Kim has been settling well into the school routine. It would seem that the crème de la crème of the Seaford High has decided to ignore her, which suited her fine. She was less impressed that Grace and Kelsey that she knew from middle school gymnastic team have also followed Donna's example. But, Kim was fair and figured that the friendships from three years ago weren't as important as keeping the head cheerleader happy. She really didn't mind: she had made new friends and they were great.
She saw the popular crowd in school and some members of it showed up at her coffee shop, but no one tried to hit on her and she was fine with that. She noticed that the tall boy with bad temper was actually fairly lonely and only seemed to hang out with Brody & Co. at their bidding. Perhaps he was more brooding than bad tempered.
Couple of weeks later, Kim has finished her shift at the restaurant and was walking to the bus stop and shivered, because it was colder than she expected. She pulled her jacket tight around her and weighed the pros and cons of calling her dad to pick her up. But the pink of the sky called to her and beckoned her to take a walk to the bus stop. Kim wished she had her scarf, but the opportunity to stretch her legs was too appealing to pass up.
It was different in the city center, easier to get lost. Kim walked and watched windows lights burst to life as the sky faded to purple. This stretch of the street surrounding her was full of people seeking their evening entertainment. This section held restaurants and bars and they filled the air with amazing smells: herbs, spices, cooking oils, melting cheeses, vegetables, garlic... Kim's stomach rumbled, but she kept moving, since she already had the take out bag with her dinner.
She found a seat for herself at the bench at the bus stop and settled in, stretching her legs. She was fishing through her backpack, expecting a solid 40 minutes of reading on the bus.
"Excuse me, miss." A high-pitched voice said. Kim lifted her eyes to see a young boy of maybe 12 standing before her, his hands buried deep in his pockets. "Do you think you could spare some change? I'm trying to catch the bus home, but I don't have enough for the fare."
"Yeah, no problem." Kim reached for her backpack again. It's not that she wasn't aware of possible issues. It's just that this particular boy didn't look like a threat. She was rummaging through her backpack when another boy appeared from around the corner of bus stop cover to stand next to the first.
"Here you go." She said, passing the boy the dollar. "Get home safe, alright?"
The boy smiled, tucking the bill into his pocket. "Thank you very much."
Suddenly a young man that was at the far end of the bench stood up and came to join the other two boys. He didn't smile, but rather leered at her, making her quickly check for the possible escape routes.
"You're welcome." She said, pulling her backpack close. "I think the bus will be here any moment now; you have a good night."
The young man made a show of looking surprised. "No need to hurry. What's the rush?" He said. "We aren't looking for trouble. It's not often that we see a pretty and kind girl like you.'
Kim suddenly remembered all her Karate awareness training. 'Keep your eyes on small movements. They usually betray the intent.' She looked at the first boy's body and noticed a twitch of his right hand. She slightly dropped her back leg for a sturdier stance and the boy hesitated, and then lunged for her backpack.
She turned on her heel and ran.
The evening crowd made it difficult to move. She's only halfway through the block when a hand circled her arm. Kim didn't think, she reacted; just like all other sparring matches, and the boy who she'd given money went flying, feet over head, and crashed into the pavement. A wide circle formed around him; Kim kept on running.
There was a shout, and then someone was tugging on her backpack. Kim turned and lashed out; her hand connected with flesh and someone hissed. She tugged her backpack away, then found her path blocked. There was a sound of running in the distance and Kim charged ahead, kicking out at the third and largest guy. He went down and she darted into the crowd to her left; they parted for her and let her run. Kim was headed towards the restaurant she worked at, but she didn't turn around to see if the boys have been caught. She ran for a few more blocks until the familiar light of the Two Palms was in sight.
She stopped underneath a light post and struggled to breathe, her heart pounding in her ears. She gripped her backpack with tight hands and bent a little to catch her breath, the evening air cool on her sweaty face. 'Good grief, I need to go back to more regular exercise routine. And should brush up on my Karate.' Her extra curriculars were one of the first things sacrificed when mom's illness began.
"Are you alright?"
Kim jumped at the sound of another voice. It was that unfriendly boy, Jack, from school. He raised an eyebrow at her as she scrambled backwards.
"I'm fine." She said, too breathless for her liking. "I just got the taste of the city living: muggers and all."
Concern flashed over Jack's features, then disappeared. To her surprise, she heard him chuckle. "So, you did run into some wrong people." He said, smug.
That jerk! Kim raised to her full height with a huff and rolled her eyes. "That's one way to put it, yes." She snapped. She readjusted her jacket and backpack, then took a steadying breath. He made no further attempt at conversation, but he also never moved away.
"Well," Kim said, into the growing awkward silence. "Have a good night."
"Do you have to go far from here?" Surprise stopped her before she could take a step. Kim looked up and squinted into Jacks face. She couldn't quite see him in the dusk, but she figured he was disinterested.
"Not so far." She said, careful. "The Two Palms's just up the way."
He hesitated, then nodded, "Okay. Good."
There's only so much excitement she could take in one day. Kim pasted on what she thought passed for a smile before walking away, her eyes fixed on the light coming from the restaurant's windows. She felt his gaze burning into the back of her neck, but didn't turn around to acknowledge it. That guy had some seriously bad manners.
Couple of days later she was at the coffee shop again one afternoon when Milton came in. "Kim, I didn't know you worked here."
"Well, I worked as barista in Tennessee and the pay is decent. What can I get you?"
"I really shouldn't, but I'd like a tall coffee, room for cream."
Kim was already making his cup, when front door opened and the tall and brooding came in. Internally pulling herself tall, she put on a polite smile reserved for customers, "Welcome to the GreenBean. What can I get you?"
He looked at her with surprise. "Eh... Black... small... no cream..." he sounded uncertain and Kim simply nodded.
Milton turned around at the sound of Jack's voice and exclaimed, "Jack, there you are. Let go and sit down."
The two left with their drinks in hand and Kim marveled at the difference between the two. While Milton was taller, he still looked like a teen. Jack on the other hand had a frame and posture of someone who worked out seriously and continuously. He looked like a young man. The two of them were obviously working on some sort of school project and it looked like that Jack wasn't just going to piggyback on Milton's work.
Since there were only a few customers, Kim felt free to change the music to one of her playlists. She cleaned the station and refilled all the supplies and then sat down with her textbooks.
She was deep in her homework, when she sensed the presence at the counter. It was Jack.
"Another small cup of black?"
"I'll take a cappuccino, if you please. Small."
She went around making his order, but he stayed at the counter still. She looked at him in askance.
"I realize now that should have insisted to walk you to where you needed to go the other night... After you were almost mugged..."
Oh... Kim tried to answer this in the spirit it was meant, and not just bite his head off.
"I appreciate the thought. And you sort of did. I really didn't have far to go."
He was still looking at her and she felt weirdly exposed under his eyes.
"Those petty criminals... You think they were caught?" He sounded even less sure than when he asked for his coffee. Kim was at a loss. If he was that uncomfortable, why bother with this small talk?
"I don't know. I didn't stick around to find out. I just hit them and ran." Kim could only blame all the discomfort that was generated by his stiff demeanor for raising her arm with a clenched fist to mime the punching motion.
His eyes zeroed on her hand and then flew to her eyes. "You fought them?"
He was so incredulous and Kim's hackles rose. "Yes. I know a thing or two about fighting."
His face lost its disbelief at the sound of challenge in her voice. "Oh... You trained for self defense then?"
Kim was ready to just snap at him. Why did he sound so condescending? Was it so hard to believe that a blonde girl from the South would know how to handle herself? If he was so much better than her, why were they still talking?
"Karate. I stopped shy of black belt. You drink is ready."
He must have noticed her cold tone and simply nodded and took his cup.
Another night spent less sleeping and more laying awake. His thoughts were on the usual subjects: tournament, training, father's business, school. Every now nad then his mind strayed to the new girl, whose name, he learned, was Kim Crawford.
She was a popular topic of discussion among the guys: fresh prospect, attractive, with an air of challenge and mystery because she seemingly rejected Brody and Randy. Donna and, increasingly Lindsay, were on all out campaign to badmouth the new girl as much as possible to the hearing of both football and basketball teams. It was somewhat awkward for Brody, who was the intended audience of all this negativity. Jack suspected that Brody felt bad that his momentary interest in Kim resulted in this coordinated offensive. Donna found out that Kim used to leave in Seaford and that she was a neighbor to Milton. Kelsey and Grace apparently knew her from before. No one knew what brought her back, but it was known that she lived with her father in a rented apartment. While no one said it outright, it was clear to all that she was now of somewhat limited means.
Jack hasn't talked to her since that one encounter. It was partly because if it was known that he interacted with her, Lindsay might outdo Donna in being mean to Kim. Somehow, despite a very obvious indifference that Jack showed to her, Lindsay either didn't pick on it or, if she did, she didn't think it was an obstacle. Jack was quite annoyed with her continued attention and only his ingrained good manners that prevented him from being rude to girls (his encounter with Kim so much more out of character to him) stopped him from telling her off. He made that mistake once and got the ugliest scene for his troubles. The girl burst into tears, screamed, called him names, promised ruin and other various threats, and ended with an attempted slap of his face. He caught her hand and tried to distance himself from her. The whole incident got blown out of proportion and somehow he ended up with a reputation of a cold hearted bastard, who didn't care about feelings of others. So, no, he didn't pay her any attention for fear of encouraging Kim and inciting Lindsay's wrath.
Another reason he avoided Kim was that he worried that she already held too much of his attention.
They only talked once, if one could call it that, and yet she interested him. It wasn't anything serious or concrete, but he was surprised to find his eyes follow her at school. Surprised and displeased. It was just like his father said: she was a distraction. He made his morning runs little longer, hoping that his tired body would lead to a calmer mind.
Today's schedule was a repeat of yesterday and many days before: school, office, dojo, business dinner. Sometimes Jack felt like a burned out man thrice his age. He showered and got ready for the day, knowing it would be dreary.
A day of dodging Lindsay and quietly despairing in the company of his friends followed by equally boring day with his father at the office. This afternoon's lecture was about learning all aspects of the business operation or 'anyone would take advantage of you, Jack, because loyalty is hard won and no employee should be expected to have such an allegiance.'
His practice at the dojo was gruelling. His father must have talked to Rudy, because his sensei was unusually taciturn and strict, which Jack didn't mind.
He drove to the plaza mentally searching for his equilibrium to deal with more business talk. He was in front of Le Bergerie, hid father's preferred place to dine. It was a quiet and expensive place with muted color scheme and an authentic menu. It also boasted an impressive wine list, which Jack knew because his father insisted he learned proper complimentary pairings of dishes and wines.
He stood on sidewalk mentally going over possible topics his father likely to bring during dinner, when he saw a familiar blonde girl ran to a stop by a lamppost. He debated whether to acknowledge her, but then she turned her head down and her shoulders heaved as if she was crying and he was moving and talking before he could stop himself.
This apparent inability to control his reactions more than anything was responsible for him blurting out to Kim that she ran into some wrong kind of people. It's only when he saw her eyes flash and her spine literally straightened in front of him, that he realized what she said about almost mugging. But by then she was angry at him and left, proud and indignant, for him to stare after her. Later, during a very boring and business like dinner, when he recalled her dark eyes that were brightened by anger, he thought it was better that she was mad at him, because she was very distracting indeed. Distracting and pretty.
Two days later he was less philosophical about her reaction to him. Somehow in his recollections of the encounter she was more and more distraught, his response more and more rude, and his failure to see to her safety more and more despicable. Unfortunately, he was trapped by the fact that their circles at school did not intersect and he could not ask her if she was OK. He even asked Milton, with whom he was paired for a class project, if his new friend was doing well. Milton only offered a blushing sort of smile that made Jack think that the ginger was falling for Kim. He did not dwell on a weird feeling of discomfort that this suspicion brought.
This particular theory got another confirmation when Milton asked him to meet at the small coffeehouse for the extra work. When he got there, he thought he knew the reason for choosing this place. It's becaus Kim was a barista there. Jack was so surprised he practically stuttered his order like an idiot. Her smile was polite, but so impersonal he knew that he ranked no higher than a random customer, if that.
He gathered his courage and tried to talk to her about the mugging incident. Their conversation was stilted and he knew it was his fault, because he was so awkward. Somehow she made him lose his ability to maintain a normal dialogue. The few things he managed to say, he said badly and she took them the wrong way and her eyes flashed angry again. Still, he found out that she was not only a pretty girl with a sharp tongue. She knew karate! Oh, how he wished he could talk to her about it. He was certain he could talk about it without awkwardness. By that point he made things strange for her and she practically shooed him away with perfectly made cappuccino as his only consolation.
