Dangerous - Jasper Hale

CHAPTER SIXTY

CHAPTER SIXTY
Alex had thought a lot about the news regarding her future lately. But then of course, who wouldn't be stuck in their own mind knowing that they'd soon turn into something they'd thought was just a fairy tale their entire life?

She was sitting stiffly her chair, staring with a small smile straight ahead as the speaker, Jessica from her literature class, was holding her graduation speech. No matter how much Alex disliked her and her constant blabbering, she had to admit that the speech was pretty good. But at the same time, what else could she expect from someone who never shuts up.

"Stop worrying Alex," Jasper's voice sent shivers down her spine as he whispered into her ear, the tip of his nose graced against her cheek and made her smile a little bit more genuine. It was the small things he did, everything made her feel so much lighter. It both scared her completely senseless and drew her in more.

"I'm not worrying," she quickly responded and glanced up at him, to which he lifted an eyebrow.

"Trying to convince the empath that you're not worrying when I can clearly feel it as if it were my own emotions. Come on Alex, you're just about to graduate high school, we can worry about the future tomorrow. Darling I promise you, everything will be okay," Jasper spoke while looking into her eyes, making her heart flutter at the spoken nickname.

Alex sighed but tried to think about something else, nuzzling her head into his chest as he placed his chin on her scalp, both of them averting their attention to Jessica once again.

"Major in philosophy cause there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind. Then change it again, because nothing is permanent," Jessica spoke with clarity, making Alex smile a little at the first statement. She felt as Jasper moved his left hand from his side to find hers, holding her close and squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Then came the dreaded diploma ceremony; Alex sat anxiously and waited for her name to be called, watching all her friends walk up to the stage and acquiring their diplomas. The redhead would be lying if she said this hadn't been worrying her for the past week as well, having to walk up to the stage in front of an aula filled with people and not tripping.

"Tom Larsen," the principal called, to which Alex smiled widely and clapped her hands furiously, Jasper even whistled for him to which Tom grinned widely. The boy stood up from next to Alex with a goofy smile and skipped over to the stage, grabbing his diploma and bowing deep down before standing up and fistpumping, yelling 'yeah!' in pure bliss of the moment. Alex laughed loudly together with the rest of the crowd as Tom walked down from the stage, sitting down in his precious seat. A permanent smile was on the boy's face, there was not a worry in his world at that moment and Alex was eternally happy for her friend.

Up next were a few others, including Cyrus, Rebecca and Isaac (who tripped on his way up to the stage but saved it by starting to do push-ups instead, even though his face was redder that a tomato which was a dead giveaway as what had happened.)

When Jasper's name was called, he merely rolled his eyes and faked a sigh as he stood up straight from his seat. "Here we go again," he said in a faked annoyed tone which made Alex laugh lightly as she watched Jasper walk up to the stage. His back was straight and his walk was stiff, a habit left from his time in the military. He shook the principal's hand to the sound of beaming applauds, which he seemed unaffected with, which was another one of Jasper's traits; how cold he could seem from time to time, and the next second he'd be like a child, laughing and joking around.

After Bella collected her diploma with as much grace she could gather, Alex's name was called. The girl widened her eyes as she sucked in a deep breath, feeling Jasper squeeze her hand once before he let her go, quickly calming her down to make sure the nerves didn't get to her. She smiled at Jasper in gratitude before standing to the sound of applauds and the sight of her mother, father and brother standing up with broad smiles on their faces.

To be quite honest, Alex didn't remember much of the actual walking. She was so focused on not tripping that she forgot to actually register the moment until she was once again seated next to Jasper with a rolled-up paper in one of her hands, and the other one sitting in Jasper's colder one.

o

"Honey I'm so proud of you, straight A's and your life still intact, that's more than I managed to go out of high school with!"

"Mom, I thought you were a straight A student too," Alex said in confusion to which Petunia looked at her with a serious expression.

"What are you trying to say?" she said to which Alex shrugged, before Petunia smiled widely and walked towards her.

Alex almost lost her breath as her mother hugged her tightly, quiet sniffles could be heard close to her ear as Alex awkwardly patted her mother's back. When the lady backed away finally Alex could see the streaks were makeup had run down Petunia's face in her hysteria, to which Alex chuckled a little bit.

"What? Do I look bad?" Petunia asked, making Alex shake her head furiously.

"No way, the emo-look suits you great mom," Alex said, referring to the mascara stains on her cheeks and under her eyes, shaping almost like a wide and dark eyeliner.

"Oh dear god, I don't have the energy for another emo-phase," Petunia mumbled before wiping at her face. Her father quickly congratulated Alex with a hug, telling her how proud he was before he walked back to his wife, mostly just laughing at her clown-like makeup but finally helping her wipe some of it away. It made Alex smile, her parents had always been her idols and references when it came to true love, she knew from growing up in a perfect family how she herself should be treated, and she knew that this was exactly what she was being treated like.

"Congratulations baby-sis," Josh's voice came from her left, when she looked over she didn't really have time to react before his arms were around her waist and he was hugging her while chuckling at her shocked expression. "I'm proud of you too, but I'm not about to go emo for it."

Alex laughed at the comment before smiling, looking at everything happening around her. She could see people with their families, laughing, crying and hugging all over the place. When she looked over at Tom she could feel the slightest of stabs in her heart as she realized that all four of them, Tom, Rebecca, Isaac and her, were about to go different ways. Tom was leaving in just a week to go to Europe, as his father traveled a lot he had work opportunities for his son in other parts of the world. Alex was happy for him, but really not ready to see him leave.

Tom looked over his shoulder and caught her gaze, grinning widely at Alex who did the same back, but with a heavy feeling over her and a lump in her throat.

A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts, she looked up at Jasper with a small smile which he returned, before following her gaze to Tom. "It's going to be all right you know, we'll make this work. I promise."

"And I trust you Jasper, it'll be fine. It's just that so much is happening right now and I don't know what to think."

Jasper sighed and looked down at her, moving to stand in front of her and putting his larger hands on her waist. "Don't think at all right now, just go with it. We'll celebrate now, your first time graduating high school and you're doing it with better grades than Emmett's ever gotten," Jasper said making Alex chuckle, before she leaned into Jasper's chest and smiling slightly as she nodded.

"You're probably right," Alex spoke against the fabric of Jasper's yellow robe. He chuckled, sending vibrations through Alex's body.

"Of course I am," he said, making his girlfriend smile. "I also happen to be in love with you Alexandra Taylor, and I'll stay just that forever."