Jasper's Deaf Mate (1) (Rewrite in Progress)

(3) MEETING JASPER HALE

Before you get confused, when you see "...", it means the person is talking and when you see '...', it means the person is using sign language. If the words are in italics, then it means they wrote those words. If the words are underlined in between "...", it means someone is interpreting what they said, and if it is underlined in between '...', then the person is talking and signing.

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The next day was better... and worse. Mostly because I knew what to expect of my day. I finally got a handle on my class schedule, and I am finally getting the hang of having an interpreter in my classes. It was easier, because the staring from the students were minimized a lot. Now people only stared at me when we are in class, because of the interpreter. Thanks to Bella, I sat with a big group at lunch that included Mike, Eric, Jessica, and several other people whose names and faces I now remembered. Slowly, but surely, this school is becoming slightly tolerable.

It was worse, because Ms. Smith called on me in English, which is my worst subject, and I had the wrong answer. It was miserable, because I had to play volleyball, and the one time I did not cringe out of the way of the ball, I hit my teammate in the head with it. And it was worse, because Jasper Hale was not in school at all.

Usually I would not care about hearing kids, but this one was different. Trust me, I have had my fair share of being treated like a freak because of my deafness, but no one has ever acted like him before. All morning, I was dreading lunch, fearing his bizarre glares. Part of me wanted to confront him and demand to know what his problem was. While I was lying in my bed, I even imagined what I would say. But I knew myself too well to think I would really have the guts to do it. Besides, I would have to get Bella to interpret, and I don't think she has the guts to do it either.

But when I walked into the cafeteria, trying to keep my eyes from sweeping the place for him, and failing entirely, I saw his four siblings of sorts were sitting together at the same table, and he was not with them, neither was Edward.

After getting my lunch, I sat down next to Bella trying desperately to concentrate on eating instead of waiting nervously for the moment he would walk through the doors. I hoped he would ignore me when he came and prove my suspicion false, but he did not come making me more tense as time went by.

The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday, I was able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. In gym, the kids on my team learned not to pass me the ball and to step in front of me if the other team tried to take advantage of my weakness. I happily stated out of their way.

Jasper and Edward did not come back to school.

Every day, I watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullen's entered the cafeteria without them. I don't know what has gone over me. I used to despise hearing people, and now I am completely obsessing over one. I tried not to think about him, but I cannot help but think I am the reason for his continuous absences, as ridiculous as it seems. I mean, it's not a coincidence that the day right after we meet, he does not show up.

My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Dad, unused to spending time in the usual empty house, worked most of the weekend. I helped Bella clean the house, wrote my mom more emails, and got a lot of homework done. Bella stayed to herself most of the time, but we did get some sister bonding time. I found out that as much as I was obsessed with Jasper, Bella was the same about Edward.

As Monday morning came and school began, I started feeling a lot more comfortable here. More comfortable than I ever expected to feel here. It was colder this morning, but sadly not raining. I generally did not like the cold, but the rain made it tolerable. So, I hated days that it was cold without rain. In English, we had a pop quiz on the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It was straightforward, but I am not sure how my writing came out. I can read just fine, fantastic in fact. The hard part of English is the writing. ASL and English have different grammar, so writing with the English grammar is difficult when you barely ever use it in your everyday life.