Sid bounced out of his office and made his way back to where Kay was sitting. She was nursing her throbbing head and black eye with an ice pack.
"I can't believe I actually beat him," she breathed in shock, more so to herself than her coach. "I mean, I never would have thought in a million years that I could do it!"
"What're you talkin' about kid? You're the best damn fighter in the entire state, and you know it."
Kay smiled. She always liked the way the old man exaggerated about her. He seemed so proud. "C'mon Sid, I'm no Lalia Ali."
"Not yet, but one day..." his eyes glistened at the thought. "Listen kid, why don't you take a couple days off? Get some rest and come back when you're ready."
"Really? Are you sure? What about my training? I don't want to lose my edge."
"Okay then- run for a few miles every morning, and when you're ready, just come back to the gym. I'll be here."
Kay smiled at the thought of having some time to herself. For the first time in a long time she could finally relax. "That's awesome Sid. Thanks."
He waved her off. "It's nothin'. And don't get to used to this generosity of mine, cuz it ain't gonna last forever. Now, what do you want to eat? I'm starving!"
Kay's alarm went off as the numbers on her clock turned to six. She stuck her arm out quickly to silence it. Getting up this early wasn't exactly her favourite thing in the world, but she knew she had to keep in shape if she was ever going to become good enough to make it professionally. In the bed to the right of her, Jessica began to stir.
"Kay? Why did you set your alarm? It's still dark out, and you usually sleep in until at least twelve."
"I have some stuff to do. Go back to sleep Jess."
"Whatever," she mumbled, quickly turning onto her other side.
Kay yawned as she lazily made her way over to her dresser and changed into a pair of black and blue shorts and a black tank top that managed to reveal most of her flat stomach. She put her hair in a pony tail, grabbed her runners and headed downstairs to get something for breakfast. The sun would be up in about forty five minutes or so, and when that happened Kay would be half a mile away from her house. She grabbed a pop tart, threw it in the toaster and scarfed it down along with some orange juice. Then she tied her runners, and set off.
The air was beginning to heat up as Kay made her way down to the beach. Coming here was the way she always loved to end her runs. She hadn't been to the gym in about three days, but she felt more alive then she ever had.
'God, it sure gets hot early in this town. I could use a rest.'
Falling gracefully onto the hot sand, Kay took a deep breath and melted away her troubles. She sat for a few minutes, admiring the scenery. The way the sun bounced off of the water made her feel happy; happier than she'd been in a long time, that's for sure. Tiny waves came crashing up to meet her. She kicked off her runners and socks, allowing the clear blue liquid to dance around her feet. Harmony was in for a heat wave this summer, and Kay couldn't have been happier.
A content sigh escaped her mouth, and her thoughts betrayed her with visions of the past. She remembered how miserable she was, obsessing over Miguel when he only had eyes for Charity. 'What a fool I was,' she thought, almost laughing out loud. Oddly enough, Miguel was the reason she joined the gym in the first place. In the beginning she figured it would just be a good chance to get into shape so he would notice her toned abs and sexy figure. It didn't take her long to realize that she was doing this for more reasons that just her childhood crush, however.
It felt good to be in shape, and when Sid introduced her to the world of professional boxing, she took to it like a fish to water. Mostly she used it as a way to get her rage towards Charity out in the open. God how she loved that punching bag.
A quick glance at her watch revealed that it was time to get home for lunch. She climbed to her feet, did a quick stretch and set off back towards her house. As she ran through the park, she couldn't help but notice a shirtless Fox Crane playing tennis on a nearby court. He stopped as he saw her jog by, giving her a very approving whistle. 'In his dreams,' she laughed to herself as she scurried along the path that led up to her street.
She arrived home to find both of her parents, along with Miguel, Charity and Jessica sitting around the kitchen table, happily eating lunch together.
"Hey guys," she panted, as she walked in and opened the fridge to retrieve a bottle of water. "What's for lunch?"
"Kay," laughed Miguel as he watched his best friend chug the bottle's contents. "Take it easy. The rest of the world needs water to live too you know."
"Ha ha Miguel," she replied, making her way into the chair Grace had left empty for her, "very funny."
"Where were you? You didn't go running by yourself this morning did you?" questioned Sam.
"No..." she stammered, "I was... ummm..."
"Oh Sam," Grace began, "leave her alone. So she wants to go running in the mornings. Who can blame her? A summer morning in Harmony is a great time for a run, isn't it sweetie?"
"Yeah, it is. Thanks Mom," she smiled, pleasantly surprised that her mother was actually taking her side for once.
"Grace, you don't know how dangerous it can be for a young girl to be running around town alone. She could get hurt."
"Don't worry Daddy, I can take care of myself. Trust me."
"I do trust you Kay. And I think we all know you can take care of yourself," he said, motioning to her eye. He took a seat across from her at the table and unfolded the latest edition of The Harmony Herald in front of his plate.
"Like I already told you, it was just a harmless fight. You can even ask Simone! The other girl started it, and I was just trying to defend myself." Although she didn't know all the details of her friend's secret past time, Simone always managed to cover for Kay when she needed help, just like she knew Kay would do the same for her. "It was nothing really. That girl just got what was coming to her."
"Listen, I'm just concerned about you. I don't want you getting hurt," her father replied, glancing at his daughter from above his paper.
An awkward silence fell over the room until Grace spoke up.
"So, Charity," she started. "Didn't you have some news you wanted to share with us?"
"Yes Aunt Grace, actually I do."
"Well, what is it Charity? What's your news?" asked Jessica
"Well, I've decided to help out at the hospital as a candy striper. It's the least I can do to help out the kind nurses who treated me after I was in that fire that killed my mother."
"That great Charity! Now we can volunteer together!"
"Yeah, isn't it? I'm really looking forward to starting tomorrow."
"I'm so proud of you Charity," sighed Miguel. "You're absolutely the best girlfriend a guy could ever ask for. I love you."
"Awww, thanks Miguel. I love you too."
Kay rolled her eyes as she watched the two love birds share a kiss. Didn't they realize that doing things like that in public was very rude, not to mention disturbing? She quickly decided that she had had enough of family lunch hour at the Bennett's for one day. "Well, I think I'm done. Great lunch Mom."
Grace smiled. "Thanks Honey. There's some tomato soup cake in the fridge if you want it."
"Umm, that's all right Mom... I'm full."
"Oh well. It's there if you want it. So girls, what're your plans this afternoon?"
"Well Aunt Grace, Miguel and I were planning to--"Charity jumped as the phone interrupted her sentence.
"I'll get it," volunteered Sam, walking across the room and picking up the receiver. "Hello?"
There was a slight pause. "Is Kay there?"
Sam narrowed his eyes as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line. It sounded oddly familiar, as if he'd heard it somewhere before. He just couldn't put his finger on who, or where..."Yes, she's here. May I ask who's calling?"
"Uhh, yeah, this is Joe. I'm her, uhh... friend."
"Don't you sound a little old to be her friend?"
There was no reply, and Sam felt himself becoming irritated.
"Who is it Daddy?" asked Jessica.
"It's some man, asking for Kay."
"A man? For me?"
"Yeah, he says he's your friend."
Kay froze. Sid wouldn't dare call her at her house, would he? She ran over to her father and grabbed the phone out of his hand. "Hello?"
"Kay!"
"Sid!" she whispered, moving around the corner and out of the kitchen, "Why are you calling here?"
"It's Johnny. He wants you to come back and start training again today. Are you ready?"
"Yeah, sure, but I thought-"
"I know kid, so did I. I'm sorry to cut you're vacation short and all that, but-"
"No, it's okay; I understand. When do you want me to come by?"
"As soon as you can. We've already lost half the day, so we should probably get started as soon as possible."
Kay's heart sank, and she tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Sounds great. See you in a bit."
She hung up, and turned around to meet her father's questioning gaze.
"Who was that?"
"Just... a friend. Anyways, he needs me to help him do something, so I should probably get going."
She ran up the stairs and grabbed her gym bag. That was too close.
The tiny bell attached to the top of the door rang cheerfully as she entered the gym. Looking around, she saw Sid sitting in his office. He looked as though he was having an argument with someone, but she couldn't make out who it was. She shrugged it off and made her way over to the stairs that led to the locker room. Her heart raced with the thought of lacing up her gloves for another round in the ring. Who knew what Sid had cooked up for today? It sounded exciting, and although she hated to cut her vacation short, she had to admit that now that she was here, it felt pretty good to be back."Uh-oh. Spoke too soon."
As soon as she'd made it to the bottom of the stairs, she was met with about six or seven different officers staring her in the face; half of which she knew.
"Sorry guys," she giggled. "Wrong gym I guess?"
Turning around, she bounded as quickly as she could back up the stairs, and headed straight for the door. She looked over her shoulder to see if she was being followed, which thankfully, she was not.
"Oummf!" she grunted as she ran into something, sending her hard against the ground. Looking up, she saw the wide, astonished brown eyes of Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald staring down at her.