AN: A gigantic thank you to my beta reader SheikahLover! :D

Chapter Disclaimer: This chapter takes place several weeks after chapter 19.

Chapter 20:

In the last few weeks, Erica has come to realize that there weren't many things in this world that she was afraid of. In fact, she only needed one hand to count out each of her fears— and she would still have fingers left over too. Erica was absolutely frightened of public speaking, or rather watching her teacher speak for her during class because she obviously could not. Her other fear would be presenting her art to others—even showing Amy, her best friend made her feel funny. You know that kind of funny. The one where you feel as though your stomach is full of butterflies that just want to escape but are unable to. Her last, and most serious, fear would be her fright regarding spiders. There was something about the eight legged creature that made her skin crawl and her fingers twitch. As someone who used their hands often, she didn't like her hands twitching each time she even thought of a spider. Out of all the things Erica feared, she had never felt such things directed at another person before, until now.

Today, Erica was asked to meet Alice at the mall. She didn't think it was possible to feel such fear, now harboring a feeling that blew away all of her other frights.

"C'mon Erica!" Alice pouted from behind the other side of the curtain. "It's just a dress!"

She threw her small hands underneath the small gap between the floor and purple velvet. "It isn't just a dress, it's a pink dress!"

Alice made a small scoffing noise that sounded much more graceful coming from her than it did Erica. "Firstly, you're being overly dramatic. Secondly, it's peach, not pink."

Erica rolled her eyes and looked down at the offending dress. She wasn't completely out of the loop when it came to fashion, she actually rather liked shopping for clothes. But she simply didn't like wearing anything far away from her comfort level. Yellow, or any tone of gray, was comfortable to her. Pink, or peach, however made her feel like a baby clothed in nothing but her own blush. She supposed the stripes were a bit nice. Her fingers ran down the front of the dress, feeling the bumps of lace between each smooth stripe.

"See!" Alice's smug voice started. "Even you have to admit that this dress is pretty."

As her hands reached the thick ribbon on her waist, she lifted her head up to meet the eyes of her reflection. It was a very modest dress, with sleeves that almost hovered over her shoulders and a neckline that barely showed her collarbone. She could hardly see the scar she had on her neck, from an incident in her second week of senior year. The scar almost matched the pale pink lace, being over a month old.

Erica sighed quietly, though the noise was loud enough to fill the small space. With a small pop from her knees, Erica sat down against the mirrored wall and put her hands under the curtain.

"It doesn't matter if I'm liking this color or not. It doesn't change the fact that it's autumn and ridiculously cold." Erica pointed out the obvious, rubbing her knees afterwards.

From her lower position Erica could see Alice stomp her boot covered foot on the ground. "Ugh, Erica, fashion doesn't abide to the rules of nature."

Sometimes, Erica felt a deep connection to Alice. Their viewpoint on logic was not something she connected to, however.

"When the hell would I even wear this?" Erica asked, holding back a full smile at the antics outside the curtain.

She titled her head up, as if she was watching Alice and waiting for an answer.

"Well, I'm not one for predicting and telling." She replied ambiguously.

She had to scoff at that, finding the statement completely ridiculous. "You're such a liar."

The assessment was true, just last week she had called Erica just to tell her she had a good vision of her future. She promptly ended the call, after shouting a thank you to Erica for something that had yet to happen.

"I'm offended you would say that, Erica." She could hear Alice's light amusement. "Now get up, or I'm coming in!"

Despite being fully clothed, Erica shot up from the ground and placed her hand against the small carabiner that kept the curtain shut. As if that action could stop anyone from pushing through the flimsy fabric—especially someone like Alice.

With little movements, Erica unlatched the metal clip and let her head peak out. Alice looked less than impressed, rolling her bright amber eyes and grabbed Erica's arm. Reflexively, despite having her brace taken off last week, she clenched up her arm. Thankfully, she felt no jarring pain from the minor wound.

"Hmm, I really wish your hair was a bit longer." Alice hummed, tugging lightly at the hair skimming Erica's jawline.

"Alice, you have short hair too."

"Shush, that's not the point." She watched her stick her small nose up in the air. "The point is that I really wanted to do something other than just clipping your hair back."

"You could try to give me one of those middle aged dad pony tails." Erica suggested with a snort, pulling her hair back for emphasis.

Alice scrunched up her nose, batting Erica's hands away from the hair. "Yeah, no. I'll just go find some cute headbands instead."

"I found that skirt!" Both girls turned around to see Amy waving a piece of black fabric around like a surrender flag. "I had to climb through the skirt display to find your size, but it was worth it because I found myself a scarf."

Erica shook her head slowly, gently pulling the skirt away and tucking it in her elbow. "You're ridiculous."

"Nice dress!" Amy commented, ignoring Erica's jab.

Erica felt Alice swat her arm. "Why can't you be that enthusiastic?"

"Because I didn't stop at the coffee kiosk." Erica shrugged, leaning against the wall and nearly knocking over a display. "Though, that doesn't explain your energy."

"You'll find out one day." Alice told her, turning her attention back to the dress. "Hmm, okay you can take it off now."

"Does that mean you've finally seen the light and are agreeing with me?" Erica could only hope.

"Nope! It just means I'm going to go and buy it." She said happily, latching her arm through Amy's.

"But I can't even wear this no matter what season; it's not from one of the eco-friendly stores." Erica argued gently, slipping her fingers underneath the satin ribbon.

"Just say it's mine for my birthday." Alice told her instantly, no doubt already knowing the statement before Erica said it.

"We don't wear the same size."

"Say it's mine!" Amy chimed in, pulling herself away from the display of bracelets.

"Again, not the same size."

Both girls sighed in exasperation, sharing a look.

Alice smirked. "Say it's Rosalie's."

"Ha ha ha, you're so funny." Erica deadpanned with serious sarcasm.

"She is your boyfriend's twin." Amy cackled, Alice quickly joining.

Erica felt a blush bloom on her skin, feeling warm underneath the store lights. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Sure he's not."

"Just give it time!"

Erica turned on her heel, still tinged red as they continued their banter. She followed her feet back into the dressing room, avoiding the reflection.

Despite having a few more weeks between her and that note, Erica felt as if she had done it a lifetime ago. In the short span of a few weeks, Erica felt more comfortable around the Cullen's. She found herself considering her daily moments with them to be normal, forgetting the fact that they were anything but normal. She still didn't know what exactly they were, though the desire to know still lingered, she wasn't as afraid of their beauty and strangeness as compared to before. Maybe her note helped more than she thought, because it wasn't just her considering them normal. It felt as if Jasper considered her as something more than an inconvenience. No longer was she "the human that ruined their secrecy," but rather something new.

Sadly, she was only upgraded to "Erica the study partner," rather than anything anything glamorous.

"Okay, I think that's enough studying."

Thankfully, Esme was there to save the day—as she usually did.

Both teenagers, though Erica still held suspicion on that regarding Jasper, looked up to see Esme standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a way that would have felt fake on any other person; even Lidia wouldn't have been able to look natural in the deep blue wrap dress. As Esme walked forward, her heels barely made a noise on the wooden floors. Smiling slightly, Erica shut the heavy history book in front of her.

"We've only been here for thirty minutes." Jasper disagreed, looking less than interested despite his words.

"Don't be so disrespectful to Esme." Erica told him lightly, lifting up one of the corners of her mouth.

As she expected, he rolled his eyes. "You need to study, last week you managed to barely pass your test."

Erica shrugged, not particularly bothered. "Eh, doesn't matter. No college will turn down a mute girl—its bad PR."

He looked less than amused, Esme's face holding an opposite expression. "I don't think that's how it works."

The two hardly noticed Esme slip away from the room, too busy with their excessive eye rolls.

"Just because you've gone to college more times than I can count, doesn't mean you have a better understanding than I do."

"No, I'm fairly certain that means I do."

Erica sighed, sitting back down. "Fine, fine, where were we?"

It seemed that not even Esme could rescue Erica from the horrors of "secondary language patterns globally."

"Russia." He replied, not even looking down at the book as he found the page.

"You do realize this information will never matter again after this semester." She told him, idly reading the pages.

He didn't reply, so she continued. "Unless I find myself absolutely needing to know why Japan is incomparable to Texas, then I'll practically owe you my soul."

"Don't say that."

She didn't even realize he was listening, or watching, what she was saying. By the tone he used, Erica wasn't oblivious enough to see past his sudden irritation.

"Fine then, Japan is absolutely comparable to Texas." She huffed, confused by his behavior. "I didn't realize you were so touchy when it came to secondary languages."

She unabashedly watched him grab at his hair, waiting for his reaction. "It's so easy to forget you're a human."

Erica knew they could talk quieter than that, having been privy of those moments between Alice and Edward. So she assumed he was either that upset, or did want her to hear what he said.

"Stop being so upset, she didn't mean it that way and you know it." Erica looked up at her unlikely hero, Rosalie.

It was a good thing that Erica didn't get insecure easily, as she didn't think she would be able to come around the Cullen house as often if she did. Rosalie easily towered over them, using the height advantage from their seated position.

"She doesn't even know what we are." She told Jasper, sending careful gazes to Erica. "It'll stay that way as long as you don't run your mouth."

She noticed a pattern with Rosalie. While not completely hating Erica, she always seemed to be around a corner and stepping in when she deemed appropriate. She liked Rosalie, even if they didn't see eye-to-eye on certain things. They were both relatable, dealing with being the "freaks of the town", as Erica had said when they first spoke to each other that time on the back deck. Sometimes, she still heard what Rosalie said, about appreciating the life she had. It didn't make her angry, as it did before. She didn't exactly know how she felt, truthfully.

She kept her fingers in her lap, watching them.

"I know that." He replied tersely.

Rosalie titled her head to the side, narrowing her eyes. "You're afraid you can't prevent what Alice foretold."

Even Erica knew what that meant. It was a heavy realization that maybe the future isn't as set in stone as she believed. A part of her was actually upset to know they wanted to change her future.

To gather their attention, as they began to rapidly speak in hushed tones, Erica picked up her history book and dropped it on the floor. The resulting noise was loud enough to snap their attention and cause her to flinch away from the sound.

"I don't know why you think my opinion doesn't matter when it concerns my future." Erica snapped, thankful Alice managed to find a headband strong enough to keep her hair from flying around as her shoulders shook with the signing.

To her small amusement, they almost looked guilty. But she wasn't done yet.

"I'm so tired of everyone assuming they know what's best for me." Her face felt warm, but she wasn't nearly done yet. "Whether or not you find it in yourselves to accept it, I'm the only one in control of my future. You can't just pretend you know what's best for me, especially when you hardly know me."

Erica began to fizzle out. "I've gone almost eighteen years without your interference; I'm sure as hell not going to need you for the rest."

She felt like she had just professed that Santa wasn't real to a group of five year olds, guilty and was slightly proud by the action.

"Well, I see that I don't have to worry about you being stupid." Rosalie finally spoke, leaving the room with a definitive snap of her shoes.

The silence between them was thick and tension filled.

"I think I should go home now ." Erica signed meekly, dropping her hands to fiddle with the pocket on her shirt.

AN: I would love to hear your reaction to this chapter! :) Btw, whoooohoo! We made it over a hundred reviews! :O

Review Replies for chapter 19(15 in one case) :

SheikahLover: Yesss! I swear, I still get really giddy reading this review! :P

GhostlySights: Ahh thank you! :)

AngelWeasleyxxx:Yesssss. I can't even begin to say how many times I wish I could just make them burst with fluffy scenes. ^~^ Thank you! :)

TaTa B-P: Haha thank you! ;P She might not have spent a sunny day in this chapter, but I definitely plan on them having a "sparkly" moment.

lizy2000: Thank you! :D I hope you like the chapter!

bbraetho: Nah, love professions are never too straightforward. ;P Aaah thank you!:D

Guest: Thank you! :)

gossamermouse101: Thank you, I hope you like this chapter! :)

Mia: Yesss always read fanfiction! (I'm a great role model) Thank you! :)

Review Replies for chapter 20 (8 in one case) :

Reader: Well, firstly I will say thank you for not being downright mean about your opinion. :) To explain my actions, I wanted everyone to be able to read the one-shot, as most don't read an author note stating I've put one up. A prime example of readers ignoring notes would be you- I clearly stated in both a note, disclaimer, and chapter title that the slot of "chapter 20" was for a one-shot in 1863.I said the one-shot does not connect to my story, beside the obvious fact that both contain Jasper and Erica.

GhostlySights: It was soo fun to write her with an actual voice- it made me so giddy. :P Yes! I really want to write a part 2 for them.

TaTa B-P:Thaaaank you! ^-^ I think (as I really want to) will end up posting(writing) part 2 after a few regular chapters here. :D

jasmine. : Aah, thank you! :)

TroubleBecca123: Thank you! You're review makes me so excited to write a part 2! All will be revealed about what happened in part 2, as well! :D

gossamermouse101: Yes! Very, very bad Lidia! I had to adjust the divorce of her parents to fit the times in 1863. :P

SheikahLover: Thank you! ^~^ Aah, I'm so glad that you thought everything seemed good! I was really worried about posting that one-shot. :) Yes! Ah, in the future, part 2 will show how amazed Erica is. (Like to the point where she says everything on her mind and becomes annoying, but who cares because she can talk! ) A thousand and one thank you's bub! ^-^

Lumy-san: Thank you so much! I was so worried that I would be so offbeat regarding Erica, so that's really reassuring to hear! :) I hope you liked this chapter, as it has more Jasper and Erica. :)Oh thank you god, I seriously thought my computer was going crazy. I dunno, it just seems so specific for each review that she can't just be a bot. I seriously think it might be some troll making fun of us.

CrystalVixen93: Thank you! I hope you like this chapter! :)

Willow Willa: Thank you! Well, it may be bad to say, but I always find myself reading fanficiton instead of studying (like right now).. oops. ;P Aah, you're so kind! Thank you! :D That's seriously the highest compliment to give. :) I feel like I'm saying this too much, but thank you!

Guest: Thank you! :)

.x23: Aah thank you! :D I hope you like this chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing affiliated with the Twilight franchise, nor am I writing this to earn money.

Once again, thank you so much to SheikahLover!

Thank you so much! I'm so overwhelmed by the wonderful support! :)