Author's Note: I'm back after a bit of a break with the latest installment.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin it
Now onto the story
Bayview Mall, Falafel Phil's
Monday, October 15th, 2012
"I can't believe they did that! That was so badass, I'm honestly jealous. Honestly I'll never have the balls to pull that off." A fellow football player enthused
It was after football practice and Milton was invited by Brett to go eat with him and a couple of other teammates. The practice was one of the most brutal ones Milton has been through since the homecoming game is this Friday. Even though most of the student body is going to be more focused on the Varsity team, Coach Marmur still pushes junior varsity all the same. Milton ached all over and couldn't wait to get home and take a long ice bath.
"Now this Seaford on Parade week will be the best ever." Brett gushed before fist pumping Brad who was sitting next him
The whole talk of the school right now is a group of students breaking into Creaton High and stealing their flag last Friday. No one knows the exact group of people that broke in but it was heavily implied it was Grace and Ember were involved as well as a few other members of The Elite. Milton honestly thought the breaking and entering was stupid, as much as he loved Seaford and was a proud killer whale, he would never go as far as committing a crime for his school.
"Especially with The Foot as our secret weapon." Brad added, flashing Milton a grin
From where he sat across from him at the crowded table
Milton playfully rolled his eyes and got a few shoulder bumps from the players that he sat in between. For some reason that was his nickname on the team
"Playoff here we come!" Another teammate hollered then the group broke into cheers and excited shouts gaining a few dirty looks from customers sitting near them
Milton smiled at the group of his assembled teammates, when he first made the team he was afraid that he wouldn't fit in. Milton was a nerd and he wasn't like the stereotypical boy; he didn't make or laugh at lewd jokes, wasn't girl obsessed, didn't crave sex or watch porn, and wasn't a sport fanatic. The only reason he joined the Bobby Wasabi dojo was because he wanted to stop bullies from picking on him. From what he saw on teen shows and movies jocks weren airheaded bullies that were obsessed with girls.
The ginger haired teen was a little ashamed to admit he worried that from what he's seen on tv he might see in real life. Thankfully, and surprisingly that was something he didn't really have to worry about. Most of the guys were friendly and weren't total airheads. There were a few locker room jokes and lewd comments about girls from a few of his team mates. Some of them made their disdain for him clear, they believed he didn't belong on the team despite being an excellent kicker. Milton ignored him, bullies weren't anything new and as long as he has a few friends, he's good.
"More like State!" A team mate exclaimed
"Hell yeah!" Brett enthused then high fived the team mate
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." An unfamiliar voice told the team as they neared the table
The ginger haired teen turned his head to see the owner of the voice. It was a fair skinned teen boy that looked to be around their age with spiky dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He was objectively handsome, but what caught Milton's attention was his red and whiteletterman jacket, Creaton's color. The boy wasn't alone, there was another lanky pale boy standing next to him wearing the same letterman jacket.
Brad regarded the two boys with his usual calm expression, "What makes you say that?"
"Let's just say Creaton isn't happy about the little stunt you guys pulled last Friday." Creaton boy said
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Seaford fb player
"Don't play dumb, we know a group of you Seaford whales stole back your flag and honestly i'm surprised it took you guys that long to do it." Creato fb
"Either way, some of the guys aren't happy about it and plan on making that clear. Especially now that the rivalry is back on." Craton fb
"And who are you, message boy?" Brett asked
"Ashton Carter, and this is my friend, Tanner Douglas consider this your warning." The spiky haired boy introduced himself
Milton coked his head to the side curiously, "Warning for what?"
"Retaliation for stealing your flag back." Tanner was the one who answered this time
"See you at the homecoming game." Ashton shot them a fake smile before leaving with Tanner not to far behind him
Seaford High
Media Center
Tuesday, October 16th, 2012
"This is it, this is the day." Eddie excitedly told Milton as he sat down at table his Scottish friend and girlfriend was at
Julie unabashedly rolled her eyes at the sight of him, "Ugh, you again?"
Eddie wasn't going to let her snide comments bother him right now, he was in a good mood and not even she can ruin it. She dressed in yet another outfit that was something she would use to never wear. Eddie thinks this outfit was inspired by 80s Madonna, for today's spirit week, Time Twister. She was wearing pink leggings underneath a multicolored cheetah print skirt and paired it with a black spaghetti strap tank top. To finish off the outfit she had black lace fingerless gloves on both hands and multiple plastic chain necklaces that were pink and blue. Her hair was crimped and puffy with a big multicolored bow on top. Eddie also saw a jean jacket draped across the back of her chair probably due to the unusual chilly California weather.
Milton looked up from the work he was doing to glance at his friend, he's been trying to finish his homework for AP Biology ever since he came inside the library for lunch. Only then Julie came and started talking to him about the upcoming Homecoming dance and all the plans she had for it. Milton tried to listen and do his work but that was proven difficult and now Eddie was going to tell him something. He might as well give up.
"What is today Eddie?" Milton patiently asked, setting his pencil down and closing his binder in defeat
"Today is the day I'm going to ask Grace to Homecoming!" He shared with a happy grin
Julie barked out a surprise laugh, "Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? Did you say you were going to ask Grace Overland to Homecoming?"
Eddie glanced at the brunette, "Yeah." He answered slowly
"Why would you embarrass yourself like that? She would never go with you, hell she wouldn't even go out with you. Or do you not remember the time you asked her out and she shot you down?" Julie questioned, voice drenched in scorn
Milton looked at his girlfriend as if he's never seen her before in his life with his mouth agape, "Julie!" He exclaimed
She shoots her boyfriend a look, "What? I'm just being honest" She argued before returning her gaze to Eddie, "She's so out of your league."
Eddie looked down at the table, memories of his failed attempt at asking Grace out filling his mind. Then even worse when Frank tripped him after he tried to leave with some dignity in tack. That went terrible, he wasn't going to pretend it wasn't, but it's okay because he'll try again. Grace was sweet about it, she wasn't a complete and utter terror like Lyndsey was. She said she wanted to date someone athletic and well known, well that's all he needs to do is get well known. Hence his band Ring Heart, once they became popular then Grace would look at him. He's already kinda athletic with doing karate and being Niles the Whale isn't an easy task.
"Trust me, I can't ever forget that," Eddie began, "But I can't let one bad thing bring me down. Grace will eventually want to date me. I just need to impress her, and my Homecoming proposal will." He finished confidently
Julie shook her head, "Then you're delusional." She decided, sitting back in her chair then crossing her arms
Milton shot his girlfriend a look, "Julie that's enough." He scolded her and the girl just rolled her eyes again
"What? Someone needs to give him a dose of reality since you won't." She defended herself
"What you're being is mean." The Scottish teen retorted in a stern tone, a tone Eddie hasn't ever heard him use on his girl
The couple stared at each other tensely for a few minutes. Eddie sat there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Should he leave them alone for a few? Go look at some books that he knows he won't read? Or should he say something instead? He's not good at being a mediator, preferring to have the couple work it out themselves.
Julie scoffed then finally broke their staring contest, "Whatever." She says, then started grabbing her things, "I don't need this. I'm going to find the girls." With that she left the table without a proper goodbye
Eddie watched Milton watch his girlfriend walk away with a crushed look on his face. Should he say something? He should probably say something but this is Jack and Kim's territory not his. He was never good at comforting others, he always says the wrong thing.
Milton finally tore his gaze away from his girlfriend to look at Eddie with an apologetic expression, "I'm sorry about Julie. She's just-she didn't mean." He trailed off
Milton looked helpless before staring down at his binder and biting his lip. Eddie's heart ached, he hated seeing his friend look so devastated and sad. Milton and Julie's relationship have been on the rocks ever since her transformation even though Milton didn't want to admit it. Now that she has a new, crueler, personality Milton stopped seeming as happy as he used to be. The couple have gotten in more arguments than they ever used to in the two years they've been together. They all miss the old Julie, the kind, compassionate, nice, Julie who was friends with all of them. Well maybe not KIm but she was at least cordial to her. If Eddie was being completely honest he might've even harbored a small crush on the former nerd (he'll deny it until his dying day).
"I don't know." The Scottish teen finished lamely with a shrug
Eddie smiled weakly at his friend, "It's okay Milton, you don't have to apologize for her."
His ginger haired friend shook his head in disagreement, he looked at the boy across from him with a pleading expression, "I feel like I need to. Ever since this school year started she's been different. But she's still the same Julie, my Julie underneath all the new personality. She's a good person still it's just-" Eddie reached over to place his hand over his friend's arm in a hopeful soothing manner
"I know Milton, I know." Eddie interrupted his friend's rambling, wanting his friend to calm down
The African American boy also knows that he has to say something that his friend doesn't want to hear, "I know you love her and I know you believe that but you have to face the truth eventually. Julie has changed and it's not for the better, she's cruel like Lyndsey level cruel."
Milton opened his mouth more than likely to protest the comparison but closed it before sighing and resting his head in his left hand. He knew it was true, the comparison wasn't far fetched, "She's just trying to broaden her horizons, change." He recited the same argument but it sounded weak to Eddie's ears, lacked the conviction he used to have
Eddie eyed him, debating his next words, "Well she certainly has. Just not sure it's for the better."
The Scottish teen didn't have anything to say to that. The two friends sat in silence for a few minutes as the quiet background chatter in the library filled the silence. Eventually Milton looked back at his friend and smiled weakly.
"So tell me about your plan."
Eddie slowly smiled, if Milton wanted to ignore the elephant in the room, then he'll follow his lead. "Okay so after school when cheer practice is over I'm going to serenade her."
Milton tilted his head to the side, confusion evident on his face, "Come again?"
Eddie leaned forward in his seat, happy to finally share his plan with something, "I wrote a song for Grace, well with Anastasia's help after I promised to give her a solo for the Halloween party. Once practice is over and the cheerleaders are doing their cool down exercise I will perform my song for her."
His plan is flawless and he's sure it'll impress Grace enough to agree to go to Homecoming with him. He took Jerry's advice about Grace going for guys that do things big to heart. He just hopes it's big enough that it'll make her look at him differently. If it doesn't go well, he'll always have Ember's Halloween party to impress her. Ring Heart auditioned a few weeks ago and they actually did well enough that she hired them. He wasn't sure who was more ecstatic, him or Anastasia.
Milton opened and closed his mouth a few times as he looked to be choosing his reply carefully, "Eddie don't you think that's a little...excessive? I mean serenading her at practice is really bold of you to do."
"Yeah it's excessive, definitely excessive," Eddie readily agreed with a nod, "That's the point, I'm trying to get her attention. Jerry says she's into flashy guys so that's what I'm gonna be."
"Are you sure you want to take advice from Jerry? You know he says stuff sometimes that end up being far from the truth." Milton pointed out
"Well considering he snagged himself a girl and is hanging out with that hot foreign girl, Mika and reaching second base, I'm a trust him."
Milton still looked hesitant but kept his mouth shut, knowing talking to him will be useless. "Okay Eddie just, don't say I didn't warn you." He picked his pencil backup and focused back on his homework
Eddie grinned confidently back at him, "It'll work you see. I will walk into Homecoming with Grace on my arm."
Seaford High
6th Period Civics
Milton couldn't stop thinking about what happened at lunch. Julie's inexcusable rude behavior towards Eddie before storming away. As much as Milton liked to kid himself and come up with excuses, Julie was rude. Along with a physical change she was also now cruel, no longer his sweet Julie that he fell in love with. The Scottish teen wanted nothing more than to ignore that and pretend she was just like she used to be but she wasn't. It was getting harder to ignore that as more things keep making it glaringly obvious- her makeover, new friends, extracurriculars, and of course attitude- yet still he loves her.
Despite everything Milton loves Julie and he wants to believe there is still his old Julie inside her. As much as she proves how different she is Milton loves her and wants to make it work with her. He knows he'll never be able to just dump her, even with every insult Julie gives, every hurt look on Eddie's face, and Kim's passive aggressive comments about her. Milton will just try to come up with excuses for her and apologize to anyone she offends.
"Hey, are you alright Milton? Milton? Earth to space cadet."
Milton startled then turned his head to see Nigel giving him a concerned look.
"Seriously you're zoning out in class. That's very unlike you, don't tell me you're turning into a full blown jock." Arthur teased from where he sat in the desk behind Nigel
Another strange thing that happened was after Nigel started talking to him and inviting him to hang out with his friends, Arthur became friendly. After the whole wrecking ball incident back in seventh grade with his dad wanting to tear their dojo down, they haven't run into the boy. Milton heard that after Arthur was caught breaking into the country club after hours his father had enough. He shipped him off to some rehabilitation program for his eighth grade year. He's apparently now a 'changed' boy and so far from the few interactions Milton had with him, he was more nicer. Arthur still thinks he's superior to people that's in a lower income bracket than him.
Milton shook his head, "No I'm fine, I was just thinking." He grabbed his pencil and turned his gaze back to the worksheet on his desk
Arthur wasn't going to let it go, "Well whatever it is, it's obviously bothering you."
Milton debated how much, if at all, he wanted to tell them. They were acquaintances, could possibly be his new friends. He's beginning to trust Nigel, he's a decent duy if albeit a little awkward, but Arthur he's wary about. Sure he hasn't done anything to prove his wariness (yet anyways) but there's history there.
"Relationship troubles." Is what the Scottish teen decided on
"Ah." Was Nigel's reply
"I see." Arthur added with a nod looking back at his own worksheet on his desk to begin jotting down answers
"Does these troubles have to do with Julie's new makeover?" Arthur questioned, eyes still on his worksheet causing Milton to raise his head sharply
Arthur shrugged but finally raised his head to look at Milton, "Just a guess."
Milton shifted uncomfortably in his seat, this conversation was going to be unpleasant. He was still on the fence about having this conversation but he guesses he could voice his concerns to them. They were unbiased, didn't know Julie personally like Jack and the others do.
The ginger haired boy fiddled with his pencil, choosing his words, "Well you're right about that. Ever since she had her makeover she's been acting differently. More uh well for lack of better words, rude."
Milton shot a quick look up to see that Nigel and Arthur were watching him, giving him their full attention. Milton flicked his gaze to the teacher and saw that she was busy typing on her computer, not paying her students much mind. He looked back down at his desk to start doodling on his papers. It was easier for him to talk about this stuff and he wasn't looking directly at them and had his hands busy.
"She says she's determined to become popular and doesn't seem to care who she has to drop to do it. She used to be best friends with this girl and now refuses to even talk to her. She's rude to one of my best friends and I'm constantly torn between wanting to defend her and wanting to stand up for him." It spilled out of him like a wave as if he was waiting to confess
There was a beat of silence but Arthur was the first one to talk, "Well it always boils down to the age old longing of popularity, huh? Everyone wants to be popular in high school."
Nigel nodded along in agreement, "It's really strange I don't understand why people care so much about being popular. It's high school none of it really matters in the end."
Milton pressed his lips together to keep from responding. It was easy for them to say that, specifically Arthur since they are popular. It wasn't on the same level as The Elite but as preps they are high on the social ladder. With their wealth and lavish lifestyle people are envious of them and what they have. They don't have to work for popularity and in a way Milton understands Julie for that. Still, he'll never agree that she needs to be mean to be popular, Grace wasn't.
"Now I don't have any experience in relationships or girls really besides Kandace and Skylar. But from my limited experience I think it depends on how much you love your girlfriend, Julie, right? And how much you're willing to do to be with her." Nigel offered
"I agree with Nigel, if you love her enough to put up with her 180 then you deal with it. If you don't then let her go it's that simple. This is high school, it's not like Julie is your forever love. If you guys break up then you break up." Arthur added
The Scottish teen knew in a realistic sense that Arthur was right, not a lot of relationships in high school last until marriage. Only in an emotional sense, he doesn't wanna believe that, he wants to believe Julie is it for him. Before the transformation it was easy to believe, his friends joked that Julie was the female version of him. Milton didn't agree with that, yes she was a nerd like him but she was different from him. Had her own interests that were different from his and made her her own distinct person. Now everything was different. Julie was a completely different person but Milton still loves her. Wants to believe that she's still the same deep down.
Milton nodded, "You guys are both right."
Arthur flashed him a cocky grin, "Of course we are. Now onto more important matters like the Pearl of Seaford Pageant today. You're going right?"
"Skylar's going to be competing. Even though she's already been to England, three times." Nigel added
"She does it for the glory of it all you know she loves attention. Also beating everyone else to feed her overgrowing ego." Arthur replied with fondness
Ah yes, the annual Junior Miss Pearl of Seaford Pageant. Around this time Kim divides her time between ranting how ridiculous it is and making fun of it. Julie dropped whatever ill feeling she has for Kim to also rant with her about the pageant. Now Julie was going to compete in it herself.
"Yeah Julie is going to compete in it so I have too."
"Awesome! I mean no offense but Skylar is most definitely going to win and if she doesn't your girlfriend is going to have a new enemy" Arthur cautioned
From the handful of times Milton's hung around Skylar he fully believed that. Skylar was a pageant girl and proudly boasted about all the awards she won throughout the numerous competitions she competed in. Julie has never competed in pageants- since she's just now deciding it isn't sexist- and was mainly doing it for the trip to England.
Nigel was done with the side conversation, "Okay now we can get back to our work. You know what we were supposed to be doing."
Milton nodded while Arthur rolled his eyes, "Okay dad." The prep snarked but listened and picked up his pencil to finish working.
The ginger haired teen glanced back up to eye his two new friends. Who would've thought the day would come where he could call Arthur a decent human being and actually enjoy his company. Or he would've made a friend of Nigel, he heard different rumors about the boy from he's stuck up because he doesn't talk to anyone outside his circle of friends to he's a weird quiet kid. Turns out he's just a bit awkward and shy but is actually really friendly. The preps get a lot of bad rep but from what he sees so far they're nice. He smiles before looking back at his work to finish too.
Author's Note: That's the end of this chapter, it's a weird way to finish but I couldn't think of anything better. Please leave a review and tell me how you like it!
