Jasper and I climbed into bed around four o' clock in the morning after the yelling from Alice and Edward in the hall died down and they finally went into their room to finish their argument. There was a couple of times when Jasper and I thought we would have to play referee the conversation before either of them said something they would regret when the alcohol wore off in the morning, but they always seemed to know when to reign their anger in.
Alice met us for breakfast around ten and we went to the campus dining hall since we seemed to miss the greasy food after a night of drinking.
"Ally, are we going to the party tonight or do you have other plans for us?" I asked quietly, not wanting to make our headaches worse.
"Nope, no plans here. I figured that we'd all want to say good bye to people so I picked out outfits for everyone," Alice said, shoving a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich into her mouth.
I watched, finishing my pancakes, as Jasper and Alice had one of their silent conversations that I used to be jealous of. Alice smiled and nodded before wandering off to get Edward something to eat. Jasper looked at me before breaking out in the most breath taking smile I had ever seen.
"Would you mind doing me the honor of accompanying me on a walk?" he asked, offering me his hand as he stood up.
I giggled like a school girl and took his hand. "I most certainly will come with you, but can we change out of our pajamas first?" I asked, not wanting to parade around the city in a pair of his boxers and my paint covered t-shirt.
"If we must, but I want you to know I enjoy the way you look right now," he said with a flirtatious smile.
When we got to the room I went to the bag Alice had packed for me and found the exact outfit I wanted. I pulled out my red and white plaid mini skirt, which I hadn't seen since I wore it to the religions class I took freshman year, a white blouse that had a very cute bow at the neckline, and a pair of black heels with little bows on the back. I dressed quickly and added a red double-strand beaded necklace and the set of friendship bracelets Alice had made me for my 20th birthday. Jasper twirled me around and showered praise on me about how much more beautiful the outfit made me look before we locked the door and made our way out to the street for our walk.
We walked past Roadrunner Express florist and I smiled, remembering the dozens of bouquets Jasper had bought me there over the years, usually when he'd messed up or I was feeling rather down about something. From there we walked past the dance studio where we spent countless hours as a group watching Alice as she danced and worked out routines. We passed Feeney's Bar, where we made a ritual of celebrating birthdays and good grades or even really bad ones that we wanted to forget. We finished our walk in front of the bleachers to the North High School's football field. As we took a seat at the top left corner I remembered our first kiss.
***
Jasper and I had been sent to the High School's homecoming game by our parents, since we spent way too much time together in the confines of our houses or the school building. We found a spot in the back corner of the bleachers and set our stuff down. The teams were still warming up so Jasper walked to the concession stand to get us drinks while I stayed and pulled out what little homework I hadn't already finished. I smiled gratefully when Jasper handed me a Sprite and sat down next to me. I had finished my Calculus homework by the time the game began and started on the required chapters of Romeo and Juliet when Jasper bumped into my arm, causing my book to fall closed on the seat in front of me.
"Really Jasper!" I sighed in frustration. "I was almost done."
"Oh come on, Chickadee, you know it's not as much fun heckling the cheerleaders if you're doing it alone," he said, giving me his best crooked smile. "It's like sex that way..." he added before trailing off when I stared at him with my death glare.
"Fine, I'll heckle with you during halftime and after that will you let me finish what I was doing so we can do something fun tonight after we finish the torture our parents sent us to?" I said, shifting in my seat a little as one of the freshman on the cheerleading squad disappeared.
"What do you think they have hidden in the locker room today?" Jasper asked as Jacqueline followed the freshman with a fake look of concern on her face.
"Well, I heard Stephanie talking during third period about the fact that one of the new recruits was planning some special cocktail for tonight's game, so I can only imagine what they have hidden." I said, already bored and picking at a sore spot on my lower lip until it bled.
Staring intently at the edge of the field for a long time, I missed the subtle movement of Jasper to my right. When I turned my head in Jasper's direction, trying to admire his sharp lines and slight scruff without being noticed, I was met with the interesting current that flowed through me as our lips touched. It felt right, but wrong at the same time. This was Jasper; he was my southern Romeo and I was his chickadee, and we'd known each other since we were in Kindergarten. As my body started to respond and get into the kiss, Jasper pulled away, looking at me with relief and fear fighting for the leading role in his eyes.
I leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Jasper's cheek before sliding my shoes off and laying down on the bench. Jasper and I stayed there, just taking in our surroundings and enjoying the peace and quiet away from the drama and college classmates. I sat up slowly when I noticed Jasper reach into his pocket for the 27 thousandth time. "Jasper, is there somewhere you need to be?" I asked as he looked up at me, startled.
"No, it's just I have something I want to say to you but I don't know where to start," he said before taking a deep breath and starting again.
"Chickadee, I know we've been through a lot and I also know there will be a lot thrown at us in the future, but I have always known that if you weren't by my side I wouldn't have made it through half of what has been thrown at me."
I nodded my head but couldn't come up with anything to say back to him as my eyes grew wide and I realized what he was trying to ask me.
No comments:
Post a Comment