Seven minus three is four. And that is four more than those in the Cullen coven. Which is zero.
Carlisle ran into the hanger with Rosalie at his heels a second before Jasper had finished removing the venom.
"What is going on? You're watching Jasper kill Bella?!" Rosalie yelled.
"No. We're watching Jasper save Bella." Esme replied.
Once again, it would have been soooo much easier if these people (vampires, whatever!) had just minded their own business!
Carlisle looked at Esme questioningly.
"Edward bit Bella. Jasper saved Bella." Emmett replied.
Was his mantra 'the less words the better' or 'the less brains the better?'
"Good job, Jasper," Carlisle said proudly as he smelled the air around Bella. "I don't sense any more trace of venom."
Bella's eyes fluttered and then popped open. She shrieked.
"Bella, Bella! Calm down!" Alice hushed.
"Don't hurt me! I'm warning you!" Bella took her iPhone out of her pocket threateningly and her finger loomed dangerously close to the 9-1-1 speed dial. "You are with him, aren't you? Aren't you going to try to kill me, too?!"
"No, Bella. We don't understand any of Edward's actions lately. He tried to kill you and then Jasper saved you just in time," Alice reported.
"Not like that's any excuse for his behavior," Esme said.
"I hurt," was all Bella said.
"Do you want to go to a hospital?" Esme asked.
"No, I'm not hurt, hurt. I'm just hurt." Bella said, like her mashed-up sentence actually made sense.
"Ohh. I get it. Edward. Like, emotions and stuff. Yeaaah." Emmett said. That know-it-all.
Know-it-nothing more like it?
"Yesssss!" Bella wailed and broke into sobs. "Edward! Fine! And broke up! Hates me! Tried to kill me!" was all even the vampire's, acute, precision hearing understood.
Alice looked like she was going to be sick. So did Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and even Rosalie. Jasper had a look of pure, raw rage on his face.
WWE smackdown, anyone? I sense a love triangle with Miss Swan balancing dangerously at the top…
"Let's get you out of here. Renée is expecting you but I left a message on her machine telling her you had a layover and won't be in until later to explain your tardiness, but you have to come up with another story for the scar. And please make it one that Alice doesn't have to have too much fun with," Carlisle added, winking. He cleaned the wound on her wrist and put a bandage around it.
Being the gentleman we all love, Jasper helped Bella get into the Aston Martin. Carlisle took the wheel with Rosalie in front and Jasper and Bella in the back. Jasper was inching dangerously close to her.
Player! Hope Alice doesn't hear about this!
Alice was in a stolen Mercedes with Esme, Rosalie and Emmett when all of a sudden she received a text message from an unknown number. It read: watch jasper closely. Everyone has secrets.
The number was only unknown to her. Hey, a girl has to have back-up phones for blackmail.
"What?!" she said, her mouth wide open. "What?!" She repeated.
"What's wrong?" Esme asked. Alice passed the phone up to Esme from her seat in the back. Esme peered at it and then dialed Jasper's number.
"What was the text all about?" she scolded.
"The one that told Alice that you had some sort of secret?!" Esme responded. Alice was hyperventilating. Figuratively, of course.
How funny that Jasper didn't know his own secret.
"Whatever, Esme. He'll tell me." Alice said coldly, motioning for Esme to give her back the phone. "Are you keeping something from me? Is there someone else?" Alice joked. "Joking. That's okay, it was probably Edward using another phone being stupid." Alice doubted that. Was there someone else?
"Well, there might be, Alice. There might be." Jasper said, as soon as Alice hung up, so she didn't hear.
"This is your stop," Carlisle paused at the Renée's quaint abode.
"I'll walk her to the door," Jasper offered.
When they were out of the car, they walked up the long path and around to the garage door. The bulbous garage blocked the Cullen's view of them.
"Be safe, Bella. Call me if you need me." He kissed her on the cheek like some cheesy old movie.
"Always," she ran inside and started hyperventilating. What was that?!
Amore, as the French say. Or if you flunked your AP French exam, Jasper's got a little case of the love bug.
As soon as he did it, he regretted it. Alice would definitely see him do that. He was going to be in serious trouble when he got home.
Or, if he got home…
As soon as he got back in the car, Rosalie went into full-blow flip-out mode.
"Ohmigodyoudohaveasecret! IamsooootellingAlice!" She was talking a mile a minute, at least. "Good job Jasper! Go kiss your brother's girlfriend when you are already MARRIED! Aliceisgoingtogetakickoutofthis!" Rosalie bellowed. Carlisle sat driving, tight-lipped. Jasper just sat there.Expressionless. Lifeless. Just not caring. But how did they know?
Text messages. Technology is very helpful. For more reasons than blackmail.
Rosalie snatched her phone from her fancy-schmancy purse and dialed Alice. "OHMIGOD! Theweirdtextwasright! Jasper has a secret and I know what it is!"
"Slow down! What's Jasper's secret?" Alice hushed.
"JASPER CULLEN HAS A THING FOR BELLA!" Rosalie shouted. The window was open and some guys in a convertable were staring at her. She blew them a kiss.
That's not why the guys were staring. Have you ever heard someone shout a deep, dark secret out of a window? No? Well, good. And don't you ever do it. You never know who could be listening. Say, maybe me?
"What?" Alice squeaked.
"Tu comprehendes English? God! Jasper. Likes. Bella!"
"I heard what you said. Put Jasper on." Rosalie had to cover her mouth with her hand. Alice must have thought Rosalie was passing the phone off and couldn't hear her long string of curses, but boy, could she ever! Rosalie tossed the phone back to Jasper.
"Hm?" was all Jasper dared to utter.
"I never, ever want to talk to you again!" And the line went dead.
"Shoot. Carlisle? Just drop me off here. I really messed up."
Without a word, Carlisle pulled over to the side of the neighborhood and let Jasper go on the sidewalk. As soon as the car sped away, Jasper took his phone in between his fingers and crushed it to a pulp. The girl mowing the lawn of the property he was standing in front of turned off the motor and gasped. Oops.
"I'm a…bodybuilder. Yeah." Jasper mumbled, explaining the pile of parts that used to be his phone.
"Are you new here?" The girl asked, shaking off the random destruction of a cell phone she had just witnessed.
"Sort of."
"Why don't you come in and…um…chill out?" asked the thirteen-year-old.
"Um, okay?"
Yeah, we were going to chill out, alright. Right after I demanded what the heck he was doing to my little story.
The girl and Jasper walked onto the porch and into the kitchen.
"Marissa! I'm taking a break!" The girl yelled up the stairs. "Do you want-"
"No. I'm on this special diet," Jasper answered quickly. Why bother with the secret? She had just witnessed him crushing a phone to spare parts.
"Me, too. Let's get past the weirdness, Jasper. I know what you are. And I'm here to help your life out a little."
Help…destroy…same difference.
"What?!" Jasper whispered.
"I'm one of you, Jasper."
Did you expect me to tell him everything?! 'Yeah, I'm a stalker who's controlling your life so deal with it?!'
"No. This doesn't make sense,"
News flash: in case you haven't noticed, life doesn't make sense.
"Jasper. I have something to tell you." She swallowed loudly. "I'm a Cullen. Well, not really. I'm more of a mistake. One of those…impulse ones? I was created the day Carlisle was created. He just couldn't control himself, And now my life is ruined, Jazz! Can you help me?" She sobbed.
God, I'm good. He's totally buying it. This is all I had to do to turn Jasper against Carlisle? Piece. Of. Cake.
"No. Carlisle wouldn't ruin someone's life like that unless they were dying." Jasper protested.
"I was a little teenage girl who got lost in a dark alley with a newborn vampire. Sounds possible to me." She fabricated.
"Everything he's stood for…all the lies he's told…what did I do to deserve this?"
"That's exactly why I knew I had to tell you. You deserve to know."
"I do!" Jasper said defiantly. This was turning into a pep talk.
"So what are you going to do about it?" She asked, starting to get riled up.
"Um, I don't know?" Jasper deflated.
"Good job. You just killed the buzz." She glared at him.
"So what is your name?"
"Destiny Emily Collins." She stated proudly.
"And you live here?"
"Why, do you want to stalk me? You know you can with my knowledge," Destiny smiled.
Jasper, Jasper, Jasper. Being the gentleman he is, he'd do anything for a pretty lady like myself. Just look at how he got turned into a vampire.
"No, just curious." Jasper said. If he'd been human, his face probably would have been a thousand shades of red.
"I live in the South," Destiny said stupidly.
NOT! Lies, lies, lies. That's not even my real story. Or name!
"Oh. Do I know you, then?"
"Yeah, I guess. Do you know Maria? She's like, my sister we are so close."
Who is Maria? I only know that Jasper knows her! Oh my god! Please, Jasper. Don't ask me questions about this Maria chick. This can't end now. And why would I go to South? Slip up after slip up!!
"Maria! Where is she?" Jasper elated. Destiny looked around the room for a distraction.
"Coming, 'Rissa!"
"She didn't call you," Jasper pointed out, confused.
"What do you know?" Destiny sneered and shut the door in his face. He stared at the closed door and shrugged. Weird.
Edward felt betrayed. Hurt. Pissed. Thirsty. His family was deserting him for Bella? Didn't they know that the only reason he'd played along this whole time with being her boyfriend is because she happened to find out his secret? He didn't hate her, so he couldn't kill her, and this seemed to be the only alternative. Then it was. Now killing her didn't sound so bad. Alice woke him up from his trance.
"This is all your fault, Edward! Jasper would have never left me if you didn't kill Bella the minute you'd met her!"
Jasper left Alice? Now this was news to him. "Nuh-uh! This still would have happened!" Edward retorted.
"Uh-huh!"
The Cullen's like playing the blame game? Wow.
"Shut! Up!" A livid Esme yelled in the background.
Woah.
"Edward Anthony! You are no longer welcome in our household, coven, family or whatever!" Esme yelled and passed the phone to Emmett.
"Yeah. Get the hell out. No one knows who you are anymore. I doubt you even do!" All that could be heard was the screeching of a Vovlo, a slamming of a door and the continuous whoosh of air. Edward threw his phone down somewhere in northern California, not even bothering to turn it off. He was running. Not from a where but from a who. Himself.
