DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, which are the property of the amazing and wonderful Stephenie Meyer. This is my first attempt at writing anything close to a fanfic so please, be gentle with me. ;-) This story is about Jasper Whitlock, a teenage boy who moves to Forks with his family. The story contains language and sexual situations (i.e. slash). Please be advised.
Also, a big THANK YOU to Ashlie, my beta for Blush and Bashful. You rock!
This is dedicated to my fellow cougars of the DCC. You know who you are.
Chapter 1
My family all sat at the dining room table, eyes glued to my step-father. My stomach was in knots. What he was about to say was going to affect us all. Please say we're staying. Please say we're staying. I kept repeating the words over and over in my head. All I could hope for was that the credit union here in the city had extended the job offer. Otherwise, I'd be leaving the bustling, cultural diversity of San Francisco for a town of about three thousand people where it rains more than any other place in the continental U.S. For the love of God, please say you got the job in San Francisco.
"Well, the bank in Washington offered me the position…and I accepted this morning."
Shit! I stopped breathing, feeling all my hopes and dreams crashing at my feet. I looked at my mother, who gazed at my step-father, trying to appear supportive in his decision. Rosalie, on the other hand, looked as though she was going to blow a gasket.
"What about the job here in the city?" Rosalie whined, in that tone that just makes you want to punch her right in the face. "I thought you said you had a good chance of getting it! Daddy, do we really have to move there?" I knew Rosalie would be the most bitter about this predicament. After all, there would be nowhere for her to shop within an hour drive, not to mention there'd be less people around to kiss her ass.
"The recruiter here in the city called me this morning to let me know that position had been filled. The bank up north called me up shortly thereafter and offered me the position so I took it. Look, I know all of you really don't want to move there, and I honestly don't want to either. But because of this goddamn recession, I've been unemployed for almost three months and haven't been able to find a suitable job here in the Bay Area. Not to mention Kate here was pink-slipped this spring and is now out of a job, too. I had to make the decision that's best for this family so that means we're moving to Washington."
Rosalie rolled her eyes and groaned in disgust, "But Daddy, the town is literally in the middle of nowhere and it rains there like every day!"
"I know, Pumpkin, I know," he sighed soothingly, trying to comfort her. "Everything's going to be okay. It won't be that bad, I promise." Rosalie just sat back in her chair, with that annoying, pouty look on her face that made her father putty in her hands.
"Garrett, when do you have to start?" my mother asked, after the initial shock finally wore off. "We have so many things to do here. We need to look for a house up there, and we need to pack and put the house on the up for sale, and I need to look for a new job, and…"
"Kate," he interrupted, holding up one hand. "Try not to worry so much, love." HA! Good one. That's like telling a polar bear it can't shit on ice…impossible. "I'm already ahead of you. I contacted a realtor this morning about putting the house on the market. He was able to get me in contact with a realtor up there, who faxed me down some listings this afternoon. As far as our time table, we need to be in Forks by August 30th."
At that point, I just zoned out. Forks. We're moving to a fucking town called Forks. Population 3,120. More people go to my goddamn high school than live in this whole town. Seriously, just kill me. We only have a little over a month left before I had to permanently say goodbye to my city by the Bay. This is really going to suck.
---x---
My alarm went off right at 6 am. No, it can't be time yet! Dammit! Today is the day I had been dreading since we'd received the glorious news that we were moving to this God-forsaken place. Today is the first day of school.
I finally rolled myself out of bed at a quarter after 6 and got up to get in the shower. This morning I was thankful for the one condition that my mother had made when she and Garrett were looking for houses. We absolutely had to have at least three bathrooms. Everyone knew that battling Rosalie for bathroom time was a lost cause. I don't know how one person could honestly spend that much time in the bathroom getting ready. But then again, she was probably just staring at herself in the mirror most of the time. She's never met a reflective surface she didn't like.
I could smell the delicious scent of scrambled eggs and bacon wafting up the stairs as I made my way down to the kitchen. Mom was bustling around the kitchen trying to get the pans cleaned up on her way out the door. Luckily, she was able to find a job before we even got here. A kindergarten teaching position opened up last month due to the lady who had previously held the position having a stroke and being forced to retire.
My mom kissed me on the cheek as she went out the door. "Good luck with your first day of school, dear."
"You too, Mom."
"Oh and Jasper? At least try to make an effort to make some new friends. I know how you can get," she said as the door closed behind her.
I'm kind of what you'd call 'socially awkward' where I'm never quite sure how to act in certain social situations. Making friends has never been easy because I'm always afraid to talk to people I don't know.
Rosalie came into the kitchen, spraying herself with body spray as she walked. She turned to me and sprayed me right in the face. "You bitch!" I growled at her trying not to choke on the fumes.
"I try," she smugly replied, grinning at me.
"Please, like you have to try. Being a royal bitch is in your genetic make-up."
"Ummm, yeah" was all she said as she turned and walked out of the kitchen. "By the way, you're not riding with me to school. Take your own car."
"Whatever. I was planning on it anyway." Like I ever rode with her. As if she'd ever let me inside her red Mercedes convertible period, let alone ride in it to school. I'd drive my beat-up 10 year old Pontiac Sunfire. Oh the inequities in life. Her daddy buys her a $50K car and yet they make me work to save up enough to buy my own hunk of junk. They blamed the bad economy for not being able to buy me a car, but it's not like the unequal treatment started there. Rosalie has always gotten exactly everything she wanted. She had Garrett wrapped tightly around her little finger. She was "daddy's little girl" after all. Barf.
Rosalie and I had gotten registered for classes about two weeks ago, so we already received our schedules. The school secretary had given us a map and a tour of the school so we'd know where we were going before we got here. I pulled into the student lot, with Rosalie pulling in right behind me. Of course she drove right past me and parked on the other side of the lot so she wouldn't have to walk in with me. But this was normal for us. Hell, most of the people in our old school didn't even know we were related.
I got out of my car and gathered my things. Luckily it wasn't raining, but it still felt wet and muggy and the wetness clung to my face. Apparently today was unusually warm for this area. I walked to Building 3 for my first class, which was Honors Chemistry. As I walked into the room I was instantly chilled. They had the air on because it was so muggy outside, but the air felt odd and uncomfortable on the wetness that had clung to my face outside.
There were already a couple of people in the class who stared at me as I walked past them to the back of the room. People continued to stare as the rest of the class filed in. There ended up being only 12 people in my class. Great. How quaint. I stared down at the table to try to avoid the wandering gazes. I really hated the idea of being the new guy. Most of the kids in this class had probably been in diapers together.
The teacher walked to the front of the first row and handed a small stack of black text books to the person there, who took one and passed them back. "Welcome class. As most of you already know, my name is Mr. Brandon and this is Honors Chemistry I."
Mr. Brandon continued on, passing out the syllabus after the text books were distributed. Because I sat all the way in the back and everyone else sat in the first three rows, I had to keep getting out of my seat to get my things. This made me uneasy because everyone stared at me as I walked up to the person in front of me to get my syllabus. I tried not to make eye contact with anyone as I walked and ended up tripping over the desk in front me causing a few people to snicker.
"Why don't you just move up a few seats and sit with the rest of the class?" Mr. Brandon called to me, obviously noting the distraction my sitting and standing was causing.
So I gathered my things and moved to the seat immediately behind a girl with tight curly dark brown length hair. I now had a guy with spiky blond hair to my left and a girl with light brown hair just past her shoulder on my right. "Alright then roll call," Mr. Brandon announced. I looked up from my syllabus to get an idea of who was who in this class.
"Jacob Black?"
"Here" said the guy sitting in the front row to the far right in a slightly deep, husky voice. This was the first time I'd actually really looked at anyone in the class. My glance to get familiar with the face ended up lingering longer than it should have because I couldn't bring myself to pull my gaze away. He had long black hair that hung just below his shoulders, with one side tucked behind his ear. He had the type of hair you could just imagine someone swinging around their head in a Pantene commercial. His skin was this amazingly rich red-brown color that people spend hours frying away in a tanning bed trying to achieve. No matter how hard they tried, they would never achieve anything close to being as beautiful as that coloring. He turned to look at the girl sitting next to him and flashed a wide smile that could have melted an iceberg. If I had to compare it to anything it would be a concentrated dose of pure sunshine. The contrast of his perfectly white smile against his skin was incredible and his eyes looked like molten dark chocolate. I couldn't pull my eyes away from him. This boy really was beautiful.
"Benjamin Cheney?"
The voice of a boy to my right said. "here",but I was too busy eyeing up this Jacob Black person to look over and see who it came from.
"Tyler Crowley?"
"Yo." I finally broke my gaze from Jacob to look at the face which belonged to this voice because it came from the guy sitting directly behind him. He was a pretty good looking guy, a moderately dark African American with curly black hair and warm eyes.
"Edward Cullen?
"Present." The sound of this voice made me whip my head around to the other side to see where it was coming from. The voice sounded like what I imagined pillow talk to sound like just after sex. This voice made my body tingle just a little bit. My eyes landed on a body sitting in the front of the row closest to the door. That remarkable voice came from a body that was somehow even more remarkable than the voice, causing the tingling in my body concentrated below the belt.
He had one of the most beautiful faces I think I've ever seen. He had a strong jaw, angular nose and pronounced cheek bones. This was the type of face that graced catwalks and magazine covers. This was a face that would inspire artists to create masterpieces. His skin was pale white with the slightest hint of rose coloring against a very unusual shade of copper colored hair, which could only be described as 'organized disarray'. His eyes looked like he had emeralds imbedded in his eye sockets. He turned to glance at the girl sitting next to him and pulled one side of his lips up into a sly smile. Whoa, head rush. What the Hell was that?!
The girl sitting to my right giggled lightly under her breath. That's when I realized that I was staring at him with my mouth gaping open so I quickly snapped my jaw shut and looked down at my desk, my cheeks a-blazin'. Did the girl really catch me gawking so openly at this beautiful specimen? Christ, did I really just unintentionally out myself to this girl on my first day of school in a new town?
"Lauren Mallory?" the teacher continued on.
"Here," said the girl sitting next to that Cullen hunk. Her voice was annoying and nasal. She looked really average compared to the varying assortment of beauty I'd already seen in this room. The way she and Edward Cullen looked at each other made me think that they might be an item. Get the fuck out of here! I thought. He belongs with her about as much as Lyle Lovett belonged with Julia Roberts! Actually, this mismatch was probably worse. Maybe she's really sweet and he likes her for what's on the inside. I had my doubts.
"Katie Marshall?"
"Here," said the girl sitting directly behind Edward Cullen. She had curly red hair and freckles and was overall pretty insignificant. I didn't linger on her and returned my gaze back to the Adonis sitting in front of her.
"Mike Newton?"
"Here, teach," the blond haired boy sitting to my left almost yelled. He had a cute baby face, pretty baby blue eyes, and a nice smile. All-American boy next door was the first thought that popped into my head when I looked at him. In most other company, this boy would have been the best looking guy in the room, or at least the cutest. But he had nothing on the Black and Cullen boys. He was playing tee-ball while the other two were playing in the majors.
"Jessica Stanley?"
"Here!" the girl sitting directly in front of me exclaimed. I didn't get a chance to see her face, but I could tell that she was one of those over-exuberant types that always got on my nerves.
"Isabella Swan?"
"Just Bella," corrected the girl who was sitting next to the brown skinned beauty. She was kind of pretty, in a plain way, but still pretty. She had wavy dark brown hair that hung just below her shoulders. Her skin was light and flushed a nice rose color. I took this opportunity to glance to her right to gape some more at the Black kid, who was still smiling that warm, toothy smile at Bella. The sight of his smile again immediately made me smile. As chilled as I had been earlier, I suddenly felt warm.
"Angela Weber?"
"Here," the girl sitting to my right barely whispered, raising her hand. I looked over at her and she sheepishly smiled at me and looked down. There was just something about this girl that I liked right off the bat. She just seemed…genuine and nice. I had a feeling I was going to like her.
"Jasper Whitlock?"
Oh shit, my turn! "Here," I managed to choke out, my voice cracking on the way, causing my face to flush bright scarlet. I did a quick glance around the room and everyone in the class was now staring at me, including the two vastly different but equally beautiful boys sitting at opposite ends of the room. I stared down at my desk wishing so hard I could somehow become invisible at this very moment. A few people giggled as my face flamed on even harder.
"Eric Yorkie?"
"Here, sir," said the boy sitting catty-corner to my right. He looked like he was one of the "before" pictures in a ProActiv commercial and his hair was black and oily and hung just below his ears. This boy was really unattractive, probably more so than that girl who had somehow won the affection of that raven-haired beauty sitting up front.
Mr. Brandon continued on with class. "Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, I might as well assign lab partners." People looked around immediately pairing up with people around them. "Before you guys get too excited, I already took the liberty of assigning your partners for you." The class groaned in unison, but I was immediately elated. I didn't have to be the new guy who nobody wanted to be paired with.
"At lab station one will be Stanley and Newton." The girl in front of me turned her head and grinned to the blond boy next to me. He sheepishly returned her smile.
"At station two will be Marshall and Yorkie." The red-haired girl rolled her eyes and groaned while the boy with the poor complexion grinned widely.
"At station three will be Swan and Black." The two, who were already sitting next to each other, turned and high-fived each other, with Jacob Black mouthing "nice" to her.
"At station four will be Cullen and Whitlock." I froze. The words made me glance toward the front of the room, where I briefly made eye contact with Edward Cullen, whose lips twitched into a faint smile at me and returned his gaze to the unattractive girl to his right.
That brief glance shot thought me right down to my waist and was enough to make me almost tear a hole right through my pants. Oh my God, just fucking kill me now! Let's see. First, I'm the new guy so everyone was already staring at me. Second, I tripped over my own feet walking up the aisle. Next, the girl sitting next to me caught me openly staring wide-eyed and mouth ajar at a guy nonetheless. After that, my voice cracked as I tried to say one simple word, causing my cheeks to burst into flames. Now this. I have an obvious erection that I'm shifting uncomfortably to hide. 'You probably think this is funny!' I thought to myself, glaring up at the ceiling. So much for being merciful!
How in the Hell was I going to be able to concentrate on anything being his lab partner? A twitch in my jeans let me know that my "little problem" wasn't going anywhere soon. Well, "little problem" was probably the wrong word choice as I was considered well above average in that department, but I digress.
"Station five will have Crowley and Cheney." I looked over and finally saw the Cheney kid for the first time. He was kind of cute, but in a little boy kind of way. He was small and didn't look old enough to be a junior in high school. They both seemed happy with the pairing.
"And that leaves Mallory and Weber at station six." I glanced to my right where my neighbors face was suddenly rigid and her eyes were narrowed, staring forward. The unattractive girl up front didn't turn to acknowledge the pairing, but I could tell she wasn't pleased either. Drama!
Class continued on and I tried to pay attention but was relatively unsuccessful. All I could think about was my lab partner pairing. Well, maybe He wasn't so unmerciful after all. I grinned to myself. Anyone looking at me right now probably thinks I'm an idiot.
I eyed the clock and noticed it was getting close to class change. I glanced down at my pants. Shit! Double Shit! I thought, channeling my inner Bridget Jones. Class is going to be over in, oh, all of two minutes and I'm still tenting my pants. This can't be happening. Fuck, I need to think fast! I began to thinking things that might help do the trick. Grandma's sagging tits. Kirstie Alley in a two-piece. A dog eating its own shit. DAMMIT! WHY WASN'T ANY OF THIS WORKING?!
The bell rang and I held my breath in terror. You're fucking hilarious! I thought back at the ceiling. People were already streaming out of the classroom so I had to make my move. I ignored my book bag, gathered my books, and strategically placed them over my midsection. I noticed that the nice girl sitting next to me had fallen back from the group and appeared to be waiting for me.
"Hi, I'm Angela," she said shyly smiling up at me. "I just wanted to introduce myself. I know being the new kid must be difficult for you." I sighed, giving her a faint smile and nodded. "How are you liking Forks so far?"
I thought about this for a second as we made our way to the door. "Well, it's…really wet," I finally managed to spit out.
"Yes, that it is," she laughed lightly. "Where are you from?"
"San Francisco," I said as we continued to walk. She made a few quick remarks about how great she thought San Francisco was and I nodded in agreement. I really missed my beautiful cultural metropolis right now.
"Where are you heading now?" she asked me, looking around.
"Umm," I stalled, shifting my books to my other hand, making sure the placement stayed in tact so I could pull my schedule from my pocket. "Honors Trig with Mason."
"Oh, we're in the same class. I'll walk with you." We walked together down the hall but we walked pretty much in silence. I could tell she was a little shy and slightly uncomfortable talking to me and didn't feel the need to fill our conversation with mindless chatter. I appreciated that.
As we continued down the hall, I noticed that we were following Jacob Black and the girl he was sitting next to. I couldn't remember her name. Well, I couldn't remember anyone's name from that first class except Jacob Black and Edward Cullen. I couldn't even remember the name of the girl walking next to me. Wait, I think it was Angela. I hadn't noticed Jacob's body before, only his face. He was wearing a form fitting black shirt that showed off some definition in his shoulders and back, and wore a pair of perfectly fitting dark blue jeans. This boy definitely spent some time in a gym. My eyes lingered on his ass. Sweet Mother of God! Look at that ass! You could fucking serve tea on that!
As I gazed at his form from behind, my "little problem" returned in all its vengeful glory. I think Angela noticed my gawking again as she giggled lightly under her breath and smiled coyly up at me. Great, I might as well have the words "Class fag" tattooed across my forehead!
Apparently he was in my next class too as he walked in the door we were heading for. As we entered the room, I realized that I recognized every face in the room. Every person from my last class was in this room as well, and they were all sitting in pretty much the same groupings they were in the other room. It was like the class was divided into two distinct groups.
Angela and I made our way to our seats and I had to pass by Edward Cullen. I'm not sure but I think he glanced at my waist as I walked by and turned up his lip into that same one-sided smile that caused my head rush in the previous hour. Jesus H. Christ, if he noticed my hard-on, I'm going to find the nearest bridge or cliff and jump the fuck off!
The teacher came to the front of the room, announced himself as Mr. Mason, and called the class to order. He talked as he passed out the books and syllabi. By the time he did roll call, I actually started to remember a few more of the names of my classmates other than the two hotties I already knew.
Mr. Mason actually tried to teach a little bit on the first day of class. He did some refresher problems that were from Algebra II, which I had no problem with so I didn't pay close attention. Instead I found my eyes wandering back and forth between the two gorgeous boys in my class, trying to decide who was more beautiful. To the right there was Jacob Black, the dark, beautiful Native American tribal god. To the left there was Edward Cullen, the pale, gorgeous god from Greek mythology. Both of these boys truly were gods walking among mortals. I looked over each of their faces and their bodies trying to take in every detail and scanning for any possible physical faults each might have, coming up empty. After almost an hour of contemplation, I couldn't come to a conclusion as to who was better looking. They were both equally, but distinctively beautiful.
Once again, I think Angela caught me gawking at the boys, causing me to blush furiously. I tried to pay attention to what was going on, but that was a losing battle with those two sitting in here. By the time the bell rang, my "little problem" hadn't subsided one bit since the last hour. Contact a doctor if you have an erection lasting over four hour' I remembered from that one boner pill commercial with that ugly, grinning idiot.
Once again, I had to strategically place my books in front of my jeans. As I got up and before I could get my books securely in place, I noticed Edward Cullen had glanced back at me. He then quickly looked away from me while shaking his head back and forth and his shoulders shaking like he was silently laughing. Fuck me running up hill and sideways!! Now I truly am fucking mortified. Edward Cullen, the god that he is, had caught me with a boner not once, but twice!! This guy is totally going to think I am a grade-A pervert with body control issues. I wonder if he realizes that he's partly to blame for my condition.
Angela hung back again, waiting for me. It turned out we were in the same class again next hour, Honors English. During our walk, I tried not to think about either of the hotties that made my unit want to stand up and say "hi." We made small talk on the way to our next class, but it was nothing significant. I'll be damned! I thought when we walked into the class. This class held the exact same people as the previous two, not to mention they were all sitting in nearly the same positions again. I was flushed scarlet as I walked past Edward Cullen yet again who was grinning and staring forward as I walked by. Finally the curiosity was killing me.
"These are the same people that have been in both of our other classes," I finally muttered to Angela as we took our seats in essentially the same position as the previous two classes.
"Yeah, we're kind of known as the Junior Class Honors Family, although the word 'family' might be pushing it a little," she whispered as she glanced left to right. "All eleven of us, well twelve of us now," she corrected herself looking at me, "are in the advanced placement program. We have all been in the same classes since freshman year." I wondered what the "family" issue meant. Maybe I was right with my assessment that the class was clearly divided.
"Um, I kind of noticed that the same people always sit together. These guys are always on the left side of the room," I said as I gestured with my hands, "and these guys are always on the right. It's like the class is divided into two separate, distinct groups."
She nodded at my assessment, eagerly bringing her head closer to me. "That's because there really are two separate groups in our 'family'," she whispered, doing the double quotation marks with her fingers. "That's because everyone in this class, apart from Eric Yorkie, myself, and now you I guess, is on either 'Team Edward' or 'Team Jacob'," she said, doing the finger quotes again.
Now my curiosity was raging. "Team Edward and Team Jacob?" I whispered to her, intently moving our heads even closer. There was obviously a story behind this and being the closet Drama Queen that I am, I couldn't wait for the dish.
"Yeah, Jacob Black and Edward Cullen do not like each other," she continued, emphasizing the word not. "Actually, hate might be a better description. There's been bad blood between them since we were in junior high, though nobody really knows why. But it's definitely there. They're both terribly competitive in everything they do, always trying to out-do the other. They also both have electrifying personalities which has caused everyone in the program to gravitate toward one of them or the other. Well, like I said, other than Eric Yorkie, because neither side really wants him on their team; you because, well, you're too new to know any better; and me, because I don't want to get myself wrapped up in all of that and I truly like both guys and almost everyone else here." I thought back to her reaction over the Chemistry partnering and immediately figured out who was excluded by that almost. "I like to think of myself as 'Team Switzerland.'"
"I might have to join you on Team Switzerland, if you don't mind," I whispered, smiling coyly to her. "I'm not sure I want to get myself wrapped up in whatever bullshit is going on with those two."
"Sure, you can be on my team. I'm sick of being on a team by myself."
"What about the other guy…Eric? Is he on Team Switzerland?" I whispered even more quietly since he was sitting right in front of her.
She laughed and shook her head. "No, I don't want him on my team either," she mouthed to me and winked. I couldn't help but chuckle. Poor kid didn't fit in anywhere.
The rest of English went by pretty quickly. The reading list was pretty much what I was expecting, including Hamlet, The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible, and The Great Gatsby. It was nice that I actually managed to concentrate on class which helped out my other "condition." Well, at least I wasn't going to have to call my doctor.
The following class I had was band, which Angela also had. We made a detour to our lockers, which were only a few down from each other to pick up our instruments. I grabbed my trumpet and she her clarinet. As we made our way into the band room, I noticed that all of the members of our "Honors Family" also had band. As we were walking in, the band instructor was announcing that we should find our respective instrument sections and search for our names on the music stands.
I turned to look up to the trumpet section and froze. Both Edward Cullen and Jacob Black were each making their way to the trumpet section, with instruments in hand. I watched Jacob as he searched out his stand. I saw him glance at three stands in a row and grimace. He then proceeded to switch two stands and sit down one seat away from Edward. Edward walked up from the other side and found his stand and sat down. He glanced over to the stand between them and grinned.
I slowly walked up to the section, scanning music stands for my name and trying not to trip and take out a whole instrument section with me. I had a gut feeling I knew which stand was mine and as I finally found my name, my gut feeling turned out to be correct. My stand was the stand that Jacob had switched around so he wouldn't have to sit next to Edward. I now had to somehow manage to make it through this class sitting right between the two enemies…and gods.
I sat down in my chair and slowly opened up my trumpet case. I pulled out the instrument and began to blow warm air through it. I honestly hadn't touched this thing since last spring, considering all the moving and other shit happening. It might take a while to get my chops back in proper working order, but I knew I could do it. I just really hoped I didn't fuck up and sound bad sitting here between these two. But if there was one thing I was confident about, it was this. I had always been good at playing the trumpet and managed to earn second chair as a sophomore in my old high school band that had probably 5 times as many people in it so I knew I wasn't terrible.
I was finally starting to feel the tension between these two and it was getting to me. I always seemed to know how other people are feeling. Call it a sixth-sense if you will. These two really did not like each other and I could feel it.
Just then, I heard two voices on either side of me say "Hi" almost simultaneously. I looked up from my trumpet and quickly glanced back and forth at the two of them. At first it appeared that they had turned to speak to me, but they ended up in a glaring match instead.
"Um…Hi?" I said, looking at each of them, sounding more like a question than a statement. At that precise moment, my instrument slipped out of my hand. In my attempt to catch it, I knocked my music stand forward, hitting the person in front of me in the back of the head and causing the sheet music to scatter all over the floor. Fucking smooth, Jasper. Really fucking smooth.
Edward and Jacob both quickly jumped out of their seats and were helping me pick up my sheet music as I listened to basically everyone in the room laugh at me. Fuck you, you wrathful son-of-a-bitch! I thought, again directed at the ceiling. Of course, my face had to betray me and I flushed scarlet for probably the tenth time today and I was actually on the verge of tears. In a matter of seconds, both guys had managed to retrieve the sheets of paper off of the floor. They each gripped the last piece off the floor before Jacob glared at Edward and ripped it out of his hand.
"Here you go," Jacob said, handing me his stack while smiling warmly at me. Edward also smiled and gave me his stack.
"I'm so sorry," I muttered, still on the verge of tears. "I'm such a damn klutz to the point I'm dangerous sometimes." That reminded me of the girl I hit in the back of the head with my music stand so I quickly ducked my head underneath the stand to apologize to her. It turned out to be Bella Swan from my classes.
"I'm fine, Jasper," she said, still rubbing the back of her head and laughing. "I'm just happy it wasn't me this time." I smiled another apologetic smile at her and sat back up.
"No Bells, if that were you, the damage would have been a bit more catastrophic," Jacob joked with her, giving her that wide smile that I found hard to look away from. Up close, his smile was even more beautiful than before. "Anyway," he said turning his attention to me, "I was trying to introduce myself before you decided to throw your music stand. I'm Jacob," he said extending his hand out to me. Oh believe me, I'm well aware of who you are.
"Hi Jacob, nice to meet you," I timidly replied, feeling a bit of an electrical shock as I shook his hand. I also noticed my face was still warm. "I noticed you have been in all my classes so far."
"Yeah, it looks like you're the newest addition to the HoFam," he lightly laughed. I heard Edward groan next to me and I glanced over to see him roll his eyes. "What?" Jacob snapped at Edward looking around me.
"Just acknowledging your ridiculous nickname," Edward sniped, not even bothering to look over at him.
"Fuck off, Cullen," Jacob hissed as he stared down Edward.
"Grow up, Black," Edward replied, finally turning his head to glare back.
I just sat there through the exchange, sitting all the way back in my seat, shifting my eyes back and forth between the two.
"Cullen, Black, knock it off!" Mr. Chalmers yelled, snapping his conducting stick off on his music stand. "Dammit," he mumbled under his breath and turned to throw the broken staff into the trash can.
Taking the opportunity, Edward turned to me and smiled. "I also noticed you were in the Honors Family", emphasizing the words, obviously directed at Jacob. "I'm Edward Cullen. Nice to meet you," he said extending a hand. I know who you are. You've seen me tenting my jeans twice in the last few hours.
I shook his hand and felt another electrical spark. "Nice to meet you too, Edward," I replied, giving him a shy smile. I could feel my cheeks burning again. I might as well just fucking paint my face red and get it over with.
Mr. Chalmers finally called the band to order and raised his hands, which was our cue to pick up our instruments. "B-flat concert scale."
The rest of band went relatively smooth. We just played a bunch of different scales to warm up and tried out a few of the pieces of music on our stands. The music wasn't challenging. I actually learned that I was going to have some competition for first chair here in this insignificant little high school band. Both Jacob and Edward were probably just as good as I was, if not better.
As band let out, both Jacob and Edward turned to me and spoke at the same time. They glared at each other again, but Jacob continued. "So, lunch is next. I was wondering if you wanted to sit with us." I could tell by Edward's reaction that this was the question he was going to ask. This is what I was afraid of. I didn't want to have to choose between sitting with Jacob or Edward. Before I could speak, obviously seeing the panic on my face, Angela was there.
"Actually, Jasper is going to sit with me, which you are more than welcome to do," she said looking at both of them. She tugged me by my arm and led me out of the band room.
"Thank you," I sighed as we made our way down the hall toward the cafeteria.
"No problem. I could tell that you were kind of…tense having to sit there between the two of them."
"Tense might be a bit of an understatement. Imagine being trapped between a vampire and a werewolf ready to rip each other's faces off," I joked with her.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," she laughed.
As we entered the cafeteria, we set our books down in the middle of an oblong table and made our way to the lunch line. The rest of the Honors Family, or "HoFam" as Jacob had put it, set their books down on the table as well, each respective "team" setting at different ends.
I scanned the lunchroom for Rosalie and found her sitting with a group of people I assumed were seniors. She was getting really chatty with this big, muscular guy with dark curly hair and the cutest dimples. Wow, he was almost as good looking as Edward and Jacob were. For being such a small town, there sure was a large assortment of eye candy. Maybe living here wasn't going to be so bad after all.
During lunch, I got bombarded with all kinds of questions from pretty much everyone at the table. Mike wanted to know how I liked Forks, Ben wanted to know what my hobbies were, and Tyler wanted to know what living in the big city was like. Most of the questions geared toward the "getting to know you" side of things. Jessica was a little more bold.
"So, do you have a girlfriend back in San Francisco?" she asked, giggling a little bit? Angela shot her a look and she got defensive. "What? inquiring minds want to know!"
"Or maybe a boyfriend?" Bella interjected after I didn't answer immediately. Most of the guys at the table looked slightly uneasy at Bella's comment, except for Jacob, who grinned slyly at Bella as if to say 'good job'. "Hey, he did grow up in San Francisco after all." Bella smiled and then gave me a little wink. The girls at the table seemed to be hanging on a thread waiting for my answer. Even Edward, who was trying to look aloof, seemed like he was listening intently for my answer.
"No, I didn't have a girlfriend…or a boyfriend back home," I sheepishly answered, starting to blush again. I could tell that this annoyed Jessica because the question she really wanted to ask was 'Are you gay?' and I had managed to dodge that question completely. Before anyone else could continue on or be so bold as to come right out and ask me, Angela, for the second time today, threw me a life vest and changed the subject, asking about my family.
I had gym after lunch, as did the rest of the Honors Family, naturally. Luckily we didn't have to dress today, but we each received our gym shirts and were instructed to bring our own shorts or sweats. I sat next to Angela yet again, but I found Jacob and Bella had come to sit behind me and Edward and Lauren had come to sit in front. Lauren always seemed to need Edward's undivided attention and I honestly didn't know how he could give it to her. She was not that attractive and after hearing some of the lunch conversation she made, she wasn't that nice either. Well, there goes that one redeeming quality I thought she might have in order to land someone like Edward.
Jacob and Bella were playfully shoving each other behind us, giggling the whole time. Their play seemed innocent and fun…more like brother and sister than a couple. Actually, I had no idea if they were a couple or not. At one point Lauren turn her head to glare at them, obviously annoyed, and Bella glared right back at her, giving her a look that screamed "try it bitch, I fucking dare you!" So, I knew these two didn't like each other at all either; it wasn't just Edward and Jacob.
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Gym was followed by World History, where we were informed of an impending group project that counted for 25% of our grade, and then Spanish. Spanish was the first class that didn't have the entire Honors Family in it and was my first class without Angela, which immediately made me anxious. Actually, only Edward, Jacob, Ben, and I had Spanish together, with a mixture of other students. The other kids in our program took either French or German. I had gotten to class before they did so I found a seat in the center of the back row. When Jacob came in, he sat to my right, with Ben sitting in front of him. Edward came in a few seconds later and took the seat to my left. Oh shit, I hope this isn't like band!
The last class of the day was Honors Anatomy, which had the "family" back together again and of course sitting in their respective "team" positions. Ms. Napper, the Anatomy teacher, also decided to assign lab partners herself and almost everyone was unhappy. I really didn't care as long as I didn't get paired with Lauren Mallory, which luckily I didn't. But Bella did, who looked like she was going throw up. It almost ended up having "Team Edward" people paired up with "Team Jacob" people, except I was paired with Jacob myself. Fucking jackpot! I was partnered with Edward in Chemistry and partnered with Jacob in Anatomy. SCORE! Maybe Jacob and I could practice anatomy together…privately…on each other. I was always good at playing "Doctor" with the other boys when I was younger…I had to let my thought process end there or else I'd be in the same predicament as I was this morning. Wishful thinking, Jasper. Wishful thinking.
The final bell rang at 3 o'clock on the dot and everyone got up and moved their way out to their cars. Almost everyone had managed to say some form of 'goodbye' to Angela and me, including both Edward and Jacob. "See you tomorrow, Jasper" Edward said, grinning his one-sided smile at me. I can't be completely positive but I could swear he flashed his eyes quickly down to my crotch, probably to see if I was still tenting as I had been twice today in front of him. Dammit, I had made it through the rest of the day almost forgetting about that. Of course I immediately blushed.
Jacob came up next to me, waiting on my other side for Edward to leave, as he turned and put his arm around Lauren and strolled out the door. "I hope your first day here at Forks High wasn't too bad, Jasper," Jacob joked, pulling my attention away from Edward's beautiful form walking away from me. "Between throwing your music stand into the back of Bella's head, being assaulted with questions about your sexuality, and almost getting caught in the middle of one of my battles with Cullen," he said, almost snarling Edward's last name, "I imagine you must be pretty traumatized. Not to mention now you're stuck with me as a lab partner," he joked, grinning that bright, beautiful smile at me. 'Concentrated, pure sunshine' I thought to myself, thinking back on my first impression of Jacob.
"No, it wasn't too bad. It's kind of nice having the same people in all my classes and being able to get to know them. And while I was completely mortified by my little mishap in band, the questions at lunch didn't bother me. People in San Francisco are much bolder than they are here." I completely ignored the part about 'one of my battles with Cullen.' I'm resolving to make it my mission to come to the bottom of that…at a later time though. I was still too new to this.
"Oh, I've been known to be pretty bold myself," he added, his smile contorting to appear a little more mischievous. "Well, bold enough to come out of the closet in eighth grade, anyway" HOLY SHIT! DID HE REALLY JUST SAY THAT?! Fuck, I don't know how to respond to this!! Well Jasper, you can always count on yourself to be awkward in situations like this.
"Oh, well, that is...um…pretty bold…I, uh, guess," I finally manage to stutter out. He stepped back a half step and almost frowned. Dammit all to Hell! Way to go, Rico fucking Suave. Now you've offended the kid.
"I mean, that's great! Good for you! That must have taken some balls." Ooh, I wonder what Jacob's balls look like. I bet they're big…and hairy. Jesus Christ, Jasper, snap out of it! "Hooray for gay!" I said, holding up my hand up, doing a half-assed impersonation of the 'black pride' fist pump. 'Hooray for gay?! HOORAY FOR GAY?! Of all the fucking things you could possibly say to him and you say "Hooray for gay!" Just shut your fucking mouth before you end up putting your foot in it.
I think the arteries in my face actually just exploded after that last comment because my face felt like it was on fire. Jacob looked at me with his mouth open for a second as I squirmed there in one of the most uncomfortable positions I've ever had in my entire life. Angela also stared at me like I was certifiably insane. Then they both glanced at each other and burst out laughing. This only deepened the flush in my face. Great Jasper, that's just fucking swell! Now they're fucking laughing at you. LAUGHING AT YOU! Why are they laughing at you? Because you're a fucking douche bag who couldn't possibly find another appropriate comment besides 'Hooray for gay!' I really wish the Earth would open up right now and fucking swallow me whole.
"Really?" Angela questioned still choking back the laughter as they both calmed down slightly. "Hooray for gay?!"
They both looked at each other again and erupted in laughter again. Jacob had completely doubled over, belly laughing with tears streaming down his face. Even Mrs. Napper, who I just realized was still in the room, had her back turned to us and by the movement of her shoulders, I could tell she was laughing as well. Wonderful. Even my teacher must think I'm a fucking tool.
I could feel my eyes starting to fill. Fuck me! Wouldn't this just top off an already horrific experience? Luckily, I was able to somewhat compose myself when they both stood up, wiping their own tears from their eyes, but for a vastly different reason. I took this opportunity to turn to leave.
"Hey, wait. Don't go. I'm sorry…for laughing…" Jacob was finally able to say, fighting for words between chuckles as he reached out and grabbed my arm. "But that's just one of the funniest things I've ever heard. I didn't know there was a cheer for it. Hey, we were laughing with you, not at you."
I wasn't laughing.
I just hung my head as the tears filled my eyes again, with one actually managing to escape.
"Oh hey now, don't cry," Jacob hummed, wiping the tear from my face. "So, what was that about you not being traumatized again?" He smiled that amazing smile that I was already growing to love only after a few hours and I couldn't help but smile and laugh a bit myself. "Well, we should get out of here. I'm sure Mrs. Napper wants to get out of here too."
Once again, I completely forgot she was even in the room and she smiled a comforting smile at me. I grabbed my back pack off the chair and slung it over my shoulder and we all walked out the door and down the hall toward the parking lot.
"Well, I gotta get home and watch the twins tonight," Angela stated walking toward her car. "See you guys tomorrow. Oh, and Jasper? Don't beat yourself up over that back there. I could happen to anyone." No, it usually only happens to me. She smiled and turned and got into her car.
"Hey, sorry again about laughing at you," Jacob said, putting his hand on my shoulder as we walked toward our cars.
"Why are you apologizing to me? I'm the one with foot-in-mouth disease."
"Well, apparently I blindsided you with my gayness and made you uncomfortable…"
"No, really Jacob, I'm not uncomfortable with your…gayness, as you put it. Not at all. I just wasn't expecting you to say that right then. Not to mention I've been known to make a complete ass out of myself in awkward social situations. I can always count on myself to say the wrong thing at the wrong time."
"I'll keep that in mind." Jacob then winked at me. "See you tomorrow." Did he just wink at me? Fuck me…
Pick your jaw up off the ground, Jasper. "Um…yeah, see you tomorrow."I could barely compose my face to get the words out of my mouth. He continued grinning as he got into his little red VW Rabbit. I stood there in front of my car and watched him drive away, still grinning.
My mom was already home from work by the time I got there. We exchanged our "how was your first day of school" questions. She had a good day and thought the kids in her kindergarten class were sweet. All I told her was that my day was fine and I made a couple of friends, which made her happy. There was no way I was going to tell her about all of the mortifying things that happened today. At dinner, Rosalie gushed over this guy she met today. I'm assuming it was that hot, burly, curly haired guy I saw her with. Shit, I'd gush if I were her too!
I decided to start reading The Great Gatsby because that was our first reading assignment in English. I got a couple chapters in, but I couldn't tell you what I had just read. I just sat there replaying my first day of school in my head.
Let's see, everyone stared at me today because I was the new guy which is never good for someone who dislikes attention as much as I do. I managed to maintain a 2 hour boner, which I'm sure one of the hottest guys in school…well, one of the hottest guys I've ever seen, noticed. In fact, I think he might have actually glanced at my crotch a couple times. I dropped my trumpet and ended up knocking my music stand into the back of a girl's head while scattering my sheet music everywhere. I had uncomfortable questions asked of me regarding if I ever had a girlfriend…or boyfriend. I ended up Chemistry and Anatomy lab partners with the two hottest guys in school. Oh, and last but certainly not least, I had that awkward moment I always fear, causing me to create a sort of cheer to celebrate the guy's gayness, which caused an eruption of laughter from that guy, another girl, and worst of all my Anatomy teacher, which made me cry. Oh, and then said hot gay guy winked at me on his way out of the parking lot.
I couldn't help but laugh at the whole mess. It was pretty much to be expected that a lot of embarrassing shit would happen to me. The two-hour boner? Yeah, I didn't see that one coming, but at least I got a supermodel hot guy to look at my crotch. That has to count for something, right? I laid there in my bed, staring at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come, smiling at everything that transpired.
---x---
"Edward, what are you doing here?" I gasped at the sight of him standing at the foot of my bed. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing's wrong. Nothing at all."
He crawled into my bed, straddling my groin as he tried to pull off my shirt.
"Hands off, Cullen. He's mine!" I turned to see Jacob standing in my doorway.
"C'mon, Black, I think we can work something out." Edward leaned down to nibble on my earlobe.
"Hmm, I think you may be right," Jacob moaned, walking toward my bed, taking off his shirt and crawling into my bed with Edward. "C'mon, let's get these sweats off of him." They proceeded to lift my hips and yank my sweats all the way off, leaving me completely nude.
"Ooh," they both moaned putting their hands on my chest, each tweaking a nipple. What the Hell is that noise?
"Mmm, yeah, keep doing that." That noise was only getting worse. "Wait, can you hear that?"
"I don't hear anything," Jacob whispered into my ear, licking up my earlobe. They each had a hand on my nipples with their other hands roving down my chest to abdomen.
"How can you not hear that? It's so…annoying." The sound was really pissing me off, but I tried to tune it out. Their hands started rubbing in clockwise circles right above my groin. Their hands continued to rub lower and lower, just missing my throbbing cock. I moaned, closing my eyes. Oh, please! Just touch it! Touch me! Oh my God!
I opened my eyes and sat up. There was no one in my bed and my alarm clock was screaming at me from across the room. I reached below my waste and felt a gooey wet spot on the front of my sweats. "That's just fucking cold!" I growled up at the ceiling. I got up and slammed the snooze button down and dropped back into my bed and closed my eyes, desperate to pick up where I left off.