Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer. I just like to play with the characters, with the support of my patient beta, EdwardsMate4Ever.

Chapter 10 – Prom

Bella's heart constricted looking at him, worrying that she couldn't keep him for long.

The rest of the year sped by. When spring came, Jasper rejoined the logging crews on the weekends, but spent as much time as Charlie would allow with Bella. He would come home after school with Bella, and Jeb would pick him up near dark.

Charlie and Jeb would often stand outside for a half hour, talking in the early dusk, having a few beers while Renee tried to get Jeb to eat. From inside the living room, Bella could hear the three laughing, her mother's voice intermingling with the men's. She had flashes of being in her mother's place, outside hovering over her men, watching Jasper and Charlie talking and drinking beer. She looked up to see Jasper watching her, a smile ghosting across his face.

"Sometime I feel like you know what I'm thinking," Bella blurted out.

"No, I was just wondering what was going on inside that head," he said, reaching over to touch her cheek.

"I was just thinking, oh well, it was nothing," she replied, her face flushing. Could he really sense how she was imagining their future? And how badly she wanted this? But she wanted to go to college, to get out of Forks. How could she want this life for herself when she knew it was strangling her mother?

By April, the couple was having a bit of a conflict. Jasper wanted to go to prom, though Bella wasn't interested.

"Why don't you want to prom with me?" Jasper asked.

"It's just, well, I don't dance," she replied. "And I look goofy when I dress up."

"You couldn't look goofy to me," Jasper said, taking her hand and pulling her in for a kiss. "You'll always be beautiful."

He won when she agreed to go.

Which meant she had to deal with all the prom paraphernalia of the dress, shoes, hair. All that stuff Bella hated.

But in the end, it was simpler than she thought. Angela's mother helped Renee make her a prom dress, which was a good thing, because though Renee was big on ideas and found a beautiful pattern and material, when it came down to the execution, she wasn't as good on follow-through. Angela's mother was very detail oriented, and Bella was stunned by how the dress turned out.

The gown was blue, the shade of Jasper's eyes. On the afternoon of the prom, after she borrowed Renee's pearls and gloves, she sat in her parents' bedroom and let Renee pin up her hair. As she looked in the mirror on her mother's dressing table, Bella felt quite grown-up.

When Jasper came to the door, he froze at the sight of her, a smile breaking out across his face. He looked so happy that Bella thought it might have all been worth it. She blushed and shrugged as he stepped forward to pin on the corsage he brought.

While he was pinning on the flower, Angela's father arrived. He had agreed to lend the couple his car and had also brought his camera to take photos.

Jasper and Bella stood together on the front steps, then sat on the porch swing while Mr. Weber snapped photos. Renee and Charlie insisted on getting photos taken with her as well. Bella noticed that Charlie looked as stiff as she felt, but Renee seemed quite natural in front of the camera. I'll be she could have been a model, Bella thought. Renee could have been a lot of things if she hadn't been stuck in Forks.

Later, when Renee picked up the pictures, she commented on how Jasper's eyes positively glowed in the pictures. Nobody commented on how stiff Bella and Charlie looked, of course.

Finally Jasper and Bella escaped the photo sessions and reached the prom. As they went in, Bella noticed how all the girls seemed to be eying Jasper. She felt even more awkward, but kept her head up. After all, he had asked her, not them, to the dance. Jasper, meanwhile, was greeting the guys. During senior year, several of the guys in the class had opened up to him. Bella was sure that playing sports had helped break the ice. Jasper found them a table with Jessica and Mike and went over to talk to some buddies near the punch bowl.

Bella pretended she didn't see the flask they were discreetly sharing. She was just glad he had finally made some friends among their classmates. Jessica babbled on about wedding plans, and Bella suppressed a giggle as she watched Mike's eyes glaze over before making an excuse to join Jasper at the punch bowl.

Finally the girls' dates returned, Jasper bringing Bella over a glass of punch. She gave it a sniff and he grinned, but it wasn't spiked. Jasper had a slight flush, though, and Mike appeared quite happy. He just grinned and nodded as Jessica went back to describing her plans for the bridesmaids' dresses and bouquets.

Jasper and Bella didn't dance during most of the prom because the new shoes hurt Bella's feet. Instead, they sat and watched their classmates dance and drank punch. Eventually she leaned over and asked him if there was anything in that flask for her. Jasper put the plastic cup under the table for a few seconds and returned it. She took a sip. It burned a little, but wasn't too bad. She finished her drink and Jasper brought her another.

She sat, holding his hand, feeling a warm glow spreading over her body, losing herself in the music.

But when "Unchained Melody," sung by the Righteous Brothers, came over the sound system, Jasper held out his hand and pulled her onto the floor for a slow dance.

"I don't dance," she reminded him.

"Just hold on to me," he said. "I'll do the work, you just follow. Close your eyes if you want."

Holding on to him was never hard. She kept her eyes open though. The lights had been dimmed slightly for the dance, and Bella watched the play of the glittering lights on his hair. She had to admit it was magical.

Then came graduation. Bella didn't want to leave, despite the scholarship to the University of Washington, because it would mean being two hours away from Jasper.

"I'll come in to Seattle every weekend to see you," Jasper promised.

That promise made Bella smile.

"And to chase away any of the college boys who will set their sights on you," he added.

"Not going to happen," she said. Secretly, she worried about leaving him behind. There had been another accident on the job site. He had seen it, as he was standing a few yards away.

A tree had fallen and crushed Henry Carver. It was the second fatality in six months. The City of Forks had erected a monument, showing the names of men killed while working in the timber industry.* There were a lot of blank spaces left on the stone, and she worried that his name might be added.

Would he be better off in Texas?

Xxx

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*There is a monument by the Forks Lumber Museum and Chamber of Commerce to the men who died in the lumber industry to this day.

I will send a preview of the next chapter to all reviewers. There may be a bit of a delay before I post the next chapter, but I'll get back to my schedule soon.

(Oh, and today's my birthday. Landed on a posting day this year!)