AN/Hi again... so sorry that it took me so long to update... Thank you so much for all your positive comments. And I saw someone comment that Jack was kind of stupid talking to the stranger. That was actually what I thought as well when I wrote it, I mean I would've never acted the way that Jack did but then I thought, hey he's Jack, he knows how to defend himself and I think that that makes him a bit overconfident around strangers sometimes...

Anyway, I was doing an overlook at all the chapters that is to come and let me tell you it's going to be a loooong story...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own kickin it.

I think I'm done now so on with the story... This story is still written from Jack's pov btw...

Chapter 6

The Date

I poured the popcorn into a giant bowl and brought it to the living room. Jerry, Eddie and Austin were already sitting on the couch. There was a gap next to Austin for one more to sit, which meant that either I or Kim would have to sit there and the other would have to sit in the arm-chair.

I didn't like any of the options. I'd much preferred Austin in the chair and Kim next to me. Or even better Kim next to me and Austin out of my house.

I put the bowl down on the table and went to set up the DVD, keeping an eye on Austin. I didn't like having him here. Not only because of Kim (even if that is a major reason for not liking him…) but I also didn't trust him. It felt as if he was just waiting for the right moment to strike. I don't know what he's up to but I'm pretty sure that it's something.

"What movie are we gonna watch?" Austin asked.

"Captain America." Eddie answered with enthusiasm.

"Ok, that's a pretty good one. Kind of slow in the beginning though and some of the effects could have been better and the ending…" We all shot him annoyed glares.

"Oh, you guys haven't seen it?" He said.

"No we haven't." Eddie answered. "But you don't have to stay and watch it if you've already seen it. Mom can pick me up later."

'Good try Eddie but it's never going to work…' I thought.

"No, it's okay." Austin said.

'See…'

"Ding dong." The door bell chimed. I instantly jumped to my feet to go get it, knowing that it would be Kim. Her warm smile met me as I opened the door.

"Hi" I said returning her smile.

"Hi, sorry I'm late." She excused.

"It's ok, we haven't started yet."

She stepped in, closing the door behind her.

"Let me get that for you." I said as I took her jacket and placed it on a hook.

"Thanks"

"C'mon, hurry up!" Jerry shouted at us, from the living room.

"The others are already by the TV." I said gesturing for her to go first.

"Hi Kim." Austin scooted over a little to make more room for her, as we entered the living room, obviously wanting her to sit with him.

I could see Kim hesitating, when she noticed the empty seat next to Austin. That actually made me feel a bit better, it meant that she wasn't completely fine with sitting next to him, I think…

She went to sit there none the less and I did nothing to prevent it. I just reluctantly sat down in the arm-chair, hitting the play button.

I kept throwing glances at Austin throughout the entire movie. I concentrated more on him and Kim than the TV screen. Come to think of it; I don't recall much about the movie at all…

Somewhere in the second half of the movie when things started to get really dramatic I could see how Austin kind of stretched his arm over and around Kim. It was then, at that moment, when I saw Kim in the arms of another guy (sort of…) that I realized something. I liked Kim. Not just as a friend, but in a boy likes a girl kind of way. I think I always have and there was nothing that I wished for more than for Kim to be in my arms instead at that moment.

Suddenly Kim jumped and started to dig in her pocket for her cell. She looked at the small screen.

"Will you excuse me for a moment? I've got to get this." She said as she got up from the couch.

"Do you want me to pause the movie?" I asked.

"No it's ok." She hurried out towards the kitchen. Austin looked a bit surprised that she'd left so sudden and he probably felt kind of stupid with his arm stretched out in the air. I couldn't help but smile a little at that before returning to the movie.

The minutes went by and the movie was almost over when Kim finally reappeared.

"I've got to go. My mom will be here any minute." She said.

"Is everything ok?" I asked worriedly.

"Yes everything is fine." She said in weird voice. Kim's not a very good liar…

"Kim." Austin said. "I'll pick you up at 11 AM if that's ok with you?"

"Yeah, sure." She smiled, but I could see that there was something else behind that smile. "Well see you... Bye" She gave a small wave to the rest of the guys as I stood up to follow her to the door.

"What's going on?" I asked as soon as I was sure that the others couldn't hear.

"It's nothing… At least nothing serious and it's definitely nothing that you have to worry about." She gave me a reassuring smile.

"I can see that it's something that bothers you and it's actually bothering me to see you like that so you might as well tell me."

"It's not important." She shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry that I have to leave early, I know you've been looking forward to tonight. And I'm kind of ruined it for you."

"You haven't ruined it, I'm glad you came." I said truthfully.

A car pulled up by my house.

"Well, that's my ride…" Kim said. "You have to tell me how the movie ended."

"I will..." I smiled. "…or we can see it some other time."

"Yeah, we could...Bye then." She said as she stepped out on the porch.

"Bye, see you." I waved at her as she rode of, before heading back to the rest of the guys. The evening hadn't exactly turned out the way I planned and everyone was kind of in a bad mood. We've finished the movie and it didn't take long before the rest of the guys had left my house…

The courtyard of the mall was full of people as I jumped of my skateboard. I glanced at my watch. It said 13.00. That meant that Kim probably was with Austin by this very moment…either they're eating somewhere or she's showing him around town. I had in my naïve way thought that she was going to show him around the mall and that I could meet them here and … do something. It kind of seemed like a great idea before, but now I wasn't so sure. What was I supposed to do if I saw them? And what would Kim say? She'd probably think that I was spying on her or trying to ruin their date or something like that, which actually wasn't so far from the truth… The thought of Kim being alone with him had bothered me so much that I'd felt the need to check on them just in case... What if something happened to her?

Since there were no signs of them being here and I didn't really have anything else to do I decided to enter the dojo. I left my skateboard by my locker and was just about to knock on the door to Rudy's office when I felt as if someone was watching me. I turned around looking through the windows searching for the source of the feeling in my guts… Nothing or no one seemed suspicious, but there was something else that caught my attention.

At the other side of the courtyard heading trough the door of Falafel Phil's I saw the back of a familiar blond girl with a guy next to her, who by the way looked way too old for her…

They were laughing as they went to stand in line, waiting to order. Watching them carefully I moved closer to the windows, trying to get a better view.

Austin had placed his hand on Kim's lower back. I felt my heart sting. They were looking at the menu behind the counter when Austin let his hand slid down towards… Oh no he didn't…! I burst out from the dojo keeping my eyes fixed on him. To my surprise Kim actually moved away from his touch and turned to him, an annoyed look in her face. I stopped outside the entrance to Phil's. I couldn't help but smile when -by what it looked like from out here- Austin had to apologize to her. His face was priceless…

After a few moments they were done with their ordering and were about to head over to a table. I hurried inside, not wanting to be caught spying on them through the windows…

I went over to the line pretending that I was just here to order something like everybody else. When I was almost by the counter the unavoidable happened…

"Jack?" Kim sounded surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hi Kim. Didn't see you there." I said in a rather clumsy way, making it kind of obvious that I actually had seen them. At least to Kim who knew me so well. I maybe had managed to fool Austin, I'm not sure, but I can tell that he didn't look too happy about me being there. "I was just getting a soda. It's rather hot today, don't you think?" I said.

"Yeah I guess…" Kim answered.

"What can I do for you today, Jack?" Phil asked in his very distinctive accent. I hadn't noticed that the line in front of me was gone and it was now my turn to order. Kim and Austin went to sit down at a table as I turned to Phil.

"Oh, just a coke please. A big one."

"Big a one coke, coming up." Phil managed to mix the words together. It took him no more than few seconds to bring me one. I paid him and went over to Kim and Austin's table.

"Can I sit here?" I asked, enjoying Austin's slightly horrified expression. "Everywhere else is full" I wasn't lying about that. There were truly a lot of people here today.

"Sure." Kim said in an almost relieved way. Hang on… was she actually glad that I came over here or was I just imagined that as a result of my naïve hopes.

Either way I was satisfied with the fact that Austin wasn't so pleased about this and I gave him a triumphed smile.

"These falafel balls are delicious." Austin said in an attempt to break the awkward silence that had lasted for several minutes between the three of us.

"Yeah, they're the best there is…" Kim smiled.

I took a sip of my coke, which I had been drinking very slowly, knowing that the longer it took for me to finish my drink the longer I was being able to stay.

"Too bad the portions were so small…" Austin said a bit disappointed.

"I can get you some extra." Kim offered.

"No, you don't have to do that."

"No, really, it's ok." She rose from the chair. "How many?"

"Just a few will do." He answered. Kim gave him a small nod and left.

"So, I heard you were up against the Black Dragons on Saturday." Austin blurted out as soon as we were alone.

"Yeah…" I immediately got my guard up, not knowing where he was going with this.

"Nervous?"

"Nope." I answered truthfully. "Why?"

"It's just that some of them seem really good." He said.

"Really? How would you know?" As if I didn't know the answer to that already…

" Oh…" He hesitated, obviously he hadn't expected me to ask that question. "Kim told me that many of them were black belts." He shrugged. So he and Kim had been talking about the Black Dragons? Yeah, right… it couldn't have been for his talk with Frank earlier...

I studied him, trying to figure out what he was up to. Was he trying to intimidate me or was he trying to get some information out of me? ...or maybe both… I'll better choose my words carefully, I thought.

Even though I was focusing on Austin I could still see the tall figure standing right next to us, in the corner of my eye. They were fiddling around with a small object before it fell to the floor, rolling under our table. I tore my eyes away from Austin just to see a dumbfounded man with a wallet in his hands.

"Excuse me" the man said in a deep voice. "A coin rolled in under your table…"

I automatically searched the floor with my gaze until it stopped on a small shimmering item.

"I think I see it… I'll get it. "I offered as I bent down. The coin was further in than I expected. I actually had to get of my chair and onto my knees to reach it. I grabbed it and a few seconds later I emerged from under the table.

"There you go." I said as I handed the coin over to the man.

"Thank you." He smiled. I looked at him as he left us. There was something about him that was familiar. Had I seen him before?

"Strange guy…" Austin mumbled, before smiling at someone behind me. I didn't have to look to know who it was.

"There you go." Kim said as she put the plate with the falafel balls down in front of Austin.

"Ah…Thanks."

I swallowed down some more of my drink. "Have you guys been to the other side of the mall yet?" I asked them.

"Yeah… I think that we have covered most of it." Kim answered.

"It was really cool." Austin filled in. "But can't we go to the beach. It's really hot today…" I glared at him. I'll bet ya, the only reason why he wanted to go to the beach was to see Kim in a bikini. Although it was kind of hot today. I was actually getting a slight headache and I was thankful that I had ordered a big soda.

"I don't think that I have time for that. My aunt is coming and I sort of promised mom I'll be there." Kim said. "I'm sorry…"

"It's ok…" Austin said, although he looked a bit disappointed, as he stuffed the last falafel ball into his mouth. He swallowed it and the next moment he and Kim were ready to leave. I quickly emptied the last of my drink (which was quite a lot by the way…) and immediately regretted it. The brain freeze was unbelievable. I flinched in pain. As I rose from my chair the whole world started to spin. I had to grab onto the table just to keep me from falling.

"Are you okay, Jack?" Kim sounded worried.

"Yeah… It's just the blood pressure… I think I rose to fast…" I said not wanting her to worry. I let go of the table when I was certain that I wouldn't faint. The dizziness had decreased somewhat but was not fully gone and I walked very carefully, trying not to do any sudden movements. As we walked out the door a wave of nausea hit me. I tried to ignore it, and thankfully it faded away.

"I just need to get my shirt in the dojo." Kim said. "I forgot it there earlier. I'll be back in a sec." She walked over the courtyard and into the dojo. I sat down on the nearest bench within my reach. I felt really weird. Was I coming up with the flu or something?

Austin had left me and was now looking with fascination at some strange lizards through the window of Reptile World. I put my head in my hands trying to stop everything from spinning around. My whole body felt weak and I had started to tremble. Another wave of nausea washed over me, much worse than the last one. Realizing where this was going I sprung to my feet and hurried off to the closest bathroom. On my way I glanced over at Austin, still standing outside Reptile World. Next to him was a teenager with curly blond hair who I knew all too well… A sly grin appeared on Frank's face as he saw me. Unfortunate I had no time to stop and 'chat' with them…

I threw the bathroom door open, rushing towards one of the booths. The rush to get there had made me feel very light-headed and I threw myself on the floor to prevent me from fainting. It was too late though. My sight became all blurry and I felt awful. Sweat was beading on my forehead and the trembling had become worse. The next moment everything around me disappeared into an endless stream of darkness…

Sorry about the cliffhanger...but I hope you liked it anyway.

Please don't forget to review. The more I get the quicker I'll be to update, I promise you that:)

/MJ