Friday was quickly upon us. We were all at my house before the dance started. I was sitting on my bed, watching Rose and Alice get ready, as I heard the boys arguing downstairs over Jasper's choice of shirt. Rosalie was wearing a purple, sleeveless, turtleneck. I never quite understood the point of that, but Alice insists it's a fashion thing. Though pink and gray seemed skeptical to me, the pair of charcoal gray dress pants Rosalie had on worked wonderfully with her pale complexion and the lavender shade of her shirt. Alice was much more… vibrant, as usual. She wore a neon orange button-up blouse I didn't even know she owned, and white non-denim jeans. (Again, I didn't' understand the point. If it's non-denim, isn't it just pants?)

I heard the boys shouting downstairs and pressed my ear to the wall to hear them over Alice and Rose. Edward demanded fervently, "You can't wear that! Alice will skin you alive!" Jasper growled, "There's nothing wrong with it! It's my dads, it's vintage, and she loves stuff like this!" Emmett sighed, "Edward is right, you're going to tick her off. Just trade shirts with him, he's not going to spill wine on it or anything." After a long silence Jasper grumbled, just loud enough for me to hear, "Fine!"

Rose glanced at the clock, "It's time!" She and Alice and I went down the stairs just as Jasper finished fixing his ruffled hair. He smiled at Alice, his eyes wide. "Your look awesome!" Alice blushed a little and took his hand. "You do too. Tan isn't really your color, though." He pouted, "Apparently neither is black." I glanced at Edward to see what this entire ruckus was about. He was wearing a black Pink Floyd t-shirt. It looked worn, even though the colors were bright on the picture. Alice would have flipped if Jasper tried to go in that, Edward and Emmett were smart.

Emmett, wearing black pants and a fancy white shirt, collected Rosalie and impatiently demanded, "Alright, come on you all! Dad's waiting outside." They said their goodbyes to us and shut the door behind them. I sat on the couch, gratefully yanking my brace off, though I kept the wrap on. The pressure distracted me from the ache. Edward popped in a movie and came to sit beside me. His eyes were bright and he smiled. I asked, "What are we watching?" He shiftily avoided, "You'll see."

After come commercials cheap orchestra music started and the fancy letters reading 'Romeo and Juliet' popped up. I glanced at Edward, he grinned. "It's a really good movie if you try to break it apart!" Ooh, my weakness! I just adore digging for the deeper meaning of everything. I soon became engrossed with the film, and neither of us talked until the end. When it was over I announced, "I feel bad for Paris." He turned his head to look at me and raised an eyebrow. We argued over the movie for the rest of the night.

We argued over it for two years, actually. We're eighth graders now, fourteen years old! The top of the middle school food chain. Fun.

"I'm just saying, Bella, that if Romeo had only been a little more mature, this story would have been different." I sat in a triangle with Edward and Jasper as we skipped our last class, Note taking (of all the cruel things a student can be subjected to) and sat under the school. You heard right, under the school. We found an old cellar door from when the school was first built that leads to the basement, where all the heaters and light system stuff is stored. The janitor is totally cool and lets us hide here whenever we want to. Anyway, I argued back, "Oh, yes because all of the older, more mature characters like Montague and Capulet in the very first scene had perfect lives."

Jasper added his two scenes, as we have thoroughly corrupted him into a book-discussion lover. "I think maturity would have been even worse." He got odd stares from both of us. He stuck behind his theory absolutely, "Edward, your probably thinking about how childish it was to get revenge for Mercutio, right?" Edward nodded, "If he hadn't killed Tybalt, he would have never been banished and Juliet would have never taken the elixir!" Jasper pointed out, "If he had done the thing an older person would have done he would have walked away from Juliet as soon as he learned she was Capulet. Then Paris would have her, and he would still pursue Rosaline and angst over her, and what kind of a story would that have been? Every good epic has a conflict."

That was entirely true, actually. The bell rang and we all stood up, scurrying out of the cellar before anyone exited the school and saw us. On the way to the car, someone shouted for Jasper, "Hey, Hale!" He glanced over his shoulder and his body stiffened. It was a boy I know only as he or him. A name is never spoken, but he really hates Jasper, for whatever reason. When Jasper turned around he sauntered over to us, three of his friends coming, too. He smirked, "I hear from my bro that the sister of yours suddenly disappeared from school." Rosalie caught mono from a friend by drinking out of her water bottle. We always told her not to do that! Emmett had it to, but he got it from Rosalie so it wasn't as bad as she had it.

Jasper asked tensely, "And what's your point?" He leaned closer and asked, "So we wanted to know if that little slut's gotten herself pregnant finally." I didn't even have time to caution him before Jasper sprang forward. He grabbed the short kids neck and started chocking him. Like, seriously chocking him. His large hands were wrapped around the other boy's neck, his thumbs digging into his throat. He snarled, "What the fuck did you just say, you little prick?" The three friends ripped them apart, throwing Jasper to the ground. He gagged for air and rubbed his throat. Jasper lurched forward, but Edward stopped him. He grabbed Jasper and growled, "Calm down!"

Jasper demanded, "Let go of me, Edward! Call my sister a slut! I'll fucking kill you, you hear me? Your dead!!" Jasper shoved forward with so much power, Edward was knocked right into one of the three other boys. Jasper jumped on top of the original target and viciously hit him in the face three times before Edward and the largest of the kid's friends pulled him off again. Two school security guards had run over by now. Fights never lasted long in Middle School. Jasper flailed against the people holding him off and screamed, "Come fight me like a man, you little bitch! Without people here to protect you!" A familiar voice, sounding both shocked and disappointed, yanked Jasper's attention away. Esme had come over and she frowned, "Jasper, what are you doing?"

One of the security guards was already half-dragging the injured boy away, his three goonies scampering after him. The second security guard asked, "Are you his mother, ma'am?" Esme shook her head, "No, I'm just a family friend. I pick them up from school." Jasper ripped his arm away from Edward and he glowered at Esme, "Did you hear what he said about Rosalie?" Esme frowned at him, her eyes flashing with anger, which was rare. She scolded, "Nothing that can be said warrants a physical answer, Jasper." The security guard; I think he was a cop actually; was scribbling on some paper. He asked, "What's your last name, son?"

Jasper glared daggers at him and said simply, "Hale." After a second he handed a pink slip to Jasper, who gazed at it with wide eyes. The cop announced, "That's a ticket, Mr. Hale. You have thirty days to pay it, unless you work something out with Chief Swan as an alternative. Fighting is against district rules." He stomped away and Jasper's mouth fell open, his sudden rage replaced by shock. I peeked over his shoulder; it was a $400 ticket. His dad was going to freak out. Jasper shoved it in his pocket and lowered his head. He asked Edward quietly, "Are you alright?" Edward nodded, and without another word he shuffled off to the car.