Devotion ~ A Jasper Hale Story

Chapter Four

After Bella and Adeline meet Charlie at the diner for a meal, the three of them head home for the night. As Addie works on her homework, she can hear Bella talking to their mom, Rene, on the phone. Adeline breezes through her homework, until she gets to history. The second to last question asks about 10 important events throughout the War of 1812, but Addie can only think of 8.

Ah, shit. I'll have to find Jasper before class tomorrow and ask him what he said. He probably knows more than ten.

Adeline wakes up the next morning, not remembering going to sleep. She grabs her bag and meets Bella downstairs. Addie makes two slices of toast and heads out of the door with Bella on her heels. Both girls seem incredibly eager to go to school.

When they pull into the lot, they see Eric, Mike Jessica, and Angela talking. The group waves them over, but both girls have their eyes peeled looking for the Cullens instead. Just as their two cars pull up, the bell rings and everyone rushes inside. The Cullens get lost in the crowd, but not before Adeline and Bella get a good look at the group, and see Edward is missing.

Adeline's first classes of the day were uneventful. She looked forward to art, and as soon as she walked in she headed over towards the table where Alice sat alone.

Alice looked up and smiled at the girl, "Hey, Adeline! How's your day been?"

"It's been okay, sort of boring to be honest."

"Well, that's okay. Art always brightens up my mood."

The two girls talked throughout class, and afterwards Angela met Addie in the hall so they could walk to lunch together. Addie sat down and started eating, as she pulled out her history homework. The Cullens (minus Edward) came and sat down soon after. Adeline wanted to give her homework one more try before she asked Jasper for help, and was also feeling very anxious about the idea of approaching the intimidating table. Finally, when all else failed, she excused herself from her table's conversation.

"One second guys, I need to ask someone a question about my history homework." She started to get up and head towards the Cullen's table when Jessica called her name.

"Adeline, what are you doing??"

"I just told you, I'm going to ask a question about homework."

"You're going to ask the Cullens? Are you sure that's a good idea? They're really weird."

"Yes, I already talked to some of them. They're very nice." Adeline slowly started walking again, now hyper aware of all the heads turning in her direction, and the whispers that were coming along with the stares. She stopped at the Cullens' table, the group watching her expectantly, waiting for her to say something. Even though she was nervous, Addie eventually cracked a smile.

"Hey, guys! Jasper, you said I could come ask you some questions, right?"

Almost the entire cafeteria was listening, whispering as they waited for a response. Most of them had never even heard Jasper's voice before.

"Yes, that's right," Jasper replied as shock travelled the cafeteria. Jasper Hale then did something that turned everyone's whispers into silence and dropped jaws, and pulled out a chair for Addie to sit in. "Sit down and tell me what you're having trouble with. I can help."

Addie sat down and placed her paper on the table. She blushed as Jasper scooted his chair closer to hers so he could get a better view of her work.

"I was having trouble thinking of 10 events. I could only get 8 before my brain stopped working," Addie said with a small smile.

"Hm, you could probably include the destruction of the printing offices, and the Battle of Lake Erie," Jasper responded with a light laugh.

"Oh my gosh," Addie said, hitting her forehead with her hand, "Duh, how could I forget those."

"What with all the chaos surrounding a first day at school, I don't blame you," Jasper said.

"Thank you so much, you have no idea how grateful I am."

"Glad I could help, Addie," he said, sending a light blush over her cheeks as her said her nickname. Nobody here called her that except Bella and Charlie. She liked the way it sounded when he said it, though, so there was no way in hell she was going to tell him not to.

As Adeline walked back over to her table, she could feel the jealousy rolling off Jessica in waves.

"I can't believe you just did that," Jessica said. "I mean, you just walked right over and started talking to the Cullens. And they just welcomed you in! They don't talk to other people, especially Jasper!"

"I don't know what to tell you Jess," Addie said. "I sit next to him in history, and he told me to ask for help whenever I want."

"Wow," was the only response she got from Jessica. Adeline wondered if going over there was the right move, however, seeing as she could feel the gaze of the entire student body on her now.

Fuck it, she thinks. The Cullens have been more welcoming than most everyone else here. I'd rather be friends with them than someone like Jessica.

Two mornings later, it was absolutely freezing. Ice covered the ground and Adeline laughed as Bella slipped and fell on her ass. When the girls arrived at school, they saw the Cullens were already there. This time, Adeline noticed Edward.

Uh oh, maybe Bella will say something today.

Adeline stopped to think about the other day's  events in the cafeteria, and decided to make a move.

"Hey, I'm going to go talk to them," she told her sister as she gestured towards the Cullens. Her sister's eyes widened with surprise, both at the fact that Adeline was socializing and that Edward was there, and Bella nodded.

"Okay, see you in class," was the only response Addie got.

She's probably working on building up the courage.

With that, Adeline made her way over towards the Cullens, again noticing the turning heads. When she finally got there, she realized she never actually introduced herself to Emmett or Edward.

"Hey, guys," she said, turning to the dark-haired boys, "I just realized I never actually introduced myself, I'm Adeline!" She held her hand out for a handshake, and was surprised when Emmett's hand met her's. It was freezing, same with Edward's.

So was Alice's hug, she remembered, not flinching because she didn't want to embarrass herself. As she, Alice, and Rosalie started talking, she felt herself growing more at ease. Eventually, she started up a conversation with Jasper as well.

Oh no, she thought. This boy is definitely going to get me into trouble. I can't deal with a crush so soon at a new school.