AN/ Hi, It's been a looooong time since I updated this story. I'm so sorry for the wait and I really hope that you all still remember it. My only excuse is that I've been really busy working on my other story...

This chapter is pretty long though, so I hope it'll make it up to you...

DISCLAIMER: I don not own Kickin' it.

Chapter 4

Mysteries and a Party

"Jack?" Grace's voice rang in our ears before silence filled the room again. We were shocked to say the least and all we seemed to be able to do was to stare at the boy who just stared back at us.

There was fear in his eyes and I wondered what was going through his head at that moment. I bet he was trying to come up with some excuse to why he was digging in Miss Applebaum's purse. That's what I would've tried to do if I were him…

Suddenly I became very curios to know what he would come up with. It wouldn't be easy for him to talk himself out of this, if not impossible.

"Jack Brewer!" Miss Applebaum exclaimed, finally having found her voice that was now dripping with venom. Jack didn't say anything. He barely even moved. All the cockiness and arrogance that use to fill up the whole being of Jack Brewer was gone. He managed to keep a blank expression, but I could see the panic in his orbs. I didn't feel sorry for him though. He never seemed to stop surprise me with how stupid he could be. I mean this was just…stupid…and mean.

The good thing was that there were three witnesses to it all and one of them was Miss Applebaum. I really hoped she'd teach him a lesson…

Miss Applebaum walked up to him with a stern look on her face, before snatching her purse away from him. Reaching down into it she started to go through it to make sure that nothing was missing.

"It's not what it looks like." Jack said quietly. I and Grace exchanged glances raising our eyebrows. Jack's choice of words were probably the most used when it comes to people being caught in the act of committing a crime. And like the majority of the times they're used no one listened to them. In fact Jack would've probably done better keeping quiet. The only thing he accomplished was getting Miss Applebaum's attention. She looked up at him.

"You!" She held up a finger at him, like you would do to a naughty child. "Principal's office now!" Jack closed his eyes in defeat for a moment, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get away with this before he started to walk towards the door with Miss Applebaum closely following behind him. I caught eyes with him for a brief moment as he came closer.

"Way to go Jack," I teased and gave him a sarcastic smile, not missing the opportunity to let him know what I thought about his actions. Jack gave me a glare before he adverted his eyes to look at something behind me. He swiftly walked past me, jamming his shoulder forcefully into mine. It didn't really hurt although the impact was big enough for my whole body to turn with it.

"Ouch!" I wined loud enough for our teacher to hear.

"Jack!" She warned and headed after him, giving us one last glance. "You kids go inside. Open your books on page 213 and start reading. I'll be back as soon as I escorted this young man to principal Buckett." With that she and Jack left. I watched them as they disappeared down the hallway. As they picked up speed I noticed Jack walking a bit funny. Was he limping?

"He's got some major problems," Grace pointed out and went inside the classroom.

"You've got that right," I mumbled and followed her to our seats.

~~~~Wings of Love~~~~

With everything that had happened around Jack lately, I found it very hard to focus on the class and Miss Applebaum's instructions on the board. My head was full of questions and my attempts to figuring out all the answers to them only got new questions to pop up. Like, why hadn't Jack been to school? Why was he stealing? Was he really that desperate to get money? And how the heck did he manage to sneak into the class room before school had even started?

Somewhere in the middle of the class nature suddenly called. I figured it was that extra cup of coffee I had this morning. It'd seemed like a good idea back then to get that extra energy that I'd needed to resist going back to bed… But now I had to pay the price for that.

Standing up as smoothly as possible, trying not to draw anyone's attention I walked up to Miss Applebaum's desk. She looked up at me with a smile.

"I need to use the bathroom," I whispered. She just gave me an understanding nod before pulling out a hall pass and handing it to me.

I silently sneaked out of the classroom. The hallway was quiet and almost ghost like at this time of day. The students were all at their classes and no adults seemed to be around either. The strange atmosphere it created caused me to unconsciously walk more careful as if I was afraid to cause some noise that would break the silence.

I walked to the bathroom, making sure that I took my time. The class was boring and seemed to never end so it was nice to have a break from it and I figured the longer time I lingered the shorter time I'd have to spend in the classroom when I get back…

Once I was done and out in the hallway again I threw a glance at the clock on the wall. Seeing that it was still about 25 minutes left of the period I sighed. Sometimes time could go extremely slow…

Not knowing if I would be able to endure that long I decided to take a detour. Technically I was heading back to class. I just decided to take to long way, killing a couple of extra minutes. It wasn't until I saw the reception that I came to think of that this way would lead me right pass the teachers' lounge and that probably wouldn't be the best idea. But I wasn't going to turn back around now; I just needed to be a little extra careful.

The lady sitting by the reception didn't seem to notice me or she just ignored me. I don't know, but she didn't bother to look up from the papers that were lying in front of her.

Quickly passing her I soon came to the door that led into principal Buckett's office. The image of Jack digging in Miss Applebaum's purse instantly popped up in my head and I wondered if Jack was still in there talking to Mr Buckett. As if on cue the door opened slightly and I immediately stopped in my tracks, feeling as if I shouldn't be here. Debating whether I should make a run for it or just stay and act like nothing, I watched the door. It wasn't fully opened and all I could see was a hand holding onto the door knob. Whoever the person was they were about to leave, but still seemed to have s few more words to say.

With the door opened I could hear the voices clearly and the curious side of me took over. Concentrating on what they were saying I completely forgot that I probably should get going.

"I hope we're clear with everything," Principal Buckett said. He didn't sound angry or anything, just utterly formal.

"Certainly," another voice answered. Clearly it belonged to the same person that was holding the door and I immediately recognized it as Mr Brewer's. Only he had that calm way of speaking.

"And I sure hope that something like this will never happen again," Principal Buckett continued. "Or I'm afraid I will have to suspend you."

"Like I said before," Mr Brewer spoke up for Jack. "Me and my son are most sorry for what happened and we can assure you that it won't happen again. Can't we Jack?" Even though Mr Brewer was still speaking very calmly, his voice got a much firmer ring to it as he gave the last question to his son.

"Yes sir" I could hear Jack mutter rather bitterly.

"Very well…" principal Buckett said. "I think we're all done here. Good day Mr Brewer."

"Good day," Jack's father said in return and pushed the door opened. I quickly turned around pretending to be looking at a giant painting hanging on the wall above a row of lockers. Hoping that they wouldn't pay much attention to me I could hear the two Brewers heading out the door before closing it behind them.

"I don't know what to say Jackson…" Mr Brewer said. "I'm most disappointed in you."

"It's not…" Jack began but his voice died out. It's strange how such a cocky guy like Jack could turn into someone so insecure just like that. His voice was filled with regret and he sounded so…pitiful? "I didn't…I just…"

"You couldn't help it. I know," His father said for him. He sounded annoyed and his voice got slightly louder as he went on. "You never can, can you? What do you think your mother will think of this?" There was a short pause. I so wanted to turn and look at them, but I didn't dare to, afraid that they would recognize me if they hadn't already.

"I was afraid something like this would happen one day," Mr Brewer let out a sigh. "I really thought that I would be able to hold it all back, that I would be able to help you…guess I will have to try a little harder…"

"No, dad." Jack said, fear clearly in his voice. I frowned. Something told me that it was more to this than just the morning's event. "Please, it won't happen again. I swear I'm not like…" I just couldn't hold back my curiosity any longer and took a peek over my shoulder. My movements must've caught Jack's attention, because at the exact same moment as I laid my eyes on him he looked right back at me. He immediately went quiet. The expression on his face that showed fear and surprise quickly changed into a blank stare as he tried to hide his emotions. He didn't fully succeed though.

Jack's sudden change of behaviour when he spotted me caught Mr Brewer's attention and he followed his son's gaze until he saw me. The man inspected me for a second or two before his face lit up.

"Hey, I didn't see it was you at first." He said obviously recognizing me.

"Hi," I smiled nervously. Mr Brewer suddenly narrowed his eyebrows, thinking. I felt as if his eyes were seeing right through me as an awkward silence filled the hallway. The man shook his head as if to get rid of his thoughts.

"Excuse me Miss," he said, cocking his head to the side. "I've never seen you with your hair down like that before."

Both Jack and I gave him strange glances. I felt a little uncomfortable and I nervously pulled a strand of hair out of my face, placing it behind my ear. Mr Brewer must have noticed how I felt and he quickly excused himself.

"I'm sorry. Don't get me wrong…It's just that you remind me of someone." He took a few steps towards me. "May I ask you what your name is?"

"Kim" I answered. "Kim Crawford." I was actually a little surprised that he didn't know my name. I'd met him a few times before but I'd never really talked to him and when I came to think about it I'd never introduced myself properly. Although I still found it strange that Jack hadn't told him my name after practically seeing me everyday for the last year. Mr Brewer rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment.

"Crawford you say…You don't happen to have lived your whole life in Seaford, do you?"

"Yes I have," I answered.

"Interesting," he mumbled as he let his arm fall back down, revealing a rather small pin that was attached to his jacket. It had the shape of a shield, divided into two halves, one that was red and one that was white. On it were a burning torch and an axe placed in the shape of a cross. I frowned. That was a pretty odd thing to wear. "I know this sounds a bit crazy but I know a guy that would like to speak with you," Mr Brewer continued.

"Sorry what?" I said looking up from the pin to his eyes.

"Gregory Kingsley, an acquaintance to me. He's a historian specialized in Seaford history. I think he would very much like to speak with you." He reached inside of his jacket, as I stood there not really knowing what think of all of this. I glanced at Jack. He looked a bit confused as well.

"Dad," he said quietly. "I don't think…"

"Ah!" Mr Brewer exclaimed obviously having found what he was looking for. "There you go," he said and handed me a card.

"Dad, don't…" Jack tugged on his fathers arm to try to get his attention, however the man would not react to it. I took the card and looked at it briefly.

Gregory Kingsley, Guardian of the Fire was written in bold letters on it along with his address and phone number.

"He's been studying the families living here in Seaford for years..." I tried to concentrate on what he was saying, but I couldn't help but notice Jack seeming to get impatient, almost anxious. Somehow that made me nervous and I couldn't really take in everything Mr Brewer was saying. Jack suddenly walked away, slightly limping as he heading for the exit. Mr Brewer didn't seem to notice as he continued to speak. "Gregory has managed to track down what has been happening to the-" He was suddenly cut off by a loud slam as Jack had placed a kick to a random locker he'd passed, most certainly giving it a dent.

"Jackson!" Mr Brewer exclaimed, making me jump. Jack just looked at him blankly before defiantly throwing another kick at the next locker, using the foot that wasn't hurt. "Jackson! Stop that!" Mr Brewer sounded angry and I was actually a bit surprised that Jack had dared to aggravate him like that. "I swear that kid's gonna give me grey hairs before my time…"The man shook his head. "Nice talking to you Kim." He said giving me one last glance before taking off after his son. "Jackson! You're in trouble now!" I could hear him shout as he chased after Jack who was careful to keep the distance to him until they'd left the building.

I stood and watched them disappear. That was one of the weirdest encounters I'd ever experienced and I didn't know what to think of it. All I knew was that I was confused. Placing Gregory's card in my pocket I hurried back to class with so many things on my mind it almost gave me a headache.

~~~~Wings of Love~~~~

"I'm home!" I announced through the house as I entered, throwing my schoolbag on a nearby chair and kicking off my shoes. Not receiving any answer I went inside, searching the rooms to see if anyone was home. Having gone through most of my house without finding anyone I got to the door that would lead me to the guest room, the room that was at the moment occupied by my aunt. I gave it a light knock. Again no answer. Carefully I opened the door and peeked inside.

The room was rather small and by the wall opposite to the door was a bed and on the wall next to that was a window with a desk placed beneath it. There's where I found my red haired aunt, writing. Her turquoise dress was so bright in colour it almost hurt to look at it. The woman seemed to be too caught up in her work to notice me. Even though I've always thought she was weird and annoying my curiosity seemed to be drawn to her. And after the last incident with the notebook, I was now more curios than ever to what she was doing, so I carefully approached her. Looking over her shoulder I saw the notebook I'd read from a few days ago. The book Claire had been so keen to keep away from me.

It now lay open next to her showing pictures of the moon, starting with the new moon and going through them all until the waning crescent. Underneath the pictures there were numbers and notes, all too messy and disorganised to make any sense to me. On a loose paper that was lying next to the note book partly covering some of the pages was a list of names. Next to the names were numbers, seeming to be annual figures of some sort. Again I couldn't make any sense of it, especially not after having spotted the name 'Kimberly' being the last one on the list. The name was circled unlike the other ones and I suddenly got worried.

"What are you doing?" I asked curious. Claire jumped in her chair, quickly stuffing the list into the notebook before closing it and placing it over the spiral she'd been writing a bunch of calculations on, careful to cover it all. With a warm smile on her face she turned to me so fast that her earings made out of feathers swung through the air.

"Kimberly, I didn't know you would be home so early." She said, trying to act as if she wasn't hiding something, which obviously she did. "How was school today?"

"Fine I guess," I shrugged, not really interested in talking about school. My eyes having found something much more intriguing.

On the desk there lay another note. It had previously been hidden underneath the notebook and Claire hadn't noticed it in her hurry to put all her stuff away. The note held a drawing of a shield, red and white with a cross made out of a torch and an axe. Above it someone had written 'The Brotherhood of the Fireguard'. I immediately recognized the mark from Mr Brewer's pin.

"What's that?" I wondered, pointing at the piece of paper. Claire turned to look.

"Oh that… that's just a weapon of an old club...thing…Your grandfather used to be a part of it." She said, not caring to remove it since I'd already seen it.

"Really?" Now I was interested. "The Brotherhood of the Fireguard? Sounds like some kind of cult or something." I pointed out. Claire chuckled at that.

"Yes it does, doesn't it?"

"What were they doing?" I wondered.

"I don't know." She said, although I had a feeling that she did. "And it's really none of your concerns. It is a club for men only."

"So it still exists?" I said, having caught the word 'is'.

"I guess," Claire answered. "Why so interested all of a sudden?" She wondered.

"I saw Mr Brewer wearing a pin with that symbol today."

"Oh that's interesting…" She said and I naturally assumed she must be meaning Mr Brewer having a pin like that. But obviously I was wrong… "So you met Jack today?"

"Yeah I did sort of. Why?"

"I really think you should talk to him." She said.

"What is it with you?" I said, rather frustrated with her. "Why do you care so much about what Jack is doing? He's a nutcase. Today he even tried to take money from a teacher." I said, throwing my hands in the air for emphasis.

"Hm…" She muttered looking pass me. "That really doesn't make much of a difference." I looked at her surprised as she rose from her seat, picking her books up and placing them in her bag. "You should talk to him." She placed a hand on my shoulder urging me to get going. "But stay away from the Fireguard…" I raised my eyebrows.

"Why?" Claire ignored my question and just like she's done so many times before she decided to change the subject just like that.

"So are you ready for some lunch?"

"Yeah…I guess." I answered as we walked out of the room.

"Oh and I've fixed everything so I'll be able to pick you up at Grace's party tomorrow." She said.

"Great," I said, really trying my best to sound happy about that and hiding my frustration. Claire eagerly made it to the kitchen as I watched her from behind, shaking my head in thoughts. What was she hiding?

~~~~Wings of Love~~~~

I must say Grace had really outdone herself this time. The party was off the hock. She somehow had managed to get all the 'cool' kids to come and her garden was now full of teenagers having fun in their own strange ways…

Some of them were dancing to the extremely loud music that was blasting from the speakers, others mingled while a bunch of guys were trying to impress some girls with their party tricks…

"This is awesome!" I yelled over the music.

"I know right!" Grace yelled back, a big smile on her face. "Did you know that most of Roy's team mates are here too?!"
"Really?!" Grace nodded, proudly confirming that indeed most of the school's baseball team was there. Roy, Grace's brother was a pitcher and he had proven to be really good which had put both him and Grace in a whole new league… I figured that was probably the reason why so many had decided to show up at this party. Everyone that was someone was here. Except for one… Jack.

I hadn't really expected him to be here, although he was as much a part of our school as anybody else.

He wasn't exactly popular but he was respected, or correction- feared by the rest of the students. Everyone knew who he was yet no one seemed to wanna be around him. My best guess would be that Grace probably hadn't invited him even though she clearly had let almost anybody in. It made me wonder if he'd ever even been to a party…Who would ever invite someone like him?

I had absolutely no clue why –maybe it was because one tiny tiny part of me felt guilty about causing him to lose that match- but I felt the need to mention him.

"Too bad Jack ain't here." I said with sarcasm, making Grace crack a smile.

"Yeah, he totally would've made this night a night to remember." She joked back. We giggled at that before Grace turned serious. "I still can't believe he tried to steal from a teacher." She shook her head in thoughts.

"I know…Jack's a jerk, but I never thought that he would do something like that." I agreed as we started to walk away from the speakers and the crowd, so that we would hear each other without having to yell. "I mean I thought I knew him pretty well after being forced to spend almost every afternoon with him at the dojo. Turns out he was even crazier than I thought."

Grace's place was huge and the back yard hadn't really gotten an end to it. About two hundred yards from the house trees were growing, spreading into the forest that was known by the name of Willow Grove, just big enough for someone to get lost in. We'd just reached the place where the first trees stood when a familiar voice came from behind.

"Hey girls!" Already knowing who it was I grew a smile and turned around.

"Hi Kels." I said, greeting her with a hug. Grace followed my example, seeming just as happy to see her.

"What are you guys talking about?" Kelsey wondered.

"Nothing really. Just Jack messing up again." Grace answered trying to sound as if it was nothing, but I could tell she was about to explode, wanting to tell what had happened yesterday at school. Grace loved gossip, especially when she was the one to deliver it. Just as I'd predicted Grace couldn't keep quiet for very long. "Did you hear that Jack tried to steal money from Miss Applebaum yesterday?"

"No way!" Kelsey exclaimed, her eyes the size of two tennis balls.

"Yes way." Grace nodded, kind of proud to be able to hand out such juicy information. Kelsey looked from her to me as if she wanted to make sure that Grace was telling the truth and wasn't trying to pull a joke on her or something.

"It's true." I confirmed with a nod. "We both saw it. I even met Mr Brewer outside the principal's office when he was there to pick up Jack…" Kelsey listened before shaking her head.

"You know what, I'm actually not that surprised." She said. "Did you guys hear that he punched Brain McKenzie last week? Brian didn't report it, probably too embarrassed by the fact that he got beaten by a sophomore." I couldn't help but smile at that.

"Well, one time Roy and his friends were staying a bit late in the locker room after practise and Jack walked in. He dropped his phone on the floor and when Adam tried to be nice and pick it up for him Jack went all crazy. He hit Adam right in the face." Kelsey gasped and I instantly recalled the tournament where I had touched his precious phone. A shiver went down my spine as it dawned on me just about how much danger I'd put myself in. What if he'd jumped me? He was so much bigger and stronger than me. I could've been dead by now! Unaware of the small panic attack I had inside of me Grace continued. "Roy of course wanted to help and Jack beat him too. The rest of the guys were too scared to do anything…"

"Earlier this week he skipped school and ditched Milton." I said, wanting to be able to contribute with some information too. "Milton ended up doing the whole project by his own."

"Oh do you guys remember when Jack…"

The conversation went on like that and the list of stupid and mean things Jack had done never seemed to end. I could feel how my previous dislike and anger towards him were beginning to grow into pure hatred.

"The most annoying thing about him is that he doesn't seem to realize that nobody likes him because of the way he acts. He always walks around as if he owns the school." I said. Kelsey and Grace nodded in agreement. "I so wish that someone would put him back on the ground." Grace's eyes widened and a huge grin appeared on her face.

"Maybe we can." She said. Kelsey and I exchanged a glance, not really knowing what she was talking about. Grace saw our confusion and continued. "Maybe we can help him realize that he's not that much better than anyone else."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly are we gonna do that?"

"…without getting killed?" Kelsey added worriedly.

"I've got an idea." Grace said, clapping her hands together in excitement. "And don't worry Kels. Jack won't even know it's us."

"Well, lets hear it." I said, not really worried that Jack would get back at us.

"Jack only has the power of doing whatever he wants because everyone is afraid of him." She started as I leaned back against a tree trunk ready to listen. "And I think that he does everything he can to uphold his tough image…"

"You think?" Kelsey commented receiving annoyed glares from both me and Grace. A moment of silence followed before I turned to Grace again, nodding for her to continue.

"Anyways…" Grace began again. "That way he can keep on playing by his own rules and no one really dares to stand up against him. So everything would fall apart for him if people stopped being afraid of him."

"And how would we be able to cure everyone's fear of him?" I pointed out.

"We just need to get them to realize that we are all together much stronger than him alone. Beside the best way to cure fear is…"She put on a smile and raised her eyebrows, obviously expecting one of us to continue the sentence. Kelsey and I stood silent looking at each other, not knowing the answer. "I give you a clue," Grace said, smiling even wider. "Riddikulus!" Now our confused looks were exchanged with a 'you're nuts' kind of look. "C'mon guys" Grace let her head fall back in frustration. "Haven't you read Harry Potter?" Realizing that we wouldn't catch on anytime soon she started to explain, "Laughter. If we can get everyone to laugh at him he would totally lose his power."

"Are you saying we should make fun of him?" I asked, feeling a bit sceptical.

"Yeah…but more in the line of humiliation…" She answered, a sly look on her face. "Do you guys know he carries a pink teddy bear in his back pack?"

"No" Kelsey shook her head, trying to hold back a chuckle.

"It's true. Roy has seen it more than once. Jack's always very quick to hide it again if it would accidentally show."

"Really?" Kelsey seemed to have a hard time to believe her. "What kind of teenager guy would go around with a stuffed animal in his school bag?"

"Exactly my point." Grace said. "If that came out his whole reputation would be ruined."

It wasn't exactly the most genius idea, but I thought it could work. And I did like the fact that it wasn't too brutal and as far as I could see it would be pretty safe for us. We wouldn't break any school rules and no one could get angry at us, except for Jack of course…but it would be the entire school against him, so that wouldn't be much of a problem…

"Ok, I'm in." I said, standing up straight again. Grace smiled and turned to Kelsey.

"I guess I'm in too." Kelsey said a bit reluctantly.

"Great!"

The rest of the night we spent coming up with different ideas on how to spread the word. We figured that just telling people and spreading out what could be mistaken as just a rumour wasn't good enough. We needed proof and we soon came up with a plan to do something that people would surely remember…

~~~~Wings of Love~~~~

The time had gone by quickly and I realized that it was almost midnight. Claire would be here soon…

I had made up my mind to leave the party a little earlier in the hopes of meeting my aunt halfway. That way no one would see her and the risks of someone connecting her to me would be much slimmer…

"I gotta get going!" I yelled as we were back at Grace's house. The noise was unbelievably loud.

"Already?!" Grace pouted.

"Yeah, I've got things to do tomorrow so I can't stay up too late!" I half lied… I had things to do although none of them were really urgent. The big reason I didn't tell Grace my aunt Claire was coming to pick me up and I didn't want anyone to see was…well, because I hadn't even told her that my aunt existed…

"Ok! I'm glad you could come!" She said giving me a hug. "See you on Monday!"

"See ya!"

Wasting no time I jogged down the garden until I got to the trees. Willow Grove was the shortest way to get to town. I'd taken this route numerous times before and I was positive that I would find my way even now in the dark.

The music and the loud voices trying to be heard above it slowly died out the further into the deep forest I went. The moon was out tonight and even though it was only half it still lit up my path where it snaked around the trees. The fact that I was alone in the forest in the middle of the night didn't scare me at all. I was a pretty tough girl and things like that just didn't bother me. That was until I heard the most ear piercing scream coming from the woods. I stopped for a second, the hair on the back of my neck rising and every muscle in my body tense. The next second everything went deathly quiet again. I stood frozen, afraid to break the silence. What was that?

Suddenly the scream came again, stronger this time. Someone needed help. Without even thinking that I might put myself in danger I ran towards the sound, jumping tree roots and dodging branches. The screams sounding as if they were coming from a woman were getting louder and more intense. I must be really close now, I thought.

In my hurry I missed to see the object coming up from the ground and I accidentally shoved my foot into it. The object didn't move and I fell forward. At the same moment my body hit the dirt the screams stopped and everything around me went quiet…

That was it. Sorry for the cliffy... This story is soon going to be turned upside down pretty soon...

I'm really gonna try my best to update the next chapter asap. But as I said before the other story that I'm working on has taken a lot of time. It's pretty popular and that's why I've been prioritising it.

Of course if this story gets more reviews, read counts, favourites and followers I will prioritising this one instead. So R&R and I'll hope I'll get chapter 5 up soon:)

/MJ