"Are you sure you are ready to go back, Jazz?" Alice stood up on her tiptoes, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

"You haven't seen anything, have you?" I ran my hand through her short, spiky hair lovingly.

"No… but you're making me concerned. No elementary kids this time, please?" Alice asked sweetly, slipping my biology textbook into my bag, relishing the way the zipper clacked against the metal.

Brittle, fragile metal… I could escape this life in a single thrust of my hand…

But then there was Alice.

"Stay safe!" Alice blew me a kiss. "I'm in all of you're classes, except Graphics and media, but you'll have Edward and Bella to look after you." Alice smiled my favourite smile, and disappeared onto the school bus.

School bus…

"Oy, Jasper!" Emmett hollered, waving his hands in the air. "Come ride with the cool dudes!" Jacob, Nessie, Edward and Bella were sitting in Emmett's 'normal' car, the brand new Holden that already reeked of werewolf mechanic.

"With the dog?" I scoffed.

"Oh, come on, dude! You'll get over it! Life isn't perfect, ya' know." Emmett bellowed.

I reluctantly slid in beside Edward, who was emanating uncharacteristic waves of playfulness as he played 'bite my neck' with Bella.

"It's biology class, you lose ten points of control…"

"Charlie comes over…"

"Paper cut…"

"Sadistic vampire…"

"I.V tube…"

Bella mockingly snarled, and leaped on Edward, going for the classic 'Dracula' look, but instead smothering him in kisses.

"Aw, you lost again, Bella, and you've only been a vampire for 9 years." Emmett crowed from the front seat.

"Shall we play again?" Bella crooned, delicately stroking Edward's chin.

"No!" I shouted, my temper rising. "I don't want to lose control, not again."

Bella and Edward both growled, clawing the bottom of their seats, and I realised I had been projecting waves of anger.

"Sorry, guys." I said meekly. "But, it is just not helping."

"Apologies, Jasper." Edward said ashamedly. "We were just having a little fun."

:

:

:

"But Jasper, it's so cute!" Bella exclaimed, jumping out of her seat a little faster than necessary. "It reminds me of our old cottage in Forks! Oh gosh, Esme would love to do it up…"

I glanced out the window at the unsightly school. Its crumbling mortar walls rose into the heavy clouds like a box, casting a dark shadow across the overgrown lawn. A faded sign, pathetically welcoming the 398 students who came to this school, stood alone beside a wrought-iron front gate.

Not so cute looking in my opinion.

"Aw, man!" Emmett called from the front seat, promptly ignoring my complaints. "It looks like a normal school inside, I promise!"

"And it's on the same campus as the elementary school," Bella added, like that resolved the situation.

"Actually Emmett, I'm trying not to think about inside," I said truthfully.

Inside…

"It's ok, Major," He replied, reaching over to pat me on the shoulder. "Sometimes I feel the same way."

"Momma! We're here!" Nessie squealed, unbuckling her seatbelt. "You'll have to show uncle Jazz around!" She threw the door open at vampire speed.

The scent…

A gust of wind brought the smell of four hundred humans my way.

Resist… thirst…

I could hear the others calling my name. Nessie was shrieking, Bella and Edward were growling, Jacob snarling…

"Jasper!" Alice's arms flew around me, bringing me back to my senses. I clamped my hand over my nose, staunching the scent immediately.

"You'll be alright. No one gets hurt, and that's the main thing." Alice whispered into my shoulder, worry in her tone.

"Alice?" I asked, eager to know what was wrong. "Are you really sure?"

"Yes…" Her voice trailed off. "It's Charlie."

"Who?" I gasped. "Surely not…"

"He wants to fly down and visit Bella." Alice explained. He's keen to see her. It's been a year since."

"But Charlie will mean Sue, and she'll mean…"

"No, she's just bringing Seth," Alice cooed. "Charlie still doesn't know the secret, and we'd like to keep it that way. But, you never know, that just might not be possible."

RINNNNNNGGGGG!

"Damn. I'd better go, Alice. See you soon!" I waved goodbye to Alice, jogging through the front doors, and into the student office.

"Mr Hale?"

A kindly looking woman with rich red hair and thick glasses was waiting at the front desk, holding my timetable in her hand.

"I'm Sandra Vale, but most people call me Sandy. I double as the vice principal, so feel free to ask me any questions about the school." She said, pressing my timetable into my hand.

I glanced at it briefly- there was nothing new to see, so I slipped it into my pocket.

"Now, we have a small problem with your schedule, Mr Hale," Sandy said, straightening her glasses. "Advanced trigonometry is full, so we have to swap you to either medical science, or history."

Medical science.

Blood…

"I'll take history, thank you," I said a little to quickly, bouncing out of my seat to gather my stuff. I noticed Alice standing in the door, and judging from the blank expression on her face, she was probably having another vision.

"Goodbye, Jasper." Mrs Vale hastily waved at me as I walked swiftly out the door, moving her files back onto her desk.

"Alice, what did you see?" I asked, putting my arm around her shoulders.

If Alice was human, she would of gone pale.

"You know, medical science is studying human anatomy this semester." Alice said.

"What are you trying to suggest?" I wondered aloud, a little bit puzzled by her reply.

"History, Jasper!" Alice yelled, alarmed. "History is doing vampires this semester! You have to change!"

"What?" I yelled, incredulous. "We'll have to move! Even if I don't take the class, they'll figure out what we are, soon enough, anyway!"

"Same as before, Jasper. It's too suspicious if we move as soon as the unit on vampires starts. People would definitely figure out what we are. Why don't we just chill, Jazz?

"We should act like the Volturi are still here," I murmured gravely. "They may have been mean, but they set guidelines, and had rules. Now there are no rules, only anarchy. I bet you anything, in the next year, there will be breaking news: VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES DEEMED EXISTANT! And then, we will have to do everything, and I mean everything, to keep our secret, Alice."

"Too bad they destroyed themselves." Alice mused.

"Not too bad!" I growled. "Alice, we can't live knowing that at any moment, of any normal day, our cover might be blown by some overzealous newborn!" My temper was rising again, but my Alice was practically radiating waves of calm.

"We're already late for first period," Alice stated. "Which for you is history."

History…

:

:

:

"I read Alice's thoughts," Edward explained, once I'd settled into history class. "We didn't want you to be in here alone, so Bella and I swapped, to keep an eye on you."

Bella? Keep an eye on me? I felt ashamed that I had a nine-year-old vampire to protect me.

"She's never tasted human blood before, not including the pregnancy," Edward said, reading my thoughts. "You have a disadvantage, Jasper."

"Actually, that's not quite true, Edward," Bella interjected. "I'm pretty sure, when I was little I fell over and bit my tongue, and got a mouthful of blood." Bella continued, making Edward burst into laughter.

"Hey, are you guys listening?" The history teacher stood at the front of the room, impatiently tapping the whiteboard with his pen. "I know some of us are new, but we still need to pay attention, please." He said gruffly. "Now. Could we please all turn to page 118, traits of a vampire?

I wordlessly turned to the required page, still without taking a breath. In fact, I hadn't been breathing since I had got out of the car, and was proud of myself for maintaining control.

I didn't even allow myself a shallow breath.

The results were unpredictable.

"Jasper Hale, we have focus problems, don't we?" The history teacher tutted. "You need to know this stuff for the semester. "If you don't listen, a vampire might come down the chimney and suck your blood."

That's funny. And ironic. And cannibalism.

"Alright. So, traits of a vampire." He started. "Can anyone name any? I think we'll start with you, Miss Cullen." He said, pointing to Bella.

"Well… they sleep in coffins…" Bella paused for a moment, and then in a lower, quicker voice, mumbled: "Throw the humans off scent, guys."

Edward and I smirked simultaneously at Bella's choice of words.

"And… they burn in the sunlight…" Edward continued.

"Have pointed fangs…" I added.

Unfortunately, the humans wanted to confirm the details that were true.

"They suck blood…"

"Red or black eyes…"

"Pretty…"

"Strong…"

"Fast…"

"Pale…"

Everyone was looking at Bella now, who's eyes had turned black, not with hunger, but with worry. Even these pitiful little humans could remember back to last semester, when Bella had displayed her extraordinary feat of strength on her P.E locker, triggering a violent temper tantrum from one of Bella's classmates.

"Could Maddy be right?"

"Tomato soup…"

Suddenly Edward's eyes widened with fright. "Jasper! Get out of here! Someone's trying to cut themselves!"

I wheeled out of the classroom without a second thought.

"You are a highly superstitious bunch of classmates," Bella spat.

Instinctively, I pressed my ear against the bathroom wall, even though I could hear her perfectly, anyway.

"Ptttsh." The history teacher scoffed. "Vampires are fake, but the folklore is real."

"We still have to try," said one boy.

"And do what?" Edward growled. "Get yourself killed?"

"Ha, Ha, Ha. Very funny!" The boy said sarcastically.

That's when I took a breath.

Suddenly, the world exploded around me.

There was no word to explain how hard it was to not go running down the corridor, back into the classroom. I watched my eyes quickly turn to black in the mirror, the sweet aroma of flowing blood taking over my senses, smothering me like a thick, sweet blanket. I quickly held my breath, but the smell still lingered on my tongue, begging me to satiate my thirst.

"Jasper?" Bella called weakly, emanating waves of queasiness.

"Bella! What happened?" I shouted, puzzled why she was feeling sick at all.

"I. Just. Ate. A. Garlic. Stick!" Bella gagged, flinging open the door into the girl's bathroom.

"You WHAT?" I yelled.

My only response was Bella regurgitating poisoned garlic bread in one of the cubicle toilets.

"That's really off-putting, Bella." I said jokingly.

"Good for you," Bella replied, back to her normal bell-voice. "My throat's burning."

"We better go back to history. Edward's probably hysterical." I mumbled.

"More than that," Bella laughed. "He'll probably think I'm dead!"

RINNNNNNNGGGGGGG.

"Damn." Bella cursed, checking her watch. "I guess we owe Mr Bowes an apology. He's probably hysterical."

"Not as much as confused," I said, taking in the waves of confusion coming off the poor man.

"Bella. Bella!" Edward was running down the corridor towards me, his arms open wide. "Are you all right? That must have tasted like sand."

"If vampires could die from eating human food, then surely I'd be dead by now." Bella smiled at Edward, who started kissing her profusely. I swiftly looked away.

"But no one thinks you're a vampire anymore." Edward mumbled.

"No. One garlic stick changed everything." Bella agreed.

"Alice," Edward whispered to me. As if on cue, my phone buzzed.

"Hi," I breathed.

"Jasper, it's bad." Alice said seriously.

"Oh, no! What is it, Alice? Something to do with Bella?" I said, unable, and unwilling, to hide my concern.

"It's Charlie. He'll be here tomorrow, at 6:30." Alice said.

"WHAT?" Many human students flinched, looking my way. "Does… Does he know?"

"I don't know," Alice admitted. "Seth was with him, remember?"

"This is really bad, Alice. I mean, he's a policeman! He'll tell the world!" I sputtered.

"That's when we thank our lucky stars the Volturi for their anger management issues."

"This is bad, Alice. Very bad." I said glumly.

Silence.

"Well, what are we going to do about this?" I demanded.

"That's the problem, Jasper." Alice said, defeated. "I have no idea."