Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.
"He's not here today," I said, coming up behind Bella who stopped just inside of the cafeteria doors. She was looking at the table which was now missing Public Enemy #1. I was glad that he wasn't, only so I could delude myself into thinking he was scared of her.
"Could you buy me something to drink?" she asked and I nodded as she walked to the table and I moved into the line. I tried not to be happy for myself or at least as happy as I was when I first looked through the cafeteria doors' windows, but it was so hard. The road block between me and Jasper was lifted.
Getting back to the table was easy. Keeping my eyes off the tragically single man was not. Every now and then, I swore I saw him look at me too, but I was never quite sure. There was a way to find out, and the only block on that road was my sister. However, this roadblock was easy to bust through.
"Bell, I think we need to introduce ourselves to everyone in the cafeteria."
"Can we not?" she whined, but I stood up, continuing on my path.
"I would chew out Edward for you, so please just help me find a way to introduce myself to Jasper," I half heartedly begged, knowing she would cave in under my best puppy dog eyes.
As soon as the eyes started rolling, I knew she was ready, so I pulled her with me toward the left side of the room so I could leave the best table for last. I confidently walked up to each table with a smile on my face and a hitch in my step. "Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Alice Swan and this is my sister, Bella. We just moved here from Phoenix." Each person introduced themselves, but after the fifth table I pretty much forgotten who was at table number one.
"Thank you. I hope to get to know you better throughout the semester," I finished and turned away. Now that I made it through the other tables unscathed, the prize was mine.
I walked up completely sure of myself that this was going to work. "Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Alice Swan and this is my sister, Bella. We just moved here from Phoenix," I repeated with a smile, barely taking my eyes off Jasper. The wait was long, but it looked as though I was going to be rewarded.
"We like to keep to ourselves," Rosalie shot at us and I shot back at her a glare she didn't wait to see. Emmett chided his girlfriend. And Jasper still didn't say anything.
"Y-" I started, but Bella broke in front of me to say, "I'm sorry. We won't bother you again," and then pulled me away from the table.
I turned my glare to Bella. "Why didn't you let me tell her off?"
"Because this family obviously does think it's above everyone else. First Edward and now Rosalie. I don't care how cute you think he is or how much you want to cheer him up because he clearly hangs out with the snobbiest people in town. And maybe it's best not to find out if he's just like them."
"But that Emmett guy was standing up to Rosalie."
"Yeah, but Jasper didn't say anything at all," she pointed out. I knew she spoke the truth which made me stop trying to pursue my argument in order to tend to my superficial wounds. Sitting down at the table, Bella explained what we were trying to do and it only resulted in making my wound worse thanks to all the salt they kept pouring in.
I was glad lunch was pretty much over after they stopped commenting about the 'too good for anyone' Cullens because all of it was leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I moved quietly over to the trash can with Bella following on my heels. I wanted to turn to her and tell her in a not so nice way to step off, but I figured that wouldn't look so good in the middle of a cafeteria. Not long after I threw my trash away, I could feel another presence beside me. I was going to give the new being an evil glare, but, to my very happy surprise, it was Jasper.
"I'm sorry ma'am." I smiled up at him as he spoke in a slight southern drawl. "I'm Jasper."
"Alice," I answered back, my voice floating above the clouds with the rest of my body.
"Sometimes Rosalie can be a bit rude. I can assure you that not all of us feel the same way as she does." A smile flashed across his features. It was so quick and unsure it almost made him look more pained than happy to be near me.
"It's okay," I answered, saving his expression to worry over later since I wasn't going to waste what little time we had left.
"I should be getting to class. I'll meet you outside the cafeteria after school," my sister said quietly as she moved away from the two of us. I smiled as big as I could without scaring Jasper as I nodded my okay.
After Bella moved away from the two of us, my mouth started moving before my brain, "So, who is not all of us?" I waited for about a half a second before I turned to leave the conversation, knowing I had already blown it. Deep down, though, I knew I was just hoping he would stop me or follow me. It would give him an easy out and I was sure he could use a few of those when around me.
He stayed with me. I barely had time to put my hands on the main door to the cafeteria, but he was there, next to me, his hands getting ready to push on my door's companion. I blushed and pushed the door. "You don't have to answer that. I should have started out with: Where did you get that accent from."
"Texas," he said with the same small smile. "Houston."
A moment was taken to look at Jasper. With his pale skin, I couldn't imagine him spending any time in sun drenched Houston. I snuck a peek at my hands and noticed how light they were compared to just a couple of days ago. Forks didn't take long to suck the life out of everything. I wondered briefly how long it took Jasper's skin to fade from a healthy glow to a slightly sickly pastel.
"Is there something wrong?"
I shook my head as I tried to assure him through a smile I was fine. "Houston is a long way from Forks. Do Mr. and Mrs. Cullen ever miss the sun?"
It was his turn to look away and turn silent for a moment. "That was before I lived with them," he said, still not looking at me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." I lifted my hand to touch his shoulder comfortingly, but he pulled away just before I could brush against his red, buttoned down shirt. I let my hand fall back to my side.
"They're not all bad." He turned his head back to me, but his eyes failed to reach mine. "Rosalie was with me."
"Oh."
"She is my twin sister."
"But," I started, easily remembering how she had no accent at the lunch table, "you have an accent."
"She hides it. She thinks people will look at her differently."
"I don't see how." By this time, we both made it to my next class. I wanted to reach out and give him a short friendly hug, but I knew he would just pull away again like he did last time. I also wanted to ask him about that action. Later, I told myself, which satisfied me for the moment. "You should get to your class before you're late."
"Don't worry," he answered, acting as if he just told a joke.
Unaware of what was funny, I shrugged and smiled. "See you tomorrow?"
"Yes, ma'am." With that, he nodded and walked away to his next class.
I lingered at the door to watch him leave. In doing so, I spotted Rosalie at another building forty feet away. From what I could see, she didn't look pleased. I knew I was going to be late if I paused any longer, so I pushed open the door and headed for the locker room.
By the end of the week, my intrusion into the Cullen's uneventful life was progressing ever so slightly. I took it as a good thing since I could tell Jasper wanted me to keep intruding. Little glances across the cafeteria, a small conversation here, a quick smile while passing each other between classes, it was all a sign to come closer. And I had my chance once everyone started talking about going to the movies.
I passed Jasper as I filed out of the cafeteria, making him call my name to catch me. Even though I was the one who was chasing him, it felt nice hear him coming after me with my name on his lips. It made me feel as though he was starting to care less about what his family thought and more about what he wanted. I made sure to give him a big smile once he saw my face to show him with expressions rather than touch how much I enjoyed it. "My friends and I are going out to the movies tonight. Would you like to join us?"
Emotions played across his face, each one blinking quickly before the next one pushed it out. I saw happiness first, followed by hope, confusion, anticipation, trust, fear, until it settled on disappointment. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be allowed to."
Defeated. Slightly angry. But mostly defeated. That was my expression and I tried to shake it away so he apologetic wouldn't sit on his face. The last thing I needed was for him to try and console me. But I guess it didn't work because he quickly added, "Maybe the next time." The anger was still there, but I hid it as hope pushed defeated away from my eyes.
"I'll hold you to it."
Again, like that first day, the moment Jasper and I split into our separate paths, I saw Rosalie off in the distance. "I'll get him," I mouthed with a smile, barely making a sound. And for a brief instant, I swore she knew exactly what I said.