AN!/ Hi everyone, thank you so much for all your reviews and to all of you who's been reading this story so far. I'm sorry for the late update. This chapter got way longer than I'd planned for it to be. I'm really trying to keep this story 'short'...but I'm not doing a very good job with that haha.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kickin ' it.

I think I've said everything that was on my mind so...enjoy:)


Chapter 2

The Tournament

I took a sip from my water bottle, before turning my attention back towards the mats.

"You can do this Kim. Just stay focused." Rudy encouraged me. Without taking my eyes from my opponent I nodded. I can do this.

I put the bottle away and secured my helmet around my head. A twisting feeling of excitement and nervousness filled my stomach as I approached the mats.

In the distance I could hear my family and friends cheering for me. I blocked them out though. In fact I blocked the whole world out as I focused on the girl in front of me. She seemed calm and although there was determination in her eyes, her features and small body weren't very intimidating. This was going to be an easy match, or so I thought.

The judged had barely gotten the chance to give us the start signal before she leaped into action, proving that she was in fact very dangerous.

I was a little surprised, having not expected her to move that fast and I just barely managed to dodge her attack. But she was quick and before I had a chance to register what was happening she placed a kick to my back. Falling forward I quickly curled up my body and rolled over in a somersault fashion.

I pushed myself back up onto my feet again. The girl threw a punch at me almost immediately, but I blocked it before I ceased the opportunity and grabbed her extended arm. Twisting around I was about to throw her over my shoulder, when her leg somehow got tangled in mine and all of a sudden I was the one who was about to hit the mat.

I awkwardly managed to stay on my feet, while jumping away from her. This girl was tough, I had to admit. The sweat was sliding down my temple as I saw her in the corner of my eye, launching herself at me again. Almost on reflex I spun around and placed a kick to her stomach. She fell backwards, rolling out of the square.

I smiled in triumph, knowing that I'd won.

"Winner, Kimberly Crawford!" The judge announced as he grabbed my wrist and brought my hand up in the air. The girl muttered something in defeat as she got up and walked with heavy steps back to her sensei.

I walked back to Rudy and the rest of the gang, with a huge smile on my face.

"You did great Kim!" He shirked in excitement, before turning around and yelling at the other sensei across the room. "Haha! IN YOUR FACE TRENT!"

"Wow Kim, that was awesome!" Jerry said, giving me a clap on the shoulder.

"Thanks" I beamed. In the corner of my eye I could see Jack sitting on the bench, not bothering to stand up like everyone else. He was the only one of the warriors who didn't congratulate me. He didn't even seem to acknowledge the fact that I'd won. Instead he kept his focus on a guy on the other side of the room, as if he was trying to examine him with his gaze. I hadn't really expected Jack to be happy for me, but none the less I found myself disappointed. I had brought a victory to our dojo and I had fought hard to get it. Somehow I'd thought that he would be just a little cheerful for the sake of the dojo, I mean after all he's a part of it too.

I shot a glance at the guy who was the centre of Jack's attention, realizing that he must be the one Jack would soon be up against. That explained why the brunette was so quiet. He was probably just nervous and too focused on the challenge that laid ahead of him to pay any attention to what I'd just achieved.

Catching myself trying to understand my fellow warrior, I turned back to the rest of the gang. Those who were my real friends and supported me the way we'd sworn by the Wasabi code to do.

I wondered briefly why I kept trying to find things that could explain and defend Jack's behaviour. I mean most of the time there was really no excuse for the way he acted around us. He was rude and sometimes even mean, not caring about other's feelings. In school he mostly hung out by himself, since no one really dared to speak with him…

Now that I think about it, the warriors were probably the closest to friends he had and yet he did nothing to try to keep us. Too bad he's such a good martial artist, otherwise I'm pretty sure Rudy would've kicked him out by now. Truth was though; we really needed his skills…

"Kim, you really nailed it out there." Milton said, pulling me back from my thoughts. "I mean she looked pretty tough. It almost looked like she was about to get you."

"Well yeah…she was…you know…" I started as I soaked in their admiration, not wanting to confess how close I'd been to lose. However I didn't get to finish as Milton's statement hadn't only brought my attention.

"Clearly you did a mistake when you turned your side to her." I heard the familiar voice of Jack Brewer as he'd gotten up from his seat to join the conversation. "You lost your focus and you exposed yourself, giving her the chance to land that kick to your back." Somewhere in his speech I could feel my blood begin to boil. Who did he think he was? I'd won! What more could he ask for?

What really annoyed me was that my so called friends seemed to listen to what he was saying. Weren't they supposed to have my back?

"And what were you thinking when you tried to throw her?" Jack continued to scold me and I continued to be too stunned to say anything in my defence. "I would never have done that. That's the best way to put yourself in a vulnerable position. I mean she would've clearly won if it hadn't been for her…"

"Well, not everyone can be as perfect as you!" I snapped, cutting him off. I was so sick of him. He looked a little surprised, which I took advantage of and approached him. He subconsciously cringed just a little, barely even noticeable but it gave me a strange satisfying feeling none the less. I had the ability to make some kind of impact on him. "I must have been doing something right, huh?!" I hissed in his face. "I won, didn't I?" He seemed to have lost his ability to speak as he stared back at me. "Didn't I?" Snapping out of his daze, he straitened up.

"Yeah you did." He stated simply. "…because of luck." I clenched my teeth, so frustrated with him that I had a hard time to find my voice. I wanted to yell at him. I wanted him to know how much I disliked him, how much everyone disliked him because of his stupid know-it –all attitude.

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to tell him any of that, before a familiar voice rang in the air, causing us all to look up.

"Kimberly." I took a deep breath to keep myself from exploding when I heard my full name being used. "Honey" The two ladies made their way over to us. They looked so different from one another that you would've never been able to guess that they were sisters. The woman, who was the one to give birth to me, was dressed in a grey plaid skirt and a grey button-up sweeter, matching it with a pair of black shoes. Her dirty-blond hair hung perfectly straight, barely touching her shoulders…Yeah, my mum wasn't much for standing out in a crowd… It was as if she was trying to be as invisible as possible, afraid of people noticing her…

Claire on the other hand was quite the opposite. Her bright green dress glowed like a lantern as it danced around her legs when she moved. The extremely red hair was tied up in an unruly bun at the back of her head and decorated with a green and blue ribbon and a few colourful feathers. In her ears hung big earrings shaped like birds, matching her bird brooch that she always wore.

Her shaggy looking purse was basically made out of feathers. She'd had it for as long as I can remember, making me wonder how old that thing really was. It was actually disgusting me a little and I did my best to avoid any physical contact with it. Something that was kind of hard when she embraced me in a tight hug.

"Oh you have improved a lot since I last saw you, I must say." Claire said and pulled away, flashing her wide smile. "I'm really impressed. You were amazing out there." I smirked, knowing that Jack was standing next to us and was bound to hear her praise.

"Thanks." I said, looking over at my mum, waiting for her to say something. She met my gaze.

"You did great, my dear." She smiled, although the smile seemed forced and I could clearly see that she was uncomfortable, being around so many people. I felt a bit disappointed about her not feeling genuinely happy for me. Her disinterest was so obvious.

Sometimes I wish that she could be a bit more into what I was doing like her sister, although maybe not as eye-catching and embarrassing…just a bit more normal…

"Maybe you could introduce me to your friends." Claire said, eyeing each of the warriors curiously.

"Yeah em.., this is Rudy our sensei…" I gestured towards him. "…and this is Jerry, Eddie and Milton." They all smiled as I turned to point with my hand at the red-haired woman. "And this everybody is my aunt Claire..." My voice died out a little at the end, realizing what I'd just said. Great, I thought, it's finally official; everyone just got to know that I'm related to her… I trusted them enough though to not judge me, although I was kind of worried that Jerry would accidentally tell someone else. He's not very bright and he can't really help it when things just seem to slip out of his mouth. I know he's a nice guy and means well, but I usually don't trust him with secrets…

"It's very nice to meet you miss...?" Rudy said, taking Claire's hand and raising one of his eye-brows in a flirty way.

"Claire" She filled in. "Just call me Claire."

"Okay. Nice to meet you Claire."

"Pleasure to meet you too…" She gave him a smile, before averting her gaze to something or someone next to us. "And who is this young man?" She nodded in Jack's direction. The teen looked at us with a blank expression on his face. I had almost forgotten about him…A knot formed in my stomach as I realized that he must have heard everything and he too knew by now that Claire was my aunt… He would definitely be considering to use that against me in the future… "Why haven't you introduced him?" Claire said, her voice a little high, seeming almost upset as she never let her eyes leave the boy. Well, I hadn't mentioned him because she had only asked me to introduce her to my friends and since I didn't consider him as one of them, I had left him out…I didn't feel like to explain that though.

"This is Jack." I said flatly.

"Interesting…" She mumbled barely audible as she looked him over. I noticed him tense under her gaze, but he didn't say anything. With two swift steps she approached him, holding her hand out. "Good day."

Jack looked at her hand suspiciously as if he was debating with himself whether he should shake it or not. A few seconds went by as he looked from her hand to her eyes then back at her hand again. The rest of us watched with interest, everyone knowing that Jack wasn't known for being polite… For all that we knew he could just as well ignore her and walk right past her… or come up with a stupid comment about how she looked like a scarecrow or something. Maybe that's why I was a little surprised when he suddenly reached out and took her hand.

"Good day" He muttered, making Claire smile even wider. She turned to go back to her sister, making a small stop next to me.

"I can see why you so eagerly want to attend your karate lessons Kimberly..." She winked while nudging my lightly with her elbow. "He's a real, what do you kids call it nowadays- hunk."

My eyes widened as my cheeks started to burn. She did not just say that.

I stood frozen, wishing that I could sink through the ground. She had said it loud enough for everyone to hear and the awkwardness and embarrassment of the situation had gotten everyone else to feel uncomfortable as well, no one knowing what to say. I'm pretty sure though, that I was feeling the worst. Claire of course, acted as if she didn't notice the tension she had just created.

I wanted to tell everyone that Jack was definitely not the reason why I did karate, in fact he was the reason why I had considered to quit a few times, or to change dojo. But I hadn't done that for two reasons. One; I didn't want to leave my friends who I considered my family and two; I didn't want to give up because of Jack. That would feel like he'd won, even though I don't think he'd care at all if I'd stay or not.

I threw a quick glance at him, feeling -much to my confusion- my cheeks turning red again. He certainly looked good with his wavy hair that almost reached his shoulders, I couldn't deny that, but I did definitely not like him. Not even a little and I was determined to let him know that as soon as I got the chance to. I didn't even want to think about what he might say and do if he thought that I had a crush on him. Life as I knew it would be over…

Half expecting him to deliver a mocking comment as I met his gaze for a split second, I was surprised when he didn't do anything. He actually seemed a bit confused and there was a faint red tone to his cheeks. Was he blushing?

He swiftly looked away, breaking the eye contact and brought his attention back to the match that awaited him.

"Kim?" Mum said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Claire and I are going to get something to eat. Do you want something too?"

"No I'm good, thanks…" I said, thankful that mum had changed the subject. "We're gonna eat together at the carnival later." I gestured to the rest of the gang.

"Ok." Mum nodded. "You did great today... Just give me a call when you want me to pick you up."
"That's ok Miss Crawford. "Rudy said. "I'll drive her home."

"Oh that's very kind of you." She said before turning to me again. "See you tonight, hun."

"See ya." I said, still fighting the blush and embarrassment from that awkward moment, just minutes earlier. Watching the two sisters' backs as they were leaving I could hear Rudy from behind me.

"Ok, I've watched this guy you're up against… He just earned his second degree black belt two months ago…" He was obviously talking to Jack, giving him a last minute coaching before the match would start. "He's strong and solid in his forms, but he lack speed. So it should be pretty easy for you to dodge and block his attacks, Jack. Just make sure that he doesn't land a hit on…" I stopped listen to him as I saw Claire stop in her tracks by the mention of Jack's name, quickly grabbing mum's arm. She said something to her that was unfortunate not loud enough for me to hear. It didn't take long though before the two women turned around and walked back to us. The red head beamed as she pulled her sister along, who had a pretty blank and almost bored expression on her face.

"Hey. You forgot something?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and waiting for them to give me an explanation to why they came back.

"No, we just figured that we could stay a little longer." Claire said and let her gaze fall on the tall brunette, who she seemed to have found such a big interest in. I wondered why. It was actually a little creepy, not to mention embarrassing. Everyone must think that I'd talked about Jack and my 'crush' on him at home and Claire was now checking him out to make sure that he was good enough for me to date…ugh…

I realized my heart was starting to pound harder as I watched her, worried that she'd say something that would make things even worse. What if she did something that would make it impossible for me to go back to the dojo or school, ever?

I shook my head, telling myself that I was overreacting. I wished that she could stop staring at him like that, though.

"Since Jack's up next…" She mumbled, never taking her eyes off him. Jack noticed her staring, but again didn't say anything. It was as if she had some sort of power over him that made him incapable to come up with one of those rude comments of his. Claire seemed to have caught herself staring all of a sudden and she quickly looked to Rudy, flashing a smile.

"It's not everyday that I get to a martial arts tournament and I'd love to stay to see how it'll go for my niece's dojo."

"Of course." Rudy said and gestured to a spot on the bench where we'd been sitting, inviting them to take a seat.

I was grateful that Claire kept quiet as we all sat on the benches, watching them preparing for the next entering. Jack stood up and put his helmet on. He turned to me, just before walking onto the mats.

"Watch and learn. This is how a pro does it…" He said cockily making the anger grow in me again.

"C'mon Jack!" Milton exclaim.

"Show him what you've got!" Jerry yelled excitedly, making me roll my eyes. No one liked him, unless he's competing for us. Then it's all 'Jack's the man'. It was as if I was the only person who disliked him just as much as I always do, no matter if he's fighting for our dojo or not. I didn't care if he'd win. In fact I would actually like to see him lose. That would maybe teach him that he's not better than everyone else…

A plan started to take form in my head. It was perhaps a little mean, but if he's as good as he says he is then it shouldn't matter much anyway…

Throwing a quick glance at the rest of the gang to make sure that no one was looking at me, I sneaked my legs over the bench we were sitting on and stood up behind everyone. No one seemed to notice me as I made my way over to where Jack had been sitting earlier.

His black and blue duffel bag was placed on the floor in front of the gap on the bench. Rudy was sitting next to it but he was too caught up in Jack's fight that had just started, to pay any attention to me. With a pretty smooth movement I climbed over the bench and sat down. Carefully I reached for the bag and opened it, quickly finding what I was looking for.

My conscious made me hesitate slightly. The thing that I was about to do wouldn't be completely fair… But it wasn't that awful either, besides, Jack's a pro… he said so himself…so let's put him to the test…

I grabbed the small device, before I would change my mind. Sliding my finger across the screen, the phone sprung to life. Of course it was locked, but it didn't really matter… All that mattered was that I had it. Holding it to my ear, careful not to cover the backside of the phone with my hand too much, while turning my head sideways, I made sure to give Jack a good view of it. I stood up, just so that I would be easier to spot and started to mouthing to create the illusion of that I was talking to someone. Occasionally looking up at the mats I soon met Jack's gaze. He'd done pretty well the entire match, but as he saw me holding his beloved phone, his face dropped and his movements froze.

I had known that his phone was precious to him and he never, I repeat never lets anyone touch it. Once I did the mistake to take out the phone from his bag when it was ringing during practise and brought it to him. I'd tried to make him a favour but he went all mad and yelled at me to not touch his stuff… Although I hadn't really thought that taking it now would have that much of an impact on everything.

Jack suddenly was forced to bend over as the other guy placed a good kick to his stomach. The best fighter in our dojo had lost his focus and now had to pay the price. I watched stunned as Jack got flipped in the air and landed hard on the floor. The judge pointed to the other guy, making it clear that he'd won.

The all so cheering warriors next to me went quiet as their hero –for the moment- pushed himself onto his feet again and started to make his way back to us. He hung his shoulders slightly and disappointment, frustration and something that looked close to sadness flashed over his face. That was until he spotted me and anger took over him causing his eyes to darken. Keeping his gaze locked on me he swiftly got closer, making me cringe slightly. Maybe it was foolish of me to provoke him after all.

"You…" He hissed as he stopped right in front of me, looking as if he was ready to punch me. But he held himself back. I smirked, my confidence was back, knowing that he wouldn't be able to do anything with all the people around. His jaw was clenched as he tried to get control of his anger. "Give me my phone." He said through gritted teeth. His voice was low and his breathing's heavy.

"Sure." I shrugged, pretending as if I didn't notice his frustration. "Here you go." I had barely gotten the chance to hold out the phone to him, before he snatched it. As soon as he had it he checked on the screen for any new calls or messages. I knew that he wasn't gonna find any and he would soon realize that he clearly overreacted as usual and it had cost him the victory.

"By the way; you did great 'pro'." I said, winking at him and turned to go back to my seat. As expected my comment got under Jack's skin and he quickly grabbed me, spinning me around to face him.

"You… You…" His grip around my arm tightened as he struggled to speak through his emotions. "Why did you have my phone?" The tension in his voice and body actually frightened me a little and Rudy must've noticed.

"Jack" He stood up, placing a hand on the teens shoulder. "Calm down." Jack's eyes flickered from me to our sensei. Taking a deep breath he seemed to calm down. I had to do everything that I could to suppress the laughter that was building up inside of me, that is until Rudy turned to me with a serious look on his face.

"Kim," He said. "What were you doing with Jack's phone?" He didn't seem angry, but I was worried that he might get once he found out that I had only taken it to tease Jack. I had been so focused on getting Jack all worked up that I hadn't even thought about what the consequences for me might be.

"It was ringing and…" My palms began to sweat. Lying wasn't exactly something I was good at. "…I thought that maybe it was important." I threw a glance at Jack, knowing that he knew that the phone hadn't been ringing.

To my relief he didn't get the chance to tell Rudy though as Claire had stood up.

"I'm sure everything is fine here…" She said, giving me a look as if telling me to be quiet and let her do the talking. "Rudy, would you mind…" She nodded her head in a gesture that meant that she wanted to talk to him alone, causing her wild locks that had escaped the bun to dance in the air around her face. Rudy catched on pretty quick.

"Sure…" He mumbled, a smile appearing on his face. Rudy always seemed to have a soft spot for women and he quickly followed her. Mum awkwardly made it after them.

It didn't take more than a second for them to be out of our hearing before Jack started to speak again.

"You took the phone…" He seemed to be talking to himself almost as he started to add everything together. "and you pretended to be talking with someone. Why would you…? Unless…" He made a pause and I could see he was figuring it out. Milton, Jerry and Eddie just watched in shock as the anger made it back to his features. The deep brown eyes suddenly connected with mine. "…You only did it to distract me. You caused me to lose." He raised his voice as he went along. "You…" The teen in front of me got all of a sudden very frightening and I instinctively took a step back, hitting the bench with the back of my knee. "This is all your fault!" He yelled and gave me a push. It wasn't hard but being in the position that I was, it was enough to cause me to lose my balance and I sat down on the bench. Standing above me, his face was really close to mine and I felt a bit scared. What took Rudy so long?

Jack's eyes bored into mine. They showed anger, but also desperation, which confused me.

"You stupid …. Do you have any idea of….?!"

"Jackson!" Jack froze instantly at the voice that had just called his name. All the anger was suddenly gone and replaced with something close to fear. A tall well built man, who I recognized as Mr Brewer- Jack's father- came into view. "Is that really how you should talk to a lady?" Jack threw him a glance before looking down at the floor, keeping his head down as if he was ashamed of himself. Mr Brewer walked up to his son and placed a hand on his shoulder, gently urging him to take a step back, away from me. "My apologies Miss."

I gave him a faint smile, grateful that he'd interrupted Jack's little tantrum. Mr Brewer was a pretty good looking man for his age and he seemed so nice. I'd meet him a few times before at the dojo. He always seemed so calm and he had that kind of aura around him that just made people like him. There's a kindness to him and still he's awe-inspiring. Maybe that's why he seemed to be the only one that could talk some senses into Jack.

You could clearly see by their features that he and Jack were related, although they were completely different in the way they behaved. If Jack would've had only the half of decency of his father then maybe we would get along…

I threw a glance at Jack. He was looking at the floor. The usually so confident teenager looked nothing like he used to. His whole posture was different as if he was highly ashamed of himself. If I hadn't known who he was and what had happened I would have almost felt sorry for him, but as it was I felt no such thing. In fact I hopped he felt bad. He deserved it.

"Jack…?" Mr Brewer said, making the boy tense slightly, still keeping his eyes fixed on the floor. "Isn't there anything you'd like to say to the young lady?" Jack stood silent and unmoving as if he was thinking about the question. Mr Brewer inhaled deeply and crossed his arms over his chest increasing the pressure towards Jack. I felt the corners of my mouth pull slightly upwards, wanting to form into a smile. But I wouldn't let them, feeling that it would be inappropriate, no matter how amusing it was to watch the scene in front of me. The ever so tough Jack Brewer was cowering under his fathers gaze, just as you would expect a five year old do. The brunette reluctantly looked up at me and mumbled barely audible;

"I'm sorry."

"What was that?" His father asked, leaning his head closer to him to emphasis that he'd been talking too quietly.

"I'm sorry." Jack repeated louder, looking down at the floor again. "It won't happen again..." Mr Brewer smirked in triumph, winking at me without Jack noticing. I smiled back at him just before looking over at Jack who was clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"I'll go start the car." The man said, pulling out the car keys from his pocket, playing with them in his hand as he walked towards the exit.

Jack ignored the stares he was receiving from the warriors and took his duffel bag. Tossing it over his shoulder he began to follow his father.

"Hey, aren't you coming to the carnival with us?" Jerry asked. Jack turned around.

"No. I'm not eight, you know…" He said in a tone that clearly stated that he thought he was way too cool to go on a carnival. Something that really annoyed me…

I didn't mind him not coming though, that way he wouldn't be there to ruining all the fun for the rest of us. I just hated the way he always looked down on us. Shaking my head in thoughts, I watched him disappear through the exit…


I hope I didn't bore you too much with this pretty lame chapter... Things will get more interesting really soon though...

I'm gonna really really try to update asap and for all of you who are waiting for the sequel to Truth and Denial to be posted, I promise you that it'll be up very soon.

Please review, it means a lot:)

/MJ