Usual disclaimer applies.

March, 2012

~61~

Waking up bright and early, I decide to go on a run before school. I have been slacking, missing runs left and right, and I feel groggy because of it. Besides, I think best when I am running, and I have got a lot of thinking to do.

I haven't figured out yet what to do about Esme that won't hurt Edward and Alice in the process. Despite the mistakes Edward has made this year, the person he became that is so different from the one I knew, I don't want his prospects ruined because he has a horrible mother. I myself would never want to be judged by what kind of person Renee was.

But I do know something needs to happen. Esme needs to face some kind of retribution for all the shit she has pulled. For telling Edward I was his sister when she really had no proof, for scaring my mother, forcing her to disappear.

Suddenly, I feel the presence of someone running right beside me, and I curse myself for always playing my music too loudly as I run, for wearing two headphones. I calm down when I realize it's only Jasper.

"I didn't know you ran." I try for amicability, knowing that Jasper is also a victim of Esme's malice. Because I truly believe Alice left, and chose a destination where she would be unreachable, because she couldn't handle knowing what Esme had told her, what had broken both her brother and her best friend.

"Yeah, well, I'll be in college in the fall and I don't want to gain the Freshman Fifteen."

I snort, knowing that a guy like Jasper has little to fear in that category. His metabolism and good genes will keep him fit until he is at least in his forties.

Seeing a bench fifty yards away, I indicate to Jasper that we should stop. He agrees and we take a rest on the bench. I stare at my hands, not really knowing what to say. We haven't been alone since that night he showed up at my door and I confessed to him what had happened back in September.

Suddenly, the air around us is thick with what's been left unsaid. I know Jasper has been going out of his mind, wondering what I found out, wondering if the drugs he had brought to the party actually led to…rape. Each day at school, sitting uncomfortably beside Jasper in history and being the object of his quiet, concerned gaze… yeah, it's clear that he is worried.

And yes, Jasper has been an asshole for the majority of this school year. He has been a bully towards those with no one to stand up for them, been hurtful to people who wish him no harm, me included. But I've known Jasper for a long time, and I know that underneath the cruelty, Jasper is just a broken-hearted kid, a person who was raised right by his parents but had to deal with too much in a short span of time and lashed out.

Because not only was Jasper betrayed by Alice when she cheated on him, he lost the presence of both her and his best friend. Edward has definitely not been the same person since last July, and Jasper himself has confessed to me how difficult it was to see him like that, to lose him.

And so I can't help but lay his worries to rest.

"Jasper, about the party last September… it turns out that what happened…um, it was consensual. And I truly believe that. I guess you could say it was a misunderstanding, one that led to a lot of hurt feelings and tears, I will admit. And yes, if I could go back and change it, never go to that party, never accept that drink from Jessica, I most definitely would. But since I can't, I'm just going to have to accept it. Hopefully I will be able to do that soon."

Jasper sits there in quiet contemplation after my long-winded speech.

A sharp gasp makes me look up to Jasper's horrified face.

"It was Edward, wasn't it?"