Hellloooo :) Since I'm done with my last story Summer Brings Changes, which was very popular I'm happy to say, I can now focus on updating this one more often. A lot of you wanted me to "slow things down" but I'm not exactly sure what you all meant. Kim and Jack won't be having any sort of relationship for quite sometime, Jack just has a crush on her.
But anyways, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. I promise I'm putting more Kick into the story, just be patient.
Chapter 3: Kim Unraveling
Jack's POV
It had been three days since the pizzeria incident and I still couldn't get Kim Crawford off my mind. All I had done was leave her a tip, maybe a large one, but still. It was merely a friendly gesture, but something about Kim's recent behavior made me believe she thought it was more.
Kim had hardly looked at me since I saw her at the pizza place. She wouldn't acknowledge me even though I sat right next to her in calculus and French. It was like I was completely invisible. I don't know whether this was just how she treated everyone, or if I had made a mistake by leaving her the five dollars. I wanted to know but I didn't want to ask.
"YO. EARTH TO JACK!" I jumped a little against the locker I was leaning on and looked over at the annoyed Latino boy standing next to me.
"What?" I asked. Jerry groaned and rolled his eyes.
"For the third time, could you move? You're blocking my locker dude." He replied in a tone of frustration. I peeked over my shoulder at the locker and then moved forward.
"Oh, sorry dude." I apologized.
"Why are you so out of it?" Jerry questioned curiously as he opened his locker and threw his algebra book in and grabbed his history one, stuffing it as well as a foot long sandwich into his backpack.
"I don't know. I just got a lot on my mind I guess." I said. Just then Kim and Grace appeared around the corner and walked past us chatting animatedly about something. I know I should have kept my eyes to myself but I couldn't help but catch a glimpse at the short sea foam green sundress and the brown cowboy boots Kim was wearing. I had a lot of admiration for Kim and how she looked good in anything and had her own sense of style, apart from every other girl here in Seaford High.
"Oh I see. You're thinking of little miss Kim Crawford." Jerry teased as he shut his locker.
"No Jerry. She's not what I'm thinking about." I replied a little unconvincingly. Jerry just smirked.
"Lets just go to lunch." I groaned. We walked down the packed hallway of kids trying to beat each other to the cafeteria lines. Why they even fought for this food I would never know. We finally managed to push ourselves through the crowd and spotted Eddie and Milton sitting at a table in the back. We walked over and sat down, Eddie and Milton both too engrossed in a heated argument about who has the potential to be the best in the dojo to notice us.
"You guys are still going on about that?" Jerry asked as he unwrapped his sandwich. I shook my head and sighed. That's all the Wasabi Warriors seem to do. Argue about who the top dog was. I'm not even sure they even spent that much time actually practicing.
"Will you guys give it a rest already? You're all good." I said trying to calm them down long enough for us to have a peaceful lunch. Eddie and Milton immediately stopped talking and stared at me. I glanced over at Jerry who had his sandwich up to his mouth ready to bite into but his attention directly on me.
"What?" I asked.
"Are you joking? Have you even seen us practice? We're like weak legged gazelles straight out of the womb. We have no grace, no patience, and we couldn't land a flying kick if our lives depended on it. No one is good at the Bobby Wasabi dojo. That's why we never win anything." Milton dramatically threw his hand up in the air and slammed his head onto the table.
"Whoa there Milton, calm down bro. Don't wanna lose any of those brain cells of yours. They're what gets me through math." Jerry said. Milton lifted his head and glared at Jerry. They all looked so bummed when it came to their dojo and their skills. Yeah, it was true, I hadn't seen them in action but they couldn't be that terrible could they?
"Whoa, whoa. Hot mamacitas at twelve o' clock." Jerry slapped my arm and pointed towards the door. I looked over and saw Kim and Grace walk in with that guy Brody trailing Kim. He looked like a little lost puppy.
"Dude, did you learn nothing last time you said something like that about those two? I thought Kim was going to tear your head off." Eddie pointed out. Jerry waved it off.
"Eddies' right. She was going to kill you." Milton agreed.
"In case you can't remember, she said thank you." Jerry replied cockily. I shut my eyes and bit my lip. Why did everything have to go to his head?
"Hey ladies, how you doing?" Jerry called out. I slapped my hand over his mouth quickly, but definitely not quick enough by the look on both Kim and Grace's face. Kim cocked an eyebrow at me and I smiled back dumbly. Jerry was going to be the death of us. I pulled my hand away from Jerry's mouth.
"Jeez bro. All I asked was how they were doing." He shouted. I face palmed at his loudness and looked up to see Kim and Grace making their way over. Oh no.
"Jerry, did you have a question?" Kim asked politely. Jerry's eyes widened. He didn't actually think she'd walk over.
"Uh, I uh, I just asked how you two were doing?" He stuttered. Kim and Grace exchanged looks. Grace peered down at Jerry and smiled.
"We're good thanks." She said. All three boys looked stunned. Me, I couldn't take my eyes off Kim. The girls smiled before they turned around to walk away, but not before Kim turned back and looked at me.
"Oh yeah, thanks for the tip Jack. It made my night." They then proceeded to strut over to a table Brody had saved for them. I sat there frozen. Kimberly Crawford had actually spoke to me in public, at school, in front of everyone. Everyone else seemed to be confused and amazed too. Did she not do this to many people?
"Holy crap. Kim just acknowledged you, and in a good way." Eddie said. I shrugged.
"So?" I asked. The guys stared at me like I had grown three heads.
"Do you know what that means? She likes you! She never does that! She doesn't talk to anyone but Grace and Brody, unless she's telling someone off!" Milton exclaimed. I glanced over at Jerry who was still sitting there staring off in the distance with his mouth hanging half way open.
"Jerry? You ok?" I asked waving my hand in front of his face. He blinked a few times before he seemed to come back to reality.
"Did Grace just talk to me?" He questioned, unsure of whether or not he was dreaming. I nodded. His face lit up.
"Anyways, before Jerry completely loses his head. Jack for the hundredth time, please join the dojo. With your history and experience we might finally have a chance!" Milton begged. I threw my head back and groaned.
"Oh my god. You are never going to give up! Fine, I'll come by and check it out." I promised. All three of them cheered earning a few weird looks from some people sitting close by. I gazed up at the clock and saw class starts in ten minutes. I grabbed my backpack as I stood up and waved goodbye to the guys. I always left early because it gave me some time away from the huge crowd of students rushing to get to class on time. I walked out into the empty hallway and began making my way to my French class.
"Jack! Wait a sec!" I turned around and saw Kim speed walking to catch up. She smiled as she got closer.
"Hey." She greeted in a soft voice.
"Hey." I replied. We stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds before she spoke up.
"So since we have class together next, do you mind if I walk with you?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure. Come on." I said as we began walking. I looked down at her as we approached the stairs to get to the second floor trying to think of something to say to break the tension between us.
"So, uh, about the other night. I'm sorry if leaving the tip was too forward or inappropriate. I just saw you were having a bad day and decided to do something nice." I explained. I heard her giggle.
"It's ok, Jack. It was nice and I appreciate it. I'm just surprised." She replied.
"Why?" I asked confused.
"Well, I'm sure your friends have told you a few things about me and I bet you've heard some rumors. I'm just surprised you wanted to do something nice for someone who everyone thinks is such a crazy bitch." She sarcastically said. I shook my head quickly.
"I don't think you're a crazy bitch. Maybe a little intimidating, but you haven't done anything to me for me to believe something so absurd. I mean as far as I've seen, you're a pretty nice girl. I'm just surprised you have a job."
"Well it's not something that a lot of people know." She said. I stopped and grabbed her arm to stop her too.
"You know I won't tell anyone. I can keep a secret." I assured her. She laughed and shook her head.
"I'm not ashamed that I have a job, Jack. It's not a secret. Most people just assume that I don't have one or need one because I drive a nice car to school sometimes, but it's not even mine. It's my dad's. I drive an old Ford Focus that I bought last year, it's just in the shop. And I only have decent clothes because I buy them myself. Everyone has this idea in their heads that I'm some spoiled rich brat, but my dad doesn't buy me anything." Kim looked pretty proud of herself. It was just another thing to admire about her.
"Oh. I didn't know. I just hear that you have a lot of money and when I saw you the other night I was just kind of shocked." Now I felt like an asshole. Kim shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, what are you gonna do? People will always judge you no matter what. But I'm letting you know that half the shit you hear about me, probably isn't true." She winked and nudged me before continuing up the stairs. I just watched her walk away in awe. She was beautiful. She was already beginning to destroy all the bad things that had been said about her. She had thick skin when it came to the judgements and harsh opinions of others.
There was just so much to admire about Kim Crawford, and I was beginning to like it.
This chapter is so lame. But I wanted to get something up, so just hang in there. It'll get better.