Almost Human | Jasper Hale

Chapter 16

The dim light of the next morning proved that the field trip would be a gloomy one. Then again, when is Forks, Washington not gloomy. Meg rolled over and hit the snooze on her alarm clock, the time reading 6:00 am.

Not only did Meg have a new distaste for going to school, but also happened to know that every Cullen was also enrolled in a Biology class and there was no way she could avoid them for the entire trip. All Meg felt like doing was crawling under a rock and staying there forever.

There was a knock on the thick glass of the window. Meg moved the sheets and pulled herself to her feet. She walked to the foot of the bed and unlocked the window for a certain Eleanor to crawl in. "That doesn't get easier." the petite girl laughed as she closed the window behind her and latched it shut. Meg gave a slight laugh that was obviously fake as she stared blankly at the floor.

Eleanor snapped a few times in front of the girls face receiving no response back. "Hey Meg? Anyone in there?" She waved a hand over Meg's face and the tall brunette blinked a few times. "Sorry...I guess I'm just a little tired today." Meg rubbed the back of her neck.

"I don't think it's just exhaustion. You look miserable, what's wrong?" Eleanor gasped and placed her hands on Megs shoulders. "Was it Jasper? I thought you looked amazing and he seemed into it and-"

"No, Ella." Meg cut her friend off, removing Ellas small hands from her shoulders and squeezing them gently. "It's alright, we finished the project and decided to...end whatever friendship I thought it was there."

Eleanor looked at her best friend with furrowed brows. "Absolutely not, there's no way that boy wasn't head over heels for you I-" Meg shot her a small glance that begged her to keep quiet about it as she continued. "Guess you don't want to talk about it, I'll shut up. Time to get you out of your pjs anyways."

"Having you around seems like having my own personal assistant." Meg wrapped her arms around Ella from behind as the blonde shifted through the clothing in her closet. "Yeah and you're very welcome for that. What you had on the year you moved here was pretty tragic you have to admit." Both girls followed up with genuine giggles as Ella pulled out a fitting outfit.

Thank goodness what she had was a pair of jeans. Not caring anymore about whether Eleanor was in the room or not, she slipped off her pajama shorts and slipped on the ripped jeans handed to her. She pulled a vintage cream t-shirt over her head that read 'Forks' in large, yellow letters. One glance outside told her it was the day to wear her timberlands, so after pulling on some wool ankle socks, she shoved her feet into those. The yellow lettering of the word on her shirt matched the dingy yellow coloring on a cargo-like rain jacket Eleanor seemed to dig up.

"Where did you even find that rain jacket? You know I dont really like yellow." Meg held the jacket in her arms nonetheless, remembering what happened last time she tried to fight Eleanor on her outfit choices.

"My house..." Ella chimed, "I know you always wear the same one so I wanted to mix it up. And besides, it seems like it'll rain today."

"It seems that way everyday." The girl mumbled, slipping her arms into the yellow fabric.

A few seconds later Marge opened the door and scurried in. She pulled the unsuspecting girls into a warm hug and let go, pinching their cheeks afterwards. "I hope you two have fun on your little field trip. Don't get in too much trouble!" She shook a finger between both girls but eyed Meg especially.

"Yes Nana." The girls spoke in unison as Marge took both of their hands in her own. "Great! Now it's time for breakfast. Bob finally decided to haul himself out of bed and join us for once. He even pitched in a little to help make the pancakes. I don't know what kind of energy drug he's on but whatever it is I'll try it!" Marge was rather strong for someone her age and height. She dragged the teenage girls to the kitchen with no problem. They laughed at her jokes as they normally did and sat at the table.

Bob put down his newspaper and glanced up at the three ladies who joined him. "Good morning girls, gloomy today isn't it?"

"I suppose so Grandpa. Why are you up so early?" Meg cut into her pancakes immediately, she was always starving in the mornings.

"Well it's nice to be up to send you off once in a while-" Marge interrupted his train of thought and interjected with her own "He's up to watch the new CSI episode I recorded for him." Bob smirked slightly and began eating his own plate of pancakes without saying another word.

A far too familiar car horn sounded outside. Almost on queue, Eleanor jumped up from her seat and grabbed Megs wrist next to her. "That's Felix! We have to go or we'll miss the trip, thanks for breakfast!" Ella pleaded in a jokingly whiny voice as she yanked Meg out of her chair and towards the door. "No problem dears, have fun!" Marge called after them.

Meg climbed in her usual seat in the second row, Ella in the passenger seat. What was unusual was there was no greeting kiss Felix and Eleanor usually shared, barely even a 'Hi.' Meg buckled regardless and Felix backed out onto the road before starting the morning conversation. "So how's everyone doing?" Before either girl answered, he answered himself. "I'm pretty good, practice was great yesterday and I finished a good bit of homework I was missing."

"Missing? Felix what the hell do you do all the time?" Meg asked with a hint of snarkiness. Another instance of loving being an asshole to Felix.

"Practice, party, and sleep...Oh and hang out with my beautiful girlfriend and her...ok friend." Felix moved one of his hands to the middle console. Eleanor linked her fingers with his, but still rarely spoke which was highly unlikely of the talkative one.

"Ok? Thank you for your kindness Felix. I'd like to return the favor and remind you to not be a douchebag or your face may not be so pretty anymore." The Brunette shot a smug smirk to the front mirror so that Felix could see. He winced slightly at the comment "Ooh ouch, nice burn Reid, if we were in middle school."

Meg rolled her eyes and glanced out the window. Drops of water began dancing slowly on its surface, signifying a soon coming rainfall. They pulled into the school parking lot before any heavy raining began and rushed towards the two yellow buses sat directly in the middle of the parking lot.

"Felix Thompson, check." The teacher marked off on his clipboard as Felix smiled with his pearly white teeth and boarded the first of the two buses.

"Eleanor Wright, check." Eleanor followed Felix closely onto the same bus and took the window seat next to him.

"Meghan Reid, check." Meg moved towards the bus with her best friends on it but was stopped by the teacher. "That bus is full, you have to board the second one." He noted, motioning to the other one behind the first. Meg nodded, she didn't see this as much of a big deal. She walked up the bus steps and nodded to the bus driver before turning to see the passengers. Sat in the back were none other than all of the Cullen kids.

Meg swallowed hard, feeling the same lump return to her throat that she felt at their house. She would've sat down right at the front, but her teacher has a policy that the buses have to fill front to back. With that knowledge, Meg began her slow journey to the back against her will. Emmett sat with Rosalie and waved happily at Meg until being stopped by Rose. Edward was next to Jasper who was looking blankly out the window with every muscle in his body clenched. Meg was too busy focused on Jasper to notice Alice in front of her.

"There's an open seat by me, come on." The words startled Meg for a second until she jolted back to reality and let Alice take her hand. "Thanks Alice, it means a lot how nice you've been to me and all." Meg slid into the seat towards the middle of the bus, only focusing on Alice now to ease her mind of Jasper.

"It's no problem. I mean, what are friends for." Alice pulled Meg in to another one of her joyful, warm hugs. Something Meg really needed in that moment.

Friend. Alice called her her friend. It sounded so comforting coming from her lips and Meg didn't feel as alone as before. They broke slowly from the hug and Meg felt something roll down her cheek. "Are you ok?" Alice asked as she looked into Megs eyes with deep concern.

Meg wiped away what she realized to be a tear or two and composed herself. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Alice thought it better to let the matter go and instead began talking about the field trip and Biology and stuff she found interesting, trailing off into her own thoughts with every sentence. Meg only half paid attention. It was hard to focus when Jasper was right across from her, one person over. Of course he wanted nothing to do with her but every time she saw him she felt a longing for something that never was, and never could be.