"Life is just one damned thing after another."
Elbert Hubbard
Chapter Three
Bella woke up the next day feeling sick.
Today was her first day as a senior at Cody High School and needless to say she wasn't too excited about it. She was going to be the center of attention and right now that was the last thing she wanted. If only she had the power to become invisible so she could just float down the halls and escape all of the stares. Life would be a lot easier if that was only possible.
But of course, life wasn't easy. It never was.
After hitting the snooze button three times, she finally forced herself to get up. Heaving a reluctant sigh, she climbed out of bed and slipped on her outfit for today, which consisted of a pair of old faded out blue jeans and a jean jacket over a plain white t-shirt. She put her hair up in a pony-tail and then looked at her reflection in the mirror. Not particularly wanting to look like a fourteen year old freshman who was attending high school for the first time, she put her hair back down and then slipped on her sneakers.
When she had acquired her normal look as an ordinary teenage girl, Bella walked out of her room and into the kitchen, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw Jasper there, leaning against the counter munching on an apple.
Not again, she thought with a barely audible groan. What did he want with her now?
"What are you doing here?" Bella demanded.
Jasper glanced up in surprise when he heard her voice and then quickly stood up straight. Taking off his cowboy hat like the gentlemen he was, he flashed a warm welcoming smile and said politely, "Well, word is I'm supposed to be your escort until Charlie gets you a good car."
Bella raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."
Grinning good-naturedly, he swallowed the last bite of his apple and then tossed the core into the trash can, hitting it perfectly. His amber eyes lit up briefly with triumph.
Bella resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"Sorry, ma'am, just following orders," he drawled.
"I'd rather walk," Bella muttered crossly to herself.
"And I'd gladly let you do the honors if the school wasn't thirteen miles away," came the cowboy's quick, humorous response.
"Or," Jasper added slowly, "you could ride horseback. But if I do remember correctly you don't know how. So then that just leaves driving a car, which right now you don't have-"
She woke up with one nerve left this morning and dammit, now he was getting on it.
"All right, all right! I'll go if you shut up," Bella exclaimed in exasperation. She seriously did not need this right now. Why couldn't Charlie have gotten her the car beforehand? And why did it have to be Jasper to take her to school? Out of his five other freaking cowhands?
Turning around, she stomped out the front door, realizing a moment too late that she had forgotten to get her backpack.
Ugh.
Whipping around, she opened the door again and almost collided with Jasper as he stepped out, her backpack grasped in his hand.
"Looking for this?" he questioned politely.
"Thanks," Bella mumbled, snatching the backpack none-too-gently out of his hand. Turning back around, she started down the porch steps but was once again taken by surprise when her feet stomped down on the cat's tail.
Simultaneously, Toby and Bella let out a high-pitched shriek. The cat leapt off the step, while Bella of course began her descent to the ground. Jasper's hand shot forward just in time to grab her by the waist and she was left hanging over his arm, gasping for breath.
Trying very hard not to laugh, Jasper stood her up right and asked softly next to her ear, "You all right, love?"
"I'm fine," Bella snapped, not quite in the mood to thank him, again. "And the name is Bella."
Stupid cat, Bella thought angrily, picking up her backpack and swinging it over her shoulder. Stupid Jasper. Why does he have to be so damn nice?
As she marched towards his truck one more aggravating thought came to mind.
This is definitely not my day.
The ride to school was pretty much uneventful. Bella rode shotgun with her mouth clamped firmly shut and her legs crossed. Jasper had put on some music to make the atmosphere less strained but Bella still felt immensely uncomfortable.
I can't believe Charlie is putting me through this torture, she thought the moment Jasper pulled onto the main road. Why couldn't he just drive me there himself?
Oh yeah, because he was the chief of policemen.
And she was the chief of policeman's daughter, which suddenly made Bella realize everybody at school probably already knew she was coming today.
Could this day get any worse?
Bella began to focus her attention on the music, noting for the first time that it sounded like some wild, ritual African dance. Raising an eyebrow, she glanced over at him in confusion.
"What exactly are we listening to?" she questioned.
"Kompa," he answered simply without looking away from the road.
"Kompa," Bella echoed, wondering what kind of music genre that was. One thing was for sure, it was definitely not a very common one.
"It's compas music," Jasper added, as if that explained it all. Thankfully, he continued after sensing Bella's utter bewilderment. "The genre was derived from African and European roots. It's worldwide so you could probably get it at any record store."
Not likely, Bella thought, bemused.
"Right," she replied, glancing out the window while furthermore thinking, who is this guy?
"So, is that what you basically listen to?"
"Naw," he answered in his increasingly annoying country accent, "I like to listen to all kinds of music."
"Like?" Bella probed, wondering why she even bothered. She was in no way interested in this guy. He was so not her type. And plus there was to be absolutely no attachments.
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
"Jazz, Celtic, Techno, Rock, R&B, Country, Funk…" he rattled off mostly every music genre she knew and if that already wasn't enough, he finished by asking her, "And you?"
She answered by saying, "Oh, you know, this and that," hoping he'd get the hint that she wanted to stop talking.
He did.
And so the rest of the ride was driven in silence.
By the time they drove into the school parking lot, she was dying to get out of the truck. The moment he pulled into a parking spot and turned off the ignition she climbed out and grabbed her bag out of the truck bed. Not looking to see if he was following, she threw her backpack over her shoulder and began walking towards the school.
Please don't follow me, please don't follow me, she silently begged. She walked into the school quickly and then pulled out her schedule, reading her first class out loud.
"Pre-Calc with Mr. Burns, room 312."
"That's my first class too!"
She literally jumped at the sound of the high, friendly voice that had suddenly crept up right from beside her in the crowded hallway. Jerking her head up, she glanced beside her to gaze at the tall, geeky-looking black-haired guy standing before her, grinning like an insane idiot. Blinking, she offered him a weak smile.
"You must be Bella, Charlie's daughter? I'm Eric. I'll take you to our room, if you'd like."
"Er, okay…"
Reluctantly, she fell into step beside him. So much for wanting to be invisible, Bella thought.
"So, what other classes do you have?" he asked conversationally.
"English 4, Chemistry, PE…"
Eric's face brightened. "You'll love our PE class. Coach Barnett has narcolepsy and so he sleeps basically the whole period. The hardest thing we've ever had to do was push-ups."
Thankfully, Bella didn't have to respond to that because finally they had reached the classroom. She followed Eric to the back and then sat down in the chair next to him, dropping her backpack by her feet.
Before she had the chance to get out her notebook, her new buddy Eric had already begun to introduce her to her fellow classmates.
"Hey Jess, meet Bella! She's Charlie's daughter."
Glancing up, Bella looked over at the pretty dark brown-haired girl that Eric had just introduced her too and nodded numbly.
The girl, who she now knew was named Jess, flashed Bella a wide, friendly smile. "Hi, welcome to Cody. You'll like it here."
Before she could open her mouth and respond, Jessica asked her, "Have you met Angela?" She pointed to the short, light brown-haired girl that had suddenly sat in the seat in front of her.
"Hi," Bella replied absently, "Nice to meet you."
Class started soon after that, much to Bella's relief. In fact, the first two classes zipped right on by, and soon she found herself at lunch, sitting at a table between Jessica and Angela as they chattered away. Bored beyond belief, Bella took a sip of her milk and was just about to slip off into dreamland when she heard something that immediately made her snap back into reality.
"Hey Angela, do you think I should ask Jasper to the dance?" Jess chirped beside her.
"Jasper?" Bella echoed automatically, glancing over at Jessica in sudden interest.
"Oh my God, do you know him?" Jessica questioned eagerly, leaning closer towards Bella.
Bella shrugged slightly and then glanced down at her tray. "Not really…I mean we've seen each other around…"
"Isn't he just gorgeous?" Jessica enthused, letting out a long, dreamy sigh.
Angela glanced over at Bella and smiled apologetically. "She's had a crush on him ever since the seventh grade. Needless to say, she's kind of crazy over him."
"Oh," Bella said quietly, picking at her corn with her fork. I wonder if Jasper likes her, she thought, surprised at the little prick of envy she felt. She quickly pushed the feeling aside, not caring for it one bit.
"So anyway," Jessica continued, "I've been thinking this week about asking him to the winter formal. Do you think he'll want to come with me?"
"Of course," Angela said with an approving smile, "You're gorgeous. Any guy would be lucky to go out with a girl like you."
Jessica beamed. "Thanks, Angela. I think I'll ask him in the parking lot after school. I forget what car he drives though…"
"Truck," Bella answered without thinking.
Oh. Crap.
Jessica looked at her in surprise. "Really? How do you know?"
"Um, I don't. I just kind of figured…" Bella covered up, wincing inwardly at how utterly pathetic it sounded.
Jessica flashed her a weird glance and then changed the subject to something Bella could care less about.
Not long after that awkward conversation, lunch ended and Bella scurried off to her last classes of the day. It went by quickly with her thinking about possible ways to get home without having to drive in Jasper's truck. She honestly did not want to watch Jessica ask Jasper out, and she also didn't want her new so called "friend" to find out he was her ride home.
So, what was a poor girl to do in a situation like this?
Panic.
There had to be some way she could avoid this; perhaps another ride home? Liking this idea more and more by the minute, Bella glanced around the classroom until her eyes landed on Angela. At that same moment the dismissal bell rang and Bella immediately sprang into action.
"Hey, Angela!" Bella called, walking quickly over to her desk.
Angela glanced up and flashed Bella a smile. "Hey, what's up?"
"I was wondering if you could give me a ride home," Bella asked, hoping desperately that the answer would be yes. She didn't know any other way that she could get out of this mess.
"Don't you have a car?" Angela asked.
"Um, no."
"Then how did you get to school?"
"Uh…" Bella stammered, thinking fast as she said, "My…my Dad's friend dropped me off. I'm getting my own car sometime next week."
"Oh, okay. Well, sure you can."
Relief flooded through her. Smiling, Bella thanked her and then followed her out of the classroom.
They made it halfway to the parking lot when Jasper unexpectedly walked right up to them. "Hey, Bella! Ready to go home?"
Shit.
Angela glanced over at her in confusion and Bella feigned a look of utter bewilderment.
"I think you've got the wrong Bella," she said innocently to Jasper, grabbing Angela and yanking her forward. "He's crazy," she whispered fiercely in her ear, hoping Angela would buy it despite how ludicrous it all seemed. "I don't even know him!"
They walked quickly to Angela's car, leaving a very stunned cowboy behind them. When they finally approached Angela's brand new red Toyota, Bella slipped inside quickly and blew out a sigh of relief.
"Wow, that was just weird," Angela announced as she turned the car on and backed out of the parking spot.
"So weird," Bella agreed. You have no idea, she thought, glancing into the rear view mirror as they started to drive out of the school parking lot.
Jasper was still standing there, his thick honey-hued hair whipping wildly in the cold November wind. Despite the growing distance between them Bella could read his expression easily, and what she saw made her blood turn the same temperature as the weather.
It was then Bella realized she had made a huge mistake, and she suddenly dreaded going back home.