How's everyone been? I'm surprised I'm able to update considering all the exams I've been doing lately, but I guess I'm just in a good mood considering its sunny today or what England can call sunny...
xXx
Chapter Three
I sat nervously in the library waiting for Bella. I was early, really early so that this way, we'd have a long time to talk. I sat back in my chair fidgeting before getting out my sketch book and drawing the library. I wasn't sure how long I spent doing that before I heard her clear her throat.
I looked up, smiling at her and she smiled back hesitantly, before sitting down. She looked nice today, her hair was in a ponytail with a few lose bits floating around her head.
"Hey" I started
"Hey" she put down her bag but picked it up again.
"You okay?" I asked concerned. I couldn't get over what happened yesterday and I was just a spectator so I couldn't imagine what'd it'd feel like having that much hate directed at me.
"Yeah, I'm just surprised, though I shouldn't be"
"Why do you say that?"
"Well despite everything I've said to you and what you've now seen, I'm just surprised that you're here, talking to me and not avoiding me like I'd expected you to do"
"How many times must I tell you before you believe me Bella? I'm not like other people" I grinned at her and was pleased to see she smiled back. I liked her smile, it was pretty and it suited her but most of all it opened her and I got a glimpse at the real Bella instead of the one that seemed hell bent on chasing me away.
"I'm really starting to see that now" she whispered in turn.
"Good" she looked up and watched me for a few moments before looking down again.
"Jasper….why, I mean just….since we started talking and everything, not once have you asked me about what happened? Why?" she asked.
I contemplated my words before saying them "Bella, I don't want you to tell me just because you feel you have to or anything and I don't want to pressure you into telling me just because I want to know. What happened was obviously terrible and when you tell me, I want you to tell me because I'm your friend and you trust me and we've known each other 3 days so yeah, I get it's going to take a while"
"I like you Jasper, I really do-"
"I like you too" I cut in.
She continued "But I don't think that after you find out what happened, that you'll like me very much, maybe that's why I'm holding off from telling you but still I guess I just have to hope that you're as different as you say you are and that you believe me but…I don't know" she sighed sadly.
"Well, how about this, there's this game called truth. The rules of the game are simple, you tell the truth, we go one after the other, you must answer the question or the other person wins and we can start easy" I added.
She looked at me hesitantly, contemplating.
She was biting her lip again; I was really surprised that she hadn't damaged it or anything considering how much she had bitten it in the last few days alone.
"Ok, can I start?" she asked.
"Sure"
She folded her legs beneath her on the chair "Umm, what's your favourite colour?"
"Blue" I answered quickly "Yours?"
"Blue too" she whispered shyly. "You said you liked outdoor sports, which ones and why?"
"I like biking, running, horse riding and I guess really because I lived in Texas, the weather was good so it was nice to be outdoors" that was half the truth but I figured there was no point in telling the other half, she didn't need to know how messed up my life really was.
"Do you like sports?" I asked and then I remembered someone saying something about her being clumsy the other day though. It might have been Mike or Tyler.
"No, no, noooo. Me and sports, we...uh, we don't mix" she said laughingly. "What's your favourite subject?"
"History, yours?" At this she raised her eyebrow.
"Jasper, I thought the rules were we ask a question one after the other not whatever Bella asks, I'll turn it around and ask her" she grinned at me and I knew she wasn't mad "Do you have a pet?"
"No" I thought about a question for a few moments before coming up with one "What's your middle name?"
"Marie"
"So your names Bella Marie Swan?" I asked.
"Yeah I guess and you just asked a question"
"No, I was simply clarifying your answer"
"Whatever. Do you still have tonsils?"
"What?" I asked dumbfounded, did she really just ask me that.
"Do you have tonsils?" she repeated slower.
"Bella, that is a very random question, I mean really, who asks a question like that"
"I do"
"But why?"
"To see if you still have tonsils"
"Yeah but-"
"I don't have tonsils Jasper and I wanted to see if you did or not"
"Well I don't, I had them removed when I was twelve, it was great, and I ate all the ice cream that I could"
"Same except that I was ten when I got mine out. The only reason why I did take them out eventually was because they kept getting infected or something and it hurt so badly. I kept them in a jar afterwards"
"So did I, I still have mine, I'll show them to you one day"
"Mine got eaten"
I looked at her surprised "How did your tonsils get eaten Bella?"
"It was an accident, my dad likes to fish and one day I went along with him, long story short he ended up using my tonsils as bait and some fish ate them"
"Wow"
"Yeah, it's your turn" she said nodding in my direction.
"Umm, okay. What's your favourite time of year?"
She stilled for a moment and she got a wistful look in her eyes as though remembering something, then she smiled "It used to be summer, but now its winter"
"Why winter?"
"Nope" she said popping the 'p' "It's my turn to ask you a question"
"Okay, go ahead"
The bell rang at that point signalling the beginning of period 1. I looked at my watch, surprised to see that time had flown by. Grudgingly, I got up and looked over at Bella seeing that she was as reluctant to leave as I. When she noticed me watching her, she looked down at blushed before meeting my eye again.
"Will..." she started and then stopped.
"Will?" I asked prodding her on.
"Will…I see you…at lunch?" she asked quietly as though I'd say no. She didn't meet my eyes, so I waited until she did before answering.
"Of course" I answered. We reached the doors at the same time and I opened it for her, letting her to leave first before following after.
xXx
"Right guys, I told you on the first day that I'd have a seating plan in place for everyone as you can see, it's on the board, please find your seats and for those of you who can't seem to 'find'" He put his fingers in inverted commas "your seat, I've left you're initials on the tables, now hurry, hurry, hurry, we have work to do"
I walked around the class looking for my name and found that it was at the back of the class where I usually sat and I sighed in relief, I put my bag down and took my books out waiting to see who my partner was considering I didn't have a clue who 'I.S.' was.
I began writing in my notebook when I felt someone sit beside me.
Then I smelt it.
Strawberries.
I glanced up to see Bella smiling down at her notebook.
"Okay, now look to your left or your right and see the person sitting next to you because you will be sitting with them for the rest of the year whether you like them or not" Around the class you could hear the resonating of groans or cheers as the teacher said this.
I leaned over to whisper in Bella's ears "I hope you don't mind sitting with me for the rest of the year"
At this her smile widened before she replied "I'll manage"
"So I.S.? I thought your name was Bella?"
"It is, well its short for Isabella"
"Basically, you're actually Isabella Marie Swan"
"Yeah"
I looked around the class noticing the silence and saw the strange looks being shot our way by everyone including the teacher who simply shook his head with an incredulous smile on his face and I figured that whatever had happened must have been really bad if even the teachers knew about it.
I thought sadly to myself that they must have also known about the way Bella was treated as a result. Did they do anything about it?
The lesson past quickly enough and with only ten minutes to go the teacher announced that we'd be doing projects with our partner.
"Basically guys, this is a ten week project and will be a good chance for a lot of you to pull up your grades as it counts for 30%. That's right 30% which is why you are doing it in pairs and over 10 weeks. I will come around now and you will select a topic from my hat of wonders" he said brandishing a hat from his back. Bella and I waited patiently for him to reach us and when he did, me being the gentleman that I am, let her pick"
"WWII" she read out "Study how one man was able to take control over a whole country featuring points on who was against him and the treatment of undesirables. For extra marks talk about the Holocaust, main concentration camps, how they came about etc…"
"Aaah" the teacher said nodding his head at us "That's a good subject, so much you can do with that one" he said before moving onto the next lot of people.
"10 weeks huh?" I said turning to face Bella who was staring down at the sheet in her hands.
"Yeah"
"I guess that means we have to meet up outof school times" The idea strangely excited me.
"I guess" she sounded strangely despondent and it was as though she'd closed herself off to me again. That saddened me but still I was glad that we were going to be hanging out, out of school time as well so this way we can talk for longer and without the constant labelling and pressure that came with being in high school.
The bell rang and we packed up and headed out the class, she went off to wherever and I headed off to English hoping to avoid Alice. After yesterday's show in study hall I was kind of afraid to see what mood she'd be in, however when I entered the classroom she stood up, began waving, jumping up and down and shouting out my names as though I wouldn't see her.
"Jasper" she beamed as I walked over to her and sat down "How are you?"
"I'm alright" I hesitated gauging her expression in case she blew up again "How about you?"
"I'm great, never better" she bounced a little in her seat. The way she was behaving worried me, it was as though yesterday never happened.
"Ok, that's good" The class was called to attention after that and put a stop to the chit chat. I watched Alice through the lesson; she really was like a little child. Alice swung her legs underneath the table as she was too short to reach the ground and drew pictures of flowers around her work and when class finished and we left she skipped to the door. There was no sign of the angry person who had run rampant in study hall yesterday.
We bid each other goodbye and went our separate ways and at lunch time, I made sure to avoid Lauren and Jessica as well as anyone else who would try and get me to the café and simply sped to my locker to grab my lunch from home and go to the library.
Bella was already there as usual reading, I sat down opposite her and waited until she put down her book to begin speaking, I looked around the table and didn't see her lunch anywhere but I saw her bag on the floor so I assumed it was in there.
"When do you want to begin working on the project?" I asked. I opened a bag of crisps and offered some to her but she refused.
"As soon as possible, this way we have time to go over everything and make it more original"
"Good idea, actually I was thinking you know for the parts about promotion that maybe I could copy them and draw them out or something you know, more original"
"You draw?" she asked surprised.
"Yeah" I blushed slightly for some reason, looking down. I couldn't believe that I'd blushed considering how I couldn't even remember the last time I'd done it.
"I'd love to see your drawings sometime" I looked up to see her looking at me nervously.
"Sure"
"Do you want us to do the whole project together or should we separate it between us and then meet up or something?" she asked.
I wanted to spend as much time together with her as I plausibly could so I opted for the option that would allow me to do so. "We should work together and everything and split the work for that thing between us like with promotion we could break it down into us researching what kinds of promotion was aimed at who"
"I get you"
"When and where should we meet up then?" I asked.
"Here, I think. We're surrounded by all these books and everything and there are computers if we need to research anything else"
"Plus some parts of it, like here, are completely secluded so we won't get bothered" I added.
"There's that too"
"Let's go back to playing; I think it was your turn to ask a question"
"Yeah it was" she glanced at me mischievously "Do you think Jessica and Lauren are pretty?"
My eyes widened slightly, now how was I to answer that. They were pretty-ish in a way, well they would be if they removed the cake of makeup they had smeared on their face.
"I believe that Lauren and Jessica are very beautiful in their own special way"
"Hey" she exclaimed "You didn't answer the question"
"No, I think I did"
"No you didn't, I asked if you thought they were pretty and you replied you thought they were beautiful in their own way"
"Exactly, I answered your question"
"Whatever Jasper" she sat back clearly frustrated "Your turn"
"Okay, do you have any siblings Bella?" her head shot up in surprise and tears filled her eyes. She breathed in shakily and I wondered why she reacted so strongly. Did they die or something?
"Bella, you don't have to answer that question if you don't want to, I can ask you something else-"
"No!" she almost shouted "It's okay, yeah I have a sibling, a brother"
"Oh, cool, your turn"
"Why do you like History?" she asked. I wasn't expecting that question and took a while to figure out my answer.
"To be honest, I'm not too sure. I find it interesting I guess and it's good to learn about your country and what people went through for it, it makes you appreciate it a bit more, plus it serves as a great escape from reality"
I almost slapped myself right then for admitting that out loud.
She looked at me, not like I was weird or anything but as though she understood and knew what I meant and was going through.
"I get it, that's kind of why I like reading so much; you can lose yourself in the stories and troubles of other people and forget all about your own troubles and worries. I did that a lot as a kid, I'd imagine myself to be someone else and make up a whole fantasy world"
"I did that too, I was a cowboy superhero, who'd ride in and save everyone from the villains like Broccoli man and everything, pathetic but yeah" she grinned at me.
"It's not pathetic Jasper, at least yours were mildly better than mine"
"What were yours?"
"I was a princess, a damsel in distress and my prince would come and rescue me and take me away to a magical land"
"How is that bad? Lots of girls dreamed about being a princess"
"Yeah I guess, it's just that I'm still kind of holding onto that childish fantasy and I'm still waiting for my prince to come and save me, at one point I thought he had but it wasn't him or maybe he was and he was just tired of rescuing me"
Cryptic reply, I wondered what that meant, was her heart broken or something? Then who broke it? "Well, you shouldn't give up hope"
"I guess, it's just that when you hold on to something though and it fails, it hurts a lot more than if you weren't holding onto it"
"Yeah I guess" I finished eating my sandwich and started putting my stuff away.
"Jasper" I looked up at her "Do you think that it's weird how we've just like….." she sighed but I got what she meant.
"No, I don't think it's weird, you don't control things like this I guess and you know some people just kind of click as friends"
"I know but we've known each other 3 days" she stressed.
"That may be true yet some people meet a person and an hour later they marry them and they stay together forever because they just know that, that person's their soul mate despite knowing next to nothing about them"
"You're right. It's nice though, having you as a friend, I just hope I can hold on to you" she joked but I could see the seriousness behind the statement.
I reached forward and lay my hand on her arm much like she had done to me the day before.
"Bella, do you really think you can scare me off that easily? You're stuck with me now" I teased and managed to draw a smile from her.
"You know how yesterday, I asked if I could walk you to class and you said next time" I said.
"Yeah"
"It's next time Bella"
"What? Jasper…"
"No Bella, get your stuff, there's plenty of time before the bell goes, so we can walk slowly and if you're really so worried then I'll simply say I'm arranging what we're doing for our History project"
"Ok, if you're sure" she agreed hesitantly, but I could see the happiness in her eyes. It made her look so much prettier and I wondered briefly if it was there because I was fighting for her, well for her friendship at least.
We left the library and walked to block C where her class was and we took the long way round to avoid people seeing us on Bella's insistence. We talked some more about nonsensical things and she told me some of the most terrible jokes but I laughed nonetheless. It was nice seeing her being so open and carefree with me and not closed off as she sometimes got.
By the time I walked her to her class, the bell had rung and after saying her goodbye's I sped to my class just making it in time, however I was dreading the rest of the day namely study hall. Alice had been acting normally as was Bella so I began to wonder if maybe that was the norm and outbursts like that weren't uncommon for Alice.
The remaining periods between lunch and study hall seemed to drag endlessly, but study hall soon arrived. Despite me arriving early, I was still one of the last people to arrive minus Lil and her friends and Bella. It seemed as though people had come early because they were probably hoping for a repeat of yesterday's events.
It sometimes astounded me how insensitive some people could be, for all they knew Bella was cutting or contemplating suicide (I doubted it though) but here they were urging on the very abuse that would convince her to do it. I bet that if anyone of them were in Bella's position they wouldn't have been able to cope, Bella came back despite whatever happened, I didn't believe that any of them would be brave enough to do that.
I took a seat in the middle of the class room and I figured that wherever Bella sat I would to, but as Lil and her friends entered, Bella didn't show. Whispers started going around the class, some people claiming to have heard her crying in the bathroom, whilst others claimed that she had begged to be transferred out of study hall.
Lil and her friends who had sat around me looked almost anxious with the exception of Alice who didn't look too bothered. I couldn't help but wonder what Bella had done to her that was so bad she wanted her dead, then again, when I heard the story, I didn't want it to come from anyone's mouth but Bella's this way at least I wouldn't be hearing a biased version of events and also so that I can try and understand why people felt it necessary to ostracise her as a result of whatever she did. I doubted that it was that bad.
The teacher came in and took a seat giving us instructions to work before he fell asleep in his chair. At that moment, I saw the door open and a petite person walk in. It was Bella. Her backpack was dangling from her hands and her eyes were straight ahead. Immediately, she sat in the seat she did yesterday and got on with her work.
I couldn't help but wonder what she was doing that she kept her head lowered for pretty much the entire time just scribbling away in her notebook. I looked over at Alice to see her reaction and saw that her face was simply blank, there was no happiness, anger or anything.
Alice's face was like an unreadable mask.
After a few moments though, Alice got up and woke the teacher up, getting a hallway pass, however he made her wait so that he could take the register and she could hand it in at the office for him. After that he went back to sleeping. Some people were working and doing what you were actually meant to be doing however the majority of people were simply gossiping.
"Are you guys going to help with the fete?" I heard Lil ask. I turned to face her.
"Maybe" Emmett said in reply. "Ed?"
"Emmett, how many times must I tell you that my name is Edward? Say it with me Ed-ward and to answer your question, I'm going to help out, probably with the music department or something"
"Sweet, you're epic on the piano" Emmett complimented and Lil nodded in agreement.
"I'm alright"
"No need to be so modest Edward, everyone knows you're like a prodigy or something" Lil said.
"Jasper, are you going to do something for the fete?" Lil asked looking at me.
"I…uhh, didn't know that there was one or anything"
"Basically it's in a few weeks or something and if you want to do something for it, you have to sign up for it by the end of next week. We're trying to raise money for something" Lil added.
"Sounds good, I guess but I don't know what I'd do if I did take part"
"Well, you'll figure it out and if you don't there's a dunk tank or there's this thing were basically you stick your head through and people throw water balloons at you"
"Sounds fun" I commented sarcastically.
"Don't be like that Jasper, it really is a lot of fun, and we did it last year as well as the year before that"
"What did you do?"
"Well I ran a kissing booth" My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Not like that, basically our booth was divided into two sections, the entrance and then the actual booth. Guys paid at the entrance and kissed at the booth. I stood behind the booth and made sure there was a queue, then I went on a 'break' and controlled the girls who were kissing i.e. Jessica and Lauren, the reason we made sure the guys paid first was so if they weren't happy with who they were kissing, it was already too late for their money and they may as well kiss or it'd go to waste"
"Wow, did you make a lot?" I asked in awe of her devious planning skills.
"Oh yeah" Lil grinned.
"Are you going to come with us today?" Emmett asked.
I shook my head "I've got a bunch of catching up to do" I lied.
Lil looked at me oddly, but at least she didn't call me out on my lie.
Study hall passed much in this fashion; however I did begin drafting some ideas for Bella and my History project that I wanted to run past her. It had started raining outside torrentially and I wondered if Lil and Alice were still going to go shopping.
I walked to my locker and got my stuff before going to speak to a couple of my teachers about my work and what not before running through the parking lot to my car. I needed to go to the grocery store to pick up some cereal and as I began reversing out the parking lot, I drove slowly, because I couldn't see clearly however in the corner of the parking lot, I was sure that I could see a massive red blob of some kind. As I got closer, I realised that it was Bella's truck and judging by the furious stuttering of the engine, it had broken down.
I parked beside her and knocked on her window, asking her to wind it down, she did but it only got halfway.
"Hey" I shouted over the rain "What's up?"
"My stupid truck's broken down, at now of all times and my dad's on duty so I can't ask him to pick me up" she groaned.
"Here, I'll give you a lift if you want"
She perked up a little "Really?"
"Yeah, remember what I said earlier about your prince rescuing you, well I might not be him but I figure I could be your Shrek."
"My Shrek?"
"Yeah, you know how Shrek rescues Fiona for the prince, well maybe I'm just rescuing you for you prince"
She paused, looking at me with an odd expression.
"You have a very strange logic Jasper but okay" a slow smile spread across her face "Thanks"
"Hey, what are friends for?"
I navigated the car round to her side, so she could get in without getting too wet. I waited patiently for her to lock up the doors, get her stuff and climb in. After that I cranked up the heater to dry her off in case she got wet or anything.
"You okay?" I asked as I began driving.
"Yeah, I am"
"You know Bella, it's Friday and I don't know anything about this town so do you want to like give me the tour or something"
She smiled at me slightly "You've pretty much been everywhere there is to go I guess, school, grocery store, have you been to the diner?"
"Umm, no"
"Well basically, it's the closest thing we have to a fancy restaurant in Forks, they have the most amazing desserts list, ice cream sundaes, cakes, they're delicious" she grinned at me,
"Oh cool, where is it?"
"Well it's not far from the school, you make a left drive for a bit and it's there"
"Great" I said following her instructions "Let's go there now, get some ice cream or something"
"What? No Jasper, I thought you were taking me home"
"I never said that" I said pulling up in the parking lot.
Bella stared anxiously at the cosy looking building as though something bad had happened there, maybe it had. It was once again reinforced how little I knew about her.
"You aright?" I asked.
"Yeah I guess"
"If you really want to go home, I'll take you, I just figured you know, we could have some of those amazing desserts you were talking about"
"No it's, I'm…I haven't got my purse" she said in a last ditched attempt to convince me.
"Bella, I invited you out, so I will pay. I'm a gentleman after all"
"Invited me out? Gentleman? Ambushed me in my time of need more like" but she was smiling and that was a good thing. Another good thing was that for the mean time the rain had slowed down, I had a feeling that something good was going to happen.
xXx
So have any of you got any guesses as to what happened to Bella? Tell me in your review
