Chapter 16- It's Me, Pam
Author's Note- Hi everybody! Thanks for all the awesome reviews last chapter; I got more than I ever had for this story! You guys are so nice. I'm glad you all like where this is going. ;) Sorry that I'm a bit late in updating. My mom went to visit her dad in Spain while she still can; he has lung cancer and just had another chemo treatment yesterday. So I've been holding down the fort with my younger siblings and have been a bit busier than usual. Here's the chapter, enjoy! ;)
Riley and Jim had now been dating for two weeks and it had been three weeks since Jim and Pam last talked. Jim really liked Riley but felt a little like he was using her to get over Pam. Not that he was really getting over Pam. There had never really been any romantic 'them' to get over. It was homeroom and Jim, Roy, Riley, and Pam were all in the same class. They had been avoiding each other and were almost pretending that the other didn't exist. Jim looked past Riley's shoulder as Pam got up to go to the bathroom. He still had that personal GPS for her burned in his head; it used to be that they could glance at each other at the exact same time and always make eye contact. Now, eye contact was the last thing that Jim wanted. Jim shook his thoughts about Pam from his head and smiled at Riley. "They're showing that new comedy at the movies this weekend, want to go?" Jim offered.
"Of course," Riley grinned. "Which one is it?"
"The Guilt Trip. It looks funny," Jim commented.
"Sounds great." Riley's jade eyes widened at something behind Jim and Jim snapped his head around to find Roy.
"What's up?" Roy greeted. Jim raised an eyebrow to himself, wondering why he blatantly began talking to the two of them.
"Nothing much," Riley replied, sweetly. Jim wrapped his long arm around her, protectively. He adored how sweet she was but almost wished that it was Pam in his arms.
"Yeah? Haven't seen you in a while, Halpert," Roy said, casually.
Jim rolled his eyes but answered the question anyways. "I see you every day at basketball, Roy," Jim muttered.
"Oh right, right," Roy smiled. "So are you two an item now?"
Riley flashed Jim a cute smile which he instantly returned. "I guess you could say so," Riley giggled.
"Oh," Roy grumbled. "Well, you look nice today, Riley."
Jim shot Roy a glare. Was he seriously going to try to take Riley away from him too? "Thank you, Roy," Riley replied, unfazed by Roy's attempts to flirt with her.
"You're welcome." Roy glanced back at Jim and the corners of his mouth lifted upwards. "Riley…as Jim's boyfriend you should know that…" Roy paused and Jim sighed. "He uses women's deodorant. I don't know why but he does."
Jim opened his mouth to reply but closed it when Riley leaned into his shoulder, inhaling his scent. "No he doesn't," she stated. "He smells like Tide and…" She inhaled again. "Cinnamon rolls."
Roy scoffed as Pam walked up behind them. "Hey…" Pam greeted, uneasily. She seemed to be looking anywhere but Jim.
"Hey babe," Roy smirked, kissing her just because he could. Jim winced and looked away at Riley.
"You're Pam, right?" Riley confirmed, smiling at her. Riley knew who Pam was by now because the popular kids were very well-known around the school.
Pam forced a smile at Jim's girlfriend. "Yeah, that's me. So…you're Jim's girlfriend."
"Yeah, Riley's my name." Pam nodded, understanding. She had already known who Riley was; she asked her friends if they knew anything about her.
For the first time in the whole conversation, Jim looked up at Pam. His sapphire eyes fixed on her emerald green ones instantly and for once, they weren't able to read each other. Jim bit his lip, weighing his options. He wanted to be out of the conversation as soon as possible. "Long time, no see," Jim mumbled.
"Yeah," Pam agreed.
Roy shuffled his weight from foot to foot and Jim ran a hand through his caramel hair. Riley smiled at Pam, not sensing the awkwardness. "So, how do you two know each other?" Riley asked Jim and Pam.
"Actually, we met," Pam started.
"We don't really know each other that well," Jim cut off, looking away from Pam. Jim could feel Pam's face falling but it served her right. Three weeks ago, she had crushed him and it was time for her to get a taste of her own medicine.
"Oh," Riley mumbled.
"Yeah, well, Pammy and I are going to go back to our um, other friends," Roy declared, taking Pam's hand. "I'll see you around, Riles."
Once the other couple was out of earshot, Jim turned to face Riley. "Riles?" he repeated.
Riley laughed. "I knew guys like that before. They're such cheese balls and think that they're the hottest guy to ever set foot on Earth."
"And?" Jim continued.
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, the hottest guy is standing right in front of me," Riley smirked, playfully.
Jim blushed. "Thanks."
"I mean it though, I really like you Jim," Riley admitted.
"And I really like you, too," Jim agreed, leaning over and kissing her softly.
Pam turned away from Julie and Maggie's conversation just in time to see this. She felt a deep pang in her chest and wondered what it was. Surely, she wasn't jealous of Jim and Riley's relationship…was she? Pam tried to shake the thoughts of Jim from her head but she felt really guilty. It seemed that after all this time, it really was Pam's fault. Pam sighed, if only she wasn't so mean to Jim.
"Pam? Hello? Why are you staring at those two lovebirds over there?" Julie asked, waving a hand in front of her friend's face.
Pam snapped back to reality and smiled at her friends. "Oh, I was just thinking."
"About what?" Grace wondered.
"Nothing important," Pam assured them.
"Well, you guys know that the state championship game is next week," Maggie announced. The girls all grinned, each of their boyfriends played on the basketball team but none of them were as good as Jim.
"Yeah," Julie squealed. "That boy over there is going to make us win."
They all turned to follow her gaze. That boy was indeed, Jim Halpert. "He's really good but he'd be better if he was hotter," Maggie commented.
"He is cute," Grace agreed. "But cute not hot, although he probably has abs under those shirts he wears."
Pam blushed, thinking of all the times she had seen Jim shirtless. There were a lot of times. During the spring and summer, they always went to the public pool, beach, or up to her cottage with both their families. Pam knew first hand that there were indeed abs under there. The other girls began droning on and on about the basketball game and Pam just smiled and added occasional 'yeahs.' Her thoughts were elsewhere at the moment, though the subject of her thoughts was a mere ten feet away from her.
"Hey mom, I'm home!" Jim shouted, as he walked through the back door. It was around six-thirty and basketball had ended an hour ago but he and Riley were hanging out at Scranton Sweets. Jim dropped his duffel bag on the kitchen floor and went straight to the kitchen cabinets for a snack. "Mom!" he called again. There was no answer. Jim turned and found a Post-It note on the fridge door. It read; Dad and I are grocery shopping and your brother is still at a friend's. There's left over lasagna in the fridge. Love, Mom. Jim nodded to himself and was walking to the bathroom when something caught his eye. Their answering machine was blinking, meaning that there was a message on it. Jim walked over and pressed the play button.
"Hi Jim. It's me, Pam…we haven't really talked in a while and I think we should. Talk. Um, so yeah. Give me a call, tonight. On walkie-talkies, the phone, or whatever…I just need to hear your voice, Halpert. I'm going crazy here. That's all, bye."
Cliffhanger! So what did you think? Good or bad? Interesting or boring? Sorry that it took a week to update, I've been busy. I'll try to update within the week, like usual. Please leave a review. Thanks again for all the kind feedback last chapter, it really keeps me going. R&R! ;)
