The Rise of Lydia Rowe ↠ Jasper Hale (ON HOLD)

[1.08] major jasper whitlock

Still, in the classes she shared with them, she watched the Cullens. She watched Edward in her pre-cal class, studied his mannerisms and how he spoke when called on. He seemed to notice her sudden interest, if the glances he sent her way were any indication.

In AP History, she was a bit subtler. She didn't mention the photograph in her bag, instead just talking about the different types of uniforms she'd found while researching when Alice asked her how her project was going. If Alice suspected anything, she kept quiet about it.

When AP Literature came around, Lydia decided to take a chance, leaning toward Bella. "Hey, uh, can I show you something?" She hesitated before adding, "It's about the Cullens."

Bella nodded, the intrigue in her eyes visible. There were still a few minutes until class would start, so Lydia quickly took out the photograph she'd printed yesterday. She figured if anyone would understand Lydia's suspicions, Bella would. She was the only other person at Forks who'd really interacted with the strange family, according to Gwen.

"I found this when I was doing research for a history project," Lydia prefaced, unfolding the photo and handing it to Bella. In a whisper, she asked, "Am I crazy or is that Jasper Hale?"

Bella's mouth fell open a little as she stared at the picture. "That looks just like him," she said. "It's uncanny." When she handed the picture back, she glanced toward the front of the room, seeing the teacher still writing quietly at his desk. She leaned closer to Lydia in a conspiratory manner. "I was talking to a friend of mine down at the reservation. He told me this legend about his ancestors and these creatures called the Cold Ones. Then he said that apparently the Cullens had been to Forks before, but a long time ago. It's really weird."

"Yeah," Lydia said quietly. She sat back in her seat. "Definitely weird."

On the bright side, she thought, if I really am crazy, I'm not the only one.

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The next day, none of the Cullens showed up to school. It was sunny outside, the temperature the warmest it had been since Lydia moved to Forks. As much as Lydia enjoyed the rare nice weather, her thoughts were troubled the whole day. Gwen had said that the Cullens usually skipped on sunny days so their parents could take them hiking, but Lydia wasn't sure how much she believed that.

Between the picture of Jasper from the Civil War, Bella's revelation about the Cullens possibly having lived in Forks a long time ago, their eyes that gradually changed from gold to black, and the fact that they were all strangely beautiful and had unnatural golden eyes, Lydia had to convince herself that she wasn't dreaming up some fantasy world while laying in a coma somewhere.

After school, she told Tracy that she was going to drive to Port Angeles. Bella had told her about a bookstore that might have some information on what the Cullens were, so Lydia wanted to check it out. Bella would be going tomorrow, while she went prom dress shopping with some of her friends, but Lydia didn't have the patience to wait. She needed to figure out the mystery that was the Cullen family.

She took Tracy's car, since Johanna was already on the way home and Tracy didn't need it. Lydia had never been the best driver—she got nervous easily and her road-rage was a bit out of control at times, but she'd passed her driving test, so that had to count for something. The GPS was set up on her phone, guiding her to the bookstore an hour and a half away.