The silver Volvo rolled up into the parking lot right on schedule. My hair was flying around, pieces of it sticking on my lip balm. The forceful rush of the trees captured my attention. The storm clouds were rolling in from the north.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Angela asked. I'd filled her in on the phone that morning, chattering the whole way until we met eachother at school.

"Why wouldn't it be? You were the one who thought they could help us." Inside, I wasn't so sure. Nerves were bubbling in my stomach.

They stepped out of the car, each of them unbelievably graceful, like they were stepping on to a catwalk. Rosalie's hair swished gently in the wind. It wasn't fair, mine already needed brushed.

Alice waved over at us with a slight bounce in her step. I waved back excitedly, forgetting myself. Her good mood was infectious.

When I caught Jasper's eye I beckoned him over to my truck with a nod of my head, trying not to grab too much attention.

I held my phone out to him. "Read this."

He took the phone out of my hand, gently brushing my fingers.

"Bring $50 to this address and we'll leave you alone." His brow scrunched. "That is interesting." He glanced at Edward across the lot who shrugged his shoulders.

That was strange.

"Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. We'll keep an eye on him."

"Great, another suspect added to the list," Angela mumbled.

Jasper blinked. "Mike and Edward we can handle."

She peeked at me, unsure if she'd said something she shouldn't have.

I shook my head. "I didn't get the chance to tell you yesterday. Remember I mentioned Jacob Black?"

Recognition sparked in Jasper's eyes and then morphed into relief. "That's why you wanted to talk about him?"

Angela smirked between Jasper and I. I rolled my eyes when I realized she thought Jasper saw Jacob as competition, not a means to his secret.

"Yeah," I lied. "He, uh, has a problem with me because he thinks I'm friends with you and your family."

He raised his eyebrows, nodding his head. "Makes sense."

"It does?" Angela asked.

He leaned his forearms on my truck bed. "In a way."

I was torn. I didn't know who it was more likely to be. I needed Jacob's story confirmed before I ruled anyone out.

"Are you busy after school?" I asked Jasper.

Angela gasped beside me. I knew it was going to sound like I was asking Jasper on a date.

A Cullen, in broad daylight in the middle of the lot. She was burning a hole through the side of my head.

His lips twitched as he tilted his head curiously.

"Do you want to come over to my house for a while?"

&TL&

"I can't believe you did that!" Angela squeaked. "Wow, you just came out and asked it. Oh my god, you're going on a date with Jasper Hale."

I scoffed. "It's not a date. It's to do some investigating, find out more about Jacob and Edward. Maybe I can flirt some information out of him."

"I don't know if he knows it's not a date..."

My cheeks burned at the insinuation.

We were in Spanish class. I was tapping a pen on my notebook, watching the clock. Thirty minutes until break time. Tedious.

I tried to puff air up into my face to cool myself down; I was feeling very stuffy. My foot was jolting at the same rhythm as my pen.

The rain was battering against the windows; the wind slamming it with more force than usual. The lights flickered overhead.

An announcement came through. "Would Bella Swan report to Mrs Hayes Biology class."

My head shot up. What would Mrs Hayes want with me? She's not one of my teachers.

Mrs Goff nodded her head in my direction. "On you go, Bella."

I trudged to the science block, angry that I had to go outside through the storm to get there.

Wind smashed me in the face knocking the air out of me. Jesus.

The door was swinging wildly. I used all of my strength to slam it shut before jogging across to the next block. I could barely see anything, a thick fog of debris and cloud blocking my sight.

The science block felt wrong. The lights were off and I couldn't hear the typical rowdy classrooms that come with doing experiments. The only sound was the wind growling through the walls and my footsteps echoing on the linoleum. I pulled my sleeves over my hands to stop the eeriness creeping in.

I stepped into Mrs Hayes room, knocking the door gently.

It was empty.

"Hello?" I whispered.

Like the rest of the building, the lights were off and there was no sign that anyone had been there. I peeked further in to look into the technicians room.

"There you are, Bella," a voice said behind me and I recognized the click of the door closing.

I whipped around, backing up against a desk.

Mike and Tyler stood in front of the door looking really pleased with themselves.

A breath came out of me in a huff. "What are you doing?" I asked, my voice sounding stronger than I felt, even though my fingers were trembling.

"Having some fun, Bella, we though you might want to join us," Mike said. His sneer was a poor attempt at a smile.

"It was you?" I asked. My hand was reaching behind me trying to find anything I could use as a weapon. I felt something long and sharp and I slid it up my sweater sleeve.

Tyler hopped himself up on a desk. "Yeah. This block was evacuated when the power went out. Mike and I thought we should have a little party. You were the first person we wanted to invite."

Anger pumped through me. So they think they can send me that email last night and then bait me into coming here alone? I should've turned back when I saw the lights out. How could I have been so stupid?

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself as much as possible. It was the only way I was going to get answers.

"And why would you want to invite me?" I asked.

Mike chuckled, strutting towards me. He pulled at them hem of my oversized sweater, much too close to an area I'd never want him near. I was fleetingly glad that I had put my hair in a top knot today, stopping them from grabbing it.

"We just want to get to know you better. You're never alone. You always manage to be with someone. If it's not Angela it's Jasper Hale." Tyler said. He wasn't even paying attention to me, he was staring at the door.

"So because you couldn't find me alone like you wanted to from the beginning. You thought you'd trick me into your company?" I screeched.

Mike and Tyler shared a glance. "Um, yeah, I guess. We thought it would be fun," Mike said. It sounded like a question.

These two were really sick. What were they going to do in school? Kill me? What had I done for them to hate me so much?

"So why the letters?" I chanced.

They shared another glance. This time a panicked one. Tyler snapped his eyes on me furiously. "What did you say?"

"The letters," I repeated slowly. "Did you really think you were fooling anyone?"

Tyler hopped off the desk making my spine snap straight.

"What the hell do you know?" he growled.

The door clicked open and relief shot though me so hard I thought I would burst into tears.

Jasper pointed at Tyler. "You. Sit," he demanded.

Tyler gulped in unison with me. Jasper was scary, and yet my fear vanished in to thin air.

His broad shoulders basically hid the door behind him, his face controlled rage. There was no doubt he could take care of himself if it came down to it. There was a smooth confidence in the way he held himself, almost arrogant. That confidence said you didn't want to get on the wrong side of him.

For a fleeting moment I felt sorry for the two of them.

I rested my hands on the table behind me, feeling my makeshift weapon clang gently on the desk.

Mike's face went white before he bolted for the door. His fist wrapped around the handle as Jasper slammed it shut from the top and then simply nodded his head towards Tyler. Mike scrunched his face up holding back tears and went to join him.

The lock clicked, sending a pang through my stomach. We had them and they couldn't leave until they told us the truth.

Jasper leaned against the door and folded his arms. He gave me a once over, his gaze lingering on my eyes. My fingers began to tingle, feeling warm under his stare. A small smile was creeping its way to the corners of his mouth.

He moved his head in the direction of the two boys signaling for me to proceed and I shook myself out of the fog.

I turned to both Mike and Tyler who were watching our interaction with sullen looks.

"When did you decide to start sending letters?" I asked.

Mike cleared his throat. "You weren't here yet," he said, fiddling with his hands.

Tyler nudged him with his elbow. "Shut up, man!"

"Finish what you were saying," Jasper commanded.

"Like I said, you weren't here yet. W-we needed the money f-for-" Tyler put his head in his hands as Mike spoke. Mike, seeing this, whimpered slightly. "Look it doesn't have anything to do with you, I-I shouldn't have to tell you."

I laughed out loud. "Nothing to do with me? You're the one who lured me here! Tell me what the hell is going on!" I banged my fist on the desk, my breaths coming out loud and fast.

"Answer her!" Jasper yelled. Making all three of us jump.

"OK, OK, man, jeez. Mr Berty, he was sleeping with my sister when she went here. He got her pregnant." He started crying. Deep, guttural sobs wrenched out of him. "I wanted to get him back, so me and Tyler, we started sending him letters to get money off of him. We tricked him into thinking he was meeting my sister and we, well we..."

"Mike, shut the fuck up, man, I mean it," Tyler threatened, his face turning purple.

Mike stood up, kicking his stool back. "You know what, Tyler? You shut up. You've been forcing me to do this for months and you don't even care about Sarah or her baby!"

My mind was frazzled. "Stop." I interrupted. "What has this got to do with me?"

Mike scrunched his brow. "You? Nothing. We just brought you here for a party," he whimpered.

Jasper pushed off from the door. "You haven't been sending letters to Bella?"

"What? No! Why would I do that? I like Bella. I thought she might like me too that's why I brought her here."

I froze. I could feel my mouth form a little 'O' shape as I caught Jasper's eye.

He opened the door. "You're out of luck, Newton. She's with me."

"I thought as much," he replied, sulking.

What did he just say?

"Now get out of here, go back to your class," Jasper ordered.

"You won't tell anyone, though, right?" Mike stammered.

Tyler hadn't said much throughout the whole exchange but his head snapped up to see our reaction. Mike was right, he didn't care about his sister, he just wanted something to do.

I cleared my throat. "We won't tell anyone. It's your problem, not ours."

As soon as they shuffled out I slammed the door shut. "What was that?" I whisper-screeched. I threw my hands in my hair, doing a lap around the room. "Wow, Mr Berty."

Jasper chuckled. "I said you wouldn't want to know yesterday, didn't I?"

I blew out a breath and watched him pull a stool up and sit down. "You sure did." I shook my head. "At least I know that it's not them. It really freaked me out when they came in behind me."

His jaw clenched. "I bet it did."

A continuous bell rang out overhead.

I slammed my hands over my ears. "Jeez."

An announcement rang through: "Would all students report to the gymnasium."

"I wonder what's going on?" I pulled my weapon out of my sleeve and set it back on the desk. It was an envelope opener.

He held his hand out to me. My stomach fluttered as I took it, the iciness shooting through me.

"The storm, probably."

&TL&

The wind was howling as we made our way to the gymnasium. My eyes watered as it slapped me and I tried to pull my sweater up to cover my face as much as possible. We bust through the door and I immediately felt the heat warming my bones.

I couldn't believe how this day had turned out. I thought I'd figured out it was Mike and Tyler, it was just too convenient how similar my email was to the conversation I overheard with Mike and Mr Berty.

Now I was back to square one.

It was strange that my email was almost like a copycat of Mike's. Wouldn't it take someone who knew what Mike was up to? Like Edward.

I felt a pang of guilt and peeked a look up at Jasper. He'd been so helpful to me and here I was contemplating that his brother was a psycho again.

Would he know if it was Edward? If he did, would he tell me?

His brow furrowed as he peered down at me. I blinked the thought out of my head and looked down at my sneakers.

How was I ever going to look Mike or Tyler in the eye again knowing what I know. I was dying to know what they did when they tricked Mr Berty into thinking he was meeting Mike's sister.

How did Jasper know about all of this already and did he know what Mike was about to admit until Tyler stopped him?

My hand was starting to get slightly numb, but I welcomed it. The feeling of his fingers threaded through mine burned me on the inside even if it was like sticking my hand into a freezer.

I wondered did he realize how intimate this was to me. This is not how you hold hands with your mother; I'd only ever done it like this with my ex boyfriend in Phoenix. That ended when Phil kicked him out of the house.

I still don't know exactly why that happened.

Jasper's hand squeezed mine. I peeked up at him, he was looking ahead, squinting his eyes from the wind. He was so beautiful. The feel of his hand frayed all of my nerve endings, in parts of my body I didn't know could wake up like that. I swallowed thickly, looking towards the gym.

I still had something else I needed to figure out. I could listen to rumors all day or crazy tribal legends, but it only mattered coming from him. I prayed today was the day he would open up to me and settle all of this.

&TL&

The gym was hiving with students. Pinched cheeks giggling with excitement on the prospect of missing out on class.

I quickly found Jessica and Angela, reluctantly letting go of his hand. His hand moved to my hip. He was talking to Alice. Did he even notice he'd not let me go?

"What's going on?" I yelled above the babble of voices.

Angela linked arms with me, pulling me away from Jasper's grasp. "Where did you go?" she whispered.

I raised my eyebrows to her in response. I'd explain later.

"The storm is supposed to get worse. They're sending us home," Jessica replied, shaking my arm with excitement.

The lights flickered above us as if on cue. I was surprised they were still going considering the science block had been out for a while.

I could hear the windows rattling dangerously.

"Didn't your dad take you to school today?" I asked Angela.

She nodded. "I text my brother, he can come and get me."

Alice popped up beside me. "Does anyone need a ride?"

"I drove and Angela's brother's coming to get her." I looked at Jessica. "Do you need a ride?"

She shook her head and simply said: "Mike."

I swallowed thickly at the thought of her traveling alone with Mike and I debated telling her what he and Tyler had been up to.

Alice caught my eye and shook her head imperceptibly.

"Thanks for the offer," I said, a little uneasily.

A hand was in my back pocket.

Jasper took my phone out and handed it to me to put my pass code in. I did so and he took it back.

He was typing something. "I'll text you when I'm on my way." His own phone buzzed and he handed mine back to me. I checked my screen and there was a message to Jasper saying: 'Thanks for coming to my rescue earlier'.

I looked up at him. "I already did say thank you!"

He smirked. "I'll see you soon."

As they left, Jessica grabbed my wrist. "You have no idea what I'd do to have Edward talk to me like that."

I half-smiled, but I felt for her. I knew it was bad but part of me wanted Edward to show her the attention she desperately wanted.

We were huddled together, making our way to the parking lot. Angela's extra jacket was hanging over the top of our heads. Not that it was doing much.

"There's Colin," Angela shouted over the gale.

I peeked up through the fog to see a man jogging towards us.

"Colin!" she called. "You remember Bella?"

"Little Bella Swan? No way. You're all grown up," he exclaimed, whistling.

"Yep, that's what happens, I guess," I laughed uncomfortably.

I could vaguely see the cute, carefree boy I remembered through the premature lines and the sad look in his eyes.

Angela said he'd been in and out of rehab, she hadn't elaborated and I hadn't asked her too. She could share when she was ready.

"Good to see you, Bella," he smiled at me, a little longer than necessary.

Jess nudged me and smirked.

Great.

&TL&

The rain was worse than I'd anticipated. I was surprised the school let us drive home in it instead of keeping us until it subsided. It was rapidly flooding and my truck was groaning with the effort.

I drove through Main Street and made it to the part of the 101 that was surrounded by forest. This was the part I was worried about most. I wanted to get home as soon as possible but I knew I had to take it slow.

The rain picked up impossibly further. My wipers were no match for it. I was taking a bend when I felt my wheels move out of my control. I was out of control.

I took my foot off the gas to let my truck naturally slow, but the squeal of the tires continued. I wailed over the screech grabbing on to my seat.

I couldn't see if there were any other cars, I didn't know if I would hit someone or a tree or what would happen. I spun around to face in the other direction when my truck suddenly stopped.

The only sounds were my heavy breathing and the rain smashing against the metal.

I looked around as quick as possible. How was I back in the place I started?

I scanned the area. It was impossible. It was as though nothing had happened.

My door wrenched open. I screamed, scooting to the other side of the seat.

A soaking wet mop of blond hair stuck its head in. "What in the hell happened?" Jasper's southern accent which is usually quite subtle came out thickly.

I blinked in confusion, pushing my body away from him.

"H-how did you save me?" I leaned as far back as I could on the opposite window.

He breathed heavily through his nose. I could see his anger, it was written in his black eyes. He hopped into my truck, slamming the door shut.

"I didn't. Somebody else did."

"Who?" I asked.

His jaw clenched as he looked through the front window. His blond curls were flattened against his face, droplets of water landing on his lips. Eventually he turned to meet my eyes.

"I don't know."

Mike and Tyler are up to something that's for sure! But does it have something to do with Bella? Not really.

Who saved Bella on the highway?! Was it another Cullen?!