AN: Still in the thick of my exams, so it's short again. I'm one the final straight now though, so longer chapters will follow soon. Enjoy…
RECAP: "Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled, and the radiant smile I received in return made my insides melt even more than they were already. "I'm great." I heard a snort from Rose's direction and I knew I was acting like a love struck fan girl, but I didn't care. I was in love, and it didn't even matter that I knew nothing about him.
APOV
"So," he said, and I almost missed the words that followed. I was mesmerized by the way his lips curled up into the most perfect smile I had ever seen on any man's face. It seemed to light up his face from within and, as I stared shamelessly at him, I could see his flawless skin seem to glow. It accented his beautiful, wavy blonde hair in a way that should be illegal and I felt my body begin to melt. Even if I didn't get a chance to kiss him, or have my very merry way with him, I would die a happy woman. I had glimpsed an angel, and it was love at first sight. "You and your friends are from the United States, am I right?" Gah! That accent just made me want to jump him here and now. It was entirely too sexy when he looked like that, and he seemed like a nice guy too.
I looked back up into his gorgeous eyes and saw him sitting there patiently, as if waiting for me to say something in answer. Oh, God, he had asked a question. Um, what had he said? I hadn't been paying attention... at all. Shit! I started to panic, and then Rose spoke up, saving my ass from being humiliated in front of Jasper.
"Yep, that's us. I'm Rosalie, that's Bella," she said, gesturing to herself and to Bella in turn. Then her hand snuck across the table, gripping my arm and pulling me sharply towards her. "And this is our Alice." She ruffled my hair in what was an outwardly affectionate gesture, which would normally have caused me to rip her head off, but it allowed her to whisper to me without anyone overhearing. "Get a grip Allie, or I might just be tempted to sample the blonde myself." I looked at her with a horrified expression on my face, and she winked playfully. I glanced back at Jasper, and saw with embarrassment that he was watching the conversation with amusement playing over his features. I knew that she didn't want him, but I didn't doubt that she could make good on her threat.
"You wouldn't," I hissed back, and she laughed loudly. All the other officers at the table, including the one who had caught her eye yesterday, turned our way so she wrapped the conversation up quickly.
"I'm kidding, genius, but you need to screw your head on straight so you have a chance of screwing the hottie." I rolled my eyes, in a move that reminded me strangely of Bella, at her crappy word play, but followed her advice anyway. She was right, I did want to screw the 'hottie', and I knew I was acting like a fucking wallflower so far. I shook my head once as I turned back to the beautiful man sat beside me, and turned on the patented Brandon charm. Granted, I wasn't as good at it as Rosalie, but I could hold my own.
"Yeah, and you are?" I asked in my most friendly voice, waiting until the opportune moment to bring out the sexy voice. I wanted to have a backup plan, incase flirting didn't work. I saw Jasper gulp and his smile falter for just a second, probably because he had just taken a sip of his protein shake and those things were nasty, and then he rearranged his face back into an easy smile.
"I'm Lieutenant General Whitlock whilst I'm on duty," he said proudly, and I shivered. What I wouldn't give to see him after he got off duty, or even whilst he was still on duty. Mmm-hmm. Then he surprised me by leaning forwards. I gasped under my breath, a big part of me hoping that he was going to kiss me, but of course he didn't. Instead, he smirked and whispered something in my ear. "However, my mom calls me Jasper, if I'm not in uniform." I giggled at his feeble attempt at humor, and lifted my head to see Bella staring at me with a bemused look on her face. I surprised myself by winking at her, then turned back to Jasper, who was now engaged in conversation with the bulky guy I had heard 'so much' about from Rosalie. He really was huge.
"What was that?" Bella asked me, as I turned my body, slightly disappointed to end the conversation with Jasper, so it was flush with the table. Literally flush, because my cheeks were burning. "You two looked cozy!" She spoke the word as if it was a codeword for 'down and dirty', and I blushed even more. I didn't have to say anything, because Bella nodded knowingly without a word from me.
"Um, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but we need to go or we're going to be late," Angela said, almost sounding scared to speak. "First session starts in five, but I guess that most of you already know that." She smiled sheepishly at the officers and Jasper, who suddenly began to stand up and clear away their trays and rubbish into the rack that was conveniently situated behind us. Angela stood up too, and the three of us girls hurried to follow her.
Rosalie, just because she could, weaved through several people until she stood beside the huge guy that Jasper had been talking too. Simply because she has no shame at all, she bent over slightly to push her tray into a free slot on the rack, leaving her ass on full display to the man mountain. Oh, and that guy stared, but who could blame him. It wasn't illegal to look at what was on offer, just that he couldn't touch, and look he most certainly did. As she stood, he shifted uncomfortably and I knew that she knew that she had him. She finished off the signature Rosalie move by flicking her hair in his direction and stalking off without a second glance.
I wished for a moment that I had that kind of confident, and then decided that one of her was enough for a small town like Forks to handle. I had my own brand of cute that I could, and did, flaunt shamelessly. I didn't need the sex appeal oozing from every pore, attracting every man in the room, as long as I had enough to entice one that I liked.
Someone bumped into my elbow, knocking me slightly off balance, and I realized that I still had my tray in my hands and was staring blankly at the space Rose had vacated several minutes before. I steadied myself, grabbing onto the first thing my hand came into contact with, and breathed deeply. I disgusted gasp shocked me and I jumped, pulling my hand away and turning to face the person whose shirt I had just attached myself to.
"Do you mind, Brandon?" a cold, female voice snapped, as I came face to face with the blonde woman who was the red team leader. Her eyes were black with an almost reddish tint to them as she stared me down, and I took an instinctive step back. "I asked you a direct question, one that requires an answer."
"Sorry," I stammered, beyond flustered, and felt my face turn beet red again. "It was an accident. I was…" She cut me off by raising a condescending hand in front of my face before I had a chance to explain, and my jaw snapped shut. She didn't have to be so damn rude. I had apologized, after all.
"I don't want to hear anything else from you today, Brandon." She spoke down her nose at me, spitting out my name like it was an STD. "Now leave, before I put you on report before you have even started. You're not in high school anymore, cadet." For a moment I considered opening my mouth to complain, but thought better of it and kept silent. I nodded contritely at the bitchy woman, wanting nothing more than to wipe that sneer off her snooty, if perfect, face. Then, I stepped around her and hurried off towards the door of the cafeteria, wanting to put as much space between her and me as I could.
As I exited the room, I realized for the second time in under an hour that I had no idea where to go, and looked around worriedly. I couldn't see Bella, Rose or Angela anywhere and I was surrounded by a crowd of scarily tall cadets and officers that had no idea that I existed. There were just too many people, and I started to hyperventilate, panic washing through me. I hadn't had a panic attack since third grade, and I was terrified of having one now. That day had been one of the worst of my life, and I had no desire to relive any of it. I could feel myself growing fainted by the second and knew I would pass out soon.
Just as I began to see gray around the edges of my vision, someone grabbed my arm and I jumped. Then, soft breath across my ear and just three words relaxed me more than I would have thought possible.
"Are you okay?" Jasper asked, walking around to stand beside me.
"I am now," I replied softly, smiling up at him.
AN: Thanks to those who asked; my exams are going okay. Please review or PM me with feedback, I really appreciate it. Until next time…
