✓ | 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍, j. hale [1]

VI. Collide

Two days had passed before Jasper spoke to Evelyn again.

The bell rang, cutting off Mrs.Davis while she was teaching a lesson about the powers of the executive branch of government. Evelyn let out a sigh of relief; it had been incredibly boring, and although her teacher was kind, she had no clue how to engage a class full of teenagers.

Alice and Jasper had not switched back to their original seats, but Evelyn didn't mind. She liked sitting next to Jasper even though he didn't speak to anyone. Alice would turn and talk to her at every opportunity, so she was fine when Jasper chose to remain silent. She still noticed that he would tense up and stop breathing sometimes like he did when they first met, but he was far from hostile. She just had to be satisfied with that.

As she exited the classroom, she felt a cold hand on her upper arm, stopping her in the middle of the hallway.

"Mind if I walk with you?" Jasper asked, cracking a small smile as he spoke.

"Sure. I have gym next though, I don't know if that's far from your next class."

He shrugged. "I have biology next, and my teacher doesn't mind if I'm late."

The two walked through the crowded hallway in silence, earning stares from most of the nosy student body. He stayed a safe distance away from her, keeping plenty of space between them. Evelyn cursed herself for being so awkward. She had no clue what to talk to him about, but she wanted to speak to him so badly. For some reason, any and all words were escaping her.

"Evelyn," he started, saving her from her internal struggle. She loved the way her name sounded when he said it, but she would never admit that out loud. "I don't want you to think I'm intruding on you and your life, but I'm curious about a couple things."

"Curious? About me?"

"You're different than anyone else that I've met before. I want to know more about you."

Evelyn glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, suddenly uneasy. "What do you want to know?"

"Why did you have to move to Forks?"

Her throat went dry, and she stopped walking. "You get straight to the point, don't you?"

Jasper led her to an alcove in the hallway, his hand just barely touching her lower back. "I'm sorry, if you don't want to answer –"

"No, it's okay. I knew I'd have to talk about it eventually." She took a deep breath, avoiding his searching eyes. "My parents died in a house fire two months ago. My aunt Marie was my only living relative and luckily she was willing to take me in, so here I am. My life hasn't exactly been all rainbows and sunshine recently so I don't really like talking about it."

Jasper knew this already. Today at lunch, he had huddled next to Edward as he relayed Evelyn's thoughts to him. He found out about her parents, her thoughts on leaving, her wish for freedom, and the loneliness she felt inside despite putting on a smile for her friends at school. He also found out about her suspicions about him and his family. He knew it was better, safer, for everyone involved if he just stayed away from her. Especially for Evelyn. He had to hunt every night and most mornings in order to control the thirst he felt around her, and even then, he couldn't guarantee that she would be safe around him. But if Edward had already decided to take the risk to know Bella, Jasper felt that it wouldn't be any worse if he decided he wanted to pursue Evelyn. Alice had been right: Jasper had no desire to stay away.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. I wish I could take your pain away." And he wasn't lying; he had discovered that although he could feel her emotions, he could not control or alter them. On days when she was feeling especially lonely or grieving, he hated that he couldn't help ease her suffering.