Parallax

Chapter 7

Enough. It's not him. This is not your story. This is not your Jasper. Your mate is in the future, waiting for you.

She repeated the mantra in her mind over and over until her heart could calm down. It was a struggle to see him with Alice. She was glad that she wasn't a vampire yet because her territorial instinct might have kicked in and cause unnecessary problems.

She wanted to be angry at Alice, at her sister but she knew that her anger was misplaced. This wasn't Alice's doing. It was just how this world was created and Bella just had to deal with it because she was the outsider. She was the one that didn't belong in the story.

Bella closed her eyes and took slow deep breaths. She realized that with her reaction now at seeing Jasper, it would cause her problems in the long run. It wasn't going to be long before they realized that something was off about her if she can't control her feelings whenever he was around. Speaking of feelings, Bella was mortified when she remembered too late that Jasper could read all her emotions and when she snapped her eyes open, Jasper was indeed looking straight at her with his brows furrowed in confusion.

Alice and Jasper were now walking towards her, Jasper just a few steps back, letting Alice lead the way.

"Hello Bella" Jasper greeted her in his southern accent. Bella's heart started going haywire again, at the sound of his voice. Right now, she was hating her human condition because it was such a dead giveaway to what she was feeling.

"Jazz... Jasper" she wished that he would just think it was because of Bella's natural awkwardness that's causing her reaction. She had always been awkward as a human, which she admits.

"It means a lot to the family that you're here... You didn't have to but you still came" he told her and he was conveying his gratitude to her which she embraced. Any emotion that Jasper would send her way, she was going to take it.

"I missed you... ahm, all of you" she corrected right away and she knew she was asking for too much that Jasper missed her slip but being an empath, the emotions from her words were hard to miss on who it was directed to. Jasper's brows furrowed but he didn't say anything and Bella was grateful.

"Shall we go? Everyone's been dying to see you Bella! "Alice exclaimed and Bella's earlier reaction took a temporary backseat.

"Everyone? Are you sure about that? "Bella smiled nervously, trying to disperse the tension she felt with Jasper's presence and the three of them started on their way after dropping by to get their luggage and after Bella called Charlie to let him know that they arrived safely in Alaska.

This time, Bella was the one sitting at the back of the car while Jasper was behind the wheel and Alice beside him. Bella kept her gaze outside the window where she can lose herself in the scenery that she had seen countless of time. She needed that distraction so her mind wouldn't wander to how Jasper turned his head and give Alice a wink, how Alice would giggle and reach out her hand on his. It should have been her.

Her mind couldn't stop comparing herself to Alice, how she was much more suited to Jasper than Alice. Alice was Jasper's opposite. Her energetic vibe didn't match Jasper's calmness. Bella groaned. She was being petty again. She didn't have the right to compare. Bella should be happy that in this world, Jasper has someone, even if that someone was not her.

Bella leaned her head in the window, closing her eyes, wanting to forget about her thoughts about Jasper, and instead, she focused on what she was going to say to the rest of the family when she meets them.

"Bella... we're here" She felt Alice tapping her shoulder and she sat up straight. The car already stopped and in front of them was a large house in the middle of nowhere. She didn't realize that she fell asleep all throughout the ride.