Im-A-Guy-But-I-Have-A-Heart-To: Cool. (How do you respond to "swag"?)

KarateGirl77: Aw, thanks!

kittykat2506: I'm pretty sure Jack saw.

Guest: Aw, thank you!

I love Kick Ausally and GeCe: I do throw in a surprise ending now and then. And it was too cool to pass up.

MoVe-It-Or-LoSe-It: Cooking and baking are all food-making related, but baking usually involves ovens. Or so I think. But yeah, they're practically the same thing.

Kim

We all froze.

"Jemmaline..." Macy whispered. We never used Jemma's real name.

"Hello," Jemma became nervous.

"Do you doubt yourself now?" Melody's voice was icy. "Or will it take a few more minutes?"

"Wh-What do you mean?" Jemma asked.

"Jack can't be in on this," Melody hissed. "He'll blow it out of proportion."

"How?" Jack challenged, finally speaking up.

"You'll want to do this elaborate plan, and it seems like its going to work, but then you end up trying to impress someone and it all ends in catastrophe." Melody said.

"I do not do that!" Jack protested.

"Remember when you got Rudy's old classmate and skater, Luke something, to build a skate rink? I found the rare and adorable guinea pig there? And I wanted to protect him? Luke said he was going to protect it, but he was actually trying to get rid of it to build the skate rink there anyway," Melody raised an eyebrow at him. "We had to

"It wasn't a guinea pig," Jack mumbled.

"That's it? That's IT?" Melody snapped. "You don't know anything, Jack Edmund Brewer!" Jack cringed.

"Edmund?" I blurted. "Edmund?"

"That's your middle name?" Macy giggled.

"No it isn't!" Jack insisted. "Listen to me!"

"We can't trust either of you, now," Melody continued. Turning, she ran up the stairs. Distantly, you heard a door slam.

"Jemmaline," Macy said.

"Don't call me that," Jemma insisted.

"Can't now. Giving you a nickname means we're close. And it seems like we weren't close enough." And with that, Macy walked up the stairs.

Jemma stared blankly for a few seconds as tears came to her eyes. She began to walk to the stairs, only to stop at my voice.

"Jemma?" I whispered.

"Yes?" Jemma croaked.

"Don't go near their doors tonight. They need time." I said seriously. Jemma stared at me in disbelief and hope, and then began to walk up the stairs. At the landing though, she turned left, instead of right, like Macy and Jemma had.

That left me with Jack.

I looked down, at the kitchen, at the front door, anyplace but Jack.

"Kim?" I looked up to face him. "You're not really dating Brody, are you?"

"I thought you already knew that," I answered quietly. "But sometimes I wish I was."

"Why?" Jack asked.

"He's genuinely nice, and charismatic, and caring. He's almost perfect, with the right amount of cockiness. He's attractive, he's nice, he's almost everything I asked for." As I said this, I noticed Jack's clenched fists and pained, almost... jealous face. "Jack, are you jealous?"

"What? No! No, I'm not jealous. What, did I look jealous? I wasn't jealous, I promise you. What are you talking about? I'm not jealous of you and Brody at all," Jack sputtered.

I laughed. "Next time, keep your cool or just tell me. I'm usually not a fan of liars."

"Then why didn't you hit me?" Jack asked.

"You're endearing," I flashed him a smile. "Besides, you were getting tongue-tied over me, or so I think. And no one's ever done that around me."

"So you rejected me at the pageant because you were 'dating' Brody," Jack stated.

"Not only that," I hesitated slightly. "But because I felt like you only asked me out because I was talented. That's why."

"Kim," Jack began, shamefaced. "That's how it looked, didn't it." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, it did." A silence, filled only with the unreadable thoughts we had. Finally, I had enough. "Do you want to help?"

"Of course I do," Jack said in a low voice. "None of you should be doing this."

"It's that or Macy and Jemma go," I answered.

"So... am I helping you?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"You are, but... not as directly," I hesitated. "They need to get used to you." I smiled slightly at him.

"How can I help?" Jack asked.

"Don't over exaggerate," I suggested. "And don't try to impress someone."

"I promise, I won't," Jack promised. "Please, just let me be in on this. The rest of the Wasabi Dojo -"

"Did Jemma tell them?" I interrupted.

"No," Jack answered, "just me."

I sighed, and leaned against the counter. "Thank God."

Jack moved so he was beside me. "If they knew, they'd blow it even more out of proportion."

"I'm glad they don't know," I admitted.

Another silence.

"Kim...?" Jack asked tentatively.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"If this all hadn't happened: the fake-dating, the pageant, and the whole Black Dragons thing... would you have gone out with me?" Jack asked.

"I..." I hesitate. Do I dare? "Yes... I would have said yes."

Jack lets out a relieved/happy chuckle. "I'm glad."

"What about Jemma?" I asked. "I thought you liked her."

"I thought I did," Jack said. "But that was just... a sort of envy, I guess you can say."

"An envy? You envied my sister?" I asked incredulously.

"I envied her fame, and I wanted to get some of that," Jack said, shamefaced. "I guess... I convinced myself to like her so that I could get a leg up to fame." At my slightly betrayed face, he added quickly, "I just- I mean, Jemma's great, she's nice, smart, charismatic, and pretty, but... she just wasn't my type. I just thought she was."

"So you wanted to be famous," I said quietly. "That's why you liked Jemma."

"I let my selfishness fog the girl I really liked: a pretty, musical, athletic, smart, kind, brave girl with amazing karate skills, hidden from the world," Jack said, coming closer to me every few words.

"And who is this girl," I said, shying away from his intense gaze on me. "this one that you love so much?" I turned to see his eyes only centimeters from mine, glancing down at my lips which were millimeters from mine.

"You," Jack said softly, as he leaned down and our lips met in a sweet kiss.

When we broke apart, I asked one more question while Jack caught his breath. "So, you wanna start planning?"

"I'm in," Jack gave a little smirk as he leaned in again.

Shortest time span in a chapter, but I put in a few kisses. Kick has happened, and the true reason Kim rejected Jack at the pageant revealed! Tell me how you feel!

OH, and by the way, I know I said I'll update once every two weeks, but how about a preview or a half of a chapter every week? It will be completed the week after, giving me room to write different chapters for different stories and keep you guys happy. What do you guys think?

And don't forget to check out the poll on my profile!

~squirmyorchid