Oh gosh, I am so happy you all love this story so much! I've been getting so many wonderful reviews and I just want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. I love writing and you all keep giving me a reason to.

XOXO - M

Chapter 5 - Accidents & Heart Attacks

Kim's POV

My dad always taught me to keep myself guarded from others, to protect myself from ever getting hurt like how my mother had hurt him. He always said that love never lasted long enough for it to ever be worth the pain.

So why were my walls starting to crumble every time Jack Brewer was around?

It wasn't like I was falling in love with him. I had just met the boy a few days ago. Sure he was cute and really nice, but you can't like a person based on appearance and a few small conversations. I was definitely far from love, but there was just something about him that made me want to get closer. Something about him drew me in and even though I desperately wanted to stay away from him, I couldn't help but want to talk to him whenever I saw him. But I had to. I had to do whatever I could to keep my guard up. For my dad.

Ugh, my dad. I didn't know whether to love the man or dislike him. He was so unstable with his moods. One minute he's happy and completely fine, the next he's drowning himself in self pity and depression with a bottle of hard liqor. I know the past few years have been tough on him with losing my mom, but you would think a single parent would want to stay strong for his children, not let them witness you fall apart.

Like right now. He was currently sitting on the couch in the living room with his tie undid and a bottle of scotch in one hand and a picture of my mother in the other. What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say? Nothing I ever did could brighten his mood or make him feel even the least bit better. So I just sit here at the kitchen table with my homework sprawled out in front of me as always and watch him drink his problems away. What a pitiful life for a girl who's supposedly the "baddest bitch" in Seaford.

I looked up at the clock on the microwave and saw it was half an hour before my shift at the pizza place. I sighed as I glanced over my unfinished calculus homework. Working night shifts and trying to keep my grades up was beginning to be much more of a hassle than I had intended it to. But I had to work, no matter how much homework I had. I stood up and packed my books away into my backpack before running upstairs to get my work shirt and name tag. Once I changed, I grabbed my phone and wallet and walked back down stairs. I threw a look of disgust at my father while he chugged his scotch bottle as I walked past him. I rolled my eyes at him as he began to hiccup. This was getting ridiculous. A lawyer with a drinking problem. Who would have thought?

"That's fine. Just l-leave like your mother." My father said as I grabbed my keys off the table next to the front door.

"What did you say?" I asked glaring down at his drunk form now slouched half way over off the couch. He slowly pulled himself up and glared back.

"You heard me." He sneered. I shook my head at him.

"You're unbelievable. I can't even go to work without you causing a scene. Stop being so dramatic." I said. I opened the door but quickly froze when the glass liquor bottle hit the wall next to me, shattering and soaking the white carpet. I spun around completely shocked. No matter how drunk my father got, he never got violent.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that! I am your father!" He shouted.

"Then why don't you act like one!" I yelled back. I was now struggling to keep tears back from falling. I would not fall apart.

"Now I don't act like a father? Are you kidding me? I've taken care of you ever since your whore of a mother left! I've fed you, put a roof over your head, put the clothes on your back and I give you everything you need!" He was now standing in front of me, his face inches away from mine.

"You are not allowed to say that! I work every night to pay YOUR bills! I'm the one feeding you! I'm the one putting clothes on my own back! I pay for everything! My gas, your gas, the water, the electricity! If it wasn't for me, we'd have no power! All you pay for is your damn alcohol to get wasted so you can pretend like mom still loves you but she's never coming back!" That was enough. My dad's hand suddenly collided with the side of my face. My eyes were now rimmed with tears as I held onto my stinging cheek. My dad's face suddenly softened and his eyes widened after realizing what he had done. My dad slapped me. He actually hit me.

"Kim, I am so sorry." He whispered. He lifted his hand to touch my face but I backed away.

"Kim, please. I didn't mean to." He begged. I began to sob.

"How dare you." I cried before running out the door and climbing into my car. My dad ran out after me but I had turned the car on fast and reversed out before he could reach me. I could hear him calling my name but I didn't care. I had to leave. I had to get away. I turned the volume up on the radio full blast and cried heavily as I drove down the street. Once I reached the freeway, my vision was so blurred I could only make out the headlights from passing cars. It would have been smart to pull over and regain control over myself before driving any further, but my mind was screaming drive. I didn't want to stop. The rain began to pour and I turned on my windshield wipers, but I could still hardly see anything. That's when I heard the continuous honking and saw the bright headlights in front of me. I let go of the steering wheel and screamed.

Jack's POV

Today was my first day practicing at the dojo. I was excited to get back at it, but still nervous about being the new guy. Of course Eddie, Milton and Jerry had already accepted me as one of them and I doubted anything was going to change that, but I still felt like I needed to impress Rudy a little more to really earn my place. Earning the sensei's respect was always the number one priority.

"Jack! Hurry up if you want a ride!" My mother shouted. I did one last double check of my practice bag to make sure I had everything before slipping my shoes on and walking out to the living room. My mom was dressed in her blue nurses scrubs and she sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. I looked over at the couch and there was Peter, sitting on his lazy ass reading the newspaper. I rolled my eyes. He was only pretending to be interested in the paper. He really wasn't.

"I'm ready mom." I said. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Oh great. Then Peter can give you a ride." She replied.

"Uh what? I thought you were on your way to work?" I asked angrily.

"I was but Peter is headed onto that side of town so he can give you one." She stood up from the table and poured out her mug before giving me a kiss on the forehead and Peter one on the mouth. Ew. Gag me with a damn spoon. She waved goodbye to us before closing the front door and walking out to her car.

"Ready then champ?" Peter asked throwing the paper aside and standing up. I groaned.

"My name is Jack, not champ. I'll go with you, but we're not talking." I stated as I walked past him. I walked out to his little white Nissan and threw my bag into the back seat. I took a quick glance over at Kim's house but I didn't see her car. That's weird. Where would a teenage girl be at 8 a.m on a Saturday morning? I shrugged it off and got into the car.

The entire drive there was just awkward. We didn't say a word to each other and all Peter listened to was the news, so the only thing breaking our silence was the voice of a monotone forty year old man. I wanted to bang my head against a window.

"And in other news, freeway 90 is currently blocked off after a head on collision happened last night around 7 p.m. One death has been reported and the others involved have been taken to the hospital where they remain in critical condition. No word yet on who the victims are."

"So I guess we won't be taking the freeway." Peter insensitively stated as he turned onto Seaford's main street to cut through the middle of town.

"Guess not." I replied.

It took an extra five minutes to get to the dojo, but thankfully I was still on time. The guys showed me my locker and the changing room before giving me a full tour of the entire dojo. Other than the old equipment, it did seem like Rudy kept the place pretty well maintained.

"I think we need to practice sparring." Milton suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea. Who's going to spar with who?" I asked. The guys exchanged glances before erupting in loud "not its". I could only guess they were deciding on who was going to spar with me. Jerry lost.

"Aw, man. So not cool yo." He whined as he took his position across from me. We bowed to each other before beginning our match. Jerry charged unprotected and I was able to successfully flip him within seconds. Eddie and Milton laughed.

"Jerry, charging doesn't get you anywhere. You gotta keep yourself ready for attack at all times. If you let your guard down, you're going to get hurt. Keep your arms up ready to block and slowly move in." I said as I pulled him off the ground. He brushed himself off.

"That sounds good." He said. I smirked. Eddie and Milton were next. They took my advice and blocked, but they both ended up falling after trying to kick each other at the same time.

"What do we do then?" Milton asked as he struggled to get up.

"Well if you're being attacked and you see him aim a kick low, jump. If he aims a kick high, duck. It's all really simple." I answered.

Suddenly Rudy rushed in looking sweaty and exhausted. He bent over and placed his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Dang Rudy. Run a marathon or something?" Eddie teased.

"Ha ha, so funny. No. I didn't know the freeway was closed so I had to find a way to turn around and get off. Then Main Street was packed because of the traffic so I parked on the side of the street and ran here." He explained as he took a towel out of his bag and wiped his face.

"Oh yeah, it's closed because of that accident." Milton said.

"Yeah, I heard about that on the radio earlier. I wonder who was involved." Eddie added. I shrugged.

"I don't know, but it sounded pretty bad. I hope no one else dies. I heard there was already one death." I said. I looked over at Rudy who was still struggling for his breath, but it was what was going on outside that caught my attention. Grace, the girl who was always with Kim, was sitting outside at a table in the food court crying. Brody walked up with a few napkins and a soda, handing both to her. Now where was Kim? Those three were inseparable. Was it even possible for two of them to be alone without the third? And why was Grace so upset? I turned away from the scene and cleared my mind. I was being nosey.

"Alright, I want you all working with the dummies today." Rudy instructed after finally regaining himself

We did as we were told and practiced for an hour and a half punching and kicking the dummies. After we were all wiped out and Milton and Eddie's arms were numb, we decided to call it quits. We changed, said goodbye to Rudy, and left to get a bite to eat.

The guys took me to a place across the way called Falafel Phil's. I only ate a small order of falafel balls before saying bye to the guys and calling my mom for a ride. She arrived fifteen minutes later looking so tired and even a little sad. Well she was a nurse, and I'm sure she saw some pretty horrible things sometimes.

"How was work?" I asked as we drove down main street. She sighed before rubbing her temple.

"Hectic. We had our hands full with that accident. It was pretty bad. The injuries were terrible and another person passed away. I can't believe something like this even happened. The worst part is, I'm a mother, so when I see kids around the same age as my kid, I freak out a little. There were two teenagers involved and every time I looked at them, I saw you." She sniffled. I could see her eyes beginning to water.

"Mom, but it wasn't me. I'm still here and I'm totally fine." I tried to reassure her.

"But Jack, you should have seen their parents. They were living a total nightmare and I had to stand there and watch them live it. Those poor kids." She was just in tears now. I didn't really know what to do. She was driving, so it wasn't like I could hug her or anything.

"Oh Jack. Do you remember that girl from the pizza place we ate at our first night here?" She asked as she tried to wipe her eyes with her free hand. I looked at her confused. Then my heart began to race. Why would she ask that?

"Yes." I said slowly.

"Are you friends with her?"

"Kind of. I've talked to her a few times, and she lives across the street from us. Why? What happened?" My heart beat faster and faster as I waited for her to respond.

"She was one of them."

Now my heart stopped.

Don't hate me! I know you all are probably like, WTF WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO KIM! But trust me, there's a big reason for it and you'll just have to wait to find out why.

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