Hi guys! Sorry for such the long wait…I've kinda been off role-playing/ updating other stories. I feel kinda bad now… I've like, abandoned my baby or something it feels that bad. Anyway, chapter 5 of Dusk. Yup. Pretty deep stuff. I was in an emo-esque mood when I wrote this. And it was raining. So I kind of…went with it. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie. Blah blah blah no charries are mine except Amber. Mmmkay?
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I was just before dawn I awoke Monday morning. I noticed Danny had already left, so I poured myself some cereal. It was mornings like these that made me miss Danny. His food would light the freaking rain up.
Drowsily, I peered through the window at the rain. It was hard to tell time in Forks. The relentless hail of water to earth pounded day in and out, only letting up for another cloud to move in.
As I dressed, I realized I was the week before the fall dance. Just the thought of how many guys would attempt to ask me out made me cringe. I'd only accept one guy's invitation and I highly doubted he would ask. There was more beautiful women a beautiful guy should go with anyway.
The instant I opened my front door, I felt a presence. My first instinct was to shut the door and grab a shotgun from the nearest closet, but somehow I knew it was him. I felt my heart flutter in my chest as I stepped out into the cool morning air. Why had he come this early anyway? Better yet, how did he know where I lived?
"You're feeling better I take it?" Jasper asked. All that could be seen in the darkness was a silhouette. However, with my vision, I could see all the soft lines on his face and even the darker circles around his eyes set in marble skin. I nodded and sat on the porch swing, looking out into the forest.
"I'm beginning to think I'm…different." I stated squinting toward the forest. It was like broad daylight, even though I knew the rain was casting dark shadows across the landscape.
"How so?" Jasper questioned shifting from his position on the wall to come join me on the swing. I looked up into his amethyst eyes and melted. How could such art be placed at my place? The pieces didn't seem to line up right.
"Well, for one, I see perfectly well in the dark. It's like I have night vision on all the time. I'm thinking it is from the shape of my pupils, but I may be wrong. On top of that, to make things worse, every time I think something, someone cringes. What is up with that? Are they all friggen mind readers? Sorry, I must be rambling. I'm just…aggravated."
Although he didn't say anything, I felt reassured. In fact, him just sitting by me made me feel all warm and safe on the inside. What a terrible, and infatuating effect he could have on lesser beings such as myself. I hardly deserved to be in his presence.
"Why are you here so early anyway?" I asked to break the silence. I could feel the tension in the air. It was as real as the cold on my skin.
"Well, we needed to finish our conversation and partially I wanted to see you." my heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest in excitement. Luckily, I refrained from letting it do so. I noticed his eyes on me and turned to meet his gaze. Such lovely eyes, they almost seemed inhuman.
"Remember what I said in the car Friday? The part about you? I want to know things about you. Where you come from, your hobbies, your schedule, what you think about yourself even. Most importantly--your power." I gave him a confused look. Power?
"What are you talking about? Who said anything about powers?" I questioned furrowing my brow in confusion.
"You see, when people recoil from you, you are either: one, unhappy about something, two, overly excited, or three, you're being overdramatic. I think that you subconsciously relay these thoughts to those around you. Something along the lines of ESP I'd say." I looked at him dumbly. Like that could happen.
"In fact," he continued, "You are doing it now. 'Like that would happen' was the last thing you thought. Am I right?" I turned my gaze slowly away from him in shock. Maybe I did have a power. "Think something anything. I'll repeat it."
I closed my eyes and sighed. How could he know how I felt? All my life I had been downcast and trodden on because of my appearance and now I was sure to be the Forks High Freak. A tear escaped me without me knowing. A flash of a recent memory struck into my mind like lightning charring an already burnt tree. The moment I opened my eyes, Jasper turned my head toward him and wiped away my tears.
I was such an idiot. No one could ever understand how I felt. Now here I was, crying like a baby. Just the thought made me angry, but I couldn't get the tears to stop. With a gentle sigh, Jasper pulled me into his cold chest. I wrapped my arms around him gratefully. It was nice to have a shoulder to cry on.
"It's terrible isn't it? Knowing you are different. You live your whole life in fear of it though you know it won't ever change. The only thing that keeps you going is the last shard of hope that dawn will bring another day." As the whisper faded, he looked up toward the pine forest. Across the sky blazed orange and crimson, though the light would never reach Forks.
"Here, however, the light never reaches you and you feel like your being suffocated by your own darkness. Time flies past without realization and so does the light that will never come."
It was funny. He knew exactly how I felt--somehow. What made him different though? His gorgeousness (is that even a word?), his grace, his above average intelligence? Somehow, I knew it was deeper than that, but I didn't want to push the matter any further.
When I pushed myself away from him, the sky was a mottled blur of gray and orange. We must've stared at the sunrise for another half hour, for when I looked at my watch, it was time to leave. Hastily, I searched for my keys.
"That won't be necessary." Jasper commented with a smile as I found my keys. The sly bastard, he had this planned all along didn't he?
"Yeah, I do. We need to get to school." Jasper shook his golden locks and ushered me around the corner. In my driveway was a parked BMW. The newest model. It made my legend look like a trash heap.
"You don't mean to tell me…"
"Yup. I'm taking you to school. Get in." For a second, I was hoping he would just give me the car. However, driving to school in a nice car with a amazing guy would be just fine by my standards. Happily, I skipped around to the other side of the car and jumped in before Jasper could even open the door for me. The oft leather seats and high tech gadgets were too much for me. I was going to car heaven and never coming back.
Jasper chuckled a bit starting up the engine (which wasn't half as loud as mine). "Buckle up." He said cranking the stick into reverse and whipping out of the driveway with precise skill. In a matter of seconds, we were speeding down the road in style.
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The moment we got to school, a shiver ran down the length of my spine. Let the asking fiesta begin! Nervously, I began picking at my cuticles and looking out the window. I heard Jasper chuckle.
"Don't worry I'll protect you." He stated getting out of the car to open the door for me. Before I even go out of the car I noticed the stares. What a time I needed mind reading powers. Quickly, I thanked him and put myself to the side furthest away from the school. As we headed toward the school, I simply tried to ignore the glares and the childish mutterings while we were in plain sight. If you are going to talk behind someone's back, to it while they aren't there.
For some reason, none of this even affected Jasper. The bond we had at our little heart-to-heart was completely gone now. Severed like a rope to a guillotine. I sighed as we walked into English. We sat in our usual seats, but said nothing.
"Today," Mr. Berrin started in, "We will be doing a partnered synopsis of Watership Down. This will be part of a bigger project worth half your grade. Basically, this is your semester final. Pick your partner wisely. I'm not going to let you switch once I have it written down. Go!" With an exaggerated flip of the hand, the class sprung up.
All around me were guys, and some girls that didn't have enough courage to ask Jasper or Ed-Boy to be their partner. Most of the guys seemed to be after a smart partner though and not so much me, which was good. I lamely waved my hands and almost made applications. This was too much. Jasper help me…I thought banging my head on my desk.
"Hey guys," he started in (thank god the ESP was true!), "she's my partner." For a second, I could've sworn I saw a glint of flame in his eyes. How freaky. However, the statement had desired affects; the crowd was gone. Thankfully, I let out a sigh. Once again, he had saved me.
"Thanks. I owe you one." I whispered as Mr. Berrin started handing out a packet of worksheets.
An almost evil smile spread across his perfect lips. "Good. To pay me back you'll just have to go to the dance with me." He said rather forwardly. I almost hated him at that point. Not only did he perfectly articulate every word, he actually wanted me to pay him back. It was a figure of speech!
Another thing, why not Alice? Why me? Wasn't this breaking Cullen protocol! He chuckled before whispering, "You're mine now."
For some reason, that statement freaked me out. Actually, I couldn't tell if it was the statement itself or the evil magistrate grin he gave me. Either way, it made my hair stand on end and made me blush all at once. What had I gotten myself into?
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After environmental science, Jasper lead me to the lunch line as usual and as usual, just bought food for me. Curiosity would've killed me past my nine lives had I been born a cat.
"Why don't you eat anything?" I questioned as he paid for "our" meal.
"I don't trust cafeteria food." I glared at him briefly, before sitting down at the table. "It might have small animals or children in the pre-processed meat." Suddenly, the meal looked more unappealing than usual. Thanks Jasper.
However, hunger was quite overcoming and I ended up plowing into the small animals and children. I felt cannibalistic almost. If there were really small animals and children in the food…
"What?" I asked with my mouth full. Jasper looked at me like he did the day he commented on my eyes changing color. Great, I thought, he enjoys watching my eyes change color. I would definitely have to test this theory at home. What a freak, I thought loud enough I was sure he could hear.
We walked to Calculus together as a group with Ed-Boy and Bella. We didn't really say much to each other, but the whole time Edward was glaring at me then muttering something to Bella who shook her head animatedly. If that fruit loop was talking about me I'd kill him. Suddenly, he shot me a hard glare, which I parried with a nice one finger salute.
With a smile, I looked up at the sky and let the rain fall onto my face. "This rain feels different than the rain this morning. It brings a new sense of life to the world." I stated twirling around a couple of times for dramatic affect.
"Amber, you're sixteen correct?" I nodded as I lowered my head into my jacket. Of course, how old was I supposed to be? Eighty? "You don't seem it. You are much more thoughtful than most people your age."
This made me look up awkwardly. My age? Wasn't he sixteen too? Possibly seventeen? I shook off the fact and dismissed it as a grammatical mistake. After all, there was no possible way he could be over seventeen and look like he did. "You aren't lying are you?" He suddenly asked.
"Would I lie to a god?" I questioned stripping off the wet poncho. Jasper gave me an approving grin and winked.
"Of course not love." He said in a semi-British accent. We shared a good laugh then took our seats. As the teacher droned on about radicals under radicals, I couldn't help but let my mind wonder. I recalled the recent mission and the new case we were on. Vampires, huh? I thought so quietly no one around me could hear.
Class finally ended and I headed to P.E. quietly. Despite my lack of knowledge in the sport, the coaches had conned me to be on the swim team. However, my athletic skill got the best of me yet again as I beat the school record for the 300 meter freestyle on my first race. There would be no dropping this sport.
After class, I stayed after to do a round of diving. I wasn't part of the dive team, but I loved the feeling of flying. Carefully, I positioned myself at the end of the high dive and launched myself with a surge of energy.
I hit the water perfectly after my double back tuck. When I resurfaced, I heard clapping. Looking around, I found no one. Of course, me being as paranoid as always, I figured it was some creepy old pervert with a gun.
I drifted to the edge and was about to bolt out of the water and into the locker room when someone squeezed my sides from behind. I screamed rather loudly and struck out in one of my vicious right cuts.
To my surprise, I felt the momentum of my punch instantly nullified. Oh no! I was going to be raped or something by an old guy! A strong one at that! Slowly, I opened my eyes to see the man trying to get to me. I was ready to retaliate. Once we got out of the water, one swift kick to the groin would be enough to stop them. Fear shook me until I saw a lock of blonde hair.
"Jasper! I fucking hate you! I thought I was going to get raped by some creepy old dude!" I shouted at him bombarding him with punches to the chest.
"No you don't." He stated playfully in a singsong voice. I glared at him before starting toward the ladder. My face was an infuriated red. The nerve….
"Why are you here anyway?" I asked seeing him doing a graceful backstroke across the water.
"I used to be on the swim team. I'm getting out of shape. Decided I'd come work out." I looked at him narrowing my eyes. Work out? Had he seen his body lately? It was like chiseled marble. There could be no way he was out of shape.
As I began to get out, I felt a cold hand on my wrist. "Please stay in. I didn't mean to scare you. Anyway, I'm driving you home remember?" I scrunched my nose and looked down disdainfully. He had just scared the willies out of me and now he wanted me to stay with him. I made the mistake of looking at his eyes. The light made them seem like actual gems. I found myself giving into peer pressure quite easily these days.
"Fine…" I mumbled falling over backwards recklessly. I expected to hit the water, but that never happened. Jasper had caught me mid-air and was carrying me around. Show off. As we spun around the shallows, he gave me a sly look.
"So, what are you wearing to the dance? I need to know so I can match." Once again I glared at him.
"Nothing. I never agreed to go." That came out entirely wrong. I could see from the look on his face that he thought so too. "Don't get any ideas." I stated rapidly before he could comment on my statement.
"You can't dance I take it?" He said giving me a smile characteristic to Ed-Boy.
"No. I can dance quite well thank you." I shot back crossing my arms moodily.
"Seems you don't have an excuse for not coming then." Finally, I gave up. We splashed about for a bit then got out. On our way out to the car, we walked in perfect stride with each other. Occasionally, we'd glance at each other with a smile. Eventually, I ended up walking next to him, our arms touching, unconsciously.
"You cold?" He asked. Considering I was just going to get drenched again, I decided to put on my clothes and deal with the wet, sticky feeling. Noticing our arms for the first time, I jumped back my face blooming a bright red.
"Uh…sorry. No, not really." I stated scrunching down further into my jacket. My attempt at lying didn't work however. Before I knew it, a nice leather jacket was shoved on my shoulders.
"Here. I don't want you catching a cold. It would be depressing if I couldn't see you." The butterflies went from a level two to ten in a heartbeat. Jasper and put an arm around my shoulder and head pulled me into him for the second time that day. Embarrassed and excited all at once, I pulled my scarf over my face. The boy I thought would never ask me to the dance, did. Was I breaking the Cullen's code like Bella? At the moment, I didn't care. I'd have to start doubting myself more often.
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Ipromise I'll upsate more now! Sorry if you find any mistakes too! i forgot to spell check for grammar. I'm just to lazy to fix it...;