Chapter Seven

This is weird, Kim couldn't help but think.

She was currently seated in her kitchen, her homework spread across half of the table before her and the sound of the laugh track on Kylie's television show in the background. Spread out on the other half of the kitchen table was Jared's homework, with said boy seated in the chair directly across from her.

No, this was beyond weird. Jared Cameron was sitting in her kitchen and they were doing their homework together. So beyond weird.

But the weirdest part of it all?

This was the seventh time this exact situation had occurred. The seventh time. In a row.

Somehow Jared had actually been serious when he had asked if he could be her study partner; honestly, Kim hadn't really believed he'd stick to it. But here they were: Day Seven and still doing their homework together after school. Kim would call it one of those things you had to see to believe, but here she was seeing it and she still wasn't entirely sure she believed it was real life.

Seeing Jared pause in whatever he was writing, Kim shook her head slightly and forced herself to look away from him and down at her own work before he could catch her staring.

And as she began working on the review problems she had been set in Chemistry that morning, Kim couldn't help but smile to herself. It might still be sinking in, but this was definitely real life. Jared was really here and they were really sitting in her kitchen working on their homework.

Schoolwork was a wonderful thing.

It wasn't just schoolwork that was wonderful, though. Because for the past seven days, not only had Jared been coming over to Kim's house every day after school so that they could do their homework together, but what had started as him popping up unexpectedly throughout the school day had progressed to Jared walking Kim to each of her classes every day. They even ate lunch together, usually with Paul Lahote as well (And, for the record, this made Kim seriously doubt her stalking abilities because she never thought Jared and Paul had interacted with each other before, let alone been friendly enough that they drove to school and ate lunch with each other every day, but apparently they were). Jared had even offered to drive both her and Kylie to and from school every day, which had probably shocked her the most even if he hadn't asked in between apologizing for not asking sooner. That offer to spend time in Jared's company she had turned down, though; she quite liked her walks, and she wasn't about to let Kylie get used to driving when Kim knew it probably wouldn't last.

The next two weeks passed in much the same manner. Indeed, it progressed to the point that Kim (and, by extension, Kylie, when they weren't in school) was spending most of her time with Jared. It was all very surreal for Kim. Of course, there were still the classes they were separated during and he did leave every night (albeit rather reluctantly, if Kim was interpreting his behavior correctly) after studying and usually dinner. But still, that was a lot of time spent in Jared's company considering Kim was pretty certain he hadn't actually known she existed until he borrowed her history notes.

Not that she was complaining. No, definitely not. Rather, she was quite certain these had been the best three weeks of her life.

And yes, she was quite aware how pathetic that made her seem, thank you very much. But she was a teenage girl who basically spent most of her time raising her little sister. Was it really such a crime to enjoy the attention of a cute guy she'd always had a crush on? Not in Kim's book.

It wasn't as if it was going to last much longer, anyway. Today was the last day of school, after all, and Jared would no longer need her as a study partner. For the most part though, Kim was okay with that, because she had enjoyed Jared's company while it lasted. And there was always the hope that maybe they could pick their study sessions back up at the beginning of next year…

"Hey, Kim!"

Kim was interrupted from her musings by the sudden appearance of Jared at her locker. Even though this little routine had been happening for weeks by this point, the cheerful grin he focused completely on her still brought a blush to Kim's cheeks. Jared really was too gorgeous for his own good.

"Hey, Jared," Kim replied, giving him a small smile of her own before turning back to retrieve the lone textbook remaining in her locker.

"I don't know about you," Jared began, "But I feel more ready for this History final than I've felt for any test before in my entire life. 'Course, that's probably because I had the world's best tutor helping me study for it." And here he flashed her another blush-inducing grin. Why, oh why, did she have to be so blush prone?

"It'll be nice not to have to study anymore," Kim agreed. And no sooner had she spoken than Jared's grin disappeared and his whole face fell. Her eyes widened immediately in alarm while her cursed cheeks turned an even darker shade of red. "No! I didn't mean it like that! I mean, studying with you was great. It was the actual studying part I'm ready to be done with. Of course I loved hanging out with you—I mean, I liked it…it was great…a fun time. The actual studying was the part that sucked."

Kim forced herself to shut her mouth before she continued tripping over her words—any longer and she probably would have accidentally blurted out just how very much she enjoyed spending time with Jared. There was no possible way anyone's life could be more mortifying than hers at the present moment. And meanwhile Jared was just standing there with a stupid smirk on his face. Forget studying, boys sucked. Jared sucked.

Except…Kim was a glutton for punishment. Jared didn't actually suck. He was all sorts of amazing. And he was still standing there even after her utter ridiculousness. Jared really was amazing.

"C'mon," Jared jerked his head vaguely in the direction of their classroom and snatched Kim's textbook out of her hands before she could protest, as was the norm. "Let's put all that studying to good use and get this final over with."

Just over an hour later, Kim could easily admit to herself that Jared's idea to be study partners really had worked well…better than she thought it would, originally, if she was being completely honest with herself. Not that she was ever going to feed his ego and admit it to his face, that is. Of course, it wasn't as if she expected to ever have the opportunity to admit anything to his face again. With finals officially completely over, Kim honestly couldn't see a reason for Jared to continue socializing with her. Which would explain why she was so surprised when, after the bell rang, Jared simply stood and waited for Kim to finish gathering her things.

"What are you doing?" Kim questioned upon looking up to see him standing there, the same as every other day after class ended the past couple of weeks.

"Er…waiting for you?" Jared offered, apparently genuinely confused, Kim couldn't help but note.

"But…why?"

"Because I am," Jared replied, even more confused now. "Just like I've been doing…why? D'you…I mean, I know we don't have any homework anymore, did you not want to hang out with me anymore?"

"No!" Kim declared immediately, followed of course by the reddening of her cheeks at her outburst. "I mean, no, of course not," She said in a calmer tone. "I just…well, I just thought…now that finals are over and we don't have to study anymore…well, that you might not want…"

She trailed off, equal parts unsure and embarrassed. She couldn't even read Jared's expression.

"Kim, Jared, don't you have somewhere else to be?" Mrs. Reynolds' voice tore Kim away from avoiding looking at Jared. "I know I have one last class coming in for their final."

"Oh, sorry, yes, we were just leaving," Kim said swiftly, slinging her bag over her shoulder and quickly exiting the classroom.

No sooner was she out in the hallway, however, than a warm hand locked around her right wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

This was not the first time Kim had come into skin-to-skin contact with Jared in the past few weeks. There had been plenty of times when hands, arms, and even legs had brushed against each other while sitting side-by-side studying or eating, or when they were walking through the halls together. And just like every other time, Kim's entire body tingled at the contact. It was an altogether rather pleasant feeling.

Kim looked down at the hand wrapped around her wrist and then up into Jared's frowning face. Well there went her pleasant feeling…

"Why wouldn't I want to spend time with you anymore?" Jared demanded.

Kim shrugged, embarrassed yet again, and thoroughly uncomfortable with the route this conversation was taking.

"Did you…" Jared suddenly looked stricken. "Did you think I was using you to get a better grade or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Jared," Kim finally said. "I mean, I didn't think you were using me. But now that you don't need me anymore, I know there are a lot of other, more interesting ways you could be spending your time."

"I'm pretty sure you're the one who's being ridiculous here, Kim," Jared replied, his grip on her wrist tightening almost imperceptibly. "Of course I need you. We're f-friends now. There is honestly nothing I'd rather do than spend time with you."

Kim merely studied him for a moment. He certainly seemed sincere. She hadn't missed how he'd stuttered over calling her a friend, but she couldn't imagine why that was. Oh well, it really couldn't hurt…honestly, she'd died a bit more on the inside at the end of every study session that brought them closer to the end of the year. If Jared Cameron really wanted to be her friend, then who was she to argue?

Kim smiled. "Well, okay, then."

Jared smiled back and finally seemed to realize that he was still clutching at her wrist, releasing it immediately—she instantly missed the warmth of his hand.

"Well," Jared began, "I don't know about you, but I actually don't have anywhere else to be. My final right now is study hall."

"P.E.," Kim replied. "So I'm done, but Kylie doesn't get out for another hour, so I have to stick around to pick her up."

"What about after that?" Jared asked. And was Kim imagining things or did he suddenly look nervous?

"Just summer vacation," Kim said with a shrug.

"Well then," Jared began slowly, "Maybe you and Kylie could come out to lunch with me? My treat. We can go to the diner and celebrate the end of studying and the beginning of summer. Friends do that kind of thing, right?"

"Yeah, sounds fun," Kim agreed with a smile.

But she wasn't smiling on the inside. What she would give to be going out with Jared as more than just friends…