Chapter9 - Confessions
A/N: Okay, here's the next chapter. Please, please please review!
"Evvy, you're late!" I sat up with a start. Light was streaming through my bedroom window, and the draft had blown the curtains apart slightly. I heard the front door slam shut. A car started outside, and then silence. I lay back down, having a mental argument with myself, about whether I should get up and go to school or not. I sighed, sitting up again.
Almost an hour later I was outside my locker, rummaging through for my biology books. The Ministry hadn't sent an owl with the files yet, so all I had to do was get through school. And avoid the Cullens. "Hey Evvy." I spun around quickly, thinking it was one of them, and that they had somehow read my mind. It was Angela.
"Oh, hi Angela." I pulled out the last book and closed my locker. "How are you?" I turned back around to face her, and noticed how she looked slightly surprised, and suspicious.
"I'm good, thanks. How are you?" I was fine, what would be bothering me? Travers? Death-eaters? Murders?
"I'm great, thank you." Oh, better add Creepy Vampires Who Hate Me, aswell.
"Are you sure? You don't look so well…" She trailed off uncertainly, not wanting to seem rude. I thought back to how my reflection had been in the mirror this morning. I had dark shadows under my eyes.
"No no, I'm fine. Honestly, I just had a rough night." She nodded, the worry disappearing as well as the suspicion. We walked off in our different direction, me towards biology, and her to english.
Mike caught up to me as I neared my classroom. "Hey Evvy, how have you been?" I saw the difference between Angela and Mike. She asked how I was because she was generally concerned, while Mike used it as a conversation starter. I nodded, letting him know I was fine. He began walking alongside me.
"So, what was up with you and Hale the other day, huh?" I thought Mike hadn't seen our conversation at the gate. I guess I was wrong.
"Yeah, I just dropped something. He was returning it." His face lit up at my words. What did he think we were talking about? We were barely even friends. "Well, I'll see you at lunch then."
I walked into the classroom before him and quickly took my seat, pulling out my textbook and notes. Like every other day, Jasper Hale was here before me, doing the same thing he was every single time; nothing. That was something I had wondered about. He didn't seem to be looking at anyone or anything, he wasn't reading or writing, looking over his notes or out of the window. He was just…there. My wand was firmly in my pocket today.
"Hello." His voice was quiet, like it was every other time we had spoken, with an accent in the background that I couldn't quite place. I turned in my seat so that I was facing him, and noticed something I hadn't ever noticed before. In the first week of school he had been here for, he had sat as far away from me as possible, moving his chair. After that he had always sat as far away from me as possible without moving his chair. Today though, he was sitting normally. Completely normally. It wasn't hard to figure out why. The window was open. Maybe the fresh air quelled his natural urge to kill everyone in the room?
"Hello." I returned his greeting, keeping my voice even. I found that I still found the Cullens slightly scary.
"How are you today?" I hesitated. This was extremely awkward for some reason. I opened my mouth to tell him I was fine, then hesitated. I felt bad about lying to him. I was fine though, just tired.
"I'm fine. How are you?" He frowned slightly, not at me, but at his desk.
"I'm alright." I wondered if he found this as awkward as I did. I normally congratulated Mr Molina on his terrible timing, since he always ended my conversations with Jasper, however short they were, but today I silently thanked him.
"Group project!" He declared, in the same excited way he always began the lesson with. "You will be doing a group project on asexual reproduction in plants, presented in an essay that you will each write two pages of." I saw several people look at each other excitedly, at the thought of working together. "And, I will be picking the groups." The gleeful expressions transformed into ones of disappointment. "Okay, you will work with your lab partner, and...the pair across from you. My expression melted from 'I don't mind' to disappointment, like the rest of the class. Mike sat at the table across from Jasper and I, next to a girl I didn't know.
"Disappointed that you have to work with me?" Jasper's amused voice rang out from next to me. I had almost forgotten he was there. His eyes were a dark good color, just a few shades darker than his blond hair. I shook my head to his question, and replied sarcastically.
"No, not at all. I'm thrilled to be working with you." I saw that even though he was amused, he wasn't smiling. I had neve seen him smile. His siblings, yes. But not him. I realised I wanted to see his smile.
Mike made his way over to our table, so that we could begin planning our project. "You have today, and the rest of this week, and then I need it on my desk." He tapped the desk as he spoke, and when no one spoke he told us to get to work.
"Names, then?" The girl spoke, walking forward to join us, and her eyes widened. Mike didn't notice and he perched himself on the edge of the table, glaring daggers at Jasper for some reason. Mike never took his eyes off Jasper as he spoke.
"Mike Newton." The girl rolled her eyes, swishing her long, blonde hair. (A/N: I apologise for the stereotype) She muttered something along the lines of how that was obvious, because they sat at the same table. I introduced myself, and her eyes flicked to me, then to Jasper and back to me. She glared at me, as if she wanted me off the face of the earth. Then, she smoother out her expression and looked at Jasper, who turned from looking at me - I hadn't noticed that - to face her. His face was emotionless, impossible to read.
"Jasper Hale." He spoke quietly, his voice not giving anything away. She giggled and she stared at him, practically drooling. If only she knew how easily he could kill her. She was still staring at him, and I felt annoyance stirring inside me.
"Your name?" I asked loudly, distracting her staring. She was doing a weird thing with her eyes, trying to flirt I think. Her grey eyes snapped back to me, annoyance making up her features. She stared at me for a second before replying.
"Scarlett O'Brian." Like Scarlett O'Hara, I couldn't help but think. I had found the book character extremely unlikeable. Scarlett's voice was impatient as if it was a full time job; staring at someone, however amazingly, unbelievably handsome - wait, what? Since when did I think annoying, grumpy, creepy, unkind Jasper Hale was handsome?
"Okay, let's get started then." Mike spoke, breaking the silence after Scarlett introduced herself. He blinked several times, having lost his staring contest with Jasper. Jasper didn't need to blink. Mike pulled a piece of paper towards him and scribbled the title and our names at the top. Jasper was looking at Mike as if he were reading his mind or something. He still wasn't blinking, and Mike was glancing at him to glare every couple of seconds. Mike's eyes grew wider each time. Jasper wasn't blinking.
"You're meant to blink!" I muttered under my breath. He started the normal activity again and looked at me. For once his expression was readable; confusion, slight fear, anger, suspicion. Mike saw, shook his head slightly as if dismissing a thought, and then told us to write everything we knew so that we had something to base our work on. I picked up my pen and began writing. Jasper leaned towards me slightly to get a better angle to write at, a few strands of his long hair falling forward in front of his face. Scarlett, having just picked up a pen, put it down.
She coughed once, then again. And again. "I-I don't feel so well." She declared dramatically. Mike looked up casually, and patted the table next to him so that she could sit. She pretended not to see him. Jasper stopped writing but didn't lean back. I put my pen down. Scarlett turned her eyes on me. "Ava?" She began, sniffing slightly. "Can I swap places with you? I-I understand if you don't w-want to." She finished, coughing again for effect. I inwardly sighed. If I said no, she'd make a big deal.
"Sure." I stood up and picked up my pen. Scarlett took my place. We began writing again. Jasper leaned back. He wrote at the awkward angle instead of just leaning forward again, yet his writing came out exactly the same, and he didn't seem to be putting in any extra effort. Scarlett looked angry as she turned her grey eyes on me. She mouthed something, but I couldn't tell what. Then she turned back around and sat for the rest of the lesson, not even picking up her pen.
Jasper's behaviour confused me, but I dismissed it. We agreed to meet up at Mike's house the next day to work on it again, and Mike caught up with me when I was putting my notes away at the end of class. Jasper was still there too, and a few other people at the back. "Evvy, that was good, huh?" There was the conversation starter. I nodded, grabbing a book and shoving it into my bag. "Hey, so I've been thinking, what's your favourite book." My head shot up. That was a surprise. I didn't read a lot, but Mike barely read at all. I thought back to any muggle books I had read. "Probably Call of The Wild, Jack London."
"Oh, cool." He replied. "Well, see you at lunch then." He waved as he walked away. I nodded, waving too. I picked up my pens and shoved them into my satchel as well. I slung it onto my shoulder and looked at Jasper. He was glaring at Mike's retreating figure, and if Mike saw he would have been scared.
"See you in history." I spoke, breaking into his thoughts. His eyes flicked from the door to me. He nodded, then walked past me, and out into the corridor.
Jasper walked up to me just as the last bell rang. "Evvy, I've been thinking about your stick." Worry shot through me. That wasn't fair. Why was he thinking about it when I assured him it was nothing?
"Oh? Well, I've been thinking about your superspeed, cold and pale skin, and color changing eyes." It was his turn to be worried. "But don't let that stop you. What were you thinking about my stick?" The worry, like most of his emotions, was in his eyes as opposed to being spread across his face like other people's emotions.
"I think you might not have been entirely truthful when you explain it to me." His voice was still even and quiet, despite being worried.
I swallowed my worry. I didn't feel comfortable with telling them, even though they were allowed to know. "Entirely. So what part of it was true, then?" I said it as casually as I could.
"I think the truth may have been that you carry it around with you, at all times. What have you deduced from my abnormal appearance and agility?"
"I think," I lowered my voice, "that you and your family aren't human." Way to be blunt. His eyes widened slightly. In fear. I remembered his words from weeks ago, that I would be in danger if I found out. From the Ministry? The Ministry wouldn't kill a so-called muggle. Who did he mean?
A/N: I think I did this chapter quite well, and I began the icky romance part. I'll have to elaborate on that in the chapters to come, and I can't say I'm looking forward to it. This was fun to write though. Review!