battle scars // jasper hale fanfiction

chapter twelve

I tossed and turned all night thinking about Jasper. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I was doing what I always do–overthink.

I was overanalyzing every little thing we've ever done.

All those small touches. All the stolen glances. All the times we seemed to be magnetized to each other.

I wanted more. But did he?

My thoughts were cut short when I heard the doorbell ring. I wasn't expecting anyone, so I didn't know who it'd be.

As I opened the door, I was surprised to see Jasper standing there. It took me a second to process what was happening.

He came to give me a ride to school. He acted like he did this every day–like I should have expected him to show up.

"I forgot to ask you if you wanted a ride to school today, didn't I?" He must have noticed my shock.

I slowly smiled up at him. "I don't remember you offering, but since you are, I'll grab my bag."

My backpack and coat were sitting right by the door since I planned on leaving soon anyways.

As soon as he saw my bag, he grabbed it and threw it over his shoulder. "Don't tell me you put even more books in here."

I gave a breathy laugh as we started towards his car. "Well, maybe I forgot something yesterday. Good thing I didn't end up needing it."

"I almost guarantee you won't need half the books in your bag," he said like a challenge.

"Really?" I said back testingly. "I bet I'll need at least half my books today for some reason or another."

"You're on," he said as he elegantly placed my backpack into the backseat of his car.

We talked about nothing in particular on the drive to school. Conversation with Jasper was just so natural. Being with him was as easy as being on my own. Talking with him made me forget about all my worries and how hard it was to talk to other people. For a second, it's just us.

Then, we pulled up to school.

Jasper walked me to my first class. He demanded he carried my backpack. I took his so he didn't have to carry two backpacks.

"Jasper, do you even have textbooks?" I asked in shock. His backpack was so light.

"I do, but I know I won't need them today," he said with certainty. We reached my class and paused right outside the door. "Speaking of, make sure you keep me updated on how many books you actually use today."

"Will do." We swapped bags, and I had my heavy backpack once again. "See you in the library."

"I'll be sitting at our table," he said with a nod. "Have fun in class."

He gave me a quick hug before walking away.

Our table. I liked the sound of that. That was something that was routine. We would always go to the same table. It was a habit. He was a habit.

When I walked into the library for study hall, I saw him sitting at that table. I have no clue how he was here already. I practically sprinted from my class to get here, and here he was already sitting with his stuff out.

"So," he started when I sat down, "how many books have you used so far?"

"Four, actually," I stated proudly.

"Four?" he said in disbelief. "Vi, it's not even fourth period. How have you used four books so far this morning?"

"Well," I dragged out the word ready to get into the story of my morning. "We are reading two books in English and writing an essay comparing the two. Today, we worked on the essay a little bit, so I used two books first period. Second period I used my textbook to take notes alongside the lecture notes. We had a little extra time at the end of the class, so I worked on a writing exercise from my English textbook."

"Wow," Jasper seemed genuinely impressed. "I haven't looked at a single book all day."

I laughed. "Well, now I'm going to work on a health class worksheet, meaning I will be on book number five for the day, and officially used half of my books."

"Wait, five is your halfway mark? How many books do you have in there?"

"I have eight textbooks, and then a book I could read for fun if I have free time."

"Free time? How does anyone have free time with eight textbooks?"

I paused for a second. "That's a good question actually."

We both laughed at how ridiculous this conversation was. We were literally talking about textbooks and laughing. The most boring topic in the world seemed fun with Jasper.

The time seemed to fly by with us studying and getting distracted and talking. Jasper didn't even look like he was attempting to do his homework. He was focusing solely on me. Even when I took time to look down at my notes while we were talking, I felt his eyes on me.

He was giving me this look. He looked like he was taking in every small detail of my face like he wanted to memorize it. He had this intent look in his eyes like he was going to be quizzed on me. The thought brought a smile to my face.

Maybe‒just maybe–Jasper wanted something more too.