Guess who has a full set of fingers and has been reading Jasper fanfiction?! This girl! *insert jazz hands*

Also, I got some breathing room with my current original project so I felt less guilty working on this.

Enjoy~

24. DENIAL

I had Jasper's jacket stuffed into my backpack to avoid any further questions, suffering through the cold passageways in between buildings. Apparently it was all for nothing, though, because Jessica's claws easily sunk into me as soon as I walked into Spanish.

"What the hell?" she demanded eagerly as soon as I reached her and Bella's desks. "First Edward showed up, then Jasper?"

"They – They were out together," Bella said quickly, giving me a long and overly meaningful look. "Jasper just got held up at a store, but he met us for dinner too."

"That's amazing," Jessica looked like she was about to start drooling. "Tell me everything!"

"There's not much to tell," I said.

"Bullshit," she said. "Everyone saw you guys this morning. You were practically undressing each other with your eyes. And now you have his jacket!"

The bell to signal the beginning of class rang.

"Well, on that note," I said, unease turning my stomach as I slipped to my desk. Undressing each other with our eyes? God, that sounded horrific. Well, I mean, as unlikely comrades went, I guessed I had a pretty hot one, but come on. If only she knew it was the furthest thing from the truth. Jasper Hale probably found me as attractive as a woodland rabbit.

The rest of class passed horrendously slow as I continued to muddle through the foreign language. I wondered if Señora Groff was just going to give me a C- for effort at this point. But it was impossible to focus, especially today, especially when every word reminded me of Jasper and made me imagine how it would sound coming from his mouth – smooth, deep, like velvet –

I was out of my seat as soon as the bell rang, hastily throwing my backpack over my shoulder to push my way out of class. "Blaire!" Jessica called, but I ditched her and Bella both. I needed go somewhere to clear my head. I knew that wouldn't happen if I sat in a cafeteria full of vampires. Bella may be okay with that for now, but I'd talk sense into her later. I could only handle one battle at a time.

I didn't stop walking until I pushed my way into the girls' locker room to change into the shorts, long-sleeved tee, and sneakers I left in my locker on Monday before I snuck into the gym's supply closet, which they always left unlocked. I found a soccer ball in one of the many bags sitting in the middle of the floor. Having it in my hands solidified my decision.

I walked out of the gym's back door and made my way out to the lush, dark green soccer field on the far side of the school's athletic fields. Cold air nipped at my bare legs, but the weather grounded me. I hugged the ball between my arm and my side, the smooth surface rubbing against my ribs as I walked.

I found calm in the center of the soccer field when I dropped the ball on the ground. I reached out and toed the ball, extending my leg, then I hopped over the ball, completing a quick rotating step-on.

This was right. I knew it when I pulled the ball under my feet and jogged along the field. It was right. Soccer was the only thing that made sense, especially right now. I could trust my feet to carry me and move the way I wanted them. I had control here, which was important, since I didn't have it anywhere else.

I shifted and twisted around the ball up and down the field. I didn't feel the cold anymore. My chest tightened the faster I breathed, but I pushed my legs harder. I wanted to practice longer so I didn't feel anything. I wanted the world and everything in it to vanish. I threw myself into drills, shoving the ball along the field and stepping around it, developing my techniques, my thoughts wandering to practices and if Marissa Alverez talked Coach into letting me play the game. It got postponed due to the rain last week. Could I even play the game –

Trees rustled.

I stopped short, almost tripping over my feet in the process. I stumbled, my eyes widening as I turned to the forest next to the soccer field.

A limb on one of the evergreen tress shook.

The air left my lungs in one massive gust. I suddenly felt too cold. What was that?

"Blaire!"

I jumped, spinning over the ball to look back at the school as Alice Cullen skipped down the hill from the football and track field, her eyes bright with a wide smile to match. She was dressed in a dark plaid skirt, a strappy black top covered with a distressed denim jacket, black opaque tights, and patent leather combat boots. Her hair was messy and uneven, fitting with the grunge aesthetic she was going for. A small black backpack that wasn't able to hold any of her school supplies hung off one of her shoulders and bounced as she approached.

"Hey, Alice," I said as I glanced back at the forest. Nothing looked out of place now, but I knew something had been there before. Or maybe there hadn't and I was finally going crazier than Bella. "What's up?"

"Nothing," she said, sidling up beside me on the field. Her eyes weren't as bright of a gold as Jasper's, and I didn't like how they slid knowingly toward the forest before meeting mine. "I thought you'd like some company while you practiced."

"Is that really true?" I asked. She frowned. "Before you called my name, I heard something –"

"That was a bird," she said. My shoulders dropped in relief. She nodded to the ball. "I won't distract you. I just wanted to talk without worrying about Jasper interfering."

I slowly started working on no-touch steps again. "Why would he interfere?"

"He wants you to keep thinking all vampires are dangerous –"

"They're not?" I asked.

"Yes and no," she answered. "Our family isn't like others. You're safe with us."

"No offense, but I don't really believe that."

"I know," she said. She didn't seem to be upset at all. "You don't have a reason to, but I wanted to tell you anyway. I think we can still be good friends."

I didn't know how she figured that. I didn't want anything to do with them. I only tolerated Jasper because he was willing to help me kill whatever vampires were hunting me now.

"I was wondering if you still wanted to go shopping with me," she went on. "We could go to Seattle this weekend –"

"I can't." I said. "My uncle's funeral is on Saturday."

Her expression crumpled with guilt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to –"

The bell rang from the school. The noise echoed across the fields. My moment of peace was over, but it was probably over the moment Alice Cullen called my name. Maybe it was over the first day I came to Forks.

I sighed, shoving my foot underneath the soccer ball to kick it up in my hands. "Look, I don't want to be a jerk," I said as I began walking back to the school, "but I don't really want anything to do with vampires, so that includes your family."

"Blaire –"

"I'm sorry," I said. I didn't turn around as I hiked up the hill. "I just – I can't."

V

I slumped into my chair in history, freshly changed back into my original clothes. I pulled out my text book and stared at the white board, numb to everything, already too exhausted to handle whatever lesson Mister Apell offered today.

Then Jasper breezed into the room.

It was kind of funny how all of the other students in Forks High seemed to be used to the Cullens' weird presence in their lives. People here were like frogs in a pot of water that had started out cool but was only getting hotter. Maybe I would have been the same way. But now that I knew the truth, unequivocally, that Jasper Hale and his family were monsters, I shrunk in my seat. Especially when I saw the annoyance written all over his face.

My heart jumped into a much faster rhythm as he moved too quickly to sit behind me. Before I could do anything, he leaned across his desk and his breath hit my ear, making me stiffen. "I know you may have a chip on your shoulder from dealing with our kind," he said, his voice rough, "but you don't have to take it out on the people trying to keep you safe."

"Oh, so you think you're people now," I said, twisting around in my chair.

Jasper's brows knitted together as that calculating expression took over his sculpted features. He paused for a beat before speaking again. "I'm sorry about what happened to your uncle," he said. The words constricted around my heart. "If I'd known that they were hunting him, I would have done something, I assure you. But it'd been a split-second decision, one Alice couldn't foresee because she was watching over our own guests –"

"Guests?" I hissed. "What the hell does that mean?"

"We aren't savages," Jasper snapped back. "We have company."

"Sorry I never considered it," I said. "You know, because of the whole chip going on with my shoulder and all. Why was she watching over them in the first place –"

The answer hit me like a freight train, so sudden that Jasper's eyes actually widened. For the first time since I met him, he actually looked afraid.

"They – They eat people, don't they?" I whispered. "I thought you didn't eat people!"

"Not all of us adhere to our lifestyle," Jasper said quickly. "They know our rules –"

"Did they kill Waylon?"

He glared at me. "Tread carefully."

"I won't," I said. "Not when you're inviting supernatural beings that kill people for dinner parties –"

"Stop," he growled. The word really did sound like a growl.

"Like hell –"

"Miss Holcomb, Mister Hale," Mister Apell said, making me jump in my seat. I whirled around to face the older man. "Perhaps you two would like to continue this discussion on your way to detention?"

"No thanks, I've heard enough," I said. I stood up and yanked my backpack out from under my desk. "Don't worry, I'll spare everyone the drama and see myself out."

Everyone was stunned into silence as I stormed out of the class. Only as the door swung shut behind me did I hear whispers.

I needed to get out of this damn school, and I wasn't about to wait until the end of classes to do it. And I wouldn't spend the trip home sitting in the back of a vampire's car to debate more about the their moral ambiguity. I felt betrayed, more or less, by the beings Jasper seemed to associate with. Even though I didn't have the right, I was disappointed. He said it was hard enough for him to abstain from human blood, why was he inviting people – monsters, not people – who openly consumed it to hang out? What did vampires even do for fun? Kill people, probably.

But I wouldn't say anything, no. It would be like a bug trying to argue with a person hell-bent on killing it. Jasper was a vampire, a murderer, a hunter, and in this scenario, I was nothing more than a bug to him. A weird little bug he took pity on.

After dumping all of my textbooks and binders in my locker, I snuck back into the girls' locker room to change again. I slipped back into my gym clothes and sneakers before sticking my original clothes in my backpack, realizing with slumping shoulders that I still had Jasper's stupid sweater. I'd give it to Bella to give to him. Or burn it. I hadn't decided yet.

Once I tied my shoes, I left the gym building and started running. No one stopped me as I ran out of the school parking lot and down the sidewalks leading back to Waylon's house. My backpack was light, since it only held my clothes, and pulled close to my back. I barely felt its weight as I crossed empty crosswalks. There were hardly any cars on the streets and even less as I got closer to the neighborhood.

It was a short run – less than five miles – but my lungs started burning in that familiar way that helped me forget my worries, at least for the moment. All that mattered was the way my muscles moved so easily and how quickly the sidewalk moved under my feet. My body always carried me where I needed to go. For the moment, I was invincible.

It only lasted for a moment.

Then a freezing blast of air blew behind me, so violent it ruffled my ponytail. My sneakers slapped the pavement hard as I slowed down to a stop.

Slowly, I turned around.

The street behind me was vast and empty. There wasn't a soul around.

My breathing picked up. Anxiety wormed its way into the pit of my stomach.

Another gust of air hit my back, abnormally cold compared to the rest of the air around me. Panic gripped me as I spun around again.

Nothing. Was I going crazy?

A natural breeze fluttered past me, igniting a stinging sensation along my cheek. I reached up to brush my fingers along my skin, and when I pulled them down, they were coated in red.

It was a greeting.

Arctic-cold air collided with my shoulder, along with a rock solid force that pushed me off balance and made me fall hard on the asphalt. I scrambled up to my feet. It was here. It was here. It was here. It was –

Another hit slammed into my shoulder, pushing me back down. My arm stung. I looked down at it, horrified at the sight of blood welling up from a long scratch in between the pieces of the torn cloth of my shirt sleeve.

In the distance, I swore I heard laughter.

I pulled myself back up and sprinted for my uncle's house. I yanked my backpack off of my shoulders as I ran, unzipping it, reaching for my phone. As soon as I had it in my hand, I felt another breeze. I swung my backpack around wildly, not even caring about the clothes falling out of the bag. I left them in the street.

I dialed the third-most recent name in my phone's call log as I rounded a block. I kept running as the dial display popped up on my screen. I made it one block before the force slammed into my back, knocking the wind out of me, making me fall face-first into the ground. My palms and knees scraped against the street, sending white hot pain across my skin. My phone clattered across the concrete, my heart jumping into my throat when I saw the call pick up.

"Help!" I wheezed out a scream, reaching out for the phone. "Help me –"

A blur flitted across my eyes. In the next instant, my phone was broken and lifeless in the street. My hand curled into a shaking fist. My eyes watered with sudden, desperate tears as I hauled myself back up to my feet and started running again. I even left my backpack behind.

I ran to my uncle's house, trying desperately not to cry so I could focus. My heart plummeted to my feet when I made it to the house and saw the driveway empty. Neither of my parents were home.

And I left my house keys in my backpack.

But there was a spare key under the welcome mat!

I let out a hoarse cry as I stumbled up the porch steps, crashing my body against the door. I slumped against it, yanking up the gristly mat to grab the house key. I jammed it into the doorknob and twisted before I fell into the house. I slammed the door shut and latched it with shaking fingers. As if locked doors would hold them off.

I scrambled through the house, straight up to my room. I practically kicked the door in so I could reach my bed and pull out the gun hiding underneath it.

My breathing was ragged, my chest tight with pressure, that I barely managed to rack the shotgun. I fell back on my ass and backed up against the corner of my bed and the wall so I could face both the window and the door. I switched the safety off the gun just as my tears streamed freely down my face, their saltiness stinging the cuts. My fingers trembled.

Everything was too quiet.

I tried to force myself to calm down – I wasn't going to get a clear shot if I was a shaking, teary-eyed, snot-covered mess, but I couldn't get myself to relax. It was so hot and the room was so small, but it was safe. I was safe. I was safe. I wasn't safe! They were hunting me! I was going to die!

I didn't know how long I sat there in the deathly quiet of the house, straining to listen for even the slightest noise. My fingers trembled on the gun, but I didn't dare let go. It was amazing to think I'd once been so afraid of holding this thing when Waylon tried to teach me how to use it, and now I was here, clinging to it like a lifeline.

Knock, knock, knock.

Oh, so they were baiting me now?! I propped myself up on my knees and swung the barrel of the gun at my window with a feral growl, my finger hovering on the trigger. I'd show them just who they were dealing with.

"Blaire, wait!" Jasper's face was on the other side of the glass, his eyes wide. At first, I couldn't believe he was there. Did my call actually go through? My call actually went through! I didn't lower the gun.

"Where are they?" I shouted at him. "Are they out there?"

"It's just me," he answered solemnly.

I slumped back on the floor in relief, switching the safety back on the gun before I let it drop in my lap. The window slid open and Jasper slunk in the room in a thick blur, definitely not moving as fast as what was hunting me before, not stopping until his face was inches away from mine.

"My God," he murmured.

"I – I – I –" I covered my face with my hands as I struggled to breathe. The room was so tight. "I – I ran – ran – ran –"

"Here," Jasper said quietly, dropping to his knees. He lifted one of his hands toward me. "Don't move."

I shuddered as his cold hand cupped my cheek. The temperature of his skin was a reprieve from the persistent heat suffocating me from every direction. Refreshing calm cut through the terror. "Focus on me," Jasper said. My eyes met his, and he locked me in one of his stares that made it impossible for me to look away. "Breathe in."

I sucked in a shuttering breath, letting it fill my lungs until they expanded with the effort. It made my chest hurt.

"Breathe out."

It escaped me in stuttering whooshes of air, which also made my chest burn. Without thinking, I reached up and held Jasper's arm, clinging to him as overwhelming surges of calm pushed into me. His brows knitted together. "Breathe in," he instructed. I did what he asked, my grip tightening against him as pain stabbed at my lungs. "Now out." I let go, trying to force the tension out with it.

When I breathed in again, my lungs were more welcoming to the air. My muscles weren't as taut. I still clung to Jasper's arm for dear life, didn't look away even as his expression fell. He looked so sad. Or was it pity? "What?" I whispered.

"You're in so much pain," he murmured. "I can feel it. Breathe out, Blaire."

I breathed out and in again. The room wasn't as hot anymore, I could feel a soft breeze from the open window drift through the room. I started getting cold, my body filled with a persistent shiver I couldn't get rid of.

"What happened?" Jasper asked.

My fingers dug into his arm as terror gripped me at the mere memory. "I – I ran home," I whispered. "It – They – I don't know – know how many – were there. They cut me. Pushed me. Broke my phone. I…"

The calm seeped into my bones, forcing my muscles to relax. My eyes watered with new tears. Jasper's thumb swept across my cheek, making the cut sting. He didn't stop looking at me.

"They'll never get the chance to do that again," he said. "I swear it to you."

V

So the scene where Blaire is running to her house? Yeah, I've been waiting to write that scene since the creepy soccer ball chapter.

Thank you for your reads and reviews! They mean so much to me! I'm glad you all are loving this story as much as I love writing it!