A/n: Thank you to everyone who has already followed and favorited! I'm glad you like it! I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
When lunch ended, we all went our separate ways. I walked into my next class, English, and found I was stuck in another seating chart. This time I was sat next to Jasper. I walked awkwardly towards my table with him and sat down. I wanted to peek over at him, but I busied myself with pulling out my books and notes.
"You're Karina, right?" A sweet southern voice chimed to my right.
Feeling my heart speed up at the unexpected voice, I looked up quickly. I found Jasper looking at me curiously, his golden eyes following my movements. "Yes. Jasper, right?" I dared to hold out my hand to shake with his. He took in my hand gently, his hands similarly cold like his sisters.
"Yes, Alice told us that you had a class with her. She seems very taken with you," His lips tilted up as his eyes stared at their still conjoined hands. I pulled my hand away shyly, though I turned in my chair to focus my attention towards him more.
"Yeah, she's probably the sweetest person I've met today," I smiled fondly. "I'm glad she talked to me this morning, it helped ease my nerves for today."
"Alice has a way with helping others feel very comfortable. She said that you were very at ease to be around as well." Jaspers southern twang threw me off once more. His voice was so alluring, matching is godly appearance.
"I don't know about that." I laughed off the compliment.
"So she tells me you moved from Michigan. Are you liking it here in Forks so far?" He stared at me in such an intense curiosity, I wondered if maybe he was happy to find someone else new because it was easier for him to talk with. That's what I assumed was the reason he and his sister seemed so comfortable talking around me was.
"I'm loving it. I've always preferred small towns, especially since I grew up in one. It just feels more personal and I like getting to know everybody nearby so well. It's also a nice get away, have a new beginning, you know?" I felt like it was so easy to talk to him, like my mind was ready to tell him more, though I didn't really feel comfortable telling people about my past situation.
We were cut off from continuing when our teacher began class. I had a lot of fun in this class, as English was my favorite subject. I had debated becoming an English teacher a lot recently and had told Jasper as such. We chatted a bit more on our interests and hobbies in between the lesson. I found myself feeling sad as class was ending, my face falling when the bell rang.
"I guess I'll see you later?" I said pursing my lips as to not frown.
"Yeah," he smiled softly. "Which classes do you have next?"
"History and then P.E., which thank god is at the end of the day, I'd hate to have to do it in the early morning. Can you imagine how bad I'd smell all day? And Jessica warned me that the showers here suck," I screwed my face up in disgust.
Jasper chuckled at my response, as he slowed packing up is stuff. "I actually have history next too. Who do you have it with?"
"Uhhh," I pulled out my schedule and checked. "Mr. James?"
"Well I guess we have another class together." His face seemed to brighten up. "Would you like to walk together?"
"Yeah sure," I smiled shyly. It was strange to compare what everyone said about the Cullens being super reclusive and standoffish because all I had seen of them so far was the opposite. It did confuse me a bit, but I was too shy to mention it to Jasper.
We walked down the halls together, him sticking closely to me. We didn't really say too much, as I felt so awkward as everyone stared in confusion at the pair of us. Some people were even whispering about it. I began to feel like curling in on myself to avoid the looks and voices. Why was everyone making such a big deal about this? Were the Cullens really that big of a deal? I could understand to an extent though, they were all basically inhumanly beautiful and I was the only one that I had noticed they spoke to outside of each other.
"You okay?" Jasper asked quietly to me as we reached the class room, luckily we got to pick our seats in this class. His voice made me jump out of my spiraling thoughts and he smiled apologetically.
I was about to reply when I felt my body feel a wave of calm wash over me and I felt my fists unravel. It felt like I could breathe again. "Yeah, I'm fine." I smiled at the boy.
When we entered the classroom, Rosalie was already there. She turned to us in confusion before looking expectantly towards Jasper. He moved to join her, leaving the middle seat at the table open. I stopped to contemplate wether to join them or not. Rosalie turned and looked at me this time. She was so stunning that I felt myself want to pull away from her stare. Her eyes were considering, though her mouth was drawn into a flat line. The best way to handle someone like Rosalie was to be brave and just pretend to be confident.
I walked up to her side of the table and braced myself. "Is it alright if I sit next to you?" I tried to smile awkwardly.
The blonde beauty contemplated for a moment before deciding. "Sure." At the admission, I felt my shoulders slump in relief.
I sat in between her and Jasper, who smiled warmly at me. When I sat down, Rosalie lent closer in confusion, frowning for a moment before sitting back. "Uh, hi. I'm Karina." I said nervously.
"I know. Alice spoke about you. I'm Rosalie." Her face softened just a bit and I felt an instant relief. She doesn't seem to hate me!
"Nice to meet you. You and your siblings all have been so nice, so I appreciate it." I smiled warmly at the girl. Her face seemed to soften a bit more before more students filed in. Her face instantly fell back into the neutral expression as when I first came into the room.
"You'll get used to Rose's lovely personality. Eventually," Jasper joked. Rosalie didn't even deign him with a reply and I had to stop myself from laughing.
The structure of the lesson left little room for much talking, so I could only speak to the two siblings for a little. Rosalie and Jasper, well more Jasper, explained that they were biologically twins and had been adopted by their aunt, who was Mrs. Cullen. Rosalie eventually came to chime in a few comments here and there as Jasper and I spoke. Rosalie remained guarded around me, but she seemed slightly more at ease then I had seen her earlier.
"I guess Alice was right. It is relaxing to be around you," Rosalie admitted once class had ended.
"Oh! Uh, thank you?" I said awkwardly. Her lips tilted up ever so slightly and I wanted to grin in return, though I refrained to give her a small smile. "Well I guess I'll see you both later. I've got to head to gym."
"Bye Karina," Jasper smiled softly again. It made me blush nervously before trying to leave quickly. With a quick glance back, I saw the twins whispering to each other before glancing at me. They both seemed more tense again, quickly moving down away from the other students.
Okay maybe they were a little strange. Their mannerisms and speech sometimes felt as if I was talking to people who weren't normal high schoolers, but I enjoyed getting the opportunity to speak with them. They were all very sweet, though I felt like it would take a bit more to break through to Rosalie.
Gym was boring but it felt nice to get my body moving after being stuck sitting all day. My body strained at the running, my body not as in shape as I used to be. Though I did much better then some of the other kids in the class. Figure skating took a lot of practice to train the body into, and I tried to maintain my body enough to make sure I could get back into ice skating. I'd never been on any teams or in any competitions, my father wouldn't let me waste money on doing it, so I taught myself. It was a fun way of escaping reality for me outside of reading so I kept at it.
By the time I'd gotten home, I was exhausted again and fell to sleep shortly after. When my mom got home, I woke up from my nap and we had dinner together. She'd told me about how Dr. Cullen was an amazing doctor and how attractive he was. I laughed at the expression my mother made and I told her about how some of his kids were in my class. It was nice to feel so comfortable home with my mom like this. I really felt like Forks was the perfect place for us.