Kim (16 years old in 2006) and Jared (16 years old in 2006)

Kim's POV

I sat in class trying to ignore that the seat next to me was empty yet again for the 2nd week in a row. Where was he? Was he okay? Sick? Dying? Dead? I shook my head banishing the thought. There was no way he could be dead and I would not have heard about it. Besides, the teachers seemed to not be worried about him not being here. I sighed pathetically and tried to pay attention to my teacher speaking. Usually I love English but it's been harder for me to care since he's been gone. I've gone into a slight depression that my best friend Carmen is always teasing me about. I guess I do deserve to be teased a little though. I mean I've been in love with Jared Cameron for 3 years and he doesn't even know I exist. But of course who would notice Kimberly Connweller.

I was rather plain with long, straight and midnight black hair. I couldn't do a thing with it except put it in a bun which I did on a regular basis. It was too long for me to keep down all day without it getting in my way and my mom refused to let me cut my "crowning glory" as she liked to call it. It reached about 3 inches above my butt. I had dark brown eyes like most of the Quileute's in La Push but if you looked closely you could see a little gold in them. I also had the usual russet skin which was smooth and clear. Carmen says most girls would kill for it because I never needed to wear makeup. And I also had perfectly straight and white teeth. Thank god I never needed braces because that would have made me more of an outcast than I already was.

I looked down at my notebook deciding to try to pay attention and realized that I had doodled my name and Jared's with a heart around it. I felt my cheeks heat a little and I quickly turned the page and started taking notes. All of a sudden the door swung open and I looked up and nearly fainted. There was Jared Cameron and he looked even more gorgeous than before. It really was unfair. His long wavy hair had been chopped off and now he sported a cropped hair cut. He looked like he was now at least 6 foot 5 and when he left he was only about 6 feet. If I thought he was muscular before that didn't compare to the bulging muscles that rippled as he waved hello to the teacher. It almost looked like he was on steroids or something. There was no way someone could change that much in 2 weeks. My eyes drank in his appearance and I admired his torso in a tight white t-shirt that looked like it was straining to cover him and blue jeans. How can anyone be so beautiful? His dark brown eyes looked almost sad and I noticed the bags under them. What happened to him?

"Well Mr. Cameron thank you for gracing us with your presence today," Ms. Cortez said. He smiled and I felt my heart skip a beat. I swear loving Jared is going to give me a heart problems. He came over and sat down beside me and I could see everyone stealing glances at him. I also noticed the girls throwing him coy and inviting looks. If he wasn't already popular, the way he looked now he was about to be the king of the school.

"You can ask Miss Connweller for the notes," she said. I swallowed and didn't dare to look at him but instead slid my notebook over to him.

"Thanks," he murmured his hand reaching out to grab it. I guess I didn't move my hand fast enough because our hands touched and I gasped at how hot his was. Startled I looked at him and he seemed as shocked as I was. His eyes widened and he stopped breathing as he gazed at me in awe. I was too entranced to look away as he looked at me mesmerized for what seemed like an eternity.

"Kim, Jared. I know I may not be as fascinating as you two are but if you would please pay attention," Ms. Cortez said. I blushed and looked away.

"Sorry," I mumbled hating how people looked at me. Jared took his time looking away and every so often I could feel his glance on me. I thanked god for my dark skin because if not everyone would be able to see how red my face was. I tried to ignore him and instead analyzed his facial expression. The way he stared at me was like no one had ever looked at me before. If I wasn't in my right mind I would swear he looked like he was in love with me. I'm sure it almost looked like the faces I made when I thought about him or at least that's what Carmen would say. I felt a strong urge to look back at him but I didn't want to make a spectacle of myself again. I hated being the center of attention and was fine with being pretty much invisible in school.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the bell rang and I hurried up to grab my stuff and rushed out of the classroom. I could still feel Jared's eyes boring into my back as I made my way down the hallway. I got to my locker and threw my books in.

"What's wrong with you?" Carmen asked opening her locker that was right next to mine.

"Jared's back," I whispered and she laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh lord. The prodigy returns," she said. I still couldn't get my breathing right so I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. When I opened them I saw Carmen's curious green ones looking back at me.

"What's wrong Kimmy?" she asked me calling me my childhood nickname.

I shook my head. "I don't know Car. He came to class today and he looked so different. Like he's huge now! But that's not the worse part. He sat next to me and he just stared at me. For the entire class!"

She frowned at me. "So let me get this straight. The man of your dreams comes back to class looking hunkier than ever. He sits next to you and can't stop staring at you and you're upset?" she asked. I laughed a little. I guess it did sound crazy when you looked at it that way. "Well how was he looking at you?"

"He looked at me like…like he was surprised," I said trying to come up with the right word for it. She closed her locker and we began walking to the cafeteria. She nodded and made me recount everything that happened. We got our lunch and sat down at our preferred table. Carmen was chatting away and then stopped mid sentence. I looked up and frowned.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's Jared Cameron," she whispered. "He's staring at you again."

"What!" I exclaimed about to turn around. She grabbed my arm.

"No don't look! He'll know we're talking about him," she said. I blushed.

"You're right. Well what's he doing now?" I asked giving up on food. I couldn't eat with all these butterflies in my stomach.

"He's sitting at the table with Paul Lahote and Embry Call. Gosh Kim they all look huge now. I never noticed before. And come to think of it they were all missing from school for a while. You know I heard they were hanging out with Sam Uley now."

I knew of Sam Uley though I had never officially met him. Apparently he was a normal kid and then all of a sudden disappeared for two months and then came back looking huge just like Jared. I wondered what had happened to them all. Everyone thought that Sam was some kind of drug dealer but I remember seeing him one day and I thought he looked sad, not my idea of a drug dealer.

"Oh my gosh Kim he's coming over here!" she said. I jumped.

"What? Why? Oh god what do I do?" I said starting to panic. Carmen was silent for a change and I looked to my right and realized why. Jared was standing beside me staring at me again and when I looked up he started smiling.