Disclaimer: It's funny how it still isn't mine… oh wait. It isn't funny. It isn't funny at all.

A/N: I think this is going to be a pretty good chapter! Jared and Kim's first day at school as a couple. Aww, how adorable! I hope you love it, and don't forget to review!

Chapter 9

Kim

The next morning I woke to find Jared sitting at my kitchen table, eating a stack of pancakes.

"Hey…" I said a little hesitantly. Jared smiled a syrupy smile and got up to kiss me, leaving my mouth sticky and sweet. If I didn't love kissing Jared so much, I might have found it gross.

"I made pancakes," he told me proudly, stating the obvious, and I couldn't help but giggle. He nodded to a second plate of delicious looking pancakes speckled with blueberries, carefully crafted into the shape of a heart. I felt my heart melt at the sight and I walked over to Jared and pulled him into a hug.

"This is the sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me," I told him, not wanting to let him go. He kissed me again, harder this time, long enough for that wonderful warmth to spread throughout my body. I smiled, pecked his lips one last time, and moved to take my seat, surprised instead to find myself falling backwards and landing safely in Jared's lap. I froze for a moment, a little unsure of myself, and looked up to find Jared studying me curiously. I smiled up at him warmly, pulled my pancakes over to me, and ate them happily.

As it turns out, when the hottest guy in school starts dating the girl who's name nobody can remember, people notice. Which is why, as Jared and I walked down the hall hand-in-hand, there were a lot of whispers, pointing, and inquisitive stares. I knew for a fact that Jared noticed them, but he seemed dead set against acknowledging their existence, so I took a hint and pretended like everything was normal.

Jared walked me to my first class, or should I say he walked me into my first class, pulled out my chair for me, set on my desk the books he had insisted on carrying, and kissed my flaming cheek before heading to his own class. I got up to sharpen my pencil-the only thing Jared let me carry-and found that everyone was staring at me. I ducked my head down, blushed, and hastily accomplished my task before returning to my seat in the back of the room.

The next hour went by agonizingly slowly, and I spent the time alternately thinking about Jared and writing Jared's name in fancy scrawl next to mine. The bell rang and I was happily surprised to find Jared waiting outside my door. Before I could say anything, he yanked me around the corner and into an extra classroom-whoever built the school had seriously overestimated the number of students in attendance-pulled me close to him, and kissed my hard. My arms wound around his neck of their own accord, and his wonderfully warm hands wound themselves around my waist. Our lips moved in sync, perfectly together, and for a second I thought I had died and gone to heaven, but then I remembered that as long as Jared was around I would never get hurt.

The bell rang telling me that I was late, and I broke away from Jared and gasped. I yanked myself from Jared's arms, kissed his cheek, and ran off toward my next class. The next three hours were uneventful and agonizingly slow, and I began to wonder if I was ever going to be able to concentrate on anything but Jared ever again. I really doubted it. Mercifully, the bell rang and I was thankful that the student body was small enough to fit into just one lunch.

It shouldn't have surprised me when I walked out of the room to find Jared waiting there, but my heart still skipped a few beats. I smiled brightly when he laced his fingers through mine, his hand engulfing my own, and pressed a kiss to my temple as we walked down the hallway to the cafeteria. We joined the lunch line and I got a few angry stares from the girls in the surrounding area, which I tried to ignore but couldn't help but blush. It seemed like red was now the permanent color of my face. I fixed my gaze on our intertwined hands until I felt Jared tug lightly on the end of my braid and I lifted my eyes to meet his.

"You're beautiful," he told me in a whisper, and my pulse sped up.

"Thank you," I told him earnestly, moving up with the line. I grabbed the first thing in sight and felt a little guilty when he insisted on paying for it, but knew that he wouldn't back down. I let Jared lead me to his usual lunch table, where everyone that had been at Emily's house was already seated. I got bright greetings from all with the exception of Paul, who just gave me his usual head-nod, and Jacob who had taken to banging his head repeatedly on the cheap lunch table.

I looked questioningly up at Jared who, for once, was avoiding my gaze. I took the hint-if Jared wouldn't tell me it was probably because it wasn't any of my business. After a few moments, Jacob ceased his painful-looking actions long enough to look up at me and share a few depressing words. "Kim," he told me, looking me in the eye. "Life sucks, and then you die." I was astounded by his words, but decided not to let them effect me, taking a minute to think about his revelation.

"One of the best things about life is that it's always changing. If you really think your life sucks, do something to change it," I told him. There were more than enough shocked expressions to go around, but I chose not to acknowledge them, taking a bite from my apple instead.

A/N: Well, I really hope you liked this chapter! And I really think that Kim's advice is right. If your life just completely sucks, there is usually something you can do to make better. Phew! I hope you were all holding your breath, because that was pretty deep! Don't forget to review, I love them all!