The next morning Laura had gotten out of bed a bit earlier to shower since last night she'd opted to laze rather than be productive, how typical. After getting out of her car Laura headed straight over to the new group of people she now called friends. Once again the Cullens were standing by their cars, but there had been no comment of the suspect mutt, none of them had even noticed her arrival except Jasper who could smell the familiar scent from History, though it was stronger now and even better. As Jasper realised he was the only one that noticed her, he glanced around at his siblings. "The odor is gone" he pointed out.
Rosalie's brows knotted as she narrowed her eyes and took a large inhale causing her eyes to widen. "That's what you smelt in class yesterday?" she questioned surprised, now she understood what he meant after school yesterday, it was enticing.
"Yes, there was still a hint of wolf yesterday, but now it's gone and all I smell is her" he muttered, as he felt his throat constrict.
"You'll be fine Jasper" Edward tried to assure him, patting him on the shoulder.
"Thank you for the optimism" Jasper could feel that his brother was genuinely optimistic that he would be okay, and that helped his own nerves a little.
Hearing the bell Laura made her way into the school with her group of friends, positioning herself to the further left so she would hopefully stay out of sight from the particular prying eyes. "Apparently there's gonna be another new girl on Monday" Eric said to the group as they walked.
"How do you guys hear about these things so quickly?" Laura asked with a chuckle.
"I work for the school paper, I got eyes and ears all over this place" Eric dramatised playfully, to which Angela gave an eye-roll, though she couldn't help but smile at him.
"We should write a feature about her!" Angela declared.
"Wow guys, thanks really feel the love" Laura joked sarcastically, bring ing her hand to her chest as if they'd hurt her feelings by not including her in the paper when she first joined.
"We could still include you?" Eric proposed apologetically, to which she assured him that she was only pulling his leg.
When it came time for History Laura made her way to the class adamant that she was going to speak to Jasper. Maybe he was shy like her mom thought, maybe he was feeling a little awkward since the only people he hung around with included his ex-girlfriend. After fixing the blue framed glasses that she needed for sitting far away from the board, she headed into the classroom, and as she expected Jasper was already at the table. Jasper knew Laura was nearing because the scent got gradually stronger and by the time she entered the room it was like he was hit with a wave of it and he felt the burn in his throat worsen. He sat with his hands firmly pressed on his lap as he watched from his peripheral vision as she took her seat. Laura opened her bag and took out her book, placing it on the desk in front of her before tucking the bag underneath the desk. She sat there trying to sike herself up, and Jasper could feel it, so before she said anything he took it upon himself to speak first. He turned to look at her and swallowed before speaking, "Hello"
The brunette's head quickly snapped to look at the blonde, he'd really taken her by surprise. "Hi" she breathed. "I'm Laura"
"Jasper" his smooth southern accent hummed.
"I know" Laura smiled, before furrowing her brows at herself thinking that sounded weird. "I mean... youuu dated Alice right?" Her attempt to make herself sound less weird definitely hadn't worked "Sorry I shouldn't have uhmm..." she laughed nervously as she looked down to the table.
Jasper could feel the emotions within her building and piling upon one another and he found it slightly amusing if he was honest, the corners of his lips pulled into a smile as he tilted his head forward to be closer to her view. "So where did you move from?" he asked, and almost instantly felt Laura's embarrassment from her question lift.
Looking back to him, Laura smiled slightly, thankful he had let her silly mention of Alice pass. "Olympia, so not that big a move really" she answered.
"May I ask why you moved?" the golden-eye teen inquired.
"Oh, ah" Laura stalled, biting her bottom lip for a second. "My dad died" she answered slowly.
Now Jasper felt as uncomfortable as she did moments ago. "My apologies"
"It's fine really" she speedily reassured him raising her hand slightly. Then silence fell upon them, Laura had mentioned his ex-girlfriend Alice which was definitely not a great start, and then when Jasper attempted to help her out of the hole he dug, he instead jumped in alongside her by asking a question that lead to her mentioning the death of her father.
"I think we both may have started off asking the wrong questions" Jasper pointed out, forcing himself to pull a smile again. "I'm Jasper"
"Laura" she almost laughed as they started their introduction over.
"How're you finding Forks?"
"Pretty good actually" she beamed a smile that was almost a match for Alices. Jasper found her nature now that she had they had got over the initial hump to be quiet nice and appealing. As they had started talking he noticed felt his posture relax slightly and the burning sensation had lessened, though of course it never truly went away.
Their teacher entered the room and instantly began talking, thus ending their conversation for now. The rest of class went by smooth enough compared to yesterday, though Jasper every now and then remember to keep himself in check. At the end of class Laura was happy to see Jasper didn't race off like the day before, and Jasper found himself drawn into the conversation. She took off her glasses and packed them away with her book before zipping up her bag.
"You don't need your glasses?" Jasper asked.
"I just need them for stuff that's far away, I have astigmatism. Basically means my eyeballs are shaped like footballs, instead of soccer balls like they should be" she chuckled, and Jasper found himself smiling for the third time. The two then began to head out of the class and since it was lunchtime they were heading in the same direction.
"So Jessica told me that you guys are all foster kids?" Laura asked, hoping that was an okay question, then again compared to the Alice one, she was sure of it.
"Yes, Carlisle and Esme are great and foster all five of us" Jasper nodded.
As they reached the cafeteria doors he pulled open the door and held it open for her, his old, southern, gentlemen-ly ways coming into play. Laura gave a thankful smile and stepped in ahead of Jasper.
"Do you wanna sit with me and my friends?" she asked, thumbing over her shoulder to the table.
Jasper's mouth was agape slightly at her question, he really hadn't expected to be asked that, and although it was a nice offer he knew it that it was probably best he didn't.
Laura noticed his hesitation, "I just thought, cause Jess said you guys kinda keep to yourselves..."
"Jessica says a lot doesn't she?" Jasper teased with his crooked smirk. "Thank you, but I think I'll sit with my siblings, it was nice to talk to you" he said despite the unexplained want in the back of his head.
"You too" Laura smiled, before making her way over to her friends.
"You were talking to Jasper Hale?" Eliza asked shocked.
"And I think I saw him smile!" Jess pointed out with wide eyes.
Laura let out an amused breath as she shook her head lightly at her friends. "Yeah, he's a normal guy, why would I talk to him?" Little did Laura know how wrong she was when she called him normal. "And did you call him Hale?"
"He and Rosalie are twins, their last name is Hale" Angela explained with a nonchalant shrug.
Jasper walked over to the usual table where his family sat. "She's still alive then?" Edward jested with a smirk.
"How could you tell?" Jasper replied sarcastically as he took a seat.
"Maybe your control is better than you think?" Emmett considered as he sat forward in his chair placing his folded arms on the table.
"Well I wouldn't push it too far" Rosalie advised skeptically.
"I know Rose" Jasper clinched, he was the newest vegetarian out of the family and he wasn't about to cling the first person outside of the family that didn't think he was weird. "But, she does have this strange captivation about her" Jasper admitted with knitted brows as he looked across the cafeteria towards her.
"You got that feeling too? When I read her mind, it was like I was getting pulled in" Edward acknowledged leading him and Jasper to share an odd look, with Emmett, Rosalie, and Alice sharing similar looks with one another.
"You know anything about this?" Emmett light-heartedly accused as he quirked a brow at Alice.
"Honestly, no" she assured them shaking her head.
It was Friday so I was glad I got to get rid of that unease from yesterday between me and Jasper, instead of having no choice but to let it fester over the weekend.
School finished and Laura was walking down the steps with Eliza.
"Ugh, I can't wait to go home and have to listen to my older brother and the idiot friends he's having over" Eliza groaned, throwing her head back.
"You could come over to my house for a while?" Laura suggested. "Mom's working overtime today so I have to pick up my brother at the reservation, but then we can totally go to my house and hang out?"
"That'd be great!" Eliza cheered.
"But what about your car?"
"I'll get my mom to drive me to pick it up tomorrow, c'mon let's go, I'm excited to see your house" Eliza said enthusiastically as she headed towards Laura's car.
"It's nothing special" Laura laughed, amused at Eliza's eagerness.
The girls were quick to hop into the car and head to the reserve. "I've never been here before, well except for the beach" Eliza commented as they pulled up to Allison's house.
"What, you haven't been to my aunt's house before?" Laura teased with playful knitted brows and a smirk.
"You know what I meant" Eliza replied slapping her lightly on the arm before they both exited the car.
Allison exited the house with Nate and to Laura's surprise Jace. Nate was quick to run from Allion's side over to Laura. "Thanks for minding him Allison"
"No problem Laura, I'm cooking dinner so I better head inside, have a good weekend" she smiled. "See you later Jace" she said before heading back inside, as Jace made his way down the steps towards Laura.
"What're you doing here?" she asked confused, before pointing to her side. "Oh, this is Eliza, Eliza this is my old friend Jace"
"Hi" Jace smiled at the new face before turning his attention back to Laura. "I came by to visit Sam, but he's not here" he shrugged. Laura gave a slow nod, first thinking he was probably out with Jared and Paul, but of course, kept her lips sealed. "Anyways I better get going"
"Do you want a ride?" Laura asked, thumbing over her shoulder to the car. "You'll have to ride in the back with Nate though, Eliza already has shotgun" she grinned.
"No, no I can ride in the back" Eliza quickly offered with a big smile, before turning and heading to the car which Nate had already buckled into.
Laura furrowed her brows, Eliza seemed pretty enthusiastic about giving Jace a ride. "Well, now you have to take the offer" she smirked at him. "Besides, it's Forks, it'll probably start raining soon" she nodded, gesturing with a nod of her head to follow her to the car.
The drive was filled with chitchat between the three, including Jace bringing up a few old stories in an attempt to playfully embarrass Laura in front of Eliza. The trip was short and they soon dropped off Jace, allowing Eliza to get back in the front as they headed for Laura's house.
"He is gorgeous!" Eliza was quick to comment as they turned off from Jace's house.
"That's why you wanted him to take the ride, so you could look at him longer" Laura chuckled. "Why don't you ask him on a date?"
"What? No, I couldn't. I wouldn't want to step on your turf"
Eyes shot wide as she glanced at Eliza. "My turf? Me and Jace?" she was quick to let out a hearty laugh as she shook her head. "Eliza, he's my friend, that's all. You wouldn't be stepping on anyone's turf" she assured her. "I'll give you his number at the house" She could see the smile creeping onto Eliza's lips at the thought of getting his number.
After they all got into the house Nate ran straight to the fridge to grab something to eat, he was a little hound, she knew that Allison would've fed him, but he was always hungry. The rest of the evening Laura and Eliza spent together gossiping and watching tv until Laura's mom came home and she introduced the pair. Since Laura had a friend over Susan decided to order takeout for dinner as a little treat for everyone. Once everything had been plated out the girls went into the living room to eat and continue the movie they had put on, though before Laura had pressed play Susan popped her head into the room. "Will you be staying the night Eliza?"
"Uh I'd like to, if that's cool?" she asked looking between both Laura and her mother.
"That sounds great" Laura chimed. They had been having a good time and a sleepover seemed like a good idea since it was Friday and all.
"Of course, why don't you girl's go and grab some snacks" Susan said reaching into her pocket to grab some money. "I haven't had time to stock up on any junk food, and you need junk food for a sleepover" she smiled as she handed Laura some money.
"Are you sure?" her daughter asked, Laura didn't like taking money from her mom, even when it was unprompted like this, it made her feel bad in some way.
"Yes!" her mom insisted with a nod. "Eat your pizza and then drive into town and grab some stuff, you can have the living room for the rest of the evening"
It wasn't long before Laura and Eliza had made their way into town, Eliza had headed into a store ahead of Laura, giddy like a child at the thought of having a sleepover. As Laura made her way inside she turned down an aisle just as a familiar face did the same down the other end. "Jasper" she called instinctively, then instantly cursing herself not knowing why she'd just done that, she wanted to facepalm so bad but knew it would look too weird.
The blonde's gaze reached her as he gave an almost confused look before managing a smile and nod.
Feeling awkward since she had called out to him, Laura slowly made her way down the aisle towards him. "What're you up to?" she asked, smiling at him.
"Uh, Alice actually wanted to come here" he explained with a slow nod. He knew exactly why she had insisted on coming to this store, and why he just had to tag along and he was cursing her mentally. "What about you?"
"Oh, Eliza is staying over at my house so we're grabbing some stuff" she smiled.
"Well I best let you get back to it" Jasper concluded as swallowed the lump in his throat. Before continuing their goodbye Alice popped around the corner suddenly.
"Hi Laura" she beamed cheerily.
"Hey Alice" Laura replied, smiling back at the pixie-like girl though unable to match her unbelievable cheeriness.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Jasper asked almost through gritted teeth now that he knew what she had been up to.
"No they don't have it" Alice shrugged before quickly turning her attention back to Laura, though she didn't get a chance to say anything because Jasper spoke again.
"We should get back before it's late, you know what Esme's like" he nodded at Alice, a serious expression on his face. "Goodnight Laura" he added before making his way out of the store.
"Night" she said over her shoulder, before looking at Alice who still stood there though both gave their own farewells with Alice heading out of the aisle just as Eliza approached with her arms full of snacks catching a glimpse of the smallest Cullen.
"Were you talking to Alice Cullen?" Eliza asked with furrowed brows.
"And Jasper" Laura answered nonchalantly before finally looking at her friend and seeing the mountain of stuff she was carrying making her eyes go wide.
"Too much?" Eliza asked, making Laura chuckle.
"Care to tell me why you're watching for her decisions?" Jasper asked as they got into the car. Alice could specifically keep track of people so that when they made a decision she would see it, it didn't always happen that way since sometimes visions could come out of the blue, but to Jasper it was more than obvious what the case had been here. "And why you felt the need for us to come here?"
"I'm not watching her decisions" Alice tried to seriously insist. "Rose asked me to check if they had something here" she shrugged.
"Then why did you need me to come, and why couldn't Rose go?" Jasper continued to question, he knew Alice was lying, and Alice knew her lies weren't all that believable, but she wasn't going to reveal the truth.
"It was something for Emmett so she didn't want to disappear because he'd know something was up" she fibbed again. "And I wanted you to come because I want to make sure there's no awkwardness between us"
Jasper pursed his lips and briefly glanced at her before turning his attention back to the road. He knew how stubborn she was, if she didn't want to tell him anything right now then she wouldn't no matter how much he persisted. He thought the best way to try and figure out what she might be up to was to ask Edward, but his telepathy was limited to what she was thinking at the time and knowing Alice if she wanted a secret kept she'd filled her mind with rubbish when she was around Edward to keep him out of the loop too, so really it was a waiting game until she wanted to share what she knew.