Author's Note: This story is called Kate Makes Me Smile. !Warning! Spoilers! The title comes from a line in the show, Episode three, The Drug Episode. The Drug Episode is my favorite episode of Opposite Sex. I love the Pilgrim Part, but I really love the Kate/Jed stuff. In my opinion, this is really when their relationship starts. Before this, Kate was attracted to Jed, and he knew that, so he liked her because every teenage boy is going to like a cute girl if he knows she likes him, but they did not really know each other, and we as the audience, seeing things through Jed, did not really know Kate. In this episode, we really start to get to know her. They talk and bond, get to know one another, and they sort of start to become friends. Jed is still attracted to Miranda, but that attraction is still largely superficial, as opposed to Kate. Miranda and Jed were not a bad couple, but Miranda was sort of his fantasy girl, and you can tell as the show progresses that he sort of really wants to be with Kate. So, this story is about him realizing that, and realizing how much he really likes Kate. Enjoy.

Chapter One

It was the first Monday since the thing with Greg's band. Jed had not seen Kate since that night. He remembered her crying on his shoulder, her getting lost in that stupid song his dad liked, and her laughing when the six of them had gone out to eat. He had been dying to talk to her. He did not know why exactly, but after everything that had happened last week, he just felt like he needed to.

She had not looked at him during class. He had saved her a seat during lunch, but she had opted to sit somewhere else. He did not know where, but that was the disadvantage of being allowed to eat outside instead of a crowded cafeteria. It was easier to find people inside four walls than in a wide expanse.

"Kate." He called when he spotted her, waving her over. She looked around, as if trying to find somewhere else to sit, but then she decided to just sit with him and get it over with.

"Hey Jed." She said, placing her tray down next to his.

"Hey. I wanted to call you this weekend."

"Yeah, I was kind of hiding out."

"Why?"

She looked at him like he was a moron, "Are you kidding. I made a complete idiot of myself in front of everybody."

"You didn't seem to mind at the diner."

"Of course not. I was trying to play it cool. It would have made the whole thing worse if I had been blubbering the whole time." Se took out her sandwich and took a bite.

"Really? I just figured it was because you're, you know, not into what people think."

Kate smiled, "Well, then I am an excellent actress. The truth is, I am as insecure as the next girl. But I do not want to talk about this anymore. How was your weekend?"

"Quiet."

"Sorry. For what it's worth, my weekend wasn't exactly fun hiding out alone in my room reading Les Mis."

"That's that musical, right?"

"It's based on this French book about the time just before the revolution."

"Ah, lame book club."

"Yeah, well, you can see how bored I was."

"You don't like it. I mean, the books. Just cause the club is all lame, the books-"

"No, the books, the books can be cool. This one is just… a little depressing. I mean, I know it has to be, with when it takes place, the message behind it, and the necessary controversy to provide plot's, but, you know, I figure life sucks enough, it seems kind of like masochism to read about prison and poverty. I mean, it's a social satire, not an entertainment piece, so it's not supposed to be pleasant so much as educational, but that much misery can make you crazy sometimes. It can be good, but it's not what you want to read when you are cooped up all alone for a weekend."

Jed stared at her. He had no clue what she was saying. No, that was not true, he was actually pretty good at English. If he read an English translation of the book, he was sure he could keep up, and he knew Dickens and social satire, but he was certain he would be completely lost in her book club.

"Sounds horrible."

"I just figure bad things always happen, why go looking for misery?"

"Maybe because it's somebody else's misery and misery loves company."

"That's not my favorite cliché. I prefer, when life gives you lemons, make lemon ice pops."

"I thought…isn't it lemonade?"

"Yeah, but you know, I never really liked lemonade. Although, when I was little, I did do the cliché lemonade stand thing, and must confess, I liked to put the shell in my mouth to make it really wide and yellow. It tastes kind of sour, but it's really fun."

Jed smiled. Not many people would admit something like that, but that is what he liked about Kate. Despite what she said about Friday and the Greg thing, he knew she was not afraid to do something embarrassing. She was different, and she was basically okay with it. She did all these embarrassing things that he could not understand, because they were so over his head, and he had no clue why she did them, but she did not care. And she felt comfortable telling him. He could just picture her with the lemon shell in her mouth. It was classic Kate, doing something silly and strange, but at the same time fun. Kate was not afraid to smile. She was not afraid to laugh at herself. Maybe that was why she made him smile.