Chapter Seven: Meet the Friends (Calleigh's POV)
Author's Note: VERY slight Xiaoyu bashing in this chapter. I like Xiaoyu, though, so don't take it the wrong way. She's actually my 4th favorite character, 4th only to Jin, Hwoarang and Julia.

~~

I was so nervous. I'd gotten every move that I'd known for so long ALMOST perfected, but we had no time left to practice. I was the rookie…the only one who had no idea what she was doing. Everyone else here was clued in, and all knew directly where to go, but I clung to Jin for my life. Girls my age, guys my age, girls twice my age, and a couple guys two or three times my age passed us. Jin glared at almost everyone, except four people who were sitting on a bench. He flashed me a glance, and pulled me to the people. "Hey guys!"

One girl stood up, and smiled. "Jin! We didn't think you were gonna show this time! You weren't on the list until last second last year, and frankly, we freaked out!" the girl looked about eighteen. She was wearing a short, pink dress, and her black hair was in pigtails. "You remember Forrest," she pointed to a Chinese man, who looked in his late twenties. Frankly, if I weren't so stuck on Jin, I'd have thought he was attractive.

"And you don't know Calleigh…" Jin introduced me. "Ling, Julia, Steve, Forrest, this is my friend, and tag team partner, Calleigh Phoenix. Calleigh, these are my friends Ling Xiaoyu, Julia Chang, Forrest Law and Steve Fox," he pointed to each of the people as he introduced them.

"Hi, people whose names it'll take me probably half the tournament to remember…" I laughed and shook each of Jin's friend's hands.

"Phoenix? Any relation to a Paul Phoenix?" Forrest asked, his arm linked to Ling's. He and Paul used to be close friends, but after the first tag-team tournament, they lost contact. Before that, though, Paul hadn't let Forrest meet me, in fear of us having mutual interest, probably.

"Yeah, Paul is my father. He's not here yet, is he?" I panicked, and hid myself behind Jin.

"You're kidding me, right? You're related to Paul Phoenix?" a girl in a jean outfit (consisting of a midriff, zip-up shirt with a white top underneath and flare jeans) Julia, I remembered, asked, pulling me out from behind Jin. "How? He's so…eh…and you're so pretty!" she was trying not to offend me. I knew my father wasn't the most attractive person on Earth, so it hadn't.

Julia was the second friendliest person I'd ever met; second only to Jin, of course. She had a comforting nature in her voice, which made you always able to talk to her. "I got my looks from my mother…I think, anyway," I laughed, and shook my head at Julia.

Ling joined Julia and I in conversation. She lacked some of the maturity that Julia and I had, but she was well on her way. I was sure it could have been much worse. "So, he's your dad? Why haven't you been in any of the other tournaments, then?" Ling asked, a curious look crossing her face.

"Paul is probably overprotective of her, Ling…" Julia pulled her glasses off her face and cleaned them on her white shirt. It was then plain to see for me that Julia was the perceptive one of the group, while Ling still had a lot to learn. "Am I right, Calleigh?"

"Yeah, he wouldn't even let me ask about fighting…" I shrugged, and shook my head. "My cousin told my dad that he wanted to be a vale tudo fighter, and my dad told him never to mention it around me. I hated it…because I love my arts."

"What arts do you do?" Ling asked, sitting on the bench, after the guys had cleared it. They were now standing about five feet away, laughing and talking. Probably about women, and whose asses they'd kicked over the past couple months or so.

"Hakke-sho, hakkyoku-ken and tae kwon do…" I told them, with a smile on my face. I was very proud of myself for knowing three arts, whereas most people only knew one or two. "Pretty much self taught…" I was still very aware, looking around for any sign of my father. If he saw me here, I was pretty much roasted.

"I do hakkyoku-ken, too…and Ling does hakke-sho…" Julia explained, smiling back at me. "We could all practice together, with someone else in the tournament, named Hwoarang. He does tae kwon do, too…"

I cringed at the name Hwoarang, then looked over at Jin. Ever since Jin had told me that Hwoarang was out for his blood, I had looked up pictures of him, Nina Williams, Heihachi and Kazuya Mishima, so I knew who I would really want to show my skills to in fighting. Jin seemed nonchalant to the fact that he was in an environment where people hated him. I admired that. I looked back at Julia and Ling, and shrugged Julia's comment off with a, "Maybe," not wanting to cause a stir.

Ling looked over my shoulder, and pointed. "Look, Calleigh…it's your father!" she told me, a little louder than I may have liked her to. "Should we go get him?"

"NO!" I yelled, in a whispering voice. "No, Ling…he doesn't know I'm here!" I rushed behind a tree, and peered out at my father, who was talking to somebody who looked a lot like Forrest, only older. His father, I assumed. "Oh my god, guys! Can one of you get Jin, please?" I signaled to one of my two new acquaintances.

Julia nodded, and walked over to Jin. After a couple seconds, Jin, Steve and Forrest were over next to the tree with Julia, Ling and I. "What's wrong, Calleigh?" he asked me.

"Look…it's my dad…what do I do?" I panicked, and pointed to where my father stood.

Jin thought for a second. "Hold on…Forrest can you go distract them, while we sneak off, or something?" he asked, then shifted his attention from me to Forrest, who was thinking for a second.

Forrest nodded in agreement. "Sure…just give me a second," he thought of a plan. "When I crack my knuckles, you guys can sneak off. But don't go until I do, ok?"

Jin and I nodded. "Thank you, Forrest…you're a lifesaver," I smiled at him, then looked at Jin. "And thank you for thinking so quickly…"

Jin flashed me the smile that melted me. "Anytime, Calleigh," he leaned against the tree, hiding whatever of my arm that was still visible. "Ok…Forrest just signaled. Let's go!" he grabbed my arm, and pulled me away from all the commotion.

Jin was a lifesaver, and every time I was around him, it was almost as though I loved him more and more. He'd gotten me out of another jam, and without him, I would have definitely been toast. But, the drama wasn't over yet…