Hey guys. I've gotten quite a bit of feedback on this story saying how much you all love Kim's character and how she acts in this story. I'm so glad to hear that. I've tried to get away from the damzal in distress character for this story.

Also, a lot of you are mentioning Jack and Kim's relationship. Let me just clarify that there is no relationship at this time, nor will there be one in the next few chapters. I'm trying to build up to that so when they do get closer, they know each other on a different level rather than boyfriend girlfriend.

Anyways, here's an update :)

Chapter 4 - Wasabi Warriors

Jack's POV

Wow.

That was all I could think once I walked into the Bobby Wasabi dojo. The equipment was old, the mats were stained and the practice dummies looked quite torn up. The guys had mentioned how out of date the place was compared to other facilities but I hadn't imagined it to be this worn. Even the bow staffs were cheap quality.

"Told you." Jerry warned as I stood in the middle of the mats scanning the medium sized room. I turned away from the beaten up faded blue lockers and looked at the guys who were now wearing expressions of embarrassment.

"It's not that bad." I shrugged. Obviously my attempt at defusing the tension had no affect because they all rolled their eyes.

"Oh please Jack. Look at this place. You can tell this is the dojo of three terrible karate students." Milton said.

"Yeah. Everyone associates us with losing. We're the loser dojo." Eddie added sadly. Jerry walked over to one of the dummies and punched the head, which flew off and landed across the room.

"Damn it. There goes another one." Jerry groaned as he jogged over and picked up the decapitated head. He sighed as he tossed it in the trash.

"Well just because the dojo is a little run down doesn't mean it affects the skills of the members. Show me what you got." I said, urging them to perform some sparring.

Eddie and Milton walked onto the mats first. They bowed to each other and took their fighting stances. So far so good. Eddie made the first move, aiming a low kick at Milton who attempted to dodge it but stumbled forward instead. As Eddie went to land his kick, he lost balance and fell face first on the mats. Both boys stood back up and looked at me miserably. I smiled weakly. Jerry walked out next and tried to demonstrate some kicks and punches, each coming out sloppy and unbalanced. He gave up fairly quickly too.

"You guys have potential. You just need some more practice. Who's the sensei?" I asked.

"That would be me." A short blonde man wearing a white gi with a green belt walked out, picking up a fallen bow staff on the way over. He stopped in front of me and held out his hand.

"Rudy Galepsi. Third degree black belt and sensei of this dojo. You are?" He asked as I shook his hand firmly.

"Jack Brewer." I replied. Rudy looked over at the guys.

"If you all keep looking at the faults of this place instead of keeping your focus on karate, then you'll never improve. I've told you before that every piece of equipment in this room will help you advance, no matter how beaten up or out of date. Skills come from determination and focus, not the condition of what you are training on." With that Rudy tuned back towards his office and began walking away.

"Wait, Rudy. Jack here is a second degree black belt, and he knows how to use a bow staff. His grandpa trained Bobby Wasabi. We were looking to recruit him. Maybe you'll be impressed." Eddie said. Rudy looked back at me.

"Your grandpa trained THE Bobby Wasabi? Like actually trained him?" He asked amazed. I nodded.

"Well then, show me a routine and let's see what you got." He ordered as he tossed a wooden bow staff to me. I caught it and looked back at the guys who all wore huge smiles on their faces. They were really counting on me.

I walked out to the middle of the mats and bowed. I began my routine and twirled the staff over my head and around my body. I threw in a few kicks and jabs with the staff before doing a jump and throwing my leg out for a flying kick before landing perfectly and bowing once again to Rudy.

"That was...AMAZING!" The guys shouted as they ran up to me, patting my back and high fiving me.

"Well Jack, I have to say you sure do know what you're doing. We definitely have a place for you here." Rudy welcomed me. I could tell he was trying to hold back his excitement. He walked back towards his office and did a little hop in the air before closing the door.

"Dude, that was awesome. How do you do that?" Jerry asked as he took the bow staff from me trying to do the flying kick I had done, landing horribly on his back.

"It's not that easy. Bow staff is a complex routine." I answered as I took Jerry's hand and hoisted him up onto his feet.

"Jeez, how many times did you fall learning that?" He questioned as he rubbed his back side. I laughed.

"A lot. But before you attempt the bow staff, you have to master hand and leg skills. You need to have extreme balance and grace." I patted his back reassuringly. I glanced down at my watch and realized I had to get home.

"Well I gotta get going guys, but I'll see you tomorrow." I waved goodbye as I grabbed my backpack and began walking home. After two quiet and uneventful years, I was going to be doing karate again. Man how I had missed it.

I decided to take the long way home, knowing full well that my mom's boyfriend Peter was most likely going to be there now since he had taken the first flight this morning. I hated him. We never saw eye to eye and I was pretty sure he was only planning on marrying my mom to piss me off. He had never mentioned the word marriage before I had told my mom that I wasn't comfortable with her getting remarried right now. Of course Peter had heard and two days later he was ready to propose. My mom said not right now, for me. But she was completely smitten with the idiot and I didn't know how much longer she was going to tell him no.

The sun was beginning to set and as I passed the beach I spotted a young girl running through the sand in a pair of black work out shorts, a blue tank, and grey Nike running shoes. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a messy pony tail and she had the ear phones from her iPod in her ears. She looked like she was in her own little world. Then I realized something. The girl was Kim. I would have said hi but since she was so zoned in on running and had her music on, I doubt she would have seen or heard me. She was beautiful though.

"Kim!" A boy waved at her as she got closer to where he was standing. I recognized the boy as the one she was always hanging around with at school. Brody. I stood there for a minute and watched Kim hug him. It confused me. The guys had said that Kim didn't date or really have anything to do with guys, but she was completely attached to him. Whatever though. It didn't matter nor was it any of my business. I looked away from Kim and Brody and began walking again. This would have been a whole lot easier if I had my skateboard. Stupid Peter convincing my mom it was too dangerous.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took it out and looked down at the caller ID.

Mom

Great. What did she want? I debated on answering it or not, but thought against ignoring her since I didn't feel like getting an earful from her once I finally got home.

"Hi mom." I answered blandly.

"Jackson Brewer, where are you? You were supposed to be home an hour ago. Peter is here and we were going to go out to dinner." She yelled clearly angry.

"Well I got caught up. Great, you two can go without me. I don't feel like dealing with Peter tonight anyways." I replied bitterly.

"Oh knock it off Jack. Peter has never done anything wrong and you act like a little ass whenever he's around. He just wants you to accept him." She whispered.

"Why whisper mom? Don't want Peter to hear that I don't like him?"

"You know what, fine. You can stay home. Forget trying to be a family!" She shouted. The line went dead. Whatever. I didn't want to talk to her or see Peter anyways. I shoved my phone back into my pocket as I neared my street. I was hoping they'd be gone by the time I get there.

"Don't like your step dad?" A soft voice asked. I turned around to see Kim walking closely behind me. How long had she been there? She's sneaky.

"He's not my step dad." I stated. She smirked at me as she caught up with me and we kept walking side by side.

"How long have you been behind me?" I asked. Kim shrugged.

"Not too long. I ran up but you were on the phone and I didn't want to interrupt." She said.

"Oh. Well where's Brody? I saw you guys at the beach."

"Are you stalking me Brewer?" She teased. I rolled my eyes.

"You were the one who was behind me listening in on my phone call."

She laughed. It was adorable.

"He went home. It is pretty late you know. Why are you out so late?" She questioned.

"I went with the guys to the Bobby Wasabi dojo and I took the long way so I wouldn't have to deal with my mom's boyfriend."

"Don't like him?" She asked. I shook my head.

"My mom thinks he's so amazing, but he's a total jerk. He just knows how to play my mom. I'm tired of him being around and he only wants to marry my mom to make me mad." I glanced down at Kim who seemed deep in thought about something. I waved my hand in front of her face.

"Oh sorry. I was just thinking how similar that sounds to my mom." She laughed.

"Your mom likes a jerk too?"

"She left actually. She left us for a guy she met on a business trip. Anthony. She came back, told my dad she didn't love him anymore, they divorced and it was only a year before she packed her stuff and left." Kim breathed deeply. She looked like she was replaying a particularly painful memory in her mind, but I couldn't blame her. If my mom left me like that, I'd be hurt too. I touched her shoulder softly.

"I'm sorry Kim." I said. She smiled.

"Don't be. You didn't do anything. Besides, I don't even really care anymore. I just try to accept that she didn't love us enough to stay. I use it as motivation to be a better wife and mother one day."

We finally reached my house and luckily, no one was there. Kim stood still for a minute just staring at my house. Was it really that small?

"I know, it's really small. But after my dad died we couldn't really afford much. My mom is a nurse so her income definitely isn't a whole lot." I stated. Kim giggled.

"It's not the size Jack. It's a beautiful home. I wish I lived in a smaller house like this. Everyone sees my house and automatically thinks spoiled brat. It's too big. My dad is a lawyer and he's hardly ever home, so it gets pretty lonely, especially since my brother left for the marines six months ago." I see a tear gather in the corner of her eye but she holds it back.

"Your brother is a marine?" I ask intrigued.

"Yeah. He's always wanted to be in the military, ever since my grandpa have him his old dog tags and camo jacket when he was twelve. He finally signed and left." She bit her bottom lip. The urge to cry looked like it was going to overcome her resistance not to.

"We'll where is your house? I can walk you." I offer. Kim shook her head.

"No need. I live right across the street from you." She turned around and pointed to a large, two story house directly across from mine. It was beautiful. The grass was perfectly cut and rows of rose bushes hid the front porch.

"Wow." I whispered. Kim looked at me and gave me a small smile.

"Yep. That's my house. But I guess I should be getting in now, so I'll see you around Jack." She said as she crossed the street and walked up the stairs to her front door. I watched as she dug around in her pockets for a key and after she found it and went inside, I turned around and went home as well.

Like I was hoping, the house was empty and quiet. Peter's bags were piled in a corner in the living room and two empty wine glasses sat on the kitchen counter. Of course he would get her to drink, even after knowing her past with alcohol. I walked over and tossed the glasses in the sink, not caring if they shattered or not. I hadn't even seen Peter yet and I was already getting angry. He did no good for anyone. He was only going to ruin things.

I left the kitchen and went down the hall to the end where my bedroom was. Boxes were still scattered around my room and I had a lot of unpacking still to do. I had no motivation to clean, but if I didn't start I'd never get it done. I found my laptop and placed it on my empty desk. I opened it and went to Facebook, scrolling down the newsfeed. I rolled my eyes at some posts. People were just plain stupid sometimes. Who cared what you had for dinner or that your dad bought you a brand new cashmere sweater? I was about to get up when I noticed a small icon on the side under 'people you may know'. Kim Crawford. I thought to myself for a minute. I guess me and Kim were like friends. We talked, had a few conversations. Now I know we live across from each other. Would it freak her out if I requested her though? I mean we weren't close or anything, but we were classmates at least. I grabbed the mouse and dragged the arrow over to Kim's picture and clicked on it. Her profile came up but of course all the information was on private. I hesitated, but clicked add as friend anyways. It was just Facebook. No harm.

I finally managed to shake off my laziness and I began unpacking. I hung up my shirts, put the rest of my clothes away in my dresser drawers, and hooked up my tv and play station. I organized all my games and movies and managed to get rid of most of the boxes, successfully making more room for me to move around in. After I took the empty boxes and stacked them in the garage, I decided to take a shower and eat something before I went to bed.

I walked back into my room and changed into my red and black plaid sweats and made my way over to my bed. I was about to climb under the covers until I heard my laptop chime. I glanced over at the screen and saw I had a Facebook notification. I made my way over and clicked on the little red notification. I smiled.

Kim Crawford has accepted your friend request.

And end. Oh my god. Took me so long haha.

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