Kim was sitting at the lunch table picking at her food. The usual Wasabi gang was around her and Jack was busy with his phone. This was the norm now. Ever since the movie.
Karate Games didn't go anywhere, but someone somewhere saw the raw footage that was already made and it lead to Jack taking a small role of the younger version of the main character in an action movie. It was not that huge of a break, but it lead to some serious exposure in the media and Jack was becoming more popular among the younger crowd. Critics were complimentary of his work, and his costars praised his attitude. Of course, his martial arts skills spoke for themselves.
This is why he was on the phone now. No doubt discussing auditions or some such. His enthusiasm was contagious and Kim was happy for him. At first, Jack was uncomfortable, because he felt like Kim, too, should have had the same opportunity. But Kim was more interested in singing and it really wasn't Jack's fault there were no action heroines, who needed someone to play the younger them.
Her attention was called when she saw that Jack was scowling at his phone.
"Bad news?" She asked her friend and crush. Yes, it was a crush. Possibly even more. Ever since the almost kiss at the end of the Karate Games, Kim and Jack were hovering on the edge of something more than friends. It was strange that neither of them made a move. Kim was convinced that Jack made some sort of decision some time after the movie not to change the status quo.
Still, whether he decided to stay just friends or not, he was physically constantly present. He stuck close to her and was fairly tactile, which hasn't made her crush any easier to resist.
"Yeah, just some nut job. How did he get my phone number?" Jack was frustrated.
"Well, to an inquiring and equipped mind it is not that difficult," Milton piped in.
"You mean a nerd can figure it out quickly?" Kim added with an indulgent smile.
"Yes, Kim. Jack, you should scrub you digital spaces to make sure you don't leave clues about your more personal information. I can do it for you," Milton was excited.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt. It's just this guy or guys are kind of intense..." Jack looked genuinely perplexed.
"Oh, Jack. The rule of the internet comments is that if it can get any worse and dirtier it will. Just be grateful you are not a girl," Kim could add a whole tirade here, but she refrained. She didn't want Jack to worry about her.
"Why do you say that? Did something happen?" Predictably Jack was immediately concerned. See, that's why Kim doesn't tell him about any of her issues. He gets invested, involved, concerned. It's great, but his obvious affection was making it nearly impossible to ignore the crush.
He wouldn't like to know that most of Kim's knowledge about meanness on Internet came from the comments by Jack's fans about her. She was not exactly well-known, but there was an interview once, where Jack mentioned his Wasabi friends. He was pressed for details, but dodged any specific questions. Still, the interviewer asked him if there were only guys in his group and Jack was proud to tell them that one of his best friends was a girl, who was also a black belt. She was not named at all. But, being the only girl mentioned, there was natural curiosity and allusions about them. Jack laughed it off, but the seed was planted. And now Kim, or rather the unnamed and mysterious black belt girl friend, had certain 'fans' that liked to help her become better by pointing out all her flaws. everything at this point was only a speculation, but it did not stop both positive and very vicious commentary. For every 'kudos, girl power, go black belt girls,' there were at least ten times 'bitch, slut, hanger-on.'
On a good day Kim laughed it off, feeling like it really wasn't about her, since no one outside the school knew her identity. On the bad days she was a little insecure and sometimes even scared by the vitriol directed at her.
Still, it did not matter. As far as she was concerned it was all just part of her friend's new life.
Jack was irritated with his agent. He kept getting scripts for romantic stories that were too much of a chick flick for him. It could be alright, but he was a martial artist first. He wanted another project that would showcase his skills. Like any teenage boy he wanted action, maybe some drama, little angst, and no romance.
As it is he made a couple of guest appearances on popular teen shows to drum up the support for the movie among the young audience. His roles were basically him showing off his martial arts skills and, as a promotional stunt for the movie, it worked. Although, he only been on screen for a total of maybe fifteen minutes in the movie and those teen shows appearances, but he already got girl fans. That bunch was intense. He was not sure being in a love story would improve the situation. They did not hound him in real life yet, but during promotions he got the taste of it. His 'fame' was nothing compared to his costars and he was shocked and kind of scared of it.
The main actor was constantly photographed, asked questions everywhere he went, and interviewers were always pushing for any scrap of personal information. Especially the romantic kind. Seeing this made Jack weary of starting anything with Kim.
He can admit to himself that he was falling for his friend. He wouldn't be able to pin-point when and where exactly it happened (his mind would supply treacherously that it happened the moment he saw her), but she came to mean a lot. He already loved her as a close friend, had a crush on her for a while, and, now that they were seventeen, he had another reason to be madly taken with her.
It wasn't so much the random paparazzi he was worried about. His brush with fame exposed a lot of ugliness and envy among his acquaintances. People were vicious. To him, to his parents, to his friends. Kim thought he didn't know about the crap that circulated in various social media about her, but he knew. Oh, he wished he could confront all the online bullies...
He wanted to be with her, but was also afraid of what would happen if the word got out that they were together. He imagined that the viciousness would only multiply if she were known as his girlfriend.
And then there was this crazy hater that kept bugging him. He started receiving increasingly deranged, hateful messages, soon after he started filming the movie. It grew worse in the last year it took the movie to be completed and released. Now, that it became a hit, his stalker was becoming more insane.
The most recent messages made Jack actually worry about safety of himself and his friends and family. He tried to stick closer to them and it only made his situation with Kim worse. The close proximity was making it difficult for him to stick to his plan and stay strictly friends. Already they had several moments this past month, where they would lock eyes, start moving closer and only sheer willpower stopped them from kissing.
They were at the dojo and after a sparring match, where he took her down and pinned her to the floor, and it happened again. The pull of attraction between them was so strong, they nearly made out forgetting that they had an audience. Jerry shouted something about his eyes, Rudy said not in my dojo, and Milton told them that gravity between the two bodies propels them to move closer together. Kim laughed awkwardly and said that she liked that kind of science and then blushed something fierce.
They all continued the practice, although Rudy put Kim with Milton, but Kim felt the space between her and Jack grow heavier and more charged. Memories of all the near kisses were never too far from her mind and she was afraid to look at Jack lest she say or do something.
The rest of the practice hasn't made it better. Their friends and sensei threw weighted looks at the two of them and it made everything worse. The moment Rudy called it a day, she bolted to the locker room, grateful that she did not have to share it with anyone.
She was almost done, when she heard a knock on the door. It Jack and Kim flushed again from being close to him and quite alone.
Jack was silent for a little while, pacing back and forth. He finally stopped in front of Kim.
"Kim, I don't think we should start anything right now." Jack blurted out in a rush and Kim would have almost laughed at his awkwardness, but she could not draw a breath. It was stolen when she realized he turned her, them, down.
She stood there frozen by shock and acute misery, only slightly aware that she still wasn't breathing. When her lungs started to burn, she finally - noisily - gulped much needs air. Jacks face showed the usual concern and affection and Kim could not stand it at all. She abruptly turned away and managed a faint OK.
She was still turned away from Jack when she heard, "I think I owe you an explanation."
"No you don't!" she practically shouted. "I get it. You don't have to explain yourself to me. No means no and I am OK with that. We're good." Just go away, Jack, she plead in her head.
But Jack plowed through.
"I right now attract a lot of weird and negative attention. I know about online trolls that go after you. And they are like that when we are only friends. It will only be worse of we are more. I... I can't do that to you," he says determinedly. "I don't want to drag anyone, but especially you, into that."
"Um," she said. What's a girl supposed to say to that? Can she insist that she doesn't care? That she'd take trolls on like she took on any number of idiots during their adventures. But she knew this face. It was Jack's 'hero' face, when he got a plan and an idea and nothing can sway him.
He laughed awkwardly. "I just didn't want you to think it was you. Because it isn't."
At least she wasn't the only one feeling all this attraction.
Kim waited until Jack left the locker room before she let out a loud breath, "What. The. Hell."