"Hey, besties!" Jared chirped in the school parking lot that Monday, making Kim jump and Paul glare.
"Call me 'bestie' one more time, see what happens," Paul grunted, raising an eyebrow at Jared. That did nothing to dampen Jared's evident good mood. He was smiling widely, flashing his straight teeth, showing his dimples, and in the freezing, murky December morning he looked like the sun. Well, at least to Kim he did.
"What, it sounds festive," Jared defended himself, making Paul scoff.
"Yeah, maybe, if you're a Hollywood housewife taking part in a reality show. So, knock it off."
"Kim, what do you say?" Jared turned to her.
"Um... maybe it's a bit... much?"
"Thank you, Connweller!" Paul said with a small bow to her. Jared's smile fell. Kim raised her arms in surrender.
"Oh, Jared, don't be upset, we're -"
"No, no," Jared shook his head. "It's just - you haven't been sleeping," he said motioning to her face.
"Wow, do I look that bad?"
"You look tired."
"Those are the words every woman wants to hear, so thank you for that," she muttered, touching her cheeks.
"You know I didn't mean it like that," he rolled his eyes.
"I did, but I was courteous enough not to mention anything, unlike Cameron," Paul said with an idiotic grin.
"Well, aren't you a prince? And, courteous, such a big word! I'm so proud of you," Kim teased.
"Can we please get back to the subject of why you're not sleeping?" Jared raised his eyebrows at them.
"I'm fine," Kim waved it off. "It's just that, well, after our conversation about... the Vs, I've been a little worried," she whispered.
"When you call them the Vs it sounds like you're talking about vaginas," Paul snorted.
"And now that thought is stuck in my head, perfect," Jared chortled as well.
"Oh my god, how old are you? 12?" Kim fumed. "Then, what should I call them? I was trying to be discreet!"
"As one should be when talking about... the Vs," Paul burst into laughter and Jared joined in.
"You two are children," she hissed at them. "I'm going to class and you should, too," she turned on her heel and marched to school.
"Hey, don't worry about the Vs! We got you," Jared shouted after her and their laughter followed her into the school building.
"Idiots," she muttered, shaking her head.
At lunch, Kim sat at her usual table and took out a book. She had barely gone through one paragraph when Paul and Jared plopped down on the chairs opposite her. Kim shuddered as everyone in the cafeteria turned to look at them and unavoidably started whispering. It was bound to happen, she consoled herself.
"And today, we have Mystery Pizza on the menu! What's the green stuff? Broccoli? Spinach? Oregano? No one knows!" Paul announced in his best newscaster voice, promptly distracting her from her thoughts, then bit into a large, greasy slice of pizza.
"I think the 'mystery' part makes it edible," Jared added, inspecting his own slice. "You're choosing that over this fine pizza?" He glanced at Kim's small salad. "For shame, Kimberly," he mock tutted.
Kim rolled her eyes and started rummaging through her bag, eventually taking out two bananas and two wrapped cookies. She pushed one of each towards Paul and Jared.
"Ugh, I'm not a fan of bananas," Paul mumbled, but he took the food anyway, with a gentle nod at Kim.
"Well, you need to eat some fruit and vegetables once in a while," she chided.
Jared stared at the offered food a tad too long.
"Is everything ok? If you don't like it, I'm sure Paul will be more than happy to eat everything," Kim chuckled. To confirm her words, Paul had already extended his arm to snatch the food, but Jared slapped it away.
"No, of course not," he said. "It's just... it's very nice of you, that's all. Thank you," he graced her with another of his brilliant, sunshiny smiles and she blushed like an idiot and averted her gaze, pretending to be really interested in her salad. They ate silently for some time, Kim painfully aware of the stares coming their way, until a clang from a table nearby made them turn. Embry Call had abruptly got up from his chair and left the cafeteria, furiously muttering to himself.
Paul nudged Jared. "Should we -"
"Not yet."
"Seriously, you and Sam are dragging this out. This could go on forever, man. I'm telling you, you let me drag that little shit into the forest, slap some sense into him and bam! He's turned," Paul clapped his hands for emphasis.
"He's not ready, Paul."
"I could make him ready in two minutes," Paul muttered, but returned to his food.
"So, Embry is next?" Kim asked quietly.
"It sure seems so," Jared gave her a tight smile. "But there will be others," he sighed. "Anyway, Embry seems to be calm, level-headed by nature. It might take him awhile to... reach the final destination. Some of the others might get there first."
"Like who?" Kim let her curiosity get the best of her.
"Jacob Black, for one. He might even become the alpha."
"Jacob?" Kim's eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up. "But he's so..."
"Stupid?" Paul snorted.
"Benign?" Jared offered.
"I was going to say nice and friendly, you twats!"
"Well, it's in his blood, so. There's a certain hierarchy you know," Jared explained.
"Yeah? Where are you on that list, then?"
"Well, in this setting, Paul should be the beta but I am currently filling that role," Jared said smugly. Paul gave a noncommittal grunt.
"Really?" Kim eyebrows rose in surprise. "And, why is that?"
"Well, somebody needs to learn to control his temper," Jared looked pointedly at Paul, who busied himself with food. "Ideally, at some point, Jacob should be the alpha, Sam following, then Paul, then me, then everybody else."
"How many of you are there going to be?" Kim felt her head spinning.
"Honestly? We have no idea."
Riding home from school in Jared's truck, Kim once again found herself sandwiched between the two boys. Paul was fiddling with Jared's radio, muttering about Jared's musical taste. Fucking disgrace were the words Kim managed to catch. Jared just shrugged and smiled.
"So, how is the hierarchy established?" Kim was eager to continue their previous conversation. "Are there rules or do you fight for it, or...?"
Jared chortled. "Of course we don't fight for it! But, I have to admit, that would be pretty cool. I would totally beat your sorry ass," he snaked his arm around Kim and nudged Paul. Even during such a short contact, electricity buzzed through Kim's body. She thought it was absolutely ridiculous.
"You could try, pretty boy," Paul snorted.
"Maybe I will," Jared gave Paul a playfull shove, then rested his arm behind Kim's shoulders for a short moment. "Basically, it has to do with genes. You know, the basic stuff: height, speed, strength. Also ancestry, I think? If, like, your great great grandfather was third, you are likely to be, as well."
"Have there been no girls?" Kim asked.
"None as far as we know," Jared said.
"It would be dope, though. That chick would be hoooot," Paul said, making Kim roll her eyes.
"Seriously, Paul, how is your toxic masculinity not weighing you down?" She scoffed.
"Well, excuse me for commenting on the beauties of a female body. It was a compliment; what's so toxic about compliments?"
"The rude way in which they are delivered? The thinly veiled sexual implication behind them?"
"Jesus," he said, pulling a face, but a bit of red crept up to the tops of his ears. "Fine, I won't give imaginary people compliments anymore. Are you satisfied, Hermione Granger?"
"I didn't know you read Harry Potter."
"I didn't know he could read," Jared chuckled, effectively breaking the tension.
"Hahaha. Aren't you two a comic fucking duo?" Paul grumbled, as Jared pulled over in front of his house. "Well, good thing I don't have to listen to you anymore today," he said, getting out of the car.
"Yeah, you do. We have patrol later," Jared reminded him.
"Shit," Paul groaned. "How do I manage to suppress that thought every day? Well, anyway, then I'll unfortunately see your ugly mug later, Cameron. Connweller, until tomorrow," he said and before he closed the door, he pushed Kim towards Jared, which made her lose her balance and almost fall face first into Jared's lap. She managed to grab onto Jared's thigh, barely missing his groin, and Jared grabbed her shoulders and straightened her out.
"PAUL!" She shrieked, letting go of Jared's thigh like it was on fire. "What the hell?!"
"I'm sorry, it must be my toxic masculinity," he cackled. "Later, losers!"
Kim's entire face was burning. She didn't even have to look in the mirror to know that she looked like a ripe tomato.
"I'm so sorry," she mumbled and chanced a glance at Jared. He was smiling widely but also looked a bit flushed.
"Pfft. Don't worry about it. He's just messing with us," he waved it off and started the car again.
They drove in silence for a short while, Kim experiencing a vicious cringe attack the whole time, then Jared spoke up.
"Hey, I know what we should do. I mean, if you're up for it, of course. If not, it's not a big -"
"What did you have in mind?"
"Well, you know how Paul loves Suzie's diner? He's obsessed with their chicken wings."
"Ok?"
"Well, maybe... as a punishment to him, we could, I don't know, go there without him one of these days?" Jared said cautiously. "And, maybe we could, I don't know, take some pictures of the food and send them to him later? I mean, it's just a thought," he shrugged.
Kim's stomach did a strange little whirl. Was it a date? Surely it wasn't? Maybe? What? She blinked at Jared a couple of times, blinkblinkblink, then he gave her and expectant look and she realized she hadn't said anything.
"Oh. Ok," she said in a breathy sigh of a telenovela actress, then almost shuddered with disgust. Why was she so lame? Fix it, Kimberly. "Yeah, no, it's a solid idea, Captain," she said and saluted. She actually saluted. Oh, for fuck's sake. She wanted to slap herself, repeatedly.
Jared, on the other hand, was beaming at her, like her social ineptness didn't bother him at all.
"Cool. Is Saturday ok for you? I could pick you up after your weaving class?"
"Yeah," she said, "it's a date," she mumbled and then flinched. A date? Just stop talking, Kim. Just stop.
"Cool. Coolcoolcool," Jared smiled even wider.