When Jim was fourteen, everything went to hell.
(Even if he didn't know it, yet.)
Jim thrives at Camp Green Lake.
He is put in advanced classes, where he is challenged by the work, rather than bored with it. He is surrounded by people who don't think of him as just a hero's son; they all see him for him. He is even making friends, which is a new experience for him - the other kids tend to hate you when they realize that you are twice as smart as they are.
The kids here are all in the same situation as him, too. Granted, none of them have had to put up with an absent mother, dead father, missing brother, and an abusive step-father, and none of them have driven a car off of a cliff (that story had been requested a few times, actually), but he connects with them, nonetheless.
For the first two weeks, his Mom keeps her promise and calls every day with news from home (she is going to be staying planetside to help design Starfleet's newest flagship and divorced Frank as quickly as she could) and to find out how he was doing, as well.
"I miss you, Jimmy, I really do. The house is so empty, now, with you gone."
"I miss you, too, Mom, but I really like it here." Jim is almost ashamed of how much he is enjoying his time at Camp Green Lake, when his mom is stuck at home missing him. Almost.
"Oh, Jimmy, I'm so glad. You know I just want you to be happy."
"Yeah, I know. I-"
In the background, a dog begins to bark, and Winona tears her gaze away from Jim with a hastily uttered, "I'm sorry, Jimmy, I have to go - something's come up. I love you, and I'll call you again soon."
Before Jim can reply, the transmission line cuts out.
From that point, her transmissions decrease, coming twice a week, then only once, and eventually down to once or twice a month. The conversations are nice, as always, but his mom always seems distracted by something, and more than once quickly shuts down the transmission with little to no warning.
Much to his own surprise, Jimmy finds that he doesn't mind the decrease in transmissions from home too much. Sure, it is nice to see his mom, it always will be, but Jim is beginning to find other things to do with his time than sit around waiting for his mom to call. Jim finds himself hanging out with Michael and his friends, playing games and talking and going exploring in the woods whenever they get the chance. Finally, he is allowed to act like a normal fourteen year old.
He and the other boys spend their time hanging out, and despite their differences in background and personalities, they find that they all had one interest in common: girls. Granted, there aren't many girls at Camp Green Lake, but the campers are sent to the same school as the kids from the colony, which has its fair share of girls.
To Jim, they are singularly fascinating creatures, really. They somehow manage to be pretty and mysterious and often aloof and yet, somehow, he never tires of their mystery. To him, girls are creatures to be figured out, to be studied and maybe even admired.
The boys spend their days discussing which girls were the prettiest, and then which ones they would actually consider asking out. The girl that holdss the attention of all of the boys was one Cassandra StClaire, a sophomore at the local High School, and easily a year older than the oldest of the boys, three over the youngest of them.
She has brown hair and green eyes and fair skin, and even at thirteen, Jim knows that he has a thing for the color green. He finds himself staring into her eyes every time he sees her, and considering the fact that he is in four of the same classes as her, that is a lot of the time.
As far as he knows, she has no clue that he even exists, but for some reason that's all right, because he knows that she is fairly certain that all the guys on the colony know she exists, actually.
Even so, Jim is wholly unprepared for the day she starts walking towards the boys's table at lunch, a purposeful glint in her eyes. As soon as they notice her coming over, all of the boys begin arguing over which of them she is coming for, whispering, of course - if they let her hear, all of the boys will be completely mortified.
When she is within hearing distance, the arguments stop, and the group of boys try to return to a casual conversation while watching to make sure that the prettiest girl in the school is really headed to their table. They sneak covert glances over at her while complaining about this teacher and that, and how much homework they are stuck with over the weekend.
Much to their continued shock, Cassandra walks right over to where Jim and Michael are sitting, and the two hold their breaths waiting to see which of them she wants to talk to.
Smiling, she turns and asked, "You're Jim Kirk, right?"
After a moment's quiet shock, Jim nods before he affirms, "Yeah, that's me," impressing himself with how normal his voice sounds, despite his shock that Cassandra even looked at him, let alone that she knows his name. As an afterthought, Jim flashes her a smile, and notes the way she giggles in response.
"I was wondering," she begins, with the air of someone who knows that they have the attention of the whole room, and want it that way, "do you have a date to the fall dance yet?"
Still in shock that the prettiest girl in the Sophomore class is talking to him, a lowly freshman, Jimmy can only shake his head, not daring to think about where this conversation might be going.
Still smiling, she continues, "Well, then, I was wondering if you might want to go with me?"
It takes Jim a full half a minute to process what he has just been asked. As soon as the information clicks into place, Jim, aware that all the boys at his table are staring at him (some are glaring at this point, actually), puts his grin back into place and replies, "Sure, I'll go with you."
After a moment, it becomes clear that Cassandra is growing uncomfortable with having the group of boys staring at her, and she begins shifting back and forth on her feet before she offers, "So...?"
Trying to exude charm, Jim supplies, "So, I'll be picking you up around... Eight?"
Smiling, the brunette nods and replies, "That sounds good to me." Without further ado, she scribbles her address into the PADD in front of Jim, and walks back to where her friends are all waiting, clearly having watched the whole exchange.
For a moment, all the boys do is stare at the gaggle of giggling girls, trying to figure out the mysterious intricacies of the female mind. It only takes a minute for the boys to decide they are attempting something that is never going to happen, and then they all turn to stare at Jim, some grinning, others openly jealous.
For the whole rest of lunch, the boys talk about how Cassandra StClaire actually asked little Jimmy Kirk out, and then whom the rest of them wanted to go with, now that Cassandra was unavailable.
When the night of the dance finally arrives, Jim is, admittedly, nervous, but shakes it off as he knocks on Cassandra's door with a grin. When she opens the door, Jim has to take a second to make sure he isn't gaping. Her hair is done up in a twist, and she is wearing a deep purple dress that he can't help but admire.
"Hey," he greets, his grin (thankfully) still in place, his voice still steady despite the way his mind has skipped town, " you look great, are you ready to go?"
She smiles in response, replying, "Yeah, but my mom insists that she needs to take pictures. You don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all," he says, grin still in place. He follows as she leads him through her house, and into the living room where her parents are watching the news. He hears the beginnings a report about crop failures somewhere before the screen is turned off and the picture taking begins.
By the end of the night, Jim can easily say that he has enjoyed himself, and he gets the feeling Cassandra did, too.
Right before the dance ends, the two step out into the cool night air to gaze at the stars. He feels strange, looking at the stars and knowing that even though they look similar, these are not the ones he knows from Earth. These stars are new, in different constellations, and since there are no big cities yet on Tarsus, he can see more of them than he ever could on Earth.
When Jim turns to look at Cassandra, he finds his breath is stolen; the sight of her silhouetted in the night is so beautiful. As she turns to look at him, he decides to listen to his instincts and kiss her.
It isn't perfect, by any means, and it isn't passionate and deep or anything like that. It is simply a chaste little kiss, but somehow it seems perfect for that moment.
When he gets back to his cabin that night, Jim is in the best of moods. His high is quickly ruined, however, when Michael, who left before him, tells him about how all of the crops at Camp Green Lake, the ones that they had spent months growing, have suddenly died.