Chapter 1

I walked into the filled halls of our school, not really minding where I was going. I had my first class Trigonometry, first and only class without Jared Cameron. Well, it doesn't really matter, Jared had not shown up at the school since past 4 weeks, even Paul Lahote was out of the school for last 2 weeks, rumours had it that they were with Sam in some kind of cult. Some even went as far as saying that they were doing drugs – but I knew my Jared better than that, he would never do something like that. I sighed dreamily as I continued walking to – yeah, I remember now, I was going to my locker to meet my friend Lily. She was well aware of my crush (or which she called obsession) on Jared. She had tried to comfort me when Jared was not in the school and I had to sit alone in rest of my classes.

My mother had forced me into getting a new haircut, last afternoon, as if it would make some difference. I had got my hair cut into side swept bangs, the best features of my body were my soft, glossy, easy to tame, long hair, although I always left them open so in times of embarrassing situation, they could act as a curtain and be my saviour. Then next best feature was my skin, although I wished to be paler, but I loved how my skin was clean and oil free, softer than anyone I knew. People in our high school were not really aware of my presence and I liked to keep it that way, popular people were either hot or rich, I was none and definitely not the first. I was good at both sports and studies but that was all I was, good at things never excellent at anything.

I hadn't realized I had reached my locker when Lily pulled me by my arm and dragged me to one side of the hall. My heart sped up for a second and then it settled down, "Oh my god Kim! You are never going to believe what I saw!" she squealed. Honestly, ever since Jared was out of school none of what Lily said bothered me, "What did you saw?" I asked trying to sound enthusiastic but failing miserably, Lily frowned but then the next second, she whisper-shouted as she squeezed my hand, "Jared Cameron." His name alone made my heart do summersaults, the heat raised up to my cheeks and I knew I was blushing. "Are you making fun of me?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious, trying to reason with myself, how come Jared was in school? "No! Look" she pointed to the left end of the hall a grin plastered on her face, I looked at where she pointed and saw two guys standing there, talking frantically to each other, it only took me a fraction of second to realize that it was indeed Jared, he had just changed too much in past four weeks. He definitely went to the saloon and got a haircut because his beautiful locks were cut into a cropped cut, and he had definitely hit the gym. I could see long and rounded muscles, it was ridiculous to be so – hot!

Just by looking at him, a huge grin appeared on my face, and my heart was doing summersaults again. I did not even bother to look at the other guy, Jared Cameron had my whole attention "Kim!" Lily shook me and broke me out of my trance, I felt my ears and face getting hot again as I looked at Lily. "Oh my god, he is back" I breathed, it looked like I was saying this more to myself. "Wait a minute, you got a new haircut too!" Lily noticed, making me blush deeper, "You look beautiful!" she squealed, "Stop" I chuckled looking at my feet, "He is coming here!" Lily announced, and I followed her gaze and saw Jared walking down the hall, looking at his feet. Like the coward I was, I quickly opened my locker and hid my face inside it, pretending to find something as I waited for Jared to pass by. As soon as he passed behind me, I closed my locker again and went into limp as I stood my locker's support to keep myself on my feet and sighed dreamily looking at his back.

Trig was more boring than ever! But it also kept me anxious, next class was history and I was going to sit next to Jared Hot Cameron! How am I going to keep my eyes to myself? Should I say 'Hi' to him? Maybe ask where he had been? But that would sound like I was being nosy? What if he talks to me first? Well that was never going to happen, why would Jared talk to me when he has never even noticed me in the very first place? I sighed and dropped my head on the table, it hurt a bit because my head banged on the table harder than I intended it to. Lily chuckled, she was sitting beside me, I turned my head to her direction to see her, and she was looking straight ahead and had covered her mouth, trying very hard not to laugh. I stomped on her feet with my leg and that made her quiet. I looked down again and sighed, just when Mrs. Cope's voice disturbed me "Ms. Connweller are you okay?"

My head shot up instantly and I nodded frantically, most of the class giggled at me, Mrs. Cope narrowed her eyes at me and then turned to the board, "I swear, she totally loathes me" I whispered to Lily, "She loathes everyone" Lily comforted me. It was true, Mrs. Cope didn't like anyone – at least not the girls, and she was much politer to the boys. I was actually glad that Jared was not in her class, I could totally picture her eyeing my Jared the whole class. I groaned inwardly and prayed to be free from my personal hell A.K.A. Mrs. Cope's Trig class very soon. For the rest of the class, I tried very hard to keep my attention on what Mrs. Cope was saying, but trig or anything that was related to Mathematics wasn't my cup of tea. I was well aware of the fact that Jared on the other than was amazing at Mathematics, so I had decided to take trig just as a means to impress him, but he had taken Calculus! It was a horrible decision really, sometimes I would do something only for Jared and he would not even notice, it was very disappointing.

Finally, the first hour was over and I jumped out of my seat just as soon as the bell rang, Mrs. Cope shook her head at me with disappointment, but I couldn't care less. I ignored her and quickly started gathering my books, "Calm down Kim!" Lily told me, "I can't I have history!" I squealed, "I know" she sighed and rolled her eyes at me, "How does my hair look?" I asked her self-consciously as we walked out of the class, "Your hair looks perfect, you look perfect, but are you going to talk to him today?" Lily asked the last part in a whisper, "No, are you crazy? I might choke myself if I tried to talk to him!" I replied frantically. "Don't be melodramatic" Lily told me as she rolled her eyes, "I am serious, I cannot do this" my heart was beating faster again. "You can do it" she told me, and that is when I realized that I was standing outside my classroom. "I will see you after the class okay?" I told her, not able to control my stupid heart or anxiety anymore. "Okay" Lily told me with a grin and walked past me to her class, I took a deep breath and then walked inside my class only to be frozen at the doorway.

I saw Jared, sitting in his place, which was beside me, before me! I thought that I would be able to reach first and awkwardly sit in my place before he came, so it will be easier was both of us, he would be easily able to ignore me, and I would not trip or fall or do anything embarrassing in front of him. My heart was about to escape my ribcage as I walked to my seat. There were only Jared and Mr. Calvin in the whole class, Mr. Calvin did not acknowledge my entrance and neither did Jared, so I quietly went to take my seat. The chair beside Jared made more sound than necessary when I pulled it out, Jared would definitely think I am mental. I settled in my seat and saw Jared from the corner of my eyes, his head was in his hand and his eyes were closed, maybe he was asleep. I pulled out my books and pencil, still looking at Jared, his eyes were still closed, and I was taking in every inch of his handsome face just when the books in my hand slipped out of my hands after hitting the table and fell between us on the floor making a loud noise, which startled Jared.

I quickly looked away and bent down to pick up my stuff, on the way to pick up my stuff, I banged my head in the table, "Ow!" escaped my lips, Jared reached down at the same time and helped me pick up my stuff, his hands were faster than mine, and I felt my heart race again which was ridiculous since my head was throbbing from getting hurt by the table. "Are you okay?" he asked softly, making my heart beat even faster if that was possible and I felt dazzled. I nodded my head quickly without looking at Jared, I was sure that I was tomato red by now and I could not look at Jared like this! What must he be thinking about me? Why am I such an idiot? He straightened up before me and I did the same, all my stuff was in his huge hands. I finally managed to get some courage and look at Jared to thank him. I took quick, shallow breathes as I looked up at Jared, as soon as I looked into his eyes with a tiny smile and said "Thank you" he gasped, making me blush further. Nothing was helping, Jared gaze was intense and I could not seem to look away from his eyes, my heart was throbbing and I had butterflies in my stomach.

His eyes held mine and neither of us looked away for what seemed like an eternity. I heard a whistle in the background and some hooting, which sent me back to reality. People were laughing at us, including Jared's apparent new friend Paul. I was still tomato red when I took my books from Jared whose mouth was hung open and he was staring at me, without looking away. I quickly turned my eyes to the front of the class, but Jared just kept looking at me! I let my hair make a curtain between us, but my hair was just too thin! At least Jared understood what I wanted, and he tore his gaze from my face, which made me stop blushing. Mr. Calvin called for the class' attention and everyone slowly grew quiet, Mr. Calvin was also chuckling as he turned his gaze away from his us.

Much to my dismay, Mr. Calvin only spoke for 20 minutes and then told us to do self-study while he was busy checking our assignments. I kept my eyes strictly on my book as I knew Jared was sitting right next to me, staring at me rather than his book! "Hello Kim" he finally spoke, his voice was husky and polite, I swallowed in hard, my heart skipped a beat, this was the first time he had spoken to me directly and much to my surprise he knew my name! I slowly turned to Jared and spoke in a hoarse voice "Hello" it sounded more like I was choking, so I cleared my throat in a very low voice and said again "Hello" much better! "My name is Jared – Jared Cameron" he introduced himself, well I knew his name of course, "I know" I told him politely, and a grin grew on his handsome face, he looked so breath-taking when he smiles. "You do?" he asked happily, "Yeah" I said looking at my book, I could feel my face heating up again, but just a little bit. "What did I miss in history in last four weeks?" he asked me, inching towards me. "Uh – we actually" I started telling him what all he missed, he kept staring at my face, it was hard to tell whether he was actually listening to me or just staring. "That's it" I completed, and he still did not tear his gaze from my face, "Oh, okay" he finally said as if I had broken him from a trance, and then he smiled at me, "I guess, I will have to ask about the other classes from someone else" he mumbled. "Actually, I am in all your class – well all except one, the first hour Calculus" I mentally slapped myself, he will think of me as a stalker now!

I heard Paul chuckle behind us, were we talking loud enough for him to hear? Maybe he was just chuckling at someone else? I ignored him, "Really?!" Jared looked – pleased. He should be running from me, I sounded like a stalker, I nodded slowly "Do you sit with me in any other class?" that hit me like a wrecking ball, he never really had noticed me then. I just nodded stiffly to answer his question and his grin disappeared, "I am sorry, have I offended you in some way? I am really sorry Kim!" he panicked, his eyes tried to find my gaze, his voice was louder than necessary, "Shh" I told him, still not looking at him but he grew quiet. "I am sorry" he whispered, but he had already earned lots of audience for us, so I did not look at him or said anything after that to him. Jared went back to staring at me, this was actually quite ironic; the tables had actually turned for us.

"Hey Cameron" the guy beside Paul called Jared, it sounded like he was going to joke, "Take a picture, that might last longer" he mocked and everyone in the class laughed, making me turn crimson, only Jared and Paul did not laugh. "Hey, why don't you shut up?" Jared shot back angrily, Mr. Calvin immediately called for the class' attention again and people grew quiet, then he went back to do his work. I realized it was Robin who made that smart-ass comment. I dropped my head on my table again when I have had enough of Jared's staring, but this time I did it smoothly, without hurting myself. I remembered all the times when I had actually wished that Jared would at least took a notice of me, but I knew it was too good to be true! Yet today after Jared had returned after four weeks, looking hot, he finally notices me, and not just that, he cannot keep his eyes off me and also, he talked to me as in he initiated the conversation! Isn't it too good to be true? Then another realization hit me like a wrecking ball and this wasn't something I was expecting. What if Jared was just messing around for fun? After all what was special in me today that wasn't there four weeks ago, except my changed haircut? But how could a haircut earn me Jared's attention? What if he was playing a prank on me with Paul?

Paul was listening to our conversation and he knew what Jared was doing, yet he was not interrupting him or passing any comments, that was so unlikely of him, what if he was actually involved? After all I knew next to nothing about Jared's actual personality, he only existed in my mind as my prince charming, the perfect guy, it was the personality I made on assumptions and imagination, and it could be far from being true. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I shut my eyes close, even if these two were trying to make fun of me I will not play Damsel in distress and let them make fun of me! 'I am not weak' I chanted to myself and then finally looked up, the first thing I saw was Jared was leaning towards me with worried look on his face "Do you need something?" I asked, not as politely as I would have usually talked to him, I was surprised at myself. I did not know I had it in me to talk to Jared like that or anyone for that matter. Jared flinched at that and shook his head, so I gave him a sharp single nod and looked into my book, turning my back at him for the rest of the hour. Jared's reaction made me wonder if I had axed my own feet? What if he is actually interested in me? 'Stop being an idiot!' I shouted at myself, what is done is done, 'don't let his reaction manipulate you' I gave myself a small nod.

A/N: Hey wonderful people!

So here is my new story on my new obsession Kim and Jared! Please leave me a review to let me know how my story is, I promise to update very soon, and I swear it will only take less than a minute for you people to give me your opinions through reviews. Hit the Favourite or Follow button if you like the story, I will be waiting to hear from you guys. :D

-JT