Alice Cullen's Story

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

               My entire body felt giddy as I hopped out of my high stool at the counter, and darted towards Jasper Whitlock.

               I couldn’t bring myself to look away from him, and I couldn’t wipe that silly grin from my face. I had been waiting for him for too long now, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide my relief of his arrival.

               His look landed on me at once, and I could see my approached frightened him somewhat. His body went rigid as I grew closer towards him; his eyes were boring into mine. He was thirsty and I knew he was going to be somewhat difficult to deal with.

               But a vision told me that he would be just as mesmerized by me as I was by him.

               I felt like we had met before, as though he was a long lost friend I had finally met up with after so many years. But he seemed scared and I knew he wasn’t expecting me. His lips were pressed into a tight line, and his face carried a disheartening appearance. He was poignant, though I knew once we met up with the Cullens he would feel much better.

               I went to stand in front of Jasper and I could feel all eyes on us. Jonathan’s jaw dropped as he took in Jasper’s emergence and I knew he was stunned. He had honestly believed Jasper wouldn’t turn up; quite frankly, I had started doubting his onset too. But he was here now, and that was all that mattered.

               “‘You’ve kept me waiting a long time.” I said as I stared into Jasper’s dark crimson eyes. Jasper ducked his head like a true Southern gentleman.

               “I’m sorry ma’Am.” he said simply.

               I couldn’t help but grin far and wide at Jasper. I was too happy to have lastly found him, and without realizing what I was doing I held out my hand towards him.

               At first, he stared at my extended hand uncomprehendingly, not fully realizing what I was doing. Our eyes met for a split second, and as Jasper took in my sincere expression, he took it without making sense of what he was doing.

               For the first time in a long time, Jasper smiled, and I knew, that for as long as we both lived, I would keep him smiling.

               His eyes were still distraught but I would tell him about the Cullens and surely that would give him optimism. We could live our lives without the despondency and lament. We could live amongst humans, and we would learn to control our thirst. We would belong to a family. Not a coven – but a family.

               I dragged Jasper to one of the empty tables at the backside of the diner, keeping a firm grip on his hand. I was smiling still, and I could see Jasper was bewildered. Here I was a little freak he had never met before, taking his hand, smiling idiotically at him and dragging him to the back of the diner.

               Jasper pulled out my chair as I sat down, retreating to the other side of the table and taking his seat. For a moment, silence filled the space between us. It was only he and I – and nobody else.

               “You’ve been waiting for me?” he asked, furrowing his brow.

               “That’s because you’ve been looking for me, Jasper Whitlock.” I chimed, taking his hand in the centre of the table.

               Jasper stared at me expressionlessly, his brow furrowed and his lips pressed into a tight line. He was reading my emotions, trying to distinguish whether I was lying or not. Of course, I was still smiling at him. I had been waiting for more than a year for him to turn up. I reminded myself not to bombard him, to give him space to take all of this in.