Hi! So, I decided what I'm going to do. It really wasn't an easy choice, because there were so many of you who wanted me to continue writing this story. I have decided that I will be ending the story within two to three chapters; however, if any of you are interested, I am considering writing a sequel to this story.
And for those of you who wanted to know if I'm going to be writing another story after this, I'm writing two stories on the side right now: I Won't Give Up On Us(Kickin' It, of course!) and Battle to the Death (Kickin it and Lab Rats Xover). If you haven't read them yet, just click on my profile and you should see them. I think I'll be starting a new story after those are finished.
Sorry this update's so late! This chapter is gonna have way more romance than usual (Don't worry, it'll stay rated T haha), and it's my first ever time writing a romantic scene. I'm more than a little nervous to see what you guys will think. Scratch that- I'm really really nervous. I hope you like it! (credits to Neyson14 for the idea! Hope you don't mind that I tweaked it a bit.)
And now.. without further ado… I give you Chapter 25 of The Story of Us!
An hour and a half later… Kim's POV
"I can't believe you just beat me- again!" Jack whines. "That's so unfair."
"Oh, suck it up." I grin madly, still on a high from winning yet another round. "It was totally fair, and you know it. You just don't want to admit that I'm better than you."
"No, you're not! You just got lucky." He retorts, smiling.
"Yeah, sure. Seven times? I don't think so." I say.
"Hey, I won one round!" He says indignantly.
"Oh, fine. Six times. Still unlikely, though."
Jack sighs. "That's true. You up for one more round?" He asks.
I check the clock hanging over the door. It's just past 7:30. It feels like we were only playing for about half an hour, but I guess time flies when you're having fun.
"I don't know… I have to be home in less than half an hour."
"But it only takes seven minutes to walk to your house, and three if you run!" He says. "Please.. just one round? One more round. It can't hurt." He pleads, giving me the puppy dog eyes. Ugh, it is so hard to say no to those, especially when it's Jack. But I can't give in, because if I do, I'll be home late and might get in trouble.
"Jack, one round takes, like, at least ten minutes. Then, after that you're gonna ask for another- don't even try to deny it." I cut him off as he opens his mouth. "I should get going."
"Aww.. really?" Jack asks.
"Yep." I say. He gives me the puppy dog eyes again.
"Please?"
"Maybe some other time, Jack."
"Oh, all right. At least let me walk you home, or something." He says.
"Okay, but on one condition. I get to take home some of that caramel popcorn." I say, pointing to the almost-empty tin we'd been eating from for the past hour. It's one of my favorite foods, and Jack knows it.
"Alright. One second." He runs out of the room, returning a few seconds later with a ziploc baggie that he fills with caramel popcorn and hands to me. I stuff it in my bag, but not before sneaking a few kernels of sweet, crunchy yumminess. Okay, maybe not just a few kernels.
"Mmm… so good." I close my eyes, savoring the popcorn, and Jack laughs.
"Come on, if you're gonna be home by eight, we'd better get going." Jack says, just as I'm about to pop another piece into my mouth.
"Oh, fine." I pout, and put the already half-empty bag of popcorn away. If Jack didn't stop me, it would probably be empty already. What? I can't help that I just really love caramel popcorn…
When Jack opens the front door and we step outside, it's nearly dark. The sun is just disappearing on the horizon, leaving streaks of pink, purple and orange behind on the darkening blue sky as it fades away slowly.
"It's so beautiful." I say, admiring the vibrant colors of the sunset as we walk down the sidewalk, side by side. I didn't realize I'd spoken aloud until after the words were already out of my mouth.
"Yeah, it is. The most beautiful one I've seen." Jack says softly. But he's not looking at the sunset, he's looking somewhere else. He's looking at me.
I pretend not to notice, but inside my heart skips a beat. He doesn't take his gaze off me, but instead of feeling creeped out like I would if it was any other guy looking at me like that, I actually start smiling. And when Jack sees me smiling, he starts smiling, too. His smile and his beautiful, chocolate-brown eyes are enough to make my heart melt.
The sun disappears behind the horizon, winking and taking with it the colors in the sky. The air gets a little cooler, and I shiver slightly, even though I'm wearing a light cardigan. It's colder than it should be for a March night. I try not to let Jack notice, but he does anyway.
"You cold, Kim?" Jack asks me.
"N-no." I say quickly. "Not at all."
"I don't believe you. You look pretty cold." Jack says, taking off his green hoodie. I know what he's planning on doing before he even does it.
"You don't need to do that, Jack." I protest, as he slips the hoodie over my head (yeah, I know, the whole guy-gives-the-girl-his-sweater cliché. Don't judge me, you gotta admit it sort of works.) "Really. You don't have to."
"That's okay, I want to." He replies. As soon as the sweater's over my head, I quit protesting. It's so warm and cozy, and it smells like Jack. "See, that's better, right?" It
"Mhmm." I say. "Thanks."
He smiles. "Anything for my favorite lady." I blush. I'm really his favorite lady? Wow.
"You're so sweet, Jack. No one's ever said that to me before."
"Well, someone should. You totally deserve it."
"Thanks." I beam at him. I must be the luckiest girl in the world, to have him as my best friend. Although… I wonder if we could ever be more than that. It sure seems like it, judging from the way the past few minutes have felt like to me. But that could just be me…
We're pretty much in front of my house now. Jack walks me to the door, and I take out my keys. But before I unlock the door, I turn around.
"Thanks for walking me home, Jack." I say. "Tonight was a lot of fun. It's good to know I can still beat you at Mario Kart." I smirk.
"Not a problem." He says. "And maybe I let you win. You never know." He raises an eyebrow.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"No, really." He says as I turn around and stick the key in the lock. But before I can turn the doorknob, I turn around again. Jack hasn't made any move to leave yet.
"We can do that again sometime, right?" I ask. But when I look him in the eye, I stop in my tracks. His eyes are so…
He steps closer to me. "Of course we can. Anytime."
"Look, Jack, I just want you to know that I think you're amazing." I say quickly, pressing my lips together at the end of my sentence. Did I just…. No, no, no! What am I thinking? The cold must really be getting to my head. I whirl around, cheeks on fire, and grab the doorknob. I so did not just tell Jack that I think he's amazing.
"Kim, wait, don't go!" Before I can run away from him, Jack grabs my arm, but not roughly. He spins me around to face him, and, slowly, he closes in and presses his lips gently to mine. My eyes widen in surprise.
Jack's kissing me, and it's everything I thought it would be. It's sweet, tender, and full of meaning- but it ends too soon. Way too soon. Jack pulls away and runs down the driveway and out of sight, sneakers pounding against the pavement, too loud in the quiet night.
I stand there, frozen on my driveway, eyes still wide open, and the front door open just a crack behind me. Then I realize what just happened, and a huge smile finds its way onto my face.
I did not see that one coming.
Jack's POV
I run all the way to my house, heart racing. I can't believe I just kissed Kim. What if she hates me now? What if she never talks to me again, just because I had one weak moment?
The second those words were out of her mouth, I just couldn't help myself. I had to. You know how they always say that if you feel like the moment is right, don't ask her if you can kiss her, just go ahead and kiss her? Well, that's what I did, and I'm regretting it now. Not that I didn't enjoy it- of course, I did- but what if she never speaks to me again? What if she's mad that I kissed her, and she doesn't want to be my best friend anymore?
What if.. what if…. The questions plague me all the way home. I may or may not have just made the worst mistake of my life. What makes me think she would like me back? She could have almost any guy she wants. So what made me think that I was special, in that moment?
Kim's POV
I flop down onto my bed, noticing that I'm still wearing Jack's cozy hoodie. I'll return it tomorrow; it was really sweet and thoughtful of him to let me borrow it.
I hope he doesn't regret kissing me. Even more than that, I hope it wasn't just another meaningless kiss to him. Because it was so full of meaning for me.
Brushing my hair, I look in the mirror, inspecting my flaws. What would a guy like Jack see in a girl like me? I'm just plain old me- another one of those blondes that are so abundant here in California. Even though I like to think that I'm different from other girls in some way, I'm probably not. He could have almost any girl- believe me, I've seen the way girls swoon when he simply walks past them in the hallways. Of course, being Jack, he doesn't even notice.
He probably only sees me as a friend.
So what's making me hope that our kiss meant something to him?
The Next Day… Jack's POV
I wait at the street corner where I usually meet Kim. I'm nervous, partially because she might not show up after what happened last night, and partially because if she does, it's either going to be super awkward, or she's going to get mad at me for kissing her. Either way, it's not going to be good.
Kim's POV
I run to the street corner where I usually meet Jack. I'm five minutes earlier than usual, because I had trouble sleeping last night. At about 6:50 AM, I got out of bed and got ready for school.
I hope Jack's waiting for me there. After what happened last night, he may not be. I really hope he is, though. I don't want our kiss to drive us apart- in fact, I'm sort-of-maybe hoping it'll make us closer.
I'm sure today's not going to be awkward at all. After all, it's Jack we're talking about- he's my best friend. I can pretty much talk to him about anything. Why should it be any different now?
Jack's POV
I see a figure with honey-blonde hair walking up the street and sigh in relief. She came. But… that might not mean that she's not mad at me or something. I tense right back up again.
She gets closer, and I get more nervous. My worries from last night come flooding back again.
She walks up to me.
"Hey, Jack, how's it going?" She flashes a cheerful smile at me as we start walking.
"W-w-what?" I ask. She's not going to yell at me or kick me or anything? I thought that she'd be a little mad at least that I kissed her, after all, I saw what she did to that senior named Tom when he just tried to kiss her. Of course, he didn't succeed.
It was pretty ugly, and the poor kid couldn't talk normally for weeks. Now, he runs away every time he sees Kim. No surprise there. They don't call Kim 'the Scorpion' for no reason. Can you really blame me for being scared?
She gives me an odd look. "I said, hey, Jack, how's it going?"
"Nothing much." She gives me another odd look, but this time it's a little worried, too.
"Jack, are you okay?" She asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just fine."
"Alright, if you say so."
We walk in silence for a bit.
"Hey, Jack, about last night-" She starts.
I cut her off. "I totally understand that you're mad at me for kissing you. I know it was uncalled for, and I'm sorry. Please don't hate me forever. I know I shouldn't have done it, and I get that you're mad at me. But please don't be mad, and please, please, please don't kick my butt." I say, all in one breath. My voice squeaks at the end, and I flush, embarrassed.
But Kim barely notices. "What? I'm not mad at you! Where did you get that idea, Jack? And of course I won't hate you forever, Jack. You're my best friend, I'm not going to kick your butt for kissing me."
I let out a breath that I didn't realize I had been holding. "Oh, that's really good to hear. For a second I thought you were going to beat me up like you did to Tom(the senior who tried to kiss Kim)."
She laughs. "What? No! I would never do that to you. Besides, you are a second degree black belt, and even though we're the same level, it would be suicide to try and beat you up."
"But I would let you."
"Oh, sure you would. I totally believe that."
"No, really, I would. Punch me."
"No."
"Do it."
"Fine." She punches me halfheartedly on the chest.
"C'mon, Kim. You're way stronger than that."
"Yeah, but I'm not going to punch you just because you asked me to."
A few minutes later, we arrive at school. I'm still unsuccessful at convincing Kim to punch me. After a while, I figure it's a useless fight, and so I just give up. I can't even say how glad I am that she's not mad at me.
We split up to go to our lockers and get ready for classes. Just then, I run into a panicked Jerry.
"Jack, Jack, you gotta help me!" He says, then mutters something that I can't catch. It's probably in Spanish.
"Jerry, what is it?"
"It's about Grace."
Oooh.. cliffy! I think? Haha, please review and tell me what you thought. Also, if you have any ideas about why Jerry's in a panic, or how to end the story, please let me know! I hope you enjoyed!
Xoxo, lovelifeandwatermelons