APOV
I lightly nudged Bella in the ribs.
"What?" She mouthed.
I nodded towards Jasper, my eyes dancing. He was sitting next to his sister in the cafeteria and he looked absolutely gorgeous in an Abercrombie sweater.
Bella grinned. She was just as excited to see him as I was.
"He's looking at you! OhmyGod. Don't look, Alice, don't look!" She breathed, trying to compose her face into a blank mask and failing completely.
"He's looking? Really?" I asked. Bella nodded. I tried to look at him out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn't quite manage.
"Don't look!" Bella chastised me. "He'll notice. He's whispering something to his sister… She's turning to look at you too! Oh, God, I think I'm gonna faint!"
"Bella! Stop it, you're making me anxious. Just focus on my notebook, OK?" I said, blushing.
She nodded and stared at it as if it held the answers to every secret in the world.
"Hi, Alice" A shy voice said behind me. Bella jumped in her seat. I giggled and turned around to see Jasper grinning at me bashfully. "I was wondering if you've got last class' biology notes. I wasn't paying much attention to Ms. Carmack"
Jazz Hale was borrowing biology notes… from me?
"Sure" I said, handing him my notebook. I was nothing if not a good actress. "I'm not sure wether I got everything in there, though. I was… a tad distracted last class"
Jasper took the notebook and smiled.
"Thanks, Alice. Um… I'll see you around, OK?" He said, embarrassed.
I nodded and watched him rejoin his sister and her friends.
I was certainly hoping to see him around…
JPOV
"She is such a flirt!" Rose whispered, grinning. "I can't believe she said that!"
"What does it mean?" I asked, confused. I'll never understand women…
"She was implying that she was so entranced by you she couldn't focus on the lecture, you idiot!"
"Oh" I said simply. Thank God I have a sister.
"That's great, Jasper! I can't believe it… And she's so pretty! I can't believe I didn't recognize your description, she's in my Calculus class" Rose shook her head.
I looked down at the table and willed myself not to look at Alice again. Maybe once more… But I couldn't.
"So, we were wondering if you have any plans for this weekend, Jasper" Melissa whispered.
"Yeah. We could have some fun together" Her friend Alexa hinted. I was stunned. They wanted a… threesome? No way. Impossible. Surely they are not that stupid. Or desperate. No, I must be wrong, they wouldn't have said that in front of Rose.
Rose's eyes flashed and I put my hand on her shoulder. OK, maybe they just did.
"Rosalie. Be nice" I reminded her under my breath. She smiled.
"Actually, Jasper and I are gonna watch some movies this Saturday" Rose lied smoothly.
"We like to spend some quality time together" I explained, putting my arm around my sister's shoulders.
"Oh. Well, maybe another time" Melissa said, unfazed. I barely repressed a shudder.
"Sure. Um… I've really gotta go. Bye, Rosie. Bye, guys" I said, standing up and practically running out the door of the cafeteria. Heads turned as I passed. I began to walk faster.
By the time I got to the football court, I was having a mild heart-attack. Why was everyone staring? Rose was the pretty one, not me! I didn't want any of their attention. Good Lord, I was starting to sound like a lunatic.
Sighing, I sat down in one of the empty bleachers and put my head in my hands. I'd been so stressed lately. Between Alice, homework, and the thing with my mom, I'd barely had time to think…
Suddenly, a tiny figure appeared on the other side of the field. I took a deep breath to compose myself and keep myself from yelling at whoever it was.
"Jasper? What are you doing here?" Alice asked, a look of confusion on her pretty little face.
"The same thing as you are: getting away" I replied, seeing how wistful her eyes had become for the first time.
Alice sat down next to me.
"Well, yeah, but I only come here when something's on my mind. What's bothering you, Jazz?" She asked, unashamed. I liked her nickname for me. Jazz. It sounded good when she said it.
Like I said, lunatic.
"Nothing much. You?"
"Nothing much" She said, grinning. I nudged her playfully in the ribs. She jumped.
"Hey!" I nudged her again.
"Hey what?" I asked, smiling at her innocently. I poked her in the rib.
"Stop that! I'm ticklish!" She shrieked.
And there went my bad mood.
"Oh, really?" Interesting… "Now, that's too bad"
She gasped as I began to tickle her all over. I really don't know what came over me, but all I can say is wow. I mean... wow. I was actually touching her, and believe it or not, I had been wanting to for a while.
I know. I'm a creep. Get over it.
Alice was laughing so hard tears were running down her cheeks. Her face was red.
"Jasper Hale, what in the name of Heaven are you doing?" Rose's voice demanded from across the field.
"Nothing, Rosie" I said, acting like a little kid with his hand inside the cookie jar. Alice snorted in disdain and I saw that Rose was in front of us.
"Alice! Are you OK? What did he do to you?" My sister asked, concerned. She walked over to Alice, who was trying to smooth her hair down.
"I made the mistake of telling your brother I was ticklish" The little pixie explained.
"Ah. That explains it. Jasper here" Rose waved towards me. "Is a sucker for tickles, too"
Alice's face lit up, making her look like mischief in person. My God, she was cute!
"Really?" Rose nodded.
I stood up nervously.
"I really gotta go. I'm gonna be late for class, and Mrs..." I trailed off. Rose and Alice were closing in on me. They cornered me.
Oh God, no. Please, no.
"Now, let's not get violent, girls" I warned, chuckling.
"Oh, we won't get violent, Jazz" Alice assured me.
"We're just really, really ticklish" Rose pounced on me first, and Alice followed suit immediately.
"Stop… stop… please!" I begged, gasping for air.
Only they didn't stop. And then I started regretting all the tickles I'd given Rosie during my life.
"What do you say, Alice? Do you think we've tortured him long enough?" Rose inquired some time after, looking at her new best friend. Both of them shook their heads at the same time.
"Nah!" They attacked again. And again. And again!
Now, don't look at me like that. We were on the bleachers, OK? I couldn't have just pushed them off, they were girls! I don't hurt girls. Especially not my kick-ass sister and the girl I have a crush on.
Wait, did I just say I have a crush on-?
"Mercy! I surrender! You girls win, but please, just stop..." I begged. The girls let me go and walked right out of my reach. I groaned, more from my epiphany than any hurt I was feeling.
"You two will be the death of me" Alice smiled.
"Of course we will, Jazz. It's what we do best" She said innocently. Rose smiled at her.
"You go girl!"
I was sad to admit it, but as I watched them leave, I realized one impossibly important thing: I just might be falling for Alice Brandon.
And I was whipped.
Review or Jazz will tickle you to death and you'll wake up with a bad case of white lace blues!!!!!!!
