For You ∞ Jasper Hale

III

For You

CHAPTER THREE

03 | unedited

NOTHING MUCH HAD CHANGED in the month that followed the accident. The Cullen's and Hale's were still ignored by the mass of students in Forks High. They sat at the same table as always, not eating, talking only among themselves. None of them, especially Edward, glanced Bella's way anymore.

Tyler Crowley was impossible, following her around, obsessed with making amends to her somehow. She tried to convince
him what she wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it - especially since nothing had actually happened to the brunette - but he remained insistent. He followed her between classes and sat at their now-crowded lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made Bella worry that she'd gained another unwelcomed fan.

The most drastic change was Avi's apparent friendship with the Cullen's and Hale's. She would sometimes leave Bella with their other friends so that she could talk to them, especially when it came to Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, and Alice. Bella was confused and, hard to admit, jealous that Avi got to talk to Edward and that he didn't seem so angry toward her. When Bella would ask about the Cullen family, Avi would answer vaguely like she always did and it would leave Bella thinking.

"Why were you talking to them?"

"Our matters of friendship are stable and private."

Bella found that Avi would be avoiding the topic of Edward whenever she brought him up with the blonde. So much for her 'I'll always be there for you' talk - Avi had changed in a matter of weeks. She talked more, smiled more, and was even almost carefree. Bella was happy that she is happy but there would always be those underlying issues in her actions that Avi wouldn't tell her, which made Bella question their bond.

Avi felt bad for having to lie and be vague with Bella, but she needed to do her job. She wasn't only just a Protector, after all. She was Secret Keeper, and she cannot reveal anything about the coven and supernatural world until the vampires decide to. Honestly, why couldn't Edward just tell the brunette? They're supposed to be soulmates, for Merlin's sake! Er - yes, Merlin, the Great English Wizard and Warlock. Protectors don't have special and enhanced abilities because someday someone suddenly decided to have superpowers. Magic mixed with their blood, and was hereditary.

Avi's relationship with Jasper was nothing. The two of them did nothing to satisfy their desires for each other. They kept themselves to themselves after that personal talk. Avi knew of Jasper's past as he knew most of hers. Nothing much had changed between them. There were the occasional 'accidental' touches and the long, intense, expectant stares that Emmett would remark to have been caused by 'Unsatisfied Sexual Desires', and that they should 'really get a room and take all their pent up frustration out'. Worse, the brunette vampire would give suggestive phrases about the two of them in the presence of Carlisle and Esme, which would embarrass the two while the others laugh at them.

Avi had spent some time in the Cullen household; the house was timeless, graceful, and probably a hundred years old.; it was painted a soft, faded white, three stories tall, rectangular and well
proportioned; the windows and doors were either part of the original structure or a perfect restoration; there was a river close by, hidden in the obscurity of the forest.

The inside of the house was even more surprising, less predictable, than the exterior. It was very bright, very open, and very large. This must have originally been several rooms, but the walls had been removed from most of the first floor to create one wide space. The back, south-facing wall had been entirely replaced with glass, and, beyond the shade of the cedars, the lawn stretched bare to the wide river. A massive curving staircase dominated the west side of the room. The walls, the high-beamed ceiling, the wooden floors, and the thick carpets were all varying shades of white.