Chapter Two: Encounter

"Our family is in danger because of his actions!" The bronze-haired boy exclaimed. He and four others stood in the living room if the Cullen's home, while they complained of Jasper's actions during lunch that prior day. The prissy-blonde girl joined him. "Not only did he cause a scene, but, he left the school unauthorized. People are going to talk."

"Families bicker all the time…" A caramel-brown haired woman spoke up, trying to calm the two in front of her.

"And what are we going to do if he kills someone? Tell the Volturi that it was all just a misunderstanding? Why are we continuing to add more reasons to their list?" Rosalie huffed, crossing her arms. The older woman only shook her head. "Jasper is still new to our lifestyle. It's hard on-."

"That is understandable, but revealing ourselves to the locals isn't!" Edward interrupted.

A frown lined the brunette's perfect lips. "That is enough. Both of you!" Raising her voice, the seemingly docile woman easily quieted her children, earning apologetic glances from both of them.

The front door opened seconds later, two pairs of footsteps approaching.

"One girl's awareness isn't going to jeopardize our status. You know this." An older blond male spoke, using a gentle tone. "What does she know?" He added.

"She knows what we are. She's aware our venom burns, she's knows we're dangerous, that she should fear us. And whatever else Jasper told her." Edward spoke as if Jasper weren't standing a mere few feet away.

"I never said a word to that girl."

"Then how does she know?"

"We'll keep an eye on her, that's all we can do for now. As a precaution, I'll call the school, tell them Jasper is going to be absent for a few days because he came down with something. Listen in on her conversations, figure out exactly how much she knows. If necessary, we'll move." The older male spoke, dismissing the conversation, Edward and Rosalie walking away unsatisfied.

Once those two were out of sight, the caramel-haired woman turned to Jasper. "Have you been talking to that girl?"

He sighed. "No. She hasn't even been in town for a week. Esme, I wouldn't endanger your family."

She shook her head. "You're part of this family too. No matter how hot-headed those two get."

Throughout his immortal life, Jasper hadn't made many actual friends, though, whenever he spoke with Esme or Carlisle, he was often comforted. In his mind, both of them were too good for this world and too kind-hearted to be vampires.

This was the reason Jasper stayed around. He wanted to think of himself as their guardian, someone who could see through deceit. Sure, they had Edward and his ability to read minds, but, this self-given responsibility gave Jasper a purpose. And what Edward had failed to mention, is that if Alice did pose a risk to the family, Jasper planned on eliminating her quickly.

Which led to Alice having another string of nightmares. Dying in a dark alley in one, being pulled into the forest and suffocated in another. She suffered through death after death, which made her waking hours horrid. Tired, sore, mentally clouded as her powers tried to figure out what it was warning her about.

And what made her feel worse was the fact that during lunch, she earned, even more, glares from the Cullen's. Nearly a week had passed, without Jasper appearing once, which was beginning to affect her mood. Nikki was beginning to get concerned, whenever their first study session had gone so well, but come to the second session, Alice barely participated.

Her mind was worn, frequent headaches, a dull burning in her throat, and those damn Cullen's kept staring at her. Every. Day. She was getting sick of it and one day, in the middle of lunch, she stood from her seat before walking over to their table. Originally she planned to be rude, give them the same amount of hostility she was feeling from them, however, approaching the table stole her nerve.

"Excuse me, did I do something to offend you?" She questioned, eyeing both Edward and Rosalie, seeing them as the biggest threats. "N-No, not at all," Bella answered, giving Edward a nervous glance. The blonde just rolled her eyes, looking away.

"Well then, I'd like you to stop staring at me," Alice replied with confidence, which made the brute snicker.

Turning, she planned to walk back to her table and sit back down, hopefully, to finish her meal peacefully. Yet, she stopped, closing her eyes for a moment, focusing on her first vision, the honey-blond boy at the cafe. Alice looked back over her shoulder, with a concerned expression. "Is Jasper alright?"

Her comment didn't catch them off guard, though they all exchanged a glance which humans wouldn't notice.

"He's sick. Nothing to worry about." The boyish one replied.

Alice returned to her seat, friends staring at her wide-eyed. "Dude, what the hell was that?" Nikki was absolutely flabbergasted. "No one has ever addressed the Cullen's like that!" Richard exclaimed, keeping his voice down. "What they're like, mafia or something?"

A puzzled look crossed Nikki's face as she turned her attention to Richard. "Mafia?"

"Yeah, I mean, they dress all fancy, they're loaded and they don't even try to make friends outside of their group. Mafia."

Alice softly chuckled. "I doubt they're mafia. I mean, maybe Emmett and Rosalie, but the other two don't seem like it. Edward's a bit too scrawny and Bella look's like she can't hurt a fly."

"Oh?" Richard challenged. "What about Jasper? Missing from school for days, anger issues, don't have a girlfriend cause he hasn't found anyone cool with the whole mafia biz."

Nikki shrugged, "Yeah, you have a point there."

Thankfully the Cullen's had ceased their stares and Alice's week got a bit better, some of her natural cheeriness returning. Until economics class on Friday. Hannah stuck close to Alice, and while she was normally silent, only conversing whenever the teacher asked them to discuss techniques with their neighbor, today she decided to spark a conversation.

"You've been distracted lately. What's on your mind?"

The raven-haired pixie was startled by her friend's voice breaking the usual awkward silence. "Huh? No, I'm fine." She replied quickly, keeping her eyes down.

Hannah took a deep breath. "I know you like him. You glance over at the Cullen's table every day looking for him."

Immediately Alice realized she was referring to Jasper. "I'm just worried. It's been 17 days. I've never been sick that long…"

"His father's a doctor, whenever any of the Cullen's get sick, they're usually out for a little longer than necessary just to make sure the illness doesn't spread. Jasper's been well for a few days, he frequently visits the cafe I work at." She confessed, giving Alice a sympathetic smile. "I figured he would've come back to class by now. But, he hasn't. And since you've been so worried, I decided to tell you."

Jasper was visiting a local cafe, instead of coming to school. At least Alice finally knew why she'd decided to approach him. She was worried, concerned for his health and he'd been on her mind a lot lately. Her stomach dropped, a warmth fluttering around at the thought of seeing him again, a hue of red spreading across her face.

"Just take a chance, I'm sure he'll like you too." Hannah encouraged her. Alice couldn't figure out if that was a sweet gesture, or not. Since everyone was always talking about his 'anger issues'. "He's not as bad as everyone makes him seem. People just like to label others, they see a characteristic they don't like in someone and they can't wait to slap a negative label on them. Jasper is quiet. He doesn't really talk to anyone, including his siblings. I don't think he's angry, I think he's sad."

Hannah's explanation of Jasper made sense to Alice since back in Biloxi, she was quite the loner, being label as a witch and a changeling by practically anyone who knew about her visions. Maybe he hid a similar gift? After all, she couldn't be the only person in the world with a supernatural gift.

"Alright, so, when and where…" She wasn't going to let him feel loneliness like she had.

"Miss Brandon!" The teacher called rather loudly, getting her attention. "Perhaps you've already passed this class back in Biloxi, but here, you haven't. Please answer when I call on you."

"Er, what?" She muttered, embarrassed.

The teacher sighed. "In his attachment theory regarding parents and children, John Bowlby defined four elements of attachment. Which of these did he say enables a young child to explore the environment?"

"A secure base. Which is often a parent, though occasionally a child may attach themselves to a sibling, aunt or uncle or even a pet. Having such security urges the child to explore the environment with the knowledge that they may return to their base for safety and comfort whenever they encounter a threat or gets overwhelmed." If he would've given her any other question, she may have faltered, but, whenever Cynthia was young, Alice became her attachment, and Lillian had to explain why Cynthia got so upset whenever she left.

The teacher didn't bother saying if she was correct or not, simply continuing with the lesson.

After class, Hannah gave Alice directions to a small cafe named "A shot in the dark", which used to be a drive-thru coffee stand, but in recent years had turned into a small shop. It was between the school and her house and Jasper usually arrived around 5:45 PM around sunset. Once school ended, Alice picked her kid-sister up, and dropped her off at home, telling her mother that she'd be meeting up with a friend to study, later that afternoon.

Before that, she'd have to change, and get ready for the evening, since her parents hated whenever she'd go out in her school clothes. They were meant to be worn to nice occasions, not to coffee shops, and frankly, Alice Agreed. She'd spilled dark coffee on a light-colored blouse one too many times.

Heading to her room, Cynthia's footsteps followed in tow. It wasn't often her big sister went out and she wanted details. "Who're you meetin' up with?" She questioned, watching Alice's every move.

"Just a friend from school." She mused, taking off her jacket and laying it across her vanity chair. "It's not Nikki?" Cynthia was bewildered. Alice hadn't been able to get in another word before she started bantering. "Is i Y?" Her voice was loud. Thankfully Edgar wasn't home to make the moment worse.

"Hush, you know how mama will react."

"So it is a boy!" The younger girl exclaimed triumphantly. "Yeah, it is. But, it's not like that, I don't like-like him." By this point, Alice was stripped down to her undergarments, pulling out new clothes from her dresser. She'd chosen light blue-jeans, a beige flutter sleeved top with black lace around the neckline, and a brown/tan flannel to act as a jacket. It wasn't too cold outside.

"Why not? Doesn't he think you're pretty? I think you are."

Alice chuckled. " I don't know, he might. But, not every friendship between a boy and a girl means they're dating or going to date." She alerted her younger sister, not wanting Cynthia to marry the first guy she met, as their mother had.

Rather than listening to her sister's advice, Cynthia just continued to prattle on.

"Is it Nathan?"

"No."

"Richard?"

"No."

"Zachy?"

A sigh. "Still no."

"Gregory?"

"Who?"

"I dunno."

Both girls' moved from Alice's bedroom to her bathroom, where Alice grabbed her brush and began combing her hair. There were days where this was a task since she'd always kept it so long, but in the end, she usually prevailed and when she didn't there were hairbands.

She decided to go with an elegant bun, wisps of hair lining her face. It was simple enough and with her exhaustion and limited time, she didn't want to do anything extravagant. With her remaining time, she put on some basic makeup, nothing drastic, just enough to keep her busy. Whenever 5:30 PM hit, she slipped on some winter boots at the door and headed out into the mist, before her mother could say a word.

And now, a 20-minute walk later and Alice was only a block away from the cafe, pacing, hesitating. Her stomach churning more and more the closer she got.

"What do I even say?" She mumbled to herself, having not prepared anything. "What if he's not alone?" Alice sighed, closing her eyes. "I can do this. He's just a boy, I've talked to boys before." She huffed. "What am I even saying… He's a person just like me. I'm overthinking this."

Slowly, she made her way down the small hill and into the coffee shop doors, where she was met with the chime of bells. The aroma of coffee immediately hitting her nose, and the soft music playing added to the atmosphere. Stepping into the cafe, she scanned the costumers, easily locating Jasper in a back corner booth. Hearing the bells, he looked up to meet her gaze, and as her vision foretold, he didn't look too pleased to see her.

Nevertheless -with newfound confidence- she strode towards him, stopping just in front of the table. "Good evening, Jasper, would you mind if I sat with you?" She questioned with a silvery tone. Again he looked up, an eyebrow raised in disbelief that she'd actually addressed him. "Suppose you could." He replied, dully.

Alice quickly slid into the booth across from him. "You've kept me waiting long enough." Were the first words out of her mouth. Originally she'd meant to keep that as an inner monologue, but, it slipped out whenever she examined his features. Those once black eyes were now dark amber, the hues were more orange than yellow and the purplish bruises had faded. He didn't look as rugged as he had in the cafeteria.

"I'm sorry ma'am, didn't realize I had a place to be." He amused her.

"Are you feeling better? I heard you were sick."

His eyes traveled back to the table. "I'm as well as I can be." It appeared as if he was holding his breath, swallowing harshly. "What brings you to this shop?"

"Well, I needed a place to take shelter from the rain, and I noticed you." She flashed him a nervous smile, not wanting to tell him that she'd been looking forward to their meeting since the night she moved in.

"Shelter?" He questioned, glancing out the window to the gently falling rain, which quickly sprouted into a downpour. Jasper looked back at her curiously, the forecast only called for light, misting showers, nothing heavier.

A streak of lightning shot across the sky, turning night to day, a loud crack following close behind.

"Look's like you could give the weatherman a run for his money." The male subconsciously stirred the coffee in front of him, which seemed to have gotten cold. "I'm a little intuitive." A nervous giggle escaped her lips.

"Oh, really?"

She shrugged. "I could probably make a killing at palm reading."

A waitress approached, smiling at the duo. Joy radiated from her. "Can I get you anything, sweetheart?"

"Some black tea would be nice," Alice replied, returning the smile. It was far too late for her to even consider drinking coffee. She'd be up for hours. Once her order was in, the waitress left.

Jasper was keeping a close eye on his new companion's emotions. Nervous, excited, happiness, admiration, amusement. Mainly positive, and all while in his company. This was still a strange concept for him, but, feeling her positive energy flow into him was nice. A change of pace from the negativity he was used to.

They spent a few seconds in awkward silence, maintaining eye contact. "Why don't we test that intuition of yours?"

"Hmmm?" She hummed. "Have something in mind?"

Moving his arm across the table, he turned his palm towards her. "What do you see in my future?"

Warmth rushed to her cheeks, as embarrassment overflowed, causing Jasper to give her that ravenous glare yet again. He easily intimidated her. "Oh, well." Reaching out for his hand, she felt his icy, stone-like skin. She didn't pay much attention to this oddity while her fingers traced a horizontal line on his palm from below his ring finger to the pinkie. Alice decided to focus solely on him, try and force his future possibilities out. He gets his answers, and she'd know more about him.

The first line was broken in places with smaller lines crossing vertically over.

A shiver went down her spine, her vision fading to black, as the fog returned to her mind. She and Jasper were on a gravel path, walking through the woods. Both smiling and laughing as she pulled on his arm, leading him through the trails until they came to a wooden platform that overlooked the lower areas of the park.

He stayed quiet for this event, monitoring her.

Whenever she snapped back into focus, she moved to the next horizontal line. This one was also broken, but only once, not several like the previous mark. Another glimpse into the future, this time showing them browsing an outlet store, both of them going through racks of clothing, his arm moving around her waits and clasping her hip.

Her emotions spiked. Anxiety, love.

But, Alice continued, moving to a curved line just below the previous. It was short a shallow. This one didn't come with a defined vision, only showing their hands intertwined together.

The small girl's head began throbbing at this point, nausea quickly moving through her chest. Tightly shutting her eyes, Alice attempted to push back the sickening, stomach-churning feeling, hoping she could will herself to ignore the painful drumming behind her temples. This happened each time she tried to force her ability to work.

A minute later, she reopened her eyes, tracing the last line was straight and vertical, which withheld a flash of their lips connecting. The petite girl jerked her hand away, heart race increasing, concern and confusion making their presence known.

"That bad?" He inquired, moving his hand back.

She breathed out a soft, "No…", shaking her head. "No, it's not that, it's…" Feeling her level of panic, he finally decided to ease her stress. Allowing her to only feel calm. Alice spoke again when her breathing slowed. "Your future… Well… if I'm correct, I'd say it's positive." Her voice was meek. Uncertainty filled her mind. She knew from her dreams that she and Jasper were bound to have a fling. Seeing it clearly was different. He was practically a stranger and she already had an unwavering attachment to him.

Her head was still pounding, moving from her temples to behind her eyes, darkness taking splotches out of her vision.

"Alice?" Jasper called, noticing that she was beginning to look a bit pale.

Pressing her hands to her temples, she closed her eyes again, losing the battle against the pain. "I'm fine. I just get common migraines, it might just be all the scents." Alice moved to stand up, her body feeling heavy. "I probably just need a bit of fresh air." Scooting out of the booth, she rose, her dominant leg immediately giving from under her as she collapsed, losing consciousness. Jasper was immediately up from his seat, catching the girl before she was able to hit her head on anything and risk opening a wound.

The waitress who was bringing Alice her tea caught sight of the scene and started rushing over, while Jasper calmly finished the cell phone his jacket pocket dialing a number he'd been getting too familiar with.

To Be Continued...