John closed his locker, only to find Jamie standing there, leaned up against it with her head tilted in a flirty way, to the side.

"Hey," he said, seeing her. He shot her one of those boyish, crooked smiles of his. John tucked his book underneath his arm and pressed his back against his locker and the next one.

"How was that family thing you had this weekend?" she asked, curiously, attempting to start conversation. Jamie wasn't quite sure how this whole thing worked. They hadn't even really even decided what they were. All she knew was that they didn't do much talking when they were together, but she almost wanted that. She barely knew anything about John, at least about his family and all of that stuff, and she was curious.

"It was good," John shrugged.

"Yeah?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah. Family stuff is always pretty fun. I mean, I know it sounds kind of lame but they're important to me, you know?" John replied, simply.

"Yeah… hey, listen. We haven't really done anything for a while. Why don't you come over to my place tomorrow afternoon," Jamie started. She was starting to get worried. Was John losing interest? He seemed different – distant. He wasn't all over her like he usually was. She didn't like it one bit.

"Uh… tomorrow afternoon? I've got a thing," John replied.

"What kind of thing?" Jamie asked. John froze. Since when had she become the crazy, clingy girlfriend? They weren't official or anything! To John's knowledge, they were just hanging out; friends with benefits. It was really starting to freak John out. He crossed his arms over his chest. She never used to ask these kinds of questions.

"Just a thing. It's not really important or anything," John answered. He realized he was being vague and it was probably driving Jamie crazy. Then again, how much did he really want something with her? Was she expecting something out of this? Going into this, John thought they were on the same page – that they were just having fun. He didn't really want to lose that. John shook the thoughts from his mind and just went back to his assumption that they were just having fun.

"Oh… well, can't you just blow it off?" Jamie asked, getting a little annoyed with John. If it was no big deal, then how come he couldn't skip? Was he lying to her? Had really just lost interest?

"Look, it's about tutoring. I suck at math," John replied, caving. He was getting a little freaked out by the clingy vibe that Jamie was sending.

"Oh, that's cool. Walk me to class?" Jamie requested.

"Actually, I've got to jet. I told my first period teacher that I'd be early," John replied.

"Since when do you care about grades?" Jamie asked, a little confused. John just shrugged. "Well, have I told you lately that I like smart boys?"

John smirked, "I'll see you later, Jamie." Jamie turned around once to look at John while he left but John was practically gone in a heartbeat. John hurried off, passing by his first period class and down the next hall to the chem lab. He peeked in to see only a couple of people in it – not even the person he was looking for.

"John, you do know your first class is in the next hall right over, don't you?" that familiar, sweet voice asked. John looked up and grinned seeing Renee. Damn she looked good, he thought to himself.

"Yeah, I wanted to come see you," John replied, turning on the charm.

Renee rolled her eyes, "Look, John, I said I'd tutor you, not sleep with you."

"Why you gotta take it like that?" John asked.

Renee shoot him a look, "I'm not stupid, John. I hear things." She then turned around, beginning to go into the classroom.

"Has anyone ever told you not to listen to rumors?" John asked.

Renee stopped and turned around to look at him before saying, "Alright, correction: I see things. You have a new girl on your arms like… every week. Besides, you have sex on the brain like 24/7."

"Look, I just wanted to say 'hi'. If you take that wrong, maybe you're the one that always has sex on the brain," John challenged.

"You're right, John. Right now all I can think about is skipping today and just have wild, crazy sex with you in that car of yours," Renee answered, sarcastically.

"Mm, now that's an idea," John smirked.

Renee rolled her eyes, "Great. Now you're thinking about it."

"So?"

"So, don't you have a girlfriend or something?"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Can we not talk about this right now?"

At that moment, Renee could really tell that there was something bothering John, so she dropped it, "Yeah, sure. Did you want something?"

"I can think of a few things I want," John smirked.

"Hey, I thought we agreed we'd drop it," Renee reminded.

"Yeah… I just wanted to come say 'hi' or something. You know, now that you're my new tutor and everything," John said, wondering himself why he had come.

"Okay. Well uh, hi," Renee said, awkwardly. Was this going to get him to go away? As crazy as John drove her, part of her liked it. The random visits from him… she saw him a lot more than she used to and although she was trying not to trust him, she loved the feeling of being with him again. When they were kids, it was as if they could conquer the world together, and she loved having that feeling again.

"Hi," John said back. And for once, John actually almost felt shy, talking to a girl. They both exchanged glances before sharing a small laugh. "So we still on for tutoring tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Renee replied, recovering from their moment. It was moments like these where Renee was ready to blindly trust him again.

"Cool. I thought we could go over to my house," John said, before noticing the look on Renee's face. "Don't worry. My parents will be home."

"Psh, like that'd stop you," Renee teased.

"Hey, no promises, okay? If I make a move, you can't hold it against me," John shrugged.

Renee giggled, rolling her eyes, "John, go to class! You're going to be late."

"I'd much rather stay here with you," John smirked.

"Really, because we're testing the theory of-," Renee started.

"Ew! School! Never mind," John exclaimed, covering his ears. Renee laughed. The two shared a silence. John wasn't exactly what to say next but Renee had a question that had been bothering her for a while. She didn't want to ask it but she knew she had to, in order to stay sane. She knew that she had to ask so she could stop arguing over whether or not she could trust him again. If John was just doing this to get in her pants, she knew he'd be honest about it. John asked for what he wanted. She knew that.

"John, I have to ask… why now? We haven't talked since middle school so why try this whole reconnection thing?" Renee asked.

John shrugged, "It's our last year home and you know, I don't want to leave high school with… hatchets unburied."

"Oh, okay," Renee said, surprised at the disappointed tone that came out of her mouth. She smiled politely before turning around and walking into her classroom. She was halfway through the door when John stopped her again.

"I miss you," he said. Renee stopped in her tracks, turning around to look at John. She had known John for so long that, even though they had been distant, she could tell when he was lying and when he was being honest and right now, he had one of the most sincere looks in his eyes that she had ever seen him have. "We used to be such good friends… and spending time with you reminds me of that. I miss it."

"Yeah, me too," Renee admitted.

"Hey, I didn't see you at lunch so your sister told me I could find you here," Paige said, walking into the school's darkroom. She looked around the room, amazed at all the pictures that were hanging up. She admired those that were artistic because she felt like she didn't have an artistic bone in her body.

She and Flynn had been talking ever since that Sunday of Jude and Renee's birthday party. They'd been hanging out a lot, convenient that they were next door neighbors. They had even kissed on occasion but nothing had really been defined. As of now, they were just 'hanging out'.

"Oh, yeah. I needed to work on some of my photographs. I got half of them done on Friday but I wanted to come and finish them," Flynn said, taking down some of his photographs and placing them on the work table next to him.

"Mind if I look at them?" Paige asked, curiously.

"Not at all. Go ahead," Flynn replied. Flynn shot her a smile before returning to his work. Paige flipped through the pictures.

"Wow," she said. Flynn looked up and narrowed his eyes at the photograph. "This is your mom, right?"

"Yeah," Flynn answered.

"She's so beautiful. God, she and your dad… they're just so in love," Paige marveled, looking through the pictures.

"I love it when they don't know anyone's around. I just take pictures and… that's what I love about photography. There are so many things people can't see. It's… those quiet moments. I- I don't know. It sounds kind of stupid but-," Flynn started.

"No, it doesn't sound stupid at all. It's artistic," Paige smiled, inching towards Flynn.

Flynn chuckled, blushing a little, "You actually make it sound like I'm not a dork."

"You're not!" Paige giggled. "Besides, I like dorks."

"You do?" Flynn asked.

"Yeah," Paige replied, before closing the gap between the two and kissing him again. Flynn pulled Paige into his arms, deepening the kiss between them. "Flynn."

"Yeah?" Flynn asked, in between kisses.

"What're we-, what're we doing?" Paige asked back. Flynn pulled away, looking at her.

Flynn shrugged, "I don't know. I thought we were just kissing."

Paige laughed, a little bit embarrassed. Boys could be so oblivious sometimes, "No, I mean. Are we just… kissing? Is that all this is to you?"

"Oh," Flynn said. Shit. This wasn't going to end well, was it? Paige was so nervous. Flynn just said 'oh'. That couldn't be good, right? "I mean, not really… I'll be honest. I like you. It's… whatever you want it to be."

"Well, what do you want it to be?" Paige asked, dancing around an answer.

"I-, I don't know. We could… you know, like, do the whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing. You know, just if you wanted to. If you don't want to then we don't have to. It's just…you kissed me and-," Flynn rambled, nervously. He wasn't suave like John was and he wasn't good with words like Jude was. He didn't know what to say in these situations but it's what he wanted. He did want a relationship with Paige. He knew it was early, but there was just an instant connection there and if they were already kissing, why not?

"Yeah, okay," Paige said, cutting him off.

"Really?" Flynn asked, surprised.

"Yes, really," Paige giggled. She then realized that this guy was not aware to the fact that he was gorgeous.

"I mean, you don't think it's happening to fast? I mean, we just met…" Flynn started. "I don't know." He chuckled, trying to laugh off his embarrassment. Paige laughed too.

"I thought about that, but I mean, we already kissed. Why not just go for it, you know?" Paige asked.

Flynn nodded, "That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Well, great minds think alike," Paige answered with a small smile. "So uh… now that you're my boyfriend, do you mind if I stay here with you for the rest of lunch?" Sitting on the counter of the dark room.

"I'd love it," Flynn smiled.

"Me too," Paige replied. Paige noticed that Flynn was staring at her, his concentration was really focused. Paige's eyes widened. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"No, it's just uh, you're not supposed to sit on those counters. Sorry," Flynn chuckled, embarrassed that he had to even say that to his, now girlfriend. Flynn smiled. She was his girlfriend. They had gotten to know each other so quickly but even though they hadn't known each other for that long, he felt like they had known each other for a long. He loved that they could just sit and talk for hours about anything really.

"Oh! Sorry!" Paige giggled, blushing as she hopped off the counters.

"It's okay," Flynn said.

Back in the cafeteria, there were only five minutes left till class started so everyone was finishing up lunch, cleaning up, and heading out to their next classes. Victoria had her notebooks sprawled out on the lunch table, over by the end of the table, feverishly scribbling things onto the piece of notebook paper. She closed her notebooks and text book, packing it up and attempting to shove all of her stuff into her messenger bag.

"Hey, I didn't want to disrupt you during lunch. You seemed really busy so… you know," a voice said, coming over. Victoria looked up from her stuff to see Tyler standing above her. The other students seemed to be leaving but Tyler just stood there.

"Oh, you should've said something. It probably would've been better than the homework that I just so happened to forget to do last night. It was just one of those things that you forget probably because you never really wanted to do it in the first place. Haley reminded me about the discussion questions I had for world history today so I figured I'd finish them at lunch," Victoria replied with a small laugh. "Sorry, I don't want to make you late to class. If you need to be somewhere-."

"No, no take your time. This is definitely better than civics and econ," Tyler replied.

"Oh," Victoria giggled a little, blushing. He was waiting for her.

"So you have 'world' fifth period?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah," Victoria replied. She slung her messenger back over her shoulder and got up, walking over to Tyler. "Alright, I'm going to stop making you late."

"No worries. Actually, the history classes are in the same hall. Why don't we just head over there together?" Tyler suggested, casually.

"Yeah, okay," Victoria replied. The two walked out of the cafeteria together, and then hurried to class, so that neither of them would be late. He was waiting for her and, theoretically, he was walking her to class. But Victoria shook it off and chalked it up to just being friendly.

"Don't worry about it, Mom. I'll take Flynn home. Don't make Jude come pick him up. The poor guy has to go back to school next week," John said.

Meredith chuckled, "How is it that I ended up with a kid that hates school?"

"I don't completely hate it. It's simple though. I got Dad's genes," John shrugged.

"Alright, alright. Why is it again that you and Flynn both have practice today? I thought there was only one football field," Meredith asked.

"Oh the soccer team has an away game so the JV football team is just going to run drills over there, maybe even play a small scrimmage," John answered, scratching the back of his head.

"Alright, sweetie. I'll see you later," Meredith said, before returning to her grade book as John left for football practice.

Football practice was good. John didn't have to think about anything when he played. It was a nice clarity of mind for once. His encounter with Jamie today had been really weird and especially ever since he and Renee's not-date, he couldn't stop thinking about her. But now, just during practice, he didn't have to deal with any of it. Once practice was over, they all headed towards the locker rooms. His teammates were not helping out with his dilemma.

"Hey, John, you still hittin' that?" Anthony asked.

"Huh?" John asked, Anthony's voice pulling him out of his thoughts as they all changed back into their street clothes and out of their football gear.

"Jamie Callahan," Anthony answered.

"Yeah. What's she like, dude? I bet she's good – experienced," David, another one of his teammates added, joining the conversation. Cole just shook his head, throwing his shirt over his head as he listened to his teammates pester John about Jamie. Cole himself knew that whatever John and Jamie had had a time limit and time was just about to run out. He also couldn't help notice how John had been with Renee at the birthday party too. He stayed out of the conversation, but he listened curiously.

"Yeah," John shrugged.

"Oh, come on, Winchester. No details?" Kyle, another teammate asked.

"Do I look like a frickin' girl to you?," John replied, teasingly.

"Yeah, whatever. Some of us aren't getting laid by one of the hottest cheerleaders on the team, okay?" Anthony said.

"Yeah, it's good. Chick is kinda clingy though… it's weird," John said.

"What? You already moving on to someone new?" Kyle asked. Kyle was only a sophomore and his goal was to someday be just like John. John couldn't imagine why he was Kyle's idol but he wasn't going to say anything.

"Nah," John lied.

"I don't know, man. You seem to be spending a lot of time with Renee Walsh," David started.

"Oh, nice, dude! She's totally hot!" Kyle exclaimed.

"Nah, it's not like that. We're just friends," John shrugged. He didn't want to talk about Renee. He was fine with objectifying the other girls he dated, but not Renee. He didn't want to think of her as just a piece of ass. He was her friend, right?

"Just friends, my ass!" David exclaimed.

"You think she's a virgin?" Kyle asked, eagerly.

Cole rolled his eyes at the conversation and anticipated what John would do next. Initially, he wanted John and Renee to be together. She would be good for him and he could already tell that they would make each other happy. They always did and by the looks of it now, they still did. What John said next though, would determine whether or not he'd trust John with Renee. They had all grown up together. Cole felt like Renee was his older sister and didn't want to see her get hurt – especially not by John. Cole knew his cousins track record and he was fine with it, as long as it wasn't causing problems with his family.

"I don't know," John shrugged. "It's not like that. Can we just not talk about it?"

"I bet she is," David smiled, wickedly.

"I don't know. She was dating that Trevor guy for a long time last year," Anthony added.

"Seriously, guys! I thought we all had dicks here. Are we really going to gossip like girls?" John asked, teasingly, trying to throw his friends off of his track. Cole snorted with laughter and everyone turned towards him.

"Don't mind me," Cole said, shutting the door to the locker and picking up his sports bag. "See you later, dude. I'm heading home."

"Later," John said to his cousin. He turned back to his friends to see the three of them just staring at him with amused looks on their faces. "What?"

"You've got a thing for her, don't you? Like… a real thing," Anthony asked.

"What? Don't be stupid," John replied.

"Nah, you're getting all defensive and everything. Guess that means you really like her," Anthony teased.

"Shut up," John groaned, shoving his friend playfully as he passed him by, leaving the locker room.