A/N: Always grateful for reviews. Sorry this chapter is so short and I'll be adding the next in a few days or so.

Chapter Eleven: Distractions

LPOV

I cried a few tears over the night out of frustration as I tossed and turned to the memory of Jasper's face so close to mine.

A Saturday of sun with a formal ball that night.

Brit, Amber, and I made a few calls to invite a few close friends to the mall with us. Shelton came immediately. Tenny was bored while Taylor was at work, so she met us there after I promised not to force her to try anything on.

It was a difficult thing for me to promise.

I picked up Shelton at eleven AM and let him drive my truck. I sat in the back seat with my beloved room mates.

We stopped at a pet store, even though I had plenty of pets already.

"I've always wanted a ferret," Shelton announced.

"I want a fish. Mine kept dying last year," I replied, staring into the fish tanks. My gaze was trained on a topaz fish. Jasper's eyes continued to get darker. It was another thing that I could not clearly see the explanation for, yet I never mentioned it.

Maybe it was better if we didn't go into every detail of our lives.

I had secrets too.

We looked at the cats, the fish, ferrets, rabbits, the puppies. I tried the whole time to push Jasper from my mind. I would see him that night! We could work something out then and come up with an understanding.

I was so content with his silence as I lived it. And then the next day, my mind was so full of him I could never escape. I hated it. But I wouldn't have had anything else to think about so deeply.

Pale skin, yellow eyes that turned the darkest black I'd ever seen, the rings that grew around his eyes as the eyes grew darker, he never ate, he never drank. .

All of that meant something! I just didn't know what.

His words mixed with the warning he had given me swore he wasn't human. He didn't even seem human to me--he was too wonderful and too sensitive.

No man had ever shocked me so many times.

I took a deep breath as we returned to the fish tank with the same topaz fish. It was such a simple creature--why couldn't men be more like that/ Why couldn't life be so simple?

We each had something to wear that night already. My main goal was to find a curling iron to do Brit and Amber's hair, plus a blow dryer, and some good bobby pins. My aunt Charlotte was a photographer, so she supplied me with huge makeup kits that needed no additions for anyone. I got to play dress up with my roomies at least, even if Tenny wouldn't let me touch her.

I had agreed to it and I wouldn't back out.

"So you and that Jasper guy seem to be getting along well," Shelton commented. I knew he did like me, he had since we met at freshman orientation a year go. I wished there was more I could do, but the feelings weren't the same on my part. I could only see him as a good friend.

Now he had seen what time I spent with Jasper and he refused to let it go unmentioned. He wanted to know the truth and I didn't even know what the truth was! I couldn't explain the true answer he wanted and I couldn't explain the unknown, but I nodded once. "Yeah, he's a cool guy," I replied quietly, my eyes on the shelves instead of Shelton.

Cool wasn't the right word. There was no right word that came to mind.

"He's kind of hot," Amber said.

I turned to glare at her. She hated when I played matchmaker with her, which I did often. Now she was using my own plans against me, ut she was right! There was that extreme beauty and also the appealing mannerisms and faces that drew me in. He was very good looking. I knew that more than anyone, so I looked away quickly and went to find a decent hair curler.

Brit followed with a grin at Amber. "Come on! You can't deny you were all quiet last night because of him."

"I'm not trying to deny it. He's a friend at the most. Mostly, I talk and he listens," I replied with no sign of my inner frustration. I shook my head at them. "He's like a cliff hanger, Brit. I don't know what to do, but I wanted to come here so I wouldn't think about him. I don't need to ruin my day."

Brit nodded. "Okay, fine, but you should bring him to meet your folks soon. We want to ask demanding questions and scare him."

I laughed. Jasper handled everything! He could stand my race with Taylor on the escalators and he laughed when I stole my money back. He could stand my roomies or "folks" as Brit put it. He'd met them before, but not at their full levels of craziness.

He would come to our apartment at seven PM to pick me up. How was I supposed to distract myself from that? I was anxious to see him, this ghost of a man.

A ghost... No, he had a body and a heart.

He was something else.

I groaned inwardly.

Some distraction!

How was it? Let me know. :)