Alright. I know I am in big trouble with you guys. I am so sorry about the horrifically long wait. I've had a lot of stuff going on with school and myself lately, and I've really been trying to get everything sorted out. So please Enjoy this chapter

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Anouk woke up the next morning slightly dazed. She was still in her clothes from the night before – her sweaty and mismatched shorts with tights underneath and T-shirt—and her hair was stuck to the side of her face. As soon as she figured out where she was, she shot out of bed (which was still neatly made) and ran to the full-length mirror that hung on the back of her closet door.

She looked at herself, slightly shocked. Not at her reflection, but at the fact that the previous night had not, no matter how much it seemed like it could have been, been a dream.

It really happened. She and Jasper were together. Officially an 'item', as Jessica would say.

This was the first relationship Anouk had ever been in. And it was with a vampire.

"A perfect vampire," Anouk mumbled as she ran her hands through her hair, trying to get it to stop sticking up in certain places. When she decided she fixed it as much as she could, she sighed and opened the closet door, rummaging through her clothes to find something decent to wear.

She paused. What should she wear? She wanted Jasper to think she looked good. . . But he didn't seem to mind my dance clothes . . . plus I doubt that sort of thing matters to him . . . she thought to herself.

Still, she didn't want to look like a slob next to his perfect self. She had to get as close as she could to his perfection.

After emptying all her clothes onto the floor of her bedroom, she settled on some light grey skinny jeans and a charcoal sweater. She pulled on an off white blazer. She looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced.

She looked so plain. At least she would next to Jasper.

She opened her closet door and pulled out a pink scarf and wrapped it lazily around her neck.

"Well, I suppose it's as good as it's going to get," she muttered, frowning slightly. She pulled on a fresh pair of socks and opened the door to walk downstairs. Anouk gasped when she saw her mother standing in her doorway, getting ready to knock.

"Oh, sweetie, you're late!" she exclaimed. Anouk raised her eyebrows and dove across her bed to snatch her phone. She looked at the time. 7:57.

School started in three minutes. And she didn't even have her shoes on. Anouk grabbed her book bag from the floor, before racing downstairs to put her boots on, nearly falling over in the process.

"Here, take the car," her mother said, throwing her the keys. Anouk caught them as she slid her foot into her boot.

"Bye!" she called before running out the door. She smoothed out her jacket as she walked to the black Jeep Grand Cherokee her mother drove. She looked up from her jacket and nearly dropped the keys to the car.

Leaning up against a shiny, silver, new BMW M3, smirking slightly at Anouk was Jasper.

"U- uhh—Hi," she stuttered, blinking a few times.

Jasper's smirk became more pronounced and he nodded. "Hello."

Anouk let out a breath, laughing slightly. "What are you . . .?"

"Let's go get some coffee," he said as he nodded for her to follow him.

Anouk smiled unsurely as she ran her hand through her hair, just in case she hadn't smoothed it out enough. "School starts in like . . . thirty seconds," she practically whispered as she looked at him with an amused expression.

"I know," Jasper said, returning the look. "And there is a coffee shop in Port Angeles where you can get a bagel or something to eat, too."

Anouk looked at him with narrowed eyes, smiling. "Okay," she agreed, slightly dazed. She began walking over to his car, but stopped when she remembered her mom. "Wait, let's take this car. My mom thinks I'm taking it to school."

Jasper nodded and walked over to Anouk, and taking the keys out of her hands, gently guided her to the passenger side of the car. He opened the door for her and gestured for her to get in.

"Okay, you drive," she agreed as she sat down and he smirked as he shut the door. He appeared on the driver's side, and smoothly got in. He started it, and turned around before driving down her driveway and pulling into the street. Anouk watched him still dazed, though now amused as well.

They didn't talk on the way to Port Angeles, but it was anything but awkward, and though Anouk usually drove pretty fast , she had to admit she was slightly intimidated when she looked at the speedometer and realized they were going much faster than Anouk thought her mom's car could handle.

They eventually pulled up to a cozy coffee shop that was connected to a small bookstore. Before Anouk had finished taking off her seatbelt, Jasper had opened her door for her. Anouk blushed slightly as she stepped out.

Was it fair that her first boyfriend was a perfect gentleman?

Jasper smiled at her as he motioned for her to follow him, and side-by-side, they stepped into the warm shop. There weren't many people—something very unusual for a coffee shop at 8:45 in the morning—and Jasper led her to a two-person table near the back corner.

Anouk smiled at him before looking at the board that had written everything they served. Anouk decided on getting a vanilla latte and a cranberry muffin. Cranberry muffins reminded her of her grandmére—she sent Anouk and her mother them often from France.

"Hey! I'm Lana," the waitress said as she approached their table. "What could I get for ya?"

Anouk opened her mouth to order but it was Jasper who spoke. "She'll have a vanilla latte and a cranberry muffin, please," he told her. The waitress wrote it down and smiled before walking away. Anouk looked at Jasper with raised eyebrows.

Jasper chuckled. "Alice," he told her. Anouk didn't understand at first, but then remembered that Alice could see the future. Anouk chuckled too, and nodded. "Did you sleep well?"

Anouk smiled at him and nodded. "I was pretty tired. I fell right asleep. I didn't even change my clothes or eat dinner. Which is why I probably look a mess right now," she chuckled.

Jasper smiled and shook his head. "You look wonderful."

Anouk blushed and laughed once quietly dropping her gaze for a moment before looking back into his butterscotch eyes. God, HE looked wonderful. Had his hair always been so perfectly messy, like he had just run his hand through it?

Lana the waitress soon brought Anouk her coffee and muffin, and Jasper and her chatted while she finished eating. Anouk tried so hard to absorb everything he said to remember his thoughts, to remember his voice. Why wouldn't she want to; everything he said came out in his smooth baritone voice. Which was perfect. Especially when that accent slipped . . . it was subtle though, only apparent when he said certain words. She loved it.

They continued walking through the downtown area of Port Angeles. They talked a lot, mostly asking each other questions. Anouk wanted to know about his vampirism, but knew she couldn't exactly say, "So since you are a vampire, do you do this," in the middle of a crowded shop, so they settle for a code.

"I thought blueberry muffins had fangs," Anouk joked, laughing at the ridiculous code word. She mentally shrugged; it had been the first thing she saw.

"Yours are bigger than mine," Jasper joked back and Anouk glared at him playfully.

"I do not have fangs!"

Anouk didn't realize that she was hungry until she saw what time it was. It was nearly two o' clock when she saw the time. Seeing her look at the clock, Jasper also looked at it, and sighed. " Well, I suppose we should go back." They started walking towards the car when Anouk's stomach grumbled, making her blush, and they both laughed. "Perhaps we should get you something to eat first."

After eating they set off on there quick drive home. Very quick drive home. Anouk was sure her mom's car was going to fall apart at any second. They pulled into Anouk's driveway and Jasper opened her door for her. They looked at each other smiling for a moment.

"I—" Anouk began but stopped when her mother pulled up in her coworker, Dave's car.

She got out of the car, already talking to Anouk. "I thought I would beat you home," she laughed. She looked up at her daughter, standing next to Jasper, and pursed her lips for a second. "Oh. Hello."

"Hello," Jasper responded, slightly amused. He was about to introduce himself but was cut off.

"Anouk. Bring in the groceries, please. And then clean your room. And then do your homework. And then you need to . . ." her mother said as she walked to the trunk of the car and unlocked it. Anouk almost rolled her eyes. Her mother was trying to keep her busy because she didn't want her to be hanging out with a guy. "You need to do the dishes."

"Okay," Anouk said, forcing a smile. Her mother didn't show signs of leaving into the house, so Anouk turned to Jasper and smiled apologetically. "See you tomorrow."

Anouk walked over to her mother and picked up the two grocery bags she had in the trunk as Jasper walked towards his car. He glanced back at her and smiled at her, nearly making Anouk drop the groceries.

Anouk did everything her mother told her to do. Cleaned her room, did her homework, and did the dishes. They were now sitting at the dinner table, eating silently the nutritious meal her mother had made.

"I got a call from the school today . . ." her mother said. "They said you weren't in school today. But I told them it was a mistake. I saw you drive you school. You went didn't you?"

Anouk looked up at her mother, and forced a smile. "Have I ever ditched before?"

Her mother smiled back, though Anouk felt it was just as forced as hers was. "No. No you haven't."

Anouk's phone vibrated and she took it out of her back pocket. Flipping it open, she saw she had a text message. From Jared.

Hey, movie Saturday? 5:30? Sound good?

Anouk started choking on the bite of food she had in her mouth. She quickly grabbed her water and took a sip of it to help her stop coughing.

She had forgotten about Jared.

And she couldn't cancel on him! That wouldn't be nice to do to him. .. so she reluctantly pushed the respond button and texted back: Sounds like a plan.

She felt like she was doing something wrong . . . she would tell Jasper tomorrow that she was hanging out with Jared on Saturday. That should make her feel a little better.

If only one person thought they were on a date, did it count as one?

Anouk excused herself and put her dishes in the sink before rushing upstairs. She sat on her window seat, looking distractedly out the window. She felt horrible for agreeing to go out with Jared. She was just leading him on. But it would come and pass quickly enough. Then she never had to deal with this again.

Anouk was brought out of her thoughts when she saw someone outside in the backyard. When she saw whom it was she jumped up and stared out the window, shocked.

It was the little girl. And she was grinning up at Anouk happily, though it had a sort of creepy edge to it.

Anouk rushed down the stairs and outside, not bothering with her shoes. She ran up to the girl, and she smiled at Anouk.

"You're okay," Anouk said, slightly relieved. Anouk looked confusedly at the girl. "Who are you?"

The girl giggled and twirled around. "My name's Anouk! I like to dance!" she laughed. Anouk narrowed her eyes. Was this some sort of joke? "And I'm in big, big trouble," she added darkly, though she was still smiling.

"What?" Anouk said, more to herself than the girl. "That's not your name, it's mine. What's you real name?"

"Annelise," she whispered. "But SHH! It's a secret, okay?"

"I'm in big trouble?" Anouk asked. "With who?

Annelise put she finger to her lips and shushed again. "It's a secret!" Annelise was about to run into the woods again, but Anouk grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards the house.

"You can't go in there. I'm going to take you home, okay?" Anouk said, looking at Annelise in the eyes.

"That is my home!" she shouted. "Let me go!"

"I can't let you go in there! There are dangerous things there!" Anouk threw her arms theatrically into the air, her eyes wide. "Monsters!"

"Nuh uh!" the girl said stubbornly before trying to break free of Anouk's grip. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" As the girl yelled, Anouk looked back to the house cautiously, afraid her mother would get angry about the noise.

Annelise's struggles did not loosen Anouk's grip, and they continued towards the house. "NO!" she shouted. Anouk looked down at her in time to see her sink her teeth into Anouk's arm.

"OW!" Anouk shouted, letting go Annelise to hold her arm. Annelise ran into the trees before Anouk could stop her. Anouk made a face after her as she disappeared into the darkness before turning her attention to her arm, which now had little teeth marks in it.

Looking to the trees again before turning around, Anouk walked back to her house, shaking her arm out as she did so.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Anouk was only slightly uncomfortable with the stares as they entered Calculus together the next day. She was preoccupied thinking about what had happened the previous night to worry about what the others thought.

Jasper watched her as they sat down; Anouk was concentrating very hard, and didn't notice the worried glances Jasper was giving her.

"What's bothering you?" he asked her quietly. She turned him unsmiling.

"Nothing," she lied. Jasper raised an eyebrow at Anouk.

"I know something's bothering you. You can't lie to me about that," he reminded her.

Anouk sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It's nothing, really," she said. "I'm just being silly."

"What is it?" he asked her seriously.

"Well," Anouk chuckled. "Last night, that little girl came by again . . . she said I was in big trouble."

Jasper looked at her seriously for a moment. "Did you take her home?"

"No. She ran away from me," Anouk explained. She shook her head. "It was weird. She said her home was in the woods."

Mr. Dosee came in then, and shut the door as the bell rang, ending their conversation for now. They didn't speak again until halfway through the class.

"That's not all that was bothering you," Jasper stated as they copied down the example problem from the board. Anouk turned to him. She figured she might as well tell him about Jared now instead of hiding it from him (like she would be able to anyways). She just hoped he wouldn't get too angry. Maybe this was also a silly thing to worry about. It's not like the "date" actually meant anything. It was more like two friends hanging out. Surely Jasper would understand that immediately. After all, he was a very understanding guy, right?

"Anouk?" he asked quietly. Anouk shook her head. She must have dazed off.

"Right," she said, smiling at him. "Well, it's kind of a silly thing, too . . ."

"Just tell me," he said, clearly amused.

"Alright . . ." she said slightly hesitantly. So slightly that she doubted anyone but him wouldn't have caught it. "Well, earlier this week I kind of said I would go to the movies with this guy . . ."

Anouk watched Jasper for any reaction. She got none. He just sat there, frozen in the same position. "Like a date?" he asked.

"Well, no . . ." she drawled. "More like two friends hanging out. You know. Plus, we weren't together when he asked. Anyways, The only reason I said I'd go is because you were being so confusing. So . . . yeah. I thought I should tell you."

Jasper laughed. Anouk chuckled and hoped he couldn't sense her relief too much. But at least he wasn't mad. Now she could go to the stupid movie with Jared and get it over with, and be done with it.

The bell rang and Anouk packed up her things. She still was sort of dreading the movies. She didn't want to lead Jared on. But maybe the movies were a perfect time to show him that they were JUST FRIENDS.

Jasper and Anouk said their goodbyes as Anouk turned into her next class. Several people from her previously class watched her again as she walked in, but she ignored them as best as she could.

It went without saying that Anouk and Jasper would keep on the down low about their relationship. So far, they weren't doing such a spectacular job with that, but that was alright. As long as people didn't see them being a couple, that was fine with Anouk. She didn't want that sort of attention. It was private business, wasn't it?

So, sticking to that plan, Anouk sat at her usual table, and Jasper sat at his at lunch. It was harder than she thought not to look over at him every few seconds, and it appeared to be just as difficult for him as well, much to Anouk's surprise. Why he liked her still amazed Anouk.

The minutes passed, then hours, and at the end of the day when Anouk looked back, it seemed that the only thing she thought about all day was Jasper. Nothing her teachers or friends said had stuck in her head . . . maybe that wasn't such a good thing, but she didn't care, really.

Before she knew it, that Friday had turned to Saturday. And Anouk was dreading 5:30.

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Please Read

This chapter was originally supposed to be longer and include her date with Jared, but I wanted to get something out, and this was all I had, so the next part to the chapter will be coming soon . . . hopefully.

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