* A/N *
Hey! It's Alpha again with my 'Kickin' It' FanFic. Like before there's a longer A/N at the bottom of the story so please R&R...anons included
IT'S HERE! THE OFFICIAL TENTH CHAPTER OF VANDALS ANONYMOUS IS FINALLY HERE! AHHHH!
I'm SO sorry for not updating in almost a month. I hope you ALL forgive me! But in this one month hiatus I managed to update "The GAME" and "Paging Aisle 3" so go check those two stories out if you haven't already.
Anyway, DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER! I do not (read: do NOT) own Disney XD's Kickin' It
CHAPTER UPDATED 04/25/13. A/N REMAINS UNUPDATED.
* KIMBERLY CRAWFORD *
"I'm sorry, Ricky, but Jack and I are in a-a-a-a relationship!"
There.
I'd said it. I'd lied.
A strange look crossed Jack's face as a startled choking sound escaped him and a surprised look crossed Ricky's face just seconds before it fell...again.
"We're what?" Jack asked incredulously at the same time Ricky asked forlornly, "You are?"
Just like yesterday, Ricky looked as if I'd drop-kicked his puppy and the look led to the re-emergence of the guilt I'd briefly felt yesterday.
I swallowed hard as the wave of guilt overcame me, my stomach flipping in its place.
Also just like yesterday, guilt was the very last emotion I wanted to experience. Ricky looked so devastated and heartbroken that I immediately felt bad for lying to him even though I didn't want to feel bad.
Ricky had hurt me first so my lie was justified, right? I mean, technically, I was letting him off easy since I wasn't telling him to buzz off because I hated him (like I probably should have considering that it was the truth), right?
I suppressed a frustrated groan. Ugh! Why couldn't I be heartless like my mom was seventy percent of the darn time? I was a Crawford for crying out loud! I was supposed to be (somewhat) emotionless!
Jack shot me a "what the heck did you just say?" look and I shot him an "I'm actually begging you to go along with this and I never beg because I—just like you—have pride issues! Please, please, puh-leez!" look. I mean, this wasn't the first time we'd pretended to be a couple...
The first time we'd faked it was when these creepy foreign twins had tried to come onto us.
Now, I wasn't going to lie. The guy was hot, but he was just a little too sparkly and a little too flamboyant for my taste. I also wasn't a big fan of the fact that he hung out with his twin sister all the time. His sister was gorgeous (I couldn't lie about that) and she was every bit as sparkly and colourful as her brother. Unfortunately, though, she was also a much meaner than her brother. Do you know how many times she insulted me, my hair, or my clothes? More times than I'd care to share.
At first I was able to ignore his sparkle fixation (and his sister's bratty attitude) among other things, but the minute he offered me fifteen goats for a first date I knew I had to escape.
So I asked Jack to pretend to be my boyfriend. At first, I was surprised that he was so willing, but then I learned the real reason why. Apparently, the female twin had developed a crush on Jack and was demanding fifteen goats from him for a first date. Unfortunately for her, he didn't want to get the goats from "a guy" Jerry knew or from Falafel Phil, but he didn't know how to tell her he wasn't interested either. Pretending to date just seemed like the easiest way to go.
Now, pretending to be Jack's girlfriend wasn't all that hard. To be honest, I actually kind of liked it. Our relationship remained the same. The biggest difference between our friendship and the "romance" was the fact that we now held hands and kissed one another lightly on the cheek. To be even more honest, I was slightly disappointed when it was over (and I meant slightly).
So I suppose that I should have been happy that, once again, we were pretending to be a couple to ward off an unwanted lover, but unfortunately I had this uncanny feeling that faking our relationship wasn't going to be nearly as fun as it was the first time. Also judging by the look on Jack's face, he was probably thinking the same thing.
"So, you two have a thing." Ricky asked or rather, stated.
I couldn't even look at the kid. If I did, I probably would have broken down at his "kicked puppy" look assuming that my revolt with Ricky was slowly melting like the Wicked Witch of the West.
So, instead of looking directly at Ricky, I decided to look just above his head. It made it easier for me to squash my guilt if I wasn't staring directly at the thing that was causing it.
"Yeah, Jack and I are a couple. Aren't we, Jack?" I put extra emphasis on Jack's name as I yanked him forward and forced his arm around my waist. I did this with the intent of having the two of us look more like an extremely close couple. Simply holding hands just wouldn't cut it.
Jack hesitantly wrapped his arm around me, looking sort of uncomfortable, and I slowly leaned into him, feeling equally as uncomfortable. I wasn't sure what Jack was thinking, but I was hoping that Ricky wouldn't be able to see through my lie since I was the worst liar ever and Jack wasn't really acting like the best boyfriend either.
If Ricky hadn't been so upset then he probably would have noticed how awkward we looked and would have questioned the legitimacy of our relationship. But of course, he was upset and he didn't notice a thing.
At the lack of response, I dug an elbow into Jack's ribs, pointedly asking, "We are a couple aren't we, Jack?"
Jack let out a small gasp and shot me a little glare. "Yeah sure, I mean, of course we are, Kimmy."
I rammed my elbow even deeper into Jack's side and he let out an even louder gasp and winced in pain. That was what you got for calling me "Kimmy". Fake relationship or not, no one called me "Kimmy" with the exception of Henry. He knew that so why test me?
"OW! Watch my kidney! I need that!" Jack hissed.
"Oh, people can live off one kidney, can't they?" I muttered in response.
Our two second conversation seemed to go unnoticed by Ricky and for that I was grateful. Our not so romantic comments would have tipped Ricky off and that was the very last thing I wanted. I wanted Ricky to scram, not stick around hoping that I'd "fall out of love" with Jack or whatever since (in the eyes of outsiders) we were the least compatible people on the planet.
Jack let out a snort and muttered something about "two kidneys being better than one" and I rolled my eyes, decidedly turning my attention back to Ricky. Round one of "Do you really need Two Kidneys?" could be continued later.
"Ricky," I said tentatively, "Are you okay?"
Ricky went on as if I hadn't said anything. His eyes were anywhere but on me. "So, you and Jack are together-together?"
Jack and I exchanged a glance and I nodded slowly in response. What was he trying to get—?
Ricky started to nod as well, but he abruptly stopped, his eyes narrowing when he looked back at me. "But yesterday, why didn't you just tell me that you and Jack were together?"
I stared at Ricky. So that was what he'd been trying to get at. Of all the times this kid could have chosen to be smart, this was the time he chose? Seriously? I was kind of hoping that he would overlook that minor detail, but apparently he couldn't.
Just my luck.
"Yes, Kim." I cringed at the sound of Jack's voice. "Why didn't you tell Ricky about us?"
"Because...because...because...?" As you just saw there, I was not good at this lying stuff, especially under pressure.
"Go on," Jack prompted. Good gosh, this kid really steamed my clams. He steamed them to the point where they were not even useful in chowder! When this whole ordeal was over, I was going to kick the living grits out of him in the same manner that I'd kicked the living grits out of Eddie for hacking off my hair. Well, maybe not as violently...
"Go on, Kim. We're waiting..."
"...because...because...?"
"Whatever. If you don't want to tell me then it's fine." Ricky snapped.
I was slightly taken aback by Ricky's sudden change in manner. In one split second he'd switched from "broken hearted" to "vengeance seeking". It reminded me of Truman's sudden change of manner yesterday afternoon following a suspicious text message. But Ricky hadn't received a text message or anything like that...unless he'd been forewarned or something...
I shook my head. I was looking too deeply into things. I'd just broken Ricky's heart the way he'd snapped mine in two. I'd been angry when this had happened so he also had the right to be angry. Especially if he thought that I'd "led him on" by not telling him about Jack and me earlier.
Ricky slowly started backing away. It was easy to tell that he was struggling to suppress his anger. If you looked even closer, you could see the hurt and confusion that threatened to spill over his cheeks in the form of tears, just barely masked by the coldness in his eyes.
I looked down guiltily.
"Sorry for making things so awkward or whatever." Ricky shrugged unapologetically. "I just needed you to hear me out. I just had to get this off my chest. Every single word I said was true. My publicist didn't write anything for me."
"Whatever you say..." Jack shrugged. "...and stop tracking Kim's phone. It's creepy and obsessive."
Ricky ignored Jack again (what was new?). "Maybe I'll take Rue up on her offer then. Nothing's holding me back now. I'm a free man."
A chill went through me at that statement. Taking up an offer from Rue? Seriously?
"R-Ricky," I started but the kid just brushed me off.
"Good bye, Kim. I hope that you and Jack have a great life together." Ricky spat out venomously. "Really, you two are just so perfect for one another. I can't believe I didn't see it coming...well...I kinda saw it coming. But I didn't know it was going to happen so soon..."
"Ricky, I—"
"Save it, Kim." Ricky whirled around on his heel and stalked out of Jack's backyard. "Just save it."
I stared after Ricky, my guilt and regret slowly accumulating in my chest. Great. I had just broken Ricky Weaver's heart and had driven him straight into Rue's waiting hands. That combination was a dangerous one. One vengeful superstar plus one vengeful ninja wannabe equalled...?
Once Ricky was out of sight and earshot, Jack and I broke apart. We hastily separated ourselves, eager to be individuals once again, straightening our clothes the moment we were freed from one another's grasp. I lightly ran my hand over the blood smear on the hoodie, acknowledging the fact that I needed to save up if I wanted to buy Jack a new hoodie.
However, all thoughts of me owing Jack a new hoodie evaporated with his next comment.
"So," Jack glared at me. "We're in a relationship. Do I at least get to kiss you?"
I glared right back at Jack. "Oh, shut up."
"What? Most couples kiss, right? Or," Jack raised an eyebrow at me cockily, "are we not dating? If that's the case, then you just lied to poor wittle Wicky Weaver."
"I said shut up!" This kid was determined to get under my skin, wasn't he? I could feel my clams steaming up again...
"Of all the lies you could have used, you chose the "I'm in a relationship" one? Really, Kim? Really?" Jack asked, folding his arms across his chest. "Even the truth would've been better than that."
"Oh please," I rolled my eyes. "You're one to talk. Didn't you willingly go through with the whole "I'm in a relationship" thing when we were fighting off the foreign twins? What hypocrisy you spew!"
"True," Jack shrugged. I rolled my eyes again and Jack shot me another look before continuing on, "But that was in the past. Not to mention that I felt guilty afterward so I promised myself that I'd tell the truth when it comes to relationships I want and I don't want."
"And then what happened?" I muttered.
Jack gazed at me incredulously as if he couldn't believe I didn't know the ending to his story. "And then what happened? You happened! Here you went, dragging me through the mud and making me a part of a lie I didn't want to be a part of! Hey Kim, just because you don't have a conscience, doesn't mean that I don't either! Leave me out of your lies!"
My eyebrows hiked up my forehead. "Dragging you...mud...what?"
"Next time, if you're going to lie to someone, don't use the "I'm in a relationship" thing." Jack explained. "Or if you do, don't bring me into it. Use Jerry or something."
I almost threw up at the idea of me and Jerry...I couldn't even say it!
"Look, I'm sorry okay? It's hard to turn someone down when they admit their feelings to you twice in a row. I'm used to getting thousands of locker notes, not face to face tell-alls." I shot back, "And FYI, I do have a conscience and I do feel guilty so can you leave me alone to wallow in my own guilt? Thanks."
I watched as Jack's apathy shifted into empathy. "Kim, I am not going to leave you to "wallow in your own guilt". You shouldn't feel guilty about turning Ricky down. You should feel guilty about lying to him maybe, but not for turning him down. He is a jerk and a total fraud. He doesn't deserve someone as awesome as you. You deserve someone so much better."
I felt my cheeks heating up a little and I gave Jack a small smile. "And by "someone so much better" you mean you, right?"
"Yes Kim, that's exactly what I mean." Jack gave me a cocky grin. "No, but seriously. If it took Ricky this long to realize how amazing you are, then he definitely doesn't deserve you."
I sighed as leaned my head against Jack's shoulder (mostly because the pounding got...uh...worse...). "Maybe you're right..."
Jack rolled his eyes at me. "Please, just because I'm not "Kim Crawford" doesn't mean that I can't be right. Besides, when you actually think about it, I'm right more often than you are."
My grin widened. "Whatever. Now can I please have an Advil?"
If Jack had remembered to bring my phone with him when he'd been rushing outside to see what was going on when I screamed, then maybe I would have noticed that I'd received a new picture message. If I had noticed that I'd received a picture message then maybe I would have opened it. If I had opened it, then maybe I would have realized that someone had been photographing Jack and me...
It was dark when I finally woke up.
It took me a couple seconds to recollect myself and to remember what exactly was going on. I wearily propped myself up, completely content with the fact that the Tylenol had worked and my headache was now a dull and barely-there throb.
I turned my head. Jack was lying next to me still asleep. I forced myself to remember what exactly we'd been doing or talking about before we'd dozed off.
I knew that I'd been begging Jack for a pain reliever and he'd promised to get me one if I ate something first. I hadn't eaten much all day and he didn't want me to feel sick from taking the pill. I knew from personal experience that taking a pill on an empty stomach resulted in a stomach ache so I had agreed to eat. I remembered that Jack had heat up a couple red velvet cupcakes he'd made the night before. He hadn't specified why he'd made them, but I had the sneaking suspicion that he hadn't been baking simply because he was bored.
Simply put, Jack was a straight up stress-baker. If he couldn't get to the dojo to blow off some steam, then he'd bake tons and tons of goodies. Last year, I'd witnessed Jack's stress-baking firsthand when I'd been helping him study for his math exam. By the end of our late night study session, there were over one hundred macadamia nut cookies ready to be put into a cookie jar. While the guys and I didn't mind this weird obsession since it meant free food for us, according to Jack, it drove Ms. Brewer absolutely crazy.
Moving on, I remembered that, between bites of the red velvet cupcakes (the ever so delicious cupcakes—seriously, his cupcakes tasted better than mine and I was in Home Ec.), I'd been telling Jack about the up-a-tree creeper. I'd guiltily admitted that I had let the vandal escape and that he was right. I should have let him do the detective work. I also remembered that Jack had been all cocky about it and even though he'd never said "I told you so", I could see the words written all over his face. He became much more serious and worried, though, when I'd explained the implications of the incident—it was now confirmed that the vandals were both videotaping and physically watching us.
We'd skipped over the whole "Ricky Thing" and immediately jumped into what we thought Rue's offer was. I wanted to believe that Rue had asked to date him, but deep down I knew that she'd made Ricky a completely different offer. I remembered Jack acting as my conscience and vocalizing my thoughts.
To be honest, Jack and I were both just slightly (understatement of the year two-point-oh) freaked out about the whole "Ricky-and-Rue" situation. The vandals had slipped things into our rooms, snuck into our houses, left us creepy locker notes, and had flat out stalked us. All this sounded very Rue-esque, but when you threw in the fact that Ricky had the (unnamed) ability to track my phone, you had to wonder if Ricky was involved too.
If Rue and her Ninja Warriors were working with Ricky, then I wouldn't have been surprised. But that didn't explain Justin's suspicious manner upon seeing Jerry. That didn't explain Truman's weird reaction to the text he'd received and his father's stolen items. That didn't even explain why the phone number that had phoned me the "Night of the Mysterious Thumping" could be both valid and invalid. Nothing fit!
Having remembered myself vocalizing that thought, I believed that Jack and I had been discussing how everything fit together before we'd both passed out on his bed. I was almost certain of it.
I glanced at Jack again. He looked so calm and peaceful while he slept and he looked kind of cute...wait...what?
I shook the thought out of my head as reached for my phone, an iPhone, to check the time. Oh, I had a missed message. Maybe I should open—
"Kim?"
I looked up as Ms. Brewer quietly entered the room. "Oh Kim, you are up."
I fully sat up as I set my phone down, nodding at the older woman as I tried to smother an upcoming yawn. "Yes, I'm awake now."
"That's good." She said, "How is your knee? I should hope that it's stopped bleeding by now."
I nodded. "My knee's fine, thanks. It still stings a little, but it's not bleeding."
Ms. Brewer nodded in approval. "Thank God. The very last thing I want to do is call your parents from the emergency room."
My parents...my parents...my parents...
My eyes widened. Oh. My. God. My parents—or more specifically—my mom was going to flip out.
According to my phone, it was almost eight forty-five. That was way past the time I usually got home on a Friday. My mom hated it when I came home two minutes later than I was supposed to and she hated it even more when I forgot to call her to let her know when I was going to be home when I went out. Now, unfortunately for me, I'd done both. I was totally screwed and—OHMIGOSH! Maybe that missed message was from her.
"Kim, stop freaking out." Ms. Brewer's even voice sliced through my frenzied thoughts. "Despite how entertaining it is to watch all your emotions dance across your face, you need to relax. I gave your mom a call a couple hours ago to let her know that you were here. She seemed a little upset that you were missing dinner, but otherwise she was alright with that."
I relaxed a little bit. Okay, so maybe my mom wasn't going to kill me—tonight. "Okay, thanks."
Ms. Brewer shrugged at me. "Anytime, Kim. I'm also ready to give you a ride home whenever you're ready. Just give me a call and I'll be there with the keys...if I can find them."
Just as she was about to close the bedroom door, she turned around again and gave me a smile. "Oops, I almost forgot. You might want this."
I might want wha—OW!
Ms. Brewer winced. "Oops, sorry."
Rubbing at the miniscule bump that was developing on my forehead, I gingerly picked up the tiny metallic square which had pegged me just above the eye. It was a vitamin C lozenge.
I gazed at Ms. Brewer questioningly and she shrugged back. "Well, considering the fact that you've been spooning against my son for the past two hours, I figured you'd need some vitamin C. No matter what he tells you, Jack is getting sick. His fevers always come first."
Spooning? My jaw dropped. Did she honestly just say that—out loud? Were moms even allowed to say stuff like that?
She laughed at my facial expression as she shut the door behind her, leaving me, my shock and my vitamin C lozenge behind. I stared down at the tiny, metallic square before tossing it next to my phone. I'd take it later after I'd showered in hand sanitizer.
Instead, I started shaking Jack, in an attempt to wake him up. It took a couple hundred shakes, but eventually Jack came to. To be honest, I was kind of relieved when he woke up since I'd been afraid that I'd shaken him so hard that I'd given him a concussion or I'd killed him by the ways of shaken baby syndrome—well, shaken teen syndrome.
"What?" Jack yawned, opening one eye.
"Get up." I said, "We fell asleep. We've been sleeping for almost two hours."
"Really?" Jack yawned again as slowly propped himself up onto his elbows, checking his phone for the time. "Wow, you're right—and don't pull that "Kim Crawford's Always Right" thing on me."
I shrugged and Jack looked at me blearily, "So when are you going home? Your mom must be flipping out right now."
I shook my head. "Your mom called my mom so she knows I'm here and according to your mom I can go home whenever I feel like it."
Jack rested his head against his pillow again. "So, sleepover?"
My eyebrows shot up. "Um, let me think—no? Do you even know my mother?"
Jack chuckled. "Whatever."
""Whatever" yourself. I'm going to the bathroom and then I'm going home. I'd stay longer but you seem to need the sleep." I wrinkled my nose. "Besides, I don't want to catch whatever you've got. I've already been exposed and I need to bathe in sanitizer now. I can't afford to be sick when my Pep Squad performs for the senior Pep Squad. My team needs me."
"And now you're a germaphobe." Jack rolled his eyes, "Seriously, Kim? I'm not even sick. I just feel a little off and that's only because I'm tired. Besides, can't your immune system handle a few germs?"
"Um, I think the term is mysophobe and I think I reserve the right to be paranoid. I've barely slept these past few days and sleep deprivation affects your immune system." I shot back, "You'd know this if you actually paid attention in Health Class."
"I'm sorry but I'd like to forget all Health Class memories especially after watching that video on whale birth. Jeez, I still have nightmares about that."
"Just like you still have nightmares about clowns?" I raised an eyebrow. If there was one thing that Jack was afraid of it was clowns. He was absolutely terrified of them. I wasn't trying to be mean here, but it was kind of funny when you thought about it. Big, tough Jack being terrified of Ronald McDonald? Um...okay...bad example...
"Hey!" Jack exclaimed, "That's mean. Don't bring my coulrophobia into this."
"Coulrophobia? Such a big word for such a small boy, don't you think?"
Jack rolled his eyes at me. "Shut up."
"Uh, no! We watched It together and you had nightmares for two months. I have great blackmail material here." I laughed. It kind of felt good to laugh after all the crazy, creepy stuff that had been happening to us with the "vandals" case and all. And I meant a good, genuine laugh. Not a forced fake laugh like the ones I'd been dishing out to everyone these past few days regardless of whether or not they bought it.
"Hey, just because you can blackmail your teachers for good marks, doesn't mean that you can blackmail me too." Jack fired back.
"What? I don't—" Jack dished me a "let's be real here" look and I sighed, "Well, I don't always blackmail teachers for marks."
"But you did to get a D-minus on that Geography test everyone else failed."
"I deserved that D-minus!" I trilled.
Jack smirked. "Did you "deserve" that A in the rest of History class too? Or that A in Biology? Or that A in Home Ec.? Or that—?"
I covered my ears with my hands screaming "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" as I stormed off to the bathroom, ignoring Jack's amused chuckles.
Another perk to Jack's "house" was that each bedroom came with its own bathroom, which meant that Jack had his own private bathroom. I was not embarrassed to admit that I was totally jealous of him. I would have killed (not literally obviously) to have my own bathroom instead of having to share with Henry. Do you know how much time that kid spends on gelling his hair up in the morning? More time than a five-year-old should! It is absolutely ridiculous!
However, it wasn't anywhere near as ridiculous as Jack's claim that I blackmailed all my teachers for good grades. I worked hard to get my grades. Blackmailing was just my version of Milton's grade-grubbing. There was no need to act like a "Teacher's Pet" when I had all the dirt on the teachers at Seaford. Besides, I really only blackmailed a select few, such as my Home Ec. teacher.
Still steaming from Jack's accusations, I yelled, "I hate you so much right now!"
Of course, Jack yelled back in response, "No you don't! You love me!"
He said some other things too, but I turned on the sink to flush him out (no pun intended).
As I washed my hands, I decided to refocus my attention on the "vandals" case as opposed to Jack's partially-false accusations. My mind immediately went to the suspects list which had changed so much in the course of twenty-four hours. All the top people had moved down on the list whereas the least likely people went up.
Justin was obviously at the top with Ricky and Rue nearby, but beyond that I didn't know who was next. I suppose Truman could have taken the next slot and then what? We'd been keeping tabs on The Black Dragons and Arthur, but neither seemed all that suspicious.
In retrospect, the fact that Arthur and The Black Dragons were basically off the radar should have been a red light, but I didn't really take it that way. In fact, I didn't even think twice about it. What a good detective I was.
When I finally exited the bathroom, Jack was sitting up, hunched over my phone with his brow furrowed.
Arching a brow, I stalked over to the boy and yanked my phone out of his grasp. "Ever heard of privacy, Jack? I can sue you for invasion of privacy, you know."
"Why? You have something private on here?" Jack raised an eyebrow at me and I could feel my cheeks heating up. Before I could even say anything, Jack continued on, "Well, I wasn't looking for any texts or pictures or whatever. You got another picture message when you were in the bathroom and I decided to open it."
My heart thudded. "Another picture message?"
Jack nodded grimly. "More pictures of us...right now."
My eyes flickered towards Jack's bedroom window and I lowered my voice as I asked, "So you're saying that someone may be out there, right now?"
Jack gave another grim nod. "Yup."
I looked from the window, to Jack and back again before nodding. "I'll go."
"Are you sure?" Jack asked, "You let the last creeper get away..."
"Jack, it is pitch black outside. I may not be in the best athletic form right now, but when it's dark I have the element of surprise on my side. Not even the Ninja Warriors can deny my Ninjutsu skills."
"Okay, just because you've handled a shuriken without killing yourself, doesn't mean you're a ninja. I'd just like to clarify this." Jack teased.
I playfully smacked Jack on the arm. "Shut up. I'm taking my phone with me this time, so if I need any back up, I'll give you a call."
Jack thought for a moment before nodding slowly. "Okay. But we'll both be outside. I'll be waiting on the patio for your call, but I might circle the premises for any other lurkers."
"Okay," I said, "Got it."
We did our super secret, secret handshake and quietly whispered "WASABI!" before we raced outside in hopes of dealing with the vandal once and for all.
I crept around Jack's home, once again feeling like a total creeper as I slunk along the side of the mansion. I really hoped that none of his neighbours were on the phone right now with the police, calling about what they assumed was some sort of burglar or something sneaking its way around the multi-million dollar mansion.
How embarrassing would it be to have the cops come in only to realize that the "burglar" was just some random teenager girl probably stalking some cute boy she saw at school? I didn't want to be that girl...again.
Just like it had this afternoon, as Jack's window drew closer, my fear and paranoia intensified. It was even worse this time around because it was pitchblack out, meaning that if the vandal happened to sneak up on me, I wouldn't even know until the last minute—the minute right before they attacked.
At this thought, I was on the brink of having a panic attack. Jack's speech about the vandals setting me up filled my head, only worsening my growing fear. I took a couple slow deep breaths to clear my mind and decided that if nothing happened to me, I'd never—
I squealed in terror as my phone sounded. It took a couple seconds for me to recollect myself and to calm my racing heart. I hit the answer button without even checking to see who was calling me. "H-hello?"
"Kim?"
I let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't the vandals or even worse—my mom. It was just Milton.
"Milton," I breathed, "Oh my God, I thought you were a vandal or something."
"Um...well...I'm not. Sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you." Milton really did sound apologetic so I instantly forgave him.
"It's okay." I sighed. My nerves were slowly returning as the tree by Jack's window slowly came into my line of sight. I squinted up into the dark, twisted branches, trying to ignore the eeriness of it all, inching closer and closer to the tree trunk. "So what's the sitch? Why did you call? Did you receive any strange picture messages?"
"Picture messages?"
My heart sank.
"No. I haven't received any…or at least…I don't think I have. My phone died earlier this afternoon and I still have yet to charge it. I'm on my landline right now." Milton's voice suddenly took on a more urgent tone, "Why? Did you receive any picture messages? What were they of? Kim—"
"Milton," I cut him off, "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. So what were you saying? Why did you call me? I'm, uh, kinda busy right now..."
Milton was silent for a moment, seemingly surprised by my sudden change in topic, but he went along with it. "Well, uh, Eddie and I were at Falafel Phil's when Rudy came in claiming he had big news."
"What was it?" I asked as I came within a few feet of the tree. I peered up into the tree again, but I still couldn't see anything. It was too dark to see anything clothed in black so I had to get closer to the tree. But how could I if I was on the phone? I may have been whispering, but still, the vandal would eventually hear me.
Milton went on, blissfully unaware of my internal conflict, "Well according to Rudy, Mr. Turner is sending Arthur back to the dojo for another apology tomorrow."
"WHAT!?" I hissed into the phone, momentarily forgetting that I had to be quiet or else the vandal would hear me.
"Mr. Turner is making Arthur come back to apologize for the whole laxatives-in-brownies debacle. Arthur apparently feels bad for making us sick so Mr. Turner is allowing him to come back to apologize to us again..."
"And then he offers us cookies and within the next thirty minutes we learn that he laced them with ipecac." I snorted, "Arthur's not sorry at all. He's just going to get us sick again."
"Well, Rudy thinks that Arthur's actually sorry this time, so you have to come to the dojo tomorrow. Rudy said so."
"What time is the snob coming? What if I said I had gymnastics at that time? I could just say that my seven AM practice was moved to whatever time Arthur's coming."
"Kim..." I could hear the warning in Milton's voice.
"Fine, I'll come." I snapped, struggling to keep my voice low. I was right next to the tree now, so close to the vandal, so I couldn't risk anything. If I still wanted that "element of surprise" thing on my side then I needed to be quieter.
"Good," Milton said approvingly. "Pass the message on to Jack. Eddie's ringing up Jerry as we speak. Oh, and onto even better news, Liam did it!"
"Liam who?" I whispered as I glared up into the leaves. I couldn't see anything up in the tree, frustratingly enough, and it wasn't (only) because it was dark. I had a sneaking suspicion that there was nothing up there. Whatever had been up in the tree had vanished, probably when they saw Jack and I leave the room.
I mentally cursed myself. One of us should have stayed in the room to keep the vandal busy just as we'd done this afternoon. We were so—
I froze. Was something behind me? I thought I'd heard something...and why did I feel like someone was watching me?
Milton sighed. "My nerd friend. The one I said could hack into the surveillance camera's wireless system to see who the images were streaming to?"
"Oh, that nerd." I said distractedly.
I swore that there was something or someone behind me, but when I turned around, whatever it was, was gone. I flashed back to my experience in the park, how I'd thought that something had been following me home, but I hadn't been able to figure out whether it was true or not until I'd been alone in the park.
A chill went through me, my hair standing on end. I couldn't shrug off the feeling that someone was watching me.
"Yeah, well, Liam found out who the images were going to! He called me a couple minutes before I phoned you!"
"Well, who is it?" I asked testily, shifting around uncomfortably. I needed to end this phone call with Milton to phone Jack in ASAP. Something was out here with me, I was almost certain of it. And I was just as certain that the thing that was out here was a vandal.
"Calm down Kim," Milton said, "The images were being transmitted to—"
A hand clamped down on my shoulder.
Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!
Paralyzed with fear, my phone slipped out of my hand, landing in the grass with a soft thud. Milton's words were lost to the earthworms. I didn't hear the rest of his sentence.
I moved, struggling to escape, but to no avail. The hand was clamped down tight, tighter than Ricky's grasp had been.
The hand squeezed down on my shoulder tightly and I winced in pain, allowing myself to be turned around slowly by whoever had caught me.
OH MY G—!
* JACK BREWER *
The fact that Kim still hadn't returned from her little investigation was starting to worry me.
The two of us had chosen to split up to check up on a potential lead in the "vandals" case which could finally end the craziness which had screwed with most of our week.
Roughly fifteen minutes ago, while chilling in my room, both Kim and I had received a series of picture messages from a blocked number. Creepily enough, the pictures that had been sent to us were very recent pictures of both Kim and I. The photographs had been taken literally seconds before they were sent. This led us to believe that the person who had been taking photos of us was outside right now.
With this in mind, we had decided it would be best to go outside and investigate. Kim had decided that she would be the one who would go check the side of the house my room was on for any suspicious activity, while I checked around the other side of the house for more suspicious activity. We promised that we would call each other if we saw or heard anything.
I'd circled my side of the yard several times without seeing anything remotely suspicious and had returned to our meeting spot on my patio. Since I hadn't received any phone calls from Kim, I'd assumed that she had returned to the patio without seeing anything—but she hadn't.
Almost ten minutes had gone by and she still hadn't returned.
Although, I wasn't all that interested in giving the blonde anymore reason to accuse me of having a Hero Complex—mainly because I didn't have one—I was seriously considering going after Kim to make sure that she was alright since her prolonged absence was really starting to freak me out.
Considering the fact that I hadn't heard her or her next victim scream, it was safe to assume that Kim was perfectly fine and nothing had happened. But if that was the case, why was taking her so long to come back to the patio or give me a call?
With a sigh, I decided it was time to go look for Kim because I was done waiting around. If she was fine then great. She could accuse me of having a Hero Complex as many times as she wanted. If she wasn't fine then I wanted to be there for her the way I knew she'd be there for me.
Confident in my decision, I made my way towards the end of the patio, walking along the edge of the giant swimming pool. I could have done with a dip in the pool since I was feeling all warm and kinda gross. If I had to guess, I'd say that my slight fever had gone up.
I stepped off the brick paver and turned in the direction Kim left in, flinching when I saw something dart behind the side of the mansion. I blinked a couple times, not completely sure if what I'd seen was some trippy fever-induced hallucination or not. I was about to go check it out when something else captured my attention.
I heard footsteps behind me.
I immediately jerked my body around, scanning the darkness for whatever or whoever had just been behind me. Weirdly enough, I saw absolutely nothing and saw absolutely no one.
I frowned as I turned around, anxiously playing with the bands around my wrist. It was some stupid nervous habit I hadn't been able to kick just yet.
Ignoring that lingering feeling that something was totally off, I cautiously took a few steps forward, peering into the darkness with some hope that either Kim would randomly materialize in front of me or the thing which had disappeared behind the side of my house would accidentally reveal itself. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened.
Instead, the feeling that something was seriously wrong only intensified as I walked, making me feel a little uneasy. Even after all that had happened, I still wasn't quite used to feeling scared. I got scared about as often as I got nervous—which was basically never. The feeling was completely foreign to me and it was totally throwing me off my game.
Uneasiness continuing to fill my stomach—much to my annoyance—I kept walking. I was only a couple feet away from the spot where I swore I saw someone dart behind my house. Just as I was about to round that corner, I froze.
There were those footsteps again.
Just like before, I hastily jerked myself around, this time positioning myself in a much more threatening stance, but also just like before, there was no one behind me. Once again, it appeared as if whoever it was had pulled a Houdini or something.
A frustrated groan almost escaped my lips when I heard something crucial.
The noise came from my mom's flower bushes—in a way. The leaves in the tall hedge behind my mom's flower bushes as well as the leaves in the actual flower bushes rustled and shook as if something had hastily ducked into them—maybe in an attempt to hide from me.
I paused, trying to figure out my next move.
Was it really a smart idea to jump into the bushes without any kind of plan or back-up, ala Jerry? I had absolutely no idea just who or what I was dealing with. There was a slight possibility that I would end up taking on more than I could chew. But on the other hand, wasn't it even more risky not to make the first move? If I moved quickly, I still had the element of surprise on my side. If I waited any longer, whoever was hiding in the hedge would get away before I'd be able to utilise it.
I resisted the urge to fan myself with the collar of my striped Henley. This fever wasn't helping my thought process—at all.
Just as I was about to give in to the "fight" portion of my "Fight or Flight" instincts and throw myself into the bushes, I heard my mom call my name. She must have left her bedroom window open or something in order for me to hear her so clearly. Her voice sliced through the otherwise quiet night, "Jack, baby, could you please answer the door for me? I'm taking a quick shower before I take Kim home."
I frowned as I looked from the house to the bushes and back again. I hadn't even heard the doorbell ring, but maybe that had more to do with the fact that I was outside, not that it even mattered anyway. No matter how many times I heard the doorbell ring and my mom yelling at me to answer it, I would still ignore it.
Finding out who was tormenting me and friends was bit more important than listening to my mom. The "vandals" situation affected not only me, but also my friends. Unlike the "mom" thing which really only affected me. I could deal with some extra grounding, but I couldn't let my friends lose even more sleep over this whole "vandals" thing.
That was exactly why I was going to jump into those bushes with only my martial arts skills and no plan—because I cared about Kim, Jerry, Milton and Eddie.
Feeling a little less uneasy about my decision since I'd acknowledged why I was doing it, I prepared myself for my dash into the bushes. I had to be quick if I still wanted the element of surprise on my side. But before I even could even react, something jumped out of the bushes and shot past me.
My heart racing, I jerked myself around at record speed, just in time to see a neighbourhood cat streak across the lawn and disappear into the darkness.
My jaw dropped. My mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out.
That thing that had been following me, that thing which had actually made me a little scared, had only been a neighbourhood cat?
If I hadn't been in so much shock, I probably would've laughed at how paranoid I'd been, but I was in shock. If my mom hadn't called for me to answer the door again I probably would have stood there all night, staring dumbly into the darkness. I honestly couldn't believe what had just happened. I mean, a cat?
Still unable to comprehend just what had gone down in the backyard but feeling somewhat relieved anyway, I made my way back towards the house, barely aware of the awfully familiar giggle that came from deep within the bushes.
I stepped inside and closed the patio doors behind me, making my way towards the foyer.
Remembering that the whole purpose of my backyard escapade was to find out what had happened to Kim, I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket, fully prepared to call her and let her know that she had won whatever game she was playing. If she was trying to prove that I had a Hero Complex by purposely making me panic, then she'd won. I didn't care. I just wanted to hear her voice again.
I was slightly surprised when I saw that I'd received a text message a couple minutes ago, but before I could see who it was from, I was blinded.
After several impatient doorbell rings had echoed through the house, I'd finally answered the door, only to find myself unable to see the people who had been ringing the doorbell with less patience than Kim had on any given day since they had decided that now would be a good time to blind me. Squinting into the light, I tried my best to identify the people in front of me, slightly surprised when the light was suddenly shut off.
Blinking rapidly, I struggled to get used to the lack of light.
"Is this the Brewer residence?"
I rubbed my eyes a couple times. "Uh yeah..."
"Are you Jack Brewer?"
"Yeah, who the heck are—?" I froze, my hand slowly moving away from my eyes.
I was literally staring into the eyes of two cops. This was not some fever-induced hallucination.
They both looked as different as could be with one a little smaller than me and the other towering over me and one Caucasian and the other African-American. Heck, according to their badges, even their last names were on opposite sides of the alphabet. But despite the differences, there was one thing in common with both of them—they were both glaring at me with the nastiest, most spiteful facial expressions I'd ever seen on a cop.
I flinched at their glares. "Uh...hello...Officers..."
The smaller cop glared at me patronizingly, shrinking me down even though I was significantly taller than he was. "We're from the San Jose Police Department, son, and you're under arrest."
I blinked slowly. "Say what now?"
The taller cop rolled his eyes. "You're under arrest, Jack. You're under arrest for the break in and vandalism of the Black Dragon Martial Arts Academy."
* A/N *
And there you have it folks! The TENTH chapter of Vandals Anonymous...DONE!
I am SO sorry for not updating for almost one whole, entire month. I really and truly am. But the Kickin' It hiatus really put me in a bit of dump, I suppose, and so did school. I have SO much homework ALL the time. It's absolutely ridiculous. But I need to keep up since this year, in theory, 'grades really matter'. This is the year where I'm actually trying in ALL my classes (PE included) to get an A.
So onto the story...
Don't y'all LOVE the cliffies I left. All three of them were fabulous and were carried out fairly close to how I wanted it. So we don't know who the images are going to, we don't know what happened to Kim and Jack just learned that he (and others...) have been arrested for a crime that he (they) reportedly committed. The three promised cliffhangers have been unleashed now, so I wonder what's going to happen in chapter eleven...
So, what do you guys think about Ricky. Is he really going to Rue or is something else going on? Were they always in league or is this a new thing? I hope I handled his departure alright because I rewrote it SO many times. I wasn't too sure how to send him off and I experimented a bit so...
I hope that Jack's POV turned out alright. I was kinda tired of writing at this point and considering what was going on in his portion of the story, his POV wasn't as colourful/elaborate as Kim's was. But then again, male POV's are supposed to be somewhat simpler (but not any less complex, if you know what I mean). Whatever. I'll rewrite it later if I must especially considering how Kim-ish this was.
Now my references...I referenced SO many things in the last two chapters (nine and ten) and I wonder if you (or even ME) can even name them all. There are a couple obvious ones and a couple not so obvious ones. I hope you guys still dig my references because I still enjoy them. I think I even made a few in Jack's POV!
Oh, and I couldn't help but to reference Jack's fear of clowns, which will touched upon in "Boo Gi Night"! I can't WAIT to see it...and "Kung Fu Cops". Why won't anyone upload it? It's driving me CRAZY! Whatever, I saw the sneak peek for both so now I'm really excited! Heehee!
And on that note, this leads us to...
ALPHA'S TENTH CHAPTER CELEBRATION!
In the longest chapter of Vandals Anonymous, I'm having a CELEBRATION...in which I actually CAN'T celebrate in! ARG! This is SO frustrating! This chapter is already so long so once again, I must push back my celebration to a later date. Maybe I'll just make the next chapter just one big celebration A/N or something...or maybe not. I dunno and no1currr...
Love you ALL like a crazy,
ALPHA!
PS: What do you guys think is going to happen in the next chapter? Come on, don't be shy! Comment on your ideas!
PPS: *****REVIEW!******
PPPS: Now you know Kim's phone type, an iPhone of any current generation, really.