I groggily woke up the next morning, confused for a second as to where I was.
"Sorry," muttered Jasper. I practically jumped out of my skin as I turned, startled, and saw him sliding another book out of the bookshelf. "Did I wake you up?"
"No, not at all," I said, discreetly trying to smooth my hair.
He just looked at me for a second, before he suddenly said, "Do you want to go for a ride?"
"A ride?" I said blankly.
"Around the island."
"Uh, sure," I said, sliding off the bed. "Right now?"
"Yeah," he said, smiling slightly. "But if you want to eat first..."
"No, I'm not hungry," I said quickly, as I felt my stomach rumble.
He smirked slightly as my stomach contradicted my words. "Go eat. I'll meet you back here when you're done."
I went to the kitchen, ate, brushed my teeth, and changed before I walked back to Jasper's room. "Let's go," he said, leading me out of the house to the separate garage where the Cullens kept all their vehicles.
My jaw dropped open as I saw the garage. There were six cars and one motorcycle. I didn't know a lot about cars, but I could tell these probably cost a lot, judging from how they looked. A pair of legs were sticking out from the bottom of the red BMW, so perfect they could only be Rosalie's. She ignored us as Jasper led me to the silver motorcycle, handing me a helmet and climbing on. I grimaced as I placed it on my head. This would so mess up my hair.
Jasper laughed as he saw my expression. "Hold on," he said, and then he sped off.
I almost fell off backwards, not expecting him to start so fast. My arms wrapped around his waist, holding on for dear life as he pushed the motorbike faster, the island blurring around us. Bella had described Edward's crazy driving, and how it always scared her half to death, but I found it exciting. I enjoyed the adrenaline pumping through my veins, the wind whipping across my face as the coldness of Jasper's skin seeped through his shirt, cooling my own skin.
"How're you feeling?" yelled Jasper over the roar of the motorcycle.
"Fantastic!" I laughed.
Jasper sped up, but I wasn't concerned. I trusted him not to lose control or crash. I grinned again as he turned sharply.
Finally, the ride was over. I pulled the helmet off and ran a hand through my hair.
Jasper grinned at me, happy that I hadn't freaked out about his speed. I smiled back, obviously feeling happy if he was. "Can we go again sometime?" I asked excitedly, like a child on Christmas.
"Of course," he said back.
Suddenly, Rosalie came up and hissed something in Jasper's ear, too low for me to hear. When she walked away, his expression was a mix of frustration and sadness.
"What happened?" I asked in concern.
"Nothing," he said coldly, although his eyes were pained. "I have to leave." And with that, he rushed out of the garage.
Rosalie scowled at me as I left the garage. Instead of ignoring her, I turned towards her. "What's your problem?" I snapped, staring her right in the eye.
She looked surprised, obviously not expecting this kind of response.
"Why do you hate me?" I asked. "What did I ever do to you?"
Rosalie's lips turned up into a half-smile as I glared at her.
She finally sighed. "You're human. I'm not. I'd give anything to be you."
"But you're a freaking vampire!" I said. "You're drop-dead gorgeous, have a loving husband, loads of money, awesome superpowers, and you can live forever. What's there left to miss?"
She smiled again, this time a real smile. "You're not like Bella," she said thoughtfully. "Bella wouldn't confront me like that. She's always been intimidated by me. You're not bad, for a human," she decided. "And the one thing that I can't have but want is children. I'd give up all this for kids. Of course, Nessie is like a daughter to me, but still."
"Oh," I said awkwardly. I never would've guessed that all she wanted was kids. Then I remembered what had just happened. "What'd you tell Jasper?" I asked.
Her eyes strayed. "I can't tell you. Sorry."
I sighed and walked out of the garage into the house.
Jasper was there, looking at me with a strange expression. "I'm guessing you heard everything?" I said.
He nodded. "It's strange. I've never seen Rosalie take a liking to any human."
"What'd she say?" I asked again, the curiosity growing.
His eyes wandered. "Nothing. Just that...maybe it would be wiser if I avoided you."
My heart beat sped up slightly, not wanting that to happen. "Why? I trust you enough not to hurt me."
"Not because of that. I mean, it is because of that but...just..." he shook his head. "Never mind."
I'd never seen Jasper, or any vampire for that matter, stumble over their words. I didn't have any clue what Rosalie said, but it must've been something pretty important to make Jasper act like that.
I opened my mouth to demand why, but I felt a hand tug on my shirt. I looked down to see Nessie staring up at me with her big brown eyes. "Can we play?" she asked hopefully.
"Sure," I said and let her drag me off, looking at Jasper over my shoulder. His expression was soft, sadness showing in his eyes.
Over the next week, Jasper avoided me, as I did him. Still, sometimes I'd turn and catch him staring at me across the room, and the now-familiar blush would appear on my face.
I still wanted to know what Rosalie had said, why it made Jasper so upset, and what it had to do with me. Something had driven us apart, and I was determined to find out what.