Author Note:

Another day, another chapter! I know this update took longer, but you should all be gratified that I took time out from my vacation to the beach and my birthday to write this! Actually, for the 4th of July, my boyfriend and I went to stay with his family at the Oregon Writers Colony house, which is this amazing log cabin at Rockaway Beach, OR, that was built in the 1930s by the same architect that created Timberline Lodge. You Oregonians (if there are any) will know what I'm talking about. Anyway, it has a long 20+ year history of housing writers, and I felt very inspired.

Also, I do want to say, thank you for all your reviews. If anyone has suggestions they'd like to make, or ideas, I'm all ears. I'm thinking about throwing a contest, and was wondering if anyone would be interested in participating. Prize would probably be something along the lines of. . .me answering one question about this story, or me writing you a specific scene from a different POV. . .and it would be a trivia contest. So let me know.

Speaking of POVs, you've probably noticed that I spend a long time in one POV (this whole chapter is in Alice's POV, for example), and that so far, we've only had three (Alice, Rosalie and Bella). I am undecided whether or not we will have any chapters in Edward, Jasper or Emmett's POVs. If you have any feelings on this one way or the other, I'd like you to let me know. It's not that I don't feel comfortable writing in their POV, I'm just not sure it's necessary for the story, and I'd like to keep the POV changes down simply for flow and continuity.

I know, this is a huge AN. It's wrapping up, I promise. Lastly, I have just about finished the plot setup and the flashbacks are just about to end. There are maybe one or two more flashback scenes I'm considering writing (one for sure). And then, we start plot! Woo hoo. For all of you Bella and Edward fans, the next chapter will be one, I'm sure, of great interest to you.

So thanks again for sticking with me, for enjoying this story, and for telling me so. Characters (but really, only their names), belong to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks also to my beta, Tamaleine, who rocks.

APOV

Rosalie and I agreed to meet at lunch to discuss possible plans to escape her cruel and unfair punishment. I went to my English class, while Rose ventured to Trigonometry. I marveled yet again at her bravery at tackling such an incomprehensible subject. I got away with the easiest math classes I was allowed, and even those I considered serious taxation for my brain. Me and numbers didn't seem to mix well.

I was so engrossed in trying to figure out a way out of Rosalie's grounding that I didn't even notice that Mrs. Leslie, the English teacher, was looking at me irately and I couldn't help but blush with shame and embarrassment.

"Alice? Alice!"

"Yes?" I replied meekly, wondering how much I had missed.

"Could you please pay a bit more attention to our discussion of The Great Gatsby?" She sounded greatly put out and I didn't blame her. Being a high school teacher probably wasn't easy in the best of times, and I was sure that I made things a great deal harder with my general absentmindedness.

I heard a snickering behind me and whipped my head around only to meet the condescending, yet gorgeous amber eyes of Jasper Cullen. I'd forgotten he was in my English class, mostly because he never spoke. I couldn't figure out if it was because he was shy and quiet or because he considered himself too overly important to speak to any of the inhabitants of Forks.

I turned back in my chair with a huff, and tried to focus back on Mrs. Leslie, but the truth was, my concentration was worse off now than it'd been before. Jasper's face hovered in my vision, and I couldn't shake it.

Okay, so he was just a little bit gorgeous. Tall and lanky, yet with just enough substance to know that he wasn't only skin and bones under his clothes, but that there was muscle there too. His golden blond hair was fairly short, but its length only seemed to emphasize the beautifully carved cheekbones and solid jaw of his face. Not to mention those ethereal amber eyes. I blushed and was relieved he was behind me and couldn't see my ongoing reaction to his presence.

Damn him. Damn him to the farthest reaches of hell and back. Now that I knew he was behind me, I could feel the weight of his gaze on my back, and the very thought nearly made my spine shiver. How could he do this to me when we'd never even had a conversation?

Not for lack of trying on my part. I'd noticed him watching me once or twice and I'd given him a very friendly smile, hoping to encourage him to break the ice between us. But he'd merely inclined his head slightly and walked away. I was left feeling strangely bereft and more than a little unattractive. Of course, when your honorary sister and best friend was Rosalie, this was a natural state of affairs.

I hadn't mentioned my interest to Rose, who only would have told Emmett, who naturally would have informed his brother and therefore ensured my humiliation. But now that Emmett and Rosalie seemed to be so close, I had renewed hope that maybe time would actually force a conversation between Jasper and I. Surely, it was only a matter of time.

Of course, he was snobby and smug and everything else I hated in a man. Having a conversation with him would only end up confirming my suspicions, I was sure. Nobody who looked like that could actually be shy.

The rest of English passed without Mrs. Leslie calling on me again, thank goodness. I was free to let my mind wander as it pleased, though I obstinately told myself that I was thinking of how to get Rosalie out of her unfortunate situation, while in reality I was actually fantasizing about Jasper.

The bell rang, jerking me out of my thoughts. I gathered up my things and turned to walk out of the classroom, all the while knowing that Jasper's eyes were still on me. I couldn't understand why he stared at me if he had no interest in actually talking to me, and if he thought that I would simply break down and talk to him first, he was crazy. I had my pride, after all.

My two next classes, Biology and French, passed without incident and I made my way to the lunchroom to meet Rosalie, who was already sitting at one of the center tables, naturally, halfheartedly picking at her sandwich.

Emmett wasn't physically sitting with Rosalie but their glances back and forth seemed to speak volumes to anyone who was unlucky enough to intercept one. And if somehow you were immune to the scorching looks between the two of them, you'd only have to look at Mike Newton's dismayed face to learn the truth: Rosalie was officially off the market for the first time since we'd moved to Forks.

Ten minutes into lunch, Rosalie and I were still arguing over possibilities. I suggested that she simply sneak out again, but Rosalie had argued that her first time sneaking out hadn't been at all premeditated and she wasn't going to make a habit of it.

Of course, that had immediately piqued my interest, though truthfully, my interest in what had happened the night before had never really dissipated. I couldn't get anything more out of Rosalie though. She was locked down tight, and refused to divulge anything else.

Finally, we fell into a disparate silence, both of us frustrated that we couldn't think of a way around our parents. Of course, it probably shouldn't have mattered to me that Rose couldn't circumvent her punishment, but I loved her and I wanted her to be happy. If Emmett was the key to the glow she carried around her like a palpable haze, then so be it.

Rosalie's mouth was downturned, and her brightness had begun to fade a little. I felt obligated to try to cheer her up, though I knew I wasn't what she wanted right now.

"Hey, it won't be so bad. It can only last so long, and in the meantime, you've got me to hang out with." I tried giving Rose a big smile, but it died a little in the execution.

Rosalie halfheartedly smiled back and her gaze fell back into her sandwich.

I took another bite of salad and silence fell between us again.

Then, like a light bulb flashing on, Rosalie suddenly straightened up. "Ohmigod, that's exactly it, Alice!"

I felt at least one step behind Rosalie's reasoning. "What is exactly it?"

"That's how we get around me being grounded. You can be with me. Mom said you could be, mainly because she knew she couldn't prevent it. But she didn't say that I couldn't be with you and someone else."

I felt a horrible realization dawning. "You mean I can hang out with you and Emmett?"

"Of course," Rosalie chattered, all moping completely forgotten in view of this new and amazing solution to her problem. "That's the best thing to do."

"So you think I should be a third wheel?"

"Oh, you wouldn't be a third wheel, Alice," Rosalie laughed, completely unconcerned.

Except that I knew I couldn't be more than a third wheel even if I tried. Then an even darker realization hit me, just as Rosalie continued.

"I'll just have Emmett bring Edward or Jasper. Then the two of us can sneak off." Rosalie beamed at me, thrilled with herself.

My stomach plummeted, yet the smile remained plastered on my face. I was determined not to let Rosalie know how upset I was that she was basically going to have to persuade Emmett's brothers to keep me occupied. She was going to have to set me up. Because I couldn't attract someone. And Jasper would know. Could the humiliation sting any worse?

Rosalie seemed to have no idea that I was so upset. She was still chattering away, her voice echoing through my panicking brain, yet I didn't hear a single word of what she was saying.

She must have said she would go talk to Emmett because she gave me a quick smile and was up and moving toward where Emmett was sitting. I watched as she gracefully slid onto the bench next to him and he put an arm around her and drew her close. I suppose I should have been happy for Rosalie, but all I could think was that Jasper was going to find out that I needed help to get a date. And even worse, I had a feeling that it was going to be his lot to keep me occupied.

When Rosalie and I met at the car immediately after school, her face alone gave her away. I knew she'd arranged some outing for the four of us, and I wanted to cringe.

"Alice! So, good news. We've got plans!" Rosalie nearly vibrated with excitement. She appeared to have entirely left behind her bored persona. She was beside herself with happiness and couldn't even try to hide it anymore.

"Oh? We?" I asked casually.

"Yep. Emmett and I, of course. And Jasper's going to come along so you don't feel like so much of a third wheel."

Great. It had to be Jasper Cullen. Maybe if I didn't find him so ridiculously attractive this wouldn't be the unmitigated disaster it was turning into.

"Come on," Rose said, "we're meeting them at their house after school." Rosalie was almost beginning to remind me of myself and it began to dawn on me why some people found it me so annoying.

"You know," I grumbled back at her, "the happy cheery Rosalie could get a little . . .old."

She laughed, the sound incredibly happy and joyous. "Silly Alice, you'd better get used to it. 'Cause happy Rosalie's gonna be around for awhile."

We pulled out of the parking lot at a fast, yet totally normal for Rosalie, speed. But as we drove on the winding roads to the Cullen residence, I felt a panic building that had nothing to do with how closely the R32 hugged the curves.

"Couldn't we stop at the house and get. . .freshened up?" I needed to do something to postpone this conversation and somehow come up with a way to turn Jasper's all too coherent brain into mush. I needed to fix my hair. I needed to change my clothes. More makeup. Anything. Of course, I had put the normal amount of time into all of the above this morning before school, but this situation called for extra reinforcements.

"Oh come on. You'll just be talking to Jasper. He's not going to notice what you're wearing." Rosalie's lips turned up into a smirk and she sent me a sideways glance that just said it all. I think she must have guessed what my problem was. I didn't need to ask her anymore why it was Jasper and not Edward that I was meeting. She'd obviously seen right through me and all my myriad issues.

I didn't mention that Jasper seemed to notice everything with those incredible light eyes of his. Nothing escaped his notice, and in five minutes he'd be cataloguing every thread on my body.

Just the thought of his intent eyes on me, picking me apart thread by thread, cell by cell, had me involuntarily shuddering—or shivering—I couldn't tell which, and by now, it didn't matter. I detested him and was incredibly attracted to him all in the same breathless second.

Rosalie turned onto a long gravel driveway that led up to an elegant yet simple rambling white house. It was large, but the last thing you remembered when you looked at it was its size. Instead, you could only concentrate on its lovely, natural lines. Before Rosalie even had the parking brake on, the front door opened and a woman stepped onto the porch. From this distance, she looked very young, but I knew this had to be Esme Cullen, who had adopted three boys and raised them to near adulthood with her husband, Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Yet the woman didn't look older than thirty, I marveled, as we got closer.

"You must be Rosalie and Alice. I'm Esme Cullen." She was even more beautiful up close. Her eyes were kind, and I knew that Rose was marveling at how good of condition her skin was in for someone her age, and how she'd managed it. Knowing Rose, she'd have the secret out of Esme within a week and be implementing it into her own beauty routine.

We shook hands and made small polite talk on the porch, until the door opened again and Emmett walked out, followed by Jasper. My heart started beating rapidly, then sank deeper than I'd thought possible into my stomach.

Emmett went directly to Rosalie's side, casually slinging a muscular arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. I swallowed back the wave of jealousy I couldn't help but feel as Jasper stayed back with Esme, his eyes remote, his body language cold and unfeeling. Yet I couldn't deny that there was something in his gaze that unsettled me and lit a smoldering fire deep down in a place I didn't recognize.

"Jasper, do you know Alice?" Emmett asked, a little too formally for my taste. We were going to have to go through an introduction, further drawing attention to the fact that Jasper and I had never officially spoken. Why was it that I already felt like I knew him despite that I'd never met him? His eyes seemed flat most of the time, devoid of any emotion that might give him away, and his body language was difficult if not impossible to decipher, but I still felt as if I could read his soul.

"Alice." Jasper stepped forward, towering over me, and I felt my heart nearly stop. I had been mentally girding myself for the moment that Jasper spoke my name, but nothing I'd imagined could have prepared me for the reality.

I took a deep breath, prayed that my voice was steady, and extended my hand. "Hi, Jasper."

He glanced at my outstretched hand and waited just a second more than was polite to reach his hand forward to meet mine. It was only then that I realized the innate stupidity of my action. Our skin was going to touch. I wasn't sure I could even school my facial features to prevent any kind of reaction when the inevitable came to pass.

Then his hand, which was rougher and more calloused than I'd thought, was holding mine. His skin was warm, and just the contact made my heart race faster. I wasn't sure what kind of expression I was wearing, but it was enough to make him drop it almost immediately after the handshake, if it could even be called that. He hadn't even moved an inch when he'd taken hold of my hand, and my mind was hazy with the thrill of it.

Emmett and Rosalie mumbled something about taking off to the shop, but my brain was buzzing so loudly that I couldn't even register what they were really saying. All I could focus on was the way that Jasper's eyes seemed to have thawed in the last thirty seconds and they were boring into mine as if they could never get enough. The happy couple walked away and we were left standing with just Esme.

"Perhaps you'd like to show Alice the backyard, Jasper?" Esme's voice was tinged with amusement, and I could only guess that she knew exactly what was going on.

Jasper wordlessly stepped off the porch and I followed him. My shorter legs had trouble keeping up at first and I had to nearly run to catch him. When I finally did, he turned to me.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," I could only reply, hoping that he didn't note the breathiness of my voice, an unfortunate combination of running and reacting to his presence.

"Good." He shot me a warm smile--his first--and my defenses weakened even farther.

We rounded the bend of the house and the backyard came into view. I gasped. The landscaping surrounding the house was breathtaking. There was no way Esme could have done this in the few short weeks that the Cullens had lived here.

The grass was a cool green blanket on the ground, and the edges of the lawn were surrounded by large puddles of colorful wildflowers, obviously picked to thrive in Forks' cold and wet environment. A stream meandered through a corner of the yard, ending in a grouping of beautifully marbled rocks. I knew it was a serious landscaping project when even the rocks appeared to have been handpicked to coordinate with the rest of the yard. As a result, the overall impression was one of simplistic and almost haphazard beauty, but I knew that the effect was deliberate. It fit perfectly into the surrounding woods, and seemed merely a wild, yet somehow tamed, extension of what bordered it.

The surprise must have shown on my face because Jasper laughed. "Our dad, Carlisle, insists that Esme have a beautiful garden wherever she goes. She wouldn't mind starting from scratch, but he hates moving her so often as it is. So he'll often send landscaping crews ahead to finish before we even move."

My eyes started to smart at the expression of love that was surrounding us. What an extraordinary family this was. A family of foster children, nurtured by a loving mother and father, whose love for their adopted offspring was only eclipsed by their love for each other.

"It is amazing. We're very lucky," Jasper said quietly, steering me to a small seating group tucked away in the corner of the garden. The chairs were hard redwood, and quite rustic, but very comfortable. I relaxed into one of them, and I knew that the garden had worked its magic. I was feeling more comfortable with Jasper than I ever thought I would. Of course, up close he didn't seem as intimidating, just ridiculously attractive.

"Thank you," I said, trying not to feel self-conscious about the yawning chasm of silence that seemed ready to swallow us up at any moment. Clearly he had no idea what to say to me, and I had even less of an idea of what to say to him.

"No. Thank you. If you hadn't helped Rosalie come here today, I think Emmett would have burst out of his skin. Women don't usually affect him, but. . .well. . .Rose is. . ." Jasper trailed off, not wanting to say, I was sure, that he found her incredibly gorgeous. Yet another easily-made conquest that Rosalie didn't even want.

I sternly told myself that Jasper's reaction was normal and understandable. It was so easy for someone like me to fade in the presence of Rosalie's over-the-top beauty. I shouldn't expect him to even look at me the way a man looks at a woman. He was simply being nice and keeping me company while our brother and sister spent time together.

"Rosalie is unique. I hope your brother is good enough for her, " I finally joked.

Silence fell between us again. I wondered if he was regretting taking me on. Usually I had no problem making small talk, but something about Jasper tied my tongue into knots.

Finally he spoke. "You don't seem very interested in The Great Gatsby." His voice was almost stern, like he was reprimanding me. His eyes had returned to those unfathomable pools of hard amber, and his posture was awkward in his chair.

He was talking about school? Couldn't he be a normal person and figure out how to make polite conversation that was at least interesting?

I couldn't keep the incredulous tone out of my voice. "It's okay," I said, not sure what else to answer when presented with a question like that.

"You don't pay very close attention."

"I have a lot on my mind sometimes," I retorted. I felt as if I was defending myself from a crime I hadn't even realized I had committed. For all his gorgeousness, he sure was awkward in social situations. I was beginning to realize why he had never approached me. He'd probably learned that actually speaking to other human beings seemed to forever mar his gorgeous appeal. It was better to stay silent and distant and preserve the fantasy that he was actually an accessible man.

"Like what? Vogue magazine? Clothes? The mall? A different hairstyle?" His voice was soft, yet there was definitely an accusation there. I hadn't felt so affronted in a long time. He thought I was absorbed in those kind of superficial activities and that was why I didn't pay attention in class? For all the intelligence he was rumored to have, he was sure stupid about some things.

I self-consciously touched my hair, wondering if he didn't like the jagged short cut that I favored, then immediately dropped my hand into my lap when I remembered that I could have cared less what he thought of me or my haircut.

"At least," I said, both voice and temper rising, "I don't spend most of my free time working on dirty hunks of metal." Rosalie had only mentioned that Emmett worked on cars, but guessing from the size of the garage, I was sure Jasper was involved somehow. If he thought I was going to sit by and watch him malign and belittle me without saying a single word in return, then he was crazy.

"And what's wrong with that?" His voice rose too, to match mine, and I realized that his eyes were no longer cold, but flashing with heat. Was it wrong that seeing them like that made me wonder what they looked like in other passionate situations?

I slid a scornful glance his direction. Let him think what he wished of me--I wasn't going to go out of my way to correct the false assumptions he'd made about me. In fact, it might even help if I could emphasize them. "You'd get so . . .dirty." The emphasis I put on the final word could only lead him to one, albeit erroneous, conclusion: I was superficial and silly. He'd baited me initially so I refused to feel bad about purposely misleading him. He could believe what he wanted to about me. See if I cared.

Jasper's eyes grew hotter and his lips clamped together in annoyance and probably outright anger. "Unlike some people, who only care about their outward appearance, we enjoy fixing and improving the insides of cars. Nothing wrong with that."

My fury continued to spiral out of control. "Are you implying that I only care about what's on the outside?"

He shrugged, eyes stoked hotter than a bonfire. "If the shoe fits. . ." Jasper trailed off, not daring, I noticed, to meet my eyes while he said this latest travesty.

I shot up from the chair, feeling more flustered by the look in his eyes than the fight we were apparently having. Not that he would ever find that out.

"I'm going to go find Rosalie," I flung at him, hoping to make him feel guilty about chasing me off. He flushed accordingly and I felt a wave of triumph wash over me. I turned to go but his voice stopped me in my tracks. It wasn't cold, and it wasn't superior or patronizing. It was kinder, and I could hear the shame in it.

"Alice. . .wait," Jasper pleaded, "I'm sorry. That was really unacceptable of me."

I turned and was astonished to find him looking nervous and unsure. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked at me almost sheepishly. It was as if the Ice King had finally melted.

I, however, was still wary.

"You're sorry? For calling me self-centered and vain?"

"I assumed. You always doze off in class and you look like you just stepped out of a magazine. But it's no excuse. I should have kept an open mind about you, and instead I jumped to conclusions."

He seemed sincere enough, and the truth was, I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that this gorgeous well-spoken specimen of a man wasn't a complete jerk. Wanted it to be true so much that it scared the living daylights out of me.

I took a deep breath. "I like to look nice. Polished. Put together. That doesn't mean that my whole thought process revolves around the way I look. Truth is, I've read The Great Gatsby several times before, on my own, and I just don't find the class' discussion very stimulating."

The way Jasper's jaw dropped at my words was, I had to admit, very sweet. There was nothing like proving wrong a self-important man who tended to be right.

"I. . .I. . ." he spluttered, seeming to be at a loss for words. "I'm very sorry, Alice," he finally got out, "so much so that I'll ignore the crack you made about being dirty." He smiled conspiratorially at me and my heart started pounding again. His smile was like a Prada bag and a Bebe dress rolled into one.

"Deal," I replied, extending my hand again before I could remember the consequences of doing that. This time Esme wasn't even here to save us.

Despite what had happened earlier, on the porch, Jasper took my hand almost eagerly and this time shook it vigorously. Platonically.

Maybe he was smart after all, because he let my hand go quickly, as if he were afraid to hold it in his too long. All I knew was that I was grateful since I was afraid of what I'd do if our skin touched one second longer.

I'm cruel, I know. Cruel cruel cruel. . .but I do promise to update soon :)

Everyone enjoy! Please R & R!!