Just so there's no confusion later on in this chapter, Bella is 16, not 17.
The Cowboy & the Englishman
-Bella-
We reached the bright yellow painted cafeteria noting with satisfaction that there were still a few window seats available. "Go and grab us a table Bella, I'll go fetch our porridge" Denny headed towards the food line with two orange plastic bowls in hand leaving me to claim an empty table.
My face started flushing again once I noticed the amount of girls and boys staring at me, dying to see where and with who I would sit. A strong feeling of déjà vu overcame me as I remembered my first day in Forks High. With a frown from all the staring I quickly walked towards a table against the window near the back of the cafeteria which overlooked a cemented court with outside picnic tables walled off with a wire fence alongside the sports field.
A bowl filled with steaming runny oats was placed in front of me and I looked up at Denny with a smile. She sat down and immediately started digging into her breakfast.
"I don't want to sound rude or anything, but don't you have other friends here? I mean, I don't want you to feel obligated to hang out with me just because we spoke in the bathr—"
Denny cut my rambling off with her index finger raised and a smile on her face. "I had one friend here for the two weeks that I've already been here, but she completed her stay here two days ago"
"Oh" was all I said before filling my mouth with the warm, sticky oats. Not sure if I liked the idea that I was just scooped up so that she wouldn't be alone.
The cafeteria was getting louder now that more kids were filing in. I scanned the room slowly, trying to get a good look at everyone when in the very back corner opposite us I spotted the two most insanely gorgeous boys I had ever seen! Fuuuuck! Not even the three males of that weird Cullen posse back in Forks could compare to these two.
"Those two boys in the back, do you know who they are?" I asked Denny, feeling my face flush and my heart thud loudly in my chest as the platinum blonde one caught me staring.
"I suggest with those two you look but don't touch" came a rather serious reply back.
"What?" why would she say that?
Denny leaned in towards me like she was about to share some top secret state information.
"The dark blonde one is Jasper Whitlock, and the other is Caius van Horn. Caius has been in here since he was 12, Jasper since he was 14 – they're both 17 now"
"What did they do to get in here at such a young age? Do you know?" God, my timing was bad, now Jasper caught me staring. I quickly looked away and focused on Denny.
"Yep. Tracey, my friend who left two days ago was very clued up on the goings on around here, so I got informed on everything and everyone"
"So Jasper's father Denver is a cattle rancher out in Houston, his mother Peggy-Lee owns a successful pub & grill and his older brother Peter just started college this year in Seattle. Apparently his father often lost himself in fits of rage and regularly beat him and his mom up, but never Peter for some reason. Anyway one night after a particularly harsh beating, Jasper crept into his parents' room and stabbed his father with a kitchen knife. His dad survived though, so it was a case of attempted murder – well at least that's what I heard from Stacey who heard that from one of the councellors"
"Surely a councellor wouldn't relay such personal information with one of us would they?" I ask confused and a little worried that there was a councellor around here with a big mouth, as I didn't really want every kid around here to know what I did.
"No no, Stacey was a master at eavesdropping – she always seemed to be in the right place at the right time when information was being dished out"
That certainly made me feel better. I also felt a little bad now that I was learning of Jasper's and Caius' personal backgrounds without them knowing. I knew that I wouldn't like people discussing my personal life behind my back. But I also couldn't deny that I was very interested in who they were. As I watched the two converse almost affectionately in conversation with one another I noticed that they seemed very withdrawn and detached from the rest of the kids here. They appeared to be really close and for reasons unknown to me I wanted to meet them.
"So anyway, on to Caius. That guy scares the shit out of everyone here. He has a tendency to scowl and sneer at people so intensely that it totally kills their self esteem" laughed Denny.
I looked at her incredulously, raising a dark brow.
"I'm serious! I'm speaking from personal experience here! In Physical Ed I threw a ball which accidently hit him on the head, he turned around slowly and glared at me so intensely that I actually felt I should've started digging my own grave to save him the trouble of doing it himself"
I snorted, hoping never to be at the receiving end of his glare. however, I would never miss a chance for those sky-blue eyes to look at me, glare or no.
"Okay where was I. So Caius' dad is some rich Historian named Elias who specializes in Ancient Greece and Rome, his mom was a hotel manager called Liliana"
Was.
"She's dead?" I asked, suddenly feeling as sorry for Caius as I did for Jasper with what he had gone through for all those years.
Denny nodded before looking outside at a few birds walking across a picnic table. "Apparently Caius has been in and out of various juvie halls since he was six"
I nearly choked on my last spoonful of oats at the age I heard. "six?"
"Stacey told me she heard Dr Carpenter speak to Mr Doyle about his nature which was destructive and vindictive. He did a lot of bad things to other kids and animals but eventually he decided children and animals weren't enough anymore. I think you can guess where I'm heading with this…"
"His mom?" I asked shocked. Wondering just what would cause someone to kill their own flesh and flood.
"Uh-huh. Pushed her down a flight of stairs in their home causing her to break her neck during the fall"
I turned to look at the two boys again, noticing that Jasper's hand was resting on Caius' thigh. Oh.
"And that's why I said it's best to stay away from them. They're really bad news from what I've heard"
I turned back to Denny, absentmindedly nodding at her. My thoughts swimming with the information I had just received. The logical side of me told me to just ignore their existence, complete my stay here and get back to my life. The other part of me (the one which had seemed to be ruling me lately) told me to fuck it all and try to get to know them. For what I didn't know, there was at least a hundred kids here that I could get to know. But truth be told I wasn't interested in anybody else. The moment I laid eyes on those two I felt a small pull? towards them – silly though it may seem – but I did.
I should have also been disgusted at the fact that one attempted to kill their parent while the other succeeded. But I wasn't. And again, I pushed thoughts on my lack of whatever it is you're supposed to feel when someone dies to the back of mind, locked away where I didn't have to deal with the person who was overshadowing the little girl I once was.
"Come on, classes will be starting soon. What subject you got first?"
I got up with my bowl and followed Denny to the plastic crates where the porridge bowls were being dumped in.
"Math, you?"
"Science, damn, and here I thought I'd have someone to chat with in class"
"Clarkson"
Denny and I turned to face a rather short male warden with jet black hair and a very large nose.
"Yes sir?"
"Doyle wants to see you in his office asap" with that the little man spun on his heel and marched out of the cafeteria. The wardens around here sure weren't a friendly bunch – that was for sure.
"Oh shit, this is about that assignment I forgot to do. Here take my bowl, I got some sucking up to do. See you later" I stood staring at Denny's back like an idiot before realizing I didn't know where the classrooms were.
"Shit" I hissed angrily, not wanting to be late for classes on my first day here.
"Having troubles darlin'?" I froze at hearing a rich and smooth voice laced with a southern twang coming from behind me.
Don't speak Bella! It will all come out unintelligibly! You'll stutter and make a fool of yourself!
"Uh" I replied as I turned around, my body a hair's breath away from that of Jasper Whitlock's, while Caius stood close by his side. Way to go, doofus.
The two of them smirked down at me, humour in their eyes at my 'intelligent' answer. I blinked before clearing my throat.
"I, uh don't know where the classrooms are" my voice came out pathetically shyly as I flushed seeing the pearly white smile Jasper gave me.
"Don't worry darlin', Jas and Cai are here to show you around. Where ya heading to first?"
"Math"
"What a coincidence, that's our first class too" commented Caius with mischief behind his aquamarine blue eyes, his voice was silky yet somehow harsh at the same time. I also noted he had a bit of a British lilt to his accent.
Jasper took the bowls from me and dumped them on the table next to us before he and Caius both held out their arms for me to hook mine in with.
"Shall we, miss…?" asked Jasper as I timidly looped my arms in with theirs.
"Bella, and you are?" I asked, already knowing exactly who they were.
"I'm Jasper, this here's Caius – but you already know that don't you?"
I flushed even more if that were possible. "How do you know?"
They said nothing in response and merely winked at me before the three of us left the cafeteria to where I assume the classrooms were.