Kate stormed into the room, followed by Sawyer. She scanned the room, and quickly found Claire talking to Charlie. She looked as though she was flirting with him. It disgusted Kate that she could make out with one guy one minute, then flirt with another. She walked over to Claire quickly, grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side of the room.
"Ouch! Oh, hi Kate. How's it going with Jack? Have you guys kissed yet?"
"No, but you have!" Claire was shocked.
"What are you talking about??"
"Oh don't play dumb with me. I saw you... kissing Jack..." Her voice started to tremble.
"Kate I would never-"
"Oh shut up! I saw you! Stop denying it!" She almost felt like smacking Claire, but didn't. All of a sudden Jack came up.
"What's going on over here? I heard you yelling, Kate." He looked from one girl to the other. "Is everything alright?"
"No, Jack! Everything is not all right you two-timing bastard!" Jack's eyes grew wide.
"W-what do you mean, Kate?" He looked behind Kate and saw Sawyer glaring at him.
"Will you two cut it out and tell me the truth?! I saw you kissing her Jack!!" A tear rolled down her face.
"Kate... I... I'm sorry..." He looked down.
"So you admit you kissed Claire?" She was surprised that he'd actually admitted it.
"No." Then what was he sorry for? "I wasn't kissing Claire... I was kissing my old girlfriend from 10th grade... Her name is Juliet... I'm sorry Kate. I was just so surprised to see her. She transferred from our school at the end of 10th grade and... She kissed me..." Kate's mouth was hanging open. She turned to Claire, who was looking away from her and glaring at the wall.
"Claire, I-"
"Save it Kate. I thought we were friends, and you should know friends never do things like that." She turned around and headed back to Charlie. Kate felt awful for wrongly accusing Claire.
"Kate... Will you forgive me? I don't want to break up... please..." Jack put his hand on her shoulder. She pulled away, running into Sawyer.
"Don't touch me ever again Jack. We're over." She turned around and started to walk away, when she sensed Sawyer wasn't following her. She turned around just in time to see Sawyer slug Jack in the face. She gasped. He glared at Jack one more time than walked over to her.
"Sawyer... Thanks." She was disappointed she hadn't done that herself.
"No problem, Freckles. What do you say we blow this popsicle stand?" She nodded and followed him out the door just as Jack shouted to them.
"I'll get you for this Ford!" Then they were out the door.
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Ever since the dance, Kate and Sawyer had become much closer. They were pretty much best friends. They told each other everything; about dates, problems at home, most embarassing moments; anything. It was now spring, and Claire and Kate had finally made up. Things were starting to go better than they had at the beginning of the year.
"Ok everybody, settle down settle down. I have some announcements. First of all, tryouts for our school's production of the musical version of Cinderella are on Thursday and Friday and callbacks are Monday. Also, if you'd like to purchase this years yearbook, you need to send your money in by next Wednesday and you'll get your yearbooks on the last day of school. Lastly, your field trip to the prairie is tomorrow, so pack your lunches and wear suitable clothing. Ok, that's all. You can talk for the rest of the period since we only have 5 minutes." Mr. Locke sat down and went to his computer to send e-mails to teachers.
"So Claire... Are you going to sit next to Charlie on the bus?" Kate asked. Claire blushed and shrugged.
"Maybe... I don't know. Maybe I'll just sit next to you..." Kate shook her head.
"No way. I'm going to make sure that you and Charlie are dating by the end of the year or else I'll... do something..." She couldn't really think of anything bad to say.
"Are you sure that's really your motive? Or do you just want to sit next to Sawyer?" It was Kate's turn to blush.
"Claire! He's my best friend! I don't like him like that."
"Uh-huh... sure you don't." She said sarcastically. The bell rang and they both rushed out of the classroom to get to their next class.
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Charlie, Kate, Sawyer, and Claire all rushed to the bus together. They were running late and had almost missed it. Charlie got in first and saw that there were only two empty seats left. They were lucky. He sat down in the one on the left side. Kate was next to get into the bus and sat down on the right side in the other empty seat. When Sawyer got on, he went to sit next to Charlie, but Kate pulled him into her seat.
"I'm trying to get Claire and Charlie together." She whispered. Claire got on the bus and saw the only empty space left was next to Charlie. She sat down quietly, blushing slightly. She turned to Kate who gave her a thumbs up. She just gave her a dirty look in return, although inside she was dancing because she was so close to him.
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"... And that is how the Native Americans would hunt. Any questions? No? Alright, you can all go eat your lunches now." Mr. Locke dismissed them and they all ran in different directions to go find a place to eat that had shade. It was an unusually hot day for Spring. Kate and Sawyer decided to go down by the small lake that was near a large tree that they could sit under. Charlie, Claire, and Hurley sat under a tree that was on the hill above where Kate and Sawyer were sitting.
"What'd you bring to eat?" Charlie asked Claire.
"A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I forgot to put on the peanut butter... I'm probably the only Australian that loves peanut butter." Charlie studied her for a minute then pulled out his sandwhich.
"I have a peanut butter sandwhich. Do you want to trade half of yours for half of mine?" She smiled at him and nodded. They each traded slices of bread. "Oh, this is the bloody best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I've ever had." She giggled. Hurley just sat there ignoring them.
Sawyer had finished eating way before Kate. She was slowly sipping at a juice box, staring at the lake, which was reflecting the afternoon sun. It was so peaceful. She loved the sound of nature; the birds chirping, a small splash of water occasionally when a fish would come up for air, a slight breeze bringing the scent of flowers and trees and the grass to her nose. She loved to be outside more than anything. She closed her eyes and sighed, laying back. Sawyer just watched her, entranced by her. He kept telling himself he wasn't supposed to be thinking these things, but he couldn't help himself.
"Would you quit staring at me? It's starting to get creepy." Her voice startled him.
"I was not staring at you." She opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. "I wasn't, Freckles. That's just wishful thinking you're havin'." He smirked as she rolled her eyes. Suddenly she stood up.
"Where you goin', Shortcake?" She looked down at him and smiled.
"I'm just going for a walk. You can join me if you want." He sighed dramatically as he got up.
"Going to make me exercise now, Freckles?" She chuckled as he strolled along behind her. She walked down to the edge of the bank hanging over the lake. She took off her shoes and let her toes sink into the mud. Sawyer copied this.
"Well, Freckles. I gotta hand it to ya. I didn't think there could be anything more disgusting than stepping in dog shit while wearing shoes, but you've topped it." She laughed. "Are you sure this little ledge can hold us both? It doesn't look very sturdy." He looked down at the water that was about three feet below them.
"The water doesn't look to deep, so if we fall we won't drown. And it's not that far down." She looked over at him. He turned around and looked back. A small breeze ruffled their hair. She knew she shouldn't be thinking about him like this, but she had to admit that he was a very attractive guy. She blushed and turned back to the water. He kept looking at her, watching as the wind blew her hair in and out of her face. He had to stop thinking about her! Suddenly he had an idea.
"I'll be right back, Freckles." He turned around and started to walk away, but snuck back so he was standing behind her. He grabbed her shoulders and pretended to push her in. She screamed and grabbed onto his shirt, trying not to fall even though he had a good grip on her and she wasn't even close to falling. She turned around and glared at him. He smirked at her.
"Oh you're going to get it now James Ford." She grabbed his hands, attempting to push him into the lake, but not having much luck. He let her do this for a while, but then he grabbed her waist and walked slowly toward the edge. She struggled against his grip, but it was useless. He was too strong. He was standing at the very edge and looked down at her, smirking.
"Whatcha gonna do now, Sweetcheeks?" She heard a yell, but ignored it as she stopped struggling and looked up at him.She tried to look angry, but their faces were so close... His smile started to fade. She had never kissed a guy before and wondered if this is how it all started... She wanted to. She felt her face getting closer to his.
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"Hey guys! Guess what!" Claire came running up to Charlie and Hurley. "You'll never guess who I just saw kissing!"
"Do we care?" Charlie said. He and Hurley didn't want to hear about other people's relationships. Hurley stood up to leave.
"Sayid and Shannon!" Charlie and Hurley both looked at her, obviously not caring. "I have to tell Kate! Where is she?" Claire looked around.
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Sayid stroked Shannon's cheek.
"So does this mean we're going out?" She asked him playfully. He smiled at her and kissed her again.
"Yes." He took her hand in his as they headed toward the others. They went over to Claire, Charlie and Hurley and sat down. Shannon sat in between Sayid's legs and leaned her head on his shoulder. He held her hands around her waist.
"See? They're going out now! Isn't that great you guys?" Claire said excitedly. Charlie and Hurley just grunted. Hurley started walking away, but tripped over his shoelace, losing his balance. He yelled as he started tumbling down the hill toward two people who were playfully fighting by the lake. He started slowing down as he got closer to the bottom. He yelled again, the two people, who looked like they were about to kiss, turned around just in time to jump out of the way. Hurley stopped just on the edge of the bank.
"Phew! That was a close on-" Hurley was cut off when he felt himself starting to fall. The bank was breaking off, taking Hurley and Kate with it. Kate screamed and grabbed Sawyer, trying to get back on to the sturdy part of land, but just ended up bringing him with her. They all shouted as they fell into the lake. Kate landed in a shallow part and Sawyer landed on top of her. Hurley landed a little to the right of them. Sawyer quickly got up and helped Kate up. They ran over to see if Hurley was ok. Kate tripped and grabbed onto Sawyer for support as they reached Hurley.
"Dude... That... Was... Sweet!" Hurley stood up, completely soaked. They all started laughing. Kate realized that after she had tripped, she'd never let go of Sawyer. She looked up at him to see he was looking down at her. She quickly let go of his hand and arm, blushing.
"Well that was fun. Let's do it again sometime." Sawyer said grinning, flashing his dimples at her. She laughed as they all got out. She couldn't deny it any longer... She had feelings for Sawyer.