That evening, I sat at my window seat with my laptop. I had a few more friend requests, the most notable being Alice and Emmett Cullen.

I got excited at the prospect of garnering more information about them but they aren't nearly as active online as I thought they'd be. How irritating.

My mouse hovered over the add button on Jasper's profile. Should I do it? My heart rate said no. I exited the page before I did something stupid, like poke him.

I tossed and turned that night. I had lots of strange dreams that I'm sure Freud would have loved to decipher. One moment I was dreaming about running my hands through soft, blond hair, and the next minute my dream blond was holding a knife to my throat.

When I got to school, I wasn't surprised to see that Edward was still not there, but I guess how else would he sneak around leaving notes in peoples receipts?

The day was almost feeling normal. Jessica was full of gossip but it never seemed to be about the people I wanted her to divulge secrets about. The Cullens were all she could talk about last week, what was with that?

I'd had a substitute in English for most of the week. It was Thursday and Mr Berty was finally back. I'd spent most of the morning trying to figure out why the name was overly familiar to me when I remembered Mike and Tyler were talking about him on my first day. Butterflies tickled my insides when I remembered they said Mr Berty was going to give a pop quiz. I wasn't prepared for that.

Mr Berty rolled into class ten minutes late, his tie askew and whatever left of his hair unwashed by the looks of it.

I already missed the sub we'd had.

We were watching a presentation when a note landed on my book. I glanced around confused when I saw Mike smiling at me and nodding eagerly towards the note. His short, dirty blond hair glistened under the lights. Not because it was shiny but because it was covered in wet look gel.

I looked at the note like it had a disease. Partly because Mike had the stomach flu earlier in the week and also because of my note history. It was touchy subject.

I shrugged. What damage could a 17 year old boy do?

Your hair is pretty today

Oh, great. I tried not to let my face show how put off I was by his compliment. I just didn't want or need it.

It took every effort I had in me to stretch a smile back at him and nod my head in thanks. I hoped it didn't look like a grimace as much as it felt like one. There was no need to be rude to the guy.

Mr Berty clapped his hands together making the two of us jump. "Something you would like to share, Mike?" he asked, his face boiling red.

I was taken aback at the fury dotted all over Mr Berty's face. We hadn't even opened our mouths.

"No, sir. Anything you would like to share?" Mike replied, with more malice dripping from his lips than I expected.

I snapped my head to Mike in shock. As did a bunch of other students.

Mr Berty's lips seemed to disappear into white lines as rage twisted his features. A few seconds of him glaring at Mike felt like a lifetime, before he seemed to compose himself and carry on with the presentation. Mike had a satisfied half-smile on his face.

What the hell was that? I caught Angela's eye, she shook her head, shrugging her shoulders.

Whatever battle that was, Mike had won for now.

When lunch rolled around, It had hit me that there was no pop quiz in English. I was about to delve into it further with Angela when I noticed that she couldn't meet my eyes.

"What have you done?" I groaned.

She cleared her throat. "Um, nothing." She was glancing between me and somewhere over my shoulder.

"What have you done," I repeated, slowly and through clenched teeth. I took my leather jacket off, draping it on the back of my seat. I wanted to be prepared for this.

She giggled nervously, pushing her glasses higher up on her face. "I just simply brought your name up to Jasper."

"OK. Why do you look worried? That doesn't sound too serious. Unless you told him about my little letters?" I breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to say you confronted him."

"No, no, no. I didn't. But I think he thinks you like him now." She blanched under my outraged look.

Fury and embarrassment ran through my veins. "Why would you – why," I stuttered.

"I didn't mean to say anything at all, once I got started I don't know what happened it was like it all fell out of my mouth. Something about talking to him made the words come really easily. It's actually quite weird the more I think about it..." she trailed off.

"What did you tell him?" I demanded, swallowing the lump in my throat.

She bit her lip, glancing behind me again. "Um, nothing too bad. Just that you liked blonds and that you're not afraid to go after what you want and not to be shocked if you flirt with him."

I shrugged. "I guess I'll just go die in a corner now." I shrank down in my seat. "Most of that isn't even true, Angela." I banged my head off the table, welcoming the pain. "What did he say?"

"He said the last thing you'd been was flirty and that he thinks you don't like him. He seemed sad about it. I thought you had a chance, Bella."

I clenched my teeth. "I'm sensing a but."

She played nervously with the cap of her sweet tea. "No buts. I just mentioned that you treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen."

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. That was the worst thing she could do at this stage.

"You do realize you gave him the upper hand? He thinks I'm crushing on him now and he's not even available. He must be feeling pretty good about himself at the minute." I narrowed my eyes. I'd just have to knock him down a peg.

She cocked her head at me. "What do you mean not available?"

"I mean that he has a girlfriend."

"No he doesn't."

"He does," I went on. She was looking at me like I was crazy, which was so often at the minute that it didn't even make me feel bad.

"I asked him. He doesn't."

My mouth made a little 'oh' shape.

"What made you think he did?" She asked.

I scoffed. "How could he not? Look at him." It says it on his social media page. Duh, Angela. I stalked.

Her eyes sparkled. "I knew you liked him. You can thank me at your wedding." She clapped away like a happy little seal.

I wanted to choke slam her. "You mean at my funeral after his whole family kills me?"

She cringed. "I forgot about that."

I rolled my eyes. He didn't have a girlfriend. Was it sad that I did a mental fist pump? Probably, because according to Angela, I'd managed to convince him I didn't like him.

Or maybe that was the right thing to do. Logically, I should be keeping this family on the end of a barge pole, not reeling them in like on the end of a fishing rod.

&TL&

I walked to Drama in a daydream with Jess alongside me. I was nervous about seeing Jasper, especially because his scary sister was in our class too.

I sat with Jess in the same place we'd been all week – three rows from the stage. Mr Bell was still working on the spring play and wanted us to continue to paint scenery.

"Split into groups please! I need more than one tree."

Jess gripped my arm. "Oh, please can we be in Mike's group," she whispered fiercely.

Jasper walked in with Rosalie. His hands were in his jean pockets and he was chatting to her, completely oblivious to my staring.

"Jasper, please show Bella the workings of my theater. Stanley, join Rosalie please."

I looked at Jess in panic. Her eyes bulged, just as panicked as mine which made me giggle.

Rosalie went to grab paint with a sour look. Jasper walked towards me, his mouth was tilted with amusement, at my expense, no doubt. He pulled one hand out of his pocket and waved it towards a table. I followed him to it, putting on my best indifferent face.

I felt the cheeky pout on my face before I could stop it. I heard the low chuckle, it pissed me off.

"Don't get too high and mighty. Angela doesn't know what she's talking about."

This made his smile grow. "I don't know. I've seen you give me the look now and again."

His stupid accent was thicker than normal. He was using it as a tactic. It won't work I told myself but the message didn't reach my knees.

"What look?"

He chuckled. "You know. The look."

A mixture of fake confusion and defiance clouded my face. "Afraid not, sweetheart."

He raised his eyebrows, before letting a slow grin spread across his face. His straight, white teeth beamed contemplatively in the low lighting. "You are brave. I'll give you that."

I threw my head back in a silent laugh. "Should I be scared of you? Please, convince me more," I mocked. He'd just signed his confession.

His strange skin was glowing under a rogue spotlight. I kept my eyes on the spot until he noticed where I was staring. He immediately shifted his arm out of the light.

I met his eyes. I knew he could see the questions swimming in them.

"You know?" he simply asked.

I nodded my head. "Why?"

Why did it have to be him? I felt let down. I'd only known this guy a week but the thought of it being him, it broke my heart.

His look turned fierce and he nodded towards the door. "Come with me."

I scoffed. "Yeah right. So you can drain me of blood?"

"Could you keep your voice down?" His eyes darkened to the point that I couldn't see the pretty gold anymore. He swept his head around, frantically, looking for anyone that may have overheard.

My sassy face came back. "Why should I?"

"You want to know? Then come with me." He rolled his eyes for good measure.

"Fine," I whispered harshly, jumping to my feet. He was awfully demanding for someone who'd just admitted to being the culprit.

He went to grab my arm but I lifted it out of his grasp and strutted out of the auditorium.

"Could you draw any more attention to yourself with that walk?" He shook his head but I could tell from where he was looking that he enjoyed it more than he let on.

I frowned. "What's wrong with my walk?"

"Let's go by the parking lot."

That wouldn't be so bad. I could scream if he pulls out a knife.

It wasn't until we passed his car that I realized he was making towards the large trees behind the lot. Oh no, no no. This can't be good.

Once we were in the covering of the trees he halted suddenly.

I stumbled to a stop behind him. My breath coming out in puffs of smoke. There was nothing coming from him.

"How did you find out?" he whispered, his back to me.

I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets, trying to conserve some heat. "It wasn't that hard. You made it pretty obvious. What I want to know is why are you admitting it?"

He turned to look at me sharply. "Why should I deny it if you already know?" His posture was stiff, his large shoulders rivaling the trees around him.

I shrugged, rocking back on my heels. "Well are you going to tell me why? What do you think I saw?" I had to know what he meant by the first letter. 'I know what you saw'.

He looked to his right. "I just did." God, is he playing dumb on purpose? "Do I really need to explain what you saw? You're the one who spotted it and put it together."

I threw my hands in the air. "You've told me sweet FA. Why did you do it." I pressed. "And what do you think I saw?"

He moved towards me faster than I thought possible. I stumbled back a little, whipping my hands out of my pockets for balance.

"What do you want me to say? It's not my fault. It's not something that I can control." He pushed a hand through his hair. "You're either extremely observant or I gave it away."

I laughed out loud. The echo boomeranging around the forest. "You could, you know, just not." I couldn't believe this guy. He's outright admitted he's threatening me and he's saying it's something he can't control? "Is everything OK, you know, up there?" I pointed at my forehead.

He grabbed my hand. His ice cold fingers sent shocks through me making me gasp. "What am I missing here?" he asked, with furrowed brows.

He was getting too close. I snatched my hand away.

I growled, grabbing my hair. "Why are you threatening me?" I screamed at him. "What did I see you do?"

His head shot back. Shock written all over his face. "What?" he asked, his head tilting. "I didn't threaten you."

I started pacing. "Is that not why we're here, Jasper? Do I have to spell it out to you?"

He was frustrating the hell out of me. He hadn't moved. I could see his mind working overtime trying to put two and two together. It was official, he was stupid.

"You think -" he started, pointing at me but looking in another direction. "So you don't know -" he made to finish a sentence again but didn't quite get there.

Then he burst into laughter.

He was leaning forward, holding his knees. I made for him, I was going to kick him right in his laughing face.

"I'm sorry, Bella," he got out between laughs.

My leg was already half way to his face before he noticed and grabbed it. His hand was so cold it melted right through my jeans to my skin.

"I thought we were talking about something else entirely," he sighed with relief.

I stopped, confused. "What did you think we were talking about?"

My leg was still suspended. His cold hand gripping my thigh. "You thought I was threatening you?" He almost looked sad.

I bit my lip. "Um, yeah. I thought you admitted it." He let go of my leg, moving his hand to my waist. "Wait, if we're not talking about that, then what are we talking about?"

He bit the corner of his mouth, his eyes moving off into the distance. "I admitted to something alright but it wasn't that. We got our wires crossed."

He looked down, holding in a smile. I wish he wouldn't do that. It makes me want to kiss his whole head.

"So that's what you were talking about at gym. Someone's threatening you? I can't believe you thought it could've been me. Angela was pointing me in all different directions today."

I sucked in a breath. "It's like I said, Angela doesn't know what she's talking about."

She so does, but he doesn't need to get so smug about it yet.

"So you don't like me?" Was it just me or was the air thinning?

"You're... alright," I shrugged.

This made him chuckle. I turned my back on him so he couldn't see my smile.

"So if it's not me threatening you, who is it?"

I cleared my throat. "Your brother? He's the only suspect I had until I thought you outright admitted it."

His eyes widened. "Oh my god, it is, isn't it." I felt the panic building. So he did know?

"You mean Edward?" I nodded my head. "No. If you want the proof he's not even in the state right now. He's in Alaska."

"What's he doing in Alaska with a cold?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, I wasn't supposed to tell you that, so how 'bout you pretend you don't know." I blinked. I guess I didn't deserve answers for everything.

"All I received was a hand written note and an email. He could've sent an email from Alaska."

He deliberated. "True, but I highly doubt it."

We'd come back to that. "OK, although I've scored you off my list. You're added to my 'what other secret is he hiding' list."

He nodded glumly. "I'd appreciate if you kept that between us too." He must have really messed up or the secret is that bad. I left it for now. I'd work it out eventually. I had other things to worry about.

He nodded his head towards the school. "Come on, you look freezing." I nodded, grateful that I'd be in the nice warm heating again soon. "I'll help you figure it out."

I looked up at him, startled. "You don't have to do that. We're barely friends."

He slung an arm around my shoulder. "We will be, though."

We had to sneak back into the auditorium. Mr Bell was nowhere to be found.

When Rosalie caught Jasper's eye she looked concerned but it melted after a moment with relief.

We sat down at her table with Jess. She handed me a brush and a palette of acrylic paint.

"Bella, we haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet." Her voice was like a lilting flute. Soft and captivating, yet bored. It took all I had not to stare at her in amazement.

I nodded once. "Good to meet you," I smiled, trying to be pleasant but firm. You can't let scary people think they have the better of you. My dad taught me that.

It took a moment but Rosalie returned my smile, it wasn't ecstatic but it was there.

I blinked, trying to shake the fog from my head. Jasper was smiling at me with approval.

"You have an accent," I said to Jasper.

His white teeth sparkled. "Texas, born and bred."

"You don't have an accent." I stated to Rosalie.

He tilted his head as he observed me. "She adapted to the North easier than myself."

I nodded. I guess that sufficed.

&TL&

After school, Charlie took me to the diner even though we had a fridge and a freezer stocked full of food. We sat near the window where I could stare at the forest. When the trees parted just right you could see the lake shimmering. Charlie used to take me to that lake every summer with Angela.

"I haven't spent much time with you yet, Bells. How's school going?

I ate my salad slowly, contemplating the last few days. "It's good. I've made a few friends." And a few enemies, apparently.

He nodded with his crinkly eyed smile.

"I, uh, called your mother." He glanced at me sheepishly.

"You did?" I kept my face neutral.

"I was worried about you. You don't talk about her or Pete, I thought maybe you were missing them too much and you might want to go back."

I shook my head vigorously. "No, Dad. I want to be here," I felt my blood float uncomfortably under my skin, it pulsed with every heartbeat. "and his name is Phil." I could feel the patchy heat on my face, surfacing from my distaste at the thought of speaking to them.

He stared me in the eyes for a few seconds. "What am I missing?" he eventually said.

"His name, it's Phil."

"No not that. Did he do something to you?" His knuckles went white, the skin straining over his clenched fist.

"What? No! I just wanted to let them have their space."

The last thing I wanted to do was to talk to my father about Phil and my mother. Besides, he never did anything, he was just creepy. I didn't realize the reaction it would incite in me at the thought of going back to live with them. I really was unhappy before.

I put my hand over his fist, trying to calm him. "I swear," I whispered. He continued to stare until he believed me or he decided it wasn't worth it.

He cracked a smile. "I just want to protect you. You'd tell me if there was anything bothering you?"

I debated bringing up everything that's been going on since the move but I thought better of it. "Sure, dad," I smiled.

The appreciation I felt for him made tears burn in my eyes. Charlie will never know how much he's changed my life by letting me come live with him.

I grabbed Charlie's hand. "Thank you," I said, my throat feeling thick.

He tilted his head. "For what?"

"For being the best dad ever."

His cheeks went a little pink as he squeezed my hand. "I'm just happy to have you here, Bells. Before you came I was eating here nearly every night if I wasn't with Sue. I know I'm supposed to take care of you but you do the same for me."

"Not nearly as much as – wait who's Sue?" His cheeks went from pink to red. "Dad, who's Sue?"

"Well," he cleared his throat awkwardly. "She's a – uh – friend."

"Girlfriend?" I smirked.

"Would that bother you? If I – uh – had a lady friend?" His mustache twitched.

I choked on a tomato. "Of course not! I want you to be happy, dad. You deserve it." There was a sparkle in his eye that I'd never seen before. I felt like a bad daughter for not noticing it sooner. "When do I get to meet her?"

"Soon, if that's OK. She lives on the reservation near Billy. We could go for dinner next week?" He looked so hopeful, his brown eyes so like mine were wide like a little puppy.

"Of course it's OK. I would love to meet the woman making you so happy." I beamed at him. He returned my smile, his demeanor lighter.

We continued to eat in silence. Letters or no letters, I could get used to this life.

Your reviews and theories are giving me life! It's making writing this so much fun!

Putting this out a little earlier because I was late in updating the last chapter. Let me know where you think this is going!