Impossible

Like Ever

Jessica Stanley was not a quitter. If there was one lesson her family taught her, it was that not trying was equivalent to losing. She learned from a very young age that she absolutely could not stand losing. And that failure was just another reason to get back on the dang horse as her dad said and try again for the gold.

This single-minded determination helped her win quiz bees and science fairs and she held on to it with each panicked breath close to hyperventilating as she walked towards Edward Cullen. He was the new boy in town who was causing a stir among the female population of Forks High with his biologically blessed chiseled face and enough gel in his hair that had to be a fire hazard. They didn't get a lot of new people in Forks and everyone was curious about him and his family. She and her friends had stared at the Cullens across the cafeteria and whispered among themselves.

Edward Cullen had sat at the chair furthest out from their table giving them a good view of his long legs as he stabbed at the plate of spaghetti he had not taken one bite of. She stared because she couldn't help herself. Humans liked pretty things and he was a very pretty thing. Probably as Vitruvian as he could get.

"You interested in the ginger, Jess?" Lauren almost cooed in that catty way she was so good at. "You might be in luck. I heard he's single."

"Oh?" She pretended to be uninterested, giving more attention to her fruit cup. "No upperclassmen girls vying for his attention?"

"I heard they are but he rejected them," Lauren gave her that smile of hers that was bound to cause her trouble. "Do you wanna make a bet on it? You ask him out and if he says yes, I'll get you those jeans you'd been eyeing for weeks."

There were a pair of jeans at a store in Port Angeles she'd had her eye on but had been more than her allowance could afford. Lauren came from a more affluent family than her and had no such issues. She had been waiting for the jeans to finally go on sale but getting them earlier and for free was too good to pass up. Even when at the back of her mind, she knew the chances of her actually winning this bet were close to none.

She timed it when he wasn't surrounded by his siblings. He was by his locker, head in a book and uncaring about what was happening around him. She summoned all the courage she could muster and stopped in front of him, clearing her throat. He didn't immediately look up, his distractingly golden eyes sizing her up from the soles of her faded Converses to the rhinestones in her headband.

She tried not to squirm and failed. Instead, she stuttered out a "Hi."

He didn't say anything, book still open in his hands. She tried to read the cover but only saw 'Faulkner' before he closed it and put it under his arm. He finally asked, "Can I help you?"

"Um, no," She laughed nervously, feeling lightheaded. "I was just wondering if...if you're doing anything this weekend?"

He stared at her for a moment. The gold of his irises reminded her the countless hours she watched National Geographic on TV and the programs about lions. Lions reminded her of the Lion King and Simba and Nala and that Elton John song 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight?'. And she did not feel any love at that moment only abject terror.

He questioned, "Why?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out..." She cleared her throat, feeling bile rising up her esophagus. "Go out with me?"

He blinked. She waited. She looked to her right and at the end of the hall were her friends watching her and she wanted to run to them and just say that she changed her mind. But that would be quitting and Jessica Stanley did not do that.