Rumors

(Alice & Jasper POV)

 As soon as Thomas left, Alice and Jasper moved away from the entrance door to building 5 and started talking rapidly and low so they couldn't be overheard. 

 "That was a very angry young man, darlin." Jasper said while he reached his hand out to grip Alice's left hand. 

 "I can't see him, Jasper. He has never been in any of my visions. I knew that Chief Swan's daughter was coming but how could something like him slip through my visions? I can't wait to show you what he drew, but I won't take it out and let it get ruined in the rain." 

 "Wait, you mean to tell me you have been having visions of this Isabella Swan everyone is talking about? Why didn't you say anything?"

 "The visions are changing too fast right now; someone has to make a decision, I think. But if it's the right decision then she will affect us all. Well, she will be my best friend too. Unless Thomas turns out to be my best friend…" She put a finger of her right to her chin. "If he is not in my visions, does he affect them? So much I don't know about my abilities, yet we rely on them so heavily."

 "You're spinning me in a web of confusion here darlin."

 "What did you feel when you saw him? He got all tense like he recognized you or was afraid of you."

 "His emotions are like a bonfire of anger. I could feel him through the door as I was waiting for you. When he came out with you, I saw him looking me over and sizing me up the way you do when you meet someone for the first time. But well, most of my attention was on you love. Once I turned to look at him, I felt a great weariness, like he was ready to fight or run. The beginnings of fear and then suddenly it was like all those emotions were fuel for his rage. Before that point, he had no hostility towards me, but the anger started to overwhelm him. I had no doubt that he would attack me with everything he had at that point, so I had to use my ability to calm him down."

 "It could have been me not paying attention, but I think he also saw my scars. His eyes focused on my face and neck intensely for a longer time than most humans."

 Alice still had her finger on her chin. "Humans can't see your scars without a strong light illuminating them. He is getting more and more mysterious. I hope this doesn't mean we have to move again; I really like it here."

 "Your safety is my priority love, our living arrangements can change but you know I won't stand for you to be in danger." 

 Alice smiled at him, "Your sweet dear but you know I will be safe, even if it's just to keep you from fighting. It's so exciting, Bella's first day here and so much is happening."

 "Well, you best get yourself to class. I will see you at lunch, then later you can tell me about these visions you have been having."

 Alice jumped up and gave Jasper a quick kiss and turned for the door. Once she was inside, Jasper headed off for his class and figured he would make it just in time. Holding his breath as much as he could to reduce the smell of the oh-so-sweet human blood that constantly tempted him, Jasper caught his name being whispered from time to time. 

 "I heard he was being pushed up against the wall by Jasper, just for talking to that little freak Alice." 

 "But I heard the new guy was huge, too big to be our age. I bet he got held back a couple of years. I wonder if they will fight after school?"

 Jasper inwardly groaned, he and his family tried to keep the attention on them to a minimum and this was likely to keep the spotlight on them for a couple of weeks at least. Jasper sighed and wondered what everyone would say at lunch.

 "If the new guy likes the way Alice looks, just wait until he gets a look at Rosalie. I mean all the Cullen's are gorgeous, but Rosalie is beauty incarnate." 

 "Ha, he will take one look at Emmitt and duck his head if he isn't able to take even Jasper on." 

 Jasper stopped paying attention at this point and just made his way to class making his face as stoic as possible and tuning out all the chatter. He hoped none of his siblings had heard of this rumor. 

(Scene Shift back to Thomas)

 Once the boring government class was over, I had to yet again convince Bella that I had not in fact gotten into a fight on my first day. I had not in fact been trying to steal a senior's girlfriend. And finally. We had not in fact pledged to have a fight to the death after school over her. How she got these rumors in just the 15-minute break between classes was a wonder. 

 I had to do all this before we even made it up to get our signed schedules, which we had to remind Mr. Jefferson that he had taken from us. Did all this really happen in just the first two classes of the day?

 After leaving Bella to go to her Trigonometry class, I made my way to Biology with Mr. Banner. I couldn't help but notice that many of the people I passed were looking at me and whispering to each other and wondered just how far this stupid rumor spread in such a short time. This continued all the way to building 2 which I had to find by relying on the map given to me in the morning. 

 Upon entering the classroom, I walked directly to the front of the office and introduced myself to the teacher. After he signed my schedule he directed me to the books for the class, "I am afraid that you will make this class uneven in numbers so you will do a majority of the work on your own. If you struggle, then I can consider placing you with some of my top students as a three-person team."

 "That's ok Mr. Banner, my biology is strong so I shouldn't struggle too much. If I do, I will be sure and let you know." It may have been my imagination, but this teacher came off as very condescending and stuck up. Good thing I held back on asking him if his first name was Bruce, I probably wouldn't like him when he is angry. The class proceeded normally, but I could tell that it was going to be a waste of time for me and Bella. We were both in the accelerated class in Phoenix school system and what we are learning in this class is about two years old to me. Good thing I kept all my past assignments on a thumb drive so I could just reuse them. Poor Bella being the old lady type, she hand-wrote all hers and I know she didn't bring them with her.

 That should be good information to give her a hard time on. School had always come easy to me, even before my mother died, I was quite the fat nerd back then. This school was shaping up to be even easier than I was used to. Wonder if I can test out and graduate early. I was trying to act oblivious to all the staring I was getting and just hoped that it would calm down in time. Finally, the bell rang releasing me from the tiny classroom, I decided to take all of the 15 minutes I was allowed between classes after today. I needed to be early enough to get the teacher's signature today. 

 My final class before lunch, Mr. Varner, and calculus/trigonometry all the way back to where I separated from Alice and Jasper. If memory serves, I should pass Bella as she has just the trigonometry portion this last hour, she never did like math much. Making my way, I did not see Bella. I wondered if her 4th-period class took her in a different direction than the one I was coming from. 

 Mr. Varner proved to be another unpleasant man who forced me to stand at the front of the class and introduce myself to the class like I was a performing monkey. He is definitely going to get bashed in the Swan home if he made Bella stand up here. She hates being forced into the spotlight, though Renee did say that she opened up a good bit just by interacting with me. 

 After class, I went to my locker to drop off the books I had accumulated and then made my way to lunch.