A/N: I do not own Twilight. That's all Stephenie Meyer's. Anyways, thank you all so much for the feedback and support for the last chapter! I'm glad the general response to Leah was positive. This chapter, chapter 60 (!), also begins a little arc that Kim will have. This chapter is specifically easier on the eyes than the last one, I'll admit. It's shorter and composes of a lot of snappy dialogue. It also features the return of an old character.

Thanks for sticking around and of course, enjoy.

LX.

when you diss me, you diss yourself
don't hurt yourself

The next morning, Kim and Leah woke up to the latter girl's alarm clock. It was a school day and they missed the weekend dearly.

Leah glanced at the gift bag on her bedside table. "I can't believe I woke up in the correct century," she mumbled.

Kim rubbed her eyes as she yawned. "What?"

"I get to watch Selena on DVD now. What a miracle."

Kim rolled over to her stomach. "So Bella's your new best friend?"

Leah snorted. "You're funny. She apologized to me last night, though, when she came by."

"And you didn't start swinging at her? That's crazy."

"What can I say? I'm grown. Oh, and guess what? She told me her dad wants to propose to my mom."

"You're kidding."

"God, I wish I was."

"So you and Bella are basically stepsisters."

"Not yet."

"But you will be."

Leah was silent.

"Sorry," Kim said. "That sucks."

"It's okay. But you're more of my sister than she'll ever be, no matter what."

"Okay, good. At least she apologized, though. Like that means anything."

"She also wanted to say sorry to you," Leah recalled.

"Oh, for what?"

"Probably for outing you in front of everyone the other night."

"It's not even that big of a deal anymore," Kim said. "I guess we're all kind of friends, anyway, and who are they gonna tell? Everybody we know was already there."

"True," Leah agreed. "And nobody really cares that you're gay. Bi, I mean."

"Yeah. I'm still a little embarrassed about the whole thing with Bella, though."

"Why?" Leah asked. "You just said it's not a big deal."

"Because I was stupid enough..." Kim began. Then she yawned. "I was stupid enough to think that she was the one. I know that sounds corny—"

"Yeah, that's super corny."

"I know. But I was really stupid enough to think all that." Kim frowned. "Like, I got so comfortable with her so quickly. I thought we were gonna be a couple. I was gonna finally have a girlfriend instead of pretending that I still talk to Jared. I was seriously about to come out to my parents. I was so ready for her to be my girlfriend, and then she just broke it. And what has me the most embarrassed is the fact that I fell for a straight girl, which has gotta be breaking tons of rules."

"Wait, you fell for Bella?" Leah asked. "Like, truly fell for her?"

"I thought I did. In hindsight, I don't know."

"Well, you can always do better," Leah said. "Bella's just some asshole, anyway."

"I know," Kim said. "I know."

"What are you into?" Leah wondered. "Dimples? A juicy ass? Gemini? Just let me know when you wanna go girl hunting—I probably have a camouflage jacket somewhere."

Kim burst into laughter. "Oh my God, shut up."

"Just here to help, Bambi."

Kim picked up her cell phone from her bedside table, next to the shitty lamp (which was still broken). She had twelve notifications and they were all from… the Vine app?

"Can you tell me why Quil made a Vine of me calling out Bella in front of everybody?" Kim asked Leah as she stared at her screen.

"I have a flip phone, remember?" Leah replied as she began to climb out of bed. "With prepaid minutes. What's a Vine?"

The six-second video was mostly just an unflattering angle of Quil's face as he reacted to Kim expressing that Bella's head had been between her legs, as well as barely audible clips of Kim and Bella arguing. The video was spliced in an awkward, nearly comedic way.

Leah sat down next to Kim and looked at the video, which looped over and over again. "Wow," she said. "I didn't know Quil was a cinematographer."

"He's not," Kim said, annoyed. "He's just a dickhead. I didn't even know he had a smart phone."

"Quil has, like, three phones."

"Yeah, and they're all burners so I don't get it."

Kim scrolled down to the stats of the video, which had gotten over four thousand hits. She didn't understand how that happened, but she found herself much more confused at the fact that Jared Cameron, who she hadn't even thought of in forever, had tagged her in the comments of the video. His comments were along the lines of, "What?" There were plenty of comments that featured strings of multiple question marks.

"What's the point in Jared tagging me in any of this?" Kim asked nobody in particular.

"I wouldn't even be worried about it," Leah said. "He's irrelevant." She got up from the bed and started to head to the kitchen.

Kim looked up, her face concerned. "Do you think he's mad at me?"

"Why would he be? You're not dating, and if anything, he should be mad at himself for clearly not being enough for you. He should also be mad at Bella for giving better head than him. Now, come on—we have school."

Kim snapped out of it the best that she could, but even as she quickly got dressed for school (which nicely doubled as her outfit for work later on), she couldn't shake the idea that Jared was about to become a lot more present in her life.

It had started with a phone call that Tuesday afternoon. At first, it seemed as mundane and slightly off as any other phone call with a distant area code. Kim had deleted Jared's number last summer when she had realized he'd wanted nothing to do with her, but since she was done with classes for the day and back at home until work later that afternoon, she didn't think much of the chance that he would call her.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Kim," a deeper voice said, "it's me."

"Uh, who is this?"

"Jared? Jared Cameron? Don't tell me you forgot about me."

"Oh, hey! I'd never forget—it's just that it's been a while. How are you?"

"I've been good," he said. "How are things with you?"

"Things are great. Really great. Are you still living in Seattle?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, but I'm actually in Forks right now."

"Oh, what for?" she asked casually, like this kind of thing happened every day.

"I had to pick up some things from my parents' place. They keep getting my mail, you know."

"Yeah, I definitely know all about that. I just got my own place in town."

"No shit? I'm real happy for you, Kim." He didn't sound that happy at all; his tone was tinted with resentment.

She played along, anyway. "Thanks."

"Do you wanna go get a coffee?" he asked suddenly.

"Um, sure," she said, caught off guard. "I only have a little while, though. I've got work at four."

"We've got time," he said enthusiastically. "I can pick you up in five."

"It's fine," she replied. "We can just meet up and—"

"Come on," he insisted. "My treat."

She thought for a moment and decided it really wasn't a big deal. "Okay." Then she gave him her address, and he was over in three.

She climbed into his car, a rundown lemon that she should have expected from a U-Dub undergraduate. In mostly silence, they drove the coffee shop in town, and when they both got out of the car, he finally hugged her. She hadn't noticed when she first saw him, but he was bulkier now. Then she remembered he was a college quarterback, so he had to be pretty big, anyway.

"Jeez, Jared," she said as she got out of the hug. "You're a monster. What's in the water over at U-Dub?"

"Aw, you know," he replied as he opened the door to the shop.

It was a busy afternoon for the coffee shop, so Jared and Kim had to sit at a table in the middle of the room.

"Wow," Jared said, looking down at his menu. "This place hasn't changed a damn bit."

"I know," Kim replied. "That's what I like about it. Hey, Jillian." She looked up at the waitress, a taller blonde with dimples, who had just approached them, and she let Jared order first.

"And the usual for you?" Jillian asked.

Kim smiled and nodded. "Of course."

Jillian left, and Kim looked back to Jared, who had a semi-confused/semi-disgusted look to his face.

"What's wrong?" Kim asked.

He nodded his head in Jillian's direction. "That," he said. "That's what's wrong."

"Jillian's a great employee, don't worry," Kim replied. "She won't spit in your drink."

"Damn it, Kim," he said a little louder. "What made you become a dyke all of a sudden?"

She felt the eyes of strangers all over her. "It's not a choice," she said quietly. "And besides, whoever I'm with has exactly nothing to do with you."

"I just need to know," he replied, lowering his voice. "It's just..." He looked around. "It's making me look bad. That's all."

"Me loving who I want is making you look bad?" Kim asked. "You've been living in Seattle for years now. Nobody has even thought of you. I certainly haven't. And, anyway, all you know about me is the abridged version that your boy Quil posted in a damn Vine video, so you should talk to him about making you look bad."

"I see you're still a fucking bitch like Leah," he said brightly.

"And I've never been happier," she replied. "Honestly, Jared, we're not getting anywhere like this, you're not going to humiliate me in this coffee shop, and I have to get ready for work. I'll see you later."

She got up and pushed her chair in. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her in closer to him. She tried to get away, but he wasn't even close to letting go.

"Watch what you're doing," he told her. "'Cause I'll fix your fucking condition if I have to." Then he let her go, slightly pushing her away. "Slut."

"Stay the fuck away from me," she said. "Douchebag." Then she left the shop and sped off to work, clocking on an hour early.

Kim waited up for Leah after work that night. Even though she had acted like a badass in the coffee shop, she was truly afraid. The moment that Jared had called her a slut had been the moment everything bad about high school had come back to her. She was merely not okay.

Leah entered the condo, rapping to herself under her breath as she slipped off her shoes and coat. "'Cause that's what a motherfucking monster do. Hairdresser from Milan, that's the monster 'do. Monster Giuseppe heel, that's the monster—shit, Kim!"

Kim sat on the living room couch with a bowl of soup in her hands and a sad expression on her face, looking more or less like a neglected puppy. "Sorry for scaring you, Lee."

"No, no, it's okay." Leah sat down on the couch next to her. "You look scared."

"I saw Jared today."

"Where? How?"

"He's picking up some stuff from his parents, I guess. He took me out for coffee, and he was being annoying as usual but what really has me messed up is that I couldn't focus at work because of it."

"Well, what did he say?"

"Nothing too crazy. He just called me a slut and said I was making him look bad, probably because of that video."

Leah closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "I don't understand how you didn't fuck his shit up right then and there."

"Lee, you can't just fight everyone in order to solve your issues."

"But you sure as shit can try."

"Not me. He didn't get it, though. Like, how could I make him look bad when nobody has even thought of him since graduation?"

"Nobody cares about him or his image," Leah said, shaking her head. "That's so fucking self-centered to even assume."

"Exactly! God, Leah, if you were there you would have been dying."

"What are you gonna do, then, since you're not gonna fight him?" Leah asked. "Is he leaving town soon or what?"

"I don't know," Kim replied. "And I don't know if he's leaving, either."

"If that was all that he said, then I wouldn't be too worried. He's full of himself—that's not exactly news."

"That's not all he told me, though," Kim said quietly. "He said he'd..." She bit her lip.

"He said he'd what?" Leah prompted.

"He said he'd fix my condition."

"Oh, like, the gay one?" Leah asked. "Like, the one you're born with?"

Kim nodded.

"He's so stupid. Kim, I wouldn't even get hung up over him. He's not gonna do shit to you."

"I don't think he will, either," Kim admitted. "I'm just mad that I was hung up over it in the first place. It shouldn't have messed with me that much."

Leah shrugged. "It happens, I guess."

"I guess. Do you work tomorrow night?"

"No."

Kim's face lit up. "Then you're free?"

"No."

"Leah," Kim whined.

Leah taunted her tone. "Kim."

"What's so important that you have to do tomorrow night?"

"I actually have a date with Jacob."

"Oh," Kim said curtly.

"What do you mean, oh?"

"I don't know," Kim replied. "I just thought that you didn't like him that much, or that you don't really know how to feel about him."

"I guess tomorrow I get to figure it out. Or the day after since you need me to stay home so bad."

"No, no," Kim said. "Go off and have fun. You don't have to be confined to the couch like me."

Leah got up, smiling. "Whatever you say, Kim. Let me know when you wanna go girl hunting, though. Like I said, I think I have a camouflage jacket."

"I'll hold you to it," Kim said in response.

Leah went to their room. "Night," she called.

"Night."

Kim returned to her soup and downed a spoonful. In the corner of her vision, her phone lit up on the coffee table. She unlocked it and saw that she had seven text messages and three missed calls, all from the same number. She knew who it was.

She simply cleared the calls and erased the text messages. In her mind, she had deleted Jared just as easily.

A/N: Thanks as always,

HS