We all stood silently, looking at one another in shock. Jasper came up behind me, and reached over my dad's shoulder, taking the letter from his hands. From what I could see, the piece of parchment only contained three, quick short paragraphs. But those paragraphs had been put together by someone at the hospital Jasper was born in, eighteen years ago. Dad had been emailing back and forth, with one of the nurses' daughters, who was currently working in the infant ward. They had managed to track down Jasper's file, even though he hadn't been to that hospital apart from when he was born there.
Jasper held the paper in his hands, and read each paragraph two times before he slowly handed the paper back to Dad. Dad took it into his hands and stared down at it for a long while, not particularly reading it, just staring at it. I took this as one step closer to finding his parents. If we could contact his twin--wherever or whoever she was--surely she would be able to direct us to their parents. If that happened, what would happen next? Would they confront me about the close bond their son and myself shared? Or, would they question my father about what happened over the last five months?
I could only imagine countless scenarios in my head, those of which all seemed to...normal. It was beginning to feel like one of those TV shows. I half-expected cameramen to jump out, ambush the scene and thrust a mic beneath my chin as the cameras flickered to life. Then, Jasper would turn to me, give me his real name and congratulate me for being such a good participant. Then I would turn and face the cameras, and tell everyone tuning in, that it was just a show and, surprise! I breathed out slowly.
That was an obvious sign that, indeed, I was slowly and surely losing my mind. I shook my head as I followed my parents and Jasper inside. I kicked the door shut gently with my foot, and paused to let my eyes adjust to the change in lighting. Jasper hung back while my parents prattled off somewhere. When I lifted my eyes from the ground, I found him looking at me intensely. His gaze softened when he noticed me watching him, and he smiled a little.
His smile faded, though, when I smiled in return. He pointed towards the kitchen, tilting his head in the same direction.
"Can we talk?" he asked in a calm, low voice. Nodding, I walked into the kitchen and heaved the back door open. I swept my arm out, and when he stepped outside, I turned.
"Do you want some soda?" I asked him. He nodded again so I quickly cracked the door shut and crossed the kitchen. The sound of glass shattering echoed in my mind, and I slowed to a stop, halfway to the fridge. My gaze slowly dropped to the floor, where I assumed Jasper was standing when he smashed the cup in his hand. I shook the thought away and opened the fridge before my mind could dwell on it any longer.
I eyed the fridge's contents, tapping my index finger against my lower lip. I decided to give him Root Beer this time, since every other time it had always been Coke. I pulled out two cans of it and cracked each open before going back outside. Before sitting down, I handed him one of the cans and kept one for myself.
"What did you want to talk about?" I asked him in a timid voice, though I was sure that I already knew the answer.
He looked down at the silver can in his palm and said, "I don't mean to sound like a tyrant, Charlie, but you know how I feel about you. I'm sure you do, by now." His face fell as he spoke, his shoulders crumpling inwards to accentuate his mood. My mouth opened and closed a few times, the way a fish mouth would, as I pondered quickly for words.
"You know how I feel about you as well," I muttered pathetically, unable to form a better explanation.
"Tyler?" Jasper spat out, plunking his can of soda down on the ground beside his chair. He swiveled to face me fully, his eyes burning with something dark. I fought the urge to look away, and instead looked straight into his gray irises. The emotional pull they had on me made my head hurt slightly, but I ignored the feeling and curled my hand into a fist.
"He was drunk," I snapped back, instantly regretting my snippy tone. "He came onto me, there was nothing I could do. You saw how he nearly drowned me, you think I would come onto him after that?" I felt as if my hair was standing up in all different directions, giving me the look of an angry kitten.
His intense look softened considerably, but he looked away for a moment, mulling my words over.
"I know what I saw." His voice was quiet. His words shocked me, and my anger flared up again. I couldn't believe he was putting this on me. He'd been standing there long enough to hear my protests when Tyler wouldn't let go of me. And yet, here he was making me out to be some harlot. I set my soda aside and jumped to my feet, glaring down at him.
"Whatever you saw didn't happen!" I nearly screamed, fighting to keep my tone down. The last thing I needed was my parents out here, taking one side or another. "Is your mind making stuff up now? Is that what it is?" The instant the words left my lips, my hand shot up and smacked against my mouth.
Jasper stared up at me, looking stricken. He looked as if I had just slapped him. I hadn't meant the words, but they had tumbled out before I could stop them...and looking at Jasper now, I knew that they had hit home. He slowly rose to his feet, his eyes not leaving mine. I prepared myself for another outburst, out of sheer anger...but it never happened. He simply tore his gaze away from mine and walked into the house. The glass door slid shut and gently met its closing soundlessly. Trembling, I sat down in the deck chair before my knees could give out.
My hands were still pressed on either side of my nose, my pinky fingers toughing ever so slightly. I could barely breathe, seeing as my hands were nearly cutting off my oxygen supply. I lowered my hands to my knees, and rested them there, staring straight into the horizon. The sun, though low in the sky, still burned against my face. My eyes watered, and I wasn't sure if it was because of what had just happened, or if it was because I was looking at the sun.
_
Silently, I trekked through my dark house, finding the staircase effortlessly. I finally dragged myself in, long after the sun had made its descent, and willed myself to go to bed. Upstairs, I eyed Jasper's door before the need to apologize pulled at my chest. I quickly went up to his door and knocked softly, tilting my head as I listened. No response came, and my hand dropped to the doorknob. I twisted it to the right, but it stopped short.
"Jasper?" I whispered. I was greeted with silent nothingness, and slowly turned away, bowing my head in defeat. This night was coming to a close, and I was thankful. It seemed nothing had gone right today, and my only option left was to go to sleep and hope for a better tomorrow.
_
On the table sat breakfast for two people, and a red rose. A small piece of paper was sat beside the rose, its neat handwriting capturing my attention. I wandered over and picked up the rose along with the note, scanning it.
To add to your collection.
Then, as I set the paper down, a pair of arms wound themselves around my waist. I was pulled into Jasper's warm embrace, his chest pressing up against my back. He rested his chin on my shoulder as one hand pulled a lock of my hair off my neck. A smile curved upwards on my face as he tightened his hold on me.
"Where did you get this?" I asked him with a laugh, as I turned and leaned my lower back up against the table. A sly little smirk crossed his face as his eyes jumped to the space above my head.
"I like to remain anonymous with my whereabouts, Char. Look," he paused and straightened up. A formal look settled on his face as the smirk fell away, and he placed his hands on my shoulders. "What I said was wrong--"
Before he could say anymore, I pressed my hand up against his mouth, silencing him. In a slow manner, I shook my head at him, my grip on the rose loosening. "Don't you dare say that, Jasper. What you saw did look deceiving, I will admit that. But it wasn't my place to say what I did. It was childish and immature, and in all honesty, I didn't mean it. But, what you saw also wasn't meant to happen. Tyler was drunk and I was doing my best to get him off me."
He frowned a little as he pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear tentatively.
“Charlie, don’t try and blame yourself for what happened. I jumped to conclusions, which was wrong of me. I saw something, and assumed it was something else.”
“I was at fault here, too,” I pointed out, lightly poking his chest with my index finger. “But...I think we’ve managed to sort everything out, have we not?” I asked with a smile, lifting the rose to emphasise my point. Jasper smiled in response and curled his hand around the one holding the rose.
“I just couldn’t stand it if I had ruined things between us,” he said in a softer tone, all traces of humor leaving his face.
“You didn’t.” I shook my head vigorously, lightly stroking the silken rose petals between my fingers. The pleasant, sweet scents floated upwards, sweeping into my nose. My head cleared the moment my senses latched onto the scents. I tilted my face down, attempting to catch more of the rose’s scent and inhaled slowly. I quickly turned, then, and knelt down before the sink, opening up the small, rectangular cabinet door. I pushed cleaning bottles around and searched for Mom’s floral print vase. When I straightened up, Jasper had a little smirk on his face.
“I thought you had a vase already?” he asked, lifting his brow in question. I pursed my lips for a moment and glared.
“I like this one better,” I told him defensively, hugging the vase to my chest. I turned the faucet on and filled it with water, before slipping to the rose inside. “I’ll be back.” I left him standing alone in the kitchen, and hurried up the stairs into my room. I switched both roses into the floral print vase, and returned the ordinary, glass one back into the hallway closet. I went back downstairs, to find Jasper rooting through the fridge for a drink. He turned partway at the sound of my footsteps, his brows knitted together in confusion.
“I can’t find it,” he told me, gesturing to the open fridge. I stopped in my tracks and frowned at him.
“Can’t find what?” I asked, peering inside the fridge. His frown deepened as he looked over his shoulder.
“What’s that drink called? The one people drink for breakfast?”
“Coffee?” I guessed, genuinely confused. He shook his head, rubbing his hand over his mouth.
“It’s orange,” he told me. A light bulb snapped on overhead and my frown melted into a smile.
“Orange juice!” I said with a laugh, reaching past him to pull it out. We only had a little left, so I unscrewed the cap and evened it out into two cups, passing one to Jasper.
“Thanks,” he murmured, looking at the orange liquid.
“Cheers!” I crowed, smashing my glass against his. Amusement filled his gray irises, giving them a humorous gleam as he mocked my enthusiasm, raising his glass before downing his orange juice in one swallow.
“I say we eat first,” he started, indicating the breakfast laid out on the table.
“First?” I echoed, sitting down. I scooted my chair in and examined the strawberries to my left, eyeing them hungrily. I had a secret obsession with strawberries, and sometimes felt it was rather unhealthy.
He nodded, “Since your birthday had a sour end, I thought we could make up for it.”
“How so?” I widened my eyes in curiosity, anticipation building in the pit of my stomach. He was right, and even though he had brought it up again, this time my ‘birthday’ wouldn’t be ruined.
“Well, as every birthday starts, we begin with cake. Hurry up and eat, now!” he instructed me, lifting a forkful of pancake to his mouth. I quickly shut my mouth, and followed his orders obediently. Sugary sweetness coated my tongue after I swallowed a mouthful of syrup-covered pancakes. I practically inhaled my food, and even before I was finished at my pace, Jasper was already done. He even had his utensils and plate washed and dried. Narrowing my eyes, I carried my stuff to the sink and sunk it down beneath the foamy, bubbly water. Jasper gently scooted himself in beside me and gave me a second pair of hands. Together we cleaned the kitchen and whisked ourselves outside. I had no time to soak up the sunlight before Jasper grabbed my hands in his and dragged me closer to him, before placing a quick, sweet-tasting kiss on my mouth. Grinning, he released my hands and dangled my car keys above my head.
I took them from him, smirking at him. He was such a tease! We got into the bug, a simple, easy routine now, and I jammed the small, black key into the ignition.
“The beach,” Jasper told me
profoundly, leaning over to peer out his window. He scrutinized the clear, blue sky and nodded in approvement. When we got there, I allowed the car to idle in the parking lot as I waited for Jasper to explain. He unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out. He came around to my side and pulled my door open for me, holding his hand out.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, smiling. Wordlessly, he shook his head and pulled me along. Instead of making our way onto the shore, we went straight into the woods. The sunlight fled as bulky, wide trees cast their shadows over us, engulfing us in shade. I half-expected him to jump on the trail that wound its way to the cliff, which overlooked the beach below, but he took a detour. He trekked down a new, rarely used pathway.
“We’re going on an adventure,” he told me wholeheartedly.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I asked, my voice tinged with nervousness. Grinning, he shook his head.
“Nope,” he stated, popping the ‘p’. I pressed my lips together, and said nothing more. We simply followed the pathway and came to a stop before a cluster of mini-half grown trees and low, fat bushes of weeds and wildflowers.
“Uh...” I trailed off, sweeping my gaze to the left, and then the right. The path came to a dead stop, instead of branching off in another direction. Jasper shoved aside the underbrush and gestured for me to head on through. “Are you sure?” I stage-whispered, casting my eyes up to meet his.
“Trust me,” he whispered back, that silly grin still playing clean on his face. Only because I did trust him, I stepped up and over, ducking beneath the scraggly branches. I pulled my shoulders back as I tilted my face up, drinking in the scenery. An open space surrounded us, sunlight trickling down through breaks in the branches. It highlighted the lush, green grass, giving it a golden glow. The sweet smell of wildflowers filled my senses, making my head grow light. The small, secluded space was breathtaking and inviting all at once. I turned in time to see Jasper making his way through, allowing the branches to snap back in place.
“How did you know about this?” I asked him in a peculiar tone, crossing my arms loosely over my chest. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the path in which we had just come from.
“The ground was unscuffed, which told me not a lot of people have come down this way. Which makes sense, considering that looks like a dead end.” He smiled at his logic and the smile quickly turned cocky when he realized he had made me look like the smaller person.
“Oh,” I said, lifting my chin defiantly. I couldn’t feign coldness for long, as soon as the smile broke out on my face he lunged for me. As soon as he had his arms around my waist, he pulled me to the ground, and held me there, enabling my chances to get up. Breathlessly, I swept my hair out of my face and blinked up at me. My phone rang shrilly in the pocket of my summer dress, startling the both of us. He lifted his weight slightly, resting on his elbow beside me. I scrambled for my phone and flipped it open.
“Charlie, you and Jasper really need to come home...now,” Dad said, sounding urgent.
“Why?” I asked, wrinkling my nose in confusion.
“Kayleigh’s mother just called, she went back to the hospital.”