Chapter Thirteen
"Ready?" I asked Bella slowly. She nodded as if this was an everyday situation. "I have my cell phone. I'll call if anything is wrong, that is, after I call 911." I tried to joke, doing the exact thing I had yelled at Bella for doing. She gave me a weak smile.
"I don't know if this is right. Maybe I should come in with you, Alice. It doesn't seem right."
"Look," I said calmly, even if I felt only marginally better than I had a few moments ago when I was rambling. "Mr. Whitlock isn't going to hurt me. That would be against the law."
"And that stops him from hurting Jasper?" She pointed out.
"I don't love the man. I would tell someone in a moment's notice. Jasper might have conflictions, but I don't."
Bella sighed. We had gone over this while sitting out in the driveway, but she still seemed like she was unsure of herself. She didn't want me to go in alone.
"I'm going to be fine. I'll be out soon-ish" I reassured. I grabbed my phone and shoved it in my pocket, then gave a smile to Bella before I got out of the truck.
"Be careful, Alice. I'm worried about you."
"I can see the future, Bella. I'll be fine." Before she could respond, I shut the door and began to walk up the driveway. I knew as well as Bella that the future was unclear, as much to me as to any other person. I tried not to seem nervous. When I got up to the door, I turned and gave Bella a wave.
She agreed that she was going to stay out in the car, but still wait in the driveway. That was fine with me. I didn't want her to go inside, this time I had a little more knowledge on Jasper's parents.
I knocked on the door. It was only a moment before the same girl that answered last time greeted me again. She had also been the girl on the phone: Amanda.
"Alice!" She exclaimed, giving me a hug. I patted her back awkwardly, wondering about her excitement. "What are you here for?" Amanda asked, stepping back.
"I was worried about Jasper." I said honestly. Amana's face fell at this. She looked worried and thoughtful.
"Now's not the best time." She said slowly.
"I know he broke his arm and everything, but it has been a week. I was getting really worried; he hasn't shown up for school. I mean, unless something else is wrong with him…" I trailed off. The girl clearly got my point, but did not know that I knew anything.
"Here, why don't you come in?" She said, stepping back so I could enter.
"Thank you. Are your parents home?"
"Yeah, my mom and dad are around here somewhere. Why don't you stay here while I go find them? I don't think they want Jasper to have any visitors, but why don't you talk to them?" The girl seemed passive, calm, and collected. For being young, she seemed used to dealing with this kind of stuff.
As she turned around to go up the stairs, two boys came down. They looked identical, even the same expression on their faces. They had that same shade of red-gold hair as their sister and it was even the same wavy type. I couldn't help but compare their looks to Jasper as well, but they didn't look much like him. They appeared more like their sister. "Who's this?" The boy to the left said quickly, glancing at me, but clearly talking to Amanda.
"Jasper's friend. She said she was worried about him. I thought she ought to talk to Dad." Amanda said quickly. Both boys gave her a significant look before staring openly at me.
"Why don't you go get Dad? We'll wait with her." One of them said. Amanda looked behind her back before heading upstairs.
"So what's your name?" The other boy said, he was a lot taller than me, but I knew Jasper was the oldest so the twins had to be younger than me.
"I'm Alice. You?" When I spoke, I could clearly notice what I was lacking in the room. In most places with Jasper, I forget all about his accent, his subtle southern drawl. But here, I was the only one without it. The thought that maybe Jasper always felt that way flashed through my mind before one of the boys spoke.
"I'm Austin. This is Chase." The boy who spoke was wearing navy blue and I made a mental note not to forget that. Chase was the one in a black shirt.
"So what grade are you in?" I asked nervously, not knowing what to say. I knew I had to say something though, clearly I didn't want to seem too weird.
"We're both in 8th grade." Austin said. He wasn't one to sound welcoming. If I hadn't known otherwise, I would have assumed he was the one with the authority that came with age, and not vice versa. "You in Jasper's grade?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm a sophomore."
"You're pretty short to be Jasper's age. Unless he is just freakishly tall."
"You're tall too. It would only make sense that he was as well." I said softly. Both boys looked up, but it was Chase that spoke this time.
"We're not much like Jasper." He said, almost sounding offended.
There was a long silence while we waited for Amanda to get Jasper's father. I was letting my nerves get the best of me as we waited. I didn't want to talk to any of them, but I knew I had to. I needed to speak to Jasper.
After a pregnant pause, I heard footsteps coming down the stair. I straightened in my spot, hoping to look dignified. I saw Jasper's father come down, but he didn't stop until he was right in front of me. "Hello, Ms. Alice. Nice to see you again." He extended his hand for me to shake, which I did so reluctantly. I felt my body shudder as soon as I made contact and I could only hope that Mr. Whitlock did not feel the same. "Boys, why don't you leave us to talk? Go up to your room or something." He said in a commanding, but eerily pleasant voice.
The twins followed their father's command and left me and Mr. Whitlock alone in the room. I tried to look confident, even if I was anything but. "So what can I do for you?" He asked slowly.
"I want to see Jasper." I said without elaboration.
"I'm afraid he isn't feelin' too well. He'll probably be at school soon though, why don't you wait 'til then?" He was using that same voice at me, but I was not his child and instead of complying I looked the man right in the eyes.
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, Mr. Whitlock, I'd like to see Jasper today. I won't stay long, but I was wondering what would have caused him to stay out of school so long." I tried to use the same voice on him, but I don't think it was working.
"He's been pretty sick this last week, and he's sleeping now. You wouldn't want to wake him up."
"Mr. Whitlock, please." I begged, not knowing what else to say. "I have been worried about him all week and I would just like to see if he is okay."
"Why would he be anything less than okay?"
"I wasn't insinuating anything." I said quickly, defending myself.
"Look, Missy. I'd rather my son stay asleep and a visit from you would do him no good. If you want him to get better, wait until he gets back to school."
I didn't like the way he was talking. He was too proud. I couldn't understand him, but I definitely did not like it.
"Mr. Whitlock," I started to say, trying to reason with him, but he cut me off.
"It would do you best to leave now."
I nodded, resigned. I felt like crying, but I didn't know what to do, what to say. Instead of arguing, like I knew I should have, I dragged myself to the door. "It was nice talking to you, Mr. Whitlock." I said snidely, something I rarely ever did. "Bye, Amanda." I said lightly to the girl who was halfway down the stairs.
Before I busted into tears, I ripped the door open with a crude smile and marched across the poach, inwardly fuming. I was about to turn to Bella's truck when I heard my name whispered.
I whipped around, trying to see who was there. I didn't see anybody. None of the Whitlocks had followed me outside. "Who's there?" I demanded, not feeling like being trifled with.
"Alice?" I heard that same voice whisper again. It was coming from the side of the house. I gave a quick glance to make sure nobody was looking out the window before I headed to the side of the house.
Sure enough, when I did so, I was greeted with the sight of Jasper's younger brother, Joshua. "What do you want?" I asked softly, wondering what he was doing.
"Follow me." He whispered, gesturing with his small hand as he turned around and headed to the back yard.
"You want me to climb what?" I demanded in a shrill voice despite the fact that the boy I was talking to was less than a third of my age.
He giggled at me, and I mock glared in his direction, which caused him to laugh louder. I smiled at his reaction. Clearly I was quite a bit calmer with the idea I was seeing Jasper back on track.
However, Josh suddenly stopped laughing. When I knelt down to ask what was wrong, he put a finger to his lips. "Shh…" He said rather loudly. "Jasper said not to talk really loud."
My heart jumped at this. "So Jasper is okay?"
"He isn't fairing too well." The boy said severely, but I had a feeling that those were not his original words. He was four, and they tended to repeat a bit.
"Who said that?" I said quietly, trying not to draw attention to myself, but still delaying the fact that there was a rather scary looking tree I had to climb.
"Ammy says it a lot when I ask her if Jasper is okay." Josh said with large innocent eyes. "She also says he's gonna be fine though."
I thought of Jasper's younger sister, Amanda, and realized that was most likely to whom the boy was referring. I went through a mental list of all the things I could ask Josh, but quickly decided that if I was to see Jasper in a minute, I would just do so then.
"How can you get up there?" I asked in disbelief as I turned my attention back to the second story window that supposedly was Jasper's. "It's kind of high up."
"Don't worry, Alice. You climb." He said as if it was all too simple. I looked at the tree next to the window, which was admittedly tall enough. But unless you had some serious gear, it wasn't possible to scale. "Come on!" He sighed, once again gesturing for me to follow. This time he walked to the other side of the tree.
I followed behind him curiously. Although I was reluctant to have a four year old as my guide, it was apparent that without him I was not going to make it inside, not with Mr. Whitlock practically guarding the door.
When I turned to face the side of the tree Josh was on, I was surprised to be greeted with the sight of wooden blocks nailed to the tree. Josh was already moving to climb it. I reached forward and grabbed his small shoulder. "Who put these here?" I asked, unsure that they were stable.
"I don't know." Josh said, looking over to me. He had already grabbed the block and was moving up at ease. My eyes widened as I reached out a hand to stop him. "No, Alice." He said, looking frustrated with me.
I didn't know what to do. The boy was obviously fairly comfortable doing this, and it was clearly my only way to see Jasper, but the plan did not seem all to smart. As I was anxiously deciding what to do, I noticed Joshua half-way up the tree. Some parent I will be. "Hurry up." The boy stage whispered to me.
Begrudgingly I knew I had to follow him. I grasped one of the blocks and hefted myself onto on of the lower ones. Not thinking about the heights, I despairingly grabbed the next one up. The only thing that kept me climbing was the idea that Jasper was most likely at the top waiting for me.
My hand went to grab the next block, but grasped at nothing. I looked up in fear that it had fallen off, but I was to the last one. I looked around, surprised that I had missed Josh get off the tree. How had he done it?
I didn't have to wait long. Josh was peering over the window when I turned to look at it. If it was close enough for him to get in, surely I could make it to. It was a short distance and I managed to maneuver myself over fairly easily. Being a dancer had its perks, even if I had quit recently.
"Fun?" Josh asked. I nodded my head slowly, trying not to faint from the rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins. The little boy looked pleased with himself though and smiled at me. I nodded, but to what question I was answering, I hadn't the faintest clue.
"She doesn't look too good, does she, Josh?" I heard a voice ask. It was a voice that I had become so familiar with despite not hearing it speak too much. It was the voice that calmed me down with its soothing tone and soft words. It was Jasper's voice, and when I looked up, I found myself staring into Jasper's eyes.
"Hi," I whispered softly, staring into those eyes without any regard for their surroundings. I couldn't think, I couldn't move, and I certainly couldn't manage anything more clever than the greeting I had given him.
"Yeah, she doesn't look good." Josh repeated, turning to look at me before turning back to Jasper. "What do you do?"
"Let have her sit on the bed." Jasper said with his same, alluring voice. I wanted him to keep talking, that way I would be safely cocooned in a world where nothing went wrong and I certainly had nothing to worry about.
"Yeah, have her sit on the bed." Josh nodded in agreement. I vaguely had the idea that they were talking about me, that I was being pulled over to sit down by soft hands. I blinked my eyes, but other than that astounding move, I couldn't do much of anything.
"Hey, Josh?" Jasper was asking. "Do you want to go talk to Amanda? I have something to tell Alice, but nobody can know she's here, got it?"
"Okay!" The boy exclaimed before walking out of the room quickly, shutting the door behind him. My mind was still reverted to the point where very little made sense other than the fact that I was right here with Jasper.
"You're shaking." Jasper said softly. This seemed to pull me out of my relapse to look at the boy who had caused me so much trouble these past few weeks.
"You're hurt." I responded, taking in his appearance. He looked like the same Jasper I knew, but different at the same time. He had stitches on his check, but other than that a large bruise covered one eye. I reached my hand up softly to touch below the swelling careful not to cause pain.
Jasper let out a small, rushed breath. I brought my hand back, thinking I had hurt him. "No," He frowned. "Your hands were cold."
"I'm sorry," I said quickly, embarrassed that I had done something so rash. "I didn't, I hadn't-" I stuttered around, thinking of a way to vocalize my apology.
"It feels nice." Jasper said, grabbing my hand with his own. I leaned closer to him, inhaling his soft scent, the one that I had become decidedly Jasper's.
Jasper wrapped his arm around me. His cast rubbed against my shoulder, but I didn't mind. I tightened the hug. At that moment, everything seemed okay. I forgot all about Jasper's dad, his family, his past. I forgot about all of my insignificant troubles about whether or not I was loved and just relaxed for a moment. Everything just seemed right. "I'm sorry." I whispered again.
"Why?" Jasper asked pulling me away from him. I looked into his eyes and lost my train of thought.
"I don't know." I said in a half-daze.
Jasper gave me a wry look. "You don't have to be sorry. You haven't done anything wrong."
I sighed, not feeling the need to speak. It was only when Jasper shifted slightly did I move away. "Sorry." I said again.
Jasper frowned. "What are you sorry about?" He asked confused.
"I thought I had…" I started, but I didn't want to say that. "If I had, and maybe we were…" I trailed off again. Jasper continued to watch me closely. When I didn't continue, he raised his eyebrows. "How were you hurt?" I asked, changing the subject.
Jasper wasn't easily fooled, but he took my direction and hesitantly answered my question. "The nurse said I fell out of my bed." He said, bringing his hand up to his check, touching the stitches.
"You don't think," My mind was having trouble wrapping itself around any thought. Jasper shrugged, answering my question. He knew I was referring to his father. "And you got a black eye from that?" I asked in disbelief.
"That was after." Jasper admitted reluctantly. I stood up of the bed so I could pace out my thoughts. My mind was now overwhelmed. I was finally with Jasper, and everything had been put back into order, but life seemed to get back together and hit me with the speed of a racing car.
"Why weren't you at school?" I asked, now traveling the perimeter of the small room over and over. Jasper was content watching me.
"Do you really want to talk about this?" Jasper sighed. I looked up and thought about it for a second. Did I really want to talk about it? Did I want to have to deal with problems on this spectrum? Not exactly, but I wanted to fix everything, and I was doing the only way I knew how: by obsessing over it.
I didn't have a direct answer for his questions, but when I opened my mouth to explain everything, my cell phone rang. I quickly grabbed it, hoping nobody from downstairs heard the obnoxious ring tone. "Hello?" I whispered.
"Alice? Where are you? You're okay, right?" Bella demanded on the other side. I sighed, forgetting that I hadn't warned her of what was going on.
"I'm fine. I'm with Jasper."
"I'm sorry to say this, Alice, but I kind of need to get home and so do you. It's getting later." I was surprised by this. I glanced at the clock and was amazed to see it was five o'clock.
"I'll be down in a minute." I responded, trying not to sound too sad about it all. I don't think I managed to do so.
"Be careful, Alice." Bella warned once again. When I heard her hang up, I did the same and looked to Jasper.
"No problem." He said, having heard my conversation. "My father's going to call dinner soon anyways." He didn't sound overjoyed at the prospect, and I didn't like hearing about it too much either.
"You're going to come to school soon, right?" I asked, not wanting to think about another long time without seeing Jasper.
"I'll probably be there as soon as my eye heals." Jasper said thoughtfully. I looked at him, trying to read his thoughts to no avail. "What?" He asked suddenly.
"Nothing." I sighed. "I don't want to leave you."
"Me either." He agreed. He stood up and walked across the room to where I stood. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I could ask you the same question." I looked into his eyes, which were currently assessing me carefully. "Let's make a pact. I'll be okay if you are. Deal?" I said as if it was only that simple.
"I think I can live with that." Jasper smiled. I gave him one last hug before turning my back to peer down through the window. When I finally made my trek back to Bella's truck, which had been moved to blend in, I felt like I had left a part of myself back with Jasper. I felt those same creeping emotions edge into my mind the moment I was away from him.
I knew it was going to be a long night, and an even longer week until Jasper came back to school.