"Jared are you alright?'' Tingles shot throughout my body at the sound of my name leaving her mouth. I opened my mouth to answer her but was interrupted by Ms. De La Cruz.
"Jared please pay attention. You need the help more than anyone in this class." The whole class erupted with laughter, but a quiet giggle, which was next to me, was the only thing that stood out. Throughout the entire hour I couldn't keep my eyes off of Kim. The teacher scolded me hundreds of times, and when I had to look away to read, it was agony to not see her face.
When the hour ended I watched as she gathered her things. I saw her heading towards the door when the shock finally left my legs. "Kim wait,'' I called. She turned, surprise evident on her face. "Yea,'' she answered. Her voice was so quiet and soft.
"I wanted to apologize,'' I remembered the way I acted. ''What we did to you that day was horrible. And still you helped me. After how I treated you and-,'' I couldn't even finish. The pain inside me was too great. How could I treat her like that? I hated myself.
"Its okay. You weren't the one doing anything, and you tried to get them to stop,'' she laughed. I loved that laugh. ''Just like a gentleman.
''You forgive me?'' I asked. She nodded. ''Your amazing you know that,'' I said, staring into her eyes. She blushed pink and looked down. The color was so beautiful on her. I put my hand under her chin and gently lifted it until our eyes met.
''You shouldn't be embarrassed. It's the truth,'' I told her, my thumb gently grazing over her cheek. ''Hey Kimmy!'' was the last thing I heard before everything was a blur.
Out of nowhere, Christian came and threw her against the lockers, making her drop all her books. Her head smashed against a wall, but not hard. Laughter was heard everywhere, but especially from Christian. Anger flashed through me, and for a second I saw red. I shook with fiery, wanting to kill Christian. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the lockers.
''You never hit a girl! What's wrong with you!'' My anger was at a boiling point, or close at least. I knew with so many people here I couldn't phase. Someone could get hurt, including Kim.
''I didn't hit her,'' Christian yelled back. His voice trembled and he looked terrified.
''Well that's not how you treat a girl, especially her!'' I felt someone pulling one me, trying to tear me away from him. But I didn't want to let go.
''Jared control yourself,'' Paul hissed in my ear. ''Let go now!'' I did, but only to see if Kim was okay. ''Stay away from her Christian, don't ever come near her again,'' I warned through clenched teeth. I turned and saw a girl helping Kim up.
''Kim are you alright?'' I asked as I handed her her books. She looked up bewildered, a far away look in her eyes. She quickly recovered and said, ''Yea. Thanks Jared.''
''Kim,'' I called as she turned. ''Can I walk you to class?'' I didn't want to be apart from her yet. She looked stunned for a moment, but then said, ''You want to walk me to class?''
I didn't like the way she said me. It sounded as if she was disgusted with herself or something. ''Yea, I mean unless you don't want me to.'' ''No no its okay, I'd like that.''
I smiled as she smiled and walked down the hall with her. It was quiet, neither one of us said anything, and I knew why. She was still freaked out by the way I had acted with Christian. I didn't blame her. I went to far back there, but I couldn't help it. The way he treated her was-uggh! I looked down at her. She was so small and beautiful. ''Kim, you like to draw right?'' I asked.
''Yea, and paint. I've been painting since I was six.'' I could hear a distance in her voice as she went back to her memories.
I laughed. ''Really? That's how I feel about photograph. Ever since I was little and got my hands on a camera, pictures have been nonstop for me.'' She giggled quietly. ''What kind of pictures do you take Jared?'' Kim asked.
''Well, I have a little brother and he usually likes to stand on the rocks by LaPush beach. When the wind blows, it's a really nice picture; his hair is blowing nice,'' I explained, laughing. ''I also take pictures of beaches, forests, and my personal favorite, the sunset.'' She looked at me confused.
''I usually go up to the cliff, wait for the sunset, and when the time is right, flash.'' I looked down at her, looking into her eyes. ''What I mostly love about it is the magic. It just happens naturally.'' She smiled at me, dazed.
''What?'' I asked after a moment of silence. She snapped out of it and looked down, blushing.
''Its just,'' she said looking up, ''you seem so different. That Friday, you were-well…''
''Cruel?'' I suggested. ''No no, of course not. Just, when I saw you in the hall, you looked do vulnerable. It scared me.'' She said the last part quieter, almost shy. We stopped at her next class.
''Well I definitely don't want you to get in trouble. You don't deserve that. I'll see you after class ok.'' Even though I sounded convinced I wasn't. I didn't want to be apart from her. Not yet. I smiled at her before turning around.
''You know you were way out of line this morning,'' Paul scolded me again.
''You really wanted me to let Christian just treat her like that?'' I whispered fiercely.
''Oh come on. We always use to treat her like that. We'd play around with her like-,'' I interrupted him. ''We?'' I said exasperated.
''Okay,'' Paul continued sheepishly, ''so maybe it would always only be Christian and me. You would just watch and laugh. But you'd tease her and stuff…''
I drowned him out, focusing on my Spanish book. I was pretty good at Spanish, and it was also another language in which I could tease the guys. But no matter how hard I focused, Kim's face floated back into my mind. I could feel a smile spreading across my lips. It was so weird. Wasn't imprinting suppose to be horrible. I mean, once again, destiny was already chosen for me. I could never fall in love, or see other people. But I couldn't picture anybody else more perfect than Kim. I couldn't even picture myself with anybody else. And I knew I didn't have to.
''Hey Jared!'' A high-pitched voice broke me out of my thoughts. I knew who it was, unfortunately.
''Hi Jennifer,'' I replied trying to keep the annoying out of my voice.
''Finally you come back,'' she noted sarcastically.
''Yea, I was umm, sick.'' I didn't really feel like explaining myself to her. ''Oh well you want to get together after school? I'll tell you what you missed in Spanish.'' She was starting to get flirty.
''Thanks but no thanks,'' I answered. Her face fell into disappointment. ''I have Paul for that.'' I nudged him.
''Yea, I'm here for him,'' Paul muttered, trying not to smile.
In that second the bell rang. My heart almost leaped out of my chest. I was going to see Kim again and I found myself grinning. Grabbing my stuff, I left the room, and headed to biology to meet Kim. I knew that was her last class.
''Yo Jared!'' Michael, the school jock, hollered towards me. I nodded my head, my way of saying hi back. I stopped by room 34 and waited for Kim. A lot of the people coming out looked at me confused. Like they'd just seen me for the 1st time. I tensed, probably looking as awkward as I felt. But when a dark haired girl came out, I relaxed as if on instinct. I was so happy to see her. The image I had of her in my head was nothing compared to reality. She stopped in her tracks when she saw me. I stared at her, probably grinning like a fool. Surprise flickered across her face, and then a small smile spread across her face. She looked so shy, but at the same time so gentle.