"So what, I bet you think we're a bunch of snobby rich girls, right?" I asked Jade as we sat down on a bench inside the mall. Alice and Nessie had ditched us a while earlier, they went to go "explore more stores." Truth is, they haven't hunted in weeks.
"No, no," she said. "I had so much fun. You're really the nicest people I've ever met."
"Really?" I asked, surprised. "You should meet the rest of the Cullens," I said.
"The rest of the Cullens?" she asked in shock. "There are more?"
"Yes," I answered. "Carlisle and Esme are basically our parents. Then there's Emmett and Rosalie, Edward and Bella, Jasper, of course."
"Wow," she mouthed. "That's a big family."
"It is," I said. "I couldn't have been happier that they accepted me so easily."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
So I poured out my entire story. Or, the parts I was allowed to say, anyway. I told her about my real parents dying in a fire and all the traces of who I was dying with them. I told her about living at the orphanage, but lied when it came to the technical details.
"No one found a trace of my family members," I said, hating having to lie to Jade. "Carlisle and Esme adopted me when I was… five. I've been living with them ever since and they're the family I'd always wanted."
She nodded with her eyes wide as shfe took in my story. I continued to tell her about meeting Seth—minus the werewolf and imprinting facts—and gradually starting to love him.
"That's…amazing," she said when I was finished. "It's like a fairytale."
"Not when you look at it from my perspective, it isn't," I murmured."So tell me about your family," I insisted in an attempt to drag the conversation away from me. "What happened to your dad?" Wait! How did I know that? Why did I suddenly see behind the lids of my eyes a young girl—about eight years old—that looked like Jade hiding under a kitchen table, crying? Why was I seeing a man dressed in a military uniform bend down and kiss her red cheek? Why did I see him stand up and hug a woman that must have been his wife and kiss her sadly but passionately on the lips? Why could I see him walking out of the door of a perfectly nice house with people he loved inside? Why did I see him years later on a battlefield getting… getting shot? And most importantly, why was I tapping into Jade's past?!
She stared at me with large eyes. "How did you know that?"
And how did I know that? The same thing had happened with Renesmee earlier.
"I don't know," I said truthfully. "I just said it."
And sure enough, tears came to her eyes and she explained her story. Of course, I had to be right. Her father had gone to war when she was a little girl. Sadly, he'd never come home. She and her mother were still in mourning for him. When she was done, her eyes were puffy and red. I leaned forward to hug her softly.
"I don't know—why it—happened," she said through tears. "Why—why did—why was he taken from us?"
"I'm sorry," I whispered. I hated pulling the scab off of her old wounds, letting them bleed again. "You probably hate me now."
"No, no," she said through her quieting sniffles. "I'm glad I told someone. It makes me feel better."
"He still loves you," I whispered. "You and your mom. He wouldn't want you to be so sad."
"I know, I know," she sighed. "We can't help it, though."
"How I know how that feels," I said.
We sat in silence as the minutes ticked by. The sound of easily recognizable heels started coming closer and closer toward us until Alice and Nessie were standing in front of us. The looks on their faces were completely somber and I guessed Alice had seen it all coming.
Jade scrambled around in her purse to try and hide her tear stained face. I put my hand on hers in a motion for her to stop.
"Don't worry," I said. "They understand."
Jade, though still looking confused, nodded.
"Jade, how about we give you a ride to your place?" Alice asked, the perk that had been lost for a moment returned.
I was about to scold her on being so forward, but Alice would be Alice. She's always doing the right thing.
"That'd be great!" Jade said, jumping up from her seat. "My only other choice would be…" I could see that she really didn't want to say their names.
"Fabulous!" Alice squealed. I knew she knew who Jade was talking about. We started walking toward the exit and I noticed how visibly dark it was outside. Of course it would be cold too. I zipped up my sweater and pulled its hood over my head. I stuffed my hands in the pockets.
Jade's phone vibrated and she pulled it out of her pocket. A calendar event covered her screen. Jade groaned.
"You start school tomorrow, too?" I asked her. "Where?"
"La Push High," she answered.
"Cool," I said. "Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, Bella, and I start tomorrow, too."
"Oh really? That's great! I can show you around school and—oh, no." I looked ahead of me to see what made her 'oh no.' I instantly saw it. Asia and Tiffany were in the exact same spot they'd been earlier, and they were looking this way.
I saw Tiffany's mouth open to say something, but her eyes darted to Alice standing next to me.
"Alice Cullen!" she exclaimed. I could see by the immediate recognition in her and Asia's eyes that the Cullens were very well know… people here in Forks. "We haven't officially met yet, I'm Tiffany Keller. Some of my Quileute friends invited me to your graduation part last year and it was phenomenal!"
Slowing her pace but not stopping her walking, Alice said the last thing I expected to hear from her.
"Bye, sluts," she said in a polite voice to both Tiffany and Asia.
Leaving them both with their mouths dropped open, the four of us stepped out into the night, laughing as hard as we possible could.
"She wasn't that cool anyway," I heard Asia murmur before the doors closed behind us.
Continuing our laughter and a second by second description of both their facial expressions, we made our way through the parking lot and stopped when we saw the lights of Alice's Porsche go off when she hit the unlock button on her keys. Jade's mouth dropped.
"That's your car?" she asked.
Alice nodded. "It was a Christmas present from two years ago." She opened the door and moved the seat forward for Jade and I to get in. Alice got into the driver's seat and Renesmee rode shot gun.
"Buckle up, everyone," Alice said as she started the normal, human procedures needed when getting ready to drive a car. She even adjusted her mirrors, I was impressed.
I loved the silence that followed. It wasn't awkward, it wasn't sad; it was a perfectly comfortable, happy silence. Somehow, Alice managed to drive under the speed limit the entire time. When we started to see houses, Jade pointed to the left.
"Take a left here,"—which Alice did beautifully—"and it's the third house on the right side of the street."
Alice pulled into the driveway and unlocked the doors. Renesmee got out and pulled the set forward to let Jade out of the car.
"Good night!" she called as the three of us drove away. "See you tomorrow!"
And I found comfort in the fact that I would. Tomorrow would officially be my first day of high school and I couldn't be happier.
Alice finally kicked the car into full gear and sped for miles and one hundred fifty miles and hour. The car made its way through the woods until the Cullen mansion came into full view. Seth was outside to greet us.
"Hey," he said, peering in at me through an open window. He opened the car door to let Nessie and me out. "Alice called. You made a new friend?"
"I did, in fact," I said. "Her name is Jade."
"Oh," Seth said. "That must be Jade Trang." I nodded. "She's a nice girl. I'm glad she's one of your friends. Smart, too. It's a shame to see her get pushed around by—what are their names?—Tiffany and Asia? I think that's it."
"Not any more, she's not," I giggled.
"What did you do?" he asked with a smile on his face. I took his hand and looked up into his eyes.
"Nothing you need to worry about," I said, a smile on my own face, mirroring his.
"I'll take your word on that," he said. Alice and Renesmee had already made their way inside and closed the door behind them. To give us some privacy, I told myself. The porch light, however, was on and I saw a golden eye covered with blonde hair peeking out the window. Jasper. Of course. Two seconds later, I saw a small, pale hand draw him away from the window. I would have to thank Alice for that one later.
"Look at the stars," Seth said, pointing up with our entwined hands. "There's the Archer." He extended my index finger and traced a constellation with my finger. And suddenly, I could see it. I saw the Archer's bow, his arrow pointing toward a lonely star.
"Beautiful," I declared at the view above my head.
"Not as beautiful as you," he said. I lowered our hands and spun to face him.
I threw my arms around his waist and he pulled me even closer to him.
"You have the purest, kindest, most beautiful soul in the world," he whispered.
"As do you," I said. "Seth, I truly love you, and if it's up to me, I will love you for eternity."
"And I'll love you back," he said. "Forever."
"Best words you could say to me," I said.
I stretched onto the tips of my toes to try and reach his lips. Fully extended, I still wasn't tall enough to reach. He ended my struggles and leaned forward to close the distance. He cupped my face in one of his hands while the other remained around my waist and pulled me against him. My hands found their way into his hair as he kissed me, tracing circles on my back.
"I love you," I said to him.
"I know," Seth said with a smile on his face. "By the way," he said, digging around for something in his pocket, "there's something I forgot to give back to you."
He put his hands on my shoulders and spun me to face away from him. He lifted my hair with one hand and put something cold yet comforting around my neck with the other. I looked down to see the seashell necklace I'd left him the day I'd run away to Volterra in order to save the Cullens.
"Now you'll never forget how much I care about you," Seth whispered in my ear, his hands tracing my arms.
"I wouldn't have forgotten anyway," I said.
"Just in case," he said.
I turned around. We were about to start from where we left off, but the front door of the Cullen house opened, revealing the inside light and a stiff Jasper.
"Jasmine," he said, motioning for me to come forward. My cheeks warmed at having been caught, so I walked forward slowly. Seth walked at my side, but kept his distance. I smiled at him and grabbed his hand, Jasper would have to deal with that.
"Yes?" I asked him.
"You should get to sleep," he said. "You wouldn't want to be tired on your first day of school."
"Of course," I said. I gave him a one armed hug and pecked his cheek. "Night," I told him as I pulled Seth into the house, leaving Jasper stiff in the doorway.
"Good night, everyone," I called as we made our way up the stairs.
"'Night," the Cullens called after me.
Seth waited outside my bedroom door as I changed into a pair of soft, lavender pajama pants and a matching A-line spaghetti strap shirt that was fitted at the bust. I walked over to open the door and let Seth in. He'd changed into a pair of red sweatpants and grey muscle shirt.
"Come on in," I said, as he marveled at the sight of me. I didn't understand how he did that. How could he look at me with a sparkle in his eye and a smile on his face that made him look like he'd just won something even better than the lottery? When I mentioned this, Seth chuckled.
"That's because I have won something infinity times better than that," he said. "I've won you."
We lay down on our sides so we were facing the glass wall. Outside, the full moon was casting light shadows on the otherwise dark forest. He pulled the blanket over my body and put one arm around me.
"Promise you'll never leave me," I whispered to him.
"If you think I can leave you willingly for even a moment, you're crazy," he answered. "We have forever."
"I like the sound of that," I said.
"So do I," he whispered.
Seth pecked my cheek lightly and traced my hand with his index finger.
"Sleep, Jasmine," he said. "You've got a long day ahead of you."
"All right," I said. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he said.
I started humming a soft melody and, eventually, I let my eyelids close and I drifted into what had to be the most perfect sleep I'd had in my entire life, my true love at my side.
Author's Note: I promise to make this one short! I am so excited because this was my ending chapter for part one of Jasmine's story. I don't know when I'll have the first chapter for part two up, but when I do, I'll make sure to let you all know. Also, I'm trying to get a site up where I can put pictures of some of the more important things and people in my story (-cough-Jasmine-cough-). Stay tuned for a much… longer author's note later and a sneak preview of –drum roll- PART 2! Until next time~April