*~*Thanks to those reviewers, readers, and those that add the fic to their alerts & faves. Your kind words and awesome support keep me going.
*~*Nah, I don't own Twilight.
I glanced across the lunchroom out of boredom. Alice decided to take the day off and get some manicure with her mother. To say that I was shocked that she was even spending time with her would be an understatement. I couldn't wrap my head around their relationship. One second Alice's crying out for a better mother and the next she's gossiping with mum dearest while getting their nails done together. It just made no sense.
My eyes landed on the power couple of the century. They were playing tonsil hockey, like always, and were too busy wrapped up in Let's-exchange-spit-land to notice me staring at them. Alice probably hit the nail on the head with that snide comment regarding Emmett and Rosalie's sex life. Could he not live without swapping germs with her for a day? Ha, not freakin' possible.
Alice kept on deflecting my questions concerning her hatred toward Emmett. She would simply say 'no comment' or insult him under her breath, thinking I would drop it. I haven't, and don't plan to. There had to be a reason why Alice didn't like Emmett and Rosalie. Well, I sort of had an idea why she wasn't so fond of Rosalie.
Legend had it that Mrs. Brandon and Mrs. Hale were friends back in the olden days, but friendship evolved into rivalry when a beauty pageant came between them. Can you guess who was crowned as the Beauty Queen? Yup, none other than Gwyneth Lynn, or as we all know her now, Gwyneth Hale.
The accuracy of this story is questionable considering I have never seen any of Mrs. Hale's trophies and I've been in the Casa de Hale countless times. Surely I would've seen those glittery sashes and plastic tiaras stashed somewhere. Or maybe the Hale's had some hidden compartment I wasn't aware of. Whatever, it would explain Rosalie's pretty face and frigid personality.
My eyes fluttered closed, but snapped open when I felt my hair gently being tugged. I looked up and saw Jasper curling strands of my hair around his finger. I smiled lazily at him and rested my head atop my arm. We had fallen into this borderline friends with benefits column and I guess it was an okay thing. Yeah, I wanted an actual relationship with him, but that would require me to go out on a limb. If you haven't noticed, I am a total coward. And what?
"How's life, B?" The smile he flashed me dazed me so much that I was left staring like some moron with one brain cell left.
When he tugged on my hair, I snapped out of my little haze and focused on what he was saying. Something about replacing his guitar strings and buying new drumsticks. Not the most interesting topic coming out of his mouth, but it was better than him ignoring me.
I hummed in all the right places and bopped my head to affirm any 'yes or no' question he would ask me. To an onlooker, it would look like he was annoying me or something like that, but in all honesty, I was still a little nervous around him. Word vomit was my main worry whenever I was around him. What if some humiliating secret tumbled from my lips on accident? Or what if I told him that I loved him? Nope, not gonna happen.
"Are you sick, or somethin'?" His warm hand pressed against my forehead and I giggled at his concern.
I pulled his hand away from my face, lightly squeezing his fingers, before taking a bite out of my chicken Caesar salad. Alice was kicking me back in shape; I wasn't sure if I should be thankful or hurt. At least she cared enough to help me trim down a little.
"Nope just a little tired." It wasn't a complete lie, my peppy mother forced me to stay up and watch the Jersey Shore with her. I could now say that I am glad I live in the depressing state of Washington and not in New Jersey with all the 'gorillas' and 'grenades'.
Jasper waggled his eyebrows before saying, "Well, Miss Bella, sleep is somewhat lackluster when you compare it to the other activity most teenagers do." My ultra-pervy mind instantly caught on to what he was implying and I blushed. He probably thought I was boning someone last night.
I blushed even more and opened my mouth. "I-I was actually watching Jersey Shore with my mom. I really didn't want to watch it and I felt my brain melting the whole time. Did you know they actually do their own laundry? I mean, who would've known? I wouldn't that's for sure. I have to do the laundry at home. I hate it when I have to wash my mom's lacey bras and g-strings. Oh my god!" I slapped my hand over my mouth and stared wide-eyed at the silent boy across from me.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Word fucking vomit. Kill me now, baby Jesus. Don't shut up. No filter whatsoever. Spew random words out of my mouth. Way to fucking go. Fucking kill me now with a paper clip.
The silence was so horrible. I felt like I was about to be chastised for speaking of my mom's drawers. His face was impassive for a few minutes, and then it was like a dam broke when he started laughing. My face must have been so red from the blushing; this was so embarrassing. His loud laughs were attracting the students' eyes and I just wanted to hide in some hole and never come out. He was laughing at me.
I sunk low in my seat, wanting anything to just disappear. Jasper's face had a red tinge to it from all the laughter. His curls bouncing around his face as his body shook. He clenched the table and wrapped an arm around his abdomen.
His chuckles and guffaws were starting to grate on my nerves, so I picked up my tray, threw my bag's strap over my shoulder, and walked away. I forcefully tossed my lunch into the bin before bursting the cafeteria doors open.
With a light tug to my hair, I made my way to the library. The librarian, Mrs. Weber, smiled at me and tried to initiate some conversation about Jane Austin. Normally I would have conversed with Mrs. Weber, but I was feeling like shit and I needed some gothic shit. Like Nabokov or Stephen King, anything to get my mind off my horrific slip up.
"I have something to do, Mrs. Weber." I sounded like such a bitch.
Mrs. Weber tightly smiled at me, the hurt evident in her eyes. I felt like a pile of shit. This kind woman didn't deserve my foulness. Snappish Bella had to go back inside her shell. Apologize, you dumb fuck.
"Sorry, Mrs. Weber. I've just had my decent day turn into a pile of stinking sh- I mean, poop." Her approving smile lifted my spirits a little.
She shooed me away with a simple "that's okay, my dear" and went back to reading The Great Gatsby. Ah, such a timeless classic.
I slowly made my way to the back of the library, towards my hidden corner. I sunk down on the chair and pulled out Lolita from my bag. Humbert was such a pedo. I wouldn't be shocked if he was in some kind of cahoots with Pedobear. I giggled at the thought of a fifty-some year old talking to a bear. I come up with the stupidest shit ever.
The chair across from me was suddenly pulled out and my eyes snapped up at the culprit. Jasper stared back at me, amusement dancing in his eyes. I groaned and hid my face with my book, my blush returning.
He chuckled softly. "Relax, darlin'. I got it all out my system." I peeked at him over the book, only for him to snatch the book away and press his lips against mine. Well, color me surprised.
His hand lightly gripped the back of my head as his teeth lightly nipped my bottom lip. Just as I was getting into the kiss, he pulled away and his lips went near my ear. He placed a gentle kiss below my ear before whispering, "Go on a date with me."
I had to be dreaming. A date? With Jasper Whitlock? Not possible in a millennium. Not likely. Hell had officially frozen over. A date? Me? Him?
"Ah." Apparently he took away my ability to form a proper sentence, too.
Jasper smiled and nodded, his hand cupping my cheek. I bit my lip as I contemplated it. Oh hell. What was there to contemplate? Jasper was asking me out on a date, an once-in-a-lifetime thing. It was like a shooting star, you might only see it once. So I agreed and his smile made my stomach clench in knots. What was he doing to me?
My hand was in his as he pulled me out the library and toward the parking lot. I stopped walking when reality hit me hard. He actually wanted to go right now. What the hell? I had classes to attend, thank you very much. I thought he wanted to go on a date sometime after school, not in the middle of lunch. He was just full of a bunch of surprises.
"C'mon, Bella. My car's this way," Jasper said, his hand still wrapped around mine. I shook my head as my bottom lip went in between my teeth.
I glanced up at him. "We're skipping school?" I quietly asked. He frowned and scratched the back of his head with the hand I wasn't holding.
Blonde curls bopped up and down along with his head. He squeezed my hand while telling me, "Don't worry about it. I seriously doubt you will get behind in any of your classes. You are a genius." I rolled my eyes at the compliment, but I nodded. I couldn't believe I was actually doing this. There goes my good girl title.
An hour later and he was still driving to this mystery place. I kept bugging him for answers, but he wouldn't budge. Then he started to state a bunch of facts about the Rolling Stones. Judging by the facts he was throwing out there he must really like them Stones.
"Jasper," I whined, "are we there yet?"
"No."
I groaned before asking my previous question again, much to his annoyance. Oh well. I couldn't stay in a car for so long without becoming impatient. Maybe I had ADHD. Nah, nevermind. I'd be like Alice and jump all over my room like I was some sugar addict high out of her mind.
Trees and more trees was all I saw. I wasn't even sure we were still in Forks. Yeah, Forks was a tiny ass town, but the town we were in should have been called Bumfuck, Washington.
Jasper pulled into some car lot, parking the car before looking over to me excitedly. I looked out the window and saw some dingy brick building, the sign already falling off and the bricks crumbling away. What the fuck? This was where our first date was going to be? Classy.
I slowly, and by slowly I mean grandma-like slow, walked out the car. The cold air hit my face and I was relieved I actually listened to my mom and triple-layered today. My eyes inspected the little building. A restaurant-slash-bar by the name of Johnny's. I thought this was classy before, oh this was fucking six star dining. Especially since the N's on the sign were nowhere in sight and the J was on its way to plummeting to the ground.
My hand intertwined with Jasper's and curiosity seeped inside me. This place must be important if Jasper brought me during school. I couldn't see why it would be so significant other than the vintage look it had.
We walked toward the dingy restaurant, my heart beating in my chest and butterflies fluttering in my stomach. When we walked in, a loud bang issued throughout the place, making me jump in shock. Jasper acted like nothing happened, instead leading me to a table towards the back. Of course it would be in the back. Of course it would be somewhere far from Forks. He didn't want us to be seen together.
Very bummed out, I sank into my seat, soaking in the dingy room. It was painted a dark maroon, or maybe that was blood, and you could see the cracks and chips in the paint job. The bar looked old and worn down, along with the dusty floors. The only thing that added pizzazz to this joint was the white Christmas lights hanging on the walls. It gave the room a romantic aura, which was a lot weird considering we were in a bar.
Jasper's eyes were trained on me while I was surveying the premises. He was so full of hope that I would like this place that I didn't have it in me to tell him how grimy the place looked.
A man walked up to our table while yelling, "Hey, hey!"
He looked to be around his late thirties, with sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He was tall, most likely six feet, and had a fair complexion. His eyes twinkled when he saw Jasper and I could see just a tiny hint of mischief in them when he glanced at me.
Jasper stood up to give the stranger a hug and that was when I saw the similarities between the two. Their nose and eyes shaped match perfectly. Either this was Mr. Whitlock or Jasper's brother.
"How have you been man?" Jasper's possible relative said when the hug ended.
I could see both their eyes flicker over to me and I blushed. The stranger laughed when he saw my blush and stuck out his hand for me to shake. I did and as we shook hands he introduced himself as Jasper's uncle, Johnny. Guess I was sort of right about being related to each other.
My fingers pushed back a strand of hair as I told him my name. Jasper sat back down as his uncle started to babble on about his wife, which was Jasper's aunt. I didn't pay much attention to the conversation since I was butt hurt that Jasper would resort to going to a faraway restaurant just to not be seen with me. Was I that embarrassing?
"So, Bella," Johnny says, efficiently breaking me out of my sad thoughts. "You're the first girl Jazz brought here. You must be really special." I hastily looked up to meet Johnny's eyes. Was he being cereal?
Jasper groaned his uncle's name before throwing me an apologetic look. Don't know why he was sorry. His uncle just told me I was the only girl Jasper has brought here. That made my day. "Seriously, Uncle Johnny you had to go and say that?"
Johnny winked at me and retorted, "She's a cutie pie, Jazz. Where'd you find her."
I laughed while shaking my head. I think I liked Johnny, even if he shamelessly complimented me. Nothing like compliments to boost up my self esteem. "Last time I checked I wasn't declared missing." The words fumbled out my mouth and I giggled at Jasper's shocked face.
I smiled at the man standing in front of the table and took a sip of my Code Red. Ugh, that tasted really good. "Treat this one right, Jasper. She's a peach." And with that said, Jasper's uncle winked at me then walked away after clasping Jasper on the back. Jasper's sheepish grin caused me to laugh at him.
"Yeah, Jas, treat me right or I'm gonna leave," I tried to imitate a Texan accent and failed to an extreme.
We laughed together, his bass drowning out my slight soprano. "That was the most terrible accent I have ever heard in my life, darlin'."
A bright blush filled my cheeks and my eyes darted to the wood table. Damn, I just made a fool myself. Great fucking job, Bella. Now he's never going to want to date you. Wait, this was a date. Duh. Gosh, I was a dumbass.
Warm fingers lightly gripped my chin, tilting my head up to look at him. His pretty green eyes were radiating joy and something else I couldn't quite place. A small smile played at his lips and a golden curl was in his face. Every time he would push it back it would spring back to its original spot in between his eyes. I found it adorable.
"I like you, Bella. Horrible accents and all." And that folks, was the sweetest thing a boy has ever said to me.
The rest of the date blurred and pretty soon we were waving goodbye to Johnny and heading back to our wonderful, wonderful town.
My head was against the headrest when Jasper commented on how easily conversation for Johnny and I flowed. Maybe it was just his flirtatiousness and my sarcasm that mixed up. Whatever it was it made Jasper happy. Why? Who knew, but a happy Jasper was a handsy Jasper. And I liked a handsy Jasper.
A couple minutes later and Jasper was pulling into my driveway. It was now five o'clock and I was relieved my mom wasn't here. She would be demanding every single thing. Shyly glancing at Jasper, I take his face in my hands and kiss him. It was a light kiss that ended too soon for my liking. I could spend all day kissing Jasper, even if I would die of lack of nutrients. His lips were just so soft.
"See you on Monday." I whisper against his lips. He said goodbye and with one last kiss, I was out the car and forcing the key in my door. A full ten minutes after Jasper left and realization sunk in, I squealed obnoxiously, not even giving a shit how much I sounded like Alice. Speaking of Alice, she didn't even call today.
I sighed before fishing out my phone from my pocket. I flipped it open and dialed Alice's number. While waiting for her to answer, I chewed on my nails and jumped from one foot to the other. She was going to ask for all the details, I just knew it.
After the fourth ring I was about to give up when she answered in a breathy voice. "Hello."
"Hey Alice, guess what happened today?" Excitement crept up in my body, it was nearly bursting inside me. I wanted to scream from the rooftops.
There was a groan in the background and I instantly blushed. I just called her in the middle of her having sex. Shoot me.
Alice moaned and took in a deep breath before whispering something I couldn't quite hear. "Listen Bella I have to call...umm later."
I bit my lip and nodded. "Okay, Alice-" then the line went dead, but not before I heard her yell 'Jas'. Please tell me I heard it all wrong.
*~*Dun dun dun. So the poll is now closed and the winner of the outtake in JPOV is 'The Time At Band Camp'. It shall be up in a week or so, depending how fast I get it edited and stuff. Speaking of editing, this chapter was not pre-read or anything cause I was in a rush to update, so point out any grammar mistakes and I'll fix them. Tell me what you thought, please.
~geek