Chapter 5: Confusion and Its Consequences
GAHH!
I haven't updated in like, three weeks! I must have killed you guys waiting and I'm SO sorry.
But I have a reason. I typed out this chapter and everything after coming back from my holiday at Palm Springs (super fun, BTW) and when I wanted to post it, the Internet crashed!
Yup, I had lost connection. Which stunk. But for some strange reason it only affected my family computer, and I could still use the Internet on my iPod. That's why I could still PM and review and all that.
SORRY GUYS!
On a different note…
MERRY (late) CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Best wishes for 2012 y'all!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kickin' It or Last Christmas. Kickin' It belongs to Disney XD, and Last Christmas belongs to Wham!
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Luckily, Stella Greene has not made too big an impact on my vacation. Even though I'm getting less time to spend with Jack, and that she's constantly saddling me with questions on him which annoy the hell out of me, I'll just say that I'm still having a pretty good time on the ship.
For one thing, Jack seems to be finally taking this extremely important talent show seriously, and is meeting up with me in my room to discuss which song to sing.
I sighed as I sat on my bed and fished out my laptop, turning it on and going to the Google homepage. Using the search engine and YouTube, I included a few additional possibilities onto the list of songs I had written out.
It was nearly half an hour of searching when I finally tugged my gaze away from the laptop screen and checked my watch. 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Jack was supposed to be here by 1.45 – wonder where he went prancing off to.
He's probably with Stella. That was the first thought that echoed through my brain, and it was accompanied by a strange feeling of jealousy.
I sighed. Obviously, as usual, Jack was late.
Finally, the long-awaited rap on the door sounded, and pushing my laptop off my lap, I headed over and peeked through the peephole.
My shoulders slumped noticeably when I realized it wasn't Jack.
It was Ricky James Weaver (I reprimand myself severely for still remembering his middle name), whose mission was to add on to my misery.
How perfect.
I rolled my eyes and strolled off, back onto my bed, and went back to my laptop. Soon, a similar rat-a-tat-tat sounded again, and groaning, I yelled in annoyance, "Ricky, go away!"
"But Kim, I really need to –"
"I told you to go away!" I shouted once more, my patience probably as thin as a single, frayed string. "Or I'll throw you onto the buffet table!"
"I don't care if you throw me into that huge bowl of gravy, or knock me on the head with a hammer – I really need to talk to you, Kim!" came his reply.
I smirked. Oh, how I'd love to knock him on his dolled-up head with a hammer. That would make my day.
But I didn't express my thoughts. Instead, I repeated the exact same phrase, just with more fury, "I told you to go away!"
"Please, just let me in and let me make my point. Please listen, Kim."
Was Ricky Weaver, international mega pop star, with millions and millions of screaming, crazed fan girls, really begging me, to let him into my room?
No way.
Then again, I figured letting him talk was the only way of driving him away. He was honestly beginning to get annoying, and with the patience of a peanut, I was on the verge to burst out the door and go kicking his butt any minute. Plus, if it was another desperate plea to have me give him another chance, I could just blow him off again.
And as cruel and vile and heartless as I sounded, Ricky totally deserved it.
"You don't deserve to come into my room, especially after the way you've treated me," I declared firmly, almost snootily. If I was with Ricky, I must as well behave slightly out of character, shouldn't I? Then, with a softer tone of voice, I continued, "But you may talk. I'm listening."
As I said those words, I could almost see Ricky's shoulders sagging in relief.
"Look… Look, Kim, I just want to tell you that I'm truly, truly, genuinely, one hundred and one percent sorry for playing you like any other girl," Ricky said, obvious emotions embedded in his voice. "I was stupid, and a fool, and I shouldn't have done it. Not to you, and not to any other girl as well. Of course, I don't have enough time to go all around, looking for them again and apologize to them – plus, I couldn't be bothered, because they didn't mean anything to me. But you – you're worth going after, and when I found you on this ship, I was ecstatic. It was my chance to make amends."
There was a short pause before he continued, "And I know you're probably not going to accept my apology, moreover actually going to date me or anything – I'm pretty sure Jack has already reserved the love seat in your heart."
His comment made me flush a bright red.
"But I hope you can at least forgive me, and perhaps we could be friends."
There was something about Ricky's words that sounded different, not like the fake ones I'd heard earlier the year, claiming he'd loved my essay, and how I had to wear something cute when dancing with him. They sounded almost… true. Real. Genuine. And I was almost tempted to forgive him and let us just be friends.
Kim, you're starting to go soft. Stay focused on the real issue here. This idiot is a player, and he hurt your feelings after you were such an ecstatic fan of his, even with a love shrine of him in your locker!
But a little part of my brain persuaded me to forgive him.
"That sounds relatively sincere," I said, clearing my throat after a long moment's pause of thinking. "And I forgive you Ricky. But I don't want to be your friend, or associate with you, or anything like that. I'm just going to accept your apology, and clear you of your conscience."
Ricky sounded relieved, yet slightly disappointed all the same. "Thanks, Kim."
And suddenly, I heard a familiar voice, a voice I had been waiting to hear for about twenty-five minutes now.
"Ricky! What are you doing here?" Jack's voice was so loud, it penetrated clearly through the door and echoed around my room. "Don't bother Kim, and go away!"
Soon, the door of my room had burst open, and Jack had come marching in, tugging Ricky's sleeve with him.
"Kim, was this dude trying to get you to forgive him again?" he demanded, his eyes blazing with rage.
I was rather taken aback by how worked up Jack had gotten all because Ricky had been bothering me. It was sweet and all, but he was just being way too protective. Even though I was a female, and I was supposed to be weaker than him (PFFT!), I could still kick a fair amount of butt and was as tough as any male around here.
"Yes, Jack," I said with a roll of my eyes. "And he succeeded. But he agreed not to bother me again. So you can let go of Doll Hair's shirt now."
Jack's chocolate eyes widened in surprise, and his grip on Ricky's sleeve only grew tighter. "Y-You forgave the dude? Are you mad, Kim?"
I sighed. "Jack, just relax. Let him go and we can start our session. I've waited twenty-five minutes for you."
Jack still looked shocked at my unexpected act, as his lips were moving up and down but no words were coming out. Eventually, he managed to nod and let go of Ricky, who hastily stumbled out the door in a rush to get away from the butt-kicking brunette.
Jack slammed the door shut the minute Ricky was gone, then stomped over to my bed in a flying rage.
"Kim! You're mad! Crazy! How could you forgive him? Do you know what's gonna happen now?"
I shrugged, causing Jack to wring his hands up into the air in frustration and exclaim, "Gosh Kim! If you've forgiven him, it means he now thinks he has every right and reason to bother you!"
I sighed and got off the bed, facing Jack in the eye. "Look Jack, I appreciate you being protective of me and everything, but sometimes, you go a bit overboard. I can take care of myself. Besides, I only forgave him to get him off my back. He sounded sincere enough anyway."
I could tell Jack was still struggling to speak, but he eventually gave up and sank down onto my bed in defeat. I had just won the debate.
"And now I have a question to ask you," I said, stepping up to him again. "Why are you twenty-five minutes late for our practice session? What on earth could make you nearly half an hour late for something so important?"
Jack sighed. "I was hanging out with Jerry and Eddie. Then Milton came along, trying to show us the effects of Substance Blah on Substance Blah-Blah. Then he mixed it both together, the whole thing exploded, and that uptight Mr. Moseby forced us to clear it all up."
Inwardly, I heaved a sigh of relief. He wasn't with Stella.
Externally, my relieved sigh was replaced with a groan of irritation. "Well, you could have texted me!"
"Sorry."
"Never mind, let's just get started." Grabbing my laptop and list of songs, I settled myself down next to Jack. The brunette scooted over slightly so he could see the screen better, and he was so close I could feel his hot breath against my cheeks. I tried to ignore the tingling sensation traveling up my spine as I focused on the list.
"Okay, so I compiled a list of songs to sing. There aren't many duets, but I guess we could always rearrange it," I said, handing the paper over to him.
Jack frowned as he scanned the list. Finally, he put it down and looked up at me, nearly disgusted.
"Come on Kim, we can't sing any of these! They're just not… personal enough."
I rolled my eyes. I had spent hours collecting songs on the Internet, and then he pushes them all away because they're not 'personal enough'.
"Define 'personal'," I told him.
"We must sing songs that come from our hearts," Jack said, with an obvious 'duh' tone in his voice. "I mean, we can't sing when it's completely lacking emotion! It's just like on American Idol and X Factor! You must inject emotion into the song, or the judges don't likey!"
I sighed in frustration. "But I couldn't find any Christmas songs –" I abruptly cut myself off when I noticed a particular song on the web page I was on. It featured a whole list of Christmas songs, and the one that caught my eye was entitled "Last Christmas", with the original version recorded by a band named Wham!
I'd heard "Last Christmas" before. It was about a man (or girl) who loved somebody, but that somebody broke up with him (or her) on Christmas Day. So the man (or girl) was basically singing about how he (or she) would not make the same mistake again and pick someone truly special to date.
It was just like me and Ricky. And while I didn't have a mystery man that was supposed to be my special someone yet, the concept sort of applied to me anyway.
Jabbing my finger onto the screen, and leaving a faint fingerprint on it, I cried out triumphantly, "That's it!"
Jack peered down to see what I was pointing at, and soon his face lit up like a Christmas tree, a smile breaking out. "Perfect! It's just like you and Ricky!"
"This could work!" I squealed in delight, clapping my hands like a thrilled five-year-old. "This could totally work!"
Jack laughed along, when his dark eyes caught my hazel ones. My squeals died off, and were replaced by a huge smile. Soon, I was drowning in chocolate, completely mesmerized.
"So, who's the special someone you're gonna give your heart to this Christmas?" Jack murmured, still holding my gaze.
I could feel my body heating up, and I shrugged, a playful smile dancing across my lips.
Soon, I found myself leaning in.
No, this cannot be. Jack and I are friends. We don't like each other. Jack likes Stella. I still have to wait for a mystery man. This is not happening.
I cannot kiss Jack.
But my body ignored my mind, and kept leaning in anyway. My body was tingling with anticipation as my eyelids fluttered close.
Closer…
Closer…
Rat-a-tat-tat!
I abruptly pulled away at the sound of the knock, snapping out of my trance. My mind was numb with shock as I tried to clear all my thoughts. Was I just about to kiss Jack?
That was completely preposterous! Jack and I were friends. There were no romantic feelings between us. We were two friends with one hundred percent platonic feelings about each other.
Jack didn't pull away – he was still at the same spot, his face heating up under the thought of nearly kissing me. I saw disappointment flicker across his brown eyes, but they only stayed there for a millisecond because he had saved me the trouble of walking and went to get the door.
When he opened it, it was none other than Stella Greene.
Oh great, just the girl I wanted to see at a time like this.
"Hey Jack, I heard from Jerry you were here," she said, flashing him a dazzling grin. She then peered over Jack's shoulder and shot me an equally sparkly smile. "And hello Kim! Nearly didn't see you there! This is your room, isn't it?"
I forced a smile. "Yup."
Stella then turned back to Jack, a strange expression on her face. Anxiety and uncertainty was reflected in her emerald green eyes, as if she was holding back something she desperately wanted to say. However, it didn't stop her from flashing Jack a nearly flirtatious smile and twirling a dark curl with her index finger.
"Hey Jack, I have something to ask you," she said, after a moment's pause.
I tried to prevent myself from gawking. Oh no, she wasn't. No way. She couldn't possibly be.
"I was wondering if you wanna hang out tonight? Maybe have dinner together at that Italian restaurant?"
Oh no she didn't. Stella Greene did not just ask Jack Anderson out.
Why do you care anyway, Kim? I mentally reprimanded myself.
A huge grin broke out on Jack's face. "Sure," he said casually, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets. "Sounds cool. Pick you up at eight?"
Oh no he didn't. Jack Anderson did not just agree to go out with Stella Greene.
I tried fighting back the tears in my hazel eyes as I struggled to control my emotions. The situation was completely unjustified. I'd known Jack for nearly a year, and we were best friends, and we… we nearly kissed… and our feelings about each other…
And then Stella Greene struts her way into our lives, charms her way into Jack's heart, and asks him out after knowing him for a day.
And the idiot agreed.
The idiot agreed.
That was when I broke. That was when I threw the laptop off my lap, and not even bothering to get my crutches, began to half-limp half-run towards the door. Trying to control the tears welling up in my eyes, I pushed my way through the two lovebirds and hobbled out the door and down the corridor, my heart pounding with madness as the water in my eyes finally broke free and streaked down my cheeks.
I could hear Jack crying out my name, and the loud sound of footsteps as he raced after me; I could somewhat visual Stella in my mind, looking half-concerned and half-smug and triumphant; but I kept walking anyway, determined to get as far away from my room as possible.
But of course, a girl with a broken ankle without her crutches by her side could not win a game of catch with a martial arts expert with two perfectly healthy legs.
Jack grabbed my right shoulder when he finally caught up with me, swinging me around. His eyes were filled with concern and worry, and his whole face was clouded with confusion.
"Kim! Why did you run out there?" he demanded, breathless, but yet confused.
And after all that, the idiot still didn't get it.
The idiot still didn't get it.
I roughly wiped a tear trickling down my cheeks as I faced him, blinking back the water in my eyes as I attempted to pull myself together. Tell him off. Be Kimberly Crawford, not Miss Drama.
"Isn't it obvious?" I asked, my voice croaky when it came out. Shaking my head, I proceeded, unleashing my Southern accent as I grew more agitated. "It's you and Stella! She just marches into our lives, asks you out on a stupid date and you mindlessly agree without taking into account what happened just seconds before!"
I cleared my throat, getting rid of the hoarse effect on my speech.
"Kim, are you jealous? It's just one date!" Jack exclaimed in shock.
"I'm not jealous!" That was the exact words I just wanted to scream in Jack's face, right at the moment. But those words didn't spill out – nothing did. I remained silent.
"You are, aren't you?" Jack asked, realization dawning.
I sniffed and slapped his arm, causing him to flinch. "I'm not jealous, Jack!"
"Then why did you run out back there?" Jack demanded. "Why did you Kim? This is totally unlike you!"
"I know that!" I snapped. "I'm just… I'm just… I'm just confused!" I finally blurted out. "I'm confused, Jack! Do you like me or not? All those hints the past year… defending me from Ricky Weaver, spending loads of time together, all those stupid accusations from the other guys… and… and we nearly kissed! For God's sake, we nearly kissed, just like, two minutes ago, and you forget all about it when Stella Greene barges into my room!"
Jack seemed to be at a loss for words, as he struggled to find something to say.
"Don't answer my question then," I snapped again, my voice growing spiteful. "Just forget it." And with that, I half-hobbled half-marched off, leaving a stunned Jack behind.
As I walked away, I just wanted to break down in tears. All my feelings had just flooded out back there, and now, things were gonna be awkward with Jack. Things were never gonna be the same. I'd just burst out in front of him, making it seem as if I did like him!
But the whole question was, did I actually like Jack? Because back there, it seemed a lot like I did.
I drew a sharp breath when I turned around and yelled, "And by the way, forget about the talent show!" Then I spun around again and headed for the elevator, my breaths ragged and agitated.
Confusion and its consequences.
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THAT'S A WRAP! Okay… so, Jack and Kim have sort of fallen out and all that, all because Jack was sort of being a player with Stella Greene, and Kim's still not sure if she likes Jack, even though it's like, so plain obvious that she does…
Well, I myself am not sure how long they're gonna be fighting. I mean, I initially planned for them to have Stella to kind of bring them together again, since she felt bad for starting it all in the first place… but I think I've changed my mind about that…
ARGH! I'M FICKLE!
Oh yeah, hope Kim wasn't too OOC, but I figured that sometime soon she should kind of break down and indirectly confess her feelings to Jack. It just sounded right. Right?
Okay, never mind that. I just saw on Wikipedia and I'm hoping like mad that it's a rumor, but here goes: The next Kickin' It episodes premieres Feb 4.
WHAT?
Pray it's not true people, pray it's not true. In the meantime, have a AWESOME New Year! :D
Cheers,
Kelsey