Loca, Spider Monkey

42. Jared Cameron - Imprinting

He bolted out of his seat, and though Paul and Embry looked very confused, they went after him. Kim frowned in disappointment.

"Aw, man, he's gone," she whined.

"Good riddance," you said, though an inexplicable feeling of remorse overwhelmed you.

-

Kim had slowly gotten the message that you didn't want to talk about Jared anymore, so she stopped mentioning him around you. She realized that your annoyance with him was more concentrated than usual. What you didn't tell her was why.

You'd tolerated Jared just fine. Even though he and his friends were usually obnoxious and cocky, you'd endured him because for some reason, his face made Kim happy.

Until the diner incident.

Damn, why did that boy get to you? You hadn't ever cared about him — or wanted to — but ever since he'd stormed out of that restaurant, his expression of pain and hurt stayed solidified in your memory like a bad dream you couldn't shake off. Though, that couldn't have been because of you. He surely couldn't have heard how badly you'd insulted him. No one could have heard. You'd been quiet about it.

So him being angry and frustrated every time you saw him outside of school had nothing to do with you. Maybe something had happened with Paul and Embry. Maybe they'd gotten into a fight. Maybe they'd made fun of him one too many times — like you had.

Friday after school, you hurried to your car, eager to turn on the heating and warm yourself up. Kim had coaxed you into coming down to the res and sleeping over at her house, and though you weren't a big fan of the sickly girly things she had planned, you desperately wanted to something to pull your thoughts away from Jared.

You'd promised to drive over to her place as soon as you grabbed a few things from home, which you assured her wouldn't take too long. You quickly rushed up the front steps of your house and sprinted up to your bedroom, tossing your backpack in a corner and shoving essentials in an overnight bag.
As you walked out of your house, you stopped short in front of your car.
Jared Cameron was leaning against the driver's side.

His arms were folded over his bare chest, eyes narrowed in the same frustration you'd witnessed at the diner. You almost wanted to turn back around and lock yourself in your house, but decided against it. If he'd managed to find out where you lived — although that wasn't really very weird in a small town like Forks — then what he had to say must have held some degree of importance.

"What do you want?" you demanded. "I don't have all day."

Jared scoffed. "Why are you always pissed at me?" he asked. "Jeez, you're always glaring and talking shit behind my back to Kim. Ease up, will you?"

It took you a little by surprise that he was so upfront about it. He wasn't wrong, really, but he certainly hadn't wasted time getting to the point.

"Yeah, well, I'm doing it for Kim's sake," you said.

"'Cause she likes me?" Jared shook his head, almost remorsefully. "I thought by ignoring her, I was letting her down easy."

You really weren't all that surprised. He treated Kim like she was invisible. You just hadn't expected him to be so aware. Most guys generally weren't when it came to things like romance.

"You should have told her," you said. "She thinks the two of you will get married one day."

"You think she'll appreciate you telling me that?" Jared laughed. "Some friend you are."

You gritted your teeth. "If you've come here to berate me, you can leave."

Jared smiled. Shit, he really does have nice lips, you thought. A nice everything.