HOW IT ALL BEGAN…
(KIM'S POV)
As I sat in my seat, trying to take my mind off the chapter that had been going in the class which was mostly about how we formed the World Bank and stuff, I remembered how my life changed over time. All it began was before the summer of fifth grade. We had moved to La Push just after my mom's big accident after which she actually lost her senses, that is, she became retarded in normal language. My brother Max had just turned 5, so, yeah, he questioned at first when dad had to give mom to a psychological hospital for her treatment. I was shattered but still had my mom's hope. At least, we hadn't lost her. We would still go to meet her every two days at first but then our trips became a weekend trip since I had to start school while dad had to be at work. So, my mom's sister, a single-mom, Aunt April and her daughter Callie used to live with us while Aunt April used to take care of Max. Callie and I began going to school at the reservation, both being Native Americans. That is… Quileutes. Callie and my aunt moved out after my aunt got married again…when Max began going to kindergarten.
I remember entering the school, walking after Callie that day because of my new environment when I clashed with the cutest person I had ever seen. It was something in his eyes or the way he smiled which made me fall for him so hard. It was Jared Cameron as Callie told me. I remember how sincerely I decided to sit on the grass ground to read my favorite book – Little Women but someone threw a football at me. I was still standing then. One of the guys of the same grade came to get the football and pushed past me. I fell down hard on the ground. It was Jared who came to lend me a hand to get up.
"I hope you're alright. Sorry about him." He had said, trying to make it up for his friend.
"Um… not it's okay. Don't worry." I answered. Jared and I never really talked but somehow a rumor spread around like wildfire. It stated that Jared and I liked each other. Whenever we would go into a class and be sitting around each other, not even on the same table, the girls behind us would be singing the same song.
'Kim and Jared sitting in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!'
Jared never really even helped me after that. For him, I never even existed from then on. There was another thing that had hurt me. Some people cut my tree… okay; I don't want to remember it. It hurt but I couldn't really give much time to my broken heart since I had a lot to take care of. My dad and my brother needed someone to be strong and unfortunately, it had to be me.
Coming back to the present, I was sitting just behind the same guy who is my crush since more than the last 5 years. He dropped a pencil, like the third time in the same class. History isn't his thing which is why he bounces his knee all through the class. I still noticed him the way he was, perfect in his own way. Finally, the class ended and he shot out of the seat like there was a fire. I decided to control myself. I still had a lot to take care about rather than my stupid crush or my stupid heart which would try to pump out of my chest whenever he was near me. Funny thing was that he and I were in almost all same classes but we never were lab partners or anything. We were locker neighbors but he never really stopped to even say hi.
"Oh c'mon!" Callie came to me and whined.
"Where?" I asked her.
"Why? Just tell me why you still love him?" she questioned me, pointing her finger in Jared's direction.
"Shut up!" I hit her on her arm.
"What? You were sitting and staring at him all along!" she said while we walked out.
"You know what? I don't love him! You're just… over judgmental or something. I was thinking about something and he happened to be sitting in front of me." I told her.
"Why don't you just tell him the truth?"
"What truth, once again?"
"That it was love at first sight for you."
"It wasn't and it's not."
"Why do you keep lying to me?"
"I don't!" I shouted after finally we reached my locker.
"Kimmy, I was thinking something since a few days."
"Spit."
"You remember Daniel from 6th grade? The one who thought your eyes were like a doe's…"
"Yeah. What about him?"
"He's with me in Calculus." She told me.
"So?"
"And he's with you in Physics."
"What about him, now?"
"He is interested in you. So if…"
"Callie, shut up! You know I'm not interested. He's nice and all but no. Like a big NO!" I said to her.
You're… urgh!" she answered.
"What's up, babe?" Nick, her boyfriend since the last 14 months, came to us and kissed her; their usual way of saying 'hi'. I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, I wondered how a couple could be so perfect. Both were crazy about each other and their fights would usually result in one going to the other to say sorry. No hard feelings for more than 5 seconds.
"You know, Daniel from my calculus class asked me to set him up with Kim!" she said, excited.
"Whoa, interesting! Daniel is a nice guy, Kimmy! You should try out with him!" he said.
"My dear-dear Nick, I know you guys want me to leave you in private whenever you make out and stuff but you could've said it straight away. What's the need to try to set me up with someone?" I defended myself.
"Here she goes." Callie said.
"Callie, you must respect her feelings too. She doesn't want to go out with Daniel."
"She doesn't because she still likes that moron Jared Cameron!"
"I DO NOT!" I shouted.
"Shouting doesn't make this a lie!" Callie replied.
"You know what, Cal? You've got a pretty vivid imagination. You know I've got a lot on my plate already. I don't need anything else." I said as I shut my locker tight. As soon as I shut my locker, I saw Jared listening to what I had said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be eavesdropping." He said to all of us, not directly looking me in the eyes, as usual.
"It's okay." Callie said as I decided to pick up my pace and flee. Jared never needed to know because I didn't want him to know. As I said, I had enough on my plate that I could handle. I didn't want to make it even harder for myself. I knew Callie loves me and stuff but she doesn't just understand. I don't want to complicate things more than they already are.
(JARED'S POV)
"I DO NOT!" someone shouted on the other side of my locker door. I knew this voice.
"Shouting doesn't make this a lie!" Callie, her BFF/cousin replied.
"You know what, Cal? You've got a pretty vivid imagination. You know I've got a lot on my plate already. I don't need anything else." She said as she shut the door of her locker so hard that it made quiet a noise.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be eavesdropping." I said to all of them. I really hadn't meant it.
"It's okay." Callie said to me and I saw Kim leaving. Wow, she had a choice of seeing me. Why didn't she stay? Not that I liked her or anything. She was my stalker.
All this began was in the beginning of fifth grade. I still remember that fateful day when I first clashed with my stalker, Kimberly Campbell aka Kim. I was running down the hall after my best friend – Andrew when she and I clashed into each other. Her things fell… my things fell and as the nice guy I was, I helped her. She had seemed new to me since I hadn't seen her at school before. Later that week, I don't know how, Andrew, once again, made her fall and as usual, I had to clear his stuff. The girls of my grade now began believing that I liked Kim Campbell since I would always, by chance get a seat near her somewhere. We never talked still they felt that. They began singing whenever they saw me and her sitting around each other:
'Kim and Jared sitting in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!'
Were we in the 2nd grade still or what? Why didn't they sing all this when the lovebird couples of our grades sat together?
The tree had another story. Kim particularly loved a tree… it was not just a tree but a sycamore tree that she considered extra special. I never understood her theory, though. She said that when she sat in the tree, she felt like she was sitting in the sky and stuff. Some of the stuff which I used to hear was when she tried to persuade Callie to sit with her on the tree when our bus used to be late. I never cared though but still her words were enchanting. Later on, the tree was cut. I swear I didn't see Kim on the bus stop or at school for a solid two weeks. Girls are pretty weird to understand.
I knew she was hurt and stuff, so I decided to comfort her but from that day on, the rumor about us two spread and Andrew told me that she liked me. I never talked to her from that day on till now. Kim and my dad worked at the same place and that too in the same department so our dad's were close. A few weeks after the spread of rumor, dad decided to call her family for dinner but I decided to not be at my place and went for a sleepover at Andrew's. Well, it was then that my dad told me about her family. I really couldn't believe my ears. After what had happened to her mother, she never really seemed to show it. No one in our grade knew, maybe except a handful. Didn't she care about her or was she that strong?
The conclusion was that she was strong. My grandma told me how she looked after her little brother and her father even after her aunt, Callie's mom moved out. I do not like her at any cost, let me get that clear. She might be pretty and stuff but no. I don't have it for her; At least according to me.
Please review and tell me what you feel. You don't know how much it means to me. And 2 reviews till the next update! Thanks!
