Oxytocin

III. Risky Choice

It took Cassie around a week to fall into a routine. Though she was getting use to living with her father and step-mom, she still wasn't use to all the rain. Though, this morning she had to text Bella asking for a ride. She normally took Erica's car, but she got called in early this morning, leaving the teen carless.

"Do you have a ride?" Daniel asked, as soon as Cassie stepped downstairs.

"Yeah. Bella is picking me up." Cassie answered, stealing a piece of his toast.

"Alright, be careful though. This weather is a bitch to drive in." Daniel said. "Oh, by the way, I might be a little late to dinner. Tell Erica for me, she left before I could tell her."

Cassie nodded, finishing her toast. "Why will you be late?"

"Me and Charlie will be heading down to Mason county." Daniel answered. "There was an animal attack. Some security guard was killed."

"Be careful." Cassie said.

A honk from outside got her attention. She swung her backpack onto her shoulder's, and quickly waved her dad goodbye.

As soon as she got in, Bella have her a mischief look.

"What?"

"Nothing." Bella said, backing out of the drive way.

"Seriously, what?" Cassie pushed.

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "Jess told me that a certain blonde Hale has a crush on you."

Cassie rolled her eyes, "He doesn't. I ran into him, and he made a comment about my book. Nothing less, nothing more."

The rest of the drive, the girls laughed and talked about their lives. Cassie asked a few questions about the Edward guy, but Bella just blew her off.

*****

The day went by faster than Cassie expected. It was like any normal day, being bored out of her mind in classes, Jessica talking her ear off whenever she could. By the time lunch rolled around, Cassie was ready to go home and be alone in her room.

"Guess who's here today?" Bella whispered to her friend as they walked to their table.

"Who?" Cassie asked, looking over the sea of students.

"Edward." Bella answered, gesturing over to the Cullen's table. Sitting with them, was another god-like person. Messy brown hair sat on top of his head, his skin was the same as his siblings, pale almost paper white, and his eyes were the same gold. He was currently speaking to Jasper, the two of them turning to stare at Cassie, as if she walked into class late. Cassie drifted her attention to Bella as they sat down.

"That's Edward Cullen?" She asked, Bella nodding.

"I wonder why he was out for so long." Bella said, glancing back at their table.

"Man, I thought Cullen had a staring issue. Look at Hale." Mike said, annoyance in his voice. Both girls turned, and saw the two men staring at them. Edward was speaking to Jasper, while Jasper just nodded. Cassie furrowed her eyebrows, and turned back to her table.

*****

At the Cullen's table, Edward had been reciting Cassie's thoughts to Jasper, while Jasper was telling Edward all the emotions Bella has been feeling. It was frustrating. The one person whose feelings he wanted to know, weren't available to him. Because of this, he asked Edward to read her mind. Through this, he found out about her mother and all the things that made her, her.

Alice tried to tell him that she was his 'mate', but he scoffed at the idea. She may be his blood-singer, but that doesn't mean they were going to have a fairy tale life together. Part of him feared Alice was right, because of the fact the Cassie was human. He wasn't confident in his self control at all. He'd think about all the things that could go wrong. She could fall and scrap her knee, or scratch herself with a pencil. There were too many risk factors.

"You know, me and Alice would intervene if anything went wrong." Edward said, hearing Jasper's thoughts.

"Your not around me 24/7." Jasper reminded him. The risk of exposing his family, and the risk of hurting Cassie was not a risk he was willing to take.

*****

It didn't take long for English to come to an end. Before she could escape the class, Eric ran up to her.

"Hey, Cass, a few of us were going to head up to Port Angeles to see a movie. Would you be interest?" He asked.

"No thanks, sorry." Cassie said, walking with him out the door.

"Are you sure?" He pressed.

"Yeah. Sorry." Cassie said, exiting the school.

"See you later then." Eric said, running to his car.

Bella was already waiting by her truck. Fiddling with her earbuds.

"Hey." Bella looked up at Cassie, a big smile on her face.

"Why the smile?" Cassie asked, grinning at Bella. She stopped and fake gasped. "It is Edward?"

Bella laughed, "Shut up."

"It is, isn't it." The two girls giggled like school girls.

"Are you going to tell me what's up with Jasper now?" Bella asked, changing the subject.

Cassie froze for a moment, "We're not talking about Jasper right now." She stuttered out.

"You maybe not. But I am. Come on! I told you about Edward." Bella pushed.

"There's nothing to say! I've talk to him like once, now Jess thinks we're getting married." Cassie explained.

"It doesn't help that he never takes his eyes off you." Bella said, gesturing to Jasper, who was standing a few spaces down with his family, eyes on Cassie.

Cassie opened her mouth to argue, but the sound of tires screeching made both of them turn. Tyler's van was sliding towards them. Bella froze, while Cassie moved towards her.

"Bella!"

Before the van could hit her, an arm wrapped around her waist, hauling her away from the crash. Before she knew it, Jasper was holding her back from getting hit.

"Hey-Bella!" She tried to see over the van, but all the saw was Tyler's van.

"She's ok." Jasper reassured, his arm still around the girl's waist.