"Hey Jazz man, wanna wrestle?" Emmett enthusiastically asked as he barged into the room Alice and I shared.
I would have been annoyed if this wasn't his ritual every other day. It had been almost six months since we had joined and Emmett didn't seem to be letting up. Alice had been urging me to spend some brotherly time with him and I felt pretty comfortable around him for someone I didn't know. I guess he knew I would agree this time since his smile grew even bigger before I had even answered. He raced outside and I followed, trying to put some enthusiasm into it. I wasn't thrilled about this, but after watching him I knew he would be able to handle it if I suddenly snapped, and Carlisle wasn't far away either.
He stopped and faced me, crouching down and playfully growling. I crouched down opposite him and waited for him to lunge. He lunged but before he reached where I was, I was behind him. He spun around and lunged again, but his time I tackled him, and pinned him to the ground. Even though he had lost he was still excited I had finally agreed to this game. We continued like this for hours. Every once and a while I would let him think he had the upper hand, but I never let him pin me and he seemed happy enough that I was finally doing something with him.
Soon our game of wresting had combined with hunting the other down. We had been using the trees as shields or hiding places and as Emmett came barreling towards the tree, I darted away and heard my right sleeve rip from the wrist up to my shoulder. None of them had seen the scars aside from the ones on my hands, neck, and face. Most of them lay under clothing and only Alice had ever seen them. Rosalie had already decided she loathed me based on the few she had seen, what would Emmett think if he saw the rest of them?
In the second that I was stunned Emmett almost managed to tackle me. He paused for a second, noticing the scars on my right arm, and seemed unsure of what to say. I didn't feel any fear emanating from him only concern. After a long pause he finally asked, "Where did those come from? Alice didn't give them to you did she?"
"Alice did not give them to me and it's none of your business." I snarled at him and took off for the house. Alice would never do anything like that; she's too sweet and innocent.
I heard Emmett running behind me, and felt embarrassment and regret flowing off of him. He hadn't meant to offend me, and the last few hours had been the most fun I'd had without Alice since I was changed.
I slowed down and turned back to him and he seemed unsure of what I was going to do but tried to repair the damage anyway. "I'm really sorry Jasper, I didn't mean it. I was just… caught off guard."
I sighed and thought about how much I was willing to reveal. "You aren't the first one, but you are one of the only ones who hadn't attacked or run away when you saw them. They came from my past and I'd like them to stay there. I don't want Carlisle or anyone else to know about this."
"Is that why you're always covered up? I thought it was because you were trying to look human. I think they're cool, you shouldn't be ashamed of them, and they're part of who you are."
I wasn't quite ready to embrace them, considering how horrible my past is, but I was glad he didn't care about them. I nodded at him, and we ran back to the house in silence. I spent the rest of the time in my room, avoiding Emmett, Edward, and Carlisle, and for once Emmett respected it.