Jasper said, "What does the future look like?"
"I'm leaving." I blurted out.
"Ohh, sounds interesting." Jasper said, "Can you see where to? How long?"
"No, I'm not looking into the future." I told him, "I'm really leaving."
Jasper frowned, "Why?"
"The circus is moving on." I said, and this time I couldn't stop a tear escaping.
"Hey, why are you crying?" Jasper asked, wiping the tear away.
"I don't want to leave you!" I sobbed, "I know we only just met, and I know it sounds stupid! I just...I don't want to leave you behind."
"It doesn't sound stupid." Jasper said, wiping another tear away, "When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow." I sniffed.
"Can't you stay behind?" Jasper asked. I shook my head.
"How could I?" I asked, "This is all my family! Besides, it's not like I could get very far on my own..."
Neither of us said anything for a few minutes, and then Jasper spoke. "I feel it too, you know."
"What?" I asked.
"I don't want to be apart from you." He said, "From the moment I saw you, I didn't want to be apart from you."
"We won't be back until next year, at least. That's if we come back at all." I said miserably, "I can't be away from you for that long."
Jasper nodded, "Me neither."
I put my head down on the table. "I hate this. This shouldn't have happened. How can I feel so strongly about someone I only met a few days ago?"
Jasper gently lifted my head up, "You told me you believed in love at first sight."
I looked into his eyes for a few seconds, barely able to speak. When I did, it was almost a whisper. "Why did you have to say that?"
"It's true." He told me gently, "I love you, Alice."
"No." I said, "We can't be in love. We can't."
"I know you feel the same way." Jasper told me, "I can feel your emotions, remember?"
"That's not what I meant." I said, "Four days, Jasper. I've known you four days. And I'm leaving tomorrow. I might not ever see you again. How am I supposed to live without you if I love you? Wouldn't it be so much easier if I didn't?"
"Yes," Jasper said, "But you do."
"I know." I said quietly.
"Can I kiss you, Alice?" He asked.
I wanted to say no, because it would be so much harder to let him go. But I couldn't. I wanted it as much as he did. I nodded, and his lips were on mine; soft and sweet, gentle and loving. I wanted it to last forever, but it was over all too soon. I found fresh tears on my cheeks as he pulled away, but I brushed them away before he could see them.
"This is goodbye?" I said. It wasn't supposed to be a question, because I already knew the asnwer.
Jasper shook his head, "It's not goodbye. Not forever. We'll see each other again, Alice, I promise."
"You can't promise that." I told him.
"I'll keep my promise." Jasper insisted, "Somehow, I'll make it happen."
I knew it wasn't worth filling my head with hopes, but I also knew that some part of me would never give up on Jasper. I wanted so badly for it to be true, that it was easier to just believe that it would be.
But what if it wasn't?
"You should go." I said, not looking at him, "Please."
"Alice..." Jasper said gently.
"Please, Jasper." I whispered. I couldn't drag this out any longer. The sooner he left, the sooner I could try and move on.
I knew, in my heart, that I would never move on.
I know it's super short, but I also updated super fast :P ANGST! What did you think? Reviews = happiness :)
