The Twilight Twenty-Five
Prompt #: Three
Pen name: TRDancer
Pairing: Alice/Jasper
Rating: T

Photos for prompts can be found here:
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

Scar: Life's not fair, is it?

Deep breath. Deeper breath. Calm. Breathe. Just breathe. You're going to be fine.

"No, God damn it," I muttered.

"What's that, Ali?" my best friend, Bella, asked.

"Uh, just... oh, Bells, why are you making me do this?"

She grinned one of her evil grins. "I'm sorry, but I can't take another minute of you talking about him. It's better that he listen to you ramble than me."

I frowned. "I don't want to," I told her.

"Deep down, you do."

"Nope."

"You'll thank me for this one day!"

She pushed me.

Right as he was walking past.

I smashed into him.

Damn her straight to hell!

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I blurted out.

He grinned that gorgeous grin with the dimple. I nearly fainted. "It's all right," he said. "I'm Jasper. Who might you be?"

"I'm, uh, I'm Alice."

"Alice. And is this wonderland?"

I blushed. "Well, uh, my mom, she, uh, she loves those books."

"So you really are Alice, then?"

"No, I was named after my, um, grandma."

"Jasper! Come on!" his friend yelled from behind me. I braced myself for a quick rejection.

But Jasper waved his hand at his friends. "Go on without me. I'm going to stay and talk with Alice."

"Oooh, Alice," his friends chorused. I turned to see them wiggling their fingers at him, stupid grins on their faces. I could feel the fire in my cheeks burning. I chanced a glance in Bella's direction. She beamed and gave me a thumbs up.

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Sorry about that," he said to me.

"It's okay. I, uh, I get that boys do that. I, er, have a brother."

"Ah," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Should I be afraid of this brother?"

I blinked. "Um, no?"

He laughed. "Not unless I'm planning something?"

"What would you, um, be planning?"

Jasper looked at me a moment, then put his arm around my shoulders and started to guide me toward a corner of the room with plush chairs set up. "I'm not planning anything."

"Er, okay."

"Why don't you sit here while I go get us some drinks?" he suggested. I nodded and sat down on the red chair, tucking my black skirt neatly beneath me.

He was barely gone for a minute when Bella popped up next to me. "So?"

"So what?"

"So, what are you guys talking about?"

"Alice in Wonderland, whether or not he's planning something, and how boys act. He went to get drinks."

"Planning something?" Bella raised her eyebrows in a manner I assumed was supposed to be sexy or suggestive or something.

"Yes. He says he's not."

"Well, that's no good."

"I don't get it."

Bella just clucked her tongue at me. "Here he comes!" she squealed. "Stop stammering at him."

And she was gone.

I really don't get it, I thought, annoyed.

"Here you go," Jasper said, handing me a red punch cup.

I looked at the liquid hesitantly. "What is it?"

"Try it. It's good."

I considered saying something about how I was against underage drinking and didn't want to drink any alcohol, but I didn't want to seem like I was a total social reject, so I just took a small sip.

Fuck, that burns. It was definitely alcohol.

"So, Alice," Jasper said after taking a large swig out of his cup, "do you live around here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I actually have a permanent, uh, house just down the beach."

"Year rounder, then. I'm just here for the summer."

Oh, I know. I'd seen him come and go for enough summers to be privy to these small details.

"Where are you, er, staying?"

He slurped on his cup before answering. "Here, actually. My parents are seeing a play in the city tonight, so I thought I'd throw a good party."

"Is it a good party?" I asked.

He paused, giving me a weird look, before answering. "It's getting there."

Getting there or getting nowhere, I was practically sweating my ass off in the house. The fishnets Bella had insisted I should wear were rubbing against my legs and making me really, really itchy.

"I'm going to get some air," I said abruptly, putting my cup down on the stool in front of me.

"All right," Jasper muttered, taking another sip of his drink. I grimaced and made my way outside.

I could smell smoke wafting through the screen door as I approached it and was assaulted by clouds of it the moment I pushed the door open and stepped out. I fought the urge to cough until I was down the steps and away from the smokers.

I inhaled the fresh ocean air like I was possessed. I had almost zero desire to go back inside. I wanted to just walk down the beach and crawl into bed and fucking take off these stupid fishnets.

But... Jasper was in there. The Jasper I'd been crushing on for years was in there and he had been talking to me. It was like a dream come true.

Bella had been right. I definitely needed to thank her for this.

I held my breath as I walked up the steps and went back inside. I made a beeline for where I'd left Jasper.

And then I stopped dead in my tracks.

Because right in front of me was Jasper, right where I'd left him. That wasn't the problem.

The problem was who was in front of him, leaning down to kiss him on the lips.

Bella.

I turned and ran. I ran out the screen door and through the smoke and down the stairs. I continued down the beach, the moon the only thing lighting the way so I wouldn't trip over something.

Of course, I managed to trip anyway, a hazard of wearing heels, and hit the sand hard.

I lay there a moment, trying simultaneously to catch my breath and hold back my tears. It was a losing battle.

Just like I always lost everything.