Her Knight In Shiny Armor

C14

"Are you and Jasper dating?"

Charlene blinked owlishly at her dear friend Sara, her mind racing to grasp onto an answer that would be suitable and believable, though she was sure Sara, nor Joslynn, would even believe her.

She deflated instantly at just that thought, wishing she hadn't let Jasper drive her to school. It was stupid of her, really, and irresponsible.

"We're just friends, " she tried anyway because what else could she say?

Sara snorted. "Oh puh-lease, Char, I've seen the way he looked at you when you got out of his car. Not to mention the way you looked at him. I'm not stupid. "

"I never said you were, Sara!," Charlene retorted. Then a little softer, " Jasper and I are really just friends. Besides, you know he's way too old for me. He'll be graduating soon and I'll be stuck here for a few more miserable years. I don't think any guy would even want to wait that long for a nobody like me."

Sara huffed in exasperation. "Don't put yourself down like that. You're not a nobody. You're Charlene Swan, daughter of Chief of Police in this town and that means a lot more than you think. Right, Jos?"

"Right," Joslynn agreed in a heartbeat.

Charlene suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, glancing at the Cullen/Hale table in the cafeteria where Jasper sat playing with his food and probably listening in.

"Can we not talk about it anymore?," she asked her two friends.

"No," Sara stated. "Just tell us the truth."

Charlene groaned, faceplanting the table. "I told you the truth,"she whined. "I have nothing more to say."

Sara snorted again. "Of course there is, Girlie. We're your friends. You can tell us anything. We won't judge you."

Charlene just groaned. What's the use? she thought disgruntled at the fact that what she thought about them believing her or not was true.

The bell for the end of lunch rang and she stood up, carrying her tray to dump its contents into a trashcan before leaving the tray on the dirty dishes counter.

Sara and Joslynn followed her, chatting excitedly about something that she didn't pay attention to.

She was halfway to the exit when Norah Simmons bumped into her on purpose.

"Look where you're going, Loser," she hissed as Charlene stumbled, flailing wildly off balance.

Strong hands grabbed onto Charlene's waist to steady her.
"I wonder if she knows any original insults," the familiar voice of Jasper murmured just above her. "Loser is such a common word and uninteresting. I'm sure I've heard it over a thousand times already in my life by now. "

Charlene cleared her throat awkwardly, her heart thudding loudly in her ears, his close proximity making her feel a little lightheaded.

It's actions like this that made Sara and Joslynn disbelieve whatever she say about her and Jasper.

She moved away from him, turning to look up at him. "Thank you," she mumbled, her cheeks burning as she blushed.

He smiled softly. "No problem, Lene. Want me to walk you to class?"

She shook her head. "No, it's okay." She felt a little bit of guilt eating away at her when she saw the flash of disappointment in his eyes.

She opened her mouth to say that she changed her mind, that he can walk her to class when she heard Sara call her name.

She swallowed. "I'll see you later?"

For a moment she thought that he won't answer, but then he nodded and turned away from her to walk to another exit without even looking back and she felt more than just a little bit of disappointed at that action even though she understood that she herself are to blame for it.