A/N So, to make a long story short school was hectic up until summer break, and summer break was hectic up until the end of June. I started writing at the end of June, but then got massive writer's block. Consequently, I had to write through writer's block to get this chapter out. It took a lot longer than normal. Also, I feel like my writing is slightly off this chapter so I apologize if the chapter is terrible. Thank you to Dalonega Noquisi for the amazing review for chapter nine. I hope you are still reading this. Thank you to FleurSuoh, crazybread, and Regin for reviewing and telling me to continue writing. I'm glad you all like this story. The last of my gratitude goes to Blood-Gaara-Blood for reviewing nearly six months after the last chapter was published. Your review let me know that I still had people interested in this story. Again, a big thank you to all of you guys for reviewing, because without you all I wouldn't know whether or not to continue. Please continue reviewing and I will keep writing! Enjoy the chapter!
I wake up the next morning and review the facts of what I think was the previous day. I can't be sure if it was real or not with how outlandish it sounds. Jasper is a vampire. Dear Lord I think my mother's insanity is contagious.
I prepare for school as quickly as possible even though I know that it won't get me there any faster. As I brush my teeth with spearmint toothpaste I am reminded that I smell like mint and forest. I sniff myself to test what he says, but all I detect is my orange scented shampoo.
When I arrive downstairs Mom is waiting with pop tarts and tall glasses of milk. Evidently she does not feel like putting much effort into cooking this morning; instead her attention has been diverted to analyzing my mood.
"Well," she observes me as I munch on a pop tart, "You look happy this morning."
"Do I?" I ask. I really have not paid heed to my actions for the past forty-five minutes. My mind has been more focused on getting to school and talking to Jasper.
"Yes, honey," she replies. "Your cheeks are flushed and you are wearing your favorite t-shirt."
I glance down and notice that I am indeed wearing my favorite soccer shirt with a pair of dark gray sweatpants. It must have been at the top of my clothing box.
"Any reason you are excited, sweetheart?" she asks when I do not continue the conversation.
"None particularly," I lie. "And don't call me sweetheart."
"Hmm…" she muses as Mark appears and sits down at the table Dad and I brought back from our trip to Seattle. "So this has nothing to do with the fact that you will be getting your knee brace off tomorrow?"
"Nope."
I have actually totally forgotten that my knee brace and crutches will be gone tomorrow afternoon. This causes me to smile tightly and shake my head. I will be able to walk normally tomorrow and I'm more focused on a being who is supposed to be mythical. I am an idiot.
"Lizzie's got a boyfriend!" Mark crows. I roll my eyes. I'm pretty that is his response to almost everything now.
"You know little brother," I say, "I can still have one of those monsters sneak into your room and eat you—" I pause as I realize how ironic this is given my current situation, "just because I haven't told you about them in a few weeks doesn't mean they have disappeared."
Mark eyes me suspiciously and returns to his pop tart.
"Do you have a boyfriend Lizzie? Because you know—" Mom intones curiously. She thinks I should be cautious when dating, but unlike my father, she would love to see me with a dashing young knight in a suit of armor. She believes I could use the support in my ever hectic life.
"No," I cut her off, "but I think we should put a ban on that word in this household. It has been thrown around more frequently than I would like in the past couple of weeks. We should probably get going," I add, eager to escape this conversation and get to school.
"Well sweetie if you want to talk…" Mom suggestively trails off.
"No, Mom," I growl, "I do not want to talk I want to go to school. And if you call me sweetie one more time…"
"Monsters?" Mark questions innocently as I let Mom imagine the implications.
"Yes, Mark," I affirm as I begin crutching towards the main entry. "Monsters."
As we drive into the school parking I zone in on the Cullens and the Hales. The Audi and the Volvo are parked in their usual spots right next to each other. What is unusual is that the family is not in a tight knit circle talking amongst themselves, but instead they look like they are facing off. Alice, Edward, and Jasper are all resting their back s against the Audi while Rosalie, Emmett, and Rixon are reclining against the Volvo. I can see Rosalie's angry expression as she directs words at the other group while Emmett holds her shoulders. Rixon glares at Alice and she stubbornly glares back at him. Jasper and Edward both look on impassively as they listen to Rosalie's speech.
I don't know for sure what they are arguing about, but I can guess, and if that guess is correct, I'm not sure I want to leave the safety of the car. Rosalie has that I want to rip your head off look about her again.
Then, almost as if choreographed, they all look towards Bella's noisy red truck as it enters the parking lot. This confirms my assumption, and Rosalie glares nastily at Edward before yanking away from Emmett and walking off.
My mother finally pulls to a stop near the sidewalk and I clumsily navigate my way to the back seat where my backpack and crutches are waiting. Once the crutches are securely under my arms I begin my tedious journey to first hour. If I could walk, it would take me five minutes to get to class. As it is however, ten minutes is about average. I am really glad I will be getting rid of my crutches tomorrow.
My mother has barely left the parking lot and I haven't even managed to reach my normal pace when Jasper appears at my side. His eyes are golden today, and his expression is guarded and tense. This of course, doesn't keep him from looking like a supermodel and temporarily taking my breath away. I suppress a sigh. Of all the people I could have investigated, it had to be him.
"Good morning," he says quietly. I smile slightly at how weird this is. Other students are already staring at us, wondering how managed to interest Jasper Hale. They are also giving us a privacy bubble of about ten feet.
"Good morning," I reply just as quietly, figuring the conversation will stop there for several reasons. One, that this is so new to both of us, interacting on a personal level with either someone that smells edible or someone that shouldn't even logically exist. The other is that he doesn't have to breathe as often when he stops talking, which removes the temptation to rip my throat out.
"How are you today?" he continues, not even allowing for a pause after my greeting. I notice the southern undertone again and realize that it is always there. I just don't pay enough attention to notice it when he isn't irritated.
"I'm fine, considering my mystery man turned out to be a vampire. How about you?"
"I've been better. Normally, I don't have to concentrate so much on not attacking humans," he sighs, "But I am under the impression that I will have to get used to it. At least, as long as you still want me around."
"You can always leave if you want to. I mean, if it bothers you too much…"" I say unwillingly as heat rises in my face. It is almost embarrassing how much he esteems my opinion. He has lived nearly one-hundred and fifty years and knows probably more than all the teachers at an Ivy League school combined and yet he still isn't leaving because of me. It's utterly ridiculous, but if he did otherwise I would be crushed when he left. Oh the irony.
"Thank you, but no," he replies. "There's a part me that wants to stay with you as well. Anyways, I have a bet with Edward that I would prefer to win."
"A bet?" I ask, intrigued. "What do vampires bet about?"
He shrugs. "We bet a lot. Remember about two weeks after you arrived there was a slush fight in the school parking lot?"
I nod, remembering not the parking lot fight but when Jace almost nailed Jazz in the head during lunch.
"Rixon, Emmett, and I had a bet to see who could be the first person to hit Edward with a slush ball.
"Poor Edward," I chuckle as I picture all three of them gaining up on Edward with their super speed. It probably sucked to be him that day.
"I wouldn't be so sure Liz," he asserts, "Edward has a pretty unfair advantage."
"Does he now?" I query. "And what would that be?"
"We'll save that topic for another time," he suggests, "It would take a lengthy amount of time for me to explain it."
"Okay," I respond, "How about lunch?" The words slip out of my mouth before I realize that there's no guarantee we'll be eating together. He'll doubtlessly want to sit with his siblings.
The edges of his lips turn upward in amusement. "Lunch sounds good. Do you want me to meet you at the end of fifth hour?"
"Um, sure," I agree after a moment, nonplussed by how willing he is to do everything with me now. It takes me another second to clear my thoughts. "So, what is your current gamble with Edward about?"
He purses his lips ruefully. "I shouldn't have mentioned that earlier. I was hoping you would forget."
"I told you I have a good memory," I tease.
He pauses contemplatively, and strokes his chin once before exhaling.
"This particular bet is about which one of us snaps first."
"Snaps?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Basically, can I safely stay longer with you, or can he with Bella."
"Oh," I say, momentarily confused before, "OH, you mean…" I keep forgetting how possible it is that this boy could kill me. It's just so easy to be myself around him.
He nods somberly and reaches past me to open the door to the classroom.
I am ambushed by Jessica in Trig.
"Why were you walking with Jasper Hale this morning?" she demands excitedly as soon as I sit down. She bounces up and down in her seat, making her curls look incredibly springy.
I look at her like she nuts. "Because we are friends?"
"Mhmm," she smiles like a know-it-all, and I can tell I'm going to have a hard time tolerating her this class period. "And how long have you been 'friends'?"
"Awhile."
"And how long is awhile?"
"I don't know, that's why I made a general statement."
Bella walks in and sits on Jessica's right side. Her eyes are full of questions as soon as she glances at me. Obviously she saw me with Jasper this morning.
"Hey Bella," I chime, attempting to avert any further conversation about Jazz.
Jessica glances over her shoulder and offers a quick, "Hi, Bella," before returning to me.
"So are you literally just friends or was that another general statement?"
"We're just friends Jess," I hiss, "It isn't a big deal."
"Riiiiighhtt," Jess winks suggestively, and I roll my eyes in annoyance. "You know, you should bring him to La Push with us on Saturday."
"We're going to La Push Saturday?" Bella asks, taking my words before they exit my mouth.
"Yeah, you haven't heard?" Jess asks like it should be everybody's business.
"No," Bella and I respond simultaneously.
"Oh, well we are going to La Push Saturday. The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend and we figured it would be alright with you since you are getting your knee brace off tomorrow. Can you guys make it?"
"I guess," I shrug my shoulders. I don't know if I'll be able to surf, but at least I could walk up and down the beach.
"Sure," Bella replies. "Where are we going to meet?"
"At Mike's dad's store at about ten. We are carpooling so…"
"Okay that's fine," I smile. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've been having issues with the problem Mr. Varner is about to show us." I motion towards our teacher who is glaring at our group in the back corner. Evidently we didn't hear the bell ring.
"Ladies…?"
"Yes Mr. Varner?" Jessica pipes.
"Pay attention, or else you're all going to get detentions for a week." Ouch, harsh.
"Yes, Mr. Varner."
"So if you take the present tense tu form—" I explain to Jess as we exit the Spanish room.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. If only—" Jess scarcely begins her second sentence before her jaw hits the floor. "Is that…?"
"Hi Jazz," I greet the tall honey blond model waiting outside the Spanish room. "See you later Jess." I throw over my shoulder to my dumbfounded friend as Jazz and I begin walking to the cafeteria.
"You know," I mutter as the sea of students in front of us parts, "you didn't have to come to the Spanish classroom and escort me to lunch. Jess is probably going to write down in her diary about how she was a mere five feet away from you."
He rolls his eyes at my jibe. He probably could care less what Jessica thinks.
"Before I was a vampire," he smiles wryly, "150 years ago, the polite thing to do was to see a lady safely to and from her destination."
"Before you were a vampire you probably never knew a lady like me," I return.
"True," he agrees. He ponders a moment, and then chuckles, shaking his head. "You would have been quite an oddity in Houston."
"Houston?"
"My home town."
"Oh," I say, and then out of earnest curiosity ask, "What was Houston like, back then?"
He shrugs. "Like every other town in Texas I suppose. Most of the towns were still rather small compared to their eastern counterparts, but they were slowly growing. I lived on a plantation with my father, mother, and two younger sisters. Life was good, but I always wanted more excitement. That's why I enlisted as soon as the Civil War started."
"So you didn't care about any of the politics behind it?"
"There was a certain amount of pride in my home state behind it at the time, but I could have cared less about what actually divided the North and South. It didn't concern me that Abraham Lincoln had been elected president and that he was going to free all the slaves. All that I wanted was to be a military man and reap the benefits of a successful career. Of course, all I had heard was glorified stories of men in battle, winning the hearts of women and the praise of the public. I had no idea what war was really like." There is a hint of regret in his voice as he finishes.
"Would you do it differently if you could do it again?" I question.
"Only one part," he responds, "And if I redid that I wouldn't be here today."
"So you…" I try to think of how to phrase it correctly, "were 'changed' while you were a soldier?"
He nods in affirmation and I decide now is not the time to pry any further. I'm more than likely still too much of an outsider for him to tell me anyway, so I change the subject.
"So are you going to tell me about Edward's unfair advantage or not?" I ask, raising my eyebrows in a challenge. He smiles briefly at my attitude.
"You sit down here," he gestures to the table we have just arrived at, "I'll go get lunch."
While I wait for Jasper to return with our meal Edward sits down, all by his lonesome, at the table adjacent to ours. He glances at me and I smile tentatively, giving him and awkward wave because I am unsure what to do. He reciprocates with a tight-lipped smile and a nod before waving at my customary lunch room table. I turn to see that he has gotten Bella's attention. He motions with his index finger that she should join him. Surprise colors her expression as well as my own.
"Does she know?" I mouth to Edward. I get a slight shake of his head in response.
Bella strides over to his table so quickly she trips over her own two feet. Fortunately, she manages to recover by grabbing the end of the table before she hits the floor. She quickly rights herself and as she approaches I can see her face is flushed. I silently muse to myself that that is probably not this best thing to do when approaching a vampire.
As Bella slides into the seat across from Edward Jasper returns with a lunch tray filled with enough food for two people.
"Half for you, half for me," he says quietly as he analyzes my doubtful expression. "I at least have to pretend I'm human."
"Normal humans don't throw perfectly good food away without taking a bite," I remark as I sink my teeth into an apple. "So tell me, what is this strange and wonderful power that makes it alright to snipe Edward with slush balls?"
Jazz looks over his shoulder at his adopted brother before saying in a matter-of-fact tone, "He can read minds."
"You're joking," I say, stunned.
"I wish," Jazz responds, "It would be a lot easier to win bets with Emmett and Rixon."
I peer over at Edward for the minutest of seconds, and although he is talking to Bella his gaze meets mine for that fraction of a second. Bella starts to turn and see what he is staring at, so I revert to conversing Jazz.
"That's cheating," I mutter, taking a sip from my water bottle. Now I feel like an idiot for mouthing words to him earlier when he could've just read my mind.
He grins stunningly in agreement before continuing. "If you think Edward cheats then I probably shouldn't discuss what Alice can do."
"Oh, really," I challenge playfully, "Well if you won't tell me, I'll walk—I mean crutch—over there and ask her myself."
"That wouldn't disturb Alice, but do you really want to put yourself that close to Rosalie?" he questions innocently.
"Probably not," I admit, readjusting myself in my seat. "So what can Alice do?"
"Alice can see the future based on the decisions people have made or will make."
I think I'm getting used to all this strangeness, because I take this a lot better than his first revelation.
"That's cheating more than Edward."
"You should see them playing chess. They play the entire game in their minds and know who is going to lose before they even finish."
"Sounds interesting," I remark. "So can anyone else in your family do something out-of-the-ordinary for vampires?"
"Yes," he responds nonchalantly.
"Who?" I run through the list of who is left. Rosalie, Emmett, Rixon, Dr. Cullen and Mrs. Cullen. As long as Rosalie doesn't have a power that would allow her to kill me without anybody knowing, I think I can handle whatever he tells me.
He points at himself.
"You?" I raise my eyebrows skeptically. I haven't noticed anything unusual while being with Jasper. I mean sure, I'm more comfortable around him than most people but…
He nods and I tilt my head as if looking at him from a different angle will help.
"Don't tell me you can read minds too." That would be utterly humiliating.
"No," he pauses as he organizes his explanation. "I can read, and manipulate, people's emotions."
My jaw drops. That's why he understands me so well.
"Now that's unfair," I recover myself, "That should've been the first thing you told me after I found out what you are. Is that why I'm so comfortable around you?"
"No," his simple response makes the blood rush to my cheeks. The table creaks as he leans away from me ever so slightly.
"Sorry," I mutter sullenly, leaning away as well. However, I'm not as repentant as I am embarrassed. I begin to trace the lines of the linoleum floor with my eyes.
Something cold touches my hand. I glance up at the table to see what it is and I find his hand on top of mine. I blush even more deeply and attempt to pull my hand away. He gently holds it in place and my embarrassment begins to fade. I force myself to look at his face. He stares back with a look of genuine interest and concern. I expect another burst of heat in my cheeks, but my prediction is incorrect.
Eventually he lets me pull away.
"Sorry," I repeat myself as I rub the hand he just touched, "It's too easy for me to be myself around you."
"Evidently the feeling is mutual," he replies in a voice that sends shivers down my spine. Again, I don't blush when I should.
"I take it that you're the reason I'm so calm now," I comment.
He shrugs and nods as if it's no big deal. I allow a small smile to ebb onto my face and decide that I want to ask one more question before the period ends.
"So why do you, Edward, and Alice have extra abilities?"
"We think," he says slowly, "That becoming a vampire amplifies abilities from your previous life. For instance, when I was human, I was incredibly charismatic. Everyone at home liked me, and my charisma allowed me to fly through the ranks in the army. I ascended through the ranks above older men to become the youngest major in Texas."
"I see. We should start heading to Psych," I tell him as I reach for my crutches. He wordlessly agrees grabbing the lunch tray and disposing of the uneaten food. Then he comes back to escort me to my destination.