Author's Note:

I feel like a terrible person, I really do. It's been so long since I have updated any of my stories or even told you guys why I wasn't. I don't think I've had writer's block that really isn't it. But I've been feeling really down and sad for a while now. And I just couldn't update, I don't know why. A lot of things have been happening in my life and I'm trying to deal with them as best as I can, but it's hard at the moment.

You're probably wondering about my other stories, if you've reviewed them or read them. Well, I need to say something – I wasn't very happy with the way A Challenge was going, at all. I was reading over it and decided that I didn't like it very much. I know that story got the most response to it, but I'm putting it on further hold, until I either update it and/or think of a much better plot then I had going.

As for Ghost Story, I think I really like that story. As soon as I finish getting this up, I can promise you that I'll get it out, and try and at least form some more ideas about it, or get the next chapter started. I'm planning on making my next chapters much longer and trying to update each story at least once a week. I don't want to let you guys down again and not update so I think I'm back, for good now – at least until any of these stories gets finished.

I'll also be putting up some poetry on here so if you guys would like to read that, go ahead. I hope that any faithful reviewers and readers from the past aren't mad, but I understand if you are. If you'd like to, please tell me what you think about this story. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks and sorry once again!

Well, I think I want to talk about this story just a little bit. I'm hoping to keep it in the humor/romance section, although it will get pretty angsty at times, if things go the way I want it. I also rated it teen, because there should be some romance and swearing, but I think that's about it. I hope all of you will enjoy this!

Paris Beaumont put her cigarette up to her lips. Inhaling from it, she sat down on the wooden bench behind her, silently surveying the array of things around her.

She tucked her blonde hair behind her ears. As she looked around, she became aware that a boy around her age was walking towards her. He had black hair, dark brown eyes, and very pale skin. He was wearing a black hoodie and light blue jeans.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Are you Paris Beaumont?"

Paris stared at him in surprise. How did he know her name?

"Um… yes. Why?"

His face lit up in a smile. "You don't remember me? It's Jeremy Walker, remember first grade? We were inseparable!"

In the first grade, Jeremy and Paris had been best friends. Sadly, during the summer before second grade, Jeremy moved away.

That name took a moment to register in Paris's mind, but a few moments later she broke out into a grin.

"Jeremy? Wow, I didn't recognize you! What are you doing here?" Paris threw the cigarette onto the ground, putting it out with her heel.

"Well, I'm not sure if you remember, but back in first grade my parents were in the middle of a divorce. A few years after we moved to California, my mom got re-married and now I'm back."

"You're back for good? Or just a visit?"

"Good, I'm going to go to the high school. So how've you been?"

Jeremy sat down next to her, placing his arms in his lap.

Paris shrugged. "I'm alright. My mom got re-married, again."

Her mother had been married four times by then. It seemed like every time her mother met someone new, she'd go to city hall and get married. A few months later, they'd be divorced. Although, Paris hated her mother's marriages, she couldn't help but want a sibling from it.

Unfortunately, that had never happened, her mother had never really been married long enough to have another baby.

Paris's mother was still very young; she was only in her early thirties. She had had Paris when she'd been thirteen and had dropped out of school a year later to take care of her baby.

Her father had been too young to start a family with Paris's mother, they had been only thirteen. As soon as they turned eighteen, they got married in a hurry. They hadn't really loved each other, but thought that it would be best for their baby.

When Paris was ten, they divorced. They had thought that their love for Paris would be enough to keep them together, but it hadn't.

Paris' father, Joe, lived in the same town as them. Whenever she felt angry with her mother, she'd drive over there, and spend the night.

Joe always had comforting words to say to her. He'd tell her that it would be okay, her mother just wanted to find true love; she'd had Paris at such a young age, and never had been able to do that before hand.

Paris smiled, just thinking of her father made her happy. If she had a choice she'd live with him, but when her parents had gone to court, her mother had won custody of her.

Jeremy gave her a small smile. "Oh, right. I remember that. I guess your mom's just looking for someone to be with, right?"

Paris nodded. "I guess that's a way you could put it. I wish, though, that she'd at least remember I existed, and maybe once in a while act like a mom."

"Have you ever told her that?"

"Well… no. We don't really have much time to talk to each other, and I'm not sure she'd listen. Actually, part of me is afraid that she won't care. That she'd rather go out on dates almost every night then spend time with me."

"I can see why you haven't asked her yet, but Paris if you don't ever ask her, you'll never know."

"Yea… so you'll be coming to school on Monday?"

"You're changing the subject and yes, I will be."

Paris got up from the bench. She took a cigarette from her pocket, brought it up to her lighter, and then put it to her lips.

"I'll see you later Jeremy, I've got to get home."

"Okay, maybe we can hang out sometime?"

She nodded and walked away, towards her car.

Climbing into her silver Jetta, she turned on the radio, and started the car, backing out of the parking lot. She decided to eat dinner at her Joe's house that night; she couldn't deal with having to sit at the table with her mother's new husband, Jon.

He was a very tall, muscular man, although he had a very baby like face. He was actually pretty nice, but Paris had grown so sick of her mother's husbands that she probably wouldn't have given any of them a chance.

As she got out of the car, her father walked out to meet her.

Joe hugged her. "Hey Paris, I didn't know you were coming today."

She shrugged. "I know, but I can't deal with eating dinner with Jon and mom tonight. Why, you have company?"

"Well, actually I do. I met someone about a month ago, her name is Rachel. I haven't really introduced you to her yet, I was kind of trying to think of the right time. But as long as you're okay with that, you're welcome to stay for dinner."

Paris made a face. She didn't want to share her dad with anyone, even if that meant that he'd finally settle down and have a family of his own.

She nodded, not trusting herself to say anything. Together they walked into the house.

An average height woman sat in the living room. She had curly, brown hair, large, hazel colored eyes, and tan skin.

Rachel gave Paris a huge smile and got up from the couch. She shook Paris's hand.

"Paris, right? It's so nice to meet you."

"Uh, yea. Nice to meet you too."

While her father went to get drinks, Paris sat uncomfortably on the couch.

"I'm sorry that we haven't had a chance to meet yet. I'm one of those people who always want to make a good impression and I just thought it'd be best if we waited a bit before I was introduced to you. Your father has told me a lot about you, I'm really happy to finally meet you."

Paris nodded. Although, she still didn't want her dad to be in a relationship, Rachel seemed nice, and maybe, just maybe she could like her.

Joe came in with two beers and a sprite. He handed one of the beers to Rachel and the can of Sprite to her.

Taking slow sips from it, Paris leaned backwards, settling in the couches' plush exterior.

"How's school?" Joe asked.

Paris shrugged. "Boring as usual."

"You know, Paris may not act like it, but she gets straight A's in school," He said proudly.

Rachel's eyebrows rose. "That's wonderful."

"It's nothing really, I don't really try. I've got a good memory," Paris remarked.

"I wish I had that in school, I had to study my ass off," Rachel said.

"I've got no idea where she gets it from. Her mother dropped out of school pretty early and although, I did go to college, I didn't do so well in school."

After a bit more talking and drinking, the trio went to the dinner table. Joe was an excellent cook, but that night Rachel had prepared dinner.

She had made pasta, chicken parmesan, a salad, and for dessert, vanilla ice cream and apple pie.

It was delicious. When Paris brought the food up to her lips, she let out a sigh of happiness.

"Wow, this is good," She said, quite surprised.

Rachel beamed. "Why, thank you. I work at Leonard's Cafe, I'm a chef there."

"Really? My friends and I go there all the time."

"Yes, I've noticed a lot of kids in high school coming there. I guess it's pretty popular."

"It has good food," Paris complimented.

After dinner, she called home, telling her mother that she'd stay at her dads that night. They watched some television together and then Paris went up to her room to do some homework.

At nine, she decided to go to sleep. It wasn't that she usually went to bed then. Her usual bed time was about twelve or one, but she figured that she'd let Rachel and her dad have some alone time.

She really liked Rachel. She was an amazing cook and was nice.

When she woke up, Rachel was gone. After eating a quick breakfast of toast and eggs, Paris set off for school.

When she stepped on the school's front steps, she felt a light tap on her shoulder, and jumped.

"Whoa!"

She turned around to see Jeremy's gorgeous face grinning at her. Although, she'd never admit it, ever since she'd seen him yesterday, she'd developed a bit of a crush.

"Hey."

"Oh, hey. Sorry, you scared me."

"I noticed. Who's your homeroom teacher? I was kind of hoping that we'd be in some of the same classes."

"Mrs. Belt, you?"

Jeremy's face lit up. "That's awesome! We have the same homeroom teacher. I have to go find my locker, but I'll see you there, okay? Hopefully, we'll be in some of the same classes."

As Paris reached her locker, she was approached by her best friend, Tina.

Tina had shoulder length, black hair in dread locks, beautiful, brown eyes, and light brown skin.

"Hey Paris! Who was the guy who you were just with?" She asked curiously.

"Just this guy. We knew each other in first grade and he moved away, now he's back."

"He's cute."

Paris rolled her eyes. As soon as Tina saw a guy, she moved in, and almost immediately got their phone number. It was pretty annoying, especially when Paris had never been on a date. It wasn't that she wasn't pretty; it was just that she had a pretty negative attitude towards the world and she was known as tough.

Truthfully, many of the guys in her school were scared of her. Sadly, the one guy who wasn't was the most annoying.

Trey leaned against her locker and put a hand on her shoulder.

He ran a hand through his blonde hair and focused his blue eyes on her, his eyes trailing up and down her body.

"Hey Paris. Looking good as usual. So how are you?"

"I was great, until now," She remarked, stuffing her things into her locker.

He gave her a sad, puppy dog look. "Oh, that hurt. Come on Paris, can't you be nice to me once in a while?"

Trey was the type of guy who could get any girl he wanted. He was gorgeous, and just about every girl thought so. Well, except for Paris and that was exactly why he continuously tried to get her to go out with him.

"Trey, do you understand English?"

He gave her a confused look. "Yea, why?"

"Because why can't you understand what no means?"

Trey laughed. "That was good one, Paris, but that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you alone. Not until you fall for my charming good looks and go out on a date with me, that is."

Paris sighed. When was this ever going to stop? She turned around abruptly.

"Fine, Trey. You can take me out on a date, but after that leave me alone. Okay?"

A satisfied expression came onto his face. "Good. How 'bout this Friday? We can get something to eat and then catch a movie. That sound good?"

Paris nodded. Although, she still didn't want to go out on a date with Trey, it wasn't like she had anything else to do on a Friday night. Tina was someone that she couldn't hang out with on a Friday night, which was when most of her dates happened. Her dad would have been fun to hang out with, but considering that he was seeing Rachel, she was sure that he'd be busy too. And staying at him was… just not fun, at all.

A huge grin came onto Trey's face. "I'm glad that you're finally seeing it my way, Paris. I'll pick you up at eight? You got a curfew?"

She shrugged. "Yea, that sounds fine. I don't really have one, I guess by one though. I don't want to look like I'm on drugs in the morning or something."

Trey laughed, and before she could move away, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Paris rolled her eyes, and looked in another direction, as Trey walked away. Her gaze settled on Jeremy, and he strode up to her, frowning slightly.

"You have a boyfriend?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"Why do you seem shocked?"

He shrugged. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just- well, a few boys were talking about how they were, er, kind of scared of you and… you know, I just thought…"

"Yea, guys around here think I'm going to punch them in the face or something, it's weird. Especially, since I've never done that. Well, actually I have, but only once, when this guy started uh, saying some things in ninth grade. They were awful, and he just spread some pretty nasty rumors about me. I've gotten use to it though."

He nodded. "Oh, well, I guess you had a good reason then. Want to walk to homeroom together?"

"Yea, sure, wait a min; I gotta get my stuff from my locker."

Paris quickly grabbed her books and shut her locker door, striding towards her homeroom. Jeremy followed her slowly.

As they walked in together, a few heads turned. She could see what many of them were thinking, why was Paris hanging out with someone who looked like that?

Jeremy was good looking; there was no doubt about that. He was gorgeous in this sort of gothic way- he had beautiful, black hair that was silky and thin- and he had large and cute black eyes that made you feel so good. They just stared at you with a certain kindness and seemed to match Jeremy perfectly. Jeremy's skin was very pale, the type of pale that most Goths wanted to have.

Paris remembered that when they had been younger and had always played outside, Jeremy had slathered large amounts of sun screen, and almost always still got some sort of sunburn.

Jeremy's body was very lanky and tall- he was about six feet tall. He also looked at you with a happy expression and was serious and funny, and always a good listener. He always knew what to say… at least that was what Paris remembered about him. Although, they had only been in first grade, even then he had captured the attention of a few girls who weren't scared of cooties.

All of this still seemed to be going for him because many of the girls stared at him in awe, looking at him as if he were some sort of god. Paris wanted to jump in front of them and say, "He's mine!" Except, of course, that wouldn't be true. Jeremy was most certainly not hers, although that didn't stop her from wishing or hoping that he was.

For some reason, he seemed to ignore them or maybe he didn't even notice that they were there. His gaze was settled on Paris and no one else.

"Come on, lets take a seat," He said, walking towards an empty desk.

As Jeremy walked, Paris also noticed he had that cool swagger. The one that looked effortless on guys liked him, and just made they seem cool.

It won't be long before he leaves me for them. She thought. Them, was the popular crowd, the people everyone wanted to be, and who everyone envied.

Paris didn't envy them nearly as much as everyone else, but would have liked to have their copious amounts of money, or even their cool cars. Their clothes, she didn't care about, as long as something fit and looked okay, she'd buy it. And she didn't care much for that fact that many of them didn't have parents either. Oh, they had parents in the sense that they were still living- but most of their parents ignored them or were barely home.

In fact, that was mostly like her mother, although she had a father who would have not gone to work if it meant being there for her. Still, it would have been nice to not work at Blockbuster and do occasional babysitting if she could have all that money.

Looking over at them she remarked, "I'm not sure I'd want to have their plastic noses either."

It seemed that she had said it a little too loudly because Jeremy looked over at her, his confusion apparent on his face.

"What'd you say? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"Uh… nothing really."

Jeremy seemed to accept that answer and focused his attention on the homeroom teacher, still not aware of almost every female in the room staring at him with wide eyes, and gaping mouths.

I'm the only one he notices… Paris thought with a grin. For once, a gorgeous, hot, good looking guy only spent time with her, and left everyone else in the dust. I could get use to this.

"Good morning class. As you can see, we have a new student, and his name is Jeremy Walker. Jeremy, would you like to come up and say a few things about yourself?"

Paris groaned, it was like elementary school all over again. Jeremy shuffled up to the front of the room, looking down at the ground shyly.

He had dissolved from the smooth guy to someone who was afraid of talking in front of people. Well, at least I see that he has a weakness. I was thinking there that he was perfect.

She focused her attention entirely on him, staring at him as if any word he said was interesting and would grab her attention.

"Uh… I'm from California… I actually lived in this town before up until second grade, I moved away that summer. I'm not sure if any of you remember me… although Paris did. We actually were friends back then." He looked uncomfortable, and obviously his mention of Paris showed it.

At the mention of her name, a few people looked back at her, as if they suddenly saw something that they hadn't before. Except, of course now it was that she was friends with a very good lucking guy indeed.

Paris beamed, Jeremy had mentioned her! It was an amazing thing, and for once, she was glad for the attention she was receiving.

Minutes later, after much awkward silence, and a few more mumbled words, Jeremy took his seat, shaking his head.

"That was a disaster," He muttered.

"No, it wasn't. Look, Jeremy, I'm not sure if you've noticed but a lot of people seem to have taken an interest in you so far."

"Really? You think so? I mean, I still really want to do stuff with you, but having more then one friend would be awesome. Maybe I could even rekindle my friendships that I had back then- although I'm guessing that a few of my friends would have changed- after all it was only first grade. Either way, at least I have you, right?"

Paris nodded. "Yup, you can count on me."

"Hey, are you doing anything this weekend? It'd be cool if you came over- my mom would love to see you, and you could meet my little sister and my step dad."

"Well, on Friday I have that date, but I've pretty much got the rest of the weekend off. I could stop by. Do you mind giving me your phone number and address? I'll give you a call soon; I just need to check my calendar."

Inside, Paris was silently congratulating her self. They may have been nothing more then friends, but getting his phone number and address all at once was a smooth move.

"Sure, that'd be great. I'll write down my cell number too, I pretty much always have it on."

Jeremy started to scribble down his phone number in a messy scrawl and handed it to her

Home Phone: 7895648

Address: 3 North shore Road

Cell Number: 5689564

"Thanks," Paris said smiling. After a quick look at their schedules, they realized that they had English and Social Studies together.

The bell rang and Paris set off to Gym. It was the worst time to have Gym, and anyone who got it first period, groaned and complained about it for pretty much the whole year. You had Gym the first period, the time when you were so tired, you didn't want to move, and yet you had to run laps, play sports, and do all sorts of things that you wanted to do.

Yet, Paris didn't mind it too much. Sure, her body didn't want to move that early in the morning, but everything they did certainly woke her up. It made her awake for her next classes, and certainly reduced the number of the times she fell asleep in classes.

First off, they were sent to run two laps outside. As they began to run, she ended somewhere in the middle- not the fastest, but not the slowest either. Trey stopped for a moment- although he was a very speedy runner- and waited for her to catch up.

They began to run side by side silently, not really saying anything. Paris actually enjoyed the silence between them. She was getting the impression that Trey wasn't such a bad person.

"So who was that gothic looking guy?" He asked curiously.

"Oh that's Jeremy. He just moved back here, but back in like first grade we were friends."

"Do you guys have history or something?"

"Well, yes, we do have Social Studies together."

Trey shook his head. "No, I mean have you dated?"

Paris couldn't help but laugh. "Trey, we were in first grade!"

He shrugged. "Well, I know, but I've heard about first graders pretending to get married and everything- I actually did that when I was in first grade."

"Well, to answer your question, no Jeremy and I did not pretend to get married in the first grade." I rolled my eyes. "Why did you want to know anyways?"

"Just wanted to know if I had any competition and stuff. I wouldn't want somebody just popping up and stealing you from me."

"First off, stop talking like I'm your possession. I'm not. I'm just going on one date with you, and if you're not as annoying as usual I might just let you take me on a second. And second of all, you're not in charge of what I can and cannot do. So please, don't say that again."

Trey put up his hands in a guarding position. "Whoa! Paris, I didn't mean it like that, I really didn't. I just meant that I didn't want someone taking away my chance to actual date you."

Paris scoffed. "Oh come on Trey. I know that you're just asking me out because you've gone out with about every other girl in our school."

He looked shocked and then angry. "What! Why would you think that? It's not like I did anything with most of those girls anyways! I just took most of them out on dates because I like to fill up my Friday nights where as you must stay home watching lame shows on TV!"

Before Paris knew what she was doing, she slapped Trey as hard as he could. His cheek turned red and he just stared at her in shock.

The gym teacher seemed to have seen what happened.

"Trey go to the nurse and Paris go to the principal's office, right now!" He yelled halfway across the field.

Grr… this is not fair! I didn't mean to do that, but Trey was being such an ass- Her thoughts were interrupted as Trey gave her a particularly cold glare. She couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty, but just shrugged it off, not looking at him, and running in the direction of the Principal's office.

As she nervously entered the Principal's office, she walked in to see the Principal Johnson's piercing glare.

As soon as she sat down, the Principal began to talk.

"You might know that you've had a pretty good record here. You did get in a fight in your first year, but have gotten straight A, and have shown almost excellent behavior. But what you did today was unacceptable. Therefore, I am assigning you with detention for the rest of the week and you will be constructing a written apology to Mr. Phillips immediately. You are dismissed."

"But Mrs.-"

"Now!"

God, what the hell was wrong with her? She hadn't even heard my side of the story!

Paris walked away from the office, in a very bad mood. Not only did she have to serve a week's worth of detentions, but she had to apologize to the big, fat idiot who had caused this whole thing, Trey Phillips! That was definitely much worse then serving a week's worth of detentions, and she would have gladly served two weeks detentions, if that meant that she didn't have to apologize to that stuck up, idiotic, self absorbed, selfish, pompous jerk.

But of course, I have to. Stupid Principal Johnson.

Sighing, she went off to her next class, Social Studies. Only when she walked in did she realize that she didn't have a late pass. Her Social Studies teacher could be nice, but was most often strict. She liked Paris; after all she did get good grades in her class, but enough to be able to trust her? That, she wasn't so sure about.

Mrs. Backman eyed her suspiciously. "Where have you been, Ms. Beaumont?"

"I was at the Principal's office. I forgot to get a late pass, you can phone ahead and ask if you'd like."

Apparently, something seemed to be going well for her that day (besides getting Jeremy's phone numbers and address!) and Mrs. Backman only nodded and told her to take her seat.

Jeremy gave her a look, he was obviously curious as to why she went to the Principal's Office.

When Mrs. Backman wasn't looking, he passed her a note.

You ok? Why'd you go to the Principal's office?

I got in trouble- I slapped that guy you saw me with before… he was being a big jerk.

Ouch, that sucks. How 'bout I cheer you up? Want to hit the mall after school or get something to eat?

Thanks, that'd be cool, I'd definitely like that. I've got detention though- that lasts an hour.

That's fine, I can wait. I was thinking about seeing the art teacher anyways. Meet you at your locker at three?

Perfect, I will be looking forward to it.

Paris sat back in her seat with a satisfied grin. She'd have to serve detention, but afterwards, she'd get to hang out with Jeremy. She wasn't much of a shopper- she didn't go every week like a lot of girls. She just went every now and then, and that was usually to places like clothes.

Paris didn't see the point in labels. They were just things- why should that judge how much someone liked you or not? She would have preferred it if clothes really hadn't been invented. It wasn't like she wanted to see people naked or anything; it was really that it would save everyone so much trouble. There'd be no pressure to wear the right clothes and people would definitely save a lot of money.

But, if she probably ever mentioned that to anybody, they'd think she was crazy.

Detention was alright. It was pretty boring- a teacher just sat there, doing some work, while you sat there and did your homework.

She got a few nods as she walked in, but didn't really know anyone there.

"Hey," A guy whispered behind her. He had pretty curly brown hair with side burns, hazel eyes, and tan skin. The only thing that didn't really match his face was his rather large and pointy nose.

"Uh, hi."

"Paris, right?"

"Yea."

"I'm James Rail."

She vaguely remembered him. Hadn't he been the guy, who had set off all the fire alarms in the school, mooned a group of middle schoolers touring the high school, and ended up knocking the principal over with his skateboard at the same time? She nodded, yup, that was most certainly who he was.

Paris laughed. "I think I've heard of you… your name is er, quite famous around here."

James smiled. "I would hope that it was – after what I've done… let's say people won't be forgetting me anytime soon. Now, I don't want you getting the wrong idea, that's not why I did those things in the slightest. They merely happened, for my own amusement." He rubbed his hands together. "In fact, I think it's been a little long since my last prank. I need something new… and lately, I've been thinking, why not get a partner in crime?" He raised his eyes suggestively at her.

It took Paris a few moments to realize that he was actually suggesting, that he meant her! It was true, that there were moments, which she wanted to wipe those fake smiles off some of the popular people in her school. There were moments that she wanted revenge on teachers who were horrible towards her. And… she did want revenge on the principal, after how understanding (yea, right) he had just been. A mischievous grin broke out onto her face, as she thought of all the possibilities. What better way to seek revenge, then to become the partner in crime of James Rail, the prank king? It would prove to be a very interesting junior year, much more interesting, then her hopes to just survive it, that she had originally planned.

"Yes!" Paris said quickly.

James clapped his hands together in excitement. "Good, good. Now, seeing as you're in detention, I can only assume that you'd make a wonderful partner in crime. However, I like to be very picky about most things that I do. So, I hope that you won't be too against me interviewing you, strange as that sounds. Are you free after school?"

Paris was awfully excited about this prospect, but she had already said yes to hanging out with Jeremy. As much as he wanted to spend time with Jeremy, she couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"James, that'd be a definite, yes, but I've already said yes to hanging out with another friend of mine… is another day, okay?"

James nodded. "Yes, that's perfectly fine…" He put a hand to his chin, thinking for a few moments. "Now, seeing as we'll be working with each other a lot if I think you'd be perfect for the job, why don't we arrange for you to come over to my house? It'll work perfectly!" He said this last sentence a little too loudly, and a glare was shot towards them by Mr. Johnson, who was watching them. From what Paris had heard, he didn't care much about what you did while you were in detention, as long as you didn't disturb his sleep.

To Paris this sounded perfect. "That sounds great!" They quickly exchanged phone numbers.

Paris stepped into her own car, following Jeremy closely from behind. She had soon found out that he drove a beaten down car that had been a Toyota Camry. It was nearly ten years old and wasn't in very good condition, but Jeremy's parents had refused to get buy him a car with their own money. He had saved up for 'Tank', as he had nicknamed his car, and was quite proud of it. Besides the fact that she didn't want to end up fainting from the fumes that were most likely pouring out from Tank (much more then usual, she didn't trust that car, one bit), she also needed to bring her car along, because it would cause both of them too much trouble to be driven back to the school.

The mall was about fifteen minutes away from their high school. It was a fairly large mall, but nothing to extravagant. It had the usual stores that people liked to shop in. The ones like Abercrombie, the appliance stores, the electronically ones… Paris didn't like shopping too much. It was nice to get yourself things, but she didn't see how some people, liked it so much, that they actually went to malls at least once a week. She just popped by them when she needed a few things.

Paris also didn't see the point in labels. Why spend so much money on things, just because there was a little label on them? Why did people have to follow and do what others like? You could get a perfectly good pair of jeans for a great and cheap price, why spend more? She just didn't understand it at all and probably never would. Maybe it was because she hadn't grown up with a lot of money like some people. Either way, it just didn't make sense to her.

Their cars were parked, a few spaces away. When they entered the mall, Jeremy paused in front of the mall map.

"Wow, a lot more stores here since I was last here!"

Paris laughed. "Well, what did you think? That was eleven years ago!" Her eyes widened at that, it seemed so long ago. But their play dates still remained fresh in her mind. Even if they had been so young, Jeremy had been one of her few true friends over the years. Others had betrayed her, leaving her all alone, but Jeremy, even if he hadn't had much of a chance to destroy their friendship, had stuck by her.

The one person in the world she would probably never forget for the rest of her life was Tanya Peterson. It was the typical story. After Jeremy had left, the ever popular Tanya had taken Paris in. At first, the two had been best friends. For three years, actually, and everything had gone so well. But then, Brooke Grayson had moved to their town, and literally had stolen Tanya from Paris. She interrupted one of their sleepovers one night, climbing through the open window of Paris' Dad's house, and had taken a sleeping Tanya – who had thought she was dreaming – away to her house right across the street. Paris had woken up, crying, so scared that her best friend had been kidnapped. And then she looked out the window, to see Brooke and Tanya happily playing tag together.

Paris had wanted revenge ever since that very day. It had just been a tiny idea in the back of her head, but now, it consumed her. Even with Jeremy, she found that was all she could think about. Her plans had switched from somehow getting Jeremy to stop thinking of her as a friend, to making Tanya wish that she had never, ever left. Her want seemed to consume her, spiraling through her veins, making her brain pulse with ideas.

It seemed sort of ironic, that the very person that they ran into, outside of Sears, was Tanya Peterson. It was very ironic, indeed, to Paris. And when she saw that blonde head of hair, that tan skin, and those long legs that many guys in their school only dreamed of, how she felt like slapping her.

Tanya had heard much about the famous Jeremy Walker. News and rumors about him had flown all throughout the school that day. She had no classes with him, but still, even in the hallways, she had kept an eye on him. When Tanya wanted something, it was hers; there was no question about it. Whether you were an adult, a baby, or a teenager, whatever she wanted, whatever she asked for, you did it. Which was exactly why, she expected Jeremy to say yes, when she asked him out.

Tanya fluttered her long eyelashes at him, trailing a slick finger down his arm, and pursing her tongue as it rounded her lip-gloss slathered mouth. But there was no reaction on Jeremy's face. Her friends seemed to gape at him, thinking that maybe he wasn't intelligent. And Paris, she wore a triumphant grin. Yes, Jeremy hadn't noticed her in the slightest – at least not in that way – but he had no reaction whatsoever towards Tanya Peterson.

But when he did, it was certainly a candid moment. "I'm sorry, but Paris and I are trying to shop right now. Would you mind getting out of our way?" He seemed oblivious to her hurt look, that was quickly concealed away, or the horrified looks of her companions, or even the little squeal of delight that Paris let out. All Paris knew, was that each second that passed by, she liked Jeremy more and more.