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I can't believe I agreed to do this. I should have said no in the first place. My name is Alice Cullen and I hate scary movies.
With this in mind, it should surprise you that I agreed to host a scary movie night at my house tonight. I really didn't want to, but none of my other friends' houses were available. Either they're renovating or repainting or something. So I got stuck with the unlucky pleasure. Believe me, if it were to be happening anywhere else, I most likely would not even be attending.
There is one reason I'm looking forward to it though.
See, there's this boy (that's always it, isn't it?) but it's not just any boy. He's my best friend Rosalie's older brother Jasper. He's a freshman in college. His school is an hour away, so he lives on campus, but he comes to visit his family one weekend a month. And this weekend is it.
When I was younger, I was always timid around him. I'd go over to Rosalie's house and barely make eye contact with him. I blushed whenever he gave me any attention. It didn't take me long to realize that I had a crush. I don't think it took Rosalie long either, but she's never mentioned it.
I don't believe I've ever had more than a thirty second conversation with him. He was a junior back when Rosalie and I were freshmen. I met Rose in homeroom on the first day of high school and we instantly clicked. At the end of that week, I went over to her house and finally met the big brother she spoke so admirably of. Ever since then, I was pretty much a goner. So when Rosalie told me he was in town and planned to attend our get-together, I instantly knew it wouldn't be a terrible night.
Not that I'd ever tell her that, of course.
As I was putting the last finishing touches on my outfit, the doorbell rang. It must be Rosalie. She's always arriving early to these kinds of things. When I opened the door, there stood Rosalie Hale in her beautiful, blond glory.
"Hey Alice!" She greeted as she walked into my house holding a disposable aluminum pan, covered in foil. I could easily smell the sugary baked goods. As Rosalie placed the tray on the coffee table and took a seat on my couch, I couldn't help but notice we were short one Hale.
"Where's Jasper?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could. She gave me a quick look and a small smile formed on her lips.
"He's running some errands with our parents. He'll be here soon."
"Oh. Okay."
"Edward?" She asked as she made her way into the kitchen. I followed her.
"He went to pick up Bella." Edward's my older brother and Bella's his girlfriend. Both are seniors and have been dating for almost two years.
"He's picking her up just to come back to his place? What a cheese-ball." She took a large gulp of the water bottle she took out of the fridge.
"If you remember, Bella's wrist is still sprained so she can't drive so well." I defended.
"Ahh. Right, right."
"And my brother's not a cheese-ball. He's being considerate which is more than I can say about Emmett!" I teased.
"Emmett's working. He'll be here later." She smiled. Emmett is Rosalie's boyfriend. They started dating last year. He was the new kid in school. They met while fighting over the cup of strawberry Jell-o in the school cafeteria one day. She wasn't happy to have lost her Jell-o, but ecstatic to have gained something else entirely.
"Hey, help me set up, will you?" I asked.
"Sure." We went through my cabinets and took out plastic bowls, plates. and napkins. As I started to get a couple of sodas out of the fridge, I heard Rosalie speak. "So thanks for letting us have movie night here. I know you're not exactly crazy about the genre we've chosen, but I'm glad you kept an open mind about it."
"Yeah. No problem."
"Why did you by the way? Why are you okay with having it here?"
"Oh." I almost dropped the bowl of chips I had in my hands. I always had a feeling Rosalie suspected about my crush on her brother. But I figured she would just let it go. Doesn't look like it. "I umm..." I was saved by the bell. Literally. "I'll go get that." I turned and left the kitchen after seeing Rosalie's smirk.
God, how could I be so stupid? Clearly she knows! She's probably going to spend this entire night getting me to fess up or something. I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this.
My frustration quickly went away though, when I saw who was at the door.
Jasper Hale.
Tall, blonde, and blue eyed. He was wearing jeans, a white tee, and his leather jacket. Perhaps the most casual, sexiest thing I've ever seen.
"Alice." He nodded and gave me a small smile. I shook my head.
"Jasper! Hi! Umm, come- come in." I stepped aside to let him through.
"Thank you." He passed by me.
"There you are Jazz." Rosalie said as she joined us, carrying a bowl of popcorn. "You had Alice here all worried."
Rosalie!
"What! No, no you didn't. I wasn't worried. I'm glad you're here. Thanks for coming." He let out a soft chuckle.
"Thanks for having me. Sorry to keep you waiting Alice." He winked. I gave a nervous smile and looked away. "Did you give her the movies Rose?"
"Oh right." Rosalie walked to her purse on my couch and pulled some DVDs out. She handed them to her brother.
"Thought we could watch these too." He fanned out the DVD like a deck of cards and held them up long enough for me to read the titles.
Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th. The remakes of the last two. I made a face that didn't go unnoticed by my current guests.
"Don't like them?" He asked.
"I just, umm, prefer the originals." I lied.
"I've never seen them. So I thought now would be the chance. What did you guys have in mind to watch?"
"We were just going to Netflix it." Rosalie answered. Just then, the front door opened and Edward and Bella came in. Their eyes lit up at seeing Jasper.
"Jazz!" Edward exclaimed as he bumped fists with him. "We didn't know you were in town." Bella went to give Jasper a one-armed hug.
"I wanted it to be a surprise. But Rosalie spilled the beans to Alice." He tilted his head towards me.
"Well, it's great to see you again." Bella put in.
Small talk was made for a few minutes and then Edward helped me set up the Netflix account. We chose Saw since apparently no one had seen it and settled down to watch. Edward and Bella were cuddled on the small couch while Rosalie and Jasper took the larger one, both their feet on the ottoman. I curled up on the armchair, not paying a bit of attention to the movie.
About forty minutes into it, the doorbell rang. I eagerly shot out of my seat and made my way to the front door.
"Oh, hey Emmett." Emmett's by far one of the most attractive guys in school. Six foot two, toned, and very good looking. Girls have pined after him since he got here last year. But Rosalie got to be his lucky girl.
Rosalie must have heard me greet her boyfriend because she was quickly standing at my side.
"Hi." She said as he pulled her to him and kissed her. She took his hand and led him inside as I closed the door. The two ended up cuddled on the couch next to Jasper. That made Edward and Bella together, Rose and Emmett together, and Jasper and me… not together.
It occurred to me then that I should have invited more of my single friends.
Overall, it was pretty quiet. Except when Bella would occasionally yell when she heard Jigsaw's distinctive voice or when Rose would gasp at the jump-scares. And while everyone else was trying to figure out who Jigsaw really was, I was helping myself to the brownies Rosalie brought.
For the next movie, we chose something form the Horror section that none of us have ever heard of. But based on the description, it sounded…pretty stupid.
I was bored to death and with nothing to do, I grabbed the bowl of popcorn and marched out of the living room. It wasn't very empty though I planned to say I went to refill it as my excuse for leaving the room. They probably won't even notice I'm gone.
I dropped off the bowl on the kitchen island and turned towards the counter where the bag of popcorn was. When I turned back around, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest.
"Jasper! You scared me!" I let out a breath.
"Sorry. Just came to get a soda."
"Right. I'm just-." I held up the popcorn bag. He nodded and went to the fridge as I filled up the bowl. He popped open his can of Coke but instead of going back into the living room, he took a seat on one of the stools around the island. I had no idea what to do.
"Do-do you need anything?"
"No." He replied after taking a gulp. "The movie's kind of lame and I really don't think they're going to miss us anyway."
"Oh. Okay."
"Am I right in saying that you came in here only to escape?"
"Pretty much, yeah." I took a seat across from him. Not really knowing what to do next, I made an attempt at a conversation. "So, umm, how's school?"
"Not going to lie, it's pretty tough. Nothing like high school, but I'll survive." He shrugged. "How's school for you?"
"It's fine." He nodded.
"Mr. Banner still teaching eleventh grade Trig?"
"Ugh, yes! God, he's so annoying!" He laughed.
"I couldn't stand him. But you're taking pre-calculus too right?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"Rose told me." He took a sip of his soda like it was no big deal that he knew what classes I took. "You must be pretty smart. I could never take two math classes in the same year."
Out of fear of turning beet red in front of him, I turned away and mumbled my response. "Math's just my thing, I guess." He chuckled, so I knew he heard me.
"What else is your thing?" Feeling a little more confident, I turned back to him.
"Well, definitely not scary movies. I can't stand them."
"Why?" He asked in a tone that sounded like he was genuinely interested.
"Because," I started, "They're kind of pointless. There's always a killer. There's always a group of people, usually teenagers, that are causing trouble and that attracts the killer to come after them. And the hot girl always dies." He was laughing by now.
"That is true. I see what you mean." I nodded.
"The movies you brought are probably going to have everything I just said. It'd be a waste of your time watching them."
"Is this your way of telling me that you don't want me to go back to the living room and stay here talking to you instead?" He leaned in closer to me. And what did I do?
I pulled back.
"No. That's not what I meant. I like talking to you. I mean-."
"Alice, it's fine. I didn't mean anything by that."
Great job looking like a idiot, Alice.
"So then what are you interested in?"
"I'm really into fashion." You "School's important to me." You "I like to travel. I'd love to go to Europe one day." You "And I know that it's kind of a hollow dream, but when I grow up I'd like to be a fashion designer, or somehow be involved with fashion, at least." Did I mention you?
"That's not a hollow dream. At least there's a shot of accomplishing yours. When I was younger, and I mean really younger, I wanted to be a member of *NSYNC." I smiled, but not at Jasper sharing his childhood dream. It was at the thought of Jasper in a boy band. "Don't tell anybody that."
"I won't." I promised. "So tell me more about you."
"How about a truth? I didn't come here just to watch a bunch of movies." He looked right at me when he said that. "It's also to eat my sister's delicious brownies."
"I don't blame you." I bounced back quickly. "They're really good."
"They're delicious!" He took another sip of soda. "She makes them a lot better than I do."
"What?" He looked up at me guiltily.
"In freshman year for a couple of months, I had to take home ec or I wouldn't have enough credits to pass the year. When we had to make these, I brought some home. Rose loved them. So I taught her how to make them. It's a really easy recipe but also the only one I remember from that class. But who would have thought she'd end up making them better than me?" He smiled.
Even I have to admit I stared a little too long.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Sorry." I turned away.
"It's alright" He trailed off. "So do you know if your brother's starting looking into colleges yet?"
"No. I don't know if he's started looking yet, but I know he doesn't want to go far. Good thing too because I know my parents and I would miss him way too much." Jasper smiled as he finished off the rest of his soda. "I mean, your school's an hour away but you'd think it's halfway across the country with the way Rosalie talks about you. She misses you like crazy."
"I don't think she's the only one." He looked at me, and despite his stare into my eyes, I managed to speak.
"What do you mean?" He got closer.
"I mean, I don't think Rosalie is the only one who misses me when I'm away at school."
"Of course she's not. You-your parents miss you. Your friends from here must miss you-."
"That's not what I meant." He got in even closer. "And you know it." He was very close to my face now. If I wasn't enjoying it, I'd say it was very uncomfortable. I was speechless. I couldn't think of what to say or do next.
"Jasper-."
"Yeah?"
"Can-can you get me a bottle of water?" Yes, out of everything I could have possibly said at that moment, those were the words that came out of my mouth.
Jasper froze just mere centimeters from my lips. He didn't say anything or make any noise. I couldn't even hear him breath.
Nice going Alice. Now you've really screwed this up.
He pulled away and walked the short distance to the fridge. I took this time to mentally slap myself. He emerged with a bottle of Poland Spring and an emotionless face. Once he approached me, I took the plastic bottle from him, and our hands touched. Building up the confidence I should have had a little while ago, I didn't let go. I looked at him in the eyes, practically forcing him to do the same to me. Once I got his attention, what happened next seemed almost unreal.
In one swift movement, the bottle dropped to the floor, his fingers were in my hair, and our lips met. I'm not going to say that it didn't take me completely by surprise, because it didn't. I've wanted to kiss Jasper pretty much since the day I met him. And now that it was actually happening… there are zero words to describe it.
Leaning into him, I replied to his kiss. I placed a palm on his chest while he tilted my head, his hands moving to the back of my neck. I traced my tongue on his bottom lip and that was when he pulled away.
"Alice, I-."
"I've wanted you to do that for a really long time. Like since the day we met." He released me, but I didn't let go of him. "And just now… that was...." I couldn't finish once I saw him shaking his head. "What? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just...." He took a couple steps back. "Alice, I... I really like you, Alice. I have for a while now. But you being my sister's best friend and all, I didn't know how to tell you. As you and Rose got closer, and you started coming over a lot more... I don't know, I guess I just took notice." He paused then, but I could tell he wasn't done. "And today, knowing that I was coming here, I told myself, I was going to make a move or something. And well, I guess I just did." He chuckled nervously.
I had no idea what to say.
"I- I," I began. "I've liked you for a really long time too. But I was always so shy about it. I didn't think you'd actually be interested in me. You're older, way more popular,… and my best friend's brother." We laughed. "So… what now?"
"Well," he approached me and took my hand in his. "it looks like we came in here for popcorn and soda and are leaving with something else." He smiled down at me. I returned it. "So what do you say?"
"About what?"
"I know we're both a little hesitant because of the part Rosalie plays in our lives, but I'd like to try us out, if that's okay with you." Another reason I like him so much: he's such a gentleman.
I couldn't control the blush that filled my cheeks.
"Of course." I nodded. "I definitely want to 'try us out'." I replied, stealing his words. Being so close to his height, I leaned in and saw that he did too. Our lips met gently.
When we pulled away, I noticed him smile.
"I guess today wasn't as horrible as I thought it was going to be." I whispered.
"What do you mean?"
"Jasper...." I gave a nervous smile. "Why do you think I was open to having this get together here, knowing you were home for the weekend?"
"Oh." He chuckled once he understood what I meant. "Well, why do you think I planned to be in town on this specific weekend, knowing you were going to host movie night?" He ended with a smirk.
With my own grin, I replied.
"So overall, it's been a pretty good day, wouldn't you say?" I questioned.
"Absolutely."
I meant what I said about it being a pretty good day. At first, I may have been hesitant to watch scary movies all day. But the outcome has been great. Jasper Hale is my boyfriend and it never would have happened if it weren't for scary movies. So maybe, just maybe, they aren't all that bad.
I may even go as far as to say that I love scary movies.