I pulled in beside Bella as she was hopping out of her truck. I met her at the tailgate; she was nervous. "Something wrong?" I didn't actively calm her, but took her hand.

"Everyone is watching us." She blushed, pulling her hair over her shoulder.

I dropped her hand and put my arm around her shoulders instead. "They are." I felt curiosity around us along with a lot of jealousy. I wondered how far I could push that. I put my lips to her hair, my throat igniting at her scent. It was intoxicating. I closed my eyes and let it cloud my mind.

I felt lust from her, well I thought it was her, and I pulled away. "I'll see you at lunch." I dropped my arm.

"Yeah, okay." She was still nervous.

I gave her a little confidence. "Relax. I can't make more of a scene than that truck of yours." I grinned.

She smiled back. "Right." She looked up at me, bobbing once on her toes. She bubbled with anticipation now that her nervousness was gone. I should know better than to nudge less than strong emotions. I held my breath and inclined my head to hers. She bobbed once more, bringing her lips to mine. "See you at lunch." She turned to enter the classroom.

I was at my usual table for lunch. Bella pecked my cheek before sitting across from me. "You're always so cold," she mused.

"Yeah." I couldn't explain how that was because I had no blood pumping.

"So," she began pulling out the few items she had packed for lunch. "I heard Mike Newton is planning a beach party for a couple weekends from now. Would you be interested in coming with me to First Beach?" She was nervous again. Probably anticipating a negative. Sadly, that was exactly what she was going to get. The treaty Carlisle had worked out with Ephraim Black prevented either of us from setting foot on the reservation. I needed to find a graceful way out, one that wouldn't stop her from inviting me in the future.

"I'm – I don't react well to sun." She cocked an eyebrow at me in disbelief. It was actually very true and the reason I was in Forks. Sunlight made my skin reflect like crystal. "I also don't swim." She seemed to accept this a little more readily.

"Oh, well I'm probably not going to swim either. It's too cold still."

I just nodded.

"What will you be doing instead?" she asked. "Do you already have plans for that weekend?"

"Um." I had the same plans I had every weekend, going and getting enough blood in my system to make another week here in purgatory, bearable. "Camping with Carlisle probably."

"Yeah? Where do you go?"

I was going to dig myself deep. This was why I didn't have human friends. I remembered now. "I don't think we have it nailed down yet. Mount Baker maybe?"

"You have a camper?"

"No, we tent, and backpack."

"All the way to Mount Baker?" her eyes widened. "Isn't that near the border?"

"We will park somewhere near a trail head." We wouldn't of course. Just like we didn't actually take backpacks. Why did I have the feeling she was about to invite herself along?

"So, is it just the two of you? Or do you go with other families?" She started doodling with her finger on the table. The sense that I was being set up intensified.

"Just the two of us usually. Why?"

"Well. If I didn't go to La Push. I thought maybe..."

"You want to go tenting?" I looked her up and down. She might mean it. She had done some hiking during her mother's nature fad. Still, she seemed a bit too urban for backpacking and tenting.

She shrugged. "I wouldn't mind. I don't think I'd mind. I've never done it, actually. Charlie and I would go fishing when I was little but we never really camped." She fell silent and looked at me, hoping.

I held her gaze, not answering. I was not going to invite her to come with us. That would be a huge imposition on Carlisle, and it would mean an entire weekend without hunting for me. It wasn't that I hadn't gone two weeks without hunting before, but I didn't want to think about being so close to Bella when I was thirsty.

"Well, maybe I'll just go to the beach anyway. I haven't spent a lot of extracurricular hours with my other friends." Bella looked over her shoulder and I felt a spike of excitement from the table of juniors. Who was it? I noticed a blonde boy looking Bella's direction. I thought he was Mike Newton, the one planning the excursion. His eyes moved from Bella to me and I felt jealousy strike. I tried to ignore it.

"Is that Mike?" I asked her.

"Yeah. He keeps trying to ask me out, but my friend Jessica likes him. He just doesn't seem to take the hint. She's practically throwing herself at him. Kinda like me." She muttered the last line very quietly. She wouldn't think I'd heard her.

"Are you having more luck?" I asked, teasing her.

She giggled. "A little. You came to the movies with me." She reached across the table to grab my hand.

That wasn't the end of the questions about my plans for the weekends. "Jasper. I know you aren't coming to the beach, but I was wondering..." Her nervousness rose. Was she going to suggest coming camping with us again? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She flushed even before she spoke and I held my breath as she did. "Would you go to the girl's choice dance with me?"

"What?"

"Nevermind. I didn't ask you anything." She turned and sprinted down the hall we had been standing in. She fell flat at the end of it.

I walked quickly to her side and helped gather her things. "You want to go to the dance, Bella?"

"Yes? Well, no. I can't dance," she admitted honestly. "It just seemed like a good chance to be with you, outside school." She was blushing again and I had to ignore the flames scorching my throat. "But I shouldn't have. I can't dance, and I would be a terribly embarrassing date. I don't have anything to wear anyway. I mean what is semi-formal?" She was babbling. It was adorable.

"How would you like to come to my place instead? Meet Carlisle?"

"Really?" she asked, her excitement rising.

I chuckled. "Really. I could pick you up and meet your father the same night. That would be appropriate, don't you think?"

"Um, meet Charlie?" Anxiety rose in her. "O-okay."

"You think he won't like me?" I asked, stroking the back of her free hand while we straightened.

"I–I don't know."

"Well you have a bit of time to warm him up to me, right?" I smiled but tried not to use my gift to shore up her confidence.

"Yeah. Yeah, and he knows Carlisle. I don't know why I'm making a big deal out of this. Probably just because I've never had a boyfriend before."

"No?" I was surprised. Bella was beautiful, as the boys here had certainly noticed, why wouldn't she have had a boyfriend in Phoenix?

She shook her head and blushed, causing venom to pool in my mouth. "I never had the guts to ask anyone."

I felt like such an ingrate. I'd been making her do all the asking, all the chasing. "Would you like to come over tonight? Carlisle won't be home, but we could study together." I did a mental check that we had all the new appliances plugged in. There was nothing in the fridge, but we were a pair of men, I could probably play that.

Her smile was brilliant and her pleasure nearly knocked me over. "Tonight?"

"Unless you need to be at home tonight."

"I usually make Charlie dinner," she looked up at me and bit her lip. "Could I come over later?"

"I don't know if you'd find the place on your own, we're out of town. Could I pick you up? Say at seven? What time do you usually eat?" I was completely guessing.

"Six should be fine. I'll eat before he gets home." Her excitement was bubbling again and I could see the sparkle it made in her eyes. "Thank you, Jasper."

I shrugged, but smiled with her. "It's just a study date."

She giggled. "Right. I'll see you at six." She started to turn and flipped back, pulling a page from her notebook. "You'll need my address." She scribbled it on the paper. I bent a little to read as she wrote. That was on the edge of town, it would be right on the forest. I suddenly had awful thoughts about watching her at night from the treeline. I was not going to stalk the poor girl. I needed to get a grip. She took advantage of my bent head to kiss me again though. I felt the shift in her emotions just before her tongue touched my lip. I gasped and her scent burned my throat.

She went from lust to horror in a flash. She backed up and put her hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry." She turned to run again, but I caught her elbow. We were near a row of lockers and I walked her into them.

"What are you sorry for?" I put my lips near hers. I wasn't about to steal a kiss, not when she'd been horrified a minute ago.

"You ... you looked angry." Her eyes looked questioningly into mine. It was probably the thirst. I breathed her deeply now, so close to me. My throat burned for her blood. I licked my lips instead, tasting her kiss again. The burn changed. I didn't want the blood, even if I thirsted for it. I wanted the kiss. Her eyes followed my tongue and I felt the lust rise in her again. She put her mouth back to mine.

This time I let my tongue touch her lips, so hot, so full of her flavour. She dropped her books and put both her hands to my neck, her fingers finding the hair on my collar. She pulled me closer, her tongue tracing my lips again. "Jasper," she murmured against them.

"Yes, Bella," I agreed, my free hand finding her hip and pulling the rest of her closer to me. Her warmth was divine where it pressed against me.

I was so caught up in our self-fuelling lust that I didn't notice the disappointment and anger until a throat cleared behind me. I smelled Bella's blush even as I pulled my lips far enough from hers to see it. I smiled at her and winked before turning to face whatever educational authority was about to chastise us.

"Mr. Greene. I'm very sorry. We got caught in the moment. It won't happen again," I assured him and encouraged him to trust me, to be forgiving.

"See that it doesn't, Mr. Cullen. Miss Swan." He nodded to her curtly before continuing on.

Her sudden relief caused her to laugh. I felt the bubble of tension burst as the happy sound issued from her lips. I chuckled a little, too. "I did mean it though. I'll see you tonight." I kissed her cheek quickly and headed on my way.

I heard her sigh, give another giggle and start to pick up her books.

"I don't believe it," I heard a pair of girls whisper. "What would Jasper Cullen see in her?"

"She must have something on him. Why else would he waste his time?"

I ignored the catty comments, though I did note the faces. One, I was sure, sat with Bella's friends at lunch. Surely she wasn't friends with one of these girls. I was suddenly concerned for her trip to La Push. If one, or worse both of these girls was along... I rid the thought from my mind. As bad as thinking about spying on her in her house. She was able to take care of herself.

I pulled in behind the police cruiser just before six o'clock. I was on my way to the door when she came out carrying a bag. "Let's go."

"But ..." I looked past her to the house, then over my shoulder to the cruiser.

"Another night," she complained. "Trust me, we don't want to do any introductions tonight. He's in a snit about some missing hiker. He hates when things like that happen. He can't be everywhere all the time, but he still blames himself when something happens on his watch." She rolled her eyes. "I mean, I understand," she climbed into the car while I held her door. "I'm sort of the same. I hate letting people down. Especially Charlie." She looked toward the house and I felt her affection for her father. "Anyways. Next time, all right?"

I smiled at her and brushed her hair over her shoulder before turning the key. "All right."