CHAPTER 9: A Minor Variation


I would love to impart every little mundane detail of what happened in the consequent three weeks, but that would be dull.

Jared and I walked together to and from school, discussing everything from politics to debating the merits of a mocha versus a caramel latte (he swore by mocha, while I heatedly sided with caramel).

If I thought his turnaround in attitude toward me was strange, I wasn't the only one.

"Why the fuck is Jared talking to Kim?" Danielle asked Dena, neither bothering to lower their voices while sitting right in front of me. Bitches.

Dena shot me an appraising look and I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at her. That would be juvenile. I pretended, instead, that they were toads with diarrhea. "I don't know, Dan."

"He gets sick and two week later, it's like his friends never existed. I mean, what the fuck?"

"Marcus and Tony said that he, like, won't return their calls. And he's been hanging out with Paul a lot."

"I heard he quit football."

"No way! He was our best wide receiver!"

"I don't get it."

"I tried talking to him, but he smiles and ignores me. The only one he really talks to is her," she glared venomously at me and I stiffened my back so I wouldn't melt under her scrutiny. Chin up.

Dena turned to me. "What does Jared say to you?"

I was stunned at their nerve and didn't answer immediately. "Can you speak?" Danielle hissed, obviously truly bothered by this entire thing.

I was not a big fan of confrontation, but these toads were pissing me off. Were they honestly surprised Jared didn't want to talk to them? "Can you have some manners?" I snapped back, straightening and looking her in the eye. I was shaking slightly on the inside, and my pulse increased. I tried not to let it show.

The two girls gasped in unison. Thankfully, before they could reply, the bell rang and I dashed out of my seat.

That was only the beginning.

Practically everyone in the school approached me with questions or watched as their friends came up to me and asked me what the hell was going on. It was a headache, that's for sure. Especially since I was more or less accustomed to being invisible.

Even Becky shared her doubts with me.

"I'm not going to pester you but, as your friend," I gave a pleased smile at that, "I have a few concerns, Kimmy."

I stuck my tongue out at the nickname but obligingly said, "You do?"

Becky leaned closer to whisper into my ear. The hallway was crowded, the lunch bell had rang, and so I didn't see the point since no one was listening, or could even hear us if they were trying to listen.

"He is gone for two weeks without a word, magically reappears in an enormous new body, with an air of…intimidation about him, ignores all his friends and then latches on to you? Not that you aren't latch-on worthy or anything, but isn't it…weird?" Becky's words weren't meant to cruel or hurtful, so I didn't take them as such. In fact, I was touched that she had thoughtfully approached me. It meant that, maybe, she considered me more than just a passing acquaintance.

"I know it seems that way from the outside," I said calmly, having thought and obsessed about this more than she ever could or would, "but Jared and I have agreed to start over and he's been great so far. I don't know the details of what happened and I haven't really asked. But I decided not to doubt him," I explained. "He's never given me reason to."

"Well, I'm just addin' my two cents worth. I'm sure you've had tons of people doing that!" Becky sniggered.

I agreed with an eye roll. "I've gotten a lot of spare change," I laughed.

"Be careful with him, in all seriousness. I've known Jared since kindergarten—and this entire thing is so unlike him. And I don't want you to get hurt considering your little crush on him," she whispered the last part, to my intense mortification.

"Shut up!" I exclaimed, "someone might hear you."

She patted me condescendingly on the shoulder. "Most people could guess, if they paid attention," she confided with a grin, "not only do you stare at him with a whipped expression but, last year, you doodled little hearts all over your notebook."

"I don't do that anymore," I lied. "I now only feel the friendliest of friendly feelings for him, really. No, really, Becky, I do! Stop shaking your head at me! Fine, be that way," I pouted as she did exactly that.

Eh, friends were so over-rated.

I entered the cafeteria a little behind Becky, since I had to exchange books at my locker, who'd already purchased her lunch and was seated at our normal table. I sat down, pointedly ignoring her, and grabbed my bagged lunch.

Hani Mason was seated across from me, intently studying a piece of yellow paper. "What's that?" I asked, trying to take my mind of my Jared and chewing on a carrot loudly.

"A progress report," she said gloomily.

"Did you slip a percent?"

When Hani looked at me with a sort of fever, I regretted my comment. She was a little intense about her grades. "If I don't get perfect scores, then I won't get into the perfect school and I won't-"

"…have the perfect job," I finished.

She nodded fiercely. "I have to get this 97 percent up in Econ."

Was she kidding? "You're getting a 97? Wow-ness. You need to calm it down," I shook my head, fiddling in my pocket for a tic-tac. I knew that mint and carrots weren't the most traditional of blends, but her anxiety spread.

"Whatever, Kimberly," she retorted, again analyzing the report. Maybe she was hoping they'd made a mistake.

Since Hani was preoccupied, I turned to chat with Becky and Charlie. They were in a deep conversation, however, and I glanced away, straining my ears to hear what they were saying. Maybe this was her secret boyfriend? Charlie had been sitting with us for a while now and as nice as he was to me, he spent most of the time staring at Becky or talking to her.

I caught Becky saying, "I don't think we should say anything—" and Charlie interrupting with, "Why?" before my friend leveled him with stern glare and hissed, "I'm not ready."

Oh, verbal evidence of their relationship! I scooted closer, but then a feeling twisted my stomach, like the one this morning, and a large shadow distracted me.

Jared?

I was not going to be startled by him again, so I turned. "Hey you!" I cheerfully greeted, beginning to accustom myself to him and the stirring he caused me to feel.

"Kim," he said warmly, holding a tray with an unbelievable amount of food on it. I was conscious that Becky and Charlie had ceased their whispers and were staring avidly at us. I tried not to hunch over.

I gestured to an empty space beside me and Jared sat down. "Have enough food?" Becky teased and I chuckled.

"I'm a growing boy!" he stuck his tongue out at her and nudged me slightly. A tingling shot into my side where he had touched me and my breath hitched.

A fact struck me. "Why are you at my lunch?"

He scratched his head sheepishly, taking the seat next to me and immediately encasing my right side in a veil of heat. I pressed into it, happily sighing. I glanced up at him to smile and we locked eyes, communicating silently in a way that we were still exploring.

Nice to see you, his said.

Likewise, I replied.

"I ditched study hall in favor of a long lunch," he replied, taking a large bit out of one of two chicken sandwiches.

"Neat," I said. "Then I can show you this." I took out my history paper and proudly displayed my 98 percent. We had worked on our respective papers together and even though I doubted he cared that much about my grade, I wanted him to know.

If I was going to measure his reaction, I would have been highly satisfied. As it was, I wasn't expecting more than a nice job, or grin. But he surprised me by expelling a joyful breath and beaming at me, simultaneously wrapping his arms around my shoulders in an awkward side bear-hug. I was becoming more and more accustomed to this behavior, and therefore leaned in instead of away.

"You are so amazing!" he whispered into my ear.

I felt heat travel all over my body. "Thanks," I said bashfully. Becky and Charlie were watching the display with open mouths, not probably realizing how close Jared and I had become over the past few weeks.

He released me with a sigh and dug into his food, saying with a mouth full of burger and fries, "I haven't gotten my essay back yet, but I'm sure I did good too. You checked it over, so how I could do poorly?"

I dodged a piece of food that flew past my hair, and flicked him in the ear. "Seriously, you're going to take my eye out with a half-chewed french fry. And I don't know, you did write it—even I'm not a miracle worker," I teased.

He pretended to scowl at me for both comments, but his eyes sparkled and we continued to bicker good-naturedly. The lunch bell rang and we both stood, exchanging a private smile before parting ways.

I joined Becky, who I could tell by the way she stared at me that she had something to say.

She was kind enough to wait until we were in the hall, almost to class, before sputtering, "I can't believe it! He is so into you! You guys are like a newlywed couple, all bicker-y and sappy eyes. I think I'm gonna puke," she mimed that very action as I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, please," I said. "We're just friends." My chest felt a pang of wrongness at the statement, but I suppressed it and plastered a fake smile on my face like I was perfectly accepting of this fact. Ha. As if. But I knew, better than anyone, how the state of affairs was concerning our relationship. And, truly, he might be the closest friend I had ever had. And I was not going to ruin that now, as I continued to know him better.

Becky begged to differ. "You are so not just friends. No, no, no. But I won't pester you about it. If you want to talk about this, I'm here."

I appreciated the sentiments and smiled hugely to convey this.

We entered chemistry together and I let my thoughts of Jared drift away…

Well, as far as they ever drifted.