Chapter 2 - Bella

I handed the note that I'd scribbled to the girl beside me. I watched as she read it. She looked over at me. "How?" She whispered.

"I have a story for you. But not here." I said pointing to my ear. She nodded. "After class, come home with me and I'll explain." I told her and she nodded.

When the class was over, the two of us walked out to the parking lot. I turned to face her. "Introductions would probably be good, right about now." I said, crossing my arms.

"Charlotte. But most people call me Char." She said.

I nodded. "Bella. Most end up calling me Bells." I told her.

She nodded and smiled at me. "I can follow you." She said.

We climbed into our vehicles, which coincidentally we'd parked next to each other. I pulled out of the parking lot and drove the short distance to my apartment. When we parked and climbed out, she followed me to my apartment. "I'm sorry. I don't have any blood bags on hand. I wasn't expecting to run into any of your kind here." I told her sincerely.

"It's okay. I fed recently." She said and raised an eyebrow at me. "How is it that you know about us?" She asked me.

I walked over to the fridge and pulled a bottle of water out. I turned to lean against the kitchen counter so that I was facing her. "It started as your typical boy meets girl. Girl falls in love with boy. Notices the oddness about the boy and his family. Puts two and two together. Turns out the girl is the boy's singer. On the girl's eighteenth birthday, the girl gets a paper cut and the boy's brother was overwhelmed with bloodlust. A week later, the entire family is gone and the boy breaks up with the girl in the woods where he leaves her. She gets lost nearly dying of hypothermia." I tell her.

"You dated one of the Cullen's?" She asked me.

I nodded. "I dated Edward. Biggest mistake of my life. It wasn't until I'd gotten over my depression of the breakup and them leaving that I realized that I was never in love with Edward. I'd been in love with someone else, despite the fact that we had limited interactions and that he had a mate." I told her. I'd often caught myself thinking about Jasper. About the conversations that we'd had in Arizona while we were hiding from James.

"Jasper." She said. I raised an eyebrow at her. "He was the one overwhelmed, right?" She asked.

I nodded. She started shaking her head. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Your Bella Swan." She said and I gasped.

"How?"

"Sugar, we have a lot to talk about." She said.

"Am I gonna need alcohol for this?" I asked her.

"Your probably gonna want some. Hell, I shouldn't be telling you any of this, but he's in no condition to." She said, rubbing a hand over her face.

"Who?" I asked, confused. I pulled the bottle of whiskey out of my freezer. I then grabbed a tumbler and poured myself some.

"Jasper." She said. I was really confused by what was going on.

"How do you know Jasper?" I asked.

"He's the one who turned my mate and I. We keep a permanent residence here. Sugar, the pixie isn't his mate." She said.

"I'm so confused. Of course she is. They told me so when I met them." I said.

She shook her head. "She lied to everyone but Edward. That first week that you moved to Forks…she had a vision. A vision that would change everything that they knew. She saw that you were Edward's singer and that you would be the one to take Jasper from her." She said and I gasped. I quickly had to down the glass of whiskey that I'd poured.

"Char, what are you saying? That…that I'm Jasper's mate?" I asked her.

"Your more than that sugar…you're the other half of his soul. The pixie knew that nothing would stand in the way of you and Jasper being together, so she knew that she had to find a way to keep the two of you apart." Char said as I poured more whiskey and downed it.

"I don't understand." I said.

"Edward was infatuated with you not only because you were his singer but also because he couldn't read your mind. The pixie decided to use that to her advantage. She told the entire coven that she'd had a vision that she'd seen you as a vampire, running through the woods with Edward. Convinced him that you were his mate. Thought if she could get the two of you together that you'd leave Jasper alone." Char said.

I couldn't believe this. I wanted to kill Alice. "So, that's why she kept pushing me towards Edward." I said.

Char nodded. "Yep. She planned the birthday party too. Jasper said that she wrapped all the presents herself. Making sure the paper was nice and tight." Char said.

"She planned for me to cut my finger." I said, realizing what my supposed best friend had done.

Char nodded. "Yep. She had hoped that by you getting the papercut that Edward would give into his bloodlust. What she hadn't counted on was Jasper." Char said.

I looked at her confused. "What do you mean? Jasper lunged at me and Edward pushed him away." I said.

"That was after Edward pushed you into the glass table." She said.

Wait…the papercut…the table…Jasper… "He wasn't trying to attack me. He was trying to save me from Edward." I said, the realization hitting me.

Char nodded. "Yep. Having you that close to him, he was able to realize that the pixie wasn't his mate and that you weren't Edward's." Char said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "If that's so…then after everything had calmed down why didn't he come see me?" I asked.

Char shook her head. "They wouldn't let him. Edward convinced the family that it was in your best interest that they leave Forks. They packed up and left. Edward and Carlisle had convinced the pixie to take Jasper somewhere where he could get a grip on the bloodlust again. It wasn't until after you'd graduated that he'd managed to get away from them. By the time that he'd made it back to Forks, to find you…you'd already left. He'd said that he couldn't find your scent anywhere. And he didn't know how to track you down." Char said.

I couldn't believe this. They'd all lied to Jasper and I. He was my mate. Not Edward. Not Alice. He'd tried to find me. I needed to find Jasper. I looked over at Char. "Where is he?" I asked.

She cocked her head to the side. "He's at my house with my mate." She said. Neither of us said anything for a minute. "Would you like me to take you to him?" She asked me finally.

I looked at her surprised. Char was willing to take me to Jasper. Did I want to go? Yes, I did. "Yes. Take me to Jasper." I said.

"Pack a bag. Once he sees you, I don't think he's gonna let you out of his sight for a few days, at least." She said and I nodded.

I rushed to my bedroom and quickly threw some clothes into a bag. I couldn't believe it. After all of the time that I'd spent thinking about Jasper, I was finally going to see him.

Grabbing my bag off my bed, I headed back to the kitchen where Char was waiting for me. "Let's go." I said and for the first time since Charlie had died, I was smiling.