CHAPTER SIX.
( predictability. )

THE FEELING OF RAIN FALLING on Shadow's face was soothing as she looked up at the sky. Her grip was loose around her umbrella while students rushed past to escape the downpour. Even despite having lived in Forks longer than Shadow had, they didn't seem to take lightly to the deluge.

Shadow would have thought that by now they would've been used to the weather, but that didn't seem to be the case as students hurried for shelter. Shadow sighed, pulling her umbrella over her head, even despite having already been nearly soaked.

The umbrella was useless at this point as she walked towards the parking lot. Her jade eyes scanned the area, looking for the golden-haired boy who she thought would be waiting for her. The beep of a car horn caught her attention.

  Shadow turned her head to find the Jeep Jasper had drove her in that morning. The car pulled up in front of her and as it did, the window rolled down to reveal Jasper behind the wheel. A warm smile lit up his features as he leaned across the passenger seat to look up at the Swan girl.

  "You coming, or would you rather soak in the rain some more?" He asked, all taunt.

Shadow eagerly helped herself into the Jeep. "I think I prefer the warm car," she exhaled, feeling her teeth chatter as she buckled her seatbelt. Shadow reached over to turn on the heater.

Jasper glanced in her direction as they started pulling out of the parking lot, only to stop just as they were about to leave. She watched as he unbuckled his seatbelt and began to pull down the zipper of his coat.

  "What are you doing?" She asked, a little too quickly to be casual. 

"I'm afraid it won't be all that warm, I was out in the rain too, and I'm a generally cold person most of the time," was all Jasper said as he handed his coat over to Shadow.

  He put the car into drive before shyly looking away. Shadow smiled at the gesture, a certain kind of warmth blossoming in her chest. It was a kindness she couldn't deny, even if she wanted to. She felt almost ashamed for always assuming the worst.

  "It's fine. Thank you," she said as she wrapped herself in the one-size-too-large coat. He was right, it wasn't necessarily warm, but it did help. "So, where are we going? It isn't really the best day to take a girl out, you know."

Shadow took to admiring his side profile. There was no denying that Jasper was attractive and she would be stupid to try. Besides, her attraction didn't necessarily mean much. He was cute, but she hardly knew anything about him.

Jasper appeared momentarily nervous. "I was thinking a movie? I didn't really plan ahead, to be honest. I thought you would say no, with everything that's happened." He rubbed his jaw, a nervous tic made apparent.

Shadow had to bite her lip to keep from grinning. "You know, if I knew you were going to take me out on a movie date, I would have dressed a little nicer." She felt her cheeks warm as she pushed back stringy, wet hair from her face.

  She tried not to notice his careful eyes on her, the way they studied her slowly. Honey-gold traced her features, then met her gaze when she finally looked at him. Her breath caught in her throat. 

"Shadow, the last place I'd take you on our first date is a movie theatre," he told her, his voice low and serious. Shadow's heart stuttered in her chest. He wasn't joking.

  She wanted to tease him, for having jumped ahead of himself so quickly, for assuming she would even agree to a date in the first place. But, she could do neither, with her cheeks flushing under his gaze. The truth was, if Jasper Hale asked her on a date right here, right now, Shadow would say 'yes.'

  Her willingness was almost scary. 

  The spell was broken when his eyes returned to the road. "I just thought we should get to know each other more," he explained, but the words did little for any kind of meaningfully deflection.

  Shadow mustered a hesitant smile, still a little lost in his charm. "I'm pretty sure that's what they call a date, Jasper." She was trying to tease, but couldn't control her heart's unsteady rhythm. 

  Jasper gave Shadow a look, one that said, 'You know what I mean, stop teasing me.' Though, she wasn't feeling particularly relenting. Eventually, she sighed, giving in.

  "Fine, but do you really think a movie is the best place to get to know a person?" Shadow kicked off her shoes, getting comfortable. "I mean, you can't really start chatting it up in the middle of a theatre, unless you like getting popcorn thrown at the back of your head."

Shadow brought her feet onto her seat so that the Jasper's coat covered her entire body. She could feel herself becoming warmer as the heating in the car finally kicked in. She exhaled a slow breath of content. She was perfectly at ease, sitting here with this boy she barely knew.

Jasper rolled his eyes, "Well, it's either that or I take you out for coffee— which will actually constitute as one of the most cliche dates in the book."

  Shadow felt herself brimming with shock. "Jasper Hale, you do not read cliches about people falling in love and meeting in coffee shops," she said with disbelief, unable to believe that anyone except hopeless romantics could enjoy such things.

There was no way that this enigmatic person next to her could possibly be into those overused plots and mushy love stories.

Jasper was struggling against an embarrassed smile, "I never said I enjoyed them, but you know, they are entertaining. Trust me, I'm completely ashamed of it."

Shadow couldn't help but laugh, with Jasper quickly joining in. When they had both settled down, she looked back at the boy next to her. With every new discovery, he was starting to feel less like a stranger, and more like a friend.

  "So, if you're so ashamed of it, why tell me?" She asked, not that she was complaining about this new secret.

Jasper shrugged, "I wanted you to get to know me." Despite his words, there wasn't much conviction to his voice.

  Which, likely meant that he believed it just as much as Shadow did— and that wasn't very much. But, she let it slide. What he'd said was the most reasonable explanation anyways.

  They were just friends getting to know each other, that was all.

"Right," she agreed, gaze turning to stare out the window. It was silent after that, but it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward. Laughter had that effect on people, providing a sense of kinship in shared delight.

  And yet, Shadow couldn't shake that sense of strangeness.

She felt so at ease with Jasper and she didn't understand why. In such a short time, she already trusted him enough to take her on dates-but-not-dates to movie theatres. It felt like such a non-Shadow thing to do, not to mention every rule of self-discipline it was breaking.

  Shadow enjoyed being around people and the issue wasn't with the idea of friendship. But, with Jasper, everything was different. Shadow found herself establishing a trust between them. One that she wouldn't usually give so easily (especially given the circumstances.)

  Jasper Hale was simply intriguing in his existence and it prodded at Shadow's curious nature.

  There were so many things she wanted to know about him. Not simple things either, like his favourite movie, or the music he listened to and the books he read.

Shadow wanted to know things of a separate nature. Things far too intimate for her to even entertain right now. If she could know those kind of things, then maybe Shadow would finally understand who exactly Jasper was.

  Shadow wanted to know what made him so angry the day they first met. (She wanted to know if he felt that same pull.) She wanted to understand why it felt like he was a 1000 miles away when he was sitting right next to her. But, most of all, she wanted to figure out what it was that made him change his mind.

Sure, Shadow had forgiven him, but it wasn't something she could forget. He warned her that he wasn't good. So, what was it that made him so dangerous?

It bothered her, despite the fact that she knew it shouldn't have, and Shadow couldn't help but want that explanation. She deserved that much for having to put up with Jasper's abrupt mood changes. It was like his emotions swung on a pendulum with no apparent indication of when and where the next swing would be.

  The Swan girl felt her brow furrow as she brought a finger to her lip. A headache was forming at the base of her neck. Her muscles felt taut with concentration.

"Are you okay?" The sound of Jasper's voice was so sudden that Shadow inhaled a sharp breath.

  She cut her eyes to his, forcing a quick and placating smile. "I'm fine. Why?" She asked, hoping she hadn't done anything that would give away her confliction.

Jasper let out a small, slightly awkward chuckle, as if he didn't know what to say. "Uh, I don't know, it just felt like there was something wrong," he replied, unsure of himself.

Shadow shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm okay," she assured him, pushing back more wet hair. He nodded slowly and the car was enveloped in silence once more. It stayed that way for the rest of the drive.

When they got to the movie theatre, Shadow decided to leave her umbrella in the car as she got out. The rain was still falling hard, but Jasper didn't seem to mind as it fell down on him. They hurried inside to shelter themselves, Shadow shivering the entire way.

Jasper led her towards the till, where a bored looking teenager stood, too distracted by their phone to notice the pair's presence. Jasper let out a feigned cough. The boy lifted his head lazily, disinterested before he could fully comprehend who was in front of him.

The moment he looked at Jasper, the kids entire demeanor changed. His eyes went wide with recognition, body quickly standing straight. Shadow couldn't help her surprise.

  "Um, two movie tickets?" Jasper requested, clearly put off by his reaction. The boy said nothing. He stared at Jasper as his face got redder.

  Shadow sighed and gently nudged Jasper over with her hip. She shot the (obviously starstruck) boy a kind smile. Her fist rapped against the counter, catching his attention.

  "Hi, we'd like two tickets, please? Sorry if he startled you, he's kind of a weirdo. Don't worry, I get it," she said, a playful smirk on her lips.

  She glanced over at Jasper, who took the offence with a good natured grin. "I bring you to the movies and this is the treatment I get? The disrespect," he muttered, making a show of looking away from her.

  Shadow rolled her eyes with humour. The theatre worker stumbled over his words for a moment, blushing madly as he tried to recompose himself.

"No, that's not the issue at all. Um, I'll get your tickets right away," he said, rushing to print their tickets. Once that was done, Jasper payed and the pair headed over to the snack till.

  "That was weird," Shadow whispered as she picked up a cup, filling it with fountain pop. Lots of ice. She loved a watered down sugar high.

"Yeah, I guess," Jasper replied quietly, still keeping his gaze from hers as he motioned for one of the snack workers.

  Shadow drew her lip between her teeth, confused by his reaction. She tried to brush it off, for his sake. If it bothered him, then she wouldn't pester Jasper for answers.

Shadow capped her drink, picking up a straw and a pack of gummy bears before walking over to the register. She drummed her fingers against the counter, waiting patiently for the worker to finish grabbing Jasper's popcorn.

When they were done, she payed for her items and made her way to the designated theatre room. The movie was an action film, which Shadow didn't really mind, except for the fact that she could tell from the poster that it was going to be way too gory and filled with too much blood to be realistic.

"You know, I could've paid for your stuff," Jasper said once he'd caught up beside her.

  Shadow turned her head to look up at him. "I let you pay for my ticket, the least I can do is buy my own snacks. Besides, it only cost ten dollars," she told him, before opening the theatre door and disappearing inside.

The movie had already started, but the theatre was only half filled, leaving numerous seats open. The pair chose to sit in one of the upper levels, taking their spot as the the film played on. Currently, the scene was set in a garage.

  There was an interrogation happening between two integral characters. Shadow rose her brow as the man tied to the chair begged, agreeing to give information in exchange for his life.

  She scoffed, "He's going to kill him anyways." She was already bored with the movie, knowing exactly how the plot would play out.

  Jasper shot her a questioning look. "How do you know?" He asked, keeping his voice quiet so that they wouldn't disturb the other movie-goers.

Shadow shrugged, taking a sip from her drink before replying. "It's an action movie, they get a little predictable after a while," she told him, embarrassed when she realized that she was probably just going to ruin the experience.

She couldn't help it, Shadow wasn't exactly known for her filter. The exact opposite, actually. Jasper peered down at her and smiled as she shyly avoided his gaze.

  "Okay, so, what do you think will happen next?" He asked her, genuinely intrigued.

Shadow turned her head to look over at him, silent for a few moments as she took in the amused expression on his features. Finally, she drew her gaze away and looked up at the screen, taking in the characters and the current situation. Her prediction had come true, the man was dead.

But, the point of view had switched to focus on a younger boy who was hidden, watching the lifeless man who was likely his father. Shadow blew out a huge breath, puffing out her cheeks as she did so. Her mind raced through the possibilities before she spoke again.

"Well, that kid will probably swear vengeance. He'll grow up to be cold and distant, dead set on revenge. He might meet someone who could change him, but he'll probably still try to avenge what happened to his father. He'll get what he wants, but it will come at a grave cost, probably his life, or the life of someone close to him."

"They'll likely set the movie up for a potential sequel, with some vague hint at survival for the main character. To sum it up, the bad guys are defeated and it's all tied together with a deep revelation monologue. The end." Once Shadow was finished, she couldn't help but grin as Jasper continued to smile down at her, the expression of interest still on his features.

Slowly, he nodded. "Okay, if at least 3 of those things you predicted happens, I'll give twenty dollars," Jasper said, elicting a smirk from Shadow.

  She met his his gaze challengingly. "You're on," she replied, taking his outstretched hand to seal the bet.

Suddenly, the movie seemed more interesting than it had before, and Shadow couldn't help but smile as she found herself enjoying this date/not date with Jasper. The mere idea of enjoying anything in Forks had been an unthinkable prospect. It was Forks, dreary and the same as it had always been.

But, that was no longer true. Forks was not the same, not with the presence of the Cullen's to prove her wrong. Shadow wondered if coming to stay with Charlie had been the turn of change her life needed. If her meeting Jasper and reconnecting with Bella was meant to happen, then living here wouldn't be so bad.

  It wasn't home, but she could make it one—and that was more than enough for her to settle with.

Edited 07/30/2017 @8:47 PM