Twilight Imagines

2. Secrets (Jasper Hale)

(Published August 21, 2021)

   "My science teacher just talks so darn fast, I can hardly write notes fast enough to keep up with him!" I exclaimed as Jasper walked me out to my car after school. "I tend to write crooked on the lines because I'm only half paying attention to my pen, and we're not even going to discuss the spelling errors."
   Jasper chuckled at that, and opened my car door for me. He was a man of few words, so I didn't expect a response, but that was okay. I tended to talk a lot, once I got to know someone. I had a feeling that was why he hung around me so much; I would talk to him and wouldn't expect too much in return. When he did talk, though, he mostly just asked questions or answered mine. I knew he was listening to me because he very rarely ignored one of my questions.
   Climbing into the driver's seat, I turned to look at him. "Want to come over? We could study for the history test. My mom has a meeting tonight, so she'll be in her home office all afternoon."
   He shook his head, like I expected him to, and I nodded once. I was very curious, though... We never hung out anywhere outside of school, even though I offered ideas a lot. I like Jasper and wanted to be a good friend, but he was making it difficult to be actual friends. Right now, we were just school buddies.
   "Why not? Does your family have a strict curfew or something?" I asked.
   Jasper shook his head again. "I just don't think that it would be a smart idea."
   "Why not?" I asked again, simple innocent honesty in my tone.
   "It wouldn't be safe for you, Sophie." He mumbled, looking off into the trees.
   I grinned, throwing a joke his way. "Why, are you going to turn into a big bad wolf and have me for lunch?"
   Startled, he turned his wide golden eyes to me, staring for a moment. It was my turn to be surprised when he then threw his head back and laughed out loud. He laughed for a minute before moving his gaze back to mine and wearing a candid smile.
   "No, I'm not a werewolf." He chuckled as he said it.
   "Then what's up? Seriously, I'm curious." I asked, crossing my arms across my knees.
   He looked me in the eye for a minute, then shook his head. "You're my friend, I just don't want you to get hurt."
   With a small nod, I gave him a small smile. "I get it, I think. No worries, I was just curious. I won't pry into your secrets anymore."
   "I appreciate that." He said softly, the slightest hint of a grin on his face. "See you tomorrow."
   "See ya tomorrow." I agreed. With that, he closed my car door and headed over to his siblings, who were waiting near their own cars.
   Pulling out of my parking spot, I made my way out of the school lot and onto the well traveled road. My house was about a twenty minute drive from the school, so I turned up my radio to keep me occupied. It was a cloudy, but warm day and the roads were dry which was nice, but that also meant most people were out enjoying the nice-ish weather. The busy roads made for slow going, and I was hardly able to go over thirty five until I turned off onto a dirt road that led to the road my house was on.
   Usually I was a pretty observant driver, but I didn't see the lifted F150 approaching too quickly from behind me until he slammed into the back of my car. I tried to steer to the right a little bit, giving him room to go around me, but the truck just kept plowing forward, shoving my car sideways and almost into the ditch! I thought for sure he was going to flip me over, but then a figure on the side of the road caught my eye. It was a guy, and we were headed straight for him! I was about to be a part of killing someone! I couldn't even think straight, so I simply spun my steering wheel again, spinning myself into the ditch. The maneuver didn't flip me over, but the back left corner of my car slammed into a tree, sending the air bag flying into my face.
   I quickly unbuckled my seat belt and flung open my door as far as it would go, climbing out of my now very beat up car. My eyes instantly sought out the truck, and what I saw shocked me! The hood and the grill of the truck had been dented in like it had smacked into a large metal pole, but the truck itself was backwards in the ditch like my car was. Only problem was, there was nothing to smack into here, and I know my car wasn't able to make that kind of a dent!
   Suddenly, a figure leapt over the bed of the truck and kicked at the bottom of the rear left tire. A loud snapping sound echoed through the air, and the tire bent in a terrible angle as a result of the kick! I stared, wondering just how had I had hit my head during the crash. No human could do that!
   That was when the figure turned around, looking like he was about to run to my car, but froze when he saw me.
   "Jasper?" I whispered. Before I could blink, he was in front of me.
   "You're bleeding." He mumbled, gently wiping at my left temple with his shirt sleeve. Sure enough, the blue fabric came away with a dark red streak.
   "Is this your secret?" I asked quietly, gently taking his cold hand away from the cut and looking up at him.
   He pressed his lips together, still looking at me, and nodded.
   "Who knew I'd be the best friend of Superman." I laughed slightly, leaning against the front of my car as the rush of adrenaline from the excitement began leaving my system.
   "Sophie, that's not what I am." He objected, taking a step back. "I'm not a hero."
   "Eh, you saved my neck." I shrugged, wiping as I felt the cut on my head drip another drop of blood.
   At that moment, Emmett and Edward Cullen were suddenly at Jasper's sides, their eyes sweeping over the situation. Edward seemed to do a double take when he saw me. His eyes widened and he snapped his gaze to Jasper.
   "Did you-" He broke off, eyes boring into his half brother. Jasper shook his head, which seemed to shock Edward more.
   "But she's bleeding." Emmett stated, his eyes widening, too. I sat there and watched the exchanging of looks, but the two E brothers were flabbergasted about something, while Jasper just looked a little flummoxed.
   "Emmett, you and Jasper stay here and deal with the cops. I'll take Sophie to Carlisle." Edward said, his eyes darting from Jasper to me still. Everyone seemed to agree, so I just went along with it and waited as Edward walked normally over to me, even though I obviously knew he was faster than a human.
   One of the Cullens' cars pulled up on the road and Alice darted out, running over to Emmett and Jasper. Edward led me over to the car and we both hopped in, me buckling up because I was slightly afraid of how these speedy folk would drive.
   "How much did Jasper tell you?" Edward asked as we shot off down the road.
   "Nothing. I just saw you guys running around like Quicksilver and figured you weren't one hundred percent human." I told him honestly.
   Edward looked over at me with a strange look, and I kept my attention on the road. I understood why they'd hide their powers, because the X-Men had nothing but trouble from the humans when they revealed their 'mutations', but everyone knew that the Cullens were strange people. They weren't hiding their oddness very well. It's not like I'd tell anyone, though; Jasper was close to my only friend, especially at school.
   I glanced over at Edward, who was quiet now, to see a small grin on his face. I wondered what he was thinking, and why all of his siblings freaked out about the blood so much. I wondered how many secrets they had, and if they had any other powers, too. But I had a feeling Edward wouldn't tell me, and I wasn't about to ask. Maybe Edward had a memory removing power, too, and would just wipe my memory! Nope, better to stay quiet and stay out of trouble.
   Edward snorted, and I paused, thinking only one thing.
   The Cullen family was strange!