A/N Thanks so much for all the reviews, it really means a lot to me. Favs and follows too of course!

I will be camping from Friday this week, so I decided to get this shortish chapter out today, rather than make you wait until next week.

I've remembered how much I love getting recommendations for other stories to read when I'm reading WIPS, so I am going to start posting a couple of recs at the bottom of each chapter, and I'll try to go with something new and something old. They won't necessarily be Bella-Jasper pairings though!

This chapter has been beta-ed, yay! Thanks MeSh17! But, of course, I have then made more changes, so any errors are all mine.

Thanks to Stephenie Meyer for letting us play in her world.


Chapter Four - Possibilities

When Bella arrived home after her second day of school in Forks, she felt emotionally exhausted.

From worrying about her Jasper, to conversing with Jasper Hale in biology—he reminded her so much of her Jasper, even the way he talked!—to having to participate in PE, where they were currently playing tennis, the day had been far from relaxed.

At least Mike Newton had taken pity on her, trying to keep the tennis ball—and himself—away from her as much as possible, once he realised how completely hopeless she was. Not before she'd tripped over her own feet twice though, once taking him down with her. She doubted he'd be volunteering to partner with her again tomorrow!

As she dumped her bag in her room, and dragged herself back downstairs to start dinner, her mind flowed seamlessly back to her conversation with Jasper Hale in biology. Not only was he a civil war buff, but he just had to bring it up with her. And, although it was faint, she thought she detected a slight Southern drawl to his accent too. He hadn't answered her question about having a personal connection to the war, neatly sidestepping it to bring the conversation back to biology, but... It must mean something, mustn't it? But what exactly?! He clearly didn't recognise her. He wasn't faking that, she was sure.

If she could only ask her Jasper…but when she was dreaming she had no memory of her waking life. What if—what if all the while she was dreaming of her life in the nineteenth century, nineteenth-century Jasper was dreaming of his life in the twenty-first? What? How could that possibly make sense? Now she was just confusing herself. She really needed to get more sleep.

Of course, that made her think of last night's dream again. Jasper would still be gone, when she got there tonight. She would write to him, and spend time knitting for the soldiers, and do all the other things she'd learned to do to feel close to him in the past two years. But it wouldn't bring him back to her any more quickly.

The war must be over soon, though, right? She was telling the truth today when she told Jasper Hale that she'd never studied it. Almost everything she knew about the period came from her dreams—which meant she knew a lot about day-to-day life in Texas, but very little about the bigger picture, let alone the timeline of the war.

She often wanted to look it up, especially since the war began—to know when it would end. And when Jasper was made Major…she knew he would have made it into the history books then. But no—what if she discovered something she couldn't handle? What if Jasper…what if he died? She just didn't think she could stand to know that.

Or even—and she told herself this was much more likely, as she took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart—what if she found out his date of death, and it was much later? She would still, presumably, get to that point in her dreams eventually. Unless she died first of course, or nineteenth-century Isabella did. And what would happen then? Either way, it was all information she shouldn't know ahead of time.

Of course, it all happened one hundred-and-fifty odd years ago. Obviously, he was dead now. But so was Isabella. That Isabella. But what did that mean? Could Jasper Hale really be the twenty-first century version of her Jasper? And even if he was, so what? He clearly didn't know her...though, he seemed willing to get to know her. He'd been the one to initiate conversation today.

Maybe...could this be it? Could this be the reason she'd dreamed about her Jasper for the past eighteen years? So that when she was finally here, meeting Jasper Hale, she'd be ready? Jessica had said Jasper didn't talk to anyone. She'd called him stuck up, but he didn't seem that way to her. Maybe he was just shy? But no, that didn't seem to fit either. He talked to her quite comfortably in biology.

Unless…maybe he didn't know her know her, but maybe on some level…? Or maybe he just needed a friend, and she was meant to be that friend? That wouldn't be betraying her Jasper, right?

She moaned and leaned her head into her hands on the counter top. She was just going around and around in circles in her head. None of it made sense, just as it never had. It was real though, she knew that. She never once doubted that Jasper was as real as Renee or Charlie.

She was sure if she did give in and Google 'Major Jasper Whitlock' she would pull up a photo of him. Old and grainy—probably the photo from that newspaper article, when he was promoted to Major. She knew he was real. It was all real. But she had no idea what it meant.

She ate dinner with Charlie, then shooed him off to watch TV while she did the dishes. "We'll take turns," she told him, at his token protest. She didn't want him to have extra work because of her presence in his home. And she was used to doing most of the household management herself, after living with her mother, who would simply forget to do the dishes until it was suddenly bedtime, if it were left to her.

Afterwards, she made quick work of her homework. There wasn't much yet, but she knew it would pile up fast, so she was determined to stay on top of it. She knew calculus was going to be her most difficult subject, so she forced herself to do some extra problems, before allowing herself to start on a book, for English.

She was taking a unit in Shakespeare for English this semester. She'd already studied several of his plays in AP English in Phoenix, but it was either that or contemporary US lit again. They were starting easy with a comedy, Twelfth Night, so after cleaning her teeth and changing into a comfy pair of sweats and a tank top, Bella curled up in her bed to read until she fell asleep.

"Isabella!" Mama was always cranky lately, Bella thought. She dragged herself out of her daydream of Jasper and went to see what her mother needed.

"What is it, Mama?" She asked obediently.

"Bella, you know there's work to be done."

"I know, Mama, but I was just finishing a letter to Jasper."

"Which is a waste of time. You know his family doesn't even know where to send letters next, with everything so uncertain at the moment. Besides, if you are going to be writing letters, you should be writing to your brother."

"I have already written to John, Mama," she admitted sadly. "And he might get it, even if it's not for a while. And it helps me feel closer to him."

Her mama frowned. "Isabella, your father has guests arriving in two days. Business associates. The house will be spotless, and you will have to make sure to look your best. There's no use in wasting time on letters that won't be delivered. Go and have a look through your dresses and see what can be brightened up with some fresh embroidery."

"But, Mama—"

"Don't 'but mama' me young lady. I know you have a fondness for young Jasper, but you know as well as I do that your father will never support it."

"But, Mama, he's a major now! He was going to—"

Her mother cut her off with a quelling stare. "And just as poor as he was before he was promoted, I'll warrant.

"You are lucky that your father has friends in official positions who have not been conscripted into the war effort. If you wait for this war to end, you will be an old maid."

"I would wait for Jasper forever," she muttered mutinously.

"I heard that, young lady. I wonder he even joined the war effort. His family has always sneered at those of us with enough money and sense to keep slaves. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were union sympathizers!"

Bella woke up on Thursday morning with tears on her face, and her alarm buzzing beside her bed. Why would Mama not listen to her? She surely couldn't be serious about her father's friends, could she? Papa may not ever approve completely of Jasper, but he would come around. He had to. Jasper just had to speak to him the next time he was able to come home.

There was a knock on the door. "Bella, you up?" Charlie's voice brought her back to the present in a way her alarm never quite managed to do. She wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"Yes, Dad, getting there. Come on in."

The door opened and Charlie stuck his head around the corner.

"I'm heading out. There's coffee in the kitchen. See you tonight."

"Thanks, Dad."

One cup of coffee and two pop tarts later Bella jumped in her truck to face day three at Forks High.

It wasn't that it had been bad so far. What she'd told both Charlie and Renee was completely true. Everyone had been very friendly to her. Angela Weber and Jessica Stanley had insisted she sit with them at lunch, and she had at least one person she felt comfortable with in every class.

And then there's Jasper, a voice whispered in her head. She couldn't deny the way her heartbeat picked up just thinking about Jasper Hale. She hoped she would get to talk with him some more today, even though a part of her felt she was betraying her Jasper just by thinking of it.

She got to school early, and the sun was peeking out from the clouds for once, but it was still far too cold to sit outside. She sat in her truck with the heater running, reading some more Shakespeare, while waiting for the bell.

As she sat there the parking lot gradually filled up. When she finally got out, she saw Jessica arrive, Mike not far behind.

"Soooo," Jessica began as they walked into the building, "I hear you and Jasper Hale were looking pretty chummy in biology yesterday, Bella?" She looked over expectantly, waiting for her to 'dish', Bella supposed. Well, she would be disappointed.

"We're lab partners," she said simply. "And we finished early."

"Yeah, you have all the luck," Mike practically groaned.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked, frowning. "We had five slides, just like everyone else."

"Yeah but you're working with Mr Genius Jasper. He may not be much in the personality department, but he's not dumb. He always finishes first."

Bella frowned, not sure which slur to defend first. Not wanting to create any more gossip about her and Jasper, she decided to stick with defending her own honour.

"Actually, we worked together," she said, still frowning. Then realising how defensive that sounded, she added, "I did AP bio in Phoenix, so it wasn't new to me, that's all."

The bell went then, cutting short any further conversation, much to Bella's relief.

She found herself peering around as she made her way to class, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone her mind shied away from naming. He wasn't there though.

Disappointed, she followed Jess to Spanish, knowing she wouldn't be happy until she saw him in the cafeteria at lunch.

Unfortunately, she was bound for disappointment there too.


A/N

Question: I used the word "comfy" in this chapter, instead of comfortable. Is that an Australian-ism? Would an American girl say that?

Also, you may have noticed, even though I am making an effort to use American Idioms (ideally those suited to the characters and time period), I am sticking to Australian spelling...

First published 29 March 2018, 8:30pm Aussie-EST. Length: 1901

Two Recs:I re-read an old favourite, Beyond Time by TKegl this week. This is an Edward-Bella story in which Bella ends up in 1918, after Edward leaves in New Moon. There she meets human Edward, but he is not quite what she expected. It is really well written, fully engaging and a great story. s/5755522/1/

And, I started reading a WIP that has me totally intrigued! Beautifully written, this is another Bella-Edward one (or I presume it will be) – all human, but still kinda fantasy (I'll let you figure that out for yourself): The Island, by Moonchild707. Started last July and last updated in February, I certainly hope it will be continued... (updated later to add, it is being updated still - not too quickly, but fairly consistently!)

Summary: A girl leaves home for the great unknown. A king readies his people for war. A plane crashes in a storm over the mid-Pacific, and a body is found on a beach, not quite alive, but not yet dead. When a girl falls from the sky in a cloud of fire and steel, she must build a new home and make her new life in this land amongst strangers, known only to her as The Island. AH, AU.

Thanks for reading. See you next week.