New schools were never fun, or so Alice had heard. So far, her first day at Forks high was living up to the sentiment. The thing about starting over your education in a completely new area was that you knew nobody. Meanwhile, the rest of the student body had spent the better part of a decade forming bonds and figuring out exactly where they fit in.
Maybe, had it not been mid-semester when Alice's family moved to Forks life would have been a bit easier. There was always the gap within the first few weeks of a new school year, where you hadn't seen everyone over the break. This tended to be when things shifted within the social structure when new kids had an opening to slip into a clique and take up roots. Unfortunately, Alice had missed that mark by a few months.
She was halfway through her first day, a day spent actively trying to strike up a conversation with anyone she overheard discussing a subject she was interested in. Sadly, so far, the typical response had been to stare at her as though she had three heads before turning inward toward each other to discuss, "Who the fuck is this weird girl."
Alice knew she appeared slightly out of place. Her short stature made her look like she should be down in the eighth-grade hall two grades below. Even one of the teachers had approached in the hallway to ask if she was lost. Her clothing choices could have been better thought through; back in Biloxi, the other students were used to, sometimes even impressed by the faithful recreations of the latest designer fashions she created in her spare time. Apparently, the style of Korean streetwear had yet to hit Washington.
Having failed at making friends, Alice sat alone on a bench outside in the courtyard to eat her lunch. It felt odd sitting alone when she was used to having a large friend group to hang out with. On an average day, she would be sitting in her favorite spot under the tree, gossiping with Lily and Elisa. They'd talk about classes and drill team in the winter, cheerleading in the fall. Alice was popular in Biloxi; here, she was nobody.
Just as she was settling into feeling sorry for herself, something whizzed past her head, giving her the shock of a lifetime. Looking over her shoulder across the schoolyard, Alice could see a group of teens gathered together in varying states of shock and amusement. One of the girls in the group was glaring icily at a boy who stood frozen, staring at Alice pale-faced and mouth agape.
"Well, go get the damn ball Riley, it was your fault." The girl seethed at him before glancing at Alice apologetically. Riley, whose hand was clad in a catcher's mitt, jumped into action and ran over to collect the stray baseball mumbling an apology as he passed. However, his words barely registered as she had locked eyes with one of the boys in the group. A tall blonde holding a skateboard. He shot her a half-grin before turning back to his group of friends once Riley had returned with the ball. Alice couldn't help but notice his eyes kept occasionally flicking back to her throughout the rest of the period.
The rest of the lunch period passed by uneventfully, and Alice was now on her way to fifth-period geometry. There was a loose floor tile, one that the other students were likely well aware of. Had Alice made some friends, she may have been informed to be careful in this area of the hallway. Unfortunately, life didn't work out that way, and she stumbled on the loose linoleum, tripping face-first onto the floor scraping her knee on the damaged tile in the process.
None of the passing students who had to have witnessed the fall stopped to help as she collected her things, trying not to put pressure on her injured joint. She'd just finished gathering her books into a neat pile and was trying to stand up without injuring her knee further when a pair of Converse stopped in front of her.
"Hey, you alright?" A voice asked, laced in concern.
She looked up to see a hand reaching out in assistance. Looking up further, much further as the boy was very tall, she recognized the boy from the courtyard during lunch who'd been looking at her. Alice took his hand and allowed him to help her up.
Alice was holding Jasper's hand as they walked into Bella Swan's party. They had made it through high school; just an hour ago, they'd completed their graduation ceremony. Three years ago, she wouldn't have imagined she would be where she is now. It had taken some time, but after that awkward first day when she'd tripped on a loose tile and Jasper had helped her to the nurse's office, Alice had fallen in quite easily with his group of friends. She'd aced the drill team tryouts that spring and, despite the rocky start, had come to genuinely enjoy her time at Forks High.
She would miss everyone she'd come to know in the short two and a half years she'd spent at the school. She would treasure every friendship she'd made even as they all went on to live out separate lives and make their ways in the world as adults. More than anything, she would forever be grateful for that first day, who could have known a broken floor tile would introduce her to the love of her life.
Just before the ceremony, Jasper had pulled his girlfriend aside. Alice had been worrying for weeks about what would happen to her friendships after they didn't have school in common. After all, how many friendships tended to fade away when people no longs saw each other five days a week. When they no longer engaged in the same shared clubs and activities. Jasper knew he couldn't do anything about her friendships, but he could alleviate some of Alice's worries about their future together. So clad in a cap and gown in the same hallway where they'd first met, he got down on one knee. An inverse of that first encounter, and this time Alice was fighting tears for an entirely different reason.
This was a day for everybody, a last hurrah with their fellow students. They would share their personal news later. But for now, hidden under her party dress on a thin silver chain, a ring sat laying against Alice's chest. This may be the last day of their high school lives, but it was the first day of their lives together. One door was closing, but hundreds more were just now beginning to open. Jasper and Alice would cross those thresholds together.
