While sitting in the cafeteria, being entirely ignored by Kim, I noticed Jared enter. I had wondered where he'd been during Physics and seeing as he was now very wet, I assumed he'd been out in the pouring rain. He slunk into the cafeteria looking miserable and sat by himself at a table a few metres away from us.

He was like an abandoned puppy and my heart went out to him. How could I ever be angry at a puppy? How could I be angry at Jared?

I sighed, defeated, and pushed my chair out from the table, "I'll be back in a second."

Lily and Mia looked confused but they didn't say anything as I left the table. I didn't have time to think about how this might look to everyone else. Jared had only ever been nice to me and now he looked so low. I couldn't let him sit there, alone, for the whole of lunch.

"Aren't you hungry?" I asked as I stopped next to one of the vacant chairs.

"Not really." he didn't sound as happy as he normally did but he could still smile with a little zest so I figured things weren't too bad.

"Is it Paul?"

He looked confused, "Is what Paul?"

"Is it Paul that has you so upset?"

Jared smiled at that, "So you can tell that I'm upset?"

"A blind man could see that you're upset."

His smile dropped and he gestured to the chair beside me, looking hopeful despite the lack of grinning, "Would you sit for a little while?"

I looked back over my shoulder at Lily and Mia. They were smiling just a little too widely and giving me two thumps up each, telling me that I should sit in an all too obvious way. I bit my lower lip and then pulled the chair out, sitting down quickly before I changed my mind.

Jared's usual smile jumped back into existence and he almost laughed with his pleasure. It was a little confronting because I couldn't remember anyone ever being this happy about my presence before.

"So, what happened with Paul?" Hoping to keep the topic off either of us for as long as possible.

Jared's smile didn't falter although I got the feeling that his happiness did wane a little, "You were right, he's been suspended. Two weeks."

"Will he be alright? Academically, that is?"

"He'll be fine." Jared said and I could tell that there was something he wasn't saying, "He asked about you. He wanted to know if you were alright."

I was surprised by this but only somewhat, there had been something in the way that Paul had looked at me earlier that made me think he was concerned about me, "He's just been suspended for fighting and he's worried about me?"

"Yeah. Paul gets a bad rep for being aggressive but... if you knew him, you'd understand that he's not as bad as he seems." Jared caught my eyes before continuing, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"It's just... he told me about what happened. About what Kyle said and he was worried that you were upset by it."

It was strange. I'd thought I'd hidden the hurt from Kyle's comment about my weight but it looked like Paul might have caught it, "Kyle didn't mean anything by it."

Jared didn't seem to like this response, I could see it in how his eyes hardened ever so slightly, "But it hurt you?"

"Not really."

"But kind of?"

I gulped, not liking that Jared was pushing this issue, "Can we change the subject?"

"Okay, how is your thumb?" Jared asked as he stretched out a hand in a silent request to look at my thumb.

"It's fine. It's barely a cut." I replied, refusing to show my hand.

Jared looked at me with careful consideration, his face harder than it normally was and his outstretched hand seeming to beg for me to put mine in it. Jared's jaw clenched for a split second and then everything relaxed. The smile, which had slowly turned into a tight lipped scowl over the last few minutes, burst back to life and the hard edge to his eyes washed away.

"What class do you have next?" his voice was more cheerful than it had been since I'd mentioned Paul's potential suspension and that part of me that was screaming about his flawless russet skin, giggled at the sound of his joy.

I was afraid I might be turning into one of the teenyboppers that I'd imagined watching Jared and his friends, the first day I'd seen them.

I couldn't help the grimace that plastered my face when I thought about my next class, "Chemistry."

All other sciences I enjoyed but I found chemistry was looking at things that were too small for me to actually get excited about. I understood its importance but just didn't care enough about protons and electrons to want to learn more than the very basics.

"Don't sound so enthusiastic." Jared laughed, "After that?"

"English."

Jared's grin grew, "With Mr Youngblood?"

I gave him a disappointed smile, "Mrs Gray."

Jared's smile dropped back to its normal size, "And then?"

"Calculus."

"Great. I have Calculus too, who do you normally sit next to?" Jared's excitement was catchy and I found myself smiling wider at him.

That was until I registered his question, "Kyle."

"Oh." Jared didn't seem too impressed by that and his excitement diminished slightly. I saw some optimism flash in his eyes as he went to continue, "Well, do you think he'd mind if you sat with me? Just for today?"

The way he said 'just for today' reminded me of how he had said 'just going to talk' and all the suspicion I'd felt towards him came flooding back. I took a deep breath to try to calm myself but it didn't really work.

"I don't think so." I did my best not to growl at Jared but my answer still hurt him.

"Why?" his eyes were wide and he had the cutest puppy dog pout of any person I'd ever met.

It was like I was melting over the top of a fence. Part of me melting from the fire of my distrust, while the other part melted at the innocent hurt on his face. It was a very uncomfortable feeling and I had to take a few moments to decide whether to tell him why or just give in to him.

I decided that honesty was best and to go with my suspicions, "Because you also said we were just going to talk."

Jared's face fell, again. I hated myself for making him look so sad so often.

"I said I was sorry about that." he wasn't just talking to me anymore, he was begging me, pleading with me.

The part of me that earlier had sung Jared's praises was now yelling at me. My internal monologue was not happy with me, in general that was not anything new but in detail it was. I'd never yelled at myself over trying to protect myself from potential pain.

"I heard that and... I forgive you but I don't know if I can trust you."

"You can. I promise you can."

I smiled at him, "Can't you see how that promise is kind of moot?"

Jared thought for a moment and then smiled back, "Okay well... if you can't trust me than... I'll give you a month of servitude."

The laugh that escaped me was not intentional but thankfully Jared could tell that it wasn't meant as an insult to him, "I don't need servitude. I trust you. I just can't let Kyle sit alone. I think he'd lose his nut if he found me sitting with you after Paul beat him up."

It was Jared's turn to laugh, "I guess he would. But you have to admit, it would be fun to watch."

"Oh, I don't know about that... maybe if he hadn't just been manhandled by Paul. What do you guys do anyway? To get muscles like you have? Is it some sort of tough love boot camp thing you have going with Paul and Sam?"

Jared's eyes twinkled in the artificial light and his smile rode to one side of his face, "It's kind of a secret... but I could tell you."

I knew that tone, it was an 'I could tell you if...' tone and I had a strong feeling I wasn't going to like the 'if part'. Maybe he was going to ask me out, I really didn't want to have to turn him down, again. Not when the whole reason for talking to him was to stop him looking so hurt.

After a couple of minutes of silence, curiosity got the better of me, "If...?"

His smiled became even more lopsided and, if possible, even cuter, "You'll hang out with me after school one day. I promise that this time there will only be talking, nothing else. If you want, I'll blindfold myself so that all I'll be able to do is listen and talk."

I thought about it for a little while. At least he'd moved on from the dating thing but I was still unsure.

What if this was just a part of one massively elaborate trick?

What if he was going to tell everyone it was a date when it wasn't?

What if he kissed me, again?

Actually, I wouldn't mind that one. If I was being honest, it was kind of nice to think that someone wanted to kiss me. I still thought it was a little disturbing on Jared's side of the equation but I wasn't on that side, I was on my side. And on my side of the equation it was a damn good kiss.

I watched Jared carefully for a few long moments and then sighed, "As long as there's only talking, there'll be no need for a blindfold."

He started to laugh. It wasn't a laugh of malice but one of surprise, like he hadn't expected me to agree to it. I liked this laugh, it was sweet and excited. I could almost fall asleep to this laugh.

"How about this afternoon?" he almost squeaked with his pleasure and I couldn't help but laugh at him for it.

"I don't think so. I normally go to the beach with the others on a Monday." I said, my voice louder than normal as I tried to talk around my own laughter.

My rejection of the afternoon did not throw him at all, "Okay then, tomorrow?"

I couldn't think of a reason why tomorrow wasn't acceptable, "Yeah, sure."

"Awesome." Jared sighed, a large grin still glued to his face. His eyes brighter than I'd ever seen them before and they wandered over my face.

"So? What's the secret?" I pried, only just remembering that there was a reason that I'd agreed to this in the first place. Well, apart from the fact that the part of me that screamed about Jared had managed to take control for long enough to agree to hanging out.

"What? Oh, you'll just have to wait." Jared was still staring at me but I was slowly becoming accustomed to it.

Normally someone staring at me would freak me out. Have me thinking all sorts of horrible things about myself and them. But I got the feeling that Jared could stare at me for a month and I wouldn't protest too much. Although there was still a small part of me that was confronted by it, it was greatly outweighed by the rest of me.

"There's something you should know about me, Jared."

"What?" he sounded like hearing about me was the most fascinating thing in the world.

That was still enough to faze me and for a few seconds I didn't think I could continue. But as my eyes met his I knew that I couldn't not answer him.

"I'm really impatient."

He laughed again and I felt my heart melt. I loved his laugh; it was even more beautiful than his voice. This was a laugh of pure mirth and it was far superior to the surprised laugh I'd heard earlier. This laugh was so pleasurable to hear that it was all I could do to not join him, even though I wasn't sure what I would be laughing at.

His laugh was so intoxicating that I didn't even flinch as he reached out and took my hand in his. Something no one had ever done before.