The Project and Chatting

"So, in your groups, I want you to make a timeline of the last 100 years. You can make it about the big events but if you want the best marks, go into as much detail as possible," the teacher rambled on, speaking about how we had the choice to compile this timeline however we wanted. Whether it be in a 'year per page' type of deal or one big sheet of paper with a proper timeline drawn on it.

But I couldn't really be bothered to focus too much on it. I was too busy looking at the Vampires I was sitting with.

They were...different to how I expected them to act. Sure, Jasper looked like he was in pain and like he was constantly holding himself back, and Alice indeed looked like she had ADHD and was a little more than just hyperactive. But there was more to it. More to their personalities. Their mannerisms.

Jasper would bite at his fingernails every now and then with Alice slapping his arm and telling him to stop. He seemed nervous and anxious - much more than I'd expect from the past army man.

Alice, on the other hand, was much more hyper than I thought possible. Anything that could be thrown between her hands or bounced on the table were doing exactly that. Her eraser-tipped pencil was banging off the table to the rhythm of some pop song and when it wasn't doing that, she was spinning it around her fingers and her hand, passing it between her hands back forth. It was honestly quite impressive.

But the main one that surprised me was Rosalie.

She...she looked like a bit of a nerd, honestly. Everything she did was a bit too prepared and organized to be considered the actions of a typical Senior highschooler. She had a pencil case and was currently laying out her pencils and pens perfectly. She'd got marker pens and was putting them in order on the other side of her notebook. Honestly, she looked a bit OCD-ish with how she was arranging everything so precisely.

It really reminded me that this wasn't a book. In a book you can miss details the author doesn't deem necessary to the story and you'd never know they were there. Like how Jasper seems so nervous and bites his nails, how Alice fidgets with just about anything in her hands and how Rosalie is such a perfectionist.

Just seeing details like this helped me realize these were people. It also helped me realize how utterly screwed I was - I was fully bonded to a Vampire who was highly known for being a jealous person and, honestly, a bit of a bitch.

If there's more to these people than I know, then there's more to Rosalie than I know.

Why does this mean I'm screwed in some way? Maybe she's a yandere or something in this AU version of Twilight! I don't know, man! God, I hope she's not. I don't want girls dying around me just because they sent me a flirty look or something. That'd be horrifying. Or, you know, somewhat inconvenient. Either one, honestly.

Just as the teacher finished her explaining of the group project, Alice snapped in my direction and spoke with a smile, "Hi! My name's Alice! What's your name?" she asked and I heard Rosalie snort at her introduction but I ignored that and returned the smile.

"Jason. Nice to meet you, Alice," I replied before looking passed her to Jasper, "How you doing, man?" I greeted and Jasper nodded in return, a thin smile spreading across his face as he replied.

"Jasper. A pleasure meeting you, Jason," he spoke with a thick southern drawl before Alice continued while looking passed me and toward Rosalie as she smiled a mischievous smile and gestured toward her foster sister with her hand.

"I know you've already met my sister but she was exceedingly rude and didn't introduce herself," Alice chided her, getting a scowl in return, but Alice ignored that and introduced Rosalie herself, "Her name's Rosalie and she's not usually this grumpy, so don't be dissuaded!" she encouraged me and I couldn't help but chuckle at her forthcoming words.

"Alice!" Rosalie didn't find it as amusing or endearing as I did and instantly snapped at Alice with a hushed voice, though her eyes narrowed dangerously as she looked at the shorter girl.

But Alice wasn't perturbed and simply looked at me and dramatically rolled her eyes, making Jasper grin in amusement alongside me. Rosalie just huffed before turning back to her notepad and seemingly taking out her stress by making sure her pens and such were perfectly aligned.

...Definitely got a bit of OCD.

"Well...how do you think we should do this task?" Alice spoke up to me before looking to Jasper. The tall blond gave a non-committal shrug before looking to me along with Alice who was seemingly trying to tell me something with her eyes.

I got the gist of what she was trying to get across, so I smiled before answering, "We could split up into pairs and then each pair takes care of 50 years of the last 100 hundred. Just compile a page or two for every decade and then gather them together once we're done. Would allow us to focus on what we need to and lessen the workload by splitting it up, right?" I asked and Alice's eyes shone before she quickly nodded, and I could see some sort of plan building up in her mind, the cogs of mischief turning.

Rosalie had looked back over at me saying this and had turned to Alice with eyes that promised a bloody revenge if Alice did what she was planning.

Though to help the short girl out a little, I turned to Rosalie and gave a friendly smile causing her to at least hide her glaring as she was too busy trying not to meet my gaze even if she ended up failing and sending quick, almost unnoticeable, glances at me.

Alice finally had her plan or whatever, and told the rest of us, "Well, Jasper and I can deal with anything past and including the 50s. Can you and Rosalie focus on the 1900-40's?" she asked.

I looked to Rosalie and despite her scowl, I could tell she wasn't against our pairing up, so I turned back to Alice and gave a nod with a smile, "Sure, we can handle it," I said before Alice got up and moved to the other end of the bigger table, Jasper following. Though the guy did look somewhat lost on why they were moving.

"We'll do our work up here - we won't distract each other than way!" she said before her and Jasper began to speak in whispers, getting on with their side of the work.

I could eavesdrop if I wanted but what'd be the point in that? I'd rather speak with Rosalie.

"So," I started, getting the blonde's attention, "I can do the 00s, 10s and 20s. Can you do the 30s and 40s?"

"...Yeah, sure," she gave me an answer after staring at me for a few seconds before I stood up and she looked at me with an odd look, "What are you doing?" she tried to seem like she didn't care but it was obvious by her voice that she was curious about what I was doing. Whatever was effecting me and making me so interested in her was effecting her just as much and making her interested in me. No matter how much she tried to hide or resist it.

Smiling, somewhat embarrassed, I replied, "I don't have a probably history book for this type of topic, so I was gonna go and get one from the shelf over there," I pointed and was about to go and get one when I felt her pull my sleeve and stopping me.

She averted her gaze when I looked back and muttered, "I have a spare history book. You can use it if you want..." she somewhat mumbled this but I heard it loud and clear and sat back down, smiling.

"If you're offering, who am I to say no, Rosalie?" I quirked an eyebrow alongside my rhetorical question. Hearing me, Rosalie put down her pencil before reaching into her bag and pulling out an identical book to what she was currently using.

Why didn't I have one of these? Because I forgot to pack it. Bit too much excitement when I was packing made me forget most of my school stuff.

...But it ain't too bad if I get to share one of Rosalie's books, is it?

Taking the book off of her, I opened it up and was surprised to see pages full of post-it notes, "Huh," I chimed and Rosalie looked up and over to the book before he eyes went wide and she went to snatch the book away from me.

"Ah--! That's the wrong one!" she said in a somewhat loud voice, attracting the gazes of the others and I smiled as I leaned away from her leading hand. She was only moving with speed normal for a human at the moment, so I wasn't exactly pushing my reflexes or my body to the limit to dodge her grabbing, now was I?

Looking over the post-it notes, I didn't find anything that incriminated her as a Vampire or anything but I found some pretty good drawings on some of the post-it notes. Like mini-cartoon figures.

Rosalie stretched over me, her voice obviously flustered and her expression looking incredibly embarrassed, "Give it back...!" she said in a hushed shout, trying not to gather anymore attention. The class watched our little situation for a few more seconds before they stopped paying attention. I had a feeling Jasper was responsible for that with his emotional control or whatever his power was. Probably just inspired indifference in them or whatever.

I looked over the drawings, even chuckling at some before I felt a pain in my side. Stopping, I looked to Rosalie to see that she was pinching my side. She'd expected it to make me jump, I guess, but now that I was just looking at her, she couldn't hack it and let go.

But even then she continued to look at holding the history book and reading through it. In the end I put it down on the table and looked at her, "I didn't peg you for the artistic type," I chuckled.

Rosalie just looked at me, for once looking me straight in the eyes as she spoke, "What made you think that?"

"I...I don't know," I pondered, leaning back into my chair as she quickly took the book back but not before I snagged one of the post-it notes and brought it back to me, "I guess you give off more of an ice queen vibe than someone who spends their time doodling on post-it notes during their free time," I shrugged before bringing the post-it note I snagged toward my eye line.

A quote by Katharine Hepburn. Something about love. Smiling, I gave a short chuckle before folding up the post-it note and slipped it into my pocket, getting an odd look from Rosalie, "One, why are you taking that post-it note? You a creep or something?" she asked with a scowl, though I took no offence and just leaned against the table while looking at her as she continued, "And two, how do I give off that vibe or whatever?" she tried to act like she didn't care but I heard the subtle shake in her melodic voice and knew she was somewhat nervous and expectant of my answer.

Lifting a hand, I put up a finger, "One," I mockingly copied her but all in good fun, "I liked the quote. Katharine Hepburn. A quote about love. I just thought it was quite applicable to a situation I've found myself in lately," I gave a low chuckle before putting up my second finger, "Two, you realize the first time I met you you curved me without replying to my introduction right? Plus, I think I've seen you scowl more times than smile in the past 5 or 10 minutes. Hence, the ice queen vibe," I smiled before putting my fingers down and giving a shrug, "Kind of a shame. I bet you look even more stunning with a smile."

I didn't break eye contact with her because...why should I feel embarrassed about what I'm feeling? I'm not a teen. Well, physically, yes, I'm a teenager. But mentally I'm a grown-ass adult. Feelings are meant to be experienced, not subdued or something to fear.

Of course, everyone has their own stuff to deal with, so I'm not preaching my way as the only way to deal with emotions. Just saying what works for me, I guess.

Rosalie took a few seconds to just stare at me before it finally got through to her what I'd just said. She averted her eyes and turned away from me just enough that I couldn't see her face but even then, I could see the slight twitching in her face and how she was trying to get it under control. Seems like she wanted to smile but doesn't want to.

...Man, I'll make you smile openly and beautifully one day, Rosalie~

"I didn't greet you because you were being a weirdo, obviously. Kissed my hand out of nowhere--Of course I'd feel uncomfortable!" she got out in a hushed whisper, still not looking at me before she seemed to compose herself and looked down to her book, "Just...just get on with your work."

Once she said this, she started to right about the 30s and the events that happened during it. Hearing what she said, I heard the lack of any real heat or annoyance behind her words so I could get that she was just embarrassed. But still, I turned back to my own notepad and began to start writing as well.

Though while I did this, I still spoke up to her, "I apologize if it truly did make you uncomfortable, Rosalie. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. If I knew it made you feel that way, I would've apologized sooner," I said this but internally I was just thinking about how much of a Tsundere Rosalie was being at the moment.

She stopped writing for a second before she carried on, though she did reply in a soft voice, "W-well, it wasn't that bad. I could think of worse ways to introduce yourself..." she trailed off before actually testing the waters with me as she continued, "Though you do know that's a way of trying to, uh, you know, court someone, right? Kissing the back of their hand, that is," she got this out and I returned it with a nod.

"Yeah, I know," I said this before smirking as I wrote about how in 1900 work on the New York subway began, "I don't know if you know, Rosalie, but any guy with a brain and a pair of eyes would try and ''court'' you," I threw up air quotation marks around the word 'court' as I joked with her, "You're incredibly beautiful," I ended it on a serious note when I heard a crack and turned to see the pencil in Rosalie's hand had been snapped in half, her face look both embarrassed and even...somewhat happy. Though it quickly became overrun with embarrassment and conflict as she hurriedly got a new pencil, mumbling about how weak wood is under her breath thinking I couldn't hear her.

I just sat there and smiled at her cute fumbling. She was a lot less 'perfect' and seamless than the books and movies made her out to be. Sure, they showed as a bit of a mean person who was easily jealous and quite judgmental but otherwise, she was practically there to be perfect. Both in looks and in actions. So the fact I was seeing her fumble about for a pencil was an incredibly novel sight.

Once she got out her pencil and began writing again, I spoke up again though about a much more normal topic, "So, Rosalie, other than writing down quotes about love and drawing little cartoons on post-it notes, what else do you do in your free time?"

I didn't get an answer straight away and just as I was beginning to think she was annoying me out of embarrassment or to avoid further embarrassment she actually spoke up and answered me.

"...I enjoy working with cars and engines*," she gave an answer I wasn't expecting but it didn't really surprise me too much. I'd already come to terms with the fact that things I didn't know would be brought to light sometime during my stay here.

(*A/N - This is actually canon. Don't know why she likes working with cars and mechanical stuff but she does. A curious mind, I guess. MC has a photographic memory for this life not his last one - information from his past life is blurry at best at the moment. It has been a decade or two since he last saw or read the Twilight series, after all. He'll remember big events but little things won't be in his mind as much hence he'd forget them.)

Quirking up an eyebrow, I looked to her, "Beautiful and full of surprises, huh? I like messing with bikes. Just got a new one, actually. Been thinking about doing a full-on makeover for it. Get a better engine, better suspension, better wheels--the whole works," I spoke and Rosalie actually gave me an interested hum, as if asking me to continue, "But it poses the question. Would it still be the same bike if I replaced all the parts? Kinda like the Ship of Theseus," I chuckled to myself as I rambled about the bike.

"Ship of Theseus?" Rosalie gave a somewhat surprised comment after I said it and I nodded as I continued to write about the (19)00's.

"Yeah, you know: If you replace every piece of a ship, is it still the same ship or is it a new one. There's a similar question about a broomstick. If you replace the handle, the head and the thistles at the end, is it the same broomstick or a new one?" I explained it. Whether because I thought she might not know about it, though that was unlikely, or because I just wanted to chat with her more, I have no idea which. Totally isn't the latter. Nope.

Rosalie gave a nod, "I know what it is...just surprised that you know it, honestly. You don't give off the vibe of bookish nerd, you know? Here I thought you were the cool jock type," she cracked a joke and I looked to her to see her giving me a sidelong glance and a small smile that was just...stunning.

I didn't get caught off guard, however, and just returned her small smile with my own.

"Ouch. You saying I look like a dumb muscle head or something? Whatever you say, 'ice queen'," I said with mock hurt though my smile and the little laughter that followed between us showed that we were just joking.

...The conversation just flowed from there. It was fun. I really enjoyed it. It also cemented in my head what I'd been thinking all day: she's my mate. I'm one hundred percent certain.

Well, when life gives you lemons...or a super hot vampire to be your mate...you make lemonade/try your best to get with that super hot vampire? Uh, yeah, I'm not the best with metaphors. What I mean to say is that I'm gonna shoot my shot and try my best at making whatever I feel for Rosalie into a reality. No point in being a dense MC or pussy about it, is there?