Chapter Six: Invitations

The month that followed the accident was interesting, to say the least. People that I've never talked to before suddenly were asking if I was okay, and if I wanted to hang out sometime. I denied most, contrary to what I said when I first moved here. I wanted to make friends, but I didn't want the car accident to be the reason why- I didn't want pity to be the reason why.

Tyler Crowley was becoming impeccable for his random appearances during the school day. He kept trying to make it up to me and Elena after the accident. I kept telling him that it was no big deal, I wasn't harmed, but he didn't get it through his thick skull. He kept telling me that he'll find a way to make everything better. If he thought carrying my books to each of my classes was going to make it up to me, he was sadly mistaken.

No one really seemed concerned about Edward or Jasper. Maybe it was the fact that most people were intimated with them so they didn't bother to go up to them to ask if they were okay. They all wanted to make sure that me and Bella were okay, which after the first week got really annoying, really fast.

Speaking of Jasper, I haven't talked to him since the day of the accident. The first couple of days, I was mad that he didn't trust me to keep his secret even though he had just saved my life. But the more that I thought about it, the more that I grew appreciative towards him. It was on a Wednesday that I tried speaking to him again.

"Hello, Jasper." I said smiling to him, letting him know that I was going to be civil towards him.

He glanced over at me from the corner of his eyes and nodded once to acknowledge me.

"I just wanted to thank you for the other day. I realized that you were right, I should just thank you. And I didn't say it correctly at the hospital, so thank you for practically saving my life."

I just got a nod back.

And that was the last time that I tried to speak to him.

During class, Jasper made sure to sit as far away from me as he could without actually moving his seat. I could tell that he was trying his hardest to ignore me. I didn't bother trying to acknowledge him anymore. But that didn't mean that my eyes weren't going to watch him every time he clenched and un-clenched his fists, turning his knuckles whiter than the snow on the ground.

No matter how hard that I tried, I couldn't stop watching him- secretly of course. Mostly in the morning when we waiting for the bell to ring while I was hanging out the group of people that I seemed to migrate into with Bella. I would watch as he talked and joked around with his family. I watched one morning how they had a small snowball fight. I couldn't help but grin at the family before trying to pay attention to my friends talk about the upcoming dance. I also glanced at him during lunch. Moving my chair to the side of the table that was facing theirs. I wasn't the only one that was doing this either. I could tell that Bella was doing the same thing with Edward.

During class was another story. I would avoid him as much as he seemed to do to me. I acted like his seat was still empty like it was the first week of school when he was absent. Despite my facade that I kept up, making believe that I didn't want anything to do with Jasper, I couldn't help but be a little sad about the whole thing. When we talked at the hospital, I was happy because he seemed to notice me while that's all that I've been able to do; notice him.

My mom started to notice that I wasn't acting like myself. She questioned it a couple times, wanting to make sure that I was okay. I just shrugged her off, telling her that I was just a little stressed about school was going. She hesitated but nodded her head anyways. She knew that I would get worked up with school, and it wasn't a complete lie. The only time that I saw Jasper was in school.

Another thing that has been happening in school lately was that Lauren Mallory was started to talk to me. She sat at our table and her best friend was Jessica. I hadn't even realized that she sat at our table until she directly started talking to me, asking me questions about my old life and how I was liking Forks.

It was late one night that she called me on my cellphone to take to me about the upcoming dance.

"I just want to find the perfect guy to ask to the dance." Lauren complained over the phone lightly. I was trying to pay attention to what she was saying, but I was also trying to get my homework done.

"Why don't you ask someone in our friend group?" I asked writing down the answer for a History question.

"I just don't want things to get awkward." She paused. "Though, I could ask Tyler."

I nodded my head encouragingly before realizing that she wouldn't be able to see, "I think that's a good idea, Lauren." I mostly agreed because I wanted Tyler off my back.

"I think I'll do that." She agreed. "Who are you going to ask?"

I shook my head at the idea of going to the dance. There was no way that I was going to that. I was almost as good as dancing as Bella was at walking. "I'm not going Lauren."

"What?" She gasped. "Why not?"

"I'm going to Seattle that weekend." I lied thinking of it right on the spot. I did need to car shop still, so maybe I could actually make the trip up there.

"It'll be fun." She sang trying to get me to agree to going.

"For you." I sang back making her laugh a little.

The next day during lunch, Jessica and Lauren weren't their usual excited self. I shared a look with Bella but shrugged it off. I was just hoping that Tyler didn't turn her down. I didn't want to start anything with the two of them.

I escaped English before Tyler was about to meet me and grab my books for me. I didn't want to have Lauren think the wrong thing, especially if he turned her down.
I reached History and sighed happily as I made it to my seat without any run-ins with Tyler. "Hey, Chelsea." I looked up at the student Derek that was leaning against my desk. He was one of the first people to ask if I was okay after the accident. He was a hopeless flirt and tried to get with every girl. He was the equivalent of Mike.

"Hey, Derek." I couldn't help but notice that Jasper's hand twitched when Derek greeted me.

"I was wondering if you would ask me to the girl's choice dance coming up." Derek smirked down at me and I had to hold back the snort that was making it's way out of my throat.

I saw Jasper's tilt in our direction, as if he was listening to the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Derek but I'm going to Seattle that weekend." I shrugged my shoulders lightly.

"Can't you go the weekend before?"

"Sorry, no." I watched as Derek's smirk dropped before he nodded his head.

"It's fine, maybe next time."

I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want to make any promises to him that I knew I wasn't going to keep. Derek turned the other way and sat back down at his seat in the front of the class.

I sighed as I turned back to the homework that I wasn't able to finish last night. I only had a couple questions left and it was around that time that Ms. Gilbert was going to collect them.

I looked up when I felt eyes on the side of my head. Thinking it was Derek, I looked in his direction, but he was talking to a couple of his friends in the front of the class. I, then turned towards my right, seeing Jasper's golden-brown eyes locked on me. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I met his intense eyes. I figured that he would look away quickly, acting like he wasn't looking at me, but he kept my eye contact.

"Mr. Cullen?" I looked away from him to see Ms. Gilbert looking at him.

"1934." Jasper answered looking back towards the front of the class.

I took a deep breath once his eyes left me. I rolled my sleeves down and tried to hide the fact that I was blushing behind my hair. He shouldn't have this kind of effect of me. We've barely talked and I'm over here acting like he was my long time crush. I held back my want to look back him to see if he was looking again. I didn't need him to think he had this kind of effect on me.

When the bell rang for class to end, all I wanted to do was hurry up and get home. I didn't want to risk another run-in with Tyler, and I also didn't want to think about Jasper.

"Chelsea?" I cursed when I heard his voice call me back. I looked over my shoulder at Jasper to see him standing near my desk, ready to get out.

I thought about being sarcastic towards him. Asking what I did to be graced with his presence, but when I finally found the words that I wanted to use, my mouth started working on it's own, "Is there something that I could do for you, Jasper?"

His lips twitched and I couldn't help but gaze helplessly at them. They were perfect like the rest of his body, it was almost unfair for him to look so good. "No, not really."

"Oh."

I wasn't exactly sure why he called my name if he didn't want anything. "Why the sudden chat, then?"

Jasper looked down at me as I stood up, swinging my bag over my shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm being rude." He took a hesitant breath. "But it's better this way."

I felt my eyebrow raise in wonder. He was just confusing me more. "What are you talking about?" I sighed getting tired of the word games.

"It's better if we're not friends." He finally said, but it didn't clear up any questions. It just made more, if that was possible. I tried to get a read on his face, but he was completely serious, not letting any emotions though. "Trust me."

"How can I trust you?" I asked crossing my arms. "We're not friends." His lips twitched upwards again, almost giving me an emotion other than seriousness.

"It's not safe." He tried again and I just shook my head.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you saved my life. You wouldn't have to be going through this struggle." I snapped looking up at him with cold eyes.
He looked taken back by my words, "You think I regret saving you?"

"I can see that you do. You're over here giving me the speech about how it's not a good idea to be your friend. If you just let the van crush me-"

"You're terribly wrong." Jasper said interrupting my monologue. He looked angered by my words, but that made two of us.

I shook my head at him before grabbing the rest of my books and shoving past him to get to the door. I couldn't believe how infuriated he made me. We couldn't have a normal conversation without getting angry at each other. Maybe being friends with him isn't a good idea.

"Hey, Chelsea!" I saw Mike running towards me and I slowed down so he could catch up to me.

"What's up, Mike?" I asked once we were walking the same pace.

"I was just wondering something." He took a deep breath and I already knew what he was going to ask, but I let him continue. "Would you want to go to the dan-"

"I'm sorry, Mike." I interrupted him, sighing softly. "I can't."

Mike looked dejected when he heard my answer. "Why not?"

"Because I'm going to Seattle that day."

Mike paused in his movements and I stopped to look at him, "Bella said the same thing to me earlier."

"Yeah," I coughed trying to think of something to say. "She's the one that's driving me since I don't have a car yet." I lied fluently.

I tried not to notice as Edward and Jasper walked by us at that time. Edward looked over at me and gave a short laugh while Jasper just met my eyes with a smug look.

"Oh, okay." Mike said bringing my attention back to him.

"Sorry." I shrugged trying to get away from him as fast as I could. He nodded his head and I turned around before making my way over to Bella's truck.

She was already waiting for me at the truck with a sour expression, I'm sure I had one to match. We both glanced over at the Cullen/Hale brothers as they walked past the truck. Bella grumbled before rushing into her truck, me following suit. She hurriedly pulled out of the parking spot as Edward pulled out of his parking spot, effectively cutting Bella off. He waited and I looked over at his family slowly walking towards the Volvo from the cafeteria.

"Stupid, Cullen." I muttered under my breath before jumping as there was a knock on my window. I looked over to see Tyler and cursed mentally. I rolled down my window and looked over at the junior. "Sorry, Tyler, we're stuck behind Cullen."

"Oh, that's okay." He shrugged his shoulders. "I actually wanted to ask you something while we're waiting."

Please don't ask me. Please don't ask me.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to the upcoming dance with me?" He asked with a hopeful expression.

"I'm sorry, Tyler. But I'm going to Seattle with Bella that day." I explained lightly with an apologetic gaze.

He nodded his head slowly, "Yeah, Derek said that."

I felt my blood boil. "Then why?-" I shook my head as I wasn't able to finish my sentence without being mean.

"I just thought that you were turning him down easily." He muttered looking at me.

I shook my head, "You should go with Lauren." Tyler looked up at me surprised that I knew she asked. "I know she wanted to go with you."

He nodded his head glumly. "Yeah." He walked back to his car and I growled under my breath, looking straight at Cullen's car.

Jasper looked in the review mirror with a small smirk on his face, trying to conceal his laughter.

Bella revved her engine and before she was able to make contact with Edward's bumper, he took off out of the parking lot. She grumbled under her breath as she continued on her way out of the school parking lot.

Later that night, I decided to actually bring up the idea of going to Seattle with Bella to look for a car for myself.

She looked shocked for a moment, "Seattle? Why so far away?"

"Well, I've already checked down here and I figured that I'd have a little more luck in the city." I explained as I took a bite of rice.

She nodded her head with understanding, "Is Bella's truck going to make it down there?" She joked lightly.

"Her truck runs pretty good for it's age, plus we'll stop on the way if needed." I shrugged my shoulders and again she nodded her head.

"Is it just going to be you two?" She asked meshing her food together before taking a bite.

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to go with you?" She asked looking up.

"We'll be fine, mom. Besides you shouldn't take the day off of work." She nodded her head at me and sighed.

"Just be careful."

"Always am."

I pulled my jacket on as Bella pulled into the school parking lot. She parked further away from the silver Volvo and when I looked over at her in question she mumbled, "I don't want to be tempted to ram into his bumper."

I gave her a small laugh before hoping out of the truck. I made my way around the truck to see Edward handing back Bella's keys. I looked over to the silver Volvo and shook my head. I could have sworn he was over there.

"How do you do that?" Bella whispered harshly looking up at Edward. I glanced behind his shoulder as Jasper made his way over to our little conversation.

"Do what?" Edward asked as he dropped the keys back into Bella's awaiting hand.

"Appear out of thin air." I commented leaning against big red- her truck.

"It's not our fault you both are exceptionally unobservant." Jasper said looking down at me. I rolled my eyes at him. Unfortunately I am extremely observant, otherwise I wouldn't mention anything about how weird they are and how they are hiding something.

Edward glanced over at me quickly before turning his attention back to Bella when she began talking again, "Why the traffic jam yesterday?" Edward and Jasper's lips twitched upwards the same way at the same time. "I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist, not irritating me to death."

"That was for Tyler's sake." Edward commented looking down at me as I scowled. "I had to give him his chance."

"You-" I shook my head not being able to form proper words at the moment. I tightened my hold on my bag before turning away from the group. "I'll see you at lunch, Bella."

She nodded her head at me while I walked into the school, feeling Jasper's presence behind me. "I thought we weren't supposed to be friends." I commented once we reached my locker, realizing he wasn't going to stop following me.

"I said it would be safer for us to not be friends, not that I didn't want to be." Jasper commented watching me grab books from my locker. I turned to look at him with a blank stare, not amused. "I actually had a question that I wanted to ask you, but you distracted me." He smirked to himself.

"Are you bipolar?" I asked closing my locker. He seemed to find what I said amusing as he chuckled a little. I felt my knees go weak at the sound, but I held myself up right.

"No," He shook his head still smirking. "You're doing it again."

I rolled my eyes as I leaned against my locker. "Proceed."

"I was wondering if you would like a ride to Seattle?"

I was surprised about his question. I let it show on my face before I asked my next question, "With you?"

"With me." He nodded his head.

"Why?"

"Well, I was heading to Seattle, myself and I figured that you'd have a better chance making it down there faster if you didn't take Bella's truck." Once he mentioned Bella, I shrunk back. He noticed before continuing, "Don't worry, she's going with my brother." I nodded my head as he seemed to answer my silent question.

"I'm still befuddled; I thought we weren't supposed to be friends."

"It'd be better for you if we weren't." He commented looking down at my shoes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked with a sigh.

"It means that if you were smart, you'd stay away from me."

"So if I agree to go with you to Seattle, I'm not smart?" I asked with my eyebrows raised.

He nodded his head silently.

I bit my lip as I thought about my options. Jasper did say that Bella had agreed to go with Edward so if I didn't agree to go with Jasper I wouldn't have a ride. I could ask my mom to borrow the car, though.

"I'm tired of trying to stay away from you." Jasper mentioned making me look up in surprise.

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that I'm going to stop trying to resist the need to be near you." Jasper looked up, golden eyes shielded by dark lashes. "I'm going to let the pieces fall where they may."

I stayed silent as I thought about his confession. It was the first time that he was willing letting me into his thoughts. I nodded my head before quietly stating, "Pick me up at 10." I gave him a small smile before turning the other direction and heading to my first period class.

At that moment, I also gave up trying to resist Jasper Hale.