AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Ok, now that that's out of the way ;)
Sorry for the wait. Few obstacles got in my way leading up to this point. But, as of now they are overcome bringing you this chapter ;)
Here's the deal, I have had some inspiration. No necessarily good inspiration though. I have executed a game plan to finish this story. I like it a lot, and it goes back to the original plan for the story. It's a little more mature and odd though, I really hope you enjoy and it doesn't ruin the story for you.
Again, sorry for the wait, more people than I thought were really looking forward to this chapter, so I hope its good enough :$
Due to the time lapse, I've looked over some of my old chapters, and made some minor adjustments to some. I have also changed the layout, as you may see below. I've added cute quotes to make it look pretty ;)
So with that being said it would be strongly recommended to re-read the story before continuing.
OH, AND I GOT A NAME CHANGE! Still me, just wanted to try something new, you like? ;)
Other than that, Enjoy :)
~Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear~
"Stay with me"
"Of course." He smiled. He climbed into bed beside me, pulling the covers up over the both of us. He slipped his arm behind my waist and pulled me into his chest. "You know Kim, you don't always have to be tough, it's ok to cry sometimes" I looked up at him before snuggling my head back into his chest and letting the tears fall. He shifted pulling me closer. I eventually stopped as sleep began to take over. I felt him kiss my forehead before I finally passed out.
Everything around me was spinning.
It was like my world had been turned upside down and shaken a little bit. As I began to see more and more things vividly, I began to make sense of where I was. I was at the outlook. This time however, I was seeing things from a different perspective. Instead of being the one attacked, I was staring at the poor helpless girl who looked an awful lot like me, being slapped.
"YOU STUPID BITCH!" The boy yelled at her.
She looked terrified. Undeniably terrified. I could feel her fear. It was overwhelming my mind, banging against the inside of my skull. I brought my hands up bringing my hands to my ears trying to block out the sound. Except there was none. The million thought flooding my brain made it hard to think straight. I dropped to my knees in agonizing pain as I looked back at the girl.
The boy brought his hand up and collided it with her face, hard. The force knocked her over. The familiar pain found it's way to my cheek, but I ignored it. I was to focused on what happened next. She tried to regain her balance and return to her feet, but the boy had other plans.
"Steve don't!" She cried, but it was to late. The boy took a step, with a powerful kick, struck her right it the gut. It was almost like he had drop kicked her. I clutched my stomach in pain but I couldn't direct my vision anywhere else but the girl.
I watched her body rebound from the kick, making it roll, sending her right off the edge of the cliff.
"NO!" I screamed. The boy who had kicked her paid no attention to me. He had a panicked look on his face, along with something else. It almost looked like regret.
I ran to the edge in search for the girl. Maybe I could pull her up and help her. I don't know how though, by body felt like it was going to fall apart.
I looked down, expecting to see her hanging. She wasn't. I saw he lifeless body at the bottom of the two story cliff.
Right then and there I felt my heart stop. It was almost as if someone had me by the neck and was slowing suffocating me to death. I dropped to my knees, my eyes wide. She couldn't be dead. I directed my vision to her once more, she hadn't moved a muscle. I could feel my eyes beginning to water and my would began spinning. The same pounding headache returned before my breathing became uneven.
This couldn't be how it ended.
"NO!" I screamed. My eyes snapped open and I sat up within the same second. My hand clutched my chest trying to slow my hear beat down.
"Kim?" Jack asked tiredly. I felt him sit up and shift his position. As much as I wanted to look at him I couldn't. Instead, my vision was directed into the distance, as my mind continued to process the dream I just had.
That's all it was though.
A dream.
I was ok. Jack had saved me, and I didn't fall off the cliff. I was alive. The simple possibility that could of happened wouldn't leave my mind.
Jack put his arm around my shoulder bringing me into his chest. I didn't hesitate to relax in his hold. He moved again, sitting up so that his back rested upon the wall behind his bed, and so that I was almost on top of him, head rested in the crease of his neck.
"You alright?" I couldn't bring myself to answer. Heck, I couldn't bring myself to look at him. I just stared into the distance with a blank look on my face, and somehow managed to shake my head no. No. I wasn't alright. Jack pulled me in a little bit closer and kissed the top of my head. I felt a warm sensation travel through my body. The simple touch of him made me feel so relaxed and safe.
I snapped out of my trance and moved my head so that I was looking at him. He offered me a smile which I quickly returned. Oh gosh that smile. It made my insides melt. The overwhelming temptation to kiss him was like eating my insides. I've never felt like I really wanted to before. When he kissed me in the hallway, it made me feel so amazing. I craved that feeling. It was something I just couldn't shake.
So without thinking, I acted.
I cupped the side of his face pulling him down so his lips met mine. He responded almost immediately. The feeling came again, it felt as if my stomach had dropped and twisted around a couple times. I felt Jack shift, gaining a tighter hold on my hips, as he deepened the kiss. I couldn't help but smirk. Our lips continued to move in sync for a few more moments before I slowly began to pull away. I tried to pull myself out of his hold, but instead he griped me tighter pushing his forehead onto mine forcing me back into his gaze.
"Now we're even" I breathed. The corners of his mouth moved up as his lips formed a playful smile. He moved, placing a quick peck on my nose, and then on my cheek. I winced in pain as he brought his forehead back onto mine.
I guess you can't get slapped twice without it forming some sort of bruise on my face. Even Jacks comforting kiss managed to cause me pain. If it hurt this badly, I don't even want to know what I look like.
"How hideous am I?" I asked with a sarcastic ring to my voice. Without trying to be cocky, I was a fairly attractive person. So things like 'looks' and 'makeup' never really came into play when it came to the things I thought about. Growing up with only a dad helped in that equation as well. With that being said, this was one of the only times I was actually concerned with my appearance. A big part in that was not wanting questions.
"You've never looked better" He said sweetly. I grew a smile as he planted one last kiss on my lips, before pulling me back onto him, as he lied the two of us down. Before I knew it sleep was beginning to take over again, but one thing was for sure, I went to bed happy.
Soon enough the week flew by, leaving us with the Monday we had to return to school. Jack and I were officially a couple in everyone else's eyes, though, he had not formally asked yet.
When it came to Steve, I begged Jack not to tell anyone. For that, he was furious with me. According to him "The stupid jackass needs to pay for what he did, and what he could of done!" I completely understood where he came from with that, but he was not there. He did not see the pain on Steve's face from why he was having a meltdown. Sending him to jail wouldn't help me, it wouldn't do any good what so ever. Due to that, it was going to be my little secret. Well, mine, Jack's, Kevin and Taylors secret.
Those were the only one's I decided to tell. Yes I trusted Bud with my life, but this was a situation of what he doesn't know can't hurt him. When I had came home the day after, I told him I fell out of a tree. Me, with my clumsy past, made it a very believable story.
Kevin had a complete conniption when he found out. His spasm got so bad Jack had to turn around and tackle him to the ground to knock some sense into him. What killed me the most about Kevin was that he felt responsible, he was not responsible. With his help however, we managed to do a good enough make up job that the people at school wouldn't ask questions.
I decided to tell Taylor because I needed a girl. We had gotten very close and I needed someone to confide it. The killer look on her face when I explained what happened told me she wanted to rip Steve apart. She got over it eventually and was there for me. I had made progress of finding out what was wrong with her, but no luck.
So this brings us to Monday, the official start of second semester. I had gotten weird looks as I walked through the doors. Mostly from the fact I was the 'chick' that Jack Anderson fell for. It amused me greatly.
"Hey Taylor" I said with a smile as I approached my locker.
"Hey!" She smiled back. "You ready for today?"
"Ready as I'll ever be" I said unsure"
"I got you're back" She said while giving me a friendly nudge. Surprisingly the hallway was quiet today, no major things happening, which was nice for the first day back. I headed to home room after saying my goodbyes to Taylor. My home room was art. Halfway through the class I excused myself and went to the bathroom.
That's when my day became interesting.
I finished my business in the bathroom before heading back to class. On my way back, I went to turn a corner. As I did, the person who was turning the corner from the other direction failed to see me as I did him causing us to collided and knock us both to the ground. Luckily he did not land on top of me. So I helped myself up as he did and straightened myself out. Seems like a 'Jack and Kim' moment, running into someone.
I wish it was Jack.
As I looked up to see the face of who I just knocked into I felt my body freeze. Stand still completely in shock. I felt my relaxed hands form into fists and my breath get hitched in my throat. I stood there motionless, mostly because I was too scared to move.
"Kim" He said softy.
"S-Steve" I managed to say. Even I could hear the nervousness in my voice, I had no doubt he could hear it too. He moved his body to place a hand on my shoulder but I tugged away before he could. He nodded in understanding and returned to his position. I watched him examine up and down the hallways before looking at me and letting out a sigh.
"Look Kim, I'm so sorry"
"You're sorry?" I said in disbelief. Now my anger was kicking it. "You're sorry. Oh right Steve because that just makes everything better. You know, other than the fact you almost killed me!" My voice was beginning to raise, and my breathing was becoming heavy. I was less scared now though. Seeing the guilt in Steve's eyes gave me some confidence.
"There is no excuse of what I did. None. People see me as an asshole because I let them. Life is much easier when no one wants to mess with you. I know it doesn't mean much but I was drunk out of my face that night, the whole thing is a complete blur" No amount of acting experience could replace the honesty in his eyes. He really was sorry. No, I did not forgive him, but the least I could to was show a bit of compassion.
"It's ok-"
"No it's not ok! Kim, I don't know what I would of done if you had died" He was a bit closer to me now. Worry and regret plastered all over his face. I opened my mouth to counter act what he said, but the person at the end of the hallway decided she wanted to talk instead.
"Steve" Kristen spat. "What are you doing with her?" The level of hatred she had towards me made me laugh. I've barley said two words to her and she hates my life. Amazing how girls can do that. Know absolutely nothing about some one, but is still capable of bashing them for hours and ripping them apart with words.
"Nothing" Steve said annoyed. Kristen had made me way up to us, and pulled Steve back a bit so he was standing next to her. Though he was, his gaze never left me. I think Kristen noticed, she didn't look overly happy.
"Hey Kristen." I said sweetly.
"Oh shut up" She snapped. "Come on Steve, no one wants to be seen with this loser. The only people who will give her the time of day is a gay, an emo and whatever the hell Jack is."
That word; Emo. It kept playing over and over again in my head. Almsot as if my brain just refused to process it.
"What?" I said in disbelief.
"Oh what? Your bestest friend didn't tell you her deepest darkest secret?" She had made her way up to me, so she was currently in front of me. Wow, this chick was intimidating when she wants to be. I swallowed hard and clenched my jaw shut. I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of watching me stutter or say something stupid. Seeing my silent surrender, she grew an evil smile. She was going to say something from the looks of it, but a person from the other end of the hall beat her to it. Weren't people supposed to be in class?
"Leave her alone Kristen"
Jack.
Was I ever glad to see him.
Kristen and my head snapped to the side to stare at him. If it was possible, the grin of Kristen's face grew. I was now invisible, all her attention was currently placed on Jack as she sauntered over to him. Steve and I stood in the background watching the scene unfold.
"Or you'll what Jack? Dump me? Pretty sure you already did that" She never lost the grin, but the hurt in her voice was beginning to shine through.
"You don't want to know what I'll do" He said playfully, yet threateningly. She was now in front of him, bodied practically pressed together. I couldn't stop the annoying little feeling from forming in the pit of my stomach.
"Ou, feisty. And why wouldn't I? I got nothing to loose. You already picked her"
"I couldn't of picked her if there was no competition" She shot back. This time, I smiled.
"Cute." Kristen said unimpressed. "Well, have fun with the nun" She got on her tip toes so her mouth was at the height of his ear "We both know I would of been a lot of fun" With that, and a wink, she took off down the hall.
Then there were three.
Jack, Steve and I. This was going to go over well.
We all stood there making awkward eye contact for a few moments. I glanced in Jack's direction, his fists were clenched and it looked like he was about to explode.
Crud.
"Well bye" Steve said. Yeah, good move, leave before you get killed. To bad Jack doesn't roll that way. Steve turned around and began walking. Jack had walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. I would of done something, but it was pretty obvious that Jack had already made up his mind, there was no convincing him otherwise.
"Hey" He said with a smile, offering him a wave. Steve looked utterly confused, trying to process what he was doing. I was in the same boat. It all made sense three seconds later. Jack took a step, gaining some leverage and punched Steve square in the face. The force knocked him back onto his butt, holding his face in pain.
My hand shot up, covering my mouth in surprise. Jack still looked like he wanted to rip Steve to shreds. I moved, taking a step forward and placed my hand on his shoulder. It was like I snapped him out of his trance, because at that instant he grabbed my hand, moving myself and him a few steps away from Steve. He moved so he had a protective shoulder in front of me, as he shot daggers at Steve, waiting for him to stand up.
"I deserved that one" Steve said with a sarcastic ring. You could hear the pain in his voice, even though he tried desperately not to show it.
"I know" Jack responded coldly. He had tuned in to every bit of self will he had. I could tell. His whole body had gone completely tense. I rapped my arms around his waist, and rested my head on his back. I felt him relax a bit against my hold.
"You saved her, didn't you?"
"I wouldn't of happened if you didn't throw her off a freakin cliff" The anger in his voice was incredibly obvious. I tightened my grip around him. I felt him rub my arm. I think it was a silent way of telling me he recognized I was here.
"I'm sorry"
"You better be" Jack snapped.
"You're not that intimidating Anderson" Steve said. He was on his feet now, making his way towards us. I felt Jack, inhale and exhale sharply. He broke out of my grip and slammed Steve up against the wall, holding his there by his throat.
"Listen Munro" He hissed. "You touch her again, you don't want to know what I'll do"
"Don't worry, I wont. She's not that hot" He teased. Ge, thanks. What happened to the guy who wouldn't know what to do if I had died? He wasn't kidding, he works really hard to keep up his rep of being an ass. Amazing how different people truly are.
Jack on the other hand, didn't have the same, perspective as I did. At the moment, he was down right pissed. He re slammed Steve into the wall.
"Don't make me want to kill you any more than I already do" Jack threatened. Steve simply smiled. Wow, he was really good at being an ass.
"Anderson, Munro!" Someone barked from beside us. I snapped myself to the side, to see a very unhappy principle who just came out of his office. "My office, NOW!" He seemed happy.
Jack let out a sigh, before releasing Steve.
"Crawford, Back to class" He snapped. I didn't have to be told twice. I turned around before heading back to class, before I turned the corner, I looked back at Jack. He shot me a half hearted smile before following Steve into the principles office.
The rest of homeroom went by incredibly slowly. When the bell finally rang, I headed back to my locker.
"Hey" Taylor greeted.
"Hey" I said with a smile.
"How was class?"
"Eventful.."
"Wow" She breathed. "Don't want to know"
"No you don't" I joked. He let out a laugh as she continued to rummage through her locker. "Hey Taylor?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm almost certain Jack has detention, want to hang out tomorrow?" I asked. I shit my locker, and leaned against it awaiting an answer.
"Sure, shouldn't be a problem." She smiled. She stuffed the last of her items back into her backpack and shut her own locker door. With that, the two of us headed towards second period. "Kim?"
"Yeah?"
"What Jack do now?" She teased. I let out a large sigh.
"Explain later" I laughed. I waved goodbye as we went our separate ways.
The rest of school bored me to tears. The first day back so we didn't do anything. It was all about of 'meeting our new teacher' and 'adjusting to the new semester'. This made an extremely boring day. As it ended, I found myself back at my locker chatting with Kevin. Apparently the principle showed Jack some pity so he was not suspended for threatening the life of another student. Kevin also said that it was Steve who said he started it, and provoked Jack. So now, they are both in detention for the next three weeks. Suckers.
I said my goodbyes to everyone after confirming with Taylor about tomorrow. It was a go.
I stand here now, staring at the vacant hallways. On a normal day I would of walked to the parking lot and got it my car, and drove home to Bud. However, today was not a normal day.
I continued through the hallways. The click of my shoes being the only noise, which echoed through the school. I had my sight set of something, and I new exactly where to find it.
I was on a mission.
I walked out of the school and made my way towards the field. There, the soccer team where the sexist coach cut me from, was beginning practice. Beside them, on the other field the cheerleading team was beginning to start practice.
I continued to march my way all the way up the the very many girls in incredibly tight shorts were stretching. This earned me some very dirty looks. At the moment, I didn't care. I needed one of them.
"Kristen."
Ok, hope that was good. The end seemed very Blah to me. Loosing steam, long day. So my apologies. I hoped you all liked it, I know it took me a while.
If some of you are confused about the whole 'Taylor' situation, I've added some more details to previous chapters, not a lot though. But if you are a bit confused, PM me or add it to you're review and I will explain it in the next update.
It kind of goes with the theme, 'everyone had their baggage'.
I've made it kind of obvious what her secret is. I hope it doesn't you, and that you guys are excepting to the idea of it. You see, this plot like wasn't originally for fan fiction. I had changed it a bit the fit the 'younger audience' better, but I forgot where I was going with it. After recent events, it brought me back to my original plot line. I hope it doesn't ruin the story for you.
Any personal thoughts about it, feel free to PM me if you don't want to leave it in a review.
Hope you like it, please review and tell me your thoughts. Feel free to add some constructive criticism
Hope there was enough Kick in it for you ;)
Review! :)