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The next day, I looked as though I spent all night crying, which wasn't a good thing. I covered it up the best I could with makeup and put on a slightly better t-shirt and jeans combo than my sister. It looked like I wasn't trying, and I wasn't. School was hard. I tried putting on a happy face, but the smile never reached my eyes. Lunch was unbearable. Jasper was there even though I wished he opted to skip out. And I had to torture myself by looking over at his table because old habits die hard. His habit must have made him look up at that exact second too. In the next second, he stood up and walked toward me. My heart started beating faster as my brain started running through twenty-thousand scenarios. None of them were right. All he did was walk quickly past me and out of the door. I stayed still as a statue, still looking at the table with the one empty seat. They laughed at me, the two of them, Rosalie and Edward.

The month continued in much the same way except I was getting better at not looking at the table until I sat down and was hidden in the group of people I could care less about at the moment. Sometimes, we would catch each other's eyes, but that Tuesday after the accident was the only day he walked out of the cafeteria. I was lying to myself if I said the depression was lifting; it wasn't, and I could feel myself fall deeper each time I snuck that look. But I was trying to move on, trying to focus on something that didn't relate to Jasper and the Cullens, but it was hard as everyone around me started talking about the prom coming up in a month's time.

The prom I wished I could go with Jasper to.

I was arguing with myself one Monday, trying to yell at myself to stop and focus on Bella and her numerous proposals, when I heard my name being called behind me.

"Alice."

Knowing exactly whose southern twang it was, I stopped in my tracks but refused to turn around. "What do you want?"

"Come with me."

"No."

I felt one of his hands around my arm, lightly pulling me to my right. I tried brushing him off, but his hand stayed locked on me. "Let go of me. You're not supposed to be talking to me, remember."

"I don't care, Alice."

I half chuckled, "Yes you do." I gave up trying to get away and let him move me where he wanted me to go. I saw some people daring to look at us with confusion on their faces. "Where are we going?" He didn't answer, but my question was answered as we stopped behind the maintenance building. It was the place the druggies tried to hide their addiction from the faculty. Most of them were busted the previous week, so the space was free of people for the time being.

I leaned against the brick wall, only allowing one quick look to gauge the emotion behind his eyes before they darted away to the tree line. He wasn't angry; he wasn't even upset. He was calm, and I was surprised to feel the calm float around me too. "You should leave before Rosalie finds you."

"It's Edward I have to worry about," he said, causing me to look back puzzled.

"Why? I would think Emmett would be the one who'd pound you pretty hard because she wanted him to."

"He is big. But I'm quick." He half smiled.

I smiled back even though I was trying not to. "Stop it. I'm supposed to be mad at you."

"We can talk again. I know it isn't much, but it's better than just looking across the lunch room," he announced, stepping closer.

"So now they'll let us talk, but what's to say they won't change their minds," I asked, starting to get angry again.

"They won't. We've come to a compromise."

The anger started fading again, and if I believed super powers existed, I would have credited Jasper for it. "Okay." It was then I noticed how close we were. One step away from the wall and we would be in the same position as a month ago in the hospital. I knew I shouldn't step over the line again, but I couldn't help it.

His hands flew up to my shoulders to stop me once he realized what I was doing. "Don't. Edward."

"Huh?" I asked, looking around for the person. He wasn't there which made me even more confused. "I don't understand."

"He'll hear me," he answered cryptically. I had many other questions for him, but Jasper let go and started walking away. "We better go to our classes."

The rest of the week was nice. In fact, it was better than nice. I could feel the depression lifting from my body. I smiled at lunch, and started talking with the group again. I wasn't totally free of the feeling, though. My mind wouldn't allow me to be happy about the meetings we were allowed after lunch. It was easy. Edward was following us. Jasper never said anything nor did I look, but I could feel we weren't alone. It was especially hard to deny after I heard a growl coming from behind us one day. It struck me as odd because it didn't sound like a human growl of disappointment; it sounded like a low, from the back of the throat growl an animal protecting its territory made.

Despite that, each day I would get a little closer to him. I asked him many questions about himself. I wanted every bit of information I could get my hands on. I knew there were times he tried to blow me off, I could see it in his eyes, but I would always try to push one step farther. Only, I didn't ask the tough questions like why his skin was so pale and cold, why I felt my mood change when I was with him, and why he spoke cryptically some of the time. Every day after Jasper left, there were more questions, and I wanted to run and tell someone. I wanted to run to Bella. I tried twice to ask her, but each time I let it go to comment on how the boys were flocking around her and how she should give them a chance.

So I did my own research on our prehistoric computer Charlie bought us before we arrived. I searched for medical conditions, but there weren't any where the body was cold and the skin was pale without sweating or some kind of sore on the skin. I knew I hadn't taken a look at the rest of him, but his face, neck and hands didn't have sores on them. Plus, he didn't sweat. Even looking back at the day he saved me, I never saw one bead of sweat anywhere near his skin. Then I moved on to the mysterious past he couldn't talk about. I googled his name and nothing popped up. I searched the newspapers in Houston and came up empty. I was becoming frustrated at how little there was. There was so little, by the end of the week, I started looking up folk tales and legends.

It was Thursday before the big trip to the beach in La Push with the people at our lunch table that I found the website on vampires. That Friday, Bella was downstairs, a request by me so I could do research on a school project. It was a lie, yes, but not a complete one. I was doing research on a project; it just wasn't a school project.

Before I even started, I realized I was being stupid. There was no way the site could tell me what was going on with Jasper without being fantastical. Vampires, along with unicorns and the Yeti, didn't exist. But I looked. And continued to look as each new fact – the cold skin, the speed, the lack of color – made make believe real to me. There were some inconsistencies in the research compared to Jasper. The eyes, for one, were not red. They never had been. They were an amber color or dark, a black void.

I didn't know what to believe the next morning as Bella and I met Mike and everyone else at Newton Outfitters. Bella could tell something was going on and told me this trip would be fun; it would get my mind off Jasper. I nodded, but I knew I was going to spend the whole time thinking about everything I read and how it pertained to Jasper. But Bella, in her infinite wisdom, was right. I spent the morning not thinking about Jasper but rolling my eyes at my sister and her fear of the boys from our table.

By lunch, most of my La Push beach experience had been spent near the vehicles where their shade tried to compete with the sun. It was a shame the water was too cold. I wouldn't have minded walking in the surf even with Bella clinging on me the entire time. My break from everything came when I saw a few brown skin boys walking toward us. As they came closer, I noticed Jacob was among them. Something inside made me jump, made me put the math together to realize he was exactly who I needed to talk to in order to make everything fall into place. I didn't why or how he knew the answers. I just did.

"It's good to see the two of you again," he greeted and sat down in front of us. "I'm sure you two are happy to see the sun out again."

"Absolutely," Bella said while I just nodded with a giggle. "What are you doing here?"

"You're on my rez."

"I didn't know we were that close to the reservation. I bet Charlie's somewhere around here," I commented, knowing my dad was fishing with Billy today just as he did every Saturday.

"Yeah. He and my dad are fishing at the stream."

Lauren, the thorn in my side, stuck her nose into the conversation to push the thorn even deeper. "Well, now that he's here, I'm sure you're not all too disappointed that Jasper Cullen couldn't make it."

I wished at that moment I could have growled like Edward. I could imagine the sound in my throat, but nothing came out. Leaning closer to her, I debated whether or not to go for the attack. It was too tempting to let go, and I was about to when I heard someone clear their throat. "The Cullens are not allowed at the reservation."

I dropped my anger and looked at the boy who spoke. I continued to stare as people got up to go take a walk along the beach. I didn't feel like going with them. Staying with the Quileute boys was better for me. Actually, staying with Jacob was. When most of the group left, I stood up and smiled at Jacob, "Jake, why don't we take a walk also, but we'll go in the opposite direction."

"What about Bella," he asked, looking down at her.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea with my balance problems," she answered. "You two go and have fun." He shrugged his shoulders and let it go, letting me drag him away from any crowds.

We walked in silence most of our way to a destination we didn't have. With each step, I was trying to grab at the right words since the last thing I wanted was to look crazy in front of someone who knew Charlie. However, there was no way in coming out with a sane question that was directly to the point. "The Cullens don't come around here?"

He turned his head and looked at me, almost surprised I decided to speak. "Uh, no, they don't."

"Bad blood?"

He laughed, "You have no idea."

"Then tell me." I shrugged, making him think I was just trying to start a conversation. I felt as though he was going to push it away, move onto something else, but he indulged my request.

"See, we have this…this legend. It talks about the cold ones and how they hunted our people," he started, and I could tell right away he was giving me the Cliff's Notes version. "My ancestors were able to stop them by changing into wolves." He looked away, chuckling. "Later, more came, but they didn't hunt us; they hunted the animals. So we made a treaty with them. They stay off our land and don't hurt the humans, and we stay out of Forks and don't kill them."

"Cold ones?" I asked, remembering the website. "And what does that have to do with the Cullens?"

"Heh," I must have given him a questioning look because he continued, "I can't just tell you."

"Why?"

"Think about it, Alice. You're smart."

I half smiled and took his advice. I put his story together with the information I gathered last night. Again, everything pointed to Jasper and the Cullens being vampires. "So what you're saying is: it's all true."

He stopped walking, causing me to do the same. "I don't know what you're saying, but, yeah, I guess it is."

"It's not possible," I spoke, turning my eyes away. "Their eyes aren't red."

"Their eyes are red when they go after humans."

"Yeah? And you would know that because…?"

"You think our tribe is going to live with those bl- Cullens without knowing something about them?" I shrugged and looked back at him as he continued. "You should just stay away from them and be done with it."

"I can't, Jacob. My place is with him. I feel it."

He narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. I noticed his hands were locked into fists. "You know how stupid that sounds?"

"No. Please tell me, wolf boy," I barked back, taking a cue from his angry tone. I felt like punching him in the face. I know it wasn't exactly him I was mad at but everyone, everything. "Tell me how stupid that sounds. Tell me why I should listen to you. But you're not going to tell me why. Because none of you, not Edward, not Rosalie, not even Bella can give me a good reason why. Neither can Jasper. I'm getting sick of hearing people telling me what I should do." On instinct, I lifted both my hands and pushed into Jacob just above his stomach. I barely moved him a quarter of an inch. Instead, I fell into him, leaned my head against warm t-shirt covered chest. "So just shut up and let us…let us be."

"You're a little spitfire," he said, his voice surprised.

"And I've mellowed some since I was a kid." I took a deep breath and returned to the reason for being here. "So it's true. Jasper is a vampire."

"Yep."

"I guess that does make you wolf boy."

"Something like that."

"I can't believe it."

"But you do. Otherwise you'd still be trying to push me down."

"Yeah…" I stepped away from him. I knew the answer, but the answer only raised more questions. What was his relationship with the rest of his family? Why didn't he go after human blood? Where did he come from? How many years had he been a vampire? Most importantly, what was going to happen to us now that I knew what he was? We weren't going be "just friends" that was for sure. But could we really be more?

"We should be getting back."

I nodded at Jacob and we spent the rest of our walk in silence once again. I knew I didn't need to warn him about telling Bella; he had his own secrets to keep. Besides, it was my problem. Bella was going to have to know this eventually, especially if I wanted my next meeting with Jasper to go the way I wanted it to.

I met Bella with a wide smile on my face to hide the questions. Bella tried to get us to tell her what happened, but neither of us cracked, which I was thankful for as it was getting harder for me to keep from gossiping with her. By the time we said goodbye to our Native American friends, I decided Monday I was going to make Jasper one hundred percent mine.

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"Wake up, wake up," I chanted, trying to wake Bella before the clock did the following Monday. "I need to get to school early today."

"What for?"

"I've got some important business to take care of." I pulled the covers off my sister and practically pushed her out of bed. "Now get your lazy rear end out of bed and into the shower. I'll lay out your clothes for you." When she didn't move, I pushed her right onto the floor. She wanted to do something, I could tell, but I crossed my arms in front of my chest and raised my eyebrows to tell her she wasn't going to win this time.

While I waited for Bella to finish her morning routine, I ran through the plan I came up with Sunday when I was supposed to be working on homework. I tried to think of something that wasn't so underhanded, but everything led back to blackmail. They didn't want their secret broadcast among the student body or the town as a whole, so they would listen to me. This meant I had to believe what I saw online and what Jacob told me. I wasn't completely ready to walk into the world of folklore, but I wasn't ready for the rest of the Cullens to continue to use Jasper as their personal puppet. I had enough. And that meant blackmail.

Thankfully, Bella moved quickly after her shower and we arrived to school first. Bella was the epitome of calm. She sat at a picnic table and worked on her trigonometry homework. I, on the other hand, was full of nerves and paced the length of the table for a good twenty minutes before the next group of people started showing up to take my mind off of the task.

"Alice, why did you make me come so early if all you wanted to do was talk?" Bella asked.

"I have things to do, and I wanted to get them done as soon as they get here," I answered shortly.

"Who gets here?"

I didn't answer her. All she had to do was look at my face. My eyes lit up at seeing the silver Volvo Edward and his crew usually showed up in, and my nervous smile turned into an excited one. I half walked, half ran toward the car, my heart beating louder with each step and the words 'I know' repeating in my mind. It didn't take long for me to dodge cars to get close enough. They must have decided I was worth talking to this time because they stayed by the car. "Hi." Jasper was the only one who answered my greeting with a nod. Edward whispered something to the three of them I couldn't hear. Everyone stood up straight as if they were ready to deflect anything I had off of them.

I turned my eyes completely on Edward and crossed my arms over my chest. "So, I did a little research. Your cold, pale skin. The way you and Jasper saved my sister and me from across the parking lot. And don't think I haven't noticed Jasper's sweet scent every time I'm around him. A guy shouldn't look or smell like that. I know what you are. You're a v- a vampire." I glossed over my stumble as I worked my nerves. Emmett, who was standing behind Edward, was trying not to laugh. Rosalie was standing beside him and didn't look to happy with me or with her boyfriend. "Now, if you don't mind, and I know you won't because I know you don't want this crazy, yet true, secret to be blabbed, I'm going to take Jasper and there's nothing you can do about it."

"What makes you think we're going to let you walk away with our secret like that?" Edward said before I could move to take Jasper away.

"Didn't you hear me? I'll tell. First I'll start with Bella-" He growled with anger. I smiled with triumph.

"How do you know we won't go after you?"

"First of all, you aren't like that. None of you are. As they say, you're bark but no bite. He was told to stay away to protect the secret. I know the secret. He doesn't have to stay away. Besides, if you do hurt me, don't expect Jasper to sit still."

"If you knew what was good for you, you'd stay away from him," Rosalie spoke up.

"You don't get it, do you?" I asked heatedly, pushing closer to the pack. "You have Emmett. Edward has his secrets. And now…now Jasper has me. There's nothing you can do that'll keep us apart. Live with it."

I finally allowed my eyes to venture to Jasper. The smile on his face was contagious, and he held out his arm for me. I happily wrapped my arm around his, and, as we walked away from the rest of the vampires, I thought about how interesting this relationship was going to be and how soon I would get to know all his secrets.