Standard disclaimers apply here. Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer.

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RHYTHM BLOOD AND SOUL

Three AM

Chapter Three: Dying to Breathe

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'I can't believe it.'

I stared at nothing as my admittedly slow brains tried to catch up with what was happening with my life recently. Or rather, the lack of happening.

'I'm back to freaking zero.'

I closed as my eyes, took a deep breath, and slumped further down on my chair. I fought the urge to smack my head down in defeat on the kitchen table in front of me. I wasn't sure if it was because of my stupidity or maybe because Fate simply loved to mess up with me (I'm guessing though that it's a tie), but whatever it was, all I knew was that I was royally screwed.

Paul had warned me to keep it low. And with it he meant my attraction for Kim, which to him was apparently like "a dog in heat panting after panties". I remembered hitting him at the back of the head right after.

But now, I guessed he was right. It had been exactly two days and a half since that incident I had with Kim and her fucking brother. Two days of her ignoring me, whether it be in our few classes together (I even bullied Ryan Specks into trading seats with me just so I could sit beside her), or me waiting for her in her locker, or in the library as I tried to read while watching her through the small gaps in between the bookshelves… she was just there, so blatantly ignoring my pathetic existence. Even when I tried to call her name, she would duck her head and quicken her steps.

Like she never heard me.

And with each step she took away from me, my heart would squeeze painfully.

Now that it was finally Saturday, you would think I could get a rest from all that beating my poor heart has endured. Man, you couldn't be more wrong.

I was dying to breathe.

"Jared?" I instinctively looked up, as a soft hand touched my shoulder. Emily, who was standing beside me, was looking at me with concern clear in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but like a freaking computer in our school's loser lab, I just hanged. I honestly didn't know what to say, because I wasn't okay. I couldn't lie to her either. I hated lying.

She seemed to understand because she smiled at me (although quite pityingly) and wordlessly handed me one very familiar muffin – my all-time favorite blueberry muffin with special strawberry jam fillings. Finally, I smiled at her, genuinely.

I seriously believe that anything Emily Young cooked and baked was made from some unknown paradise. Sam was one fucking lucky guy.

"Hey, what about me?" I heard Paul whined as I took a bite from heaven.

Emily rolled her eyes. Nevertheless, she placed a tray of muffins in the table. Without even asking, Paul immediately grabbed two pieces.

"Is it about Kim again?" Emily asked.

My mouth still full of devoured muffin, I could simply nod.

Again, she smiled at me, as if understanding my situation. Well, on a second thought, maybe she really did. She had been there, and even paid a high cost because of it. Now thinking about it, I backtracked. She and Sam endured so much that it seemed unfair to compare my imprinting with theirs.

"It will get better in time," she tried to reassure me. And I found myself really wanting to believe her…

"What a long long time that is," Paul drawled.

Just when that balloon of hope began to form inside me, he just had to deflate it. The bastard.

She threw a glare at him before reassuring me again. "She's your imprint. She wouldn't be able to resist that long."

I frowned. Something in that sentence felt kinda… wrong to me. "But I don't want her to like me just coz of the imprint."

She paused and stared at me, a calculating look on her face, that I started to fidget slightly. I wasn't used to anyone reading me like this.

"What?" I muttered.

But she just chuckled and ruffled my short hair. "I think imprinting did you good."

"Huh?" I answered stupidly.

"I think imprinting hit him in the head so hard that he lost a screw," Paul quipped. A flying muffin hit him right in the nose (what could I say, I was pretty fast and had good aim) but before he could retaliate, a familiar intimidating presence entered the room.

"No food fights inside the house," Sam simply said, but intuitively, we felt his subtle order in that voice.

And just like always, he walked towards and Emily and just… this would be weird, but they were like making love in public. It wasn't like they were torridly kissing each other or hands going to places that shouldn't be there, in front of us. (Sam wouldn't mind – yes we were that important to him – but I definitely think Emily would.) But it was just there, whenever their eyes would meet even if they're away from each other, across the room. It was obvious when Emily would smile at him and Sam would repay by caressing the small of her back. It was much more blatant when he would just drop his head a bit and rest it against hers (good thing Emily was quite tall) and they'd just… hold each other.

Moments like those, I would turn my head away. It felt a bit intruding to me, even if they're doing just that.

Which made me think back to Kim.

'Kim.' I sighed, a gloomy cloud of depression quickly hovering over my head.

"You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"

I blinked and met Paul's gaze. I suddenly felt quite defensive.

"So?" I replied, quite annoyed. He didn't have an imprint, so how could he judge me so easily?

He surprised me when he let out an irritated huff. I thought he would laugh at me or something for being so… whipped. Even I cringed at that.

"You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Man, I think Paul may be right. I might have lost a bolt in my brains or something…

"Sheez," he snorted, throwing an unbelievable look at me. Then he turned to Emily and Sam. "Quiz us about Kim and I bet I would know more about her than this loser right here."

I inhaled sharply as his words hit closer to home than he realized. I turned away from him when my eyes met Sam's. And with that simple look, I knew he understood. I suddenly felt so conscious that I had to look down and stare instead at the kitchen table. Those muffins had never been so interesting before…

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"I know Kim, way back before I turned all wolf."

"Really?" I could tell she was a bit surprised at his revelation. Meanwhile, I was just getting way more and more depressed at the moment. I knew Paul didn't mean to, but right now, he was rubbing it into my face that I barely knew my own imprint, while he actually did know her even much more than I realized.

A sharp stab of resentment and jealousy pierced right through me. I glared down at the table, as I tried not to punch Paul in the face. It wasn't his fault, I knew that. If any, it was mine. But befriending Kim before was not easy, especially in my case.

"I used to hang out with her brother before," Paul answered simply. But I knew there was more to it than that.

"Used to?"

He shrugged, leaving it at that.

"Hmm. Well, that's a shame," she said. "I think you could help Jared with Kim—"

"I don't need help," I cut in.

"And why should I?" Paul added, smirking at me. I was about to throw him the finger when I remembered that Sam's in the room. He didn't want us being vulgar in front of Emily.

"Give it time, Jared," Sam advised. "Everything will fall into place eventually."

"In the meantime," Paul leaned forward, evil clearly glinting in his eyes. "Why don't you buy one of those blowup dolls, coz I think you won't be getting any—"

I stood up and tried to deck him, but he was able to grasp my hand before it hit his head.

"Enough!" Sam ordered.

"Think, man!" Paul shouted angrily, shoving off my hand. He too stood up, the chair crashing down on the floor. "Why do you think Kim keeps on running away from you? You don't even know her name before and then suddenly you're all over her space? Use your goddamn head!"

He turned away and was about to go out the door, when I suddenly blurted out, "You're wrong. I knew her name even before I saw her face."

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Author's Notes: I'm sorry it's so short! I've been planning this chapter to explain Jared's perspective, but I think what I had in mind deserves a one whole chapter and not just some extension. ;)

One of you pointed out that it would probably be helpful if I'll put whose POV it is before every section. I'm honestly sorry if I made it so confusing for you guys! That's not my objective at all. I think I have this habit of letting my readers think and guess while reading my fic… You see, I want you guys to figure it out by yourselves. Although, maybe I got too carried away with it. ^_^ I'm terribly sorry.

However, I don't want to just put there so blatantly whose POV is next. So, I'll just promise you guys to reveal the character early – I'll put more hints here and there. I think you can handle that. ;)

Hopefully, this chapter is okay and not too confusing again. ^_^

Thanks for reading and reviews are certainly appreciated!