Kourtney waved good bye to her friends and made her way to her car. She eyed the spot where she stood when Paul kissed her. She hadn't spoken to him still. Third day of school and Paul still hadn't shown up. Even though she was upset with him, she couldn't help but worry. No one had seen or heard from Paul since the week before. The only news that was shared was by the coaches. Mr. Lahote informed them that Paul was sick and would no longer be able to play football. Rumor was that Paul was dying. Kourtney knew the rumor was ridiculously wrong, but it still left her worried.

However, no matter how worried she was, she still refused to talk to him. Not until he spoke with Marianne first. Seeing that she still had yet to hear from her best friend, Kourtney knew Paul still hadn't spoken with her. Kourtney felt stressed whenever she thought about her predicament. She knew she should've just called Marianne as soon as Paul kissed her. She shouldn't have depended on Paul to break the news. As far as she was concerned, she did nothing wrong. At least, she didn't think she did anything wrong. Ever since the kissed happened, Kourtney would often look back to see what she could have done or said to prompt Paul to kiss her. Paul was a flirt. Everyone knew it, she knew it, Marianne knew it. Kourtney wondered if there were any instances in which Paul had flirted with her, but she couldn't think of any. Surely rumors would spread if Kourtney and Paul had been inappropriately close, but so far, Kourtney hadn't heard anything like that.

Kourtney pulled up to her house. She recognized the black pick-up parked in front of the Ateara's. Her heart raced thinking about coming face to face with Paul again after their kiss. She scrambled out of her car and decided to prevent running into him. She reached her porch when she heard voices coming from next door. Kourtney looked and saw Paul's dad step out with Old Quil. Kourtney breathed a sigh of relief. She stood idly as they wrapped up their conversation. She saw the two gentlemen shake hands. Kourtney waited until Old Quil disappeared into the house before walking down the pathway.

"Mr. Lahote!" Kourtney called. Gene stopped and turned around.

"Kourtney, how are you?" he said, smiling. Paul had the same smile.

"I'm good. I just wanted to ask if everything okay with Paul?" Mr. Lahote's eyes flashed with an emotion Kourtney couldn't read. He seemed hesitant to say anything. "He missed the first three days of school…"

"Yes, I know. He's, uh, he's sick." He nodded his head as if trying to make himself believe it.

"Is he alright? He's been sick for a couple of weeks now."

"Yes, it's nothing serious. It's just a bug. Hopefully he'll get it under control. Right now he just needs rest." With that Mr. Lahote gave her a nod and started to walk to the truck.

"Can you let him know to call me? Or even text? I have to talk to him about something," Kourtney called.

"I'll pass it along." He gave a final wave before disappearing into the truck and driving off.

.-~*~-..-~*~-..-~*~-.

It was Friday; the end of the first week of Kourtney's senior year. La Push was having their first football game that night. Kourtney was clad in her cheerleading uniform. She was at her locker getting what she needed for the weekend when she saw Kim Moone walk up to her own locker. Kim, also a senior, was the shy, quiet type. Kourtney never really talked to her except for the usual pleasantries in the hallways. Even when they had the same class they never really spoke. Kourtney only knew Kim because she was Christy's cousin. Christy would sometimes eat lunch with Kim and other times Kim would join Christy at the cheerleader's table. However, Kourtney knew Kim preferred eating away from the loud, rambunctious cheerleaders.

Other than Christy, Kourtney and Kim never had any friends in common. Or so Kourtney thought. It wasn't until the last period of the day that Kourtney realized Kim knew Paul. She never saw the two even make eye contact with one another so it was very surprising when Kourtney overheard Kim asking Ms. Henning for the assignments Paul needed to make up.

Kourtney felt hurt. For some reason, Paul felt the need to approach Kim before even asking Kourtney for help. It bothered her. Kourtney reminded herself that she was upset with Paul and he probably didn't want to upset her even more, but it didn't provide much comfort. When she saw Kim at the lockers, it was the perfect opportunity to talk with her.

"Hey," Kourtney said.

"Hi, Kourtney," Kim said with a smile. Kourtney smiled back.

"I heard you got Paul's homework for him." Kim looked surprised and then nodded. "I didn't know you two talked."

"We didn't. At least not until this week," Kim replied in her soft voice. "He's friends with my boyfriend. He asked me to get his homework for him."

"So you know where he lives?" Kim nodded. "Oh, well, I can give it to him, if you want."

Kim looked at Kourtney. She seemed to be thinking it over. She shook her head. "It's okay, it's no trouble really. Plus, don't you have a game to get to? I'm pretty sure Paul wants his stuff right away."

"Well, do you know if he's okay?" Kim rushed to put her books away.

"He's fine. I should go." Kourtney watched as Kim rushed down the hallway and out the door. Kourtney finished grabbing her things and left. She saw her friends grouped together at the front of the school.

"Hey, aren't we supposed to meet at the field?" Kourtney asked.

"Yeah, we were on our way there," Moni said. "But look at that!"

Kourtney followed Moni's gaze. She saw Kim walking to the end of the parking lot towards a red Jeep.

"Isn't that Jared's car?" Kayla asked. Kourtney nodded. She only knew since he showed it off at the end of the previous school year. It was a graduation present from his parents and everyone marveled at it. Kourtney watched along with the other cheerleaders as Kim got closer to the red Jeep. Jared Cameron stepped out of the driver's side. "Oh my… When did he get so unbelievably hot?"

Kourtney quietly agreed. Jared grew taller than Kourtney remembered. His hair was shorter now. Even from afar Kourtney could see the defined arm muscles. She even noticed the new ink he sported on the top of his right arm.

Everyone gasped as Jared gave Kim a kiss before walking her over to the passenger side. Like a gentleman, he opened the door for her.

"I'm more curious as to when they finally happened!" Moni said. Kourtney wondered too. Everyone knew that Kim had the biggest crush on Jared Cameron. Whether Jared knew or not, Kourtney didn't know. All she knew was that Jared never even acknowledged Kim that much. Seeing them make out in the parking lot was just a big shock.

"I wonder what made him finally notice her," Kayla said. "She probably gave him some nice loving."

Everyone laughed.

"Kayla!" Kourtney cried. "Why do you always have to make everything about sex?"

"Of course you wouldn't understand Kourt. I mean, what else would make Jared notice her? He's hot and she's-"

"Stop!"

"You're such a bitch, Kayla," came Christy's voice. "That's my cousin you're talking about!"

"I'm just kidding, Chris! I'm happy that Kim finally got with Jared," Kayla said. Christy only rolled her eyes. She walked away from the group. "Jeez, she can't even take a joke!"

Kourtney shook her head and ran to catch up with Christy.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," Christy said. "I'm just so sick of Kayla and her damn mouth. She and Moni are the instigators of everything!"

"I know," Kourtney said. The two friends walked to the field in silence, trying to ignore the annoying chatter of the cheerleaders behind them.

.-~*~-..-~*~-..-~*~-.

Kourtney was sleeping soundly in bed when the shrill ringing of her phone woke her up. Kourtney cursed and reached to silence the call. Marianne's named popped up on the display. It was enough to chase the sleep away.

"Hello?" Kourtney instantly answered. "Marianne, are you okay?"

Marianne laughed. "I'm fine! Are you okay? Oh crap, it's still early there isn't it?"

"It's fine! Don't worry about it! I haven't heard from you in so long it feels like!"

"I know! I've been so busy! I haven't spoken to Paul in almost two weeks!" Kourtney felt her stomach knot up.

"Like at all? No texts, e-mails?"

"No. He usually leaves me a little text here and there, but nothing! Is everything okay?" Kourtney struggled on what to say.

"He's sick," she blurted out. "I haven't seen or heard from him either. No one has."

"What?" Marianne asked. "Is he okay?"

"His dad tells me he is," Kourtney said. She scolded herself for stalling. "Look, Marianne, I have to tell you something."

"Can you tell Paul to call me or at least to answer my calls, please?"

"Yeah, sure. But,-"

"I gotta go, Kourt. The taxi's here."

"No, Marianne, wait!"

"Text me! I gotta go! Sorry Kourt!"

Kourtney watched as the line disconnected. She sighed in frustration. She was so close, yet she knew she didn't try hard enough. She was holding back. She didn't want to tell Marianne. Maybe she didn't have to. If she talked to Paul, they can agree to keep it between themselves. Obviously he didn't want to tell her either. It's been two weeks and he still hadn't told Marianne. Kourtney felt guilty for even thinking about keeping a secret from her best friend, but Kourtney convinced herself it was for the best. Now, she just needed to see if Paul was on board. Once he agreed, she could just distance herself from him and all would be well again.


AN: This fic has been generating a lot of interest, so I decided to upload a new chapter! Hope you enjoyed!