Summary: A twisted 'Twilight'. Jasper finds the new girl, Bella Swan, quite intriguing. With Edward recovering from the scent of Bella's blood in the Denali wilderness and Alice concentrating on Edward's future, will Jasper find a way to get closer to Bella, without alerting his family? Can he control himself and his bloodlust enough to fall in love? Who will Bella choose when Edward returns and wants to get closer?

(A/N: This WILL be updated and continued as often as possible. My first priority is to finish 'Red Sun,' but once that's done then I'll definitely complete this. I just had to write it down and set it out. All reviews are welcome, so let me know if you think this is worthy of continuing with.)

Jasper

It was almost unbearable to sit here in this high school cafeteria, with the all the feelings of the human teenagers passing through me. I was like a mediator, a translator, for all their emotions, with no one to pass them on to – so they welled up inside me.

I knew Edward was watching me. I could almost feel him shadowing my mind, keeping track of my thoughts. I knew Alice was doing the same with my future.

I was being tested – thoroughly.

It had taken me so long to become used to our lifestyle and our diet of animal blood, and I knew I was the weak link. I had spent years being the strongest and most cunning vampire in Maria's army – I had been in my element. I was built for war and strategy, not playing human.

Playing human was where I fell down. I wanted to be good, I wanted to not kill and murder, but I was still building my strength and resolve. Until I was absolutely under control I would be shadowed by Alice and Edward, and I would be constantly teased with the scent of human blood.

Like now.

A small, blonde girl paused to talk to a friend at the end of the table my family and I sat at. She was close enough for me to hear her heartbeat, to see the thrum of life in her veins and to let my imagination run wild.

She tossed her short hair over her shoulder, and a wave of her scent hit me. It was appetizing and it made my throat ache with thirst. I could just imagine getting closer to her, smelling that scent even more as I leaned my face into her neck, watching her blood pound through her veins. I could imagine leaning in, my mouth automatically wetting with venom...

Edward kicked my chair.

I looked up at him, instantly remembering he was monitoring my thoughts closely. I was ashamed at getting so carried away with him around. He thought I was weak.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Edward shrugged and went back to staring at the wall.

Alice tried to comfort me, "You weren't going to do anything. I could see that."

I grimaced slightly at her obvious lie. I knew she was uncertain of me, I could feel it.

"It helps a little if you think of them as people. Her name is Whitney. She has a baby sister she adores. Her mother invited Esme to that garden party, do you remember?" Her voice was soft and musical, and I hated it.

She talked to me like I was child.

"I know who she is," I replied sharply, effectively ending the conversation.

I stared out of the window, and I heard Alice get up and leave.

I certainly knew who the girl was, but if I thought about that then it would ruin my fantasy. If I didn't have fantasies, then I didn't know how I would be able to get by. If I imagined certain things then I felt the need to act less keenly. It was a torturous, masochistic method that had proved useful while I changed my diet.

But Alice didn't understand. She knew I would fantasize instead of act, and she tried to see my point of view – bless her, she tried – but it wasn't enough. I knew she felt at least a little ashamed of my weakness, and I had called her out on it.

We had a wild argument, ending with me storming off to hunt. I knew we were drifting apart, but she refused to see it. I knew I didn't love her anymore. Our time had passed and our love hadn't lasted, but Alice was fixed on trying to make it work.

I didn't press her. I knew it would end soon enough.

I was tired of staring at the grey clouds that always constantly hang over Forks, so I turned my attention back to my family.

"Jessica Stanley is giving the new Swan girl all the dirty laundry on the Cullen clan," Edward said quietly, amusement evident in his voice. Then he added, "Rather unimaginative, actually. Just the barest hint of scandal. Not an ounce of horror. I'm a little disappointed."

Edward was quiet for a moment or two as he 'listened' intently. Then suddenly frustration and confusion rolled off of him in waves. He turned in his chair and looked over at a table on the other side of the cafeteria.

I followed his line of sight, interested in whatever captured his attention, and was met with the most beautiful pair of eyes. They were a deep, warm brown – the colour of chocolate.

Suddenly I felt a tingle creep up my spine.

I frowned, looking away from the girl. I was a vampire and a human gave me a tingle? How ridiculous was that? Very – it was very ridiculous.

But I couldn't keep my eyes away now. I looked back and saw she was making conversation with the annoying student, Jessica Stanley, that Edward had mentioned. She didn't look right with Jessica, she didn't look happy. She looked uncomfortable, but the only emotions I could pick up on were interest and embarrassment.

I took a closer look at the girl, my sharp eyes raking every inch of her appearance, looking for something wrong with her. If I found something wrong I could prove to myself that there was no need to keep looking at an imperfect human.

Her loose, mahogany locks curled elegantly over her shoulders and down her back, and she was slim with a beautiful form and poise. She wasn't beyond thin like Alice, she was just slender, and she looked magnificent. She had a pale, heart-shaped face, with flawless skin and full pink lips. She was perfect.

I got that tingle again.

Suddenly she turned to look at our table, and then immediately turned away as her gorgeous eyes met mine. Her cheeks turned the most delicious shade of pink I have ever seen, but I didn't feel any thirst. No, I was concentrating on her emotions too hard, trying to pin-point my unease with the girl. Embarrassment rolled off of her and I realised Edward was still staring at her as well.

Then as clear as I shout, I heard the girl whisper, "Which one is the boy with the reddish-brown hair?"

So she was interested in Edward? Not surprising really, he looked closer to her age. But it sent a little feeling of jealousy through me.

Jealousy? Over a human? I must be losing it.

I looked away out of the window again, trying to ignore the girl and her feelings. I found her too interesting for her own good. My little spike of jealousy had unnerved me, but it was about to be quashed.

"So, the one with blonde hair is Jasper?" She asked Jessica quietly.

I grinned internally at the girl asking about me. Such a beautiful creature had asked about me.

Luckily, Edward seemed to be concentrating too hard on the girl to pick out my thoughts, so I let them continue to concentrate on her.

Jessica Stanley said that the girl was right, but that I was 'with' Alice.

I grimaced outright at that. To all appearances, even to the family, we were still together and working through our problems. I didn't know why I wanted the girl to know I wasn't really 'with' Alice anymore, but I did. I wanted to talk to her...

I stopped that thought in its tracks.

I was not allowed to be that close to a human. I could trust myself, but my family wouldn't. Plus, I was posing as a senior. I didn't know too much about high school etiquette, but I assumed a senior talking to a junior would be construed as 'weird'.

I tried not to think about her, to concentrate on the nasty clouds rolling in overhead. But the girl continued to ask about my family, most of her questions situated around Edward and myself. I tried to ignore her soft voice, but it seemed to be louder than everyone else's. It just seemed to carry over the din of the cafeteria.

"Shall we?" Rosalie said, interrupting my thoughts, and the interruption was welcome.

"So, is the new one afraid of us yet?" Emmett asked Edward, and I tried not to be interested in Edward's answer.

I failed miserably.

He just shrugged, and Emmett didn't ask again. But I wanted to ask, I wanted to question. But my family would misconstrue my interest, so I remained silent.

We left the cafeteria and split up for our classes.

I got to my senior English class, sat down in my usual back-row seat next to Alice and tried to wall myself off for the coming emotional onslaught. We were studying Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet ahead of the juniors, and I knew at least half of the students in this class would get over-emotional.

I tried to think of something to distract myself with, but the only thing that came to mind was a pair of wide, deep brown eyes.

I sighed, disgusted with myself. I was obsessing over a human – a human which I had only seen once, and under an hour ago. I was acting ridiculously.

The English teacher, Mrs Bates, was warbling about Shakespeare and the importance of his work, and then she proceeded to turn off the lights and start a video. It was a boring re-make and my mind drifted. It drifted back to the girl.

Damn it, Jasper! Stop thinking about her! She was only some fragile, insignificant human... I scolded myself.

But I couldn't deny her beauty, and it seemed others were oblivious to it. This oddly pleased me, like she was my own personal source of beauty. I could write songs about that kind of beauty...

Stop it!

I went back to watching the slow, bad-quality video with a scowl on my face. Alice looked over at that exact moment. I could feel her curiosity.

"It's nothing," I mumbled.

"Are you sure? You're future's kind of...skippy," she whispered back, too low for human ears to pick up.

"Alice," I warned. "I'm fine. Leave me alone."

I knew she was thinking that I had been tempted by a human, and I suppose she was quite right, just not in the way she thought.

Bella

He had looked like he wanted to outright murder me in Biology and at Reception, and I was kind of jumpy for the rest of the day. I tried not to dwell on his pitch-black eyes, and his angry stare, but they kept coming back to me.

That was until I saw the boy Hale, Jasper, walk by the end of the hallway.

He was…intriguing, and there was something in his glance that made me shiver…

I just wanted to get home from my first day, and, luckily, Charlie was going to be out.

The truck rumbled me through Forks and I was glad to be able to get home in silence. If Renee were about I would have been bombarded with questions about my first day, and Charlie would have a few questions of his own later – I knew it.

I was just thankful to get inside and into my room, to distract myself fully from the memory of Edward Cullen's glare.

And the memory of Jasper Hale's searing golden gaze…

Jasper

Edward had left.

Alice explained to the family that the new girl, Isabella Swan, had 'called' to Edward. We didn't need to ask her for more information once we'd heard that. We all knew about certain types of blood being sweeter than others, but the rarest finds were the ones that literally called to you. I hadn't really been on the animal blood diet long enough to be able to tell if someone had ever called to me before – all human blood called to me.

Esme's grief at Edward's departure was almost unbearable, and after she had turned down my offer to calm her I had to excuse myself.

The only problem excusing myself from my family was that now I could only think of Isabella Swan – such a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl. It was almost amusing the effect she had had on vampires so far. Her blood called to Edward, and she called to me.

I couldn't forget those eyes – deep pools of emotion and beauty.

I would have to talk to her. I knew she was interested in me at least a fraction, enough to start a conversation. With Edward gone, no one could see my thoughts revolving around her, and I was sure that Alice would be concentrating on Edward mostly. So if I kept changing my mind about something and then talk to Bella at the last minute, I would be able to speak with her without interruption.

My family thought me too far gone to be close to a human, but I would prove them wrong. I knew I shouldn't be close to a human, but there was something about her that was simply...irresistible.