Chapter 10
The Actor and the Spectator

The moment was the epitome of classic Hollywood. The roguishly handsome boy half-way up the front door steps, his hand reaching, a captivated expression on his features. The girl, a small smile mingled with a touch of confusion as she leans forward, almost falling down the few steps that separate them. Their eyes hold each other captive, searching feverishly for something.

The boy and girl. Me and Jared. Jared and I.

There was only one possible progression for such a poignant scene. The girl tips forward ever so slightly, falling down beautifully. The boy easily catches her in his strong arms and folds her into her chest as he feverishly covers her awaiting lips in a passionate kiss.

That is how is should have turned out.

But, then again, I guess the girl's mother never happens to be right behind her, keenly surveying the situation.

"I'm Emma Roue, Kim's mother," my mom blurted out, sticking out her hand so as to cut me away from the boy standing before me.

I almost cried out in frustration at the interruption and I tried to fight down the urge to leap at my mother and take her out of the picture.

Luckily, Jared didn't miss a beat, his smile warm, "Great to meet you, Mrs. Roue. I'm Jared Thail, as I said before, a friend of Kim's."

My smile probably gave away the fact that inside I was doing jumping jacks in glee at Jared's word choice. Friend? I could live with that. I went from unknown classmate on Wednesday to friend two days later. Not bad.

My mother took two steps forward, moving to stand before me. "So, Jamie," she started, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"Jared," he corrected anxiously, his expression suddenly nervous.

"Jared. How old are you?"

"16. The same age as Kim," he added as if he were trying to justify some sort of unasked question.

My mother continued, not giving anything away, "Where do you live?"

He shifted on his feet, darting glances at my face, "Just down the road, 134 Spirit Dr."

I almost did a double take as I realized I had walked past his house this morning. Jared's house. But it was my mother's next question that made me cry out in embarrassment.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" she asked sharply, her eyes narrowing, "Do you respect women?"

"MOM! Stop!" I cried out, pushing her away desperately with my hands, "Don't you have something else to do? Other people to annoy?"

My mother gave me a scandalized look as I managed to budge her into the entrance hall, but I refused to meet her eyes as I resolutely shut the door behind her. Frankly, I rather stand outside in the cold than have her watching me and Jared like a bloodhound on a scent. Another one of her questions and I don't think anything I could say would stop Jared from running away and never talking to me again.

I smiled sheepishly at him from under my long eyelashes, "Sorry about that, she can get carried away sometimes."

Jared ran his hands through his hair as he stepped closer to me, "No, I'm the one who is sorry, I shouldn't have come and bothered you without a warning," a pained expression appeared on his face, "If you want me to leave, I will."

"No! No!" I immediately exclaimed, clinging onto his arm.

He stared at me, a startled expression on his face.

My eyes widened, falling to the floor as I dropped my hold on him as if he were burning me. "I-I mean, don't leave because of me," I stuttered a response, mentally kicking myself.

Jared laughed and took my small hand in between his. The perpetual ocean wind knocked against us, driving me closer into the protective embrace of Jared's shadow. I looked up hesitantly, a small embarrassed smile on my features as I tried to produce a small laugh.

His gaze was bewitching when he spoke, "I never want to leave."

He could have kissed me right then. We were barely inches apart and some inexplicable force kept drawing us nearer and nearer. I had lost all will to take oxygen into my system and could live the rest of my life gazing into Jared's deep eyes.

His grip on my hand tightened, his eyes flickered to my waiting lips.

It was my chance to become the main girl of the movie rather than a mere spectator. It was my chance to finally show Jared how much I loved and yearned for him.

Closer.

The movement was so quick it barely registered as Jared pulled away from me, leaving me shivering in the cold wind at the top of my front porch steps. There was a tortured expression in his eyes. As if he would rather stab himself a million times than pull away. But he had, and with his hands in his pockets I knew he wasn't coming back.

"Sorry," I mumbled, a blush creeping up my cheeks, "I couldn't…I…I shouldn't have…"

He silenced me with the soothing sound of his deep baritone voice, "No. Don't apologize Kim. I basically forced myself on you and I feel horrible. Please don't apologize for something that's not your fault."

Forced himself on me? And here I was under the impression that I was acting like a girl who has never been kissed…which actually is the case. Scratch that. If he wanted to force himself on me I don't think he'd see me complaining. I was his, body and soul.

A silence fell down upon us, and I desperately searched for anything to say in order to keep his attention, "Um…do you want to," my voice progressed into a squeak, "come in?"

His head snapped up, and a wild grin took over his face, "I would love to."

Jared wanted to come into my house. Jared wanted to spend time with me. For a second I thought I would just burst out of my skin with pure happiness. This was undoubtedly the best moment of my short existence. I stood there, on the front porch of my little house, gazing down at Jared, a goofy dazzled smile on my face.

"So…are we going to go in?" Jared shifted on his feet, looking up at me from underneath his dark bangs.

A royal blush came up from my neck as I hiccupped in embarrassment. "Oh. Right. Yeah," I wanted to bang my head on the wall for acting like such a giggly ditz.

I lead Jared into my house, gazing at him shyly from the corner of my eye as I tried to gauge his reaction to our humble house. I suddenly wished that my mom would have taken up that painting project that would have covered the peeling blue wallpaper of our front entrance. I wished I would have watered the fern by the living room - with its brown, dying leaves it was a pitiful and sad sight.

I spoke up, self-conscious, "I know it's not much-"

Jared interrupted me before I could even finish, "It's great! You have a nice house."

Those five words cast my living quarters into an entire new light, and I found myself smiling at the broken mahogany cabinet, finding a simple charm in its discomfited state. Angie was waiting for us. For all that she tried to act completely nonchalant as I brought Jared into the living room, I knew she had been holding her breath. She looked up casually, giving me a lazy smile and Jared an interested pass over.

"So, are you Jared?" she drawled, flipping the channel with the hand that wasn't tossed over the top of the couch.

Jared light up, offering her his hand, "Jared Thail."

Angie nodded diplomatically. "Nice to meet you Jared, I'm Angie, Kim's one and only best friend," she winked in my direction, tempting me to challenge her.

I rolled my eyes and laughed, casting Angie a poignant look, "Actually, Angie was just leaving, weren't you?"

Without missing a beat, Angie jumped to her feet, quickly slipping into her shoes, she plastered on a serious face as she explained to Jared, "Oh, yeah, family emergency, you know. My brother swallowed a nut."

Jared looked confused, so Angie rushed to finish, "He's allergic."

There was a still silence. I frowned; Angie didn't even have a brother. Jared looked like he was trying hard not to laugh, that much I could deduct from the amused look he gave me. Angie, sensing the general atmosphere rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Well, I'm off. Kim, don't do anything I wouldn't do!" she threw me one final wink, waving merrily to Jared as she skipped out of the room, "And if you do, take pictures!"

My eyes widened and I hoped Jared had gone momentarily deaf, "She doesn't mean that."

He raised en eyebrow, "I think I might need to look over your photo albums before I decide that."

A laugh bubbled through my lips, shaking my thin frame. Jared followed suit, his entire being lighting up at my laughter. We fell down onto the couch, still laughing. Laughing with Jared was so natural – it made me feel completely free or all restraints, as if I could fly. Our laughter finally died down, and that's when I noticed how close we were. The natural indentation of the red couch had herded us both to the middle, joining me and Jared from toe to hip, from hip to shoulder. Actually, in our case, it was more of hip to shoulder/chest, considering Jared's impressive height even while seated. He looked adorable. His messy hair had fallen down into his eyes once more, and they twinkled playfully from underneath, smiling at me with that glorious grin of his. I couldn't help myself. Gravity was pushing me towards him. I craned my neck forward, getting too lost in his eyes to notice how impossibly close we were.

"Kim! Where do we keep the potatoes?" my mom marched, still holding a pot in her hand.

We flew apart, Jared trying to appear as casual as possible by humming lightly and looking up at the ceiling. I gulped heavily, fidgeting nervously with my hands together in my lap. My mom cast a critical eye over our, now, much separated positions. Once she was sure that we were far enough that I would not even be able to catch an airborne virus from Jared, she walked right back into the kitchen.

"Don't worry, I'll find them!" she called back, a little too much happiness in her voice for my pleasure.

"Sorry," I whispered, not even daring to look at the gorgeous boy beside me.

Jared chuckled lightly, reaching out hesitantly to ruffle my hair, "You really need to stop apologizing for my mistakes."

We fell into silence. I couldn't tear my eyes off the sun-god beside me. One though ran through my head, predominant, a little wisp of unspeakable hope. What did Jared mean by his words? Could…could he possible mean…

Did he want to kiss me?

Just as I was mounting the courage, which, trust me, is a lot of courage I don't have, to ask him just that, he cut through the silence with a sad, broken whisper.

"You cried."

I didn't know what to say. For some reason, assuring him I cried very often because of him didn't seem like a good idea.

Jared leaned forward, searching my eyes, "I'm sorry. I should have done something. But you ran away. Why?"

Tears started accumulating behind my eyes at the sadness I saw in Jared. I was confused. I pushed the tears down, swallowing noisily. I had to come off clean, "Jared, I-I…I…You saw me after Paul…humiliated me…I was so embarrassed. I didn't want you to think of me as a complete loser. I'm sorry."

I looked down at my hands in my lap, my black hair shifting forward to cover my face. He would never want to talk to me again now. I couldn't believe I had just said that. And then, I heard the oddest, the most wonderful sound in the entire world.

Laughter.

Jared was laughing.

Before I was even aware of what was happening, Jared had wrapped me in a huge bear hug, literally suffocating me in his warmth. I was surprised, completely caught off guard. And then, it felt nice. I was definitely no longer on the couch, if anything I was on Jared's lap. Jared, the love of my life Jared, funny, handsome, amazing Jared, was hugging me. I could smell his unique scent, a comforting mix of pine and ocean that warmed my entire being.

"You silly girl," Jared warm breath tickled my ear, "You are the most amazing person I have ever met. Never a loser."

I nearly fainted. I could feel the shift of his muscles under his shirt, his large hot hands wrapped around the small of my back, his lips near my ear. I was having a hard time remembering how to breathe.

And then, my mom apparated in the living room, wielding an impressive looking knife, "Kim! The potatoes are cooking!"

This time, Jared literally threw me across the couch as I tried to get as far away from him as possible. I grabbed onto the armrest, trying to stabilize my breathing before my mother noticed how flushed and out of breath I was.

"That's nice, mom," I worded slowly, in a dead pan.

My mother looked confused for a moment and then, looking quickly from me to Jared, nodded resolutely, "I thought you should know."

After another tense moment of silence, my mother gave another satisfied nod and pompously retreated back into the kitchen. Jared craned his neck, following her path back. I sighed loudly, turning his attention back to me.

"Do you want to go up to my room?" I almost stuttered nervously, giving a roll of my eyes in the direction of where my mother had just stood.

Jared's eyes flickered quickly to the great blue clock that decorated the mantle place and his entire face fell, "I have to go. Sam only let me off for an hour, and I should be getting back."

My voice sounded strange in my own ears, "Oh."

I walked him quietly to the door, trying to memorize his graceful and sure moments so my daydreams would be more accurate. Darkness had fallen, and for once, the moon was visible in the sky above, surrounded by an entourage of stars. I gazed at Jared, trying gage the hesitant expression in his eyes.

"Kim, I…" he trailed off, unsure.

I stood still, reveling in the way his eyes bore into mine with such intensity.

He let out a large gush of air and swore loudly into the air. I was taken back; I had never heard Jared swear before. Then, in a fast burst of speed he captured me in his arms and planted a solid kiss on my cheek. I was positive I fainted right then and there.

Jared Thail had just kissed me.

And just like that he ran off into the darkness.

I just stood there, and for all the frigidness of the night I was warm from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. Warm, so very warm. I gently touched the spot where Jared had just kissed me.

When my mom came out to find me, I was still giggling, a goofy grin all over my face.

Aw, aren't they so cute together? :) This was a long one, peeps, so be content. On the downside, however, I must announce that I will not be updating tomorrow. I live in the US of A and thus must actively participate in Independence Day, fireworks, cook-outs and all that jazz. Oh, and one more thing. There are 43 people that have this on their alerts. So. I'm watching you! I want 43 reviews. Yup. I am a greedy little child and will not be content with less. Really, I respond to all reviews and love to hear from you! Don't be shy and drop off a comment! :)

Have a lovely fourth of July!

AneleTiger.