A/N: I'm going to apologize because this is long overdue, shorter than usual and a little bit overwhelming for me. I'm slow, I'm sorry.

BTW: JACOB IS A SOPHOMORE IN THIS STORY. I know a lot of people pointed out that I screwed up in the first couple of chapters and mixed up his age, but I couldn't decide when I wanted this story to take place. So he's in the tenth grade.

And if you haven't already noticed, I changed my penname. Sorry if it caused any confusion. Enjoy!

3 months later.

"Where's my left shoe?!" I hollered down the hallway to my brother.

Jeff's head appeared out of his bedroom door. "I wouldn't know, Kim. Isn't it with the right shoe?"

I sighed. "Wow, Jeff. Why didn't I think of that? You know, you are so smart it's unbearable sometimes. The right one is currently on my foot. My left foot is currently wearing a sock. Do the math. Just, never mind. I'll find it myself." He mumbled something and shut the door again. "Lakota, have you stolen one of my shoes again?"

I heard her laughter, muffled by the large spoonful of cereal shoved into her mouth. "Maybe."

"Well…Where is it?"

She giggled. "It's at Jared's."

I rolled my eyes. "Stop lying, now where is it really?" I asked condescendingly.

Lakota broke into full peals of laughter again. "I'm not. I left it under Jared's bed when I went there for dinner yesterday."

I looked into her twinkling, mischievous eyes and realised that she was, one hundred percent, telling the truth. I swung my leg back and tipped the chair over in anger, a loud bang following it and my eyes brimming with tears. "Why?! Why would you do that, you stupid brat!"

Her laughter stopped and she immediately burst into tears. "B-because Jared me to!" She wailed. "W-when I was at E-Emily's!" Snot dropped out of her nose and despite my better judgement, I wiped it with my sleeve and hauled her into my arms.

"I'm sorry I called you a brat." I murmured as she sobbed into my shoulder with her snot, drool and tears slopping itself all over my good shirt. "Don't cry anymore. It's okay, I have other shoes."

Lakota shook her head, smearing her access drippings more profoundly into the fabric of my shirt. "You have to go get that one!" She cried. "Or else, Jared'll be mad at me!"

I stroked her hair in comfort before patronizing her. "I don't know, baby. I haven't spoken one word to Jared since October."

"Please? For me." She mumbled sadly. "Please Kimmie."

Oh boy, here goes nothing. "Fine." I agreed shortly. "But I won't be happy about it at all."

Her face, alight with happiness and still watery with tears, beamed up at me. She leaned down and blew her nose on the front of my shirt. "Come on Kim, we have to go now!" She babbled excitedly, oblivious to my disgust. "Jeffy, we need to leave!"

"No wait! I need to change my shirt!" I called after her bounding form.

I'd never been in his house before, but I know where his room is. I've seen him leaning out of it and I can tell it's his room.

The curtains just scream "Jared."

Yeah I'm pathetic. Shut up.

"I'm not going in alone. Lakota you made this mess, now help me fix it." I complained.

"No!" She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Lakota!" I cried.

"Kim!"

Jeff sighed and unlocked my door, reaching across and opening it. "Just go, Kim. You're acting like you're five years old. You're a big girl."

I mumbled a swear word under my breath and got out of the car, palms sweaty and heart pounding. Three tiny, wooden steps and I was at the door. I lifted my hand and made it into a fist, fingers shaking and I rapped three times.

"Oh look no one's home!" I said after three seconds of waiting. Turning around, I got down one step when the door swung open. Damn. I turned back around, expecting to meet those same blue eyes I'd been dreaming about all my life.

I did. But they didn't belong to the person I thought they would. They were on the tanned, beautiful face of a small, slender woman. She was wearing one of those pant suits and her hair was all up in a tight bun. She was beautiful. She was Jared's clone.

And his mother. I nearly threw up. "Hi, can I help you?" She asked quizzically.

I choked on my tongue. "I'm here to uh, see J-Jared."

"He's asleep dear, but you can just go right on up quickly. I really have to hurry off to work. It was nice meeting you… I'm sorry I didn't get your name."

I blushed. "It's Kim."

"Oh we-…oh! You're Kim? Well I guess it's an extreme pleasure. I've heard a lot about you." She babbled excitedly.

"I bet." I murmured so she couldn't hear me.

And to my surprise, she stepped right towards me and her arms went around my neck and she pushed me tight against her and squeezed with from what I can tell all her might. "I'm so glad to finally, finally meet you. I've heard nothing but good things about you, Kim. You make my son very happy and you're way prettier than he described. Go straight on up sweetheart, and take your time." And with one more tightening of her arms, she released me, holding me at arm's length. "I have a feeling we'll be meeting again very soon."

I blushed, my throat closed up and I had to cough before I could speak again. "It was nice meeting you too, Mrs. Cameron."

"Please, call me Linda. You're practically family anyway." And then before I could move, breath or speak again, because my brain had shut down in shock, she moved away, heels clicking against the wet pavement as she walked to the SUV parked on the side of the road. I turned to watch her leave, mouth gaping as she waved merrily from the window of her car.

And then I realised the rain left on the porch was soaking into my sock on the foot that my sister insisted I left shoeless.

Without thinking, I scrambled into the house and slammed the door shut behind me. My foot was cold and numb and I was now standing inside Jared's house. Completely alone, with Jared's snore vibrating the walls from his bedroom upstairs.

The house was spotless. I honestly mean it, everything was white and there was no dirt anywhere. It didn't even look like a speck of dust fell from the air. I took off my shoe and my wet sock, afraid to dirty anything up and slowly made my way up the stairs. I passed through the cream painted hallway, admiring the pictures of Jared and his family that hung along the walls as I followed the snores to the door at the end of the hall.

The door was halfway open. Did I dare?

Maybe I should just knock and wait… But I already know that not even an earthquake could wake Jared up, especially in History. Besides, I've got nothing to lose right? Maybe my dignity… But it's all good, I'll just duck under the bed, grab the shoe and get out.

Unless there's disgusting things under his bed… He is a boy. And if I don't hurry up, he's going to wake up and see me standing here like an idiot and we're all going to be late for school.

Alright, this is it. I took a deep breath and slid through the gap in the door without pushing it any more than it was.

I was shocked at what I saw. The room was almost completely empty. There was a wooden dresser off to the side, which was shut tight with no clothes hanging out of it or anything and then there was a black iron, four poster bed in the middle of the room, headboard to the wall, with white sheets and a white comforter and four white, fluffy pillows. It also held Jared, shirt off, in his boxers, head touching the backboard and feet still dangling off the edge of the bed. Half of the blankets were hanging off the mattress and touching the floor.

And right at the foot of the bed, waiting for its owner to come and claim it, was my left Vann slip-on. I rushed forward and in my haste, I tripped over one of the pillows that had been thrown off the bed and I went flying, hitting my head off the post with a bang and falling on top of my shoe.

That one damn shoe was causing me so much trouble. It's a shoe for crying out loud!

And then my head started to throb. I felt like I had internal bleeding or brain injury. "Ow." I whined. But far from being completely distracted, I grabbed my shoe, stood up fast even though it gave me a head rush and made my way to the door.

And I froze. The room was too silent. Dread creeping into my stomach, I slowly started to turn around, hoping and praying that he was still asleep. I blinked once and his eyes met mine. "Kim?" He asked groggily. "Am I dreaming again?"

Despite myself, I smiled at him. "No, I'm actually here. Sorry, I just came to get my shoe and your mom let me in. I was just leaving though, go back to sleep."

"Please stay." He asked in a hopeless voice that made me feel like he knew I was going to leave anyway. I didn't blame him though, I mean, I haven't spoken to him in three months. I guess I was a little bit harsh with him, I think he honestly believed that I chose him.

I guess breaking up with Jacob and then hanging out with Jared the day after was leading him on. But I didn't know that at the time. And if I hadn't yelled at him, I'd probably have friends at school right now, seeing as Summer isn't speaking to me anymore. And I guess the trio is self-explanatory… Although, Embry always smiles at me when the others aren't looking. As for my relationship with Paul, it's a little bit love and hate. Or mostly hate on my part, and a love for annoying me on his.

At least I have someone to distract me in art class, so I don't have to listen to Summer whisper things about me behind my back. Literally.

So all and all, I guess I owe Jared a little bit of my time, seeing as though I've been ignoring every word he says to me the past three months. I mean, is it really necessary to snap at him when he asks me if he can borrow a pencil? Or give him the cold shoulder when he offers to help me reach the books at the top of my locker that are no longer accessible to me?

No. Which is why I dropped my shoe back to the floor and went to sit on the edge of his bed. I thought his eyeballs about popped out of his head in shock. He seemed at a loss for words, so he just said, "Hi."

I smiled back at him and tucked a piece of my straightened hair behind my ear. "Hi."

He opened his mouth to say something, but it was like my ears were clogged with water because his lips were moving but all I could see was the way they curved when he emphasized a certain word and the way his strong jaw moved. I followed his neck down to his torso, he was shirtless and he was hot. I mean, I could feel his body heat but I could see it too, if that makes sense.

I wanted to run my finger over his abs, which trailed into a long v that should have tucked into the waistband of his pants.

But he was just wearing boxers. And apparently, that thing that boys get every morning…Actually happens.

It took me a good three seconds to realise what I was staring at and to look away, shutting my eyes and blushing red like a tomato. "I didn't see that, I didn't see that." I muttered.

"Kim, what's wrong?" He asked me hesitantly.

It took me a minute to force the sentence out of my mouth. "You-you're not wearing any pants."

"Does that make you uncomfortable?" He asked in a completely calm and amused voice.

I nodded my head. "A little bit, yes."

The bed sprung up as his weight lifted from it. "Then I'll put some pants on. I might as well get dressed, I suppose I have to go to school sometime." He answered and I heard the drawer open. "You're lucky you're here, because I don't usually wear boxers to school. I go commando most of the time." He was sharing this information with me as if it was the natural thing to do.

He had no shame, apparently. And then I remembered my brother was waiting for me outside. "Oh fuck… I'll be right back!" And I dashed out of the room, shamelessly taking a nice peek at Jared's butt before so. And when I got to the door and swung it open, the car was gone and there was a note lying on the doormat.

Kim, it read.

Lakota's plan worked. Don't get mad, see you after school.

Well that was a waste. I could be watching Jared getting undressed right now ..

Yeah, I'm pathetic. Three months cold turkey and I still haven't gotten over Jared. Which is why instead of just leaving, I trekked all the way back upstairs to where he was waiting, sitting on the middle of his bed with his legs stretched out in a pair of jeans and a tight black v-neck, all content and sexy. That and my foot was still bare because my sock was soaked and I had left the shoe on Jared's floor.

But when he patted the bed, I joined him again, because I was weak and pathetic. So I sat across from him cross legged while he shifted his legs open so I could actually have room on the bed because he takes up most of the space. It sounds like an awkward position and believe me, it was.

"Hey Kim, why is your foot bare?" He asked me, nudging my foot with his.

I shrugged. "My sock got wet because my sister forced me to wear one shoe over here. I can't believe you got her scheming with you."

"Well, it can't be all bad. It worked, didn't it?" He murmured, his sparkling blue eyes boring into mine.

I nodded, mesmerized. Oh boy, I was going to regret this tomorrow, maybe even later. But hell, what is it that they say, that means seize the day? It came to my head as I moved forward, legs on either side of his hips, straddling him. "Carpe Diem." I whispered.

Jared was obviously distracted, because any other time he would have heard me. "What did you say?" He asked me.

"Who cares?" Was my reply before I grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him full on the mouth.

Before you say, wow Kim, what are you doing? Let me just tell you that you have never been face to face with Jared and you've never been under his spell. Yes, spell. He's a wizard or something because every time I see him, I just want to kiss him. And normally with any other guy, I would not being the one making the first move, even if we were in an official relationship.

And that's why I kissed him first. Let me tell you, I'm glad I did it. Because the last time I kissed him was the day I broke up with Jacob and that was about three months ago. And believe me I haven't stopped thinking about it.

His hands went to my hips and he rolled me over so that I was lying on the bed below him. The way my heart was racing and my palms were sweating, it was like I hadn't had any human contact in years. His mouth started to lift from mine and I grabbed the back of his head and tried to keep him still.

He had morning breath… I dropped from the arch in my back, slumping into the comfortable bed. "Why is it that every time I see you, we end up kissing?"

"I didn't initiate it this time. Does this mean you're speaking to me again?" He teased me,

I sighed. "Don't count on it."

"I don't really mind if you don't speak to me, if this is the reward I get."

"Shut up."

"I will if you promise me you'll talk to me again." He proposed

Well, I missed him anyways. "On one condition… I get to borrow a pair of your socks." I grinned. "My foot is cold."

"I don't know if they're going to fit you."

"I'll just roll them up as many times as I can. You owe me! This was the deal for me being your friend again." I accused. He sighed, rolling over and getting up off the bed, silently walking over to his dresser and throwing a pair of perfectly rolled up socks at me. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." He said shortly.

"Don't lie to me, Jared Jonathan Cameron. What did I do?"

He turned to me sharply. "How do you know my middle name?"

I blushed deeply. "Not important. Now tell me, please Jared."

"I- uh thought that since you came over here and uh kissed me like that, that you wanted to be, uh, more than friends and that uh you, uh believed me about beings a, well, you know, were-"

"Don't say it!" I exclaimed.

He blinked. "What, were-?" He cut off at my sharp look. "Well why not? It's not a dirty word."

"No, it's not. It's a word that just screams insanity. I've spent a long time trying to convince myself that you're normal, but that word is not helping."

"This is ridiculous. Why can't you just trust me, Kim? This isn't how it's supposed to work, you're supposed to trust me immediately."

"This isn't about trust, this is about you being a lunatic and claiming you're a werewolf!"

"I'm not claiming it, I am one! And so are Sam and Paul, and Embry's next, I've seen the symptoms myself!"

"Really?" I bit sarcastically. "And I'm going to guess Jake is next after him?"

He threw his hands over his head. "Probably! He's a direct descendant of the last Alpha in the Pack! And I'm going to assume that Quil's after him, because the three amigos never go anywhere without each other!"

The walls in the room rang with tense silence. A few things started to finally fall in front of my face, as Jared's face avoided gaze and I blanched. "You're jealous." I accused, stunned.

"What does that have to do with me being a werewolf?" He mumbled miserably.

"You're jealous!" I cried. "Why are you jealous?! Jared, you're being ridiculous."

I ran as fast as I could. I ran until my sides hurt, until my head throbbed and the blood of my pulsing heart was racing so fast I could hear it in my ears.

I kept running, past the parking lot and into the school doors, bowling over a shocked Summer and charging through Embry and Jacob. I ran to my locker, where I finally slammed my palms on it and bent my head down, gasping for air.

Because I love you.

A/N: I beta myself, all mistakes are my own.