вυмp ιn тнe nιgнт

EIGHT

panic had slightly overcome jasmine as a couple days flew by without bella showing up at school. sure, the swan girl might've been sick, or she might just be skipping — because she's done that before. but the other strange thing about it all was the fact that the cullens were missing from school, too. all five of them didn't show up either of the days bella didn't show her face, and it wasn't even like it was sunny out.

"yo, jasmine? jasmine, you still there?" paul's voice cuts through her thoughts, and she lets out a small sigh. shaking her head, she readjusts her phone in between her ear and shoulder, setting her bag down and heading back down the stairs of her house to get to her truck.

"yeah, i'm still here. sorry, i'm just a bit worried about something. or, well, someone."

paul had called her after school, wondering if she wanted to get some food or something and catch up, but she'd declined due to having different plans in mind. she'd instead asked how his day had gone, and the boy had been talking about something one of his teammates had done that day before realizing she wasn't exactly paying attention.

"can i ask what you're worried about? maybe i can help," he proposes, and a smile forms on her lips.

"it's not really something you can help with, but thanks for offering. it's just, a friend of mine has kinda gone a bit missing, i think? i mean, she could just be sick, but she hasn't been at school, hasn't texted jessica or angela or anything, and her boyfriend isn't in school either, so i'm a bit worried about her," she explains, rambling, and she lets out a sigh when she finished.

paul took a moment to respond, but he did a few seconds later, saying, "well, i trust your gut feeling, so maybe something is wrong with your friend? have you gone to check on her?"

"that's actually what i'm on my way to do. are you sure you're not a mind reader or something?"

even though she was teasing, jasmine knew better than to underestimate people. she had actually ran into regular humans with some special abilities, like mind reading, before, and it had been kinda crazy. a vampire back home that had a gift mentioned how they'd been able to do similar things as a human, but it turned into a special ability when they were turned. it only strengthened her curiosity about vampires, but she didn't bother learning much more.

she'd done small magic tests on all her friends when she first started making them. bella had shown to be a bit more special than the average human, so if she were ever turned, whatever it was would probably attribute to her gift as a vampire. the others were all regular humans, aside from paul.

paul was a bit weird. his had shown that he was more than human, but whatever it was that made him special, she didn't know what it was. so, it seemed like she just had to wait for the answers if it was somehow ever "unlocked."

his laugh filtered in through the receiver. "if i were a mind reader, i think i would've been able to woo you by now, jasmine. anyways, other than you worrying about your friend, has anything else happened today?"

"well, olive lost one of her last few baby teeth today."

"really? good for her!"

she laughs once more, putting the phone on speaker as she drives through forks, already knowing the way to bella's house. she'd used magic to find the quickest way to the swan residence on a map, and her photographic memory made it easy for her to remember the way there.

the two talked on the phone while she drove, words exchanged easily between them and further distracting the teenage witch from her worries about the girl who had irritatingly been involving herself with vampires. pulling up in the driveway of the sheriff's house, she tells paul she'll call him back later, then hanging up and getting out of the truck after shutting it off.