"Hi mom. You weren't eavesdropping were you?"
"Of course not honey. I dropped something near the door and I accidentally heard you." I couldn't help but smile a little.
"Mom, this is Kim."
"Jared, I still can't believe you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend! Such a pleasure to meet you Kim. Call me Grace."
"Um, Jared and I aren't together but it's nice to meet you too, Grace." Well this wasn't at all awkward.
Jared cleared his throat and said, "Kim, I'll grab your book quickly and you can go."
"Yeah, sure. Like I said, I'll wait out here."
"Oh nonsense, Kim! Come inside!"
"That's kind of you but I don't think I'll be staying long anyway."
"But I insist!" She kind of had that crazy-mom-look that my mom sometimes had and this alarmed me. Grace took my arm anyway and led me to their living room. Jared was about to go the opposite way but before he did I cast a slightly apprehensive look towards him and he grinned at me.
"Be nice, mom!" He laughed warningly.
"Oh, ignore him," she waved a hand in dismissal, "I'm always nice." And I smiled again, but this time more widely. I sat on their couch and Mrs. Thail immediately offered me snacks, which I politely declined. Mrs. Thail was about to sit down next to me when the doorbell rang.
"I'm sorry, let me go get that." I then heard new voices and several "how are yous'".
"Is Jared upstairs mom?" Said Alex looking back towards the hallway. "Oh, hi?" A look of confusion turned into understanding from Jared's sister.
"Uh, hi."
"Wow, I'm impressed. You really got through to Jared, he's never brought a girl home to meet the parents."
"No! I mean, no. We're not together. I just came to get some work and he's taking pretty long." It's a good thing I don't blush. She raised her eyebrows and laughed.
"I'm Alex. At least I know you're not trapped in the evil clutches of my brother."
"I'm Kim." I grinned.
"Alex! You're back!" Jared said.
"No shit, Sherlock." They both rolled their eyes at one another.
"I see you've met Kim." Jared said.
"Yeah, sorry bro. You have no chance, I can already tell she looks too good for you." Alex teased.
"Are you staying for dinner?"
"No, but thank you. I don't want to intrude or anything and I've got to get going anyway." I replied. Jared handed me my English book.
"OK, I don't wanna force you to stay. It was nice to meet you."
"You too." I smiled.
"I'll walk you out." Jared said.
The front door was full of people and once they saw us coming, the words "girlfriend", "Jared" and "stay" were all I heard. I gave Jared a subtle pleading look as and he told everyone to calm down.
"Guys, seriously. Kim is just a friend and she's really busy and has to go." I sighed internally.
"At least drive her home, Jared." Mrs Thail said with a slight hiss. I could feel the heat rise slowly to my face and I thanked genetics once again as no one noticed.
"No, I'm fine! I'm sorry, I just really have to get home." Everyone protested and so, I ended up in Jared's truck.
"You still remember where I live, right?"
"Don't worry, I remember." He winked. I blinked in slight shock and rolled my eyes to regain composure.
"Look, sorry about my family and in fact Alex's boyfriend's family."
"It's not your fault… OK, I take that back, it is," I smiled, so he didn't think I was being serious. "But I'm not dead or injured so there's no harm done."
"That's good then." We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence and I couldn't find anything to say, as the situation at his house kind of terrified me and I wasn't too great at small talk. Yeah, I've wondered how I've made friends too. The rest of the journey stayed that way and when he stopped in front of my house, I remembered something.
"See you later. And thanks for the ride, friend."
Jared laughed and answered, "No, problem. Yeah. See you later, friend."
I've thought about telling at least one of my friends about my "Jared encounters" since it is strange that I've talked to him outside of school for probably the first time ever in the many years I've known him.
No way. He's not - he doesn't… no. I'm over thinking this. That was a weird moment. Yes, he was damn attractive but I don't know why, it's too strange.
I headed to English feeling nonsensical and concentrated on the fact it would only be an hour until the weekend. I was kind of relieved to find Jared wasn't there only because it would mean less talking. I realised how completely exhausted I was and longed for my beautiful double bed, with its soft and warm sheets… Nothing in the lesson was lucid or coherent and when the bell rang I think I glided or more accurately, trudged to my locker. The bang of the locker next to me snapped me awake. It wouldn't be the best of ideas to fall asleep while driving.
I arrived home, fully unscathed and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. I looked out the window and saw a flash of movement. We didn't really have a real lawn, it was more like a huge area of grass at the back of our house and surrounding it was the forest. I wasn't wrong about seeing something; there was a large, silver and grey tail swishing from side to side and it abruptly disappeared into the copious foliage of the forest.
Normally, I would have loved to get a sneak peak of what it was close up since I would probably never see it again but I was dead on my feet. I know I didn't imagine anything because I was tired, not blind. I finally collapsed under my sheets and dreamed of lush animal tails in an assortment of colours.
I awoke feeling completely refreshed but somewhat perplexed by the time. It was already 9am on a Saturday morning. I had slept for around 16 hours! I felt like a total slob so I decided to take a shower, eat breakfast and get all my homework over and done with. Once that was finished, it was around 2pm and I literally had nothing else to do until the party tonight.
It was my friend James, who's having a huge 18th birthday and it was going to be held right at the edge of Port Angeles. Practically my whole high school was invited and I decided to go since I hadn't been to a real party in awhile or as Hannah and Chloe put it, I'm "a revelry deprived woman," and they proceeded to laugh "affectionately" at me. Some friends I had! I resolved to talk a walk instead of being utterly lethargic and grabbed a ratty pair of converse and my waterproof coat.
I didn't really know where I would go but I unconsciously headed to the beach out of routine. I walked near the very edge of the water; the backwash of the gentle waves almost touching my sneakers. For a while I kept walking down the beach and realised why I felt a little sad today. It was because of him. I couldn't bear to think his name, let alone say it out loud but I couldn't help imagining exactly how I remembered him. I sighed inwardly.
"Hey." I turned around and looked at the person who greeted me. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.
"Hi, Paul."
"Are you checking me out?" He flexed his muscles and stuck out his bare chest and waggled his eyebrows, in what I hoped, was a jokingly douchey way.
"No, I was just wondering whether you and Jared had some sort of on going competition to see who doesn't die from hypothermia."
"So you were checking me and Jared out. Hey, I don't mind - if you don't either." He replied suggestively. I blinked at him and he just folded his arms and smirked.
"OK, bye Paul. But thanks for the preview. You're on your way to becoming a pretty bad stand-up comedian."
"Why, thank you." He bowed extravagantly, which didn't suit him at all and this time I laughed. This guy was high or something, this was virtually the happiest I'd seen him.
"Uh, yeah. You should go for it, Paul. It's making you act like a slightly more normal human being." It was his turn to laugh and I was being half serious so I didn't understand why he found it funny. It was definitely some sort of inside joke I'd accidently made. I shrugged and started walking away.
"See you at James' party!" I didn't turn around and just raised my hand in dismissal that I knew he saw because I heard him chuckle. Wow, Paul was already drinking before the party started.
I called Hannah and Chloe to help me with my make-up and we decided they'd get ready at my house instead.
"That's too much!" I complained.
"What are you talking about? This the thinnest amount of foundation you could possibly put on someone's face!" Hannah retorted.
"But, I don't want my face to feel like it's been dipped into a bag of flour."
"Don't you trust me baby? Come on, look at this face." She said seriously, batting her eyelids in an exaggerated manner and pouting her lips ridiculously. Chloe joined in and in front of me were two crazy, but admittedly, modest, yet beautifully made up faces.
"Ok, fine." I grumbled. "I trust you."
"That's what I thought."
Not only had they convinced me to wear foundation, but I was also now wearing 4-inch heels. Thankfully, they were strangely comfortable due to the fact the heels were slightly chunky.
"We all look fabulous!" Chloe said in a nasal voice and she struck a very inelegant pose and I replied,
"Yes, we do." Then, Hannah and I joined Chloe where we were only serious for a second and we instantaneously burst out into laughter.
"Peasant – I mean, driver – I mean, Chloe – we must leave. We do not want to be late to the point where it is not at all fashionable." I said in a horrible British accent.
"We shall leave now Madame, I apologise." Chloe curtseyed. I snapped my fingers obnoxiously, grinned at my friends, and opened the front door.
A/N
Hehe, sorry for the anti-climax guys, I couldn't help but stop it there! Don't worry some serious stuff is gonna go down on the next chapter!
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