Chapter 2

Five Year Olds And Secrets

Mariah doesn't say a word until we reach the hall. Then she smirks at me and says, "What was that about?"

"He just wanted to borrow my notes, to catch up."

"Suuure he did. He's totally into you." Mariah insists.

"And what, may I ask, makes you think that?" I demand, interested in her theory. It's not like I would mind him being 'into' me.

"He could not stop staring at you. And, I know for a fact that there are people in his study hall who could have lent him their notes. He chose you. That has to mean something."

"Oh, absolutely." I say weaving through the halls while trying to continue our conversation-not the easiest thing to do. "Because he comes back from supposedly having mono and he suddenly takes notice of me. I've been sitting next to him for practically the entire year! It's not a big deal."

"Dude, I'm just looking at the facts. He comes back looking like one of the models on those Abercrombie bags and he looks at you and goes all moony. That has to mean something, right?"

"If you insist." I sigh. "I don't see how the two are related though. Besides it isn't like we're complete strangers. I do know him a little."

"Not well," Mariah persists. "Not well enough for him to finally wake up and realize you're perfect for him. There had to be some kind of catalyst." She looks confused.

"Well, I've got nothing. Besides he's onlyborrowing my notebook, that's hardly a declaration of love." I slip into my homeroom, calling to her over my shoulder. "See you at lunch."

The rest of the day flashes by rather quickly. I can't seem to focus and Mariah relentlessly questions me on Jared's every word from this morning at lunch. I try to insist that its nothing-she doesn't buy it.

After my last hour lets out all I want to do is go straight home, until I see an unexpected visitor waiting at my locker. I'm suddenly ok with staying at school for a while.

"Jared… hey!" I'm shocked, because this has certainly never happened before-I didn't even think he knew where my locker was-but I smile at him anyway. It seems impossible for me to greet him with anything less than a smile. "What's up?"

I don't really notice that he was in his own world until his head snaps up, but his face breaks out into a smile when he sees me. "Kim, hey, I just wanted to return this to you," He says, holding up my notebook. "I know you probably need it to study tonight, and I think I got all the notes I missed."

"That's great Jared, but you really didn't need to rush. Whether I study or not I doubt I will pass tomorrow." I smile lightly so he knows I don't really care.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I was a little… distracted today."

More like distracting, I think wryly. "Me too."

Suddenly a thought occurs to me and, of course, in typical Kim fashion I speak before fully processing my words. "You're ok aren't you?" I realize how weird that sounds and I feel the heat rise in my cheeks, as I try to rephrase the question. "I mean, you weren't, like feeling sick or anything were you? If you were you shouldn't come to school, you could get worse…" I sound like a mental patient, so I just decide to shut up.

To my surprise Jared's amused smile seems to get wider when he sees that I was worried about him and not about catching whatever disease he might have had. He actually laughs a little. "No, Kim, I'm fine. One hundred percent better." He smiles widely. "I was just having some focus issues-my brain just wasn't there today."

You and me both.

"Oh. Well… uh, I'm glad you're feeling better." He hands me my notebook and I slide it into my backpack, packing it with the things I need to take home today, expecting Jared to mutter a goodbye and head off to his own locker.

"Thanks. Have a lot of homework?" He asks conversationally.

"Actually, no. Surprising as that is, apparently the teachers were feeling nice. Maybe it has something to do with break coming up." I shrug, happily thinking of the fall break coming soon. But then I feel bad because he probably has tons of homework. "You probably have a lot though."

He smiles, seemingly pleased that I'm concerned about him having too much homework I guess. "Nah… teachers are apparently really lenient when they think you had mono for four weeks."

I raise my eyebrows, but don't comment on his obvious mistake, "when they think you had mono" He looks extraordinarily grateful that I don't question him about his blunder. "That's good, but you still probably have more to do than me."

"You're probably right there. I'll be spending my evening catching up." He says glumly. "Boring as ever, but a necessary task."

"You say that like its torture." I tease. "It's not that bad-other than all the pointless worksheets. I mean, seriously, were in eleventh grade! When do we outgrow the stupid handouts?" I'm shocked at myself; I never talk this much.

Jared seems to understand. "Yeah, it's kind of irritating. But I suppose that's what you get when you go to school on the rez."

I smile, finished packing up my backpack. I'm not really sure how to tell him that I have to go meet Mariah to pick up Kennedy. I swing my backpack up onto my shoulder.

"Thanks for returning my notes. I would stay and talk but I have to pick up my little sister from school soon so…" I trail off and Jared jumps in quickly.

"Of course. Yeah, go ahead. I'll uh, see you tomorrow Kim."

"Sure thing." I smile at him as I head out to meet Mariah. It's clear that she's not happy with me.

"You know I hate it when you're late! I still don't see how one person can take so long."

"Hey now, killer, this time I have a valid excuse." I say smiling widely.

Her mouth drops open, but she keeps walking toward my car-a silver Chevy Malibu. "He didn't." She says in a hushed voice.

I nod proudly. "He did, actually. I have no idea how he found out where my locker is but he was there and he gave me my notes back." We climb in and I start the car, heading toward the elementary school.

She looks shocked, but happy for me. "He's totally into you!" She squeals.

"You're overreacting. He thought I'd need the notes to study. He was just being nice."

"He was looking for an excuse to see you again." She points out giddily.

"He was not." I say, though we both know I'm wishing he were.

"I say he was. For whatever reason he's totally into you. Sudden, but not exactly unwelcome."

I roll my eyes. "You're being ridiculous."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

The benefit of living on a reservation as small as ours is that all the schools are really close, so when we arrive in front of my sisters kindergarten building I effectively end the playful exchange.

"You are, and I have to go get my sister. And, just so we're clear, not one word about this while she's in the car."

Mariah pretends to lock her lips and throw away the key.

I slide out of the car and head to the area where adults, and siblings, pick up their kindergarteners.

"Kimmy!" A little girl with short dark hair, wavier than mine, and the exact same shade of skin comes running over to me, attaching herself to my leg.

"Hey Kennedy." I ruffle her hair lightly. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Over her tiny body my eyes find the teachers and I make a motion that we're going to leave. She nods, confirming that she's seen me retrieve her.

"Alright then," I scoop her up and put her on my shoulders. "Lets go."

She giggles as we make our way out to the car, and when I put her down she clambers into the backseat quickly.

"Hi Mariah!" She says, laughing.

"Hey Kennedy." Mariah replies, smiling brightly at my sister.

I start the car, and head for Mariah's house, dropping her in the driveway.

"You!" She says before exiting the car, her eyes fixed on me. "If you value your life, when I call you later, you'll answer."

I smile at her, "Will do."

She heads into the house and I start heading to the grocery store. "So… Kennedy, I had a really good day, and I was thinking we could go to the store and get some stuff to make cookies…" I know she loves cookies, and baking.

"Really?" She asks, her uncharacteristically blue eyes sparkling. I nod and she squeals. "Yay!"

An hour later the cookies-chocolate chip, of course-are baking in the oven and Kennedy and I are raking the leaves in the front yard.

"Kimmy!" She squeals, giggling as I tip a rake full of leaves on her small five-year-old body. "Now there are leaves in my hair!"

I laugh, watching her frantically trying to pick her hair clean. "That's part of your job. You have to have leaves in your hair." I say smiling at her.

"Then why don't you?"

I smirk. "Because you can't catch me!" I dart off, which of course brings a round of her chasing me around the yard until she finds that she really can't catch me.

"I told you!" I yell. "I, Kimberly Anne, am too fast for you Kennedy!"

She's laughing and I join in, falling into the pile of leaves we'd raked up.

"We should probably check on our cookies." I say thoughtfully, causing Kennedy to jump out of the leaf pile and run into the house.

I don't really worry that I'm not with her at every second. She knows better than to touch the oven. I stand up shake the leaves out of my hair and then brush them off of my clothes.

By the time I'm relatively leaf free I hear footsteps coming closer.

"I think you missed one!"

My head snaps up fast enough to give me whiplash. "Jared?" I can't stop the smile that creeps onto my face when I see him, but I can hear the curiosity in my voice.

"Went for a walk." He shrugs, as if that's not a big deal. "I usually do sometime after school. I like being outside."

"Yeah? Me too." I smile at him, and I can't help but notice he's still looking at me the same way. It wasn't some freak thing apparently. For whatever reason he's seeing me differently now.

"Was that your sister?" He asks, curious.

"Uh, yeah, Kennedy. She's five years old and she is the epitome of the energizer bunny."

He laughs, surprising me, because I've never really thought I'm that funny. "Sounds like fun."

"It's never boring that's for sure. But she's predictable. For example she'll be coming to get me in three… two… one…"

Right on cue Kennedy comes running back outside freezing when she spots Jared. Unfortunately that only stops her for a second. "Kimmy! Come onnnn! Bring your friend. I want cookies!"

I laugh a little and turn back to Jared. "Told you."

"Impressive."

For a second I think about not inviting him in, but that seems rude, not to mention it goes against what my entire body is screaming at me to do: take Kennedy's advice and let him in.

"You heard the five year old, you're welcome to join us if you want. As long as you don't mind us interrupting your time in the wilderness." He smiles, "And as long as you like chocolate chip cookies."

He smiles at me widely. "I'd love to join you, as long as your sister approves."

"She invited you first." I say smirking. "Besides, I have the final say around here."

"Oh, I see how it is," He teases, following me toward the front door.

I open the door and head for the kitchen, immediately taking the cookies out of the oven. I set the two pans on the stove and turn to the two people now sitting at the counter.

"These have to cool a little, so…" I whistle loudly, in a way that should call Roxy from her comfy spot on my bed.

Jared looks confused, but I just smile at him, waiting for my 100-plus-pound German Sheppard to come into the kitchen.

In seconds she's there, looking up at my expectantly, and I reach down to pat her head. "Good girl," I say softly. Then I take some dog food and set it out for her-the real reason I'd called her down being to feed her, not show off.

I turn back to the counter with a smile. "That's Roxy, she's mine-although Kennedy insists she's a family pet."

"She is!" Kennedy wails smiling, and hopping down from her seat to go pet Roxy.

"She's huge," Jared says, seeming surprised. I guess I understand why. Not too many people know I have a giant German Sheppard, I just don't seem like that kind of girl. "Well trained too." Jared says looking at me. "Did you do that?"

I smile proudly, "Taught her everything she knows."

"Impressive. How old is she?"

"Six!" Chimes in Kennedy. But of course, being the opposite of me, Kennedy doesn't stop there. "So…" She says eyeing Jared, "Who are you?"

"Sorry about her," I say over my shoulder as I start putting some cookies on a plate. "She's going to ask you a hundred questions."

"It's fine." He assures me, making me smile even though he won't see it. Then he addresses my sister, "My name is Jared."

"Kennedy." I roll my eyes at her silly response. He knows your name goofball.

Jared laughs, "So I've heard."

"Are you Kim's friend?"

"Yeah, she was really helpful today."

As I head to the fridge in search of milk I see Kennedy's gaze lock on me.

"What did you do?"

I chuckle. "I loaned him my history notes."

"Oh." She looks confused. "Why did you need her notes?" I don't miss the slight emphasis on 'her', I would find it offensive if I didn't know she was asking why he didn't have his own notes.

"I was sick."

"You don't look sick."

"I said was."

"You don't look like you were sick." Kennedy corrects herself.

"That's because I'm all better now."

"Well that's good."

"Yeah. I think so too."

I decide to interrupt the conversation before Kennedy got too creative with her questions.

"Who wants cookies?" I ask setting down a plate full of them in front of Jared and Kennedy.

"Me!" Kennedy squeals, immediately grabbing two-one for each hand.

I chuckle and take one for myself. Then I turn to grab the cups of milk, setting one down in front of Kennedy and raising my eyebrows to see if Jared wants some-because my mouth is full.

He nods and says thanks before taking a cookie for himself. For a moment it's quiet because we're all chewing, and I even give Roxy, who has just finished her meal, a dog treat.

Granted, she has to work for hers, but still. I call her over, using her name this time and she comes and sits patiently. I can feel Jared's eyes on me but I ignore that for the moment and focus on channeling my inner 'boss' for my dog.

I give her a hand signal and she lies down. "Good." Then I give her another signal and she rolls over. I smile, and turn to my audience. "Any requests?"

Kennedy, of course, asks me to do her favorite trick. "Show Jared the play dead one!" I smile and nod.

I go over to my kitchen drawer full of dog supplies and pull out a water gun that I keep specifically for this trick.

"Roxy!" I call and her attentive eyes focus on the plastic weapon in my hand. I know she's going to do this right. I pull the trigger and say, "Bang!" And I think my dog pulls off the best 'play dead' I've ever seen her do. She's really showing off for me. I owe her one.

She literally drops to the ground in a way that looks kind of painful and stays frozen, waiting for me to call her back to me. I wait a few seconds, and say "Good girl, come here Rox!"

She jumps up and trots over to me proud of her trick-as she rightfully should be. I toss her the dog treat and she catches it midair, my tiny audience claps. I smile.

"All right, now that we're done showing off," I say, petting my dog on the head. "What's the verdict?" I'm unintentionally using Jared's words from earlier and his smile tells me he remembers too. "How did I do with the cookies?"

Kennedy smiles, "Best homemade cookies ever, Kimmy!"

"Thanks Kennedy." She beams at me.

Then Jared speaks up, "I'm with Kennedy. Emily makes some mean cookies, but I think yours are better Kim."

"Emily Young?" I ask, curious. "Sam Uley's girlfriend?" It was recent news, and in La Push, a town this small, word travels fast.

Jared smiles, "That's the one. You know her?"

"A little. I've talked to her once or twice. It's awful, what happened to her." I was talking about the bear attack from 2 weeks ago. "But I hear she's doing better."

"Yeah, she's back at home and everything. She'll be good as new in a few more weeks."

"That's great. Do you know her well?"

"I guess you could say that. Sam's a friend of mine."

"Oh yeah?" I didn't know that, maybe it was new…

"Yeah, he's a good guy."

I nod, and Kennedy, seemingly bored with our conversation heads to her room.

Jared watches her, semi-amused. "I think we bored her."

I smile, "Well, that's the fastest way to get rid of a five year old."

Jared chuckles. "I'll have to remember that."

I glance at the clock; it's 5:00. "Hope I didn't spoil your dinner. We really don't eat until seven-ish. My parents work late most days."

He shakes his head. "You didn't spoil my dinner, trust me." He smiles like I'm missing some kind of inside joke.

I raise my eyebrows and he just shakes his head, shrugging it off.

Just then Roxy decides to meander into the kitchen, once more, and plop down on the floor, falling asleep.

"Do you have any pets?" I ask him softly.

Amusement dances in his eyes but he shakes his head. "Nah, but I really like dogs."

That's good, I think, if you plan on coming here often. I really hope he does.

It's warm in the kitchen and I think about taking off my sweatshirt but I decide against it, worrying that it will mess up my already questionable hair even more.

"Kimmy!" I sigh, looking at Jared apologetically.

"Just a sec." I say and he smiles.

"Go ahead."

I rush down the hall and poke my head into my sister's room. "What is it Kennedy?"

"Come here," She whispers.

I walk to her and crouch down, "What is it?"

"That boy," Oh no. "Do you like him?"

I sigh, and then I look my sister up and down. Five year olds can keep secrets, right?

"Can you keep a secret?" I ask carefully, in a hushed tone. She nods quickly. "Really? I can trust you?" She nods quicker and more distinctly. I laugh a little, and whisper. "Yes, I do like him."

She smiles brightly. "Good, for a second I was worried my radar was off."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "What radar?"

"Oh nothing…" She says a little too innocently. Maybe she's been spending too much time with Mariah. "Oh! Almost forgot-your cover story is that I had a Barbie swimsuit malfunction." I almost started laughing-definitely too much time with Mariah.

I step into the hall and tug my sweatshirt over my head and turning to look at the mirror at the end of the hall, surprisingly enough my hair is no worse than it was before. Then, as an afterthought, I call in to Kennedy, "Last call for cookies too."

"Kay! Be out in a second." I smile. I knew that would get her.

I head back to the kitchen where Jared is still waiting patiently, a smile on his face. "Everything ok?" He asks, actually sounding like he would care if it wasn't ok.

"Everything's perfect." He chuckles. "There was a minor Barbie swimsuit malfunction." He laughs a little more.

"Well, I'm glad you got that sorted out."

"So was Kennedy." I smile. As soon as I say her name she comes bounding down the hall hoping to grab a cookie before I put them away. "Speak of the devil…" I say, smiling. I seem to be doing that a lot tonight.

Kennedy swoops into the kitchen and then swipes two more cookies, I don't say anything because I'm in a good mood. Though, when she's back in her own room I mutter, "Think I spoiled someone's dinner."

"It's all your fault. I saw her take two." Jared teases.

"So did I," I sigh. "I'm just in too good of a mood to tell her 'no' at the moment." That last part comes out unintentionally but strangely enough, I don't regret saying it. I feel very comfortable with Jared.

"Hey, not gonna argue with that logic. Seems pretty sound to me." Jared agrees.

I smile at him, "I thought so too."

He looks up again and my gaze meets his and it's just like it was in the history room. I completely lose myself in his chocolate brown eyes and he seems to do the same, and we're both just staring at each other.

I don't know how long we stay like that but eventually my cell phone rings and I glance down, fighting against the heat that's trying to rise in my cheeks.

"I really don't usually do this but… I am obligated to answer this phone call. If I don't my best friend is going to be unmanageable for some time."

"No problem, I can go. Thanks for the cookies. They were great. I'll see you tomorrow Kim."

"No problem, I'm glad you came over Jared."

"Me too."

And with that he slips out my front door.

Hey! So, I'm back! I told you this was all written so I plan on keeping updates frequent and consistent. I hope you like this chapter.

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