tada! Some Jasper/Bella interaction. I hope most of you are still with me and have not abandoned this story because of the last chapter – like I said, I need the events. This one will be a little lighter

twilight does not belong to me

6

Bella's POV

I'm still not sure if the idea of moving up to Washington State to live with my dad was the right choice. Of course I meant what I said when I offered to do that to Renee. I didn't want to cause any trouble in her new marriage, when she seemed so happy, but now I'm stuck with having to start again in a new environment, at a new school in the middle of the school year, not the easiest thing to do with a personality like mine. Yes, I'm definitely not the all go out and be friendly girl from the Southwest, who makes friends easily by going to all the parties and games. I really can't be bothered about the games – I don't understand what's going on most of the time anyway – and I never know what to say to people at parties. Usually I end up standing around awkwardly, feeling out of place. Maybe that should be the headline to my life: the girl who's out of place everywhere.

At least one person will be happy with my move: Charlie was over the moon when we arranged the whole thing over Christmas. He must have been quite lonely, living alone and working the long hours of the Chief of Police in a small town. When he came to pick me up at the airport, he was all wired and talked non-stop about all the things he had been arranging to make me feel comfortable – a very strange thing for him to do, usually he is as quiet as I am. He has even gone out and got a car for me, ok, a truck, which is older than him. We are confident it will run quite reliably though, because Jacob Black overhauled the motor completely, and he is said to have a lot of experience with cars.

Charlie has really outdone himself with my room, which he prepared, he even got me a computer with a modem for the internet and thought of getting new bedclothes – Mickey and Minnie are no longer appropriate – and a reading lamp. Unpacking was quickly done, a good thing, because I needed the sleep. The last night in Phoenix I was far too nervous to get any, and I really did not want to drop off on my desk on the first day.

The school is rather small, and I think that pretty much everybody knows everybody else here and has done so for generations. I could get most of my old courses, and spent the first day organising stuff and with a form that had to be signed by every teacher – as if I needed any more reminders that I was the new girl. From the teachers as well as from some students' reactions I could tell that I had been the talk of the month, so Charlie must have been telling everyone that his daughter was coming to stay.

Some teachers made me stand in front of the class to tell everyone about myself, a horrible tradition, I must have been red like a tomato; others just were ok with signing the slip of paper.

At least I'm not the only new student. About a week ago another junior transferred here, but he is the twin brother of one of the senior girls, so he already has family here. Why he's in Junior year when his sister's a Senior, I don't know, but I'm sure I'll find out. I sit with him in most classes.

Jasper Hale is his name, and he is really tall and lean, with shiny blond curls that keep falling into his dark eyes just begging you to push them out. He is definitely handsome in a cool way, dresses in Cowboy boots, jeans and loose shirts over T's that hug his well-muscled body. Only his nerd glasses seem a little jarring to the picture. Yeah, that and his attitude. After he had introduced himself, he kept staring at me and edged close enough to almost sit on my seat, but he doesn't talk to me at all, and shows off in every class – ugh!

Other than him, everyone is very open and welcoming, and I already know several other students who also took me along to lunch: Jessica, Angela, Mike and Eric. Jasper went to sit with his sister at a separate table. When I turned to look, I was stunned at first by the group of people who had gathered there: they were all extraordinarily beautiful and all very pale. Two of them had been in some of my classes; the others must be his sister and her boyfriend.

"You're checking out the Cullens?" Jessica had followed my eyes, and it was obvious she wanted to talk about them.

"Yes, I was wondering how…"

She didn't let me finish. "Yeah, they are all quite hot, aren't they? And they are all really strange, usually stay by themselves, hardly talk to anyone."

"Why is Jasper's last name Hale if he is their brother?" I wondered and bit my lip. I didn't want to seem a gossip, but something about him had made me interested.

"Oh, they are all adopted. Dr. Cullen and his wife are quite young, and they have been adopting teenagers, apparently troubled ones, too", she gave me a 'I know a lot more than I let on' look. "Jasper was the last to arrive, he is that blond bombshell's twin, only he wasn't in school last year, so he is with us now, like Edward – the red-haired arrogant one – and Alice, who is a few dollars short of a dime, if you get me. She was almost inseparable from Edward all year but has been hanging around with Jasper the last few days. The big one is Emmett Cullen, and he is with Rosalie, really with her, living with her, too."

"Oh", I said, not knowing which reaction was required.

"I think it's really nice of the doctor and his wife to give a home to the teenagers", Angela said. "and even if they come from difficult backgrounds, they have certainly been very lucky to end up with the Cullens. They are all quite good at school, too, and very polite, especially Edward." She hid a blush.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, very polite. The way he's looking at me, he wants to rip my head off most of the time, and I wouldn't trust that pixie with a pencil."

I could see Mike whispering something to another boy who had sat down at our table – boy talk, and I was sure it was about the Cullen girls, who were model pretty and made every girl feel inferior.

By that time the lunch break was over, and we had to return to class. I checked my schedule and found that Biology was next for me. Mike led me to the science building and I handed my paper to Mr Banner to sign, which he did without asking me to introduce myself – hooray – and then slipped into the only free seat left in class, the one next to Edward Cullen.

He had been in some of my other classes as well, though usually there he quietly sat in the back with his sister Alice. Now I got into my seat and waited for the lesson to begin, when a gust of wind came into the room. Edward turned to me and looked at me with hateful eyes briefly before turning away again. I was shocked by his aggression, and I wondered what the matter was, but for the rest of the lesson he did not look at me again. He seemed extraordinarily tense and left the room even before the bell had finished ringing.

I was angry and hurt. He had acted as if I smelt bad, and I was sure I had done nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Great. Were they all deranged? I shook myself and went to the next lesson: gym. Excellent! My school in Phoenix would not have required me to take gym classes all through High School, but Forks did. Well, they would see what they would get out of that! I thought grimly as I put on the clothes the teacher had found for me. Volley ball, wonderful, just give me a missile to create havoc!

Mike Newton and Jessica, who were in that class as well helped me along, and basically tried to cover for me when they found out that Bella and a ball were not compatible, but Jasper was there as well, keeping close to me again with a determined face. I don't know what he wanted, when he wasn't talking to me and just kept getting into everybody's way. I was quite thankful to Mike and Jessica for helping me, but suddenly a ball hit Mike in the head quite hard, and I would swear that it had been Jasper who hit the ball toward him, only that would mean that he was some kind of wizard at billiards and did not really need his glasses, because the ball came from the opposite side of the hall. Anyway, I was rather glad I could leave after that first adventurous day.

I was halfway to my truck when I realised I had forgotten to hand back the form. I considered going back to the office, but decided against it. No, I was going home now, I could hand it in tomorrow. When I arrived at my truck, the door to the driver's seat was held open for me. I blinked and raised my head only to look straight into Jasper's face. Once again I registered just how beautiful he was, and suddenly all I wanted to do was being in his arms and being kissed by him. Huh? What was going on with me? I was going weak in the knees about that… macho pain in the ass and I didn't even like the guy!

"You shouldn't leave your car unlocked, Ma'am", he said in that quiet husky voice of his, and I felt as if the needle had just been scratched across the record.

"And that is your business exactly why?" I hissed at him. Then I slammed the door shut and turned. Now I was going back to the office, and hopefully by the time I returned he would be gone!

At the office I had to wait for a bit. Edward Cullen was talking to the secretary in a velvety voice. Angela was right, he seemed much nicer than his brother – at least to other people. After a while I caught on to what he was trying to do however and listened wide-eyed to him trying to change his Biology course. When he became aware of me, he gave me another hateful stare and rushed out with "I'll just have to bear it then" gritted from between his teeth. I was dumbstruck, and when they asked me what I wanted I just slammed the form on the counter and left before anyone could notice the tears that had started welling up in my eyes at this repeated confrontation. Why do I have to tear up every time 'm angry?

Luckily by the time I got to my truck, the Cullens had all gone. I drove home in a bad mood, which I could not seem to shake, then set out again to get some food and for the rest of the evening cooked furiously. Checking the cupboard this morning had told me that that was the only way to get something decent to eat at this place. Right after dinner I excused myself with homework and went to my room to sulk. Ok, I had not been Ms Popularity in Phoenix, but at least I didn't have a strange follower there or someone who thought I was worse than a cockroach.

In my last waking moments I resolved to confront Edward tomorrow and ask him what his problem was. Hmpf! Let's see what he had to say for himself. As for Jasper, I decided to put him in his place if he got into my personal space again or ask someone to change their seat with me. Maybe Mike would do that. Right! I was not going to be bullied around here!

Jasper's POV

Oh god, that was one complication I had never even thought of. I had talked Carlisle into letting me go back to school, he said he would find a way to spread a rumour about me so that I would no longer be bothered, and Alice had taken to appearing hand in hand with me, to get rid of Jessica and co. The ruse had worked so far, and I felt quite confident about this important week – my mate was coming to school on Wednesday.

Bella looked simply breathtaking. The moist air made her hair curl a little and I loved the way she held herself when I knew she must be trembling with her shyness in a new environment alone. Well, she would not be alone for much longer, she would be my mate and we would have forever together.

And I?

Finally Bella had come to school, she was sitting right next to me for the better part of the day, and what did I do? NOTHING!

I introduced myself to her politely and then realised with a bang that I had no idea of how to talk to her. I was completely clueless how to flirt with a girl in High School, and not in a shady bar where I was looking for prey. Of course I knew almost everything about her, but I could hardly start talking her favourite book in history lesson, much less explain how I came to know so much about a stranger. She is not the girl for small talk either, so I ended up being absolutely tongue-tied and looking an utter fool. I know she is intelligent, so I tired to impress her by showing off my cleverness, but that did not work out so well I think. To top it off, as soon as she was next to me, my body reacted in a most vampire-ish way: I wanted to be close to her, touch her and make her mine right now, and I'm pretty sure she must have caught something of that too, because she seemed wary of me. Alice did not ask me what was going on, though I'm sure I slipped somewhere along the way, and Edward gave me a puzzled look at lunch, asking why I was reacting to the new girl like all guys at school. Before I could think of an answer though, he was distracted by something, and left for his Biology lesson. All the guys? What? I listened in to the boys' feelings for a bit and suddenly felt Alice's hand on mine and saw Rosalie and Emmett looking at me with worried expressions. "Shh, it's ok, you won't hurt anyone, calm down!" I tried, but I swear if one of these boys touches her, I will hurt him.

I went to Spanish with Alice, begrudging my brother the hour spent with my mate, even though she was probably quite happy to be rid of me for once. Something must have gone wrong there as well, because when she was back with me for gym, she was visibly upset, and I tried to send her some comfort and stayed close to her again. She did not look like talking though, and I found several people were trying to make her feel better by covering for her clumsiness. After I felt the waves of lust running off Newton however I snapped and let him have it. I hope his head hurts! He should be glad he still has one! How dare he feel about Bella like that?

That last confrontation left me shaken, and before I realised what I was doing I was at Bella's truck. She had left it unlocked – careless! – and I did what I was raised to do, I held the door for her. Apparently that was the last straw for her, and she left in a huff. By that time I could already feel my new family's eyes on me, burning with questions, so I gave up for today. Hopefully by tomorrow I have worked out a better strategy to make her fall in love with me. I know I have to calm down for that and act more human, but it's hard to do that when half the people around are lusting after the girl you love. I have to find a way to fight this animalistic side of me, or she will never look at me twice.

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