~.~.~.~.~

The week passed faster than Anouk would have liked. It was now the next Monday, and she was sure it was going to be her unlucky day again, for the third year running.

It was raining, as usual. But today, it seemed to match Anouk's mood perfectly. She looked at herself in the reflection of the mirror; she had woken up early today, and had taken extra care to look her best today. Her dark hair was down, in its natural waves; the orange headband she wore in it contrasted beautifully. Her thick, dark leggings elongated her legs even though she was wearing grey knee socks over them. Her grey sweater fit her perfectly, and matched perfectly with her skirt. She checked her watch and sighed. Her mother would be making breakfast now.

She walked out the bathroom and down the stairs while pulling on her black coat. The one she'd worn for two years. The lining inside was ripping, and the pockets had holes in them, but on the outside it looked impeccable. "Morning, Mom," she said quietly as she sat down at the table. Her mother had obviously not gotten any sleep; she never did before this day. Her eyes were red from tears.

"Good morning, Nookie." Her mother kissed her on the top of the head and sighed. She set a plate of eggs on the table in front of her. Anouk picked at them with her fork, but did not take a bite. "I think you should stay home today."

"Mom," Anouk whined. "Not this again. I'm going to school."

"I'm worried about you," her mother said. "You are always so sad on this day. Maybe we could go to the city, and get you a new coat."

Anouk didn't look at her mother. She pushed her plate forward and replaced it with a book. She opened it and began to read.

"Anouk?" her mother said, trying to coax a response out of her.

"I don't want a new coat."

"It's getting so old—"

"Dad gave me this coat." Anouk didn't look up from her book, but her mother knew she wasn't reading. Anouk sighed and looked at her mother. "I'm going to school now."

"Anouk, please stay," her mother pleaded gently. Anouk had a feeling that her mom wasn't asking her to stay for Anouk's sake, but for her own. She didn't want to be alone. But Anouk was already putting on her boots by the door.

"Bye, Mom!" she called pleasantly in spite of herself. She walked into the rain and over to her car. It was old; the key always got stuck in the lock, and it took a little extra effort to get the car started, but it hadn't failed her yet. She jammed the key into the ignition and turned it. "Come on. Start," she mumbled as she tried to get the car running a couple times. "Come on, come on, come on . . . Yes!"

She pulled out of the driveway and drove to school as fast as her little car would let her. When she pulled into a parking spot at school, she sat in her car for a few minutes before taking a breath and opening the door.

"Hi, Anouk," Georgina said sympathetically. Anouk nodded to her friend as Georgina put her arm around Anouk's waist and began pulling her towards the school.

"See you at lunch," Anouk said softly as they separated and she walked into her calculus class. She wasn't as early as she thought; nearly the entire class was full. She walked swiftly to her seat in the back.

Jasper was the last person into the classroom and he gracefully walked to his seat. Mr. Dosee walked in and shut the door. He began his lecture as Jasper doodled on his notebook.

He looked up slowly as he sensed an overwhelming amount of sadness. He looked at Anouk. She pretended not to notice as she looked down at her paper.

What could cause her to be so sad suddenly? Jasper remembered what Edward had said about what she was thinking last week. About how she was going to get through this week. Jasper wanted so bad to know why now; he regretted not asking Edward before.

He tried to make her feel a little more at ease, but it didn't seem to be working much. Perhaps if he just touched her shoulder. . .

Jasper stopped himself before he reached over. That was a bad idea. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, then turned in her seat so she wasn't facing him. Jasper sighed and looked away.

The rest of the day passed slowly for Anouk. She failed a test, and got in trouble for not paying attention in almost every class. Someone broke the strap of her bag, and she lost all her papers for English; in which they were oh so conveniently studying Emily Dickinson, the poet who loved to write about death.

Lunch was infuriating. To say the least.

He had no reason to do it. To stare at her so frequently that she felt like she couldn't breath without being noticed. It made her uncomfortable, and irritated. And yet, like he had been doing for the past two weeks, Jasper Hale . . . Cullen . . . whatever he went by was staring at her as she didn't eat her lunch.

"Anouk . . ." Jessica said smiling. "He's staring at you agai—"

"I know," Anouk snapped. Several of the girls began to turn around to see for themselves. "Don't look," Anouk hissed. They slowly turned back around and looked at each other with worried glances.

"How's your day been, Nook?" Hallie asked sweetly.

"Fine," she responded flatly, not looking at Hallie's face. They sat in silence for five minutes, not knowing how to respond to Anouk's coldness. Anouk glanced to the Cullen table. "Is he still staring at me?!" she whispered angrily, finally looking at her friends' faces.

Jessica, who was sitting on the side of the table that faced the Cullens, looked up. "Yeah."

Anouk exhaled angrily. "This is ridiculous!" She stood up and grabbed her bag.

"Where are you going?" Georgina asked, confused.

"He can't keep staring at me! It's annoying." Anouk huffed and walked quickly over the Cullen table. No one was watching her as she approached, not even Jasper, who was conveniently looking out the window facing opposite of her. Several of the Cullens turned to her as she approached the table.

"Incoming," Edward muttered to Jasper, nudging him. Anouk stopped in front of Jasper and crossed her arms. He looked up at her.

"Um . . ." he said quietly. "Hi?"

Anouk rolled her eyes. "What is your problem?!"

Jasper didn't move a muscle and kept his face expressionless. "I don't have one."

"Well, you must, to find me so entertaining that you watch my every move!" she said feverishly. Jasper studied her face; her cheeks had turned slightly pink, giving her a natural blush, making her look even more picturesque than usual. He gazed at her transfixed, until she pursed her lips, waiting for an answer. He opened his mouth to speak, but someone cut him off.

"We're going to go, Jasper. We'll see you later . . ." Rosalie said as the other four stood to leave.

Anouk scowled and shook her head. "No, that's okay," she said. "I'm leaving now. So you can go back to being you're little anti-social, we're-too-good-for-everyone clique." Her voice got higher and she was talking faster; she was getting hysterical. She looked at Jasper, pleadingly. "Just stop! Okay?"

Jasper sent a wave of calm towards her. She relaxed a little before storming out the door that led outside.

"What . . .?" Emmett said, confused but smiling. Jasper turned towards him a smirked a little. He was amused, but the amusement was subdued due to his curiosity as to why she was so on edge today.

-.-.-.-.-.-

She turned the key again, and bit her lip as the car tried to start, making unhealthy noises. The rain had stopped but the sky was still dark with clouds and she knew it would start raining any second. She released the key and closed her eyes, taking a breath before trying again. The car made the same noise, and didn't start. She released the key again, only to turn it once more, holding it there and letting the loud noise continue.

"Please, don't do this to me . . . not today . . . please. . . " she muttered as she continued to hold the keys. She released it and pulled the keys out of the ignition. Throwing them on the dashboard, she gripped the steering wheel and rested her head on it, closing her eyes, frowning. "Of all the days . . ." she mumbled to herself, angry. She sat in that position for several minutes, wondering how everything could have gone so bad. She remembered this day three years ago, when she got home from school . . . she was terrified to see what horrific scene would await her there this year.

A few tears threatened to fall, but before they could, someone tapped on her window. She didn't look up immediately. She made sure the tears wouldn't come first. She looked up expressionlessly, though her mouth fell open a little when she saw who it was. She opened the door, but did not get out.

"Having car trouble?" Jasper asked, smiling faintly.

"It won't start," she grumbled, barely moving her lips, and not taking her eyes away from his. He put his arm on the open door, resting all his weight on it. He frowned at the sadness radiating off of her.

"Would you like a ride?"

She chuckled in disbelief, shaking her head as she reached into the back seat of her car, grabbing her school bag. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't think your brothers and sisters would like that much. Not after what I said to them earlier . . ." she said as she stood up out of the car. Jasper tensed as she became closer to him. "I shouldn't have said that. Will you tell them I'm sorry?"

Jasper's mouth twitched into a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. He was still very tense as he took a step away from the car. "You don't need to apologize. It's true . . . we keep to ourselves."

"Still," she said as she slammed shut the tan door of her car, "I shouldn't have said it the way I did." She shifted her mouth from side to side a couple times before turning away from Jasper and walking away from her car.

"Where are you going?" he asked before she got too far. She stopped and turned around to face him.

"I've got to get home somehow."

"You're walking?" She nodded once and turned to continue walking. Jasper pursed his lips, thinking. He didn't want her to leave just yet . . . there was something he had to know. He walked quickly to catch up to her, slowing only when they were side by side, though there were a good five feet between them.

She turned her head to look at him, but didn't stop walking. "What are you doing?"

Jasper turned to her. "You won't let me give you a ride. At least let me walk you home," he explained unsmiling and still very tense. He didn't know what he was thinking, but the opportunity was presented so perfectly to him; how could he resist?

She narrowed her eyes at him. "It might rain."

"Rain doesn't bother me." She shrugged and watched her feet as she walked. They walked for a minute in silence, glancing at each other a few times. "So, tell me about yourself," Jasper said as he put his hands behind his back, standing stiffly and formally, trying to make conversation.

"Um . . . there's not much to know . . ."

Jasper made a face and shook his head slightly. "I don't believe that for a moment," he said. He waited for an instant to see if she would answer. When she didn't provide him anything, he asked her, "What do you like to do? Your hobbies."

She smiled at the ground. "I dance."

Jasper let out a breath. "Everyone knows that. What else?"

She looked the sky as se tried to think of something else. "I like to read," she offered.

"What do you read?"

She looked at him. "Books." She smiled a little before facing forward. "And what about you, Mister Mystery? What do you do for a hobby?" she asked, the edges of her mouth still pulled up.

"I like to do a lot of things . . ."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be difficult. Do you like to read?"

"Yes," he responded, almost completely void of emotion.

"What do you read?"

"Books," he teased, and she shot him a playful glare. They walked a little while longer in silence, neither one of them looking at each other, but at the ground in front of them. Some of the sadness she had been feeling had been washed away thanks to Jasper; though he didn't know if it was all because of his powers. Maybe she was starting to feel better, even without his influence. "You seem to be feeling better than earlier . . ." he ventured to say. He wasn't used to having casual conversations with people, and he wasn't exactly sure how to go about it.

She cringed. "Yeah . . . I'm sorry about that," she said, blushing. Jasper watched her cheeks intently as they heated up. With blood. He walked a little closer to her. "I was getting a little hysterical, and I don't exactly think straight when I am hysterical."

Jasper straightened up, becoming even stiffer as he realized how close he had gotten. He returned the original distance. He had to figure out something, and to do it he couldn't get distracted. "And why were you so beside yourself?"

He felt the sadness and sudden burst of panic rush through her quickly. He quickly calmed her, and she smiled awkwardly at Jasper. "A couple years ago, my dad died on this day," she said quietly, looking away from Jasper as she brushed a bush of flowers she passed.

"I'm sorry . . ." Jasper said slowly after he reacted to what she had said. Edward was right when he said it was personal. "It wasn't my intention to pry." Lie. "I apologize if I made you feel worse by bringing it up," he added, feeling another burst of sadness. He sent her waves of a more cheerful feeling.

She chuckled slightly. "Don't worry about it," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "It's not like I had forgotten and you reminded me of it. I think I'm kind of lucky. I only feel super horrible on the anniversary, and at other times I'm fine. One day a year of depression I can handle. It's become my unlucky day." She chuckled again. Jasper looked at the ground again. He didn't smile. He was tense as a breeze passed, blowing her scent in his direction. She must have noticed because she said, " Are you alright? I didn't mean to make you feel awkward."

"I'm fine," he assured in a small voice, as he tried not to breathe too deeply even though the breeze had passed. "So it's your unlucky day? Was it a bad one?"

She cocked her head to the side as she looked at him thoughtfully. "It's not so bad anymore." She began to smile but stopped herself. "I feel a lot better with you around." She immediately looked away and blushed again. "I mean," she added quickly, "not as sad. Like, when you are around I can't focus on the sad stuff." More blood to her cheeks. "What I mean to say is that," she paused, contemplating what to say without embarrassing herself. "Well, I'm not sure. But in Calculus, and now, I was feeling the usual distress that comes on this day, and then you came in and it just . . . disappeared. Or was less prominent, anyway."

Jasper smirked to himself. So it had worked earlier. She made a face at herself, clearly embarrassed. Another breeze passed, stronger this time, and the scent was even more noticeable. He went very rigid. He had to control himself. Get his mind on something else, as Alice told him to do once. "How did he die?" he asked, in a strained voice. She quickly looked at him and then away, unsmiling. Maybe that was the wrong question to ask.

"He was attacked by and animal." She shook her head angrily. "In our own home. Of course, I don't know which animal. If they ever found out, they never told Mom or Oliver or me."

Jasper didn't respond, sensing how touchy the subject was getting for her. For the first time, he took in his surroundings. They were headed away from town, to a more secluded part of the area. If he hadn't known any better, they would have been headed to his house, but then they turned down a different street, just as empty, lined with nothing but green trees and haze. They walked further down the road before turning down a nearly hidden one. It looked the same as the last.

"Who's Oliver?" Jasper asked curiously while trying to change the subject.

She smiled, but it faded, and Jasper knew she was still upset about the previous conversation. "My brother, the artist," she said half-mockingly. "He's a photographer."

"An artist and a dancer," Jasper mused. "A family of the arts?"

Anouk snorted. "Hardly. I don't know where we got our artistic genes. My mom's best drawing was a stick figure, and she's got two left feet." Jasper didn't miss how she left out her father.

"Does your brother go to our school?"

"No, he graduated when I was in eighth grade. He lives in San Francisco."

"Hey goes to school there?" Jasper asked curiously.

"Yeah . . ." Anouk responded glancing at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Where do you want to go to school?"

She looked at him, her eyebrow raised, with an amused expression. "What's with the third degree?" She shook her head at him, clearly amused, then looked ahead.

Jasper didn't respond, only smiled quickly as they continued walking down the empty street. They walked in silence for the rest of the way, turning several times at a fork in the road, silently glancing at each other. Jasper spread calm and relaxing feelings between them, though sometimes he noticed a sudden outburst of sadness from her. Once he thought he felt excitement. But he couldn't be sure.

As he was sure they got closer to her house, a different emotion came through- fear. He dismissed it at first. They turned up her long, winding dirt driveway and walked to her house. It was average sized and though it was older, it was impeccably cared for. It looked to be from the 20's, updated with a new paint of coat perhaps. It was surrounded by greenery and had many windows

She stopped 20 feet from the house. "Well, here we are," she said, looking at the door. Jasper was sure he felt the fear this time. "I feel like I should invite you in or something. You did walk all the way here with me."

"That's not necessary," he said with a nod.

She nodded her head in return and took her keys out of her bag as she walked to the front door. She shoved the key in the lock and turned it, but before she opened the door, she turned back to Jasper. "Are you sure you don't want something to drink, or whatever?" she asked, longing to keep him there a little longer. She craved his presence, as if it would make everything so bad about this day so much better.

They looked at each other for a few seconds in silence. "Aright," he finally said. "I'll come in."

Neither one of them smiled or even looked at each other as she opened the door. She let him enter first. She gently closed the door and dropped her stuff on a dark blue uholstered bench in the hallway.

It was spacious, clean; a fresh light blue was splashed on the walls with white trim and dark wood floors.

She led him into the kitchen, and he sat down at a dark wooden table as she walked over to the fridge. She pulled out a carton of milk. "What do you want?" she asked before she shut the fridge.

Jasper didn't want anything. He didn't need anything. "Water is fine."

She closed the fridge and pulled two glasses out of the wood framed-glass cupboards. She filled one with filtered water, and the other with milk. She put the milk away and brought the drinks to over. She handed the water to him, and sat down with her milk. She looked at him taking in his blonde hair, pale skin, butterscotch eyes, strong jaw line. Everything about him was impeccable and perfect.

He stared back at her light brown eyes. A rush of longing passed through both of them, hitting Jasper with full force. He let out a breath. He hadn't realized he wasn't breathing. He took another breath; the whole house smelled like her. Great. Just what he needed.

"I should go." He stood and took a sip of the unneeded water and began walking out of the room

"Wait!" she said quickly before he walked out of the room. He stopped and looked at her curiously. She was standing now. She bit her lip.

"Yes?"

She shook her head slightly, more at herself than at him. "Um, I'll see you at school." He nodded at her, and they looked at each other motionlessly before he turned and walked out of the kitchen. He didn't breath until he had gotten out of the house; he hadn't realized he stopped breathing again. He walked to the end of the driveway before breaking into a fast run through the trees, towards his home.

Anouk stayed standing in the kitchen, taking deep breaths and biting her lip. There was something about him. How was it that he made her forget how horrible today should have been? Made her forget the sadness altogether? And she hadn't missed that surge of . . . whatever it was she felt. He must have felt it, too. The whole room was filled with it. But it left with him, and Anouk wasn't sure if she was happy or not about that.

She sighed as the calmness faded away and her eyes flickered to the family photo that hung over the table. She breathed again before dumping the two cups in the sink and walking up the stairs to her room. She flung herself on her bed. She looked at the ceiling, her thoughts drifting back to the mysterious Jasper Hale.

He definitely wasn't like other guys . . .

~.~.~.~.~

Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter! I just realized how long this story is going to be . . . so I hope I don't loose some of you guys along the way!

So, does anyone have and questions? Any ideas for what you want to see happen? Characters you want to see more of? Anything at all? You know what to do!

PS the next update may take a little longer . . . I'm sorry