I woke to blinding sunlight that day. I groaned internally. I despised morning glare. I lifted my hand to shield my eyes from the light pouring in through the large glass back wall. I would have to ask Alice if I could get a curtain so that my eyes didn't have to suffer. Not that that mattered now. Today was the day, August twenty-sixth, the day we'd all leave for Harvard.
Not only that, but it also happened to be Seth's birthday. He was still asleep, but I twisted to the side to plant a kiss on his mouth anyway. His eyelids opened slowly and, when he was fully conscious, he returned the kiss.
"Happy birthday," I laughed when he pulled away.
"A happy birthday indeed it is," he chuckled.
"And why is that?" I asked. "Your day's barely started!"
"After the start my day's had, I'm sure nothing can spoil it. I've woken to find you in my arms, my own personal angel. And, not to mention, having you here after my sleep proved that this isn't just a dream. I really am yours."
He smiled largely at me. I blushed but smiled back anyway.
I yawned and stretched my body as much as I could. "We should start getting ready," I decided.
"Excited for Harvard?" he chuckled, climbing out of bed. I followed him, still stretching and yawning, trying to wipe away my tiredness.
"Extremely," I smiled. "It's gonna be so fun."
"Ha, that's what you said about high school." He rolled his eyes and I rolled mine. We walked down the staircase to find the Cullens sitting in the living room—suitcases piled by the door, and I was sure that wasn't even half of it.
"That's not even close to half of it," Edward laughed. I shook my head and rolled my eyes again.
"Good morning, Edward," I yawned. "'Morning, everyone."
"'Morning, Jasmine," Alice sang. "How'd you two sleep?"
"If they slept at all," Jasper grumbled. No, he still wasn't very happy about my boyfriend-slash-fiancé practically living in this house. Hell, he wasn't happy that Seth even had the title of my fiancé. "The two of them were up half the night. That's right; I hear things."
I laughed and walked over to give him a hug. "You worry too much, Jasper," I said. "Loosen up."
He rolled his eyes. "You sound just like a teenage girl," he sighed.
"That's what they tell me," I laughed.
"You couldn't have gotten just a little more sleep, though?" Alice complained, eyeing me. "Those bags under your eyes get thicker and thicker everyday."
"It's not my fault I get excited easily," I murmured.
"Oh yes it is," Alice disagreed. "Now, come with me. We need to get you ready!"
I fought the urge to clap with joy as I rushed up the stairs behind her. I grew fonder and fonder of her beauty attacks as the days went by. I heard Bella scoff downstairs.
"Traitor," she muttered. I ignored her.
Once we were upstairs Alice flew down the hall and came back to me at such speed, I didn't even get a chance to take my first step to follow her.
"Go sit down," she instructed. "I'll be right there."
"M'kay," I said. I wandered into the bathroom and took a seat in the pink salon chair. I turned to face the mirror and gasped at my reflection. Alice was right; I looked terrible.
My hair was knotted into a tumbleweed shape in the back of my head. I had dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep and my eyes themselves drooped. I would need to put more effort into having a good slumber.
"What am I going to do with you?" Alice groaned, dumping a bunch of supplies on the counter. "You cannot start college looking like that!"
"Well sorry," I muttered.
"We don't have much time. I need to get you ready."
And with that being said, she was off.
Moving so fast she was basically a blur; Alice attacked. She pulled at my hair with a brush and every time I protested, she flicked my head and started brushing harder. When she was finished, though my hair was untangled, it was a large, poufy mess. At least now I knew that it was pure genetics; apparently that's what Mexican hair did.
Alice then drenched my hair in several different sprays and gels at once. The smell of them together was overpowering. I coughed and swatted at the air around me—trying to wave the scent away.
"Too much?" Alice asked.
"Just a little," I coughed.
The different chemicals in the hair care products made the hard to work with poof in my hair disappear. Now all that was left was a matted blanket of damp, dark brown hair that Alice had to brush through yet again to dissolve any new clumps. She pulled at my hair and I muttered "ow" every now and then to what she replied a simple "sorry" and went back to work.
She plugged in a flat iron to heat up as she blow dried my hair as she brushed it some more. She sprayed more products into my hair and I groaned out loud.
"Won't that just make it worse?" I asked.
"It'll do exactly the opposite," she said.
I lost interest in trying to keep up with everything Alice was doing to me as I usually did after half an hour or so. My mind was just starting to wander when Renesmee came waltzing into the bathroom. I smiled at her. In about a month—since she looked about fourteen to fifteen—she would be starting high school. She'd grown so much during the past few months. Soon, it wouldn't do to call her my little Nessie anymore. I could barely imagine how Bella must be taking it all in…
"Hey Alice, Jasmine," she sang, giving us both kisses on the cheek. "Whatcha doing?"
I smiled involuntarily. I loved it when her veritable age slipped into her words and actions. I mean, really, how fun is it to watch a girl who looks fifteen read a Dr. Seuss book? Very fun, I'll tell you that much.
"Trying to fix Jasmine's poor excuse for hair," Alice murmured.
Nessie laughed. "Need any help?" she asked.
"Sure!" Alice exclaimed putting Nessie in her place and giving her the flat iron. "Please tell me you know how to work that," she added warily.
Nessie rolled her eyes. "Of course I do," she said. "Now go do whatever it is you were gonna do."
"Get Jasmine's outfit and pack up her dorm, on it." And with that, she zoomed out of the bathroom. Nessie straightened out a piece of my hair with a thin comb and positioned the flat iron at the top before she clamped it closed and—putting the comb at the edge of the iron—pulled it down slowly. Aw, she was just like a professional.
"Nessie?" I asked as she prepared to continue straightening my hair.
"Hmm?"
"What did Alice mean by 'pack up my dorm'?"
Nessie cracked a smile. "She went a little nuts when she found out she was allowed to bring things from home to decorate the dorms with."
"Oh no," I murmured. I was about to put my head in my hands but Nessie yanked me back up by the hair. "How insane did she go?"
"Um… define insane," she said.
"Oh my God," I mumbled. "That bad? Really?"
"Don't worry about it, Jasmine. All the things she got to decorate you guys' dorm are really nice."
"I'm rooming with her?" I asked. "Says who?"
"Says me," Alice chimed, walking back into the room. "Don't you just love my visions?"
"I have to say, Alice, I think I do. So we were just roomed together by some lucky coincidence or did you pull some strings?"
"I haven't pulled any strings," she assured me, "yet."
"Alice," I whined. "Can't we do things like normal people for once?"
"If you insist," she sighed. "Have fun rooming with Asia."
"What?!" I screamed. "Asia got into Harvard Law?! How?!"
"Her dad is best friends with the president," Alice informed me. "So, still want to do things like normal people?"
I stared at her for a second before smiling wide and saying, "Love you, roommate!"
"That's what I thought," she said. "Nessie, are you almost done with her hair?"
"I just need to do her bangs," Nessie said. She turned me in my chair to face her and in mere seconds, she declared me perfect.
"Fabulous job, Ness," Alice complimented. Nessie beamed. "Now, just help me get the curlers into her hair so we can do her makeup."
Renesmee's face fell immediately. "Alice!" she complained. "I spent all this time straightening her hair and now you want it curled?!"
"Ness, you know that curls look better if the hair is straightened beforehand," Alice reasoned. Nessie grimaced, but nodded.
Alice bent down to pick something up off the floor. It was something like a box that was plugged in to the wall. Inside it were medium sized rollers that looked like they'd been heating up. She flipped a switch and the small light that indicated the heater being turned on darkened slowly until it was off.
Nessie and Alice went to work putting the small rollers into my hair. When they were finished, I had about a dozen rollers pinned tightly and securely to the sides of my head. Renesmee crouched down and pulled several multi-colored pouches out of a cabinet. She then proceeded to dump their contents onto the counter. Soon, the counter was completely covered in many different brands of makeup.
"Jeez, do I really look that bad?" I asked, surveying the countertop.
"Yes, now hush and lean back," Alice instructed. "We've got a lot of work to do."
As Alice and Nessie buffed and polished every corner of my face, I started thinking about Harvard. What was is going to be like? I'd watched Legally Blonde, but I didn't think that the movie could really match up to the actual experience. And anyways, I definitely was no Elle Woods.
"Oh, I love that color for her," Alice was saying to Nessie who then applied some blush to my cheeks.
"Close your eyes, Jazzy," Nessie instructed. I did as she said and felt several different things being applied to my eyelids and eyelashes.
"And open your mouth," Alice added. I slightly parted my lips and felt what surely had to be lip gloss being smoothed over them. I closed my mouth again only to pop it open again.
"Alice, are you sure you're not going overboard with this?" I asked. "I mean, it is only Harvard."
I opened my eyes and saw Alice and Nessie staring at me like I was crazy.
"Only Harvard?" they repeated at once. "That is the stupidest thing you've ever said," Alice gasped.
I lifted my hands in surrender. "All right, all right." I shrugged. "That was just my personal opinion."
"Well, hush," Alice snapped. "We're almost done anyway."
Both Alice and Renesmee started moving so fast, they were a blur to my eyes.
"Who's rooming with my momma, Alice?" Nessie asked her.
Alice smiled warmly. "That would be Rosalie and a girl named Patricia Robinson," she answered.
"Patricia Robinson?" Nessie laughed. "What kind of name is that?"
"Nessie, I know your mother taught you better than to make fun of people's names," Alice scolded.
Nessie blushed tomato red. "I know," she said sheepishly, smiling uncomfortably. "I'm sorry."
Alice smiled at her and declared, "All right, you're done. Jasmine, meet your new face!"
I rolled my eyes and spun myself around to face the mirror. All right, I had to admit, I looked a lot better than I had this morning. There was no sign of the me with dark circles and bags under her eyes showing her immense lack of sleep. Now, my skin was like milky caramel and my cheeks were like roses. I looked up at Alice and smiled, thanking her silently. She smiled back kindly.
"You like?" She smirked.
"I love," I corrected.
"Hey, Jasmine," Rosalie greeted, walking into the bathroom. "You look great."
"Thanks Rose." I smiled. She seemed to be the first one ready—as always—and I was getting used to her looking like the angelic prom queen every single day. Alice grimaced and scanned Rosalie's appearance.
"Goodness, Rosalie, don't you think you're dressed a little high school?" she teased.
I looked at Rosalie's clothes. She was wearing a bright pink loose-fitting shirt with dark blue jeans, black converse, a charm necklace and a matching bracelet. She wasn't dressed like a high school student—she was dressed like… well… Rosalie.
Rosalie stared daggers at Alice. "Shut up," she snarled. Alice rolled her eyes and stepped back from her with her hands up.
"Gosh, Rose, calm down," Nessie laughed. "Like it really matters how you look. In college, everyone's drunk, hung over, or stressing."
All of our head snapped to stare at Nessie—a look of confusion on each of our faces. Booming laughter erupted from downstairs. Nessie leaned away from us slightly and her eyes went from my face, to Rose's, to Alice's.
"What?" she asked.
"Nessie," Alice warned. "Have you been spending time with Uncle Emmett lately?"
Nessie's lips puckered and her eyes darted over to the door in false innocence. "Maybe," she sang. We all rolled our eyes and laughed—even Rose.
"Oh, Nessie," I sighed. "A feisty little thing you are."
She smiled widely. "That's what they tell me," she giggled, dancing out of the bathroom.
"Rosie? Would you mind going to get Jasmine's clothes for me?" Alice requested. "I slung them over a chair in my bedroom."
"As long as you never call me Rosie again, I'll be glad to do it," Rosalie responded. She capped the lip gloss that was in her hand, set it down on the counter, and glided out of the room.
"I'm gonna go get dressed," Alice said, already halfway to the door. "Do you think you can stay put until Rose gets back with your clothes?"
"Um… Yes?" I said, though it sounded more like a question. Alice gave me a short warning look before practically running out the door and down the hall.
I wasn't alone for more than a second before Rosalie came prancing back in to the room. She dropped several articles of clothing on my lap, smiled, and left just as quickly as she'd come, shutting the door behind her.
I shifted my weight to my right leg so I could stand up. In doing so, several things clanked to the linoleum floor. I sighed, put the clothes on the chair I'd been sitting on, and bent down to pick up whatever it was I'd dropped. My hand closed around the small items and I straightened back up. I unclasped my fist and saw a necklace with a small cluster of charms shaped like stars and hearts dangling from it. Next to that were three bracelets—one black, one silver, one white—with small hearts hung from them. At least this wasn't expensive, I hoped. Maybe Alice had been a bit more rational this time.
I put the jewelry down and changed into the clothing on the chair. I put the necklace on and pulled my seashell—that still rested in the crook of my neck—over it. I slipped the bracelets onto my right wrist and put the black and white sweater on over my short-sleeved white shirt. I slipped my feet into the simple slip on shoes and pulled the leg of my jeans down.
"You look great!" Alice squealed. I jumped about a foot in the air when I saw her—I hadn't even noticed her entrance.
"Thanks. So do you," I breathed, overlooking her small body. But then again, when didn't she look great? When didn't any of the Cullens look great?
I was glad to see that Alice had even kept it low-key on herself. She only wore a simple red shirt, grey jeans, and grey shoes.
"Alice, I have to say, I'm shocked," I teased. She looked at me questioningly. "No custom couture design from Paris?"
"No, I've worn all those already," she said thoughtfully. "But there is that new Marchesa dress I've been dying to wear. Oh, and those Christian Louboutin shoes that arrived last week. And of course there's the—"
"Alice, Alice," I said, trying to calm her before she started talking so fast that I couldn't understand her. "Calm, calm. I was just joking; I love it."
Alice beamed. "Oh, okay! We should probably get going soon. We've got a long drive!"
"Knowing your driving I don't think it'll take that long," I laughed, following her out of the bathroom. Alice slid down the long railing of the stairs and straight into Jasper's arms. He held her close to him and she stretched up to peck his cheek. Her lips parted slightly and I knew she was speaking to him, even if I couldn't hear it. Jasper smiled and whispered something back. I tried to slide down the railing like Alice had, but I fell forward halfway down.
"Whoa!" I screamed as I threw my hands forward to try and break my fall.
Of course, it just so happened that I was falling in the direction of a glass coffee table. Well, crap, here come more stitches. I closed my eyes tightly, brought my arms to my chest, and braced myself for the worst. I was so ready to feel the pain of the glass cutting into my skin but, instead, a pair of strong, warm arms caught me. I looked up and smiled at Seth. He sighed.
"What am I going to do with you?" he whispered, his nose skimming my jaw line. I brought my mouth to his and our lips moved in sync with each other, and I thought for the trillionth time how grateful I was to have him.
"How many times," Jasper sighed, clearly exasperated, "am I going to have to tell you two to break it up?"
I rolled my eyes and reluctantly pulled away from Seth who was smiling as if this amused him greatly.
"It's not like we're doing anything wrong," I protested. "You kiss Alice all the time."
"That's different," he said sternly. "Not only are we older, but we've been together for over eighty years and we're married."
I lifted my hand to show him the ring on my finger. I smirked as he flinched, as he did every time he saw the ring.
"It's still different," he murmured. Alice smacked him lightly on the arm and kissed him to silent him.
"Jasper," she said in a warning tone. He growled and sighed.
"Sorry," he muttered, though it was apparent he clearly didn't mean it. "Anyways, you should be more careful. That would've been a nasty fall."
I shrugged and walked over to him to give him a hug.
"I know you want to have my best interest in mind, but could you loosen up a bit? You know I won't do anything wrong," I said.
He sighed and patted my back. "I know, I know. I trust you."
"Ha, well I don't," Emmett said. "Do you not notice their make out sessions? It's only a matter of time until—"
"Emmett!" Esme snapped. "Show some respect." I threw a glare at Emmett and he pretended to cringe into the sofa, afraid, before rolling his eyes and putting an arm around Rosalie who was sitting next to him.
"C'mon!" Emmett argued. "Don't you think there might be a possibility that she might take after Rose a bit and—"
"Emmett!" everyone in the room scolded. He rolled his eyes and sank back into the couch.
"Just saying," he muttered.
I was about to throw the nearest thing to me at Emmett—a pillow—but Nessie walked slowly into the room, her head held low. She lifted her hand and wiped her eyes. She lifted her head a bit and smiled sadly through her evident tears, her reddened face flushing with embarrassment.
"Sorry," she whispered, wiping her eyes again. "Momma and Daddy just left."
I smiled apologetically at her. I knew it must hurt her to have her mom and dad away from home for such long periods of time. I walked over to her and gave her a squeeze.
"I'm already sad enough with my parents gone," she whispered in my ear. "What am I going to do without my big sister?"
Tears came to my own eyes as I heard her words. What am I going to do without my big sister? she'd said.
"You have Carlisle and Esme to take care of you," I reminded her, "and Granddaddy Charlie."
"But it won't be the same," she sobbed into my shoulder. I patted her back.
"It's okay, it's okay," I assured her. "Don't cry, don't cry."
"Sorry to break this up," Alice whispered, "but we should get going."
I gave Nessie's cheek one last kiss before I pulled away from her and wiped the tears away from her cheeks and eyes. She laughed sadly and wiped my tears away. I leaned down to kiss the top of her head, ruffled her hair, took Seth's hand, and followed Alice and Jasper toward the door. Emmett and Rosalie followed us.
"Goodbye!" Esme called.
"And good luck," Carlisle added.
Both of them stayed inside but Renesmee walked over to stand to the side of Alice's Porsche. Alice, Seth and I stepped into her car while Rosalie and Emmett hopped into the Jeep.
"All our things are in the Jeep," Alice said to me, "so don't worry about it."
I nodded and buckled my seat belt. I pushed a button to open the passenger window and waved to Nessie as we pulled out of the driveway. She waved back sheepishly. We'd only been driving for a few minutes (at over one hundred miles per hour, may I add) when I felt the need to break the silence.
"Alice?" I asked. "Who else is going to be rooming with us?"
Alice smirked at me. "You know what? I think I'll let that be a surprise for you."
I didn't plan on arguing. I supposed it would be fun to experience something like a normal person for once. So those were the last words said during our ride to Harvard, but the silence that followed was pure and blissful, for I knew I was in for some of the most amazing four years of my life.
Author's Note: Ello readers! ^^ Hope you liked the chappie! Anyway, for those of you who haven't read my last chapter (the VERY IMPORANT author's note) I suggest you read it and vote for your favorite! Also, I have that site up I promised you all so long ago! You can either click the link on my profile to go there or just type in the adress bar: . In a review, please tell me what you think about the people I chose for the characters and so on! Thanks! ^_^ ~April