A/N Okay everyone... This story is wrapping up. It should only have one more chapter after this. Please let me know what you think! I want to make sure that I tie everything up properly -- comments are appreciated! :o)
There's more about Rosalie and Jasper (because I can't get enough of them! :o)
This chapter is dedicated to SweetSouthernGirl -- who has always reviewed so faithfully. Thank you! :o)
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
Chapter Ten: School Day
It was several weeks after Esme's revelation and things had finally settled down. As far as Edward could tell, Alice was learning to trust Jasper, just as Rosalie was learning to trust Emmett.
Emmett was reaching a kind of equilibrium as Bella's adopted big brother. He was discovering a new center from which he could orient himself as Rosalie's boyfriend, Bella's big brother, Carlisle and Esme's son… He wasn't (and could never be) happy as just, plain Emmett. He needed a title: big brother, son, boyfriend … and their family provided that.
Edward was still worried about Jasper, but he was trying to take Esme's words to heart. Give him time….
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"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows…
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He looked over at Bella as they walked to school. It was her first day and the least observant out of all of them could tell that she was nervous.
Her eyes were huge and her face was pale.
"Don't be worried Bella," he said. "Alice or I are in most of your classes. We'll help you."
She smiled faintly and then squared her shoulders.
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Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me…
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He rushed to meet her after gym – the only class she didn't share with either Alice or Edward. She wasn't outside the gym waiting for him like she was supposed to be. He paced for several minutes … It wasn't like he could just walk into the girls' locker room.
He sighed in relief when he saw Alice and Jasper sprinting towards him.
"Is she not out yet?" she called out in a worried voice. Edward shook my head, beginning to feel slightly panicked.
Alice ran into the locker room. It was silent for a few brief, tense seconds, and then Edward heard her voice rise in a furious anger. Jasper rushed in with Edward close behind.
Bella was huddled next to a bathroom stall, clutching her knees to her chest, her eyes rimmed in an opaque, animal fear.
"Bella," Edward crooned sorrowfully.
She drew even further into herself.
He started humming, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray…"
Edward could see Jasper silently beating the snot out of someone from his peripheral vision (Or was it more than one person? He couldn't tell). Alice had run to get a teacher.
There was suddenly a tense silence, against which Edward's humming sounded loud and harsh. He turned his head slightly and saw Jasper breathing heavily next to a boy who Edward recognized but didn't know the name.
He was sitting with a dazed expression on the ground, while another girl with curly red hair sat next to him. Jasper looked at Edward and his eyes blazed with a harsh rage that burned the opaque sheen that normally shielded them.
Alice breathlessly rushed in followed closely by the principle of the school.
"And I came in and James and Victoria were scaring Bella and I started yelling at them and Bella was afraid and I don't know why they were teasing Bella and Jasper and Edward came in…" babbled Alice. She took a deep breath and asked Edward in a worried voice, "Is she going to be okay?'
He gazed down at Bella. She was at least breathing more slowly, but he saw the raw edge of fear and panic in her eyes.
"I don't know, Alice" he replied softly.
As he was speaking, he felt something touch his hand. He looked down and saw that Bella was softly stroking his hand. Her face was still very pale, but she was herself again. The animal fear was gone.
The principle was talking sternly to James and Victoria. They looked angry, but they walked out of the bathroom after he dealt out what Edward could only assume were their punishments.
Edward saw Victoria glance briefly at Bella before leaving. And Bella – stunning Edward into silence – gave her a small, apologetic smile.
He glanced up and saw that Jasper was just as shocked as he was. Of course Bella would be apologetic… She never did what anyone expected.
So Edward, trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, supposed that James and Victoria could have done something so minor to set her off – just touching her would have done it. For all her bravery, Bella was still very fragile around people she didn't know. But, on the other hand, if it was something minor, then why was James in the girls' locker room in the first place?
The principle turned to Jasper. "Jasper, I'm sorry because I know this is a situation which you really weren't able to help, but I'm going to have to suspend you for the rest of the week. I warned you after your last fight that I would do so," he said.
Jasper nodded, and the principle, seeing the anger that still burned in Jasper's eyes, mumbled a bit and then hastily exited the locker room.
Edward felt Bella stir a bit on the ground. She looked at Jasper and made a motion with her hands.
"I don't understand, Bella," he said.
Then she tiredly made a writing motion with her hand, and Alice scrambled to get Bella her tablet and pencil. Slowly Bella wrote, "Thank you, Jasper, for fighting for me. I'm sorry you got into trouble. You saved me."
Jasper just stared at the ashy, gray words messily written on common, yellow tablet paper.
After several minutes of just gazing at the words on the paper, he knelt down.
His face was rigid, so Edward was surprised when he saw a sheen of liquid across his normally opaque eyes. Jasper didn't cry, but he stroked Bella's cheek gently.
He stood up, took Alice's hand, and walked out of the bathroom.
Just before he turned around, Edward saw … something …. reflected in his eyes for the first time. He could only guess at what it was… Freedom? Hope? Release? Maybe some combination of all three?
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Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson…
Look right through me, look right through me…
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Then Bella took Edward's hand. They stood up and left the locker room.
Bella was pretty weak from her ordeal, so Emmett carried her home, his stern face daring anyone to question his new-found role as Bella's big brother.
Alice stepped lightly between Emmett and Jasper, reaching up every now and then to stroke Bella's hair. Her eyes were peaceful, but also puzzled. She had noticed the change in Jasper, but didn't quite understand how it had come about.
Edward felt almost certain that they would be talking this evening. The thought made him happy.
Rosalie walked just next to Emmett, muttering darkly about getting revenge on anyone who hurt Bella. Bella smiled gently at the vehemence in Rosalie's voice, and Edward thought, yet again, that Bella was bringing out the generous side in Rose.
Maybe Rosalie was learning that her mad fight against the world had been a mad fight against People. Rosalie had a stereotype in her mind about what "people" are based on what happened to her in Mexico City. Edward thought she expected that everyone outside of her immediate circle would act just as viciously as they did.
But Bella was blowing those biased preconceptions to bits. Because she rarely reacted in a predictable way in most circumstances, Rosalie was being forced to consider Bella (and, by extension, other people) on their own individual terms.
It was the same with Jasper. Despite what she came from, Bella was able to deal with James and Victoria on a level that admitted the possibility of forgiveness and humanity. She seemed to instinctively feel that not all men are monsters.
Not everyone is part of a mob. Not everyone is a murderer. Not everyone is a rapist.
Seeing someone who came from such a background still be able to believe in such things had its own effect on Jasper. His step was light and Edward never saw that opaque gleam come back into his eyes on the entire way home.
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"Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
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