Hey ya'll (and yes, I am justified in saying that!). I feel extra special because my family is from Texas, just like Jasper is from Texas! Yay! Anyway, I really had no idea what to do with this chapter, so I was like crap. Everyone is going to get mad because it's going to take me a long time to finish this chapter. So I sat down and busted this chapter out, and I actually had a lot of fun writing it! I hope you enjoy reading it.

~.~.~.~.~

The front door burst open as all the Cullen's (minus one) returned home. Alice and Rosalie walked quickly side by side towards the living room.

"She's really nice, I think," Alice quickly said to Rosalie as the walked. "I mean, I've never spoken to her, but she looks nice."

"Jasper seems to like her a lot," Rosalie responded inexpressively.

"Yeah, he'll be super happy with her." Alice threw her book bag carelessly onto the floor next to couch she sat in.

Rosalie smiled at Emmett as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and she quickly pecked him on the cheek before turning back to Alice with a serious face. "Did you see her boots?" she asked. Alice shook her head. "They were fabulous."

Emmett shook his head and chuckled. "You only approve of her because she has nice shoes?"

She broke away from his grip and took several steps away from him. "I'm not saying I approve of a relationship between them at all! I don't. It's dangerous for all of us, and I, for one, can't believe that Jasper would be willing to risk our safety for a little snack," she said coldly.

Alice looked at her with a frown. "A snack?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"We all know that's what she's going to end up being to him. He even knows it, I bet. But still he pursues her. " She crossed her arms over her chest and raised and eyebrow, smirking. "Someone should have told him not to play with his food," she laughed. Alice glared at her as she stood and bounced out of the room. Emmett looked at Rosalie disapprovingly. She rolled her eyes at him. "What?! You know it's true," she said defensively

Emmett sighed and shook his head at Rosalie, but smiled nonetheless, as he walked out of the room. Rosalie followed close behind. When they were at the bottom step of the stairs, in sight of the door, they both stopped and looked at Jasper as he walked in and shook himself off. He looked up at their unsmiling faces. "The rain picked back up," he mumbled. Rosalie smirked and Emmett raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

Rosalie shook her head at him. "Go get something to eat," she said coolly as she began walking up the stairs. "You're eyes are getting darker by the second. But I guess that's a good thing; means she's still alive." Jasper watched her as she walked up the stairs and out of sight.

"Sorry 'bout her," Emmett said shrugging. "You know Rosalie."

Jasper sighed and walked passed Emmett up the stairs and to his room. He flung himself on the couch and pushed his fist into his forehead. What was he thinking?! He shouldn't have offered to walk her home. He could've killed her!

But he didn't.

Maybe he really wasimproving! Maybe he could be around Anouk!

But maybe he shouldn't take the risk. He let out a frustrated sigh. Maybe he should make a list: pros and cons of getting close to Anouk. But he was afraid that the cons would outnumber the pros.

A light tap at the door brought him out of his frustrating thoughts. Without invitation the door opened and the person stepped in.

"Hi, Jasper!"

"Hello, Alice," Jasper sighed. She kneeled by his head and grinned at him.

"How was Anouk?"

"Fine."

"Are you going to walk her home again tomorrow?" she asked excitedly.

"No," he said. Alice's face fell. Jasper quickly explained. "I'm going hunting tomorrow."

Alice studied his face for a moment. "That's probably a good idea." Jasper didn't respond. She sat and stared at him for another second. "Why don't you play your guitar or something? I like when you do."

Jasper sighed again. "I don't feel like it."

"Please?" she begged. He turned his head towards her as she looked at him with pleading eyes. He sighed again.

"Not today, Alice," he said. She pouted her lips and stood up.

"You'd do it for Anouk," she muttered as she danced out of the room. Jasper shook his head as he reached behind the couch and pulled out his acoustic guitar anyway. He strummed random chords, hoping to get his mind off of things –well one thing in particular—but it was no use. He sighed yet again and put his guitar on the floor.

A day of hunting was just what he needed. He could quench his thirst, though it wouldn't truly satisfy him; he was almost positive blood from one specific person would ever be able to do that. He shook his head. He shouldn't think about such things.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Have a great day at school, sweetie!"

Anouk gave her mom a tight smile as she quickly looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was close enough to hear her enthusiastic mother. No one was; Anouk was earlier than usual. "Bye," she muttered before shutting the passenger door and walking away from the car. She sighed in relief; she had gotten through being dropped off by her mother without being embarrassed.

Her mother honked her horn four times, frightening Anouk and making her drop her folder. She cursed under her breath; she had spoken too soon. She leaned down and picked up her folder, but nearly dropped it again as she straightened up to face a smiling, smiling beauty.

"Hi Anouk!" she said happily as pushed some of her short dark hair out of her face.

"Uh, hello," Anouk responded hesitantly as she began walking slowly towards the school.

"I'm Alice," she introduced happily as she bounced alongside Anouk. Anouk chuckled awkwardly.

"I know," she said quietly, looking straight ahead. Alice bounced next to her in silence, and Anouk glanced at the silver Volvo where stood the rest of her family. The most beautiful girl in the school, Rosalie glared at her as they locked eyes, but looked away as the brawny one, Emmett, put his hand on her shoulder. Anouk looked back Alice, who was staring at her with a grin. Anouk smiled back self-consciously.

"Do you like Jasper? Like, like like?" she asked, her smile never faltering. Anouk stopped walking. Alice did, too.

Anouk narrowed her eyes at Alice, and Alice's smile faltered quickly, before Anouk broke into a crooked smile. "Wow," she laughed. "Sure don't dance around the subject, do you?"

Alice's face brightened once again, and she laughed, showing off her white teeth that were only a little whiter than her pale skin. "Nope," she said, smiling. They started walking again, and Alice watched her out of the corner of her eye, still smiling. "And you changed the subject. Do you?"

Anouk smiled, and let out an amused breath. "Hmm," she said, not giving Alice a straight answer. Anouk had been dancing around that same question the previous night and, truth be told, she hadn't been able to decide. He was a little reserved and awkward, and he looked uncomfortable around people. It wasn't until she had gotten to thinking about his perfect pale skin, gorgeous locks if honey-blonde hair, his slim but fit build, and his enticing baritone voice that she realized that if she could spend that much time thinking about him, she was being drawn to him like a magnet to a fridge. Maybe even stronger.

She felt she was justified in being completely engrossed with him (after thinking about him for so long, she had to look him up in the yearbook from the previous year, in which he looked completely perfect, of course). After all, how could she not be with his strong, masculine jaw line and soulful buttery eyes. And she did detect a slight (and completely melt-worthy) southern drawl when he spoke to her. She suddenly felt very lucky that he had offered to walk her home, and actually went into her house. She was actually quite excited to see him again today.

"He likes you, you know." Alice's voice brought her out of her thoughts, but as soon as she registered the words that Alice had said, she was sent into another world of thoughts. What?! He liked her? Anouk had never really had a crush or anything on a boy before, so she wasn't really sure how it worked. But from what she had seen from her friends, it wasn't supposed to happen that quickly. It brought new meaning to the words 'girl meets boy, girl likes boy, boy likes girl, they live happily ever after'. It wasn't supposed to be so easy, was it? "He's going to kill me for telling you, but I needed to get the ball rolling, you know?" Alice said happily. Anouk hadn't noticed they had entered the school, and had stopped walking. "It's so funny, because I always thought you weren't into high school boys . . . or boys at all!"

Anouk's eyes went a little wide, and she chuckled. "What gave you that idea?" she laughed, shocked at Alice's assumptions.

She shrugged one shoulder. "You never accepted the many offers the guys here gave you. Never seemed at all interested," Alice mused.

It was Anouk's turn to shrug. "Jasper's different," was all she offered.

Alice's face was beaming. "So you do like him already!"

"Already?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "I knew you would fall for him. I just didn't know when!" Anouk narrowed her eyes at Alice. But of course she knew that Anouk was going to fall for him! She'd seen him; who wouldn't fall for him?! "Oh!" Alice squealed. "You guys are going to be so happy together!"

Anouk shook her head at Alice. "Wait, Alice, just because we I maybe kinda like him" understatement of the year, "and he maybe kinda likes me . . ." (For some unimaginable reason, thought Anouk), "doesn't mean anything is going to happen. We probably won't 'get together'."

Alice's smile was replaced with a more serious, yet still amused, expression. "Yes you will," she argued, her head cocked to the side. Anouk looked at her with a confused expression. They stared at each other like that for a moment, when the bell rang. "Oh, well, we'd better get to class. Jasper's not here today, but he will be tomorrow and then we can this show on the road, right?"

"Uh," was Anouk response. She was disappointed that Jasper wasn't going to be in Calculus today; it was sure to be the longest class ever.

"Okay, well, I'll see you later!" Alice threw her arms around Anouk, who stood shocked as Alice enveloped her in a sisterly hug. Alice released her and inhaled as she pulled away. "Mm," she said, cocking her head to the side and with one final grin, danced down the opposite hallway to class.

Anouk stood motionless in the buzzing hall, looking at the place where Alice had stood. She quickly smelled her hair and walked to her Calculus class.

For the next classes of her day, Anouk couldn't help but to think about the odd conversation Alice had had with her. Was she telling the truth? Did Jasper want to be with her? Anouk didn't know anything about Alice, so for all she knew, Alice was just saying that he did so that Anouk would admit how she really felt about Jasper. But was Alice really that conniving?

And what if Jasper really did like her? Anouk had no idea how to go about this. She had never taken an interest in, well, anyone since her crush in 5th grade had moved away. She had grown up around the same people, there was nothing new for her to look at, so she had never really thought of any of the guys in town in a way other than friends. But now? Now she had no idea what she was doing.

Before she knew it, the bell for lunch to begin had rung. She absent-mindedly packed up her books and walked to the cafeteria. She bought an apple from the lunch line and sat down at the table her friends were already sitting at. She smiled at them as she sat down at the only available seat. She took a bite of her apple and looked around the room.

At the table across the room, Alice grinned and waved enthusiastically. Anouk glanced over her shoulder on both sides. Surely Alice wasn't waving at her. But no one else was waving back to her, so Anouk smiled with a confused expression and hesitantly waved back. Rosalie glared at her.

Anouk turned her attention back to the people at her table. Georgina was leaning towards her, smirking, resting her chin in her palm.

Anouk looked at her curiously. "Is there anything you'd like to tell us?" Georgina said suggestively.

"Um . . ." Anouk said, thinking of something that maybe she had forgotten to tell them. She came up empty. "I have a math test tomorrow?" she offered.

Georgina rolled her eyes. "And when were you planning to tell us about whatever is going on between you and Jasper?"

Anouk's eyebrows pulled together as she looked at Georgina. The other girls at the table turned to look at Anouk with smiles and wide eyes.

"What?" Anouk half-laughed. Had Alice told everyone that she liked him?! "There's nothing going on!"

"Psh." Georgina leaned back in her chair. "Don't lie! I saw him walking you home yesterday!"

Anouk let out a breath. "That doesn't mean anything!"

"Then why did he?"

Anouk faltered for a moment. "He . . . wanted to apologize for staring. And I apologized for snapping at him," she said quickly. "I really don't know how we ended up walking together."

Georgina rolled her eyes again. "So there's nothing going on between you two?" she asked, a little disappointed.

"Nothing," Anouk stressed. "We aren't even friends."

"Oh," she said. She was obviously disappointed. Anouk tried not to roll her eyes. It wasn't any of their business anyway. "Well, did he offer to walk you?"

"Yeah . . ."

Georgina's face brightened. "Then maybe he likes you!"

Anouk really did roll her eyes this time. "Nothing," Anouk repeated.

"Oh, come on," Jessica piped in. "Are you saying you wouldn't go for him if he liked you? Because if that's the case, then your, like, insane. He's one of the cutest guys here."

"Yeah, and the other cutest guys are his adopted brothers," Georgina said, raising her eyebrows.

"Leave her alone," Angela, a girl Anouk didn't know very well, said. "She obviously isn't interested."

"Come on, Anouk!" Jessica groaned. "You've gotta be interested in someone."

"Well, whoever it is," Anouk lied, taking a bite of her apple, "they obviously don't go to this school."

"You know what?" Georgina said. "We should all go down to La Push this weekend. I've got a couple of Quileute friends who would want to meet you Anouk."

"How do you know them?" Anouk questioned.

"Well," Georgina said, " I am half Quileute."

"Oh, yeah," Anouk said. "I forgot." Georgina rolled her eyes.

"So are you in?"

Anouk sighed. "I suppose. But just to hang out. I don't want you trying to set me up with anybody," she warned.

"Ugh," Georgina grunted. "Fine."

-.-.-.-.-.-

She stopped when someone fell in step with her. She looked up and took a deep breath. He was even more gorgeous than he was at lunch. She smirked. "You don't have to walk me home again, you know," she said as they continued walking.

"I know," Jasper said quietly. "But I . . . want to."

Anouk smiled to herself. "So . . ." she said somewhat awkwardly. "That math test was pretty brutal, huh?"

"Sure."

"Where were you yesterday?" she blurted out.

Jasper glanced at her. "I, uh . . . I had to . . . take care of a personal . . . thing . . ." Jasper rolled his eyes at himself. What a poor excuse.

"Oh," Anouk said, nodding. "Like what? Something to do with your parents? Your real parents, I mean."

"Uh, sure," Jasper said again.

"Sorry," Anouk faltered. "I-it's just I know your adopted and I just—"

"It's alright," Jasper assured. "But," he added quickly, hoping for closure on the subject of his absence, "I'd rather not talk about it."

Anouk nodded again. They didn't speak as they walked. In fact, they were almost halfway to Anouk's home before she spoke. "So . . . I had an interesting conversation with Alice," she said as she pushed some hair out of her face.

"Did you?" Jasper questioned. Great. Alice was getting involved.

"Yeah, and she told me something . . . kinda, erm, interesting."

"Did she?"

"Mhm," Anouk said, a little unsure about what she was doing. "She told me . . . well, she told me that you, um, liked me in a, you know, more-than-friends way . . ."

Jasper closed his eyes and sighed. "I knew Alice wouldn't keep her mouth shut."

Anouk looked at him shocked. "You mean she was telling the truth?" she asked amazed.

Jasper chuckled. "No, she wasn't lying."

"Oh," she said, smiling and looking away. They walked in silence for the rest of the way, Anouk wondering what happens now, and Jasper wondering what he should do. As they turned up her long driveway, she turned towards him. "So . . . what happens now?"

Jasper looked to the ground and sighed. "We can't . . . be together."

"Okay . . . you lost me." Anouk looked him, confused.

"It's wrong for me to feel this way," he muttered, barely audible. "Because of what I am."

Anouk let out an un-amused chuckle, though she tried to hide it. "What do you mean --"

"It's complicated," Jasper sighed.

Anouk looked at him, accusingly, smiling a little. "Only because you're making it complicated." They had reached the top of her driveway and had stopped walking. The happy feeling in Anouk's stomach had sunk into a feeling of she didn't much care for.

"I-I don't mean to hurt your feelings," Jasper added quickly, sensing the change in emotion. "It's just . . . I don't think it's the brightest idea if we . . ."

"You know what," she said smilingly, though her voice cracked. "It's fine. I understand, I guess." Jasper closed his eyes as he felt her disappointment, though she smiled. She was good at hiding how she felt. "Well, I guess I'd better get inside . . ." She smiled one last time and waved once, and pursing her lips, turned and walked into her house.

Anouk shut the door and leaned against it, closing her eyes. So this is rejection, she thought.She opened her eyes and trudged passed the living room, to the bottom of the stair. As she was about to climb the first step, she was stopped.

"Nook?" her mother said, emerging from the living room, holding two movies in her hand. "I was just about to pop in a movie. I haven't gotten my Brad Pitt fix in about a week. I was going to either watch Ocean's Eleven, or Meet Joe Black. Of course, I could always go for Interview with the Vampire; I do love that one. Want to help me choose?"

Anouk sighed, unenthusiastic about her mother's obsession with Brad Pitt. "I'm not really in the mood," she sighed. She smiled weakly before trudging up the stairs and into her room, where she threw herself onto her bed, looking up to the ceiling.

She should go apologize to all the boys she had ever turned down, after causing them this steadily increasing agony consuming her. Send them gift baskets.

My head, she thought as she put one hand on her head. My stomach. She held her stomach. My heart. She quickly put both hands over her heart, her eyes closed.

She finally understands the agony and defeat of rejection.

The sound of the chorus of Madonna's song Speed of Light burst interrupted Anouk's self-pitying thought. Without opening her eyes, she stretched her arm to reach her ringing cell phone. She flipped open her phone without checking her caller ID, and sighed into it before unenthusiastically saying, "Hello?"

"Anouk? Hey, it's Jessica!" a perky voice said on the other end.

"Oh. Hey."

"How are you?" she asked happily, though Anouk knew she wasn't interested.

"I feel as though my body is being dragged along the jagged rocks of the La Push beach over and over again, surrounded by bloodthirsty animals waiting to tear me up and devour me, while buzzards fly overhead, hoping the animals don't eat all of me so that they can pick apart my remains piece by piece," Anouk said miserably.

"Oh, are you sick or something?" Jessica asked without pausing.

Anouk sighed and sat up. "Yeah," she said, knowing that Jessica had no interest in how she was. "So, what's up?"

"Oh nothing . . ." Jessica said casually. "Just wondering of Mike's called you . . .?"

"Hmm," Anouk said, chewing her lip. "No, he hasn't. Why?"

Jessica breathed out a sigh of relief. "Well, I heard he was planning on asking you out again. And I was wondering if you were going to say yes?"

Anouk exhaled. "No," she said, still sadly. "No, I think I've had enough of boys . . . even though I haven't really gotten to experience the taste of a 'brand new flavor'. Or any flavor." She sighed again. There was only one flavor she wanted. "But whatever. Boys are overrated to me. You should ask Mike out."

Jessica laughed. "I don't like him like that!" she giggled. "Well, talk to you later! Bye!"

Anouk snapped her phone shut just in time to here her mother open the door. "Nookie?" she asked hesitantly. "What's the matter, baby?" Her mom sat down beside her on the bed and smiled at her.

"Nothing's wrong, Mom." Except the fact that someone just punched my heart several times. Or gave it a paper cut and pour lemon juice and salt on it. Anouk rolled her eyes at herself. Stop being so melodramatic!

Her mom looked at her in the eyes for moment, before putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "It's a boy, isn't it?"

Anouk shook her mom's hand off of her and stood up. "Mom!" she whined. "No, it's not! It's nothing."

"Alright, alright," her mom said, putting her hands up defensively. They were silent for a moment. "You're being 'safe' with him, aren't you?" her mom whispered.

"Mom!" Anouk yelled embarrassed. "It's not a boy! Now please leave. Now?"

Anouk sat down in a plush chair in the corner of her room as her mother shut the door behind her.

He had said 'Because of what I am'. What kind of excuse was that? Anouk felt insulted. If he was going to reject her, he ought to have given her a decent excuse that actually made sense! She rolled her eyes as she covered herself with a soft white blanket. She grabbed her book off the small table next to her and opened to the page where she left off.

Anouk's eyes shot open as the alarm next to her bed went off. She got up slowly from the chair where she had fallen asleep, and cursed herself for not moving to her bed as she stretched her back. She quickly changed and grabbed her book bag before hopping in her mom's car to be dropped off at school.

She barely made it on time. Mr. Dosee was about to shut the door before she ran in, pink-faced and breathing heavily. She smiled apologetically to her teacher and took her seat in the back. Jasper went rigid and leaned away from her slightly, his hands balled into fists.

Her blood was pumping through her like he had never heard before. She had obviously been running. Running too much. He wasn't sure if her could handle the quickened beats echoing in his ears.

Mr. Dosee had finished introducing the new unit a minute or two early, so the class was now talking amongst themselves. Anouk glanced at Jasper, who only seemed to have gotten more perfect overnight to mock her. She looked away.

He cleared his throat, but Anouk didn't look at him. "I don't think," he said slowly and softly, though his voice was strained, "that we should be friends."

Anouk looked at him, an eyebrow raised, annoyed. "I don't think we were friends to begin with."

Jasper looked at her with a hard expression. "Perfect."

Anouk glared at him. "Yeah, perfect." Jasper leaned back in his chair as the bell rang and watched Anouk quickly stand and walk swiftly out of the room. He let out a breath. It was better for her to be angry with him, and stay away, right?

He gathered his things and walked quietly out of the room.

The next day, they didn't speak to each other at all. Or glance at each other. Or acknowledge the other's existence. Or pretended not to, anyway. The scent of her blood was more poignant. Maybe it was because she was so mad at him, he thought.

His throat burned like no other that day. He was trying to control himself as much as he could, but he was sure he was going to snap at any second. As he walked down the hallway to the cafeteria, all he could think about was how important it was to control himself. He had to. For his family.

He walked without seeing, only noticing when someone passed very close to him as they walked to the cafeteria. His feet guided themselves. He collided with someone and instantly stopped breathing. No wait. He already wasn't breathing.

He clenched his teeth as tight as he could without breaking them as he saw who he had knocked over as she picked up her dropped folder. "Could you at least watch where you are going?" he asked, sounding annoyed as he kneeled down to help her pick up the papers that had flown out everywhere. "Any why don't you just put the folder in your bag? Why do you have to carry it everywhere?"

"I got it! I don't need your help," she said as she ripped the papers out of his hand and stood up. "And you were the one who wasn't paying attention."

They stood, looking at each other tensely for a moment before both turning to walk through the door to the cafeteria at the same time. They flinched away from each other and took a step back. They frowned at each other. Jasper held open the door. "Ladies first," he said stiffly and without smiling.

"Thanks," she said harshly and walked through the door. She plopped herself down at a table with her friends as Jasper walked to his usual table. Alice watched him, with pouted lips and narrowed eyes.

"Ugh," she said to him as he sat down at the table. "Why are you ruining this?" Jasper just rolled his eyes.

The next day was much of the same, without the run in before lunch. They completely ignored each other, much to Alice's disappointment. Jasper paid no attention to her; he was having a hard time keeping control lately. He felt like he could snap at any second, which made Edward very nervous; he was barely leaving Jasper's side to make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid.

He knew that if she was angry with him, it was safer. But he wanted her in every way. For a meal, for a friend, to be his inamorata; oh, especially that last one. Even when she was angry, she was perfect. The long locks that layered perfectly to frame her face looked soft and luxurious enough for him to fall asleep in, and he wanted nothing more to run his hands through the flawless waves. The dark color of her hair complimented her porcelain skin, making her features stand out. Her eyes were a light-brown color; almost like rich honey.

Her eyes. Usually people's eyes were a dead give-away about how they were feeling, but she hid her emotions well, when she wanted to. When he first met her, no matter how annoyed or angry she was about his cold attitude, her eyes never changed from that when she was not. If he didn't have his 'gift', he would have never known how annoyed she was with him in that first week.

Her lips were full, and when she wasn't smiling they pulled downwards, almost making it look like she was frowning. When her pale pink lips did open to smile, two rows of straight, even, white teeth gleamed. Her whole face brightened when she smiled. Her canines were pointed slightly, almost like a lesser version of the vampire's in the movies, though hers weren't menacing; they were perfect.

Though the most compelling thing to Jasper were her cheeks. Or, more specifically, her blush. He didn't know if he was so captivated by it because he knew it was the blood rushing to her face, or if he just thought she was beautiful. She always had a little rosiness to her cheeks; just a slight tint, sometimes not visible in the right light. But when she blushed, it turned to the most pleasant shade of pink he had ever seen, like that of a tea rose. When she blushed, Jasper wasn't sure what he wanted to do more; suck the color right of her or stoke her cheek.

And that was just her face! She was perfectly thin, and it was easy to see she was in shape; she had a flat stomach and long, tight legs, no doubt because of dancing. Though she was slim, she was in no way stickly; she had a subtle hourglass figure that extenuated her gracefulness in everything she did; though she did tend to drop her things a lot . . .

Her voice reminded him of the string section of a symphony, playing in perfect harmony with each other. Though he noticed when she was angry (like she had been when she confronted him on that previous Monday), one of the violinists in that symphony struck a wrong note, pressed too hard on the strings, or even broke a string.

"Please, stop," Edward whined in Jasper's ear. "This is worse than listening to Emmett think about Rosalie . . . or Rosalie think of herself. If you go on for one more second, I think I just might fall in love with her."

"I'm not in love with her," Jasper grumbled. Jasper glared at him as Edward raised an eyebrow.

"Yet," came Alice's sweet voice from across the table.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey guys!" Georgina said happily as she shut the door to her old VW Beetle. Anouk got out of the car hesitantly as she slid on her jacket. Two copper skinned guys swarmed around Georgina and hugged her tightly. "Gah!" she said as she tried to breathe. "Where's Paul? Did he come? He said he would!"

"Ah, keep your pants on, woman. He's almost here," one of them said.

"What is it you see in that guy, anyways," another said. "Why want him when you could have me?"

"I don't see anything in any of you," Georgina said, laughing.

"Who are you?" Anouk didn't realize he was talking to her until he waved a hand in front of her face. He laughed when Anouk jumped.

"Oh, that's Anouk!" Georgina shouted from where she was sitting; around a fire pit. The man in front of her turned back to Anouk.

"Uh, what she said," Anouk said softly. Anouk looked up at him. He was huge. Bigger than anyone he had ever seen. His black hair was cut short, and his muscular build was slightly intimidating.

He let out a deep chuckle and extended his hand out to her. "I'm Jared." He sent a friendly smile at her, which Anouk returned. She put her hand in his large one; her hands were average sized, though compared to his they looked tiny. The moment shook his hand, her eyes went wide and she pulled her hand away quickly.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked worriedly.

He smirked at her and tilted his head. "Yeah. Perfect. Why?"

"You feel like you're on fire!" she exclaimed. Jared barked a laughed. "Are you sure you're okay? You're not feeling faint or have the shivers or—"

"Healthy as a horse," he assured, still laughing. Anouk still looked skeptical, but smiled.

"Whatever you say . . ." she said as he led her away from the car and over to the fire pit. He sat down on a log and motioned for her to take a seat next to him. Anouk smiled and sat down. Across from them was Georgina, watching someone light the fire. On another log, perpendicular to the one she sat on, was the remaining Quileute, sitting calmly and quietly.

"That's Sam," Jared told her when he noticed her looking. "And there, lighting the fire, is Wilbur."

Anouk chuckled once. "Like the pig in Charlotte's Web."

Jared barked another laugh and Wilbur looked up at them, glaring at Jared. "She's the one who said it!" Jared laughed when he saw Wilbur's glare.

He turned to Anouk. "Hey," he greeted as the fire picked up. He stood and shook Anouk's hand. He wasn't nearly as big as Jared. "And the name's Wil."

"He wishes," Jared muttered, and Anouk laughed. Jared turned to her with a smile. "I have one question for you: Do you like s'mores?"

They spent about an hour laughing and joking around with each other; eventually, the one named Paul came, and took a seat next to Georgina. So far, the smallest was by far was Wil. The time passed as they ate s'more after s'more.

"Geez, what is that? Your fiftieth s'more, Jared?!" Georgina laughed as he put another marshmallow on his poker.

"This isn't for me! It's for Nookster here," he said smiling at her.

"Forget it Jared," Wil said, smirking. "She's not interested. You're obviously not her type."

"And what is her type," Jared joked. "The small scrawny guys?" Jared poked Wil in the side. Anouk chuckled and shook her head. Wil wasn't scrawny it all, but compared to the others, he looked very small and weak. Anouk could only imagine how fragile she looked next to them.

"Nah," Georgina said. "She into the pale, anti-social type. Right, Anouk? The Cullen boys?"

Paul, Jared, and Sam exchanged glances. Anouk pretended not to notice. "I am not!" Damn! She had almost forgotten about Jasper! Then Georgina had to go bring it up like that.

Georgina rolled her eyes. Anouk could feel her cheeks heating up, though she was sure no one would notice; it was already dark.

Anouk stood up to take off her jacket. She wasn't sure if it was the fire or Jared's unusually hot body temperature that was making her overheat. She set her jacket down before smoothing out her sweater and straightening her skirt and sitting down.

Paul let out a whistle. Anouk looked at him curiously. "You've got nice stems." Anouk's eyes went wide and Georgina slapped his shoulder. Everyone laughed.

"Um," Anouk said. "Thank . . . you . . .?"

"Like really. They go for miles."

"Okay, I get it," Anouk laughed, hiding her cheeks in her hands. She was really blushing. Georgina grumbled something to Paul that sounded like 'You weren't supposed to flirt with her!'.

Anouk rolled her eyes and stood up. "I should go . . ."

Everyone groaned. "No! Don't go because Paul's being stupid. He's always like that!" Jared whined.

Anouk laughed. "No, I really have to go. I have dress rehearsal for a performance."

"We don't have a performance," Georgina said, skeptically.

"We don't, but the class of little kids I teach do." Anouk took a step towards where everyone parked, but stopped. "Or not. I forgot I don't have a car," she groaned.

"I'll give you a ride," Jared offered standing up. Anouk smiled gratefully and nodded. They waved goodbye to everyone and walked over to Jared's old black car. Anouk got in the passenger side and shut the door. Jared smiled as he started the car and pulled out onto the street. He began driving towards town.

"So what happened to your car?" Jared said after a moment of silence.

Anouk ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "It's deceased. I need to take it to the mechanic, so there goes my college tuition."

"You know," Jared said. "I know someone who knows a thing or two about cars. He could probably fix it up for you for free."

"Really?!" Anouk said excitedly. "That'd be fantastic!"

Jared laughed. "Well, we wouldn't want you to give up your college education." They smiled at each other as he drove on. "So, pale, anti-social guys, huh?"

"Oh God," Anouk groaned. "Don't listen to Georgina. She has some strange delusion that I'm crushing on the Cullen's." One Cullen in particular, thank you for bringing it up.

"Eh," he said, smiling, obviously not believing her. "Which one is it? The big idiot?"

"No, I'm pretty sure he's with the blonde bombshell who glares daggers at me," Anouk laughed, not minding the insults to the Cullen's. Anyone connecting back to Jasper was a sore spot for Anouk.

"Ah, then the pompous and bored-looking one? Edward?" he offered.

"I've never said two words to the guy."

"So then the weird one, eh? The one who always looks like he's in pain?"

Anouk laughed. "He is weird, isn't he?" Telling her he liked her but that he couldn't be with her. Weird. Saying he couldn't be with her because of 'what he was'. Weird.

"Don't tell me it's the doctor!" Jared exclaimed.

"No!" Anouk laughed. "Besides, he's happily married."

"So, then. It's not the pea-brained giant, or the pompous one, or the weird one, or the doctor," Jared said. He obviously had something against them. "It's not one of the girl's is it?"

"No!" Anouk laughed. That was the second time that week someone accused her of that. "It's none of them!"

"Okay, okay," Jared sighed. "I believe you."

They drove in silence for a moment, but Anouk broke it. "He's not that weird," she muttered, barely audible.

Jared obviously heard, because he laughed awkwardly. "The weird one."

They had pulled down the street of the small dance studio, and Jared pulled over in front of it. Anouk smiled and opened the door as she stepped out. "Thanks for the ride," she said to him as she went to shut the door.

"Hey, wait!" he called after her, and she leaned back into the car. "I'll see you 'round, okay?"

Anouk rolled her eyes. "Yeah," she said as she smiled. "Bye." She shut the door and watched as Jared pulled out onto the street again and zoomed away.

She rolled her eyes as she entered the studio. He wasn't that weird.

~.~.~.~.~

So there it is! I'll have you know, it's twenty pages when I typed it up, and I shortened it quite a bit! I hope you liked it. Like I said before, it might be awhile before the next one gets out, so bear with me! Oh, and leave comments please, or it will take me longer. I need encouragement. Seriously, it's not that hard to leave a comment.