Jasper knows everyone is watching him. He can feel the eyes of all the other students on him. He keeps his eyes straight forward. Any other day it wouldn't bother him, but today is different. He told Carlisle and Esme that he didn't want to go to school today, but they dragged him to this hellhole anyways.

People started whispering as soon as he stepped foot on the campus. He could only catch little pieces of what they were saying, but it's obvious it's about him. Why else would kids in the hallway be whispering about foster mothers and stolen credit cards and screwing people over twice their age? Carlisle's words rattle in his brain. I have no idea how we're going to keep the newspapers from covering this story. Word getting out about his affair wasn't a concern of his until today. Between Maria, Alice, and Esme, his mind was far from what the other students would say.

"Don't let them see you sweat, Jasper." Rosalie tells him in a quiet voice. He responds with barely a nod. "Let me know at lunch if anyone is giving you too much trouble."

He nods again, and with a quick goodbye, Rosalie is gone down the senior hallway to her locker. Jasper keeps his head up, his jaw clenched, his shoulders back as he goes to the sophomore hallway.

The hallway is worse than the whispering.

There are articles taped to the wall with the headline "Foster mother arrested for sexual contact with former foster child" printed in thick black letters. Jasper pauses for a moment and blinks rapidly, hoping this is just a wild daydream he's caught up in. Everyone in the hallway stops to stare at him. He snatches one article off of the wall and skims over it. Sure enough, it's an article from the local paper in Maria's town. How did someone from this town find this? He crumples the paper into the smallest ball he can.

"So much for your little boyfriend!" He hears from the end of the hall.

"Yeah, so much for your little boyfriend!"

Jasper groans. He knows those voices. Dennis Smith and Henry Wicker. The same useless punks who made fun of Jasper when he first arrived at this school. He stomps down the hall and stops midway at his locker when he sees the two culprits. They stand on either side of his locker, towering over Alice. She has a large wheeled trash can behind her, and yanks off handfuls of copies of the article off the locker door.

"Shut the fuck up!" Alice shoots back. "Aren't you two late for your special ed class? Get the fuck out of here."

"Why? Are you just mad that you're just too young for him?" Dennis continues to taunt.

"Yeah, you're just too young for him!" Henry repeats.

"Hey!" Jasper butts in. He pushes Dennis away from his locker so he can step in and help Alice yank down the articles. "Leave her alone!"

"What are you going to do about it, redneck?"

"Seriously," Alice's eyebrows shoot up. She puts her hands on her hips. "Redneck? That's the best you can come up with?"

"Just get the fuck away from her. She ain't got nothing to do with it." Jasper growls. He yanks page after page off of the front of his locker. He's positive Smith and Wicker are responsible for all the articles, and they have layer after layer on the locker.

"So what is it about old pussy that you like so much?" Dennis questions.

"Yeah, what is it that you like so much?" Henry adds on.

"Were you hoping you could cash in her social security check?"

"Yeah, did you want her check?"

The mention of a check makes Jasper's blood boil. They don't even know the whole story, how his heart was broken when he found out he was just a check to Maria. He would never do that to someone. But he remembers Rosalie's advice from just a moment ago. Don't let them see you sweet. And don't let them see you get emotional either. He swallows any sadness that threatens to shows itself.

"Henry, if we took Dennis away from you, would you be able to talk by yourself?" Alice asks in a fake concerned tone. Jasper smirks.

"Who's better, J?" Dennis asks. He leans so close to Jasper that he can feel Dennis's breath on his cheek. "The old bag or this little midget?"

"Yeah, the old bag or the midget?"

Jasper clenches his fists. Avery always said the best was to deal with a bully is head on.


"I want to know why no one is monitoring these hallways!"

"Mrs. Cullen, I assure you that we monitor the entire-"

"Obviously you don't because those two boys-" Esme points at the closed office door. Dennis and his mother and Henry and his father are sitting outside the office with the school nurse, waiting for their turn to talk Mr. Welsh, the school's principal. "Were able to cover the hallway with articles about my son! Pull up the cameras again. You can see those boys head into the library, print off over a hundred copies of that article, and then take the time to line the hallway with them and cover my son's locker. No one in the library though it was strange that they were printing off so many articles? Not one of your staff members noticed them littering the hallway walls with these?"

"Mrs. Cullen, the bigger issue is how Jasper reacted to this." Mr. Welsh says.

"How he reacted? If you check Dennis Smith's and Henry Wicker's records, you will see that they have constantly picked on and bullied every foster child from my family that has entered this school. The school has failed to stop this behavior, leaving Jasper to handle it himself. If you don't want my son standing up for himself, then you should have stood up for him the first time I brought the concern of Dennis and Henry making fun of him to your attention!"

Jasper sits back in his seat and works at keeping a smirk off his face. It's easy to hide with the bloody tissue he has held to his nose. He's never seen Esme like this. The way she's defending him reminds him of Avery. Mr. Welsh doesn't say anything back. He just slumps in his chair behind his desk.

"Pull up the video again. I want you to realize how long those articles were up."

Mr. Welsh doesn't hesitate in pulling up the camera's on his computer monitor. He rewinds back to 7:08 AM, where Dennis and Henry can be seen standing at the printer in the school's library as the articles print out. Esme watches everything carefully and points out her concerns like a play-by-play.

"Right there the librarian has to reload paper in the printer. It was never questioned why they needed so many copies. And they even go into the main office to ask for a roll of tape, and your secretary give it to them. Isn't it school policy that any posters or fliers must be approved by you before they are hung up?" She questions. Mr. Welsh gives a slow nod. "But somehow they were never questioned when they came into the office with their arms full of paper asking for tape. And here they are hanging up. At 7:22, they start hanging up the articles. How many staff members walked through that hallway without realizing what was hanging up?"

"I don't know the exact number, Mrs. Cullen." Mr. Welsh sighs.

"Well then, let's count them. There's one, two, that teacher makes three, four, five. He makes six. Seven. That janitor is number eight. Eight of your staff members walked past that hallway without wondering why the same article was taped all down the hall, without taking a moment to check the articles." Esme picks up a wrinkled copy that was sitting on the desk. She points to the headline. "Doesn't this headline doesn't scream 'inappropriate for school hallways'?"

"Yes, Mrs. Cullen."

"Yet not one person takes a moment to check it. So between 7:22 and 7:56 when the fight broke out, not a single person in the school stopped to see why such an inappropriate article was repeatedly taped to the wall or why that article was completely covering my son's locker. Do not tell me that the school is well monitored. Even if we do not include the library staff and your secretary staff, eight of your staff members walked by and never once questioned it."

"Mrs. Cullen," Mr. Welsh takes a deep breath before continuing. He pauses the video and circles his mouse over Dennis, Jasper, Alice, and Henry at Jasper's locker. "This part here is also a big issue. Jasper threw the first punch."

He presses play, and Jasper leans forward to watch the video. On the screen, he sees himself pull his arm back and land a powerful punch right between Dennis' eyes. It was strong enough to send him stumbling backwards before Dennis retaliated with wild swinging punches. Jasper simply took a step to the side, bumping into Alice and sending the trash can rolling to the other side of the hall, to avoid them and let Dennis punch a locker. Henry tried to jump in, but Alice grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked him backwards. She stronger than she looks, Jasper realized. The rest of the fight is barely visible because a swarm of students ran over to watch. One of them did get Jasper with an elbow to the nose and Alice got split lip somehow, but they look a lot better than Smith and Wicker.

"So what are you planning on doing from here?" Esme asked.

"The school has a zero tolerance policy for violence. He could possibly be expelled."

"Really? Expelled?" Esme laughs right at him. "You are not expelling him. He has no other discipline record. The school also has a zero tolerance policy for bullying, don't they?"

"Well, at the very least," Mr. Welsh pauses and stammers for a moment. His face turns red, and Jasper realizes that Esme is in control of this meeting, not Mr. Welsh. "Suspension. We could compromise since he has been a decent student up until this point."

"How long?"

"Two weeks."

"Where's the school's handbook? I hardly believe that two weeks suspension for his first fight is correct. There must be a set guide for determining things like this."

"One week is the minimum."

"Fine. One week, then. And now I want to discuss-" Esme starts to say, but is interrupted by the door swinging open. Jasper sits up straighter as Carlisle walks in. Esme may be on his side, but he's skeptical about where Carlisle stands.

"Nice of you to join us, Dr. Cullen." Mr. Welsh lets out a defeated sigh. Carlisle goes straight to Jasper without acknowledging the principal.

"Let me take a look at your nose, Jasper." Carlisle kindly says. Jasper lowers the bloody tissue to let Carlisle examine it. He's still in his white coat from the hospital. "Is anything else hurt?"

Jasper shakes his head no.

"Do you think it's broken, dear?" Esme asks.

"Doesn't look like it." Carlisle turns towards the principal only to grab a clean tissue from the box on his desk for Jasper. "What happened, kiddo?"

"They found a newspaper article about Maria." Jasper explains sadly. "They put it all over the hall."

"Dennis Smith and Henry Wicker?"

Jasper confirms with a nod. Carlisle nods back and turns to face Mr. Welsh.

"We have talked to you about those boys terrorizing our kids before!"

Jasper leans back in his seat and keeps trying to hide his smile as he listens to Carlisle take his turn to rip into the principal. He thinks back to the past foster home he's been in, and tries to think of when someone stuck up with him so fiercely. The last time he could remember was before Avery died.

By the time Carlisle and Esme are done, Mr. Welch is apologizing to them. Jasper's smile widens. It feels good to have them on his side. When Esme tells Jasper to stand up and that she will take him home, he stands tall and proud. Esme leads the way, with Jasper behind her and Carlisle behind him. Wicker and Smith sit on the benches outside of the office, Wicker with his Dad and Smith with his Mom. As soon as Mrs. Smith see's Carlisle come out of the office, she jumps to her feet and wedges herself between Jasper and Carlisle, staring the doctor in the face. Carlisle stops mid-step to avoid bumping into her. She points her finger in his face.

"I will be pressing charges for this! Your wild animal won't get away with what he did to my son!"

Jasper stops and watches Carlisle anxiously, waiting for his reaction. He's impressed when Carlisle takes a deep breath and speaks so calmly.

"Do not call my boy a wild animal, especially when he was bully, harassed, and antagonized by your son." He orders in a calm voice. "You call your lawyer, and I'll call mine."

At the mention of a lawyer, Mrs. Smith just angrily scrunches her face up and stomps back over to her seat. As Carlisle keeps walking towards the door, putting his hand on Jasper's shoulder, Mr. Wicker just gives him a slight nod. Henry sits up and tries to say something to Jasper, but his father gives him a gentle elbow to the side before whispering "Don't say anything."

"Carlisle!" Alice jumps from her seat and hurried to Carlisle. He pauses again. "Can you sign me out too?"

"Have they gotten hold of your parents?"

"No ones answering." She responds with a sad sigh. Jasper watches her from a distance. "You know they won't answer. They never do."

"Let me talk to Jasper and Esme and send them home. I'll come back in and speak with Mr. Welsh with you, and when we're done, I'll sign you out." Carlisle promises. Alice grabs him in a hug.

"Thanks, Carlisle."

"You're welcome, kiddo." He tells her. When she lets him go, he turns back to Jasper and leads him out of the school.

"Am I in trouble?" Jasper asks. Carlisle looks over his shoulder, and when he sees that it's just him and Jasper heading towards Esme in the parking lot, he answers.

"No, buddy. Just don't make this a habit."

"Poor Jasper." Esme sighs as Carlisle and Jasper approach her. "You're probably going to have black eyes over that hit to the nose."

"It's a small price to pay to finally get those two assholes off your back." Carlisle says with a smug smile. "You really held your own, Jasper."

"I don't know how they found that article." Jasper murmurs.

"I don't know either, kiddo." Carlisle sighs.

"Lets get you home, sweetheart." Esme tells him.

"Jasper, wait in the car so Esme and I can talk privately please." Carlisle tells him. Jasper nods and steps between the couple to get to the front passenger seat of Esme's car. Even with the window up and he car door shut, he can still hear them talking.

"What are we going to do?" Esme sighs. "Kids can be ruthless, and he's already going through enough pain."

"I know. Unfortunately there's not much we can do outside of our home." Carlisle tells her.

Jasper leans his head against the seats headrest and closest his eyes. Maria is the last person he wants to think about, but he can't shake her from his mind. Her soft skin, her experienced touch, her long hair...

When he realizes that he is drifting off into thoughts of her, he shakes his head to clear it of all the positive things he's remembering. He scowls and reminds himself of the hitting, the hateful words, the emotional manipulation.

The pictures of the other boy.

Jasper sinks in the seat and angrily crosses his arms over his chest like that would contain the emotions that threatened to break out. With a mean glare and a clenched jaw, he fights back the watery eyes and quivering lip that goes hand in hand with heartbreak.

Esme and Carlisle say goodbye with a kiss, and Carlisle heads back inside the school. Esme gets in the drivers seat, and after buckling up and starting the car, she sighs and places her hand on Jasper's shoulder. He yanks away from her touch and stares out the window.

"I'm sorry you're going through this, Jasper." She says quietly before pulling out of the parking lot.

Back inside the school, Carlisle walks with Alice into the principals office. Mr. Welsh lets out a big huff.

"Have we forgotten something, Dr. Cullen?" He asks. Carlisle nods over at Alice.

"I will be signing Alice out. If you need to talk to her, now is the time to do so." Carlisle explains. Mr. Welsh shakes his head.

"You cannot sign a child out that is not your own."

"I'm on her emergency contact card, and her parents have signed forms for the school before stating that I have permission to sign her out." Carlisle says, his tone growing harsher with every word. "It has been like that since she was in middle school. Let's not make this a problem."

"Well, her parents-"

"My parents aren't going to answer the phone!" Alice snaps at him. "They never do."

Mr. Welsh sighs, knowing that she's right. Word spread around the faculty quickly four years ago when Alice sat in the office puking because of the flu all day because neither her mother or father would answer the school's phone call. They only called the school back two days after that to put Esme and Carlisle on her emergency contact card.

Mr. Welsh gives her a halfhearted lecture on participating in fights and suspended her for a week before letting her leave with Carlisle. Alice rolls her eyes and scoffs throughout it until Carlisle simply says, "Respect, Alice."

Alice and Carlisle slip out of the office and away from where Smith and Wicker sit, waiting for their turn to speak with Mr. Welsh. As the walk to the parking lot, Alice doesn't even try to hide her feelings. Tears roll silently down her face.

"I have to get back to the ER, but you can stay in my office. Use the computer if you'd like. Or hang out at the nurses station, just make sure you're not in there way." Carlisle tells her. She doesn't respond, so he puts one arm around her small shoulders as they walk. "Talk to me, Alice."

"It's true, isn't it? That he screwed that old lady?" Alice murmurs. Carlisle sighs, confirming her fears. "I can't believe he would do that."

"Hey, lets not worry about that." Carlisle tells her. She wipes her tears away with the back of her hand. When they reach his car, Alice grabs him in a hug, her face buried into his chest as loud sobs escape her. Carlisle hugs her back. He's known Alice since she was in after school daycare with his kids in elementary school. There have been weeks that she spent more time at the Cullen home than she did at her own house. Carlisle has helped her with her homework, celebrated her birthday, taken care of her when she was sick. She's every bit his child as any foster kid who has come through his door, and he hates seeing her broken hearted.

"I really, really liked him." She admits.


Jasper sighs as tears flood his eyes. After rubbing away steam from the mirror, he stares at himself in the mirror. Esme promised him that he would feel better after taking a relaxing shower, but he feels even worse off than before. He can't shake Maria's memory. Her voice echos in his mind, the way she moaned. Oh, J, she would say as she tangled her fingers in his hair. He loved her. He cared about her. He did so much for her.

"She's a fucking bitch." He grumbles under his breath as he puts on a hard scowl.

With a towel wrapped around his waist, he keeps watching himself. He shakes his head. She's useless. She's a witch.

And she won't ever, ever control him again.

Jasper instantly knows what to do. He yanks open the drawer under the sink and digs around in it. When he didn't find what he wanted, he slams it shut and opens another. He does the same thing again, and then one more time. In the last drawer her open, he sees exactly what he was looking for. Scissors with shiny blades and blue handles. He sets them on the counter and runs his fingers through his hair, pulling it into a low ponytail. With his left hand at the base of his neck, he grabs the scissors, takes a deep breath, and starts chopping at his wet locks. Chunks of blond curls fall to the floor.

After cutting off all he can without cutting his own skin, he drops his hand from the stubby ponytail that was left. He shakes his head and watches his hair fall into place. For the first time in a long, long time, his hair doesn't touch his shoulders. He smirks. Maria hated short hair.

He grabs his silk boxers off the ground and throw them into the bathroom garbage can before leaving the bathroom and going to his bedroom. He yanks open his dresser drawer and starts digging through the clothes. He pulls on a pair of sweatpants and proceeds to grab every pair of silk boxers that he has. Maria loved the fabric, so it was the only kind he bought. But not anymore. With his head held high, he leaves his bedroom and goes to the lower floor. He makes a beeline for the tall trashcan in the kitchen.

"Jasper? Did you cut your hair?" Esme asks from the living room. She follows Jasper into the kitchen. "Honey, what are you doing?"

"Can we go shopping? I need new underwear." He says.

"What are you doing with your clothes? What made you cut your hair?" Esme continues to question, trying to hide the concern in her voice. Jasper throws the boxers into the trashcan before turning to Esme, bare chested with water still on his body and hair.

"Maria never wanted me to cut my hair, and she only liked my silk boxers. I don't want any of that anymore. The J she knew is gone now."

Hi guys! I know it's been forever and a day since I last updated, and I wish I could promise that I will update regularly from now on, but unfortunately I can't make that promise. I may update again, I may not. This chapter just came to me out of the blue and I feel like it is a much better place for a hiatus for this story than the last chapter.