AN/ HI. here's the fifth chapter, finally... Thank you so much for your reviews, they really mean a lot to me.

This is the longest chapter yet...It took me a while to get this done...anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it:)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own kickin it.

Chapter 5

Showtime

The school bell finally rang. I hadn't got a chance to tell Kim and the rest of guys about Austin yet. It would have to wait until tonight.

Right now I was to meet Tess behind the gym. I hurried there, not wanting to keep her waiting. I saw the bench and sat down. She hadn't showed up yet… I took out the letter and read it just to make sure that I had the place and time right.

A few more minutes went by with no sign of her. An old lady walking her dog and a tall man with a funny looking hat were the only ones that had showed up since I got here. The man sat down on the bench next to me as I started to look around wondering if this was a prank after all.

The man spoke all of a sudden making me tense in surprise.

"You want one?" He asked offering me one of his pastilles which he's been eating on the whole time.

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself…" He said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for someone, who doesn't seem to show up." I said a bit annoyed.

"Hmm…" he shoved one more pastille into his mouth, as he looked at me in a way that made me feel a bit uncomfortable. "I recognize you." He said. "You're that karate kid." I looked at him confused. How come all of a sudden everyone seems to know who I am? As if he could read my thoughts he said. "I've just started working down at the mall and I use to take a sneak peak through the windows of your dojo every now and then. It reminds me of when I was a kid." I gave him a questioning look. "I used to take karate lessons." He explained. "O man did I love it…"

"Why'd you quit?"

"My parents got a job in a new town so we had to move." He sat up strait. "You know I have a couple of tickets to the Martial Arts Nationals. I always use to go with my kids but this year they've decided to go to camp instead. You can have them if you want,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, they're in my car. C'mon." he said as he got up from the bench walking in the direction of his car. I was just about to follow him when a sweet voice rang trough the air.

"There you are, Jack." Kim said walking up to me. "I've been looking everywhere for you." She looked at me confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing." I said casually, turning towards the man again but he was gone. Weird… There were no signs of Tess either and I've been here for almost twenty minutes by now.

"Are you coming?" Kim asked impatiently.

"Yeah" I said. Waiting here would be useless, Tess wasn't going to come, I realized. And the man, he knew where to find me if he still wanted to give me those tickets.

So I walked of with Kim.

"Kim?" I said to catch her attention. "When I got back from the nurse I spotted Austin…"

I hesitated. How was I going to say this so that she would understand my worries?

"And…?" Kim waited impatiently for me to continue.

"He was talking to Frank." She looked sceptically at me.

"Are you sure? I mean Austin lives in New York, it's not very likely that they know each other."

"Yes, I'm sure it was them. And you can't be certain that they don't know each other either. What if they're plotting against us for the tournament?" The words just spilled out of me.

She shook her head in disbelief. "Just because you don't like him, doesn't mean…"

"I never said I didn't like him." I cut her of.

"No, but you're acting all weird around him and you kicked him right in the guts." She raised her voice.

"That was an accident. You know that." I defended. "I'm just saying that it's kind of weird, the fact that he shows up now, just in time to our preparations for the tournament against the Black Dragons and also for the tournament itself."

"You're pathetic." She said as she kept on walking. The tone of her voice, made it quite clear that she didn't believe me and I was a little hurt by her words. I didn't bother to say anything it would be useless anyway, as long as she's in this kind of mood.

When we were almost home (or at least Kim was, I had a little further to go…) she finally spoke.

"What were you really doing behind the gym?" She asked curiously. "And don't say 'nothing', I know you too well for you to try to fool me." She smiled slyly letting me know that she had figured out that it must have been something. I saw no reason why not to tell her, even if the letter had clearly said not to tell anyone. But hey, they didn't even show up…

"Do you remember that girl that took a picture with me at the tournament last weekend?" Kim seemed to think for a moment before giving me a small nod, her expression blank. "Well, she had put a letter in my locker today. I saw it just after I'd seen Aust… the nurse." I quickly changed my words not wanting to bring Austin up again. "It told me to meet her there after school."

"Oh." Kim said thinking. "Did she say why she wanted to meet you?"

"She said that her dad owned a company that was willing to sponsor me."

"Wow Jack, that's great." She smiled but I could see bitterness in her eyes. Was she jealous?

"Yeah, so it would seem…"

"What do you mean?"

"She never showed." I said.

"Oh…"

We arrived to the crossing where we would go our separate ways.

"See you tonight." Kim said.

"See ya." I said back before I took of to the left while Kim continued forward. I looked at her as she got further and further away. I could see the house form where I stood. I always like to stay and watch her just to make sure that she gets safely to her home, before I continue to my house a couple of blocks away...

The dojo was filled with people. Most of them were relatives and friends but also some other curious folks had found their way in here. Just as Rudy had hoped there were a bunch of possible new students attending.

"I didn't think that so many people would show up." Kim said calmly but you could still hear how nervous she was.

"Okay, don't freak out… just stay calm…" Milton repeated over and over again as he paced back and forth in the small hallway between the dojo and our dressing rooms.

Eddie was just staring at the wall in front of him sinking in to his own world. I didn't get why they were all so nervous. I mean the things that we were going to demonstrate were easy and we had sort of choreographed it so everyone knew exactly what to do. It's not like in a tournament when you get to spar against someone and you have to change your moves and tactics according to what your opponent does.

"I am ready to roll." Austin said confidently as he emerged from the dressing room. I almost cracked up laughing at the sight of him, forgetting how much I disliked him. He had this girly looking tight t-shirt with glitter all over it. His black sneakers had pink laces that matched the shiny pink scarf around his neck and the silly hat on his head…. Lets just say that he stood out from the rest of us that was wearing our white karate GIs with green collars. The rest of the guys looked just as amused as I was.

"Wow, you look…" Eddie hesitated.

"Cool." Kim filled in for him. There wasn't any sarcasm in her voice. Seriously, she didn't think he looked ridiculous?

The sweet look on Kim's face as she saw him made that feeling fill me again. I couldn't really put my finger on it…Was it jealousy? But I didn't like Kim like that…right? One thing I knew for sure was that I didn't like Austin and I most certainly didn't trust him. I was going to keep an eye on him, that's for sure…

"Thank you. It took me a while to decide what to wear." Austin said. "I don't want to make a fool out of myself."

The words had made both Jerry and Eddie jump with a silent laughter behind his back, trying their hardest to suppress it.

"You're ready?" Austin asked Kim who gave him a small nod. Kim was a part of the second half of his number, where the dance would have more karate movements in it. It was actually pretty cool, I'll have to admit…

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to the Bobby Wasabi dojo." Rudy said as the crowd went silent. "I'm glad so many could make it. We are about to put on a demonstration for you all, to show you the many forms of karate. And I am also glad to be able to introduce our special guest all the way from New York. Give it up for AUSTIN!" Applause filled the dojo as Austin entered the mats. The music started and soon he was of dancing all over the place…

I stood by the lockers taking in the scene in front of me. I'd never seen so many people in here before. Milton was giving his father, along with some of his nerd-friends a tour around the dojo. Jerry was showing of his nun-chucks skills for some girls. Kim was sitting on one of the benches talking to her friend Grace and Austin and Eddie were across the room surrounded by people, all trying to get to talk to Austin. His little dance had been really appreciated and he's been receiving compliments all evening. I was actually the one who got the least attention, which was kind of weird. I hadn't done an outstanding performance with my bow-staff routine, but it hadn't been too bad either. Of course I would have done a lot better if it wasn't for Austin constantly flirting with Kim, which kept on distracting me.

"Right, Jack?" I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard my name.

"Sorry, what?"

"I was just telling this man here, that we're one of the leading dojos in California." Rudy said proudly. "And we can offer a broad, good training program that will work as a solid foundation for any form of martial arts."

"Yeah" I nodded in agreement, even if Rudy was exaggerating a bit.

"That sounds really great." The tall man (or at least he looked very tall compared to Rudy) said. "My daughter has been whishing to take karate lessons for months. I figured I'm gonna sign her up for some, as a birthday surprise."

"Sounds good. How many lessons would you like?" Rudy asked.

"Maybe ten to start with and we'll see if she likes it and want to continue." The man said with his deep voice, giving Rudy a smile.

"I can guarantee you that she'll be good taken care of and she's gonna make some new friends as well." Rudy said.

"I can see that already." The man shot me a glance. His eyes stayed on me a bit too long and I felt really awkward.

"BANG!"

We all three jumped in surprise as a nun-chuck hit the locker with incredibly high speed. I didn't even see it coming. It was just pure luck that no one got hit by it.

"Jerry, you got to take it easy with these things." Rudy said as he picked up the nun-chuck. I looked at Jerry who seemed very confused and also a bit embarrassed by the fact that he dropped it. The girls next to him giggled.

"Will you excuse me for a moment?" Rudy turned towards the man "I've gotta go." He quickly headed over to Jerry leaving me alone with the man, who turned to me.

"You were very good, I must say." He said to me.

"Thank you."

"How long have you been doing karate?"

"For as long as I can remember I guess. My grandfather was a sensei. He started to train me as soon as I was able to punch and kick." I smiled at the memories.

"Oh, I see. Do you train like several times a week?" He asked.

"Yeah, almost everyday, but that's because I like being here, around all my friends. We tend to hang here a lot. Even on weekends."

"Hm…interesting…" he mumble. He continued to speak to me, or at least I think he did. I was too occupied watching Austin, who was heading over to Kim. The way he looked at her made me wanna puke.

"Look I've gotta go." I said. "It was nice talking to you." I threw the last words over my shoulder as I left the confused man.

I just about beat Austin to the blond sitting on the bench.

"Hey, Kim" I said before Austin had a chance to say anything.

"Hi" she smiled at me. I hesitated, I hadn't really anything to say. The thought of Austin being around Kim had just worried me so much that I'd felt the need to rush over here. There is something about this whole situation that wasn't right. All these feelings stirring inside of me whenever I thought of Kim and Austin was really getting on my nerves. I don't know why I'm feeling like this, I can't even explain it to myself. Weird, huh?

The short moment that I was thinking on what to do next got Kim the time to move her attention towards Austin instead.

"Hey" he smiled as he met her gaze.

"Hi Austin."

"I just wanted to say that you were great today." He winked at her. "You made the whole thing worth watching."
She returned his smile obviously flattered by his words. Their eyes met and I felt that I got to do something before this goes any further.

"Yeah, she's pretty amazing, I mean her technique is really good." I said to Austin resting my elbow on Kim's shoulder as a 'Kim belongs with me' kind of gesture. Not that I had the right to proclaim her. I was just getting a bit desperate here.

Austin shot me a quick venomous glare before eyeing Kim again. I think he got my message…

"So Kim, I was wondering if you maybe would like to go grab a pizza or something tomorrow and then you can show me around here in town." He asked hopefully.

I think I forgot how to breathe as my fears of them going on a date were just realized. The weird thing was that I didn't even know that I feared it. Not until I felt that sickening feeling in my stomach as Austin asked the question.

"Sorry, she can't tomorrow." I blurted out. They both looked at me annoyed. "You said you would be with Eddie, Jerry and me, remember?" I explained as Kim's expression softened.

"Right, I almost forgot." But maybe Austin can come too?" She looked at us both hopefully. Now, why did she have to ask that? Her big, brown eyes pierced right into mine. I could never say no to them. But I really, really didn't want him to come and I was pretty sure that Eddie wouldn't be too happy about it either, since the whole idea with the movie night in the first place had been to avoid being around Austin.

But I also wanted to make Kim happy.

"I guess he can come." I said reluctantly.

"Yes, you hear that Austin." Kim's bright smile made me feel a bit better about my decision, at least for now.

Austin smiled but I could see that he was disappointed. This wasn't the way he had pictured tomorrow night and frankly it wasn't the way that I had pictured it either.

"Cool, I'll be there." He said. "Have you any plans for Sunday?"
"No, none." Kim had answered his question quickly, probably afraid of me answering for her again.

"Maybe we can go and…"

"Yes, I would love to." Kim interrupted him.

"Ok, then it's a date I guess." He smiled victoriously at me before leaving.

I looked at him as he walked away, there were really no words that could describe how much I despised him at that moment.

"Are you sure you wanna go out with him?" I asked still hoping that in one way or another, she would change her mind.

"Yes I am." She said. "Why?"

"I don't trust him." I answered honestly.

"Look…, if this is about the conversation with Frank..."

"It is about that!" I exclaimed.

"I think you clearly overreacting, Jack." She said annoyed. "You didn't even hear what they said. It could have been a coincident. They might just ran into each other and they're probably never going to meet again." She raised her voice as she went along. "I'm just going to eat with him and show him around a little, since he doesn't have any other friends here and Eddie can't stand him. I actually think it's kind of cool to have him as a friend."
"Wow, wow, wow…hang on… You just met him a few days ago." I said louder than necessary. "You don't know him and therefore you can't call him your friend yet, besides I think he has a bit more than friendship on his mind."

She looked at me with an expression that was very hard for me to read.

"That's none of your business, Jack. And F.Y.I. you don't know him so well either so there's clearly no reason for you to hate him."

"What?!"

"It's so obvious Jack so don't try to deny it. At least I'm gonna get to know him before I judge him."

I couldn't really argue with her on that because I knew she was right, I actually don't have any good reason to hate Austin and I never given him a chance. She turned in triumph knowing that she won this round.

I rushed to the dressing room, my emotions having a war inside of me. Once inside the lump in my throat started to grow. Our little fight had really gotten me upset. Sure, we've had lots of arguing and small fights before, and we use to tease each other, mostly for fun… But this time was different, because I knew that with every single of those words Kim was slipping away from me and closer to Austin. I had to force myself not to cry from anger and disappointment as I thought about it.

I decided to take a shower and change into my regular cloths. It was almost time to go home anyway. When I was getting dressed, Milton entered the dressing room.

"Are you leaving already?" He asked.

"Yeah, mom called." I lied pulling my jeans on, not noticing the small piece of paper that fell out of the pocket. "She'll be home earlier than expected."

"Ok, see you on Monday then."

"Yeah…" I stuffed the towel into my bag before grabbing it and tossing it over my shoulder. "Bye Milton and good luck with the chess tournament tomorrow." I gave him a smile before leaving.

Most of the people had left when I walked trough the dojo. Eddie and Austin looked like they were about to leave as well and Kim wasn't anywhere around. I waved goodbye to everyone before hurrying out the door. The cold air was soothing and I felt a bit better, I dreaded for tomorrow night though. What had I gotten myself into?

Well, that was it...

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