Author's Note: Here's my latest chapter for the story where we're finally at the fall festival! Kick is finally having their first date let's see how things turn out.

Now onto the story

Brewer Residence

Friday, September 28th, 2012

Jack messed with his hair for probably the millionth time while looking in the mirror to see if it bettered his appearance or not. He stared intently at his reflection intently for a few minutes before shaking his head, what is he even doing right now?

"This is stupid." He muttered to himself, breaking his staring contest with himself to look down at the bathroom sink

"Talking to yourself? I agree." Audrey's teasing voice spoke up from behind him and he absolutely didn't jump

No way he's a junior black belt he doesn't jump because of his little sister.

"How long have you been standing there?" Jack demanded ashe looked at her through the mirror with accusing eyes

"Long enough to see you put your hair in twenty different positions." She answered back unabashedly

"Creep."

"It's better than being the weirdo talking to yourself." Audrey shot back as she walked further into the bathroom

The bathroom was spacious enough that the two siblings were able to fit in there at once with enough space for them to both do their thing. It was a blue tiled accent walls with a matching floor, sink, bathtub. Audrey walked over to the double sink and hopped onto it placing herself next to her brother.

"Stop being weird and fretting over your hair more than you usually do. It's just Kim and she's seen you look your worst, she won't care how you look like now." Was the first thing out her mouth while she gently kicked his leg

Jack nodded his agreement, finally tearing his hands away from hair, "You're right."

The older Brewer groaned while rolling his eyes, "Of course I am. I still can't believe you finally stopped being a coward and asked her out."

"You haven't lived here long enough to tease me on that too." He told her with a pointed finger but she just made a face at him,

"Oh but I put up with hearing you gush about her like she hung the moon and the stars over phone calls and Skype for two years."

"I didn't gush over her." Jack argued

"Oh really? So the words, 'When Kim drop kicked Eddie at practice it was so hot and made me like her even more?' don't ring a bell?" Audrey challenged

Jack did a remarkable fish impression as he tried to think of a response to that but came up blank. So instead he just made a face at her then grabbed his bottle of cologne on the sink and took the top off.

"Oh no don't wear that." Audrey quickly told him with a firm shake of her head

"Why not?" Jack asked in confusion as he held the bottle hesitantly in his hands

"You're trying too hard, it's just Kim you don't need to try and impress her. Besides it smells terrible and she'll only make fun of you for it." The girl finished with a grin as she continued swinging her legs off the counter

"It doesn't smell terrible." The boy protested but Audrey just gave him a flat look

"It does put it back." She demanded

"Fine." The junior black belt finally conceded as he begrudgingly put the top back on

"So is there a reason you've been upstairs for most of the goodbye party for dad?"

The boy in question froze for a quick second before quickly moving again to place the cologne back on the shelf, "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb Jack ever since the party started or even since dad's been here you've been holed up in your room."

"I've have homework and need to study. I need to do it now so I'll have time to roam at the festival until curfew." Jack tried to deflect but Audrey wasn't having any of it

"Jack I heard you tell Milton that you didn't have that much homework as we were leaving school. And the study part seemed to be bull since I saw you spend most of your time playing video games." The look she gave him mirrored their mother's face almost uncannily whenever they say something she thought was foolish

"Geez, creep much?" He snapped while Audrey just rolled her eyes

"You left your door cracked open genius with the volume high. You can lie to everyone else but me, why are you avoiding the party and dad?"

The boy in question sighed, he could keep lying to his little sister but he didn't see no point in doing that. The two siblings do tell each other pretty much everything and have been since they were little so it was better to just be honest. After all, if anyone will understand it would be her.

"I just think this entire party is bogus, why are we celebrating him leaving again as if this is his first time? We all know it's not, we all know that after who knows how long he's gonna come back full of stories and gifts and wanting to bond with us. Then after a few months or a year if we're lucky he's gone again which shows just how sincere he was about wanting to spend time with his children. It's just a never-ending cycle and I'm sick of it."

Audrey bit her lip as she soaked in the words from her brother, debating on how to proceed with the conversation,

"It's his job, Jack."

"So? I'm sure he can request for time off or a short vacation. If he really wants to spend time with us he'll make it happen." Jack argued

As much as he loves and respects his little sister he realized in that moment she wouldn't get it. When she was away at Ojai she came home to their dad's house since he lived there to be closer to his daughter. He was there for pretty much all her holiday breaks or important events since he didn't have another tour to do during most of the time. There was an exception when she hit third grade and had to go to some country and didn't return until the middle fifth grade. Besides that, most of time she had him all to herself while Jack only had summer vacations and the occasional holidays.

"He loves us Jack and I know he really does wants to get to know us." Audrey insisted

Jack gave her a bitter smile, "Sometimes it seems like he loves his job more."

The youngest brewer conceded the point with a nod,

"I sometimes feel that way too but his heart is in the right place. And I know Jack that if you completely avoid the party and ditch him tonight you'll regret not saying goodbye since you might not see him for a year or two."

Jack rolled his eyes then turned from the sink to walk toward the shelf and grab the bottle of lotion. He didn't want to hear it, didn't want to hear what Audrey was telling him because he knew that she was right. Only just because she was right doesn't mean he wants to listen to it or do it.

"C'mon Jackie don't start stereotypical I'm-too macho- to- show- my emotions crap. You know I'm right, you don't know when the next time you'll see him will be. All you have to do is come downstairs longer than ten minutes, talk to Stephanie and the rest of mom and dad's connect group friends, and act like you're having a good time. Is that really so difficult to do?"

Jack worked his jaw and stalled for time as he squirted some lotion into his hand, closed the cap then placed the bottle back on the shelf. He then rubbed it on his arms and neck. He didn't want to hear it, he didn't want to do the right thing and turn the other cheek, he didn't want to suck it up and be the bigger man. He was mad and hurt and all the other negative words he can think of and he has a right to be that way. But he knew his sister was right, he knew that he was being selfish and that he wasn't acting in a way that God would be proud of. Philippians 2:3 quote from the bible floated into his head which caused him to sigh heavily, he knew a sign when it comes to him.

"Fine, I'll do it." Jack relented then turned out to get an armful of his little sister

"Thank you, thank you! If you didn't say yes then I would've brought out the puppy eyes." Audrey remarked with a grin before getting on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek

"Now c'mon get your butt out of the bathroom, I swear you spend more time in here than me. Also, remember, act happy and not like you were forced to be there." Audrey called over her shoulder before leaving the bathroom

Jack watched her go then ran a hand through his hair and sighed once more before groaning in mild frustration.

"Fake it 'til you make it." The skater told himself then stretched his lips in some form of a smile and followed after Audrey

Seaford Fairgrounds

Sloane snapped a picture of two boys trying to master the Ring Toss that was a feet away to her right. The two boys were with part of a group of three that looked to be upperclassmen, with the boys were two girls and one other boy. They looked somewhat familiar, like one of those popular asshole groups that Ana would no doubt know and gush about to the ninth degree. One of the boys, a light skinned, lanky African American stared hard at the glass bottles that was decorated like a jack- o'-lantern. He practiced a few throwing techniques, probably debating which was best while the built darker skinned African American next to him was watching him with an amused, almost taunting smile. When the lighter skinned teen finally threw the ring it nestled itself on one of the farther bottles in the set up. The two girls; a fair skinned Indian with a slender body and shoulder length black hair stood next to a blonde with honey bronze skin and a similar slender frame. The two girls clapped in appreciation while the teen standing next to them, a lanky pale skin boy with short curly hair smiled and seemed to say something teasingly to the darker skinned boy that had him role his eyes. The Indian girl walked closer to the lighter skinned black teen to pull him in for a kiss.

Sloane noticed that when the Indian girl kissed the lanky teen the darker skinned male's fist tightened and his face darkened for a second when the others weren't looking. Interesting, there seems to be some inner conflict in the group, for some reason her mind flicked back to thoughts about Ana's budding relationship with Brett. While September was pretty much almost over, Ana's relationship with Brett grew stronger and the two were becoming almost inseparable. All the girl will talk about was either how she's mad that the drama club voted for The Addams Family to be the fall production instead of Nice if You can Get it, or what her and Brett were planning to do. Then there's the fact that she seemed to be determined to weasel her way into Grace's bitch squad and wanted Sloane to follow her lead. Now that Brett and her were a 'thing' she thinks it's the perfect opportunity to become friends and keeps trying to subtly invite herself into whatever thing the bimbos were doing. She wasn't sure which infuriated her more, the fact Ana was determined to be friends with Grace & Co or the fact she was gaga over the spiky haired jock. Ana got to a point where she was so annoying that Sloane decided to start distancing herself from her best friend out of fear that she'll snap and say something that she'll regret later.

Sloane doesn't know why Ana's relationship with Brett annoyed her so much, all she knew was that she doesn't like her dating him. Their relationship was moving too fast, Ana was getting invested to quickly into that guy, she decided to stop going on double dates together in favor of spending time with him alone. Ana doesn't even know Brett that well, there was still a chance that he was a secret asshole, this could all be some type of sick joke that Grace & Co copped up

"Why are you creeping on Farrah and her gang?" Ro crept up behind her speaking directly in her ear causing Sloane to jump then grab her forearm, pulled her in front of her then grabbed her by the back of her neck forcing her in a bending position

"Woah, easy down girl I come in peace." Sloane sighed then released the tenth grader ignoring the curious look she got from onlookers

"Don't ever sneak up on me." The Wasabi Warrior warned her,

"Yeah okay I got it, or you'll ninja attack me." Ro commented, touching her hair to make sure her hair was still in place

"I'm not creeping, I'm taking pictures for yearbook." Sloane corrected, remembering the girl's earlier question

"I'm pretty sure to take a picture the camera has to be pointed at them." Ro pointed out with an arched bro

"Fine I'm observing." Sloane conceded

"It's cool I get it, to be honest I 'observe' Farrah and Lexi a lot strictly for sociology purposes of course." Ro shared with a wink

"I wasn't-I'm not, whatever. What's with the sparkly outfit? Is that your dance costume?" The brunette girl once again found herself flustered by Ro and hated it

"Yeah! The dance team is going to be performing in like thirty minutes during after the mandatory boring speech that Mayor Miller gives. That's when all the performances start and the fun starts, anyway, don't I look hot?" Ro probed, giving Sloane a spin to show off the outfit

Sloane's eyes betray her as they raked down the Raven haired girl's body, taking in her outfit. Her short sparkly blue dress molded onto her body as if it was a second layer of skin and showcased her gentle curves brought from puberty. In white across her chest the word 'Seaford' was printed and upon lowering her gaze to take the outfit in full she saw that the dress was insanely short, it was barely longer than an oversized male shirt that girls wear. It showed off her creamy pale legs and the white tennis shoes she was currently wearing. Sloane quickly brought her eyes back up to Ro's face then noticed belatedly that Ro was also wearing a slightly oversized black jacket and had a camera dangling from a strap around her neck.

Sloane cleared her suddenly dry throat, "Yeah, totally." She agreed and Ro flashed a pleased

"How are you going to be able to dance in that without flashing your vagina at them?" The brunette continued, wanting to change the subject

Ro rolled her eyes at the question, "I have shorts underneath here, duh."

"Those must be some really short shorts."

"They are wanna see?" Ro questioned with a mischievous smirk causing Sloane to once again just stand there flustered, gaping like an idiot

"No! I-uh-I'm not-"

"I'm kidding Jennings! Jeez you look like a tomato calm down."

Sloane looked away from the tenth grader, feeling both embarrassed and confused as to why she was reacting this way. It was just the thought of Ro lifting up the already insanely short dress to reveal even more of her pale, creamy skin of her legs up to her thighs. The thought of seeing that was tantalizing and she doesn't understand why, what was wrong with her?

"If you haven't noticed by now I'm a huge flirt but I swear I mean nothing by it."

"I know, I know it's fine." Sloane quickly assured, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear, eyes trained on the cotton candy stand that was a few feet away from her, occupied by a mother and her two young kids. She raised her camera and snapped a quick pic of them

"Then why won't you look at me?" Ro challenged

With much reluctance Sloane tore her gaze away from the cotton candy and back to the dancer in front of her. The usual look of ease with a touch of mischief was now replaced with concern and confusion while her sapphire blue eyes held something else that Sloane couldn't place.

Sloane forced a smile on her lips, "It's fine, honestly. Now where's your other half?"

The girl in question eyed her for a few seconds later questioningly but eventually allowed the change of subject.

"He's getting his face painted and by now probably 'coincidentally' ran into Tj." The girl answered with an eye roll and put quotation marks around coincidentally

"What's the story between those two?" The junior black belt asked curiously

At the yearbook meetings Remy and Tj were always bickering back and forth like an old married couple and TJ is always messing with the buzz cut boy. There was history between the two, that much she knew but she wasn't sure just how much. They argue with familiarity and TJ makes innuendo and sly remarks that has Remy roll his eyes and huff out an exasperated breath.

"Summarized version; the two used to date last year and Remy was in love but then on his birthday he found Tj in a compromising position with this guy from Creaton high and dumped him. Remy was a total mess over it for the rest of the school year and TJ kept trying to make excuses for it, claiming the guy threw himself at him." Ro answered,

Sloane's brows crinkled in confusion,

"Wouldn't that make Remy an eighth grader last year?"

"No, Remy was in ninth grade, he has to repeat if for, uh reasons." Ro continued with an awkward cough and pause at the end

That explains why the boy looked a little older than the rest of the class and his familiarity with the material they were learning in Algebra. From the way Ro paused after saying he was repeat had her convinced it wasn't because he failed the grade.

"And from the looks of it Tj isn't over Remy?" Sloane suggested causing the dancer to scowl angrily

"No, he keeps insisting that he didn't do anything with the boy and that he's still in love with Remy. Which is total bullshit since Remy walked in on Tj about to go down on the boy. He's lucky all I did was break his nose, I should've broke his dick." Ro grumbled

Sloane arched a brow in surprise at the steel tone Ro used while talking about Tj, it was a stark contrast to her usual friendly upbeat one. It showed how much the boy meant to her and Sloane found herself impressed by the fact she broke Tj's nose. There was more to the raven haired girl than meets the eye which made her more interesting to Sloane, that and the fact that for some reason she makes her become a blubbering idiot. No one had that kind of power over her besides Ana but that was because she knew her since first grade so of course she knew her inside and out. Ro on the other hand, she only knew her for a little more than a week but she already had Sloane

"What about your other half?" Ro asked

"She's with Brett probably ogling at how cute he is eating a funnel cake." Sloane mocked

"Hmm, well I guess that means you're stuck with me, c'mon" Ro grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards her destination

"What? What are you talking about?" Sloane questioned, trying to ignore that her heart sped up at the innocent gesture of holding hands

"I'm not letting you stand here by yourself like a weirdo, it's the fall festival and you're going to have fun with me and Remy."

"I need to take pictures for yearbook, and so do you." Sloane protested but she had a feeling she was already losing the argument

"And we will while still having fun, so shut up and accept the fact that you're coming Jennings." The dancer ordered and strangely enough Sloane found herself doing just that


Jack shifted his weight from foot to foot as he waited nervously for Kim by the hayride, checking his phone for any texts more than he'll like to admit. After begrudgingly going downstairs to pretend to be happy about his dad leaving for another tour and playing happy family, his parents finally drove Audrey and him to the festival once the dinner party ended. He will admit that it was nice hanging around his dad again since the last time he hung out with him was last year after he surprisingly came to one of his karate tournaments and took him to Five Guys then to San Diego to go to Belmont Park after his big win. That was one of the best memories Jack has with his father and after a win on the mats, he had his dad all to himself, had his full attention finally after how many months. After his parents dropped them off at the festival without any arguing Audrey headed to the Tilt-A-Whirl to meet up with Paula and Leslie while Jack went to the hayride which was Kim and his agreed meet up spot.

She last texted him before Jack piled into the car with his family, telling him that she'll be there around seven ten since her dad didn't get off till six thirty then he'll have to pick up Belle from daycare straight after. It was reaching six fifty now and Jack already met up with the guys when he first got there, all of them slightly ribbing him as well as praising that the fact that the two finally figured it out. Jack rolled his eyes good naturedly, taking it all in stride and even joking back before they separated into small pairs and went off in different directions. Milton and Julie left to go on the Ferris wheel and Jerry and Eddie headed towards the Round Up but decided to make a quick stop at the food truck to get churros. Jack stopped to get a candy apple before heading over to the hayride, all while observing his surroundings and noticing a few people from school. He saw Grace flanked with some of her usual people, Katie, Ethan, and Ember as they walked with food in their hands talking and laughing with their usual air of haughtiness. He also passed by Randy with a girl and boy he wasn't familiar with all walking towards the pie eating contest tables. He saw a few other familiar faces on his way towards the hayride area, including Lorie who he quickly tried to hide away so she won't see him. As flattering as her crush on him was, he didn't want to deal with her making passes at him while he tried to grin his way through. As Jack got closer to the hayride his stomach got a weird, fuzzy feelings that he refused to call butterflies.

"Hey Jack." A familiar voice purred causing him to tear his gaze away from his phone to see none other than Lyndsey staring at him with a predatory gaze

The Wasabi warrior tried to hide his grimace and suddenly wished that it was Lorie standing in front of him instead of Lyndsey. At least she made him feel less like a Gazelle being cornered by a lion, whenever he encounters Lorie he leaves feeling like he has a whiplash by all the big words she used and confused if her way of flirting with him was making him feel like he was hit by a dictionary.

"Lyndsey." He greeted her back, now more impatient than ever for Kim to please get over here and save him from Lyndsey

"Why is a cutie like you standing here all by yourself? The line to the hayride is a little more to your left." She teased gesturing with her head to the growing line of teens waiting to be the next batch in the long red wagon

"Yeah I know I'm waiting for someone." The boy in question told her hoping that would be the end of the conversation but of course he was never that lucky when it comes to the girl

"Who? I could keep you company while you wait for them." The brunette girl suggested, inching closer to him and batting her eyelashes at him in a way that was supposed to come off as cute but just made him feel more like a trapped prey

Jack subtly took a step back away while checking his phone once more before giving Lyndsey a forced smile,

"No thank you i'm fine staying alone. I'm also waiting for Kim, she's my date." The look on the girl's face could only be explained as priceless

Her face contorted into a dozen emotions in the span of a few seconds- anger, surprise, shock, confusion, and maybe sadness. Thankfully she took a step back while crossing her arms over her chest almost protectively while looking down at the ground,

"Oh, I see."

Jack rubbed the back of neck awkwardly, looking over the girl's shoulder for a certain blonde head but sadly not finding the one he wanted. He was still stuck in this awkward conversation that he wanted desperately to exit, for a brief moment he felt bad for her and the fact that she had feelings for him that he can't reciprocate. He doesn't even know what he ever did to her that made her like him so much, he never treated her any different than anyone else.

"So you and Crawfish finally figured it out, huh?" She sneered and that quickly all his sympathy disappeared

"Don't call her that." He told her, annoyance bright in his eyes

The girl scoffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder and eyeing him with with a blank face, going back to her ice princess persona

"Whatever, I should've known it was only a matter of time. Have fun with your fellow dojo rat but when you realize she's nothing more than a guy with a vagina and you want an actual girl, come and find me." She gave him a smirk before finally turning on her heel and strutting away

Jack sighed in relief while running a hand through his hair, that could've gone a lot worse he supposed and least now it was over. The text notification on his phone chimed and the boy quickly pulled the device out to see it was finally a text from Kim, he smiled when he read she'll be there in about five minutes. For now he just needed to try and distract himself so he won't look like too much of a sad loner standing all by himself. With that in mind he opened his Keek app to scroll through his stream for the latest keeks, there was one from Kelsey showing off her face paint, Katie filming Brody and Brett painting pumpkins, Jerry with Eddie on the Super Shot Ride filming the latter's hilarious reaction, Randy filming a group of girls, and Julie filming Milton and her new best friends Erica and Cathy on the hayride. The Wasabi Warrior frowned at the last keek, Julie did a complete 180 ever since school started, she wasn't the same girl Kim and him helped set up with Milton back in seventh grade or the girl who threatened Frank with exposing to her uncle Ty that he was the one who scratched his beloved car just last April. She was a clone of Lyndsey and Jack doesn't understand how Milton is still with her and treating her like everything was the same, he must really love her. All thoughts of Julie's personality change ceased when he heard the sound of a cry of pain, Jack closed out of Keek then put his phone back in his back pocket and walked towards the noise out of both curiosity and concern. When he walked behind a prize booth he saw Sidney on the ground holding his nose surrounded by Frank and his Black Dragon goonies, typical. The skater felt a flare of annoyance shot through him at the sight, Frank never knows when to stop.

"Hey! Frank." Jack shouted as he neared the group, Frank turned his attention away from Sidney as his grin faded as he looked at Jack

"Well look who it is boys, come to ruin our fun Brewer?" Frank sneered at him while Sidney quietly moaned in pain on the ground

"You call beating up Sidney fun you sadist?" Jack countered in disbelief, then again this was Frank he was talking to

"Is that the nerd's name?" A sandy haired Black Dragon piped up from where he stood on on Frank's right side with a cup in hand. Unlike Victor who was clearly one of the youngest given he's a freshman, the sandy haired boy looked to be an upperclassmen, a junior perhaps like Frank. Only he didn't look to be a repeat.

"I don't know what you just called me, but if it's an insult you'll be the one on the ground next." Frank threatened and Victor snorted with a grin before it was wiped off his face when the older Black Dragon elbowed him

"Fuck you Ryan." Victor scowled and looked like he wanted to hurt him back but knew it was better not to

"if it's an insult? Wow you really need to pay attention in English." Jack taunted with a grin angering Frank who's face has likened a tomato from the anger or embarrassment, Jack wasn't sure or didn't care

"It means you get off on hurting people." Victor spoke up helpfully but the sandy haired boy shook his head at him

"Not helping Victor." The older boy, Ryan informed him while Victor looked confused

"But I was just-" Victor began and Jack noticed that while the attention wasn't on him, Sidney carefully crawled away from the Black Dragons while cradling his bloody nose.

"Why are you so interested in what I'm doing anyway Brewer? If I didn't know any better I'd think you might be obsessed with me." The curly haired Black Dragon countered with a smirk

Jack just rolled his eyes, "You're absolutely right, guys with greasy hair, terrible with chicks, stoops as low as cheating to win, and still doesn't have their license. Yeah, i'm totally obsessed with you." He deadpanned, and if possible Frank's face got even more red as he stormed up closer to Jack so he was slightly towering over the shorter boy by a few inches

"You know what Jack." The Black Dragon growled, index finger jamming into the freshman's chest but the latter just regarded him with a calm expression

"If I didn't know any better I would think you are obsessed with Sidney by how much you mess with him. Is there something you need to tell us Frank?" That seemed to be the last straw for Frank as he reared his fist back aiming to punch Jack

Jack being the skilled karate student he was, swiftly dodged the punch, grabbed the arm and pushed him towards his Black Dragons minions. The Black Dragons were quick to catch their leader, who junior leveled the freshman with a deadly glare and pushed himself off his followers, aiming to attack Jack who was already in a fighting stance. It wasn't Jack's goal to provoke Frank into fighting, but he if it came down to it, he doesn't mind, it was only a matter of time before it happened. On the dojo mats or in the streets, Frank was the impulsive type of person who spoke with his fist instead of using his words. Ryan quickly grabbed Frank before he launched himself at Jack, and Victor too followed as he grabbed hold of Frank's other arm.

"Frank, remember the reason you're out here." Ryan warned him as Frank continued to struggle in his grip while Victor almost lost his grip on the junior repeat

"Yeah Sensei Ty and your mom will be furious at you." Victor added and Frank finally stopped struggling, resigned to his defeat and Jack grinned triumphantly

"Yeah Frank you don't want to upset your mom." The freshman mocked in delight which seemed to annoy Victor as he let go of his leader to stand inches from his fellow freshman's face

"You know what Jack? I'm getting sick and tired of your macho man bullshit, Frank may not be able to beat your ass now but it doesn't mean me or the other Black Dragons can't." The freshman threatened and Jack just arched a brow

He only fought Victor in a karate tournament twice since Victor was a recent junior black belt, only earning it this summer. Victor wasn't an easy opponent but he definitely wasn't one of the list of top competitors he fought. Since he was a new junior black belt he wasn't skilled at holding a defensive stance or blocking quickly enough against him or Kim, but was good practice against Jerry, Milton, and Eddie.

"You seem so certain about that, do you need a trip down memory lane?" Jack reminded him condescendingly with a haughty grin which caused Vitor's left eye to twitch

"That was then, this is now let's do it, right here and see who loses." The Black Dragon challenged and Jack shrugged, if he couldn't fight Frank then he wouldn't mind fighting Victor. He was a Black Dragon as well, and any Black Dragon will suffice, they were all terrible, lying cheaters.

Ryan and Frank both watched the exchanged with rapid, interested as the former continued sucking from his straw while his eyes bounced back and forth between the freshmen. Jack heard footsteps crunching on the dirt as they neared the Black Dragons and him.

"What are you idiots doing?" Kim's sweet voice interrupted the growing tension as she came to stand next to her date. Jack saw Frank's eyes lit up as they raked over Kim's form

"Kim Crawford, you look sexy as always in that hot little number." Frank leered and Jack felt the blonde stiffen at the lewd comment while he himself turned his glare to the older boy

"Say that again I dare you and you won't be able smell or use your hands again." The blonde growled

"Kimmy, sweetie walk away and let us boys go back to out business." Ryan dismissed her and from the almost in sync freeze from both freshman boys and Frank, they all knew that that was a terrible thing to say to Kim

Jack finally tore his gaze away from Victor to cast a wary look at Kim to see her looking at Ryan with a scary calm expression with her lips stretched in some form of a smile,

"What did you just say to me?" The girl asked in a saccharine sweet voice with her smile frozen on her lips and Jack knew she was only seconds from snapping so he was internally debating whether to let that happen

"I said go away sweetheart, don't tell me you're one of those dumb blondes now." Ryan continued and that was the last straw

"I'll show you your sweetheart." Kim growled then went and lunged for the junior but Jack was quick to grab her waist, hoist her up and spun her around so her back was now facing the Black Dragons

"Okay lets go to the hayride now, yeah?" Jack tried to soothe her after he placed her back down on the ground but kept his left hand on the small of her waist to urge her away from their rivals

"Oh so now you're backing down Brewer?" He heard Victor's voice goad but Jack refused to take the bait

"It's always a pleasure with you two, i'll see you around Jack!" Frank added and Jack never felt so happy that karate taught him self control because he was aching to turn back around and punch all three of them

"I hate Ryan so much! I hate that crooked nose, Axe loving Ryan Stewart so much! It's a surprise he gets as much action as he does considering he's basically a walking STD!" Kim ranted as they continued to walk away from The Black Dragons and near the hayride

Jack turned towards the girl curiously, "STD walking?" He asked

"Yeah apparently he hooked up with this girl from Creaton High who was known for getting around and he caught "The Clap'." Jack gave her a quizzical look as he tried to remember what 'The Clap was'. In seventh grade health class the most mature thing they learned was birthing and even then all they watched was animals give birth since they couldn't get all the parents to sign the permission slips to show human birthing

"Which one was The Clap again?" Jack question earning an exasperated look from Kim

"Gonorrhea." She answered and the couple passing by them who heard her gave her a disgusted look

"Oh, that's the one with the male...dripping." Jack spoke out loud as he struggled to find the right word, remembering when his mom sat him down for the sex talk in sixth grade and told him about all the different types of STD's and STI's

"Yeah along with the itching and burning." Kim added, her nose crinkling adorably but the boy knew if he told Kim that she'll probably scowl and hit him

"Isn't gonorrhea curable? If he has it why doesn't he just-well cure it?" Jack fumbled once again to find the right words to use

"He's probably too stupid to even know that." The blonde sneered cruelly before she crossed her arms over her chest

"Can we please stop talking about STDs', t's not exactly first date material talk." The boy asked albeit a little awkwardly, his cheeks flaming up as he spoke the last word

The skater was still processing the fact that he was finally on an actual date with his longtime crush, that he finally got the courage to ask her out and she said yes. It felt surreal and he wanted this date to be as close to perfect as possible.

"Yeah, of course." Kim was quick to agree and the two fell into silence that wasn't exactly awkward but not peaceful

The couple finally reached their destination and the line for the hayride was longer than before Jack left. They took their place at the end and Jack finally allowed himself to get a look at Kim's outfit; a purple dress a few inches above the knee was snug on her body while a brown belt was wrapped around her waist and black legging peeked out from underneath her dress. Black combat boots were on her feet and a black leather jacket completed the outfit while her usual honey blonde sleek hair fell down a few inches past her shoulders in loose waves. She looked beautiful as always but if possible maybe even more and the thought that he can finally compliment her out loud thrilled her.

"You look nice." as what came out of his mouth instead but it was closes enough, especially from the look on his date's face

A shy smile formed on his date's lips before she ducked her head, yep even though he didn't say beautiful it still caused the reaction he wanted.

"Thanks-uh you look nice too." Kim complimented back as her eyes did a quick scan over his outfit appreciatively

Despite not willing to admit this to anyone, Jack fretted over his outfit for his first date probably as much as girl's on their first date with their crush. He looked through magazines from his sister's and searched online about first date outfits for guys then finally came up with a perfect one. Dark washed jeans, with a black tee and blue plaid over shirt rolled up to his elbows, lastly paired with his black high top vans and his usual shark tooth necklace.

"Why were you talking to Frank and his goons anyway?" Kim asked him, her body turning towards him with her face bright with curiosity

"I heard a cry of pain and apparently I'm the only person with human decency and went to check out what was going on." The boy in question informed her with bitterness seeping into his tone

"So what was going on?" Was the blonde's next question before the two moved up a few paces in the line, now only three groups ahead of them

"They were messing with Sidney, as per usual so I stopped it." Jack told her and Kim murmured her sympathy

"Poor kid can never catch a break." She sympathized and her date nodded his agreement

"It's like they have nothing better to do then to try and make someone else's life miserable, it's pathetic." He ranted angrily as his hands curled into fists

Kim shrugged, "That's basically the motto of the Black Dragons, make other people's life miserable, they're sadists. It's not like we can control them so it's better not to obsess over them. Just focus on what we can control." She gave him another one of her shy smiles before slowly reaching out and grabbing one of his fist as she uncurled them before lacing her fingers with his

"Us, and if we have a good time." She finished and just like that all thoughts of Frank and the Black Dragons dispersed and instead zeroed in on the smaller set of fingers interlaced with his as he copied the move

"You're right, let's just focus on having a good time." Jack agreed and slowly brought his eyes up to meet the blonde's and they both shared a shy, intimate smile meant for just the other

Jack Brewer was finally on a date with the fiery Kim Crawford after spending two years pining over her. He should definitely be focusing on that, and on that he will.


"I can't believe we managed to fit into that shoebox." Sloane muttered as she piled out of the photo booth behind Ro and Remy because after the they spent around approximately hour and a half enjoying all that the fall festival had to offer Ro demanded that they go inside and take pictures to cement their newly formed trio

Sloane instantly shot the idea down because she she hates taking pictures of herself and having any time of attention on her, preferring to have attention away from her and being the one to take pictures. Ro of course continued to pester her about it, demanding they do it and even gave her puppy eyes which rivaled Ana's to which was more adorable and her resolved crumbled fast. Especially when Ro leaned on her shoulder and grabbed onto her wrist, overwhelming her senses of her coconut shampoo and the warmth of her soft skin, that the ninth grader agreed quickly just to get some space. Like Sloane thought they photo booth seat only had enough room for two people and she hoped that would've been the end of it but Ro solved the problem by deciding that she'll just sit in either Remy or her's lap. The Wasabi Warrior's heart instantly worked double time hearing those words and she felt a mild freak out coming as she feared having the tenth grader on her lap and what her reaction will be. She then felt even more worried for why she was worried about her reaction to an innocent gesture and pushed that thought into the same growing box she had for Ana out of fear for what the answer to that will be. Thankfully, the question was answered when she plopped down onto Remy's lap and slung an arm over his shoulder, cooling the ninth grader's growing freak out. After Ro was settled she swiveled her body so she was sitting sidewards on her best friend's lap and her legs were in Sloane's lap and met her unimpressed gaze head on, challengingly . Sloane just gave her an exasperated eye roll but didn't protest which pleased Ro who then informed them of their poses that they were going to do for the five photos that were about to be taken.

Despite being mildly annoyed at doing the whole photo booths thing, Sloane will admit that she was having a good time with the two vivacious best friends. After Ro dragged her away from taking pictures of Farrah and her friends she dragged her to ride the Ring of Fire then they went to the food truck to buy a funnel cake and meet up with Remy. The newly formed trio made it their mission to go on every single ride there was to offer and try out a few of the game booths all while Sloane made sure to keep taking pictures for yearbook of everything they did while Ro took pictures every once in a while. The next hour and a half was filled with offbeat banter from the two best friends as they went back and forth but also made sure to include the brunette in it so she won't feel left out. The pair were actually really funny and the longer she spent with them the more she learned about them which made her like them even more. She already knew that Ro was a flirt, that wasn't anything new but Ro having lewd humor, a love for comic books, a mild obsession with candy apples, as well as being very tactile was. Seriously, if the tenth grader wasn't constantly hanging off of Remy, who looked like he was used to it and gave the same energy back, she was hanging off of her and it drove her crazy. Every fleeting touch from her shoulder to her hands caused her stomach to feel weird and fluttery while her skin got goosebumps and suddenly sweaty so she always tried to subtly duck away from the infuriatingly touches with a blank face and thankfully Ro never seemed to be insulted by it or seem to notice. As for Remy the Wasabi Warrior learned that he was sarcastic, has a dry humor, has a habit of rambling, a love if comic book movies as well, and underneath his free spirited persona was a cold and frantic edge. While he happily rambled on about his latest anecdote his eyes did a quick scan of his surrounding with cautiousness and mild fear. While he kept a huge grin plastered on his lips it didn't reach his eyes and his right hand kept constantly creeping rubbed his lower stomach unconsciously. The junior black belt figured his behaviour was connected to the reason he had to repeat freshman year since Remy was highly intelligent from the fact he was in mostly AP classes this year and their algebra teacher kept pushing him to take geometry instead but he kept finding excuses not to. Sloane will admit she's kind of curious to find out what was going on with him but figured it wasn't her place to ask since they weren't really friends, not really.

"I mean c'mon if you really think about, what's the difference? They both are liquid meals with chunks of food inside it." Remy argued before tearing a piece of cotton candy from the stick and popping it in his mouth

Ro rolled her eyes then smoothed out her dress to make sure there wasn't any wrinkles in it, "Sure but one it filled with hot liquid while the other is with cold substance, there's also the fact that one sometimes have meat and vegetables inside it." She argued back then grabbed the cotton candy stick from the buzz cut haired boy and copied his movements of tearing a piece of cotton candy from it and popping it between her blood red lips

"So? You can also but that in cereal." The freshmen repeat argued causing the girls to stop dead in their tricks and earning matching incredulous looks

"Who the hell puts meats and vegetables in their cereal?" Sloane asked and the boy in question shrugged unbothered

"I don't know weirdos? I know there's such thing as chicken and waffle cereal which is basically the same thing!" The boy in question argued this time earning perplexed looks as they began walking again

After leaving the photo booth the trio was now walking aimlessly around the festival since they rode on all the rides, tried out a few of the game booths before deciding they were rigged and stopped by the food truck to get their desired snacks. All that led them to where they were now and Sloane was proud of herself for not checking her phone for messages from Ana constantly but it was mostly because she never had a chance to breath since she was being dragged around by Ro to do the next thing she desired. She reminded her of Ana in that way, demanding and she wasn't entirely sure if that was a good or bad thing but she didn't want to dwell on it, and luckily she wasn't given the chance to.

"You're shitting me." The dancer immediately disregarded him with a shake of her long black mane but Remy shook his head

"I'm not, it's the truth, i'll show you." Remy told her then dug his phone out his back pocket and started tapping on his screen and Sloane felt an urge to pull her own phone out and check to see what Ana was doing. It's been long enough and she just wants to check up on her best friend, there's nothing wrong with doing that, right?

With her resolved strengthened, she pulled her phone out her phone to see that she had ten notifications shared between Facebook and Keek and ike she thought most of them were from Ana but three came from Ro. She went on Facebook and saw Ana in a group picture with Grace, Katie, and Lyndsey smiling on the carousel, Ana with Brett on the ferris wheel while she's kissing her cheek, Ana hugging a stuffed rabbit smiling, Ana again with Grace, Katie, Ember, and Tj on the hayride. Sloane felt her lips curl into a snarl at how fast Ana integrated herself into the bitch squad and that was the reason she hasn't texted her or tried to hangout for the entire time she was at the festival. Despite the hurt festering in her chest she continued to scroll through her feed because it felt like her fingers had a mind of their own. Next was Brett frowning with his face painted, Brett in mid throw of a dart, and another one of just Ana in front of the ferris wheel with a caramel apple posing with a huge grin on her face. The last picture caused Sloane's breath to catch in her throat at how beautiful she looked in that picture, how her eyes were filled with such happiness and how the lighting from the ferris wheel mixed with the setting sun painted the background and complemented Ana's caramel skin making her look even more beautiful than she thought was possible. It made Sloane boil with jealously that she wasn't the one to take that picture of her best friend caught up in a moment of pure, unsaturated happiness.

"Wow that it disgusting, who even came up with such an idea?" The tenth grader asked rhetorically

"Weirdos, but I still kind of want to try it." Remy replied back

"Same." His best friend agreed

"But that still doesn't prove any point." The tenth grader dismissed and the boy rolled his eyes in annoyance before landing on his fellow freshmen

"Jennings, what do you think?" He asked, snapping Sloane out of her thoughts, startling her a little as she tore her gaze from her phone

"Cereal isn't the same as soup." She told him and he growled in annoyance

"Yes it is! You two just don't have any type of imagination to see it." Remy declared and Ro patted him on the shoulder

"No the real problem babe is you have too much." She cooed and he just glowered

"For that you get no more cotton candy." He decided with a nod of his head causing Ro to gasp dramatically

"What? No Remy." The duo then started going back and forth and Sloane tuned them out as her thoughts went back to Ana

It was normal to feel the way she felt about the last picture, and to think that her best friend was absolutely beautiful, right? Best friends compliment each other all the time

"Hey Remy." A deep male voice called out drawing the entire trios attention

The guy was hispanic and looked to be in his late teens to early twenties with brown skin, shoulder length brown hair, and a goatee. He had a lean built with his growing muscles covered by a faded threadbare band shirt while his legs were clothed in jeans and converse were on his feet. His eyes were locked in Remy's direction and Sloane gave Remy a curious looked and was shocked to see the buzz cutt's teen reaction to the hispanic; his skin paled dramatically while his eyes were wide as saucers and the cotton candy stick in his head dropped to the dirt ground.

"You look better than the last time I saw you." The hispanic man continued, giving him a slow once over which only seemed to cause Remy to cower and a small sound escaped his lips

Ro's gaze hardened on the hispanic and quickly went into action grabbing Remy's forearm and started dragging him away. Sloane looked between the two people wondering what the older guy wanted with Remy.

"C'mon let's go." In a quick sprint she urged him towards the direction of the hayride on the left

The Wasabi Warrior gave the hispanic man another curious look before chasing after the duo to keep up with them as questions raised inside her head but knew that this wasn't the time for it. After Ro turned behind one of the many game booths only this time it was by the port a potty and Remy seemed to finally snap out of whatever frozen trance he was in and started hyperventilating as he slid down to the ground with shaky hands and Ro quickly slid to the ground next to him and started coaching him through his panic attack? Was this what a panic attack looks like?

"Shh, it's okay, you're okay Remy, you're not back there anymore. Focus on your hands okay, count how many fingers you have with me, can you do that? One..." Ro continued to try and soothe the boy while Sloane just stood there awkwardly not really knowing what to do and kind of feeling like she was intruding on a personal moment

She was so confused about what just transpired as so many questions circled in her head; first and foremost who was that guy? What did he do that hurt Remy so badly he sent Remy in a panic attack? Did this have to do with him repeating ninth grade? And why did this feel like some daytime teen soap opera? Sloane pressed her lips together to keep the questions at bay because she knew no matter how curious she was it wasn't her place to ask since she barely knew the two and if it was as personal as she thought, it was too early in their friendship to ask.

"Six, seven, eight, nine, ten." Remy recited in slight off beat unison as he struggled for breath but he was breathing more easier now which was a good thing

Ro continued rubbing soothing circles in his shoulder as she gave him a smile, "Good that's good, you're doing great." She praised

Remy inhaled another breath before leaning his head back to rest against the booth behind him and he closed his eyes,

"I thought I was done with these panic attacks." The freshmen repeat mumbled and Ro made a sympathetic noise

"It's normal to have them it wasn't even a whole year ago." The raven haired girl consoled him but he just shook his head

"I just want this to be over." Remy mumbled and Ro made another sympathetic noise

Sloane continued standing there awkwardly shifting her weight back and forth between her feet, not knowing if she should leave or not since this seemed very personal. As if on cue her text notification went off which drew attention from the duo and she gave them a somewhat sheepish look

"Uh sorry I'll just go and give you two some privacy." Sloane told them as she slowly pulled the phone out her pocket

Ro opened her mouth to say something but Remy beat her to it, "No it's fine, we completely forgot that you were even here." He assured her then stood up

"You're probably wondering what the hell was that all about and who was that guy." Remy continued with a forced laugh and Sloane nodded in honesty

"You're right but I didn't want to say anything since that's considered rude." The brunette girl told him with Ana's voice ringing in her ears reciting that same exact thing multiple times

"Long story short he was the best friend of a guy who used to make my life a living hell." The buzz cut guy summarized with a tight smile

"Was this guy the same one who's part of the reason you repeated last year?" Sloane boldly asked because even though it was probably inappropriate and slightly rude Sloane never was one who had social etiquette or knows when to keep her mouth quiet

She met his gaze head on and he nodded, "Yeah, one of the reasons." He answered

"But I don't want to talk about my sad, pathetic, life. I'd rather go and paint a fucking pumpkin." The freshmen continued with conviction and Ro nodded

"Okay let's do-" Ro was interrupted when her notification went off and she brought her phone out of her bra and her face downcast

"Crap, okay I can't sorry I need to meet up with the dance team, we're about to go on soon." Ro informed Remy apologetically but he nodded in unconcern

"That's okay, Jennings will just go with me." He told the tenth grader and Sloane arched a brow

"I am?" She questioned and Remy nodded

"You are, knock him dead on stage." He told Ro who was still looking at her best friend in uncertainty

"You're sure you're okay?" The raven haired girl questioned him in concern and the boy in question nodded

"I am." He promised her but he still looked unsure so he sighed a deep breath

"Okay i'm not yet but I will be." Remy corrected and finally Ro nodded her head

"Okay, but if you need anything-" She began

"I know,you'll be there and I can count on you now give me your camera. You don't want to break it dancing." He finished with a exasperated smile and the girl obeyed handing it over to him

"I love you." She told him

"I love you more." He said back then leaned over to peck him on the cheek and with a wave she walked away leaving SLoane with Remy

"You know if I didn't know you were gay I would think you and Ro are a couple." Sloane told him and he chuckled

"If we've had a nickle for how many times we heard that." Remy snorted exasperatedly but a fond smile was on his lips as he started walking and Sloane followed

The freshman repeat then turned towards the girl, "I figured people say the same thing about you and Ana." he commented casually

Sloane froze for a brief second before forcing herself to keep walking and sobering her expression to a blank one while her mind reeled at the words. Do people really think that Ana and her are dating? Sure they were kind of clingy to each other but that was only because there was only each other for most of their lives since Sloane couldn't really stand people and Ana had such a demanding personality that people either hated her or loved her. They were a package deal, you want one you get the other and everyone knows that but she never thought of anyone ever thinking they were more. She wasn't sure what she thought about that but the scary thing is she wasn't sure if that was really a bad thing, should that be a bad thing? At that quick, invasive thought she pushed it down, yes that was a bad thing, a really, really bad thing, right?

"Out of all the things you could be doing, you really want to paint a stupid pumpkin?" The Wasabi Warrior questioned, wanting to change the subject and stop her thoughts from going down the rabbit hole out of fear of what will be at the end of it.

"It's not a stupid pumpkin, every pumpkin deserves a good home and to be loved and cherished." Remy countered, pointing a finger at Sloane

Sloane arched a brow, "Love and cherished until it rots?" She remarked

"Yes until it rots then it'll find a new home in the garbage dump. Plus as a bonus I won't have to go pumpkin shopping for halloween." He finished with a grin

"You're weird." Sloane commented causing Remy to laugh as he took no offense to the words

"I know." he informed her, doing a quick spin while lifting his hands causing his shirt to ride up revealing a deep , long scar that was horizontal crawling up his right side

Sloane arched a brow in shock at the scar, "How'd you get that?"

Remy's face sobered at that, "Oh uh don't worry about it," he mumbled as he quickly looked away

The brunette was curious about his sudden switch of attitude and wondered if that scar had anything to do with his freakout at seeing the hispanic guy. She was about to open her mouth to ask when a familiar voice called out to her,

"Hey S!" Ana's voice rang through the air causing her to look to her left to see her best friend holding hands with Brett while her free hand had a half eaten soft pretzel. Of course Sloane's fucking luck Brad was also with them and lit up like a fucking christmas tree when his eyes landed on her, shit.

"Ana." Sloane greeted her in a deadpan manner despite trying to muster up some fake enthusiasm that she just couldn't find. She just spent the last ten or so minutes slightly worrying over Ana but now that she's coming her way, hand in hand with Brett fucking Parker, she'd rather go back to not seeing her. She can't explain why the sight infuriated her so much but she wanted nothing more than to force their hands apart and go back to the days when she didn't have a one track mind on him or the bitch squad.

"I was hoping to run into you at some point." Ana continued with her usual perkiness and illuminating smile once she got closer to her and Sloane had to work hard to keep her facial expressions in check

If you really wanted to hangout you would've tried to text me, was on the tip of her tongue. The brunette beauty knew it was true, instead of kissing Grace and the bitch squad's ass she would've made it her priority to hangout with her instead and do their usual routine at the fall festival, but no. She does suppose though it does work both ways, and Sloane could've tried to text her as well. Her excuse was she was afraid that if she did Ana would force her to hang with Brad as well and most definitely try and find a way to get her and the blonde boy alone. Sloane would rather listen to jackass and Carlson compare dicks in the dojo than spend alone time ken doll, he wasn't a complete douche she just didn't feel comfortable being alone with someone who's Grace's bitch and who falls for someone too quickly.

"Is that so." Was what Sloane replied with instead keeping her face the same impassive expression

"Totally, hey Remy how are you?" She greeted the buzz cut haired boy with the same peppy energy and Remy smiled right back at her

"Miss Walters hello to you too! And I'm great thanks for asking." Remy enthused then his brown eyes flittered over to the boys standing next to her

"Brett Parker and Brad Wolfe pleased to meet your acquaintance." The mole speckled teen continued and Sloane tried to cover a snort at the bemused look on the two freshmen boys faces

Brad, of course, was the first one to recover, "Hey, pleased to meet your acquaintance too. How do you know our names? I don't remember meeting you before." The blonde politely asked causing Remy to laugh

"No we haven't met before but you guys are both part of The Elite and not to mention, you're also part of one of the founding families. I'm pretty sure everyone at the school at the school knows who you and Parker are." Remy explained with a shrug

Brett seemed to grow increasingly uncomfortable which pleased Sloane more than it should.

"Okay." The spiky haired teen said, drawing out the word and sparing a quick glance at Brad before sobering his expression

"So what were you guys about to do?" Brad piped up, swiftly changing the subject in his usual laidback manner with an easy smile as he looked between Remy and Sloane

"We were about to go paint a pumpkin, well I was Jennings here is probably going to just stand there and judge." The freshman repeat answered and Sloane nodded in agreement with the last statement. She definitely was going to do that, there's no point in lying.

"That sounds like her." Ana teased with a chuckle

"Well I understand if you guys want to steal her, especially you little Wolfe so i'll just go by myself-" Remy offered as he started walking away but panic flared up in the brunette girl's chest

"No!" She exclaimed as her hands shot up to grab the boy's arm to stop him

Eight pairs of eyes looked at her with matching quizzical expressions at her sudden outburst, "I mean it wouldn't be fair to leave you alone since I was hanging out with you first and you told Ro that we were going to paint a pumpkin." Sloane quickly tried to backtrack cooly but made sure to keep her grip on the boy's arm in case he tried to escape

"Ok,I understand. So Remy would you mind if we tag along?" Brad asked and Sloane was about to answer for him, that yes, yes he would mind a lot but the boy in question bet her to it

"No, it's totally fine. The more the merrier." Remy assured him then pulled his arm out of Sloane's hands and continued walking towards his destination

Sloane muttered a string of curse words under her breath then worked her jaw before putting on a fake front of happiness when Ana and Brett turned to look at her.

"Yeah, let's get going." She forcefully enthused


"After the majority vote we finally decided on what the fall production should be-The Addams Family! Despite majority vote though Anastasia wasn't happy about it at all, she was pouting and complaining for the rest of the meeting since she wanted it to be some other musical. She's just as dramatic as Rachel Berry in fact she's like a Rachel Berry and Jesse St. James love child, I can already tell the next month and a half is going to be challenging." Kim informed Jack as they walked away from the last ride

Only Jack wasn't paying attention, his gaze was drilled on Brody a few feet away from them making up a small group with Grace, Ember, Tj, and Lorie. The new Wasabi Warrior looked to be living his best life, laughing, smiling and fitting in seamlessly with the most popular group of teenagers at school. And of course he does, because Brody Carlson is such a cool guy that he fits in with everyone and everyone wants to be his friends since he's a golden boy. That's what everyone thinks, they don't know that he's actually a two faced, hypocritical jerk that has no problem stepping on others in order to get to the top. On second thought, it's no wonder he fits right into The Elite so well, he has that in common the majority of the group, minusing Katie, Ember, Rose, Cara, Brett, and Brad who are the only nice people in it.

The blonde girl finally seemed to realize that she wasn't being listened to and rolled her eyes in annoyance at her date. This wasn't the first time this night that he zoned out on their supposed date which was starting to make her think this date was a mistake.

"Jack!" She called out with annoyance clear in her voice only the boy didn't seem to her her, again

Growing more irritated she punched him in the arm causing Jack to yelp in pain but she finally got his attention, "Ow! What the heck?" He demanded as he turned an accusing glare to her

Kim met his gaze head on with a daring look in her brown eyes,"Did you hear a single thing I was saying to you Brewer?" She challenged him then crossed her arms over her chest for the full effect

The boy's in question anger quickly dissipated into a sheepish look as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment while he looked away. Kim had a point, he didn't even know what she was saying or that she was talking at all if he was being honest.

"Sorry I was just-" Jack began

"Staring holes into Brody's face?" Kim finished with her tone still clear of her unimpressed annoyance and Jack's embarrassment flushed further

"Yeah." He admitted while his gaze traveled back over to his rival who was laughing it up with Grace

"He just makes me so mad, can you believe that he's brown nosing The Elite over there?" Jack snarled in anger as his hands balled into fists

It was disgusting that, that jerk was over there worming his way into the group, the same group that Eddie was dying to get into. Not to mention it looked like that he was getting on just fine with Grace, the same Grace that Eddie was in love with and was trying to come up with ridiculous ways to woo her. Of course Brody got along with her greatly so it will probably only be a matter of time until Brody has her in his clutches and the two get together.

"Who cares? Obsessing over him is only giving him what he wants, power." The blonde retorted with a roll of her eyes that Jack didn't see

Only Kim's last comment finally swung his gaze back over to his date with alarmed eyes, "I'm not obsessing over him!" He denied

Kim just rolled her eyes again, "This is the third time you mentioned him when we were supposed to be focusing on us." She shot back

The shaggy haired boy furrowed his brows together, that's an exaggeration, he would've remembered it, "You're lying." He accused

"Oh really? 'Ugh look at Brody showing off at the strength test!', "There's Carlson flirting with that girl, disgusting'" Kim recited in her best Jack imitation with a lowered voice and scowl

The shaggy haired boy opened and closed his mouth as he tried to come up with a reply to that but coming up short. Okay, he'll admit that sounded familiar but he was just pointing out what Carlson was doing since he seemed to be popping up wherever they go.

"I-I don't sound like that!" Was the best that he could come up with since he realized he didn't have a good response to that

"What you sound like is obsessed, I'm starting to think that you have a crush on him instead of me." Kim's gaze continued to hardened the longer she stared at him

Jak's nose wrinkled and matched her hardened gaze with one of his own at her comment, "Don't make jokes like that, that's not funny at all." He all but growled out

Kim met his sudden burst of anger head on with a calm expression, "Who's says it's a joke? You've hardly paid me any attention the entire time we were together, it's either Brody this or Frank that."

The urge to reply with something snappy was on the tip of his tongue but staring into her eyes that burned with with anger instead of the infatuation that was there just a little over fifteen minutes ago. This was supposed to be their first official date after two years of pining over each other but instead of enjoying it like they-he was supposed to, they were fighting. This wasn't what he wanted, he wanted to be enjoying his time with the girl he was hopelessly taken for and not fight with her. That wasn't what this night was supposed to be, it was supposed to be one of the best night's in his whole fourteen years of living but yet here he was, ruining it.

The shaggy haired brunette boy heaved out a deep breath before running a hand through his hair in exhaustion. All his past anger suddenly drained from him once he came to the realization.

"You're right, i'm sorry, I haven't been a very good date at all." Jack apologized sincerely then dropped his hands to his sides

Kim seemed a little surprised at the sudden of attitude and apology but recovered quickly, only arching a brow and keeping her arms crossed, "Are you now?" Her voice was neutral

The boy in question nodded, "Yes, I haven't paid you the attention you deserve, i've been a spacey idiot. Let me make it up to you, I'll win you the biggest prize at one of the game booths." He suggested and the shorter girl snorted

"You think that'll make it up? A stupid stuffed animal that probably cost ten dollars at Walmart?" She scoffed with a roll of her eyes

Jack just grinned playfully, "Well if I don't win the biggest stuffed animal than you can ditch me and we never have to do this again, and even if I do win the animal and you don't want it, you can give it Belle." He proposed

Kim narrowed her eyes while pursing her lips in thought which Jack secretly thought was adorable but he knew voicing it will end in him losing a limb. She seemed to be considering it but not fully on board so he decided to push it a little further,

"Unless of course you're not up for it." He casually commented while smirking on the inside because he knew how Kim will react to it

And of course Kim being Kim didn't disappoint,

Her eyes narrowed to slits while her pink cupid bow mouth formed into a scowl, "Excuse me?"

Jack worked hard to keep his face neutral, "You know unless you're not up for it because you're afraid that i'll win and you have to put up with me longer." He continued

Kim is of course now more worked up than ever, "Let's change this deal, instead of it coming down to if you getting the biggest prize it'll be if you get the biggest prize before me. We'll both compete and if I win then I can ditch your ass and you have to buy me coffee for two weeks." She proposed with a mischievous smirk of her own

Jack considered that and had a small spark of panic that he might lose and that this'll be over before it began but pushed it away. He contented himself with the fact that it'll be worth it from the daring look in Kim's eyes and just how beautiful she looked.

"Then we have a deal." Was what he finally said at last and Kim gave him a shark grin

"Great let's go." She ordered then turned on her heel, blonde hair barely missing his face by inches. Jack followed her like the infatuated fool he was.

She headed straight for the Ring Toss with the bored looking twenty something guy who looked seconds from falling asleep. The couple handed over the correct amount of tickets then was each handed ten rings. Jack snuck a look at Kim, she had a determined look on her face she always got when she set her mind to it that he always thought was secretly adorable. He knew better than to confess that to her because he wanted to to keep all limbs for graduation and beyond.

"Are you ready?" He asked her in a playful tone ready to start the game

The look she shot him reminded him of when they went toe-to-toe at the Gamer's Lair early in the summer. A look of pure tunnel vision determination, showing she would bulldoze anyone in her way.

"Ready as ever pretty boy." She snarked then turned her full attention to the glass bottles in front of her

With narrowed eyes she surveyed the bottles for a minute or two before raising her and, aiming and throwing her first ring. Jack watched her, his eyes full of admiration for the fiery girl next to him. Whenever she gets worked up it makes Jack fall a little bit harder for how cute she is. The blonde, finally noticing that the taller boy next to her wasn't playing, shot him an impatient look.

Huffing out a breath she snapped at him, "C'mon Brewer those rings aren't going to throw themselves."

The shaggy haired boy just smirked but obeyed as he turned his attention to the game at hand, "I thought I was pretty boy?" He teased then threw his first ring, ignoring the look Kim shot him

The ring skipped over a few bottles before slipping through the cracks between the bottles. Undeterred, he grabbed another ring to try again gaining the same result. He huffed in annoyance.

Kim, already on her fifth ring with no such luck of earning a goal, shot him a look.

"What? It's not as easy as you thought?" She taunted before throwing another ring

"No it's not." Jack admitted as he grabbed another ring and tried to come up with another angle

"Wow are you telling me that the amazing Jack Brewer is finally going to lose at something?' She mocked with a glint in her eye when she looked at him

Taking it in stride he gave her a puzzled look, "Do people actually call me that? I prefer something like The Amazingly Handsome Jack Brewer." He thought aloud, mostly joking with a playful grin

Kim scoffed, "You are so full of yourself, and totally sucking at this game."

"Maybe to both." He agreed then threw another ring with zero success

"Besides, you're not fairing any better." He pointed out and she just stuck his tongue out at him

"Shut up." She said with no heat, now up to her seventh ring

Jack himself was on his fifth, "You know I never thought about what we should do if we both lose." He commented

The blonde glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "Admitting defeat?" She fake gasped earning an exasperated look

"No, i'm just making an observation." He corrected eyeing his remaining four rings

"Then there's nothing you should worry about." She told him without taking hey eyes off of the bottles, gearing up for throwing her remaining two rings

The brunette boy let it drop to instead focus on trying to score a goal. The two continued on with their game without talking until about ten minutes later after Kim used all her rings and Jack was on his last one. Kim stood close enough to him that her jacket was brushing against his arm and he could smell her perfume, it was very distracting.

"Well this it it Jack, are you gonna make it or are fail?" She wondered out loud, wanting to add more pressure and make it more dramatic

He rolled his eyes but did try to zero in his focus on making one goal with his last ring. He tried to use of his karate techniques but his mind kept focusing instead on his date standing extremely close next to him. He shook his head trying once again in vain to focus and make a goal, raising his hand then angling his wrist he threw the last ring. It bounced off some of the bottles then skipped and spun around one bottle neck until slipping into the cracks and eventually falling like all the others. Before even having a chance to feel sad he jumped in surprise by the loud voice of Kim next to him.

"And boom! The great Brewer fails." She exclaimed with delight in her voice, Jack turned to face her then glared half-heartedly at her

"You were distracting me." He defended himself and she just raised a brow and crossed her arms

"So you're blaming me for failing? What was I even doing?" She challenged

"Standing so close to me that I can't focus on anything else." He admitted in a rush realizing how embarrassing that was while a blush crept up his neck

His date looked startled before doing her signature lip bite as a shy smile formed on them and a blush of her own colored her cheeks. There was a pause between them for a few seconds as they soaked in what's been said.

"Oh." Was what she finally said and Jack nodded shyly

"Yeah." He added

The blonde cleared her throat, "So um, what should we do since neither of us won?" She asked belatedly

The boy in question shrugged, "I dunno, I guess play other games until someone finally does win?" He suggested, sticking his left hand out as an invitation

The girl smile, easily slipping her hand into his and intwining their fingers, "Sure, that sounds good." She agreed then the two walked off


By the time Sloane was walking towards the set up stage near the center of the festival, she was ready to punch someone or scream her head off. The entire time they were at the pumpkin painting area Brett and Ana were caught up in their own little bubble, constantly touching each other and flirting like they're the only people in the world. Brad kept trying to make conversation while Remy was caught up in his pumpkin painting, determined to quote, 'Have the pumpkin be the coolest of all the others.' so he was a weird one which was probably why Sloane liked him. She forced herself to focus on the task at hand; helping Remy paint a pumpkin because if she does that then she won't be focused on her best friend. Not that she was spending too much time focusing on Ana and her budding relationship more than she should because that would imply many different things. Things that could get awkward and draw stares and makes Sloane nervous which she absolutely hates to be because that makes her weak and vulnerable. Besides, Remy liked the help and started rambling about how the three of them, Ro, Sloane, and him will be the pumpkin's adoptive parents up until November first and was throwing name ideas for it. Brad tried to help like the little saint he was, listening to Remy's ramble and even pitching in a few name ideas, not seeming to mind that his best friend was too caught up in Ana to notice him.

After the pumpkin ("Hugo! With a name like that he will not be a wimp.") was finally painted and dried it was time to head for the center area of the fairgrounds where the stage was at. Every year mayor Miller gave a long speech about how the festival was a greatly held tradition started by one of the founding families, the upcoming football season and Seaford on Parade and yadda, yadda, yadda she always tuned her out after that. It's basically the same shit she's been spewing ever since the brunette freshman was ten and completely unoriginal, Mayor Miller really needs to learn to spice it up. Only then again the mayor was probably busy with doing mayor-esque things like signing papers, passing laws, or whatever the hell it is that mayors do. Plus on top of that she was busy with her husband and five children family which included Katie from the bitch squad because of course her mom's the mayor being from the one of the founding families and all. From where the quintet was able to push their way through it was close enough to the stage that they can see it without having to get on the tips of their toes but to a point where they have to look over the shoulders in front of them. From where Sloane got a good look at the mayor and noticed for the first time how much Katie resembles her mom- same dirty blonde hair, cupid bow mouth, olive skin, upturned nose with emerald green eyes, and slim body. It wasn't that the Wasabi Warrior spent loads of time watching Katie like a creep or anything it was just when the two of them are in close proximity of each other Sloane's chocolate brown eyes wandered over to her and admired her beauty. There wasn't anything weird about admitting when someone else is pretty even if they are of the same sex because it was objectively speaking, objectively she thinks that Katie is a very beautiful person. It's even better that her insides matched her outside so she was beautiful inside and out which is a lot more than what her clique members can say.

"Same speech over again gets tiring huh?" Brad spoke into her left ear causing her to turn her head and raise a brow

Remy stood on the right side of Sloane currently babbling on about something to Ana while Brett was talking to someone next to him.

"Wow, golden boy is complaining about something, hell must be freezing over." Sloane teased, happy to focus her attention back on teasing the Elite member

Said boy rolled his eyes, "You make it seem like i'm some android version of a perfect boy instead of a real one." He commented with an annoyance tinged voice which only spurred the brunette on more, happy to see cracks in his golden boy persona

Her eyes gleamed with mischief as she stared him down, "I mean are you not? You're a church boy right? You probably say sorry for voicing your opinion that's different from others and help old ladies cross the street." She continued with a smirk

Brad jutted out his chin, meeting her gaze head on with a defiant look in his eyes. "I'm not that perfect, I have flaws too and am more than meets the eye." He shot back causing Sloane to snort

"Sure, let me guess, you don't pray every nice or sometimes think mean things about people?" The idea that Brad has some type of dark side and not just a Ken doll look alike was hilarious

"No, I can break the rules and do more than read the bible or go to church." He informed her and Sloane just rolled her eyes again

"I'm serious, in fact I can prove it to you. Come to the Founder's Party with me October twelveth." He proposed causing the brunette to arch a brow

This conversation certainly took a turn, she looked at him with a confused look, "I'm sorry?"

This time Brad was the one to smirk, "Yeah, you know the annual heritage display held every year. Come to it with me and i'll prove to you that there's more to me than you think." Of course she knew about the annual Founder's Party and Heritage Display, it was some stupid event held at the Miller's mansion that all the founder family's go to and everyone else makes a big deal about it

"Why would I want to go to a sorry excuse for a party where adults just stand out and talk about old artifacts? Also how does that prove you're not a plastic ken doll?" The Wasabi Warrior questioned

"You'll see if you go, my friends and I found a way to entertain ourselves and I promise it'll be worth your while." The blonde boy replied ever so vague

Sloane debated her options, the idea of hanging out with the bitch squad at a lame, stuffy adult party sounded nauseating. Still, Brad wants to prove to her that he was somewhat interesting and she was curious about finding out what he thought was cool and was ready to tease him mercilessly. Besides, it wasn't like she had anything better to do unless rewatching Dexter with her dad while munching on assorted junk food counted.

"That's a pretty big promise there Wolfe, I'm not sure you can keep it." She replied coolly and Brad smirk just grew wider

"I'm confident that I can." He replied back then the two lapsed in silence and stared at one another while the cacophony of the festival roared on in the background

Sloane broke eye contact in favor of turning back towards the direction of the stage where finally, Mayor Miller was reaching the end of her speech. "Now it's time for some fun celebration, Give it up for the Seaford High Dance team!" The mayor led the crowd to applause which Sloane reluctantly joined in on only for Ro

An ensemble of teenagers in matching blue and gold sparkly outfits filled the stage walking in synchronization as they got into their starting position. The majority of the team were girls who matched Ro's outfit- a short sparkly blue dress- while the limited males wore gold pants and a solid blue shirt with Seaford printed in white across their chest. The brunette freshman sought out her tenth grade friend and quickly located her on the far right side, waiting for the song to begun but her icy blue eyes met Sloane's brown ones and gave her a wink then bowed her head like the rest of her teammates. Once again that caused a weird feeling to bubble in her chest that confused and, if she's being honest, scared her, but luckily she didn't have time to dwell because Remy shouted loudly and excitedly next to her.

"Whoo! Go dance team but mostly Ro, you're amazing!" The buzz cut teen shouted enthusiastically while jumping up and down while clapping, gaining a few strange looks which he pointedly ignored

Brad shot him a look of bemusement which Ana matched on his left side, "I would do the same thing if it was any of my friends on stage." The blonde boy shared

Sloane shot him a quizzical look, "Really? Wouldn't that upset a few people ad we know you don't like doing that." She replied in a slight mocking tone

It earned her an exasperated look, "Like I said before you don't know everything about me, when it comes to my friends I don't care." He declared and she nodded in slight exaggeration, not completing buying it

The music began so the brunette girl turned her attention back towards the stage to watch the dance team begin to move in unison to the upbeat song blaring. Two members began dancing in synchronized hip hop moves to the music, showing off their dancing abilities and flexibleness before more of their teammates joined in, one of them being Ro. The Raven haired beauty moved with grace and an ease like the moves came second hand to her, this was the first time she saw her dance and Sloane was mesmerized. She noticed the Latino looking guy from the dojo also on stage moving smoothly along side Ro, he was surprisingly good at dancing which is a vast improvement in his karate skills. Well actually he has great potential to be better at the sport the only thing missing was his lack of focus and dedication, which he seems to put into dancing. A quick glance to her left showed Remy with holding his phone out to film the team while Ana was watching them with an enrapt gaze. Sloane's eyes softened watching her best friend watch the show, it was like everything else disappeared and all that was left was the two of them and the real show was Ana. The lighting from the setting sun and the festival made Ana's caramel skin glow showcasing her soft features while her hair fell down her face in perfect waves. She was beautiful and it made Sloane fall even more in love than she already was. At that last thought the trance she fell into snapped and the realization finally hit her like a ton of bricks while her heart raced fast. In love, she was-she can't be-but she knew deep in her bones that it was true. Sloane Jennings was in love with her best friend, Anastasia Walters. Shit.


That's finally the end of a long chapter, Sloane finally came to a realization that was obvious to the readers. Don't know when the next chapter will be up but please leave a review and tell me how you liked this chapter.