Chapter Nine

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

There were only three words running on a continuous loop through Kim's head.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

Jared Cameron had asked her out. On a date. With him. And she said yes.

Kim was positive that she was dreaming.

Except…hadn't she tried to talk him out of it? Hadn't his reason for wanting to ask her out been perfectly sensible—and swoon worthy? That was Jared Cameron in a nutshell: sensible and swoon-worthy.

There really was no other explanation for it: This was real life.

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!

"Kimmie!" The excited shout brought Kim out of her daze to see Kylie running towards her, a wide grin on her face. Quickly, Kim stood up and opened her arms just in time to catch Kylie as the younger girl threw herself at her older sister.

"How was school?" Kim asked, amused, as she released her sister.

"It was the best ever!" Kylie said enthusiastically, surprising both Kim and Jared when she immediately threw herself at Jared and gave him a hug to rival the one she'd just given Kim.

"Oh, er, why?" Kim stumbled slightly as she watched Kylie hug Jared, but quickly decided to shrug off Kylie's behavior. She always had been an overly friendly little girl…and Jared's expression of pure confusion was hilarious.

"Because it's the last day. Duh," Kylie replied, turning back to Kim. "School is over forever!"

Kim laughed lightly. "Not quite, kid. You've got a few more years before you can really say school is done forever. You're just going to have to put up with only get a break for the summer for a while longer. But," She continued quickly when Kylie opened her mouth as if to protest, "Speaking of summer, Jared had a fun idea. How would you like to go to the diner to celebrate the end of school?"

"Yes!" Kylie immediately shouted. "Is Mommy working there today? Can we see her?"

"Sure," Kim replied with a shrug, holding a hand out for Kylie to take.

"I'll drive," Jared said swiftly as he finally stood up. Kim couldn't help the giggle that slipped out when she caught sight of his determined expression. Clearly he expected her to protest him driving her and Kylie just like she had when he'd offered to drive them to and from school. This was different, though. Not only was this (kind of) a special occasion, but it was far to walk from the school to the diner. Kim had absolutely no complaints about Jared driving today.

"Sounds good to me," Kim replied with a shrug, merely smiling as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.

Both were distracted once again, however, by Kylie who chose that moment to slip her free hand into one of Jared's much larger hands and begin pulling the two of them towards the parking lot.

"C'mon! What are we waiting for?" She said impatiently. "There's a chocolate milkshake with my name on it calling for me!"

When they reached Jared's truck, however, it was to find Paul lounging in the front seat.

"Dude," Paul demanded as Jared opened the driver-side door, "Where have you been? I think I'm dying of hunger."

Well, from the way she'd seen him inhale food every lunch period for the past few weeks, Kim wasn't surprised by that statement from Paul at all.

"We're going to the diner to celebrate summer!" Kylie told Paul excitedly before Jared could reply. "They have lots of yummy food there; you should come with us."

Kim merely rolled her eyes at her sister's matter-of-fact tone. Kylie really was too friendly for her own good.

She couldn't help but notice, though, that Paul hesitated before responding, his gaze going from Kylie to the grip she had on both Kim and Jared's hands and then to Jared himself, upon which Paul and Jared seemed to have a silent conversation with just their eyes. Kim sighed mentally. Boys could be so awkward sometimes. Though she really wasn't one to judge…

"You should come with us, Paul," Kim said softly, because honestly maybe he had something better to do with his time. "It'll be fun."

Paul was still looking at Jared, though. But whatever he saw there seemed to make up his mind, because he turned to Kim and shrugged.

"I'm always down for any food," He said. "I'll just get in the back so there's room for you guys in here."

But before he could make a move to open the passenger door, Kylie had released the hands she was holding, climbed into the cab of the truck, and settled herself into Paul's lap.

"It's okay, I'll just sit here," Kylie told him with a wide smile. "That way we can share a seat belt because Mommy always says everyone needs to wear a seat belt when they're riding in the car. And if you ride in the back, then you won't have a seat belt and then your mommy might get angry with you."

At Paul's overwhelmed expression, Kim bit back a smile and climbed in after her sister. Ten minutes later found the four of them seated in a booth at the small La Push diner. Kylie had claimed the seat next to Paul, having already declared him her new best friend after the car ride—not that Kim minded since it meant she got to sit next to Jared.

"Mommy!" Kylie cried, causing Kim to look up from her menu to see that her mom was indeed approaching their booth.

"Hello, Kylie," Her mom's overly calm voice immediately made Kim stiffen. Well shit. There was only one reason her mom used that voice. She wasn't angry with Kim for taking Kylie out, was she? Maybe she was just having a bad day at work…either way, her tone did not bode good things to come that night at home. "And Kim, Jared, and…Paul."

"Hello, Ms. Connweller," Jared replied happily and Kim was grateful that he'd only briefly met her mother so far and thus couldn't tell that the woman was actually quite upset right now. Or, at least, she didn't think he could tell until his warm hand closed over hers on the seat in between them and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you again, too, Jared," She replied, "But I do believe I told you to call me Katie."

"You did," Jared replied cheerfully. "It's just, sometimes I actually remember to use the manners my mom beat into—er, taught me."

Katie rolled her eyes at this, but Kim could easily tell that she was actually fighting back a smile. Clearly Kim wasn't the only person affected by Jared's charm.

"What can I do for you kids today?" Katie asked then.

"Well," Jared began swiftly, "Paul can fend for himself because he's a big boy, but make sure that whatever Kim and Kylie order ends up on my check—it's my treat to thank them for Kim basically tutoring me the past few weeks, and of course to apologize for depriving Kylie of her much-needed beach time."

"I'm getting a chocolate milkshake!" Kylie chimed in at this point.

"And will you be having food with your sugar?" Katie asked her daughter pointedly.

As Katie took down the rest of their orders, Kim only half-paid attention to her mom's still-slightly-odd behavior—but really, though, what did her mom have against Paul? The warm manner she'd adopted when speaking to Jared had shifted to stiffly polite when she turned to take Paul's order. To the best of Kim's knowledge, this was the first time her mom was even meeting the boy, even though they'd gone to school together since second grade. Of course, now that Kim thought about it, how had her mom even known Paul's name? Kim was ninety-nine point eight percent certain she had never mentioned anything at all to her mom about Paul Lahote in the past eight years. This was just bizarre.

But all of that was hardly important right now. Kim had bigger things to focus on for the time being. For example: Jared was still holding her hand (!).

Best. Day. Ever.