Chapter 13

This Means War

I look over at Jack nervously. His mouth is slightly ajar and his eyes are wide. I rip out a piece of paper from my notebook at him and throw it at him. He looks for where the paper came from once it hits him. Once he realizes it's me, I mouth 'What are you going to do?' He shrugs and turns back around. I watch him as Lindsay approaches him. I try and make out what they're saying but I'm the worst at reading lips. Lindsay could be saying "I hate you," and I'll somehow translate it into "Monkeys ride helicopters." All I can make out are the occasional scowls and every know and then icy glares.

I feel someone tap my shoulder, dragging me away from my thoughts. I turn around to meet Brett for the first time. "I guess we're partners. . ." He mutters quietly. I nod awkwardly. He takes a seat next to me and pulls out what appears to be an empty Science journal.

"It appears so. I'm Kim -"

"I know who you are." He says in an emotionless voice, I bite my lip not knowing what to say. I look down at my notebook. Say something, Kim! I think to myself. You're making this even more awkward!

"Well, then let's get to know each other. What's your favorite color? Mine's purple." I say energetically to him.

"I like orange. . ." I nod, but I don't think he sees me. I learn pretty quickly that Brett isn't much of a talker, or maybe he is, just not to me. I wondered if he was feeling as awkward as I was. I'm sure he does, out all the partners we could've got . . . what are the chances? Me ending up with Brett, the lucky guy that Lindsay cheated with; then Jack getting Lindsay.

I look over at them for the hundredth time. I wonder what they were talking about. Me? Them? Brett? The actual project? I immediately mark that off my list, the odds of them actually talking about that? Puh-lease. I don't even know how they'll start the project let alone finish it. Jack is extremely lazy and never gets anything done. Lindsay, well, she's a spoiled brat, she expects someone else to do all the work. Them together? They won't get anything done.

I had the honor of being Lindsay's partner last year in English. I asked her what she wanted to do for it and she told me we didn't have to do anything. She had people for that. At that moment, I really just wanted to spit in her face or something. I would've too, but being the goody-two-shoes I was, didn't do a thing.

I wasn't aware of what Brett and I were doing the rest of the class, I kept getting distracted. Those distractions went anywhere from people staring at me to thinking what Jack and Lindsay were talking about. I saw Jack laugh once. I couldn't tell if it was real or fake, but for the rest of class I couldn't focus on anything. All I knew by the end of class, was that Brett and I had gotten nothing done. Absolutely nothing..

I sigh when the bell rings. In a mixture of being relieved and frustrated. The first thing I do is walk over to Jack and ask what happened. He didn't like that. He made a face and said "I don't wanna talk about it," then tried to ditch me. I wasn't as cooperative. He picked up his face, while I did a sort of walk-run to keep up with him.

"I saw you laugh, I assumed it was fake, but then I realized it looked real. Which got me thinking of there was anything going on between you two . . . but I know nothing could possibly going on but I can't help but wonder -" He cut me off by crashing his lips against mine.

At first I was shocked, I just stared at him for a minute when he stopped. Then my eyes sent him daggers and my expression turned angry. I tried to form words, but I couldn't speak. Instead all I did was slap him, really hard. It was his turn to be shocked.

After a couple of moments of complete silence in the hallway, my anger blew up. "How dare you? I have a boyfriend Jack Brewer! You think I 'd be okay with you just kissing me now? That may not have even been real, it may have been just to shut me up, but that does not give you the right to do such a thing when you knew that'd I'd get mad!" I take deep breath while he stares at me in continuous shock.

I huff and start walking the other way. I get to class early, which is normal, so the teacher didn't bother asking why I was early. Jack came in later, still in chock. His cheek was red now, I felt kind of guilty and hoped it didn't hurt him that bad. Then Zayn walked in and I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I avoided eye contact , but he didn't really seen to notice. I gave a silent thank you for that.

I'd like to say things got better through the day. Unfortunately, things only got worse. Halfway through Latin a voice echoed through the speakers saying, "Kim Crawford, please report to the office immediately." I felt like crying. I knew what this was about, the school wouldn't tolerate what'd I'd done. I should've known that someone would say something to the principal. Why had I been so stupid? I cold get expelled for this. I'm sure they've already called my parents and told them everything. They'll murder me when they see me, I think miserably.

I make my way to the front office, feeling worse with each step I took. To my, oh so great surprise, there in the office were my parents, the principal, and the one and only Lindsay Cross. I felt like strangling her, then I realized that'd only get me into even more trouble, so I restrained myself.

"Kim, you our the last person I'd expect to do such a thing," Mr. Funderburk begins "you know we do not tolerate violence. Ms. Cross here has told me of what you did. . ." That's when I tuned out. I probably shouldn't have, because I'll probably just get myself in more trouble, but I found myself not caring. So what if I got grounded for three months and suspended for a couple of days? It won't change anything. Jack will still a self-centered idiot, I still be his stupid barbie doll that he keeps on throwing in the trash, and Lindsay will still be the little spoiled brat she is. So will it really matter at all? No.

". . . well then, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. . . Kim you may return to class and Lindsay, I will she you in detention. . ." I snap my head up, suddenly wishing I hadn't tuned out.

"Wait, what? I'm not in trouble?" Mr. Funderburk shook his head in a confused manner. I look at parents but they just give me a guilty look, as if they'd just yelled at me for nothing. Maybe they did yell, but it couldn't be for no reason. I look at Lindsay who's giving me a look of absolute war. The message was clear: This means war.

"It appears so, but don't ever pull a stunt like that again. . . and next time speak up if you did nothing wrong." What stunt? Nothing wrong? I look around desperately to give a clue as to what just happened, but all I find is a ginger-headed kid holding a camera. When did he get here? I think to myself.

My parents give me a quick goodbye and Lindsay is escorted back to class. Leaving the ginger-headed kid, me, and Mr. Funderburk alone. Mr. Funderburk leaves leaving me in an awkward silence. I give the guy a soft smile.

"So, uh, I know I'm going to sound stupid . . . but I sort of tuned out that whole moment when Mr. Funderburk started lecturing me, so I'm not really aware of what just happened. . ." God, I sound like an idiot. . . He gives a soft laugh, but says nothing. He hands me the camera, I give him a confused look. "Uh . . . thanks?"

"Watch the video on there. . ." I turn it on and watch it. It was of earlier, but in the video I didn't even hit Jack's face. It appeared as if the slap had been staged.

"How did you. . .?"

"My dad, he taught me a thing or two in editing." he says with a big smile.

"What's your name?"

"Milton."

"Well, Milton. . . why would you that? You don't even know me. All I've done is said hello to you and invite you to a party!" I say handing him back the camera.

"Exactly."

"But why -"

"I believe the word you're looking for is thank you," I laugh a little then smile sheepishly.

"Sorry. . . Thank you Milton, it means a lot, but I still -" He gives me a look that says to shut up. "Thank you." I repeat in a quiet voice.

"You're welcome, Kim. Now, if I don't get back to class, I could get in trouble so. . ."

"Right, see you around Milton. . . ." With that we went our separate ways.

Needless to say that week went by pretty quickly after that. My parents told me how sorry they were when I got home and didn't know what else to say other than "It's fine." What else was I supposed to say? Actually, I did slap that idiot and Milton just edited the video to seem like I didn't. Ooops! Yeah, that would be a nice and sweet conversation. . .

I occasionally waved to Milton and his fiends now, and Lindsay was doing everything in her power to make my life a living hell, but the real drama was Jack.

At first we didn't say a word to each other, but then somehow we apologized and started hanging out again. Still, there would always be that tension there. That I had slapped him because he kissed me. I truthfully don't think he'll ever get over the fact that I have a boyfriend that isn't him.

I've been trying to make things less awkward, but he isn't making much of an effort to help out. Then every time the tension dissolves a little, it comes right back twice as strong. We were hanging out on Saturday but I had to leave shortly because of my date with Zayn. He wasn't too happy about that.

I did my best to ignore that though once I got to Zayn. He was the person that made me happiest. Word had spread of me "slapping" Jack pretty fast. Luckily I go to tell Zayn the whole story before somebody else did, and amazingly, he understood. He wasn't even mad.

No we were sitting happily together watching the football game, pretending that we knew what was going on. "Did our team just score?" Zayn asks, keeping his eye on the field.

"I don't think so. . . I'm pretty sure we scored for the wrong side. . ."

"Oh." Thank god Zayn is here, I think. If he weren't here, I'd be totally bored and confused out of mind. At least with him we can be confused together and get lost in our own conversation.

It felt the stupid game lasted for hours and hours and more hours. It was turning dark by the time we left, so I held his arm so that way I wouldn't lose him. He didn't seem to mind. I did my best not to think about Jack that night, but he kept bugging me! It was almost as if he's been there, sitting in back of us, poking me with a stick or something. Lindsay didn't help either. She was a cheerleader so of course I saw her, and I could practically feel her eyes on me, even if I was at the highest part of the stadium.

Focus on Zayn, I kept telling myself. Jack's the jerk, Lindsay's the brat. It'll never change. Never. Besides, why would I even think about choosing Jack over Zayn?

One is perfect, one is goofy idiot. . . .

A/N: Yay, so just to clarify, Jack and Kim are sort of in the frenemie zone currently. Don't worry though, I'll make some Kick action happen before I screw things up for them. Ooops, did I write that out loud?

Anyway, a response to some of your reviews:

Christina C - Well, I do realize that 250 reviews is still awhile away, but it's just something that I hope to reach soon. Then I'll make another goal and it'll repeat. If I got 50 reviews on one chapter, well, I'd be shocked that that many people even read this story! I don't update when I reach that goal though, there had been a misunderstanding with that a while back.

EveryPersonWhoKeepsTellingMeToMakeKickHappen - Patience, young grasshoppers! It' will happen eventually! Though. like I said up above, they will have some moments in like the next one or two chapters, but things are about to get . . . er . . . messy for them. *wink, wink*

Anyway, next chapter will have some cute Kick moments in it, it's about an idea that I got from sawgmasterlol. ;)

After that, well, I'm not sure. I know where I'mg going, but it's the details I'm having trouble with...

Anyway, wow I say that too much. Yeah, okay getting distracted... there'll be a Sneak Peek for those who review as usual :)

Alrighty...

Byeee!

~Juliana