Tattoos & Scars [1] | Jasper Hale

-12-

She fixed her hair, tightening her ponytail while she stared at Rosalie in the mirror. "Why was I dragged here so early?" She let her gray eyes snap towards the immortal who was busying herself by curling her hair, yet she stopped when she heard Joanna.

  "Alice, she wanted you here early to make sure your present was good enough," she answered bitterly, obviously not excited for Bella's eighteenth. When she placed the curling iron down, she stood behind Joanna and fixed some of the stray hairs that escaped from her ponytail. "You bought her a box of popcorn. Why?"

  As she relaxed, enjoying Rosalie's play with her hair, she answered. "Doesn't like gifts but agreed on snacks. If Alice has a hissy fit, she'll have to stick it up. That costs six dollars. I could've gotten a slushie or two from the gas station."

  Rolling her topaz eyes, Rosalie backed away and fixed her dark, black dress that hugged her figure in an elegant wave. Her hair hung in loose curls that framed her sharp features and rested by her hips. "If they made blood slushies, I'll drink that," Rosalie admitted. Suddenly, her head jerked towards the door and she beckoned Joanna to follow.

  Today, she simply chose to wear a pair of fishnet leggings, an emerald green, long-sleeved dress, and a pair of black pumps that Esme had loaned her. She wanted to look at least decent, as she had said to Alice when she gawked at her clothes. "Damn, look at that oldie." Joanna joked when she saw Bella enter.

  The teenager looked up to the top of the stairs where Joanna was walking, brushing strands of brown hair from her face. As usual, her skin was flawless and held no imperfections. "You're older, you know?"

  "I may be," Joanna spoke softly when she arrived in the main room, coming to hug the birthday girl. "You better enjoy your snacks."

  "Duh," Bella laughed, smiling up at her friend before tucking herself under Edward's arm. "Popcorn?"

  "It's a surprise," Alice chirped, suddenly appearing in the room by Jasper's side. "And happy birthday again! Oh, good, you're wearing the dress I got you."

Joanna and Jasper stare at each other for a moment. Since that night, the very one where they took things too far, things had been dull between them. It was never awkward. They talked and she would tease him, but something lingered in the air that made them both uncomfortable. Not even Jasper, an empath, could determine why it was always there. But they both knew it had to do with that one night.

  Her gray eyes pierced through his dead soul. "You look good in green," Jasper comments, eyeing her dress before looking away.

  Shyly, she smiled. "You don't look too bad either, blondie." Then she shifted her attention towards the mother of the household as she left the hidden kitchen, carrying a gorgeous cake that she and Joanna had crafted. Now, the dark-haired girl was no Baker, but Esme needed a taste tester and a person with artistic talent. So she grabbed ahold of Joanna and she didn't retreat - she admired the immortal and how she could get excited over the smallest things and admire them with everything she held within her. Jasper even mentioned that out of everyone in the household, Esme was always the calmest.

  "I think we do good work together," Joanna smirks, staring at the cake with sparkling eyes. "Bella, we worked day and night on this so you better be happy."

  Bella sent her a hardened look. "You did not." Edward grinned by her side, amused with her and Joanna's interactions. "Last week, when we hung out at Charlie's, you wouldn't stop making fun of those kids." Joanna laughed out loud.

  "The kids on Toddlers and Tiaras are funny." Bella rolled her eyes. "Their moms are such assholes sometimes. All my did was say I was twelve at some restaurant when I was really fourteen!"