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Author's Chapter Notes:
Keeping the daily posting streak alive!

This one has a few nuggets from the show, so I hope you enjoy! :)
The late September air had finally started to cool down, so the next Monday Jim suggested that he and Pam eat outside for lunch. There was a small courtyard off the faculty lounge that was reserved specifically for the staff.

“But,” he told her. “I forgot my lunch at home so I’m going to have to grab something from the lunch room really quick.”

“I’ll join you!” she chirped with a smile.

Since their late night at the school few days prior, they had been texting each other non-stop. Jim’s stomach leapt each time his phone had buzzed and his adoration of her continued to grow. Earlier that morning she surprised him with a warm cup of non-mediocre coffee and a smile that was a mile wide. He had been completely unable to concentrate on anything since then.

They entered the student-filled lunchroom, bustling with teenage laughter and smelling like a terrible mixture of chili and way too much cheap cologne. Ah, to be 16 again.

“Follow me,” Jim motioned. “I know a guy.”

They passed through the lines and groups of students.

“Mr. H!”

“What’s up, coach!”

Jim responded, high-fiving and joking with all his teenage admirers. Pam beamed up at him.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she smiled. “You’re just very well-liked, Mr. Halpert.”

He gave a bashful smile and pushed open the door to the school kitchen, beckoning Pam inside with him.

“Kev!” Jim called out.

“Hey Jim!”

A heavy-set man approached Jim, wearing a messy apron and a hair net, despite not having much hair. He and Jim fist bumped each other.

“A little bird told me it’s your famous chili day. Can you hook us up?”

Kevin looked back and forth between Jim and Pam. A thin smile spread on his face and he locked eyes with Jim, slowly nodding.

“Niiiice,” he said quietly to Jim, but definitely not quietly enough. Jim’s cheeks flushed and he ran a hand through the back of his hair.

“Chili, Kev?”

“Right,” Kevin remembered. He left and shortly came back with two bowls of chili and a small white paper bag. “Here you go. Chili for two,” he winked enthusiastically at Jim, “and some rolls and silverware in the bag.”

Jim gave him a high five. “Thanks, man. See you this weekend for poker?”

Kevin nodded in agreement and Jim and Pam headed back out into the lunch room. One of the students noticed the food in Jim’s hands.

“What?! No fair, Halpert,” he complained. “You skipped the whole line!”

“Get a degree, Jorgenson. It gets you these kinds of privileges,” he joked.

Back in the courtyard, Jim set out their food in front of them. “I normally wouldn’t touch a lot of what comes out of a high school kitchen, but believe me when I say...Kevin’s chili is next level.”

They started eating and talking. Suddenly, Jim felt Pam’s hand on his knee under the table. She glanced at him with a sly smile and he couldn’t help but smile back. He took his free hand and casually slipped it under the table, intertwining his fingers with hers. He rubbed circles on her hand with his thumb and suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say. He was usually a man with all the words, but she had a complete hold over that sector of his brain, apparently.

“So,” Pam said, smiling at Jim’s obvious scrambled brain. “I’ll be seeing you at the dance tonight, right?”

Homecoming was set for that night. Jim hated chaperoning those things, but as soon as he saw Pam’s name on the sign up sheet in the office he changed his mind completely.

“You know it. The only Homecoming dance you’ll ever attend on a Monday night.”

Pam chuckled. “Yeah, what’s that all about?”

“Angela, who apparently has a huge part of planning the whole thing, is convinced it will stop students from hooking up afterward.”

“Oh yeah? And what about the teachers?”

Jim immediately started choking on his chili.

“Beesly!” he said between coughs.

Her eyes widened. “No! I meant what do the teachers think about it! Not if they...” She started laughing. “Not what I meant!”

Just then, they heard the door creak open and they quickly let go of each other’s hands. Phyllis, the front office secretary, walked out.

“Hi Pam. Hi Jim,” she smiled at them. Jim didn’t think she saw anything but Phyllis always had a knack for knowing things. Luckily, she was also very good at keeping those things to herself. He wasn’t quite sure if he was ready for the rest of the school to know his feelings for the new art teacher quite yet. And by “the rest of the school”, he definitely meant Michael Scott.

“Hi, Phyllis,” Pam said sweetly. “Great weather, huh?”

Phyllis grinned. “Oh, yes. Just lovely.”

Jim looked at the smile on Phyllis’ face. She definitely knew. He stood up.

“Alright, ladies. I need to get back to my classroom,” he shrugged. “Thanks for the company, Pam.”

“See you at the dance!” she waved.

*********

Jim probably spent 30 minutes picking out his tie, combing his hair, and taking off and on his suit coat trying to decide which way he liked better. Or rather, what he thought Pam might like better. It really was like being 16 again.

He settled on a blue and red plaid tie (their school colors) and a navy blue, slim-fitting suit with the coat on. He sprayed his favorite cologne, straightened his tie in the mirror, and headed to the high school.

He walked into the gymnasium to see the lights dimmed, fog machines going, strobe lights blaring, and all kinds of other colorful lights flying all around the room. Mambo #5 was playing.

Michael was here.

But luckily no students were there yet.

“Hey, Mike,” Jim said. “I think the fog and strobe lights might be a little much. Don’t you?”

“Whaaaat?! You’re crazy, man. The fog is totally hip!”

“You know what,” Jim shrugged, “I actually just read in ‘Cool Teen Magazine’ that fog machines are not ‘totally dope’ anymore. Can you believe it?”

Shock spread over Michael’s face. “Really?! Dwight!!”

Seemingly out of nowhere, Dwight came running over. “Yes, Michael?”

“Clear out the fog machines, STAT!”

Dwight made eye contact with Jim. “You heard him, Halpert! STAT MEANS NOW.”

Jim stayed where he stood, hands in his pockets, while Dwight scurried around collecting the fog machines. “Oh, I think he was talking to you.”

“You’re useless!” Dwight shouted.

For some reason, Dwight completely dedicated himself to Michael Scott, despite Michael only being the Vice Principal. Jim thought he once heard Dwight say something about how he could never be a subordinate to a female such as their principal Jan, but he couldn’t be sure.

Thirty minutes later, the gym had returned to a suitable atmosphere for a high school dance, and the students began shuffling in. Jim’s duty was to stand next to the door and greet the students as they came in and look for any signs of intoxication, as per Angela’s instruction.

As he stood there, he felt someone touch his arm.

“Hey, teach,” he heard in his ear and a smile spread on his face.

He turned around to see Pam, wearing an emerald green dress and sparkling heels. She had curled her hair more than normal and pinned it back on one side. Jim was completely speechless and looked around to make sure nobody had their eyes on them. Ensuring the coast was clear, he put his hand lightly on her waist and leaned in.

“You look absolutely beautiful,” he whispered right next to her ear. Leaning back a bit, he locked eyes with hers. “You really do,” he reiterated.

“Thank you,” she said softly through her smile.

They spent the night sharing glances and smiles at each other across the dark gymnasium, meeting occasionally at the refreshment table to talk. In the dimly lit room, Jim took it upon himself to briefly grab Pam’s hand behind the table and give it a quick squeeze.

She smiled up at him, then looked back to the spectacle in front of them that was Michael and Dwight conducting the crowning ceremony for homecoming king and queen. Jan was in the far corner with her hand over her face and the whites of Angela’s eyes could be seen from across the room with how much she was rolling them.

“You were probably Homecoming king, huh?” Pam questioned.

“Nah, no way.” He shrugged and smiled straight ahead. “I was prom king.”

She laughed and gave him a small punch in the arm. “I knew it.”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t let it go to my head.”

“Uh-huh…” she took a sip of her punch. “I was far too shy to be anything like that. Roy was probably the only reason people even knew who I was. A hotshot like you probably wouldn’t have even noticed me.”

He knew she was joking but his brow furrowed and he frowned. He turned toward her, making sure she looked at him.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I most definitely would have noticed someone like you. Are you kidding me? Pam,” he sighed. “I may have been on the basketball team, and on student council, and all that other stuff, but I was also a huge nerd who loved homework, and was friends with his teachers, and dressed up like Edgar Allan Poe for Halloween. I would have killed to have known you in high school. I kind of have a thing for the shy, artsy girl. Who happens to be strikingly beautiful as well.”

She looked up at him with a sweetness in her eyes that made his knees weak. If he wasn’t in a room full of teenagers that would mock him endlessly, he would grab her face and kiss her right there. But that would have to wait, because Dwight brought a chainsaw for their presentation on stage and it looked like something they wouldn’t want to miss.

Jan hurriedly ran up on stage and grabbed the microphone. “OKAY...students, I think that ends our night! Be safe, be on time for school tomorrow, and go Vikings!” She covered the microphone with her hand. “Michael!!” she spat through her teeth. “Dwight!! What did I SAY about power tools and school functions?! Meet me in my office in ten minutes!

Pam and Jim looked at each other and broke out into laughter.

“Just a minute,” he told her. He ran up to the stage, making his way through all the students now leaving the building. He spoke to Jan and then walked back to Pam.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“Oh, uh...I just volunteered both of us to clean up the dance.”

She looked at him, confused. He shot a beaming white smile toward her.

“Trust me, Beesly.”

*******

All the students had left and were presumably finding other ways to entertain themselves elsewhere. Jim and Pam had already begun sweeping and picking up stray cups when Michael and Dwight came through the gym doors, tails between their legs, after what Jim assumed was a pretty good scolding from Jan.

Michael picked up his fog machine while Dwight grabbed the strobe lights and Michael waved at Jim and Pam. “Goodnight, guys. Sorry the boss lady made us stop the fun early.”

“Next time,” Jim said. “Have a good night, Michael.”

All the other chaperones had left and Jan had stopped by to thank them for cleaning up and to remind them to lock the doors on their way out. Finally, it was just the two of them alone.

Jim walked over to the stage and grabbed the crown that never made it to the homecoming queen’s head. He walked back to Pam and placed it delicately on her curled hair.

“There,” he said, stepping back to admire her. “The rightful queen.”

She curtsied and beamed back at him.

“You going to tell me why you so graciously volunteered us to clean up all by ourselves?” she questioned.

He stepped closer to her and straightened the crown. “Because,” he said, “we have been in a room filled with people all night and I selfishly wanted some time with just you, especially you in that dress, without a hundred teenage eyes on us.” He grabbed her hand. “Okay?”

She nodded, biting her lower lip in a smile.

Jim let go of her hand and ran over to the DJ station on the stage. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his iPod, plugged it in, and a slow melody started playing on the speakers. Jim jumped down from the stage and lightly jogged back to Pam.

He stuck out his hand. “May I have this dance, your highness?”

She grinned and took his hand. “I’m a terrible dancer.”

“Nonsense,” he said, pulling her closer and putting his hand on her waist. “All you really have to do is sway.”

“Swaying isn’t dancing.”

“Tonight, swaying is dancing,” he laughed against her hair.

So they swayed. Pam rested her head against Jim’s chest. He smiled and kissed the top of her head while the music filled the room.

For the love you bring won’t mean a thing
Unless you sing, sing, sing, sing


Pam lifted her head and looked longingly up at him, eyes sparkling under the white string lights lining the walls. Jim stopped their movement and took her face in his hands, leaning down to place a soft kiss on her lips. She pulled him closer into her and returned the kiss, an obvious smile on her lips. Jim felt as if might completely dissolve into her, wanting never to go back to a time where he didn’t know what Pam Beesly’s lips felt like against his own.

After several minutes, they broke apart and Jim put his forehead against hers. He couldn’t help but grin.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

She let out a small laugh and gave him another soft kiss.

“Me too.”

He kissed her one more time and then reluctantly, they cleaned up the rest of the dance, stealing kisses and laughs as they did.

Maybe chaperoning wasn’t as bad as Jim always thought it was.
Chapter End Notes:
Thank you again for all the reviews and jellybeans! They’re definitely what’s fueling my motivation to write.

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