"Edward, Emmett!" Alice chimed from upstairs.
Edward was sitting at his piano staring listlessly at the keys. He still had not returned to composing, or playing for that matter, but just sat quietly on the bench. He just stared at the black and white keys like they were some kind of cryptogram in need of decoding. I could feel a nervous tension coursing through him tonight.
Emmett was lying on the floor with Rosalie, attempting to build a house of cards with thirteen decks. Each time they perfected their card houses, they would add another deck to the mix. They even had their own card-house-building-ritual. First they would argue about how big the foundation should be. Second they would argue about what shape it should have. Third they would debate whether or not they had enough cards for the complexity of their structure. Then the two would start building, and for all the pre-construction bickering, they would work in silence with surprisingly choreographed movements.
When Alice called from upstairs Edward turned curiously in the direction of her voice. Emmett had boomed back "what" but made the mistake of not turning his head away. His breath knocked over the closest cards, and the rest went down like dominoes.
Alice flitted down the stairs.
"You two don't have to hurry back from hunting, Monday and Tuesday are going to be sunny. No school!"
"Sweet." Emmett said at the same time Edward shouted, "What?"
We all looked at him in surprise. I felt Edward's nervous tension intensify dramatically. Before I could relax him, he was on his feet. He looked around the room at all of our curious faces and, without a backward glance, he stormed out. We all turned our gazes to Alice, for an explanation, who was already looking to the future.
"Oh!" She gasped and a knowing smile lit up her face. "He's just going to check on Bella. Don't worry Emmett, he'll be back before first light."
Emmett snorted. "Do you think Carlisle could prescribe him something?"
Rosalie made a strange sound in the back of her throat, and with a feeling of deepest disgust, she got to her feet. "What kind of thrill can he get from watching her sleep? I'm sure its just riveting. A religious experience, even!" She rolled her eyes and walked carelessly over the fallen cards as she stomped out to the garage. Emmett stared dejectedly after her.
I was suddenly very confused, not something I like to be. My mind seemed to be breaking in half. On one side my thoughts were hopeful. I wanted Edward to be happy, to be in love, and this human seemed to be the key to that desire. On the other side there was nothing but worry. I wanted my family to be safe and this human presented our family with very real problems. Problems that would certainly have to be addressed… soon.
"Jasper…" Alice trailed off in hopelessness, probably realizing that arguing was useless.
It seemed that my family's lives were all revolving around Bella and Edward. Alice wanted to start her friendship. Edward was clearly conflicted about starting his relationship. Esme wanted Edward to pursue his feeling for Bella. Carlisle just wanted to wait for everything to work itself out. Rosalie wanted Bella out of the picture and Edward back to normal. Emmett wanted Rosalie happy, but he didn't want Edward to be unhappy. And me… The soldier in me, who understood the importance of not breaking rules, was battling with the brother in me, who understood the importance of not breaking hearts.
The brunette sitting in the desk in front of me was a small thing. She had the end of her long ponytail pulled around the left side of her neck. The hair was wiggling like a snake, and a reflection on the window told me that was because she kept winding and unwinding the hair around a finger. She was bored. I didn't blame her.
The skin on the exposed side of her neck looked… soft. Delicate. I knew a luscious flavor was pulsing somewhere beneath it. I wondered if she knew how fragile her skin was… how easily it could be torn. I imagine she's just as foolish as any other human; thinking she's on the top of the food chain. She's not. I know of at least one predator higher up on the ladder. Me.
I felt my body lean forward involuntarily. Venom suddenly began to well in my mouth. I inhaled her sweet burning scent. She was so close…To my surprise my desk jerked backwards with a loud squeal. All eyes were on me now. Just great. Luckily, Rosalie had been paying attention today. She had hooked her foot around a leg of the desk and pulled me a few inches away. Nobody had seen that though, they all assumed I had caused the noisy disturbance. Which technically, was true.
"Is something wrong…" The substitute teacher hesitated, scanning the seating chart, looking for my name.
"Jasper," I told her. "No ma'am, I just need to use the lavatory."
Some of my peers -- if they could really be called that -- snickered. Laugh it up, fresh meat.
"Should I…?" Rosalie whispered as I stood up.
"No, stay." I muttered.
Alice was waiting in the men's room. The worry coursing through her said it all.
"Was I really going to kill her?" I whispered.
"It was close… What happened?" She stepped forward and took me in her arms.
"It was my fault. I was bored… I started daydreaming… She was bored too, it caught my attention… I started daydreaming about what I could do…" I muttered so ashamed.
I almost let Alice down. It had been close enough that she would have seen the murder committed, close enough that she had left class to stop me. She must have seen my diversion. She must have seen my next destination. She saw me headed to the bathroom and decided to meet me here.
"I shouldn't be here," I whispered, "The risk is too great."
"That's nonsense Jasper, everyone has a bad day now and then…" Alice reached up and took my face in her hands. She tilted my face downward, stretched up on her toes, and her lips touched mine. For few seconds my shameful weakness disappeared from my mind. I'm sure that was her plan all along and it worked. I pulled her body close to mine so I could feel her every line against me. Once again I found myself imagining what I could do…
She laughed and pulled away, "Jasper, we'd make to much noise!"
"I can be quiet if you can," I said smiling at her.
"Those are not the noises I mean, and you know it. Besides, what if we got caught?" She lifted an eyebrow at me. "I've never had a detention before and I'm not ruining my record now!"
I sighed. "Fine… I suppose I should get… back."
"No worries," She said and pointed to a speaker overhead just as the bell went off. "Rosalie will grab your things and meet you at your next class."
The next class went smoother than my last. I focused on my notebook writing down everything the teacher said exactly as he said it. I didn't need to take notes, perfect recall, but I wanted to make sure my attention was being spent on a healthier outlet. Rosalie was extra alert now, I had slipped and she certainly wasn't going to give me a chance to do it again.
We were seated in the cafeteria when Rosalie, who glanced toward the lunch line and quickly away, felt irritated again. I was getting tired of all her irritation and anger. I could take a wild guess at where it came from but I wasn't positive of the why. So I asked.
"Why are you taking this so personally Rose?" I asked leaning forward.
"Why am I taking what personally?" She snapped.
"You know what," I answered inclining my head slightly in the direction of Bella.
Rosalie growled quietly before leaning forward and answering, "Its not right. Edward's endangering us all, and for what? A human? What's so special about her? The girl can't even stand up without falling over!"
I wasn't entirely sure that Rosalie had answered the question I asked, but her emotions sure did. "It's not right." Irritation. "Edward's endangering us all, and for what?" Anger. "A human? What's so special about her?" Jealousy. "The girl can't even stand up without falling over!" More jealousy.
Alice leaned forward to join our conversation. "Rosalie, try to understand, please. Its been decades that Edward has been alone --"
"Well he should find someone else!" She interrupted. "Like starting with someone his own species!"
Alice sighed and shook her head with frustration. Rosalie ground her teeth furiously.
Calm.
Alice sighed again and returned to looking out the window. Rosalie shook her head and leaned back in her chair, picking at her perfectly manicured nails.