NeedNameRT: My headcanon for Brody being better than Jack is because in the Swan episode where Jack realizes Brody knows karate Brody broke 4 boards whereas Jack broke 3. That's literally it lol. But Brody's only slightly better than Jack, there's not a drastic difference.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin it or any characters you recognize

Now onto the story


Seaford High

Courtyard

Friday, January 11th, 2013

Kim nearly cried in relief when the last school bell rang. Unlike the rest of her classmates she was slow in packing her things up. She just didn't have the energy, this school day physically drained her. First week back from winter break was always an adjustment period. She told Kesley she didn't need to wait for her so the other girl left her in bio to go speak to the leader of her creative writing club. Kim trudged out of the class, over to her locker, and then out of the school. She then sulked over to the first empty table in the courtyard and flopped down. She dropped her backpack down next to her then threw her arms onto the table and face planted into them.

The blonde beauty missed winter break. She missed the resort and it's cute village, skiing in the snow, watching Christmas movies while curled up by the fireplace, she missed it all. It was a nice getaway, a nice distraction from her life. Only now it's back to reality. Back to schoolwork, babysitting Bella, grueling gymnastic and karate practices, and dealing with two confusing boys. The same two confusing boys she's been dealing with since seventh grade; Jack and Brody.

Ever since Big Bear things between Brody and her have actually improved. She finally allowed herself to stop being so suspicious and rude to him and instead be friendly. Still on her guard but she's nice to him and welcoming or as welcoming as she can be when she's still slightly suspicious of his motives. But Brody still hasn't cracked. He's been as kind and patient as ever, that Kim is actually starting to believe he's actually being sincere. That brings another whole set of complications. If Brody is actually sincere what does she do with that? How does she deal with that? Especially considering his prickly relationship with Jack.

Jack was a whole different type of complicated.

The weeks after the Park Incident were…confusing and scary. Kim thought that they were finally heading down the right path after the talk in his bedroom. He apologized and they watched Duck Dynasty together until Chuck picked her up. She thought things were good but apparently she was wrong. Jack understandably didn't return to school the rest of the week so Kim tried to go over to his house after school to check on him but his mom turned her away at the door. The Brewer matriarch told her that he wasn't up for visitors. So Kim's next course of action was to try texting and calling him but no dice. Kim knew that his mom gave him his phone back so she knew he got every call and text. She tried to come up with excuses for the boy's silence, he just needed time to himself, that was all.

Only when he did return to school the next week he didn't tell anybody. He didn't sit with them at their breakfast table and Kim only knew because they shared English class. When Kim tried to talk to him he brushed her off her questions and told her he needed to finish a biology equation before class starts. When class ended he didn't wait for her and when lunch time came he didn't sit with her. When Kim asked the boys if Jack talked to them they said no and that he brushed them off. That became an ongoing cycle for the rest of the week. Jack didn't talk to any of them if he could help it but if he had to he spoke in clipped and short answers. It was like talking to a completely different person.

Jack has changed after the Frank Thing. Gone was the warm, happy, playful boy now he was a shell of his former self. He doesn't smile, doesn't laugh, doesn't talk much, and is just..cold. Now of course Kim knew he'll be affected, he damn near got stabbed by a deranged lunatic. It's just maybe she kind of selfishly hoped he'd be over it by now? That sounds awful she knows but she wanted the old Jack back, this new one was kinda scaring her. It was like he was devoid of all emotion. All his personality was wiped away and what was left was a robot. Kim saw that when he was actually around them and talked to them.

Kim was surprised he even showed up to Milton's house before winter break because of how scarce he became. Even when he was there, it didn't feel like he was really there if that made sense. Jack only spoke when spoken to, didn't laugh or crack a smile even when Jerry was acting like an idiot. He participated in the games but his heart didn't seem into it. The group tried to act like everything was the same and Jack acting normal but the boy made it really hard.

But now after winter break Jack was almost back to normal. His old personality was back, like he actually had a personality again. He was smiling again and joking and talking to them again. He's even talking to Eddie and even though Kim has her own opinions on that and the yellow belt jerk, she's happy for Jack. That Jack is back. Or trying to be. There were still flickers of the Jack right after the attack. He's a bit jumpy, his smiles sometimes seem too wide, he's more vigilant, and sometimes zones out.

Still he was trying so she guesses that's all that matters. Jack and her were trying to figure things out between them. Trying to find their old dynamic and ease between them. Things are overall better now. Their banter was slowly returning, the smiles weren't as forced, and the awkward silences were shortening.

Jack and Brody's relationship was as awkward and tense as ever. Jack was playing nice for now. He at least stopped being outwardly rude and suspicious of him but they weren't going to be sharing friendship bracelets anytime soon. Jack just tolerated him when he had to but when he didn't he ignored Brody's presence.. As for Brody he gave up trying to be friends with Jack and decided to stay clear of him when he could. He was still nice to the long haired boy but stopped trying to be anything more than that.

Kim's not sure what to do or think about the boy's strained relationship. It would be so much easier if they could all get along but she's not going to delude herself that it would happen. She knows being friends with Brody won't be easy on Jack but he's just going to have to deal. Brody apologized numerous times and made an effort to show her that he changed. And she believes him and she wants to be friends with him. She's her own person and is allowed to make her own choices, choices that Jack is going to have to accept. He doesn't own her and they aren't dating anymore and even if they were she would still be friends with Brody.

Still a part of her is afraid that her newly rekindled friendship will eventually cause problems in her friendship with Jack too. She doesn't want him to start avoiding her again or turn into broody Jack again. So the blonde was torn and not sure what to do. For now Kim didn't want to think about the boys. She just wanted to get out of school and back home. The blonde beauty was free of karate and gymnastic practice and she had plans for how she was going to spend her weekend. Today was starting with a much needed sleepover with her two best-est girls in the world Donna and Kelsey.

"KC!"

Kim looked up from the table and over her shoulder to the sound of the voice. Despite her current attitude a smile formed on her lips without her permission towards the person walking over to her, "DT!"

When the red and black ombre haired girl was close enough Kim reached out her hand to do their secret handshake.

"How ya doin hot stuff?"

"I miss winter break." Kim whined as Donna settled in next to her at the table

Donna nodded in agreement, "Dude, literally, same."

"It's only the first week back and teachers are already piling us with work again."

"I know right? Mrs. Dawes is already talking about our next class book and our packets for it."

"Ugh wow. Teachers don't remember what it's like to be teens and it shows."

"Preach."

"How long until spring break?"

Donna laughs, "A very, very long time."

"Ugh!"

"Let's not be a Debbie Downer, princess. Focus on happy things, like the sleepover this weekend."

Kim wrinkled her nose, "Debbie downer? What are you a grandma?"

Donna lightly hit her, "Shut up."

"Ooh did I tell you that I invited Valentina? Jerry's sister?"

Kim and the younger Martinez sibling have slowly formed a friendship over the last two years. Unlike her more outgoing siblings Paula and Jerry, Valentina was standoffish and aloof. On the few times the gang hung out at Jerry's house Val didn't try to join them like Paula did. Or Lia and Talia if they weren't over at a friend's house or already occupied with their dolls. Val stayed holed up in her room studying or reading or at the library.

When Kim first became friends with Jerry and started hanging out with him she never caught a glimpse of Val. She was always off somewhere or occupied. When she asked Jerry about her he would brush the question off saying she was somewhere 'being boring and nerdy'. Whenever Jerry talked about Val he never had good things to say about her. He's said things like she's boring, a know-it-all, stuck up, nerdy, and a prep-in-training. When Kim finally met Val she was expecting someone like Lorie Sullivan; a stuck up Swathmore Reject, who she met instead was different.

She finally met Val on Paula's twelfth birthday party. It was hosted in Jerry's eldest sister, Ezra's, house. That was Kim's first time meeting Jerry's older sisters; Ezra and Cami. There was a third one named Izzy but from what Kim gathered she's not close to her family so she didn't come. They were different from what Kim was expecting. Ezra was the oldest and was married. She remembered Jerry complaining about how Ezra acted like a second mom to them and from the few moments she saw Ezra interacting with her younger sisters and the tweens in her house. She was oozing motherly vibes.

Then there was Cami, Jerry's second favorite sister, Paula being his first. Kim could understand why. While Ezra was oozing the motherly vibes, Cami was oozing the cool big sister vibes. Ezra was trying to help her mom with keeping the tweens in line while Cami was hanging out with the tweens. Being a slightly bad encouragement to them, riling them up, telling stories of her high school days, and giving boy advice. Some of the advice and stories weren't very appropriate for the age group and Ezra had to cut her off more than once.

Almost all the party guests were mesmerized by Cami, and if Kim was being honest that included her too. And much to Kim's displeasure, Jack too. She made Kim happy that she decided to go to the party. Kim wasn't sure at first since she's not that close to Paula. She only hangs out with her when she's hanging out with the gang and Jerry had to watch her.

She'll never forget the twelve year old telling Brad about her crush on him by showing him the song she wrote about him. That one of the most humiliating moments of her life, right up there with the Red Riding Hood Incident. Paula never even apologized about it. She found the situation hilarious and believed she did her a favor by telling Brad because she never was going to. Kim was very close to strangling the then ten year old for it. Even if it wasn't for that moment, Paula was just a lot. She liked being the center of attention, she was very blunt, borderline rude, and very impulsive.

Eventually Kim had enough of being hit on by Brett Parker's little brother so she left the backyard to go back into the house. There sitting on the living room couch was Val reading a book. At first Kim thought Val was just another birthday party guest but after getting closer and a better look she recognized her face from a few family photos hanging up. Still Kim decided to strike up a conversation with her. She introduced herself to the younger girl and asked for confirmation if she was the elusive Val. The younger girl in question confirmed it with suspicion in her eyes. Kim sat down next to her and gushed about how she was happy to finally see her.

As Kim continued talking to Val the younger girl kept eyeing her like she had no idea why she was talking to her. When Kim asked her about the book she was reading and Val showed her it was Eclipse from the Twilight saga Kim grew excited and started babbling about the series. That was finally when Val dropped the suspicious look and started actively talking to her back excitedly. Kim spent the rest of the party talking to Val and learning more about her. Eventually Jack joined them and Val clammed back up again but Jack continued to be patient and friendly and Val eventually warmed up to him too.

"You told me you were thinking about it. I didn't know you actually decided to."

"Oh well I did. That's okay right?"

Kim hasn't talked much to Val last semester. There was the occasional text and phone call but not as often as she would've preferred. Kim missed talking to the younger Martinez, she considered her a good friend of hers. Not as close as Kelsey or Donna or Milton and Jack. She doesn't consider Eddie her friend anymore and as for Jerry she's not that close to him. A lot of the time she finds him extremely annoying and wants to hit him or shove something in his mouth to make him shut up. There were times where Jerry was less annoying and she finds that there's an actual somewhat likable person underneath the girl crazy, borderline sexist, energizer bunny, furry underarms, Jerry-ness. Someone that adores his little sisters, with parent problems but hides behind jokes, and has a soft side for his friends and sisters. But Jerry's still more friends with the boys than with her.

Kim honestly doesn't understand Jerry's animosity towards his sister. He claims she's boring and a nerd and stuck up but Kim doesn't agree. As Kim got to know her over the near two years she thinks she has an understanding of what Val was like. They haven't met up in person a lot since they both had their own busy lives and extracurricular activities. Especially this school year with Val joining Swathmore Academy which gave her even more of a boatload of work to do. Their friendship is made up of mainly text messages and the occasional phone call. She wasn't outgoing and loud like Jerry and Paula, or overly emotional. With Jerry and Paula you could always tell what they were thinking and feeling by looking at their faces. It wasn't the same with Val. Most of the time she has a blank face. You can't tell what she's thinking or feelings.

She kind of reminded her of Sloane in that way. They both aren't emotional girls and are blunt. Val's bluntness is the one thing that reminded her of Jerry and Paula. Only where Paula has no filter and sometimes seems to enjoy saying the rudest thing possible Val doesn't want to intentionally hurt someone. She's just saying it how it is and isn't mean about it. She actually asks if they want her honest opinion or not before speaking. Kim loves that about Val. The blonde doesn't understand when people claim they want to hear the truth but when she's truthful they get all upset when it's not what they were hoping to hear. Like why would you say you want the truth when you really don't?

Donna nods. "Yeah, yeah the more the merrier. I mean I don't know her that well and it might take a while for Kels to warm up to her."

"True but that's the whole point of inviting her. So you get to know her better. She's cool. Absolutely nothing like Jerry."

"Well in that case I'm really looking forward to meeting her."

The two girls share a laugh.


Crawford Residence

Kim's Bedroom

Kim was growing concerned towards Kelsey. The usual cat ear headband wearing girl stopped wearing her cat ears. Not only that but she was dressing differently. Yesterday Kelsey paired a pink plaid skirt with white knee high socks, a pink short sleeve shirt over a white long sleeve shirt. The only remotely Kelsey thing about the outfit was the small hello kitty picture in the right left corner. She didn't know what to make of her best friend's outfit. Out of the nearly five years Kim has known her, Kelsey wasn't the knee high skirt wearing person. Or a skirt wearing person in general. Jeans were her go to with shorts being a close second.

Today the bottle blonde girl wore yet another plaid skirt but this time it was blue and khaki pleated. A black belt with a heart buckle was wrapped around the skirt. For the top it was a white shirt with a Michelangelo painting on it and a loose blue denim jacket finished the look with the sleeves rolled up. That wasn't Kelsey. Honestly it kind of looked like an outfit Donna would wear minus the plaid skirt. Kelsey wore bright, colorful outfits where you could spot her a mile away. That wasn't the most concerning. The most concerning was that both outfits didn't have matching cat ear headbands. That was her Kelsey's signature look.

Kim hasn't voiced her concern to Kelsey yet or Donna. Donna also noticed their best friend's new outfit choices. The artist didn't say anything to Kelsey either, instead she shared raised eyebrows with her behind Kelsey's back. Kim didn't feel like now was the time to prod Kelsey since she was in a heated argument with Donna about the latest Pretty Little Liars episode.

Kim would usually be involved in the argument as well because Pretty Little Liars is her favorite show. Don't get her wrong Veronica Mars is her all-time favorite show but if she had to choose what her favorite show was that was still airing then it would be Pll. But the blonde was busy texting Val to join in. Val had Robotics club after school which was where she was currently at. After the club ended then she was going to run home to pack her bag and have Ezra drop her off here. Kim was texting Val her address so Ezra would know where to take her.

"I think they should give her a second chance." Kelsey says from where she sat on Kim's vanity stool fiddling with the makeup brushes that sat in a cup on the vanity table

Donna's eyes widened at the other girl's words. She was sitting on Kim's saucer chair hugging one of Kim's white throw pillows. "Oh come on Kels how can you say that? After everything she put the girls through? After she ran down Hanna with her car?!"

Kelsey slightly rolled her eyes at the reply. "Of course that was an awful thing to do but remember they bullied her first. They helped Ali make her life a living hell so it was only a matter of time before she, you know, snapped."

"Snapping is keying a car, dumping a bucket of water on them, maybe bashing them on Facebook. Not playing God with your former bullies life."

"Sure, sure but-"

After she finished texting Val she exited from her messaging app. Just when she was about to put her phone down she got a notification from Facebook. She pulls down the notification bar to see Brody messaged her. Kim glances back up to see her two best friends were still bickering about Pll. With them distracted she clicked on the notification.

Yesterday after school Brody sent her a friend request. Earlier that day during Theater 1 Brody asked if he could sit at her table and she told him yes. When Kim agreed Desiree sent her a shocked look that grew into bemusement when Kim continued being nice to Brody. Remy also looked between them in shock after hearing many rants from her about Brody. Kim tried to ignore the looks from them and pretend that her sudden niceness to Brody wasn't suspicious. After the first day of class Brody sat with Ember and Benny for the rest of the first semester. Kim continued sitting with Desiree and Remy Griffith became the third permanent person at their table. He wasn't friends with her but she knew of him because he was the type of guy that everyone somehow knew even if they never talked to him.

The only information she knew at first about him was that he hung out with Sloane and was one of the few openly gay people at their school. As Kim got to know him better she learned he was totally hilarious and had a crazy imagination that made him the best improv partner. Erica and Ana were sometimes their tables' fourth and fifth members. They rotate between her table and Ember and Benny's.

When Brody sat at her Theater 1 table Kim wanted to ignore the awkwardness when Desiree asked in a forced casual tone about their makeup. So Kim told her and Remy that they're cool now then tried to switch the conversation back to their assignment. Thankfully Desiree didn't ask anymore questions but that didn't stop the looks and wagging of eyebrows from both of them. They were just friends, Kim was just starting to let herself trust him again. She can't even begin to think about liking him like that. They were just friends, and friends talked to each other.

And friends are also friends with each other on social media like Facebook. She knows this but that didn't stop her thumb from hovering over the accept button for a few minutes. Or dropping her phone on her bed as if it burned her when she accepted his request and sent one back. She ignored her phone for the next hour so she could finish her Algebra homework then read some more of her book from Big Bear. She finally checked her phone again after she took a shower and was in the living room with Belle. Brody already dm'd her a simple hey fifteen minutes after she accepted his request. Kim texted him back then put her phone down to play with Belle. Surprisingly it didn't take long for her text notification to go off. She checked her phone again and sure enough Brody texted her back.

At first they just texted back and forth about Theater class assignment and their upcoming spring play Macbeth. This time their teacher wants to stick on a strict schedule so she chose the play before they went on winter break. Now Ms. Evanheart's focus was on getting the cast and crew for the play. Her tentative date for opening night was February twenty eighth through March second. After their play is finished the choir class needs to use the auditorium for their spring musical in April.

"Ugh! Whatever, I just can't- whatever."

Kim startled when her bed shook after someone flopped down onto it. When she looked up she saw it was Donna. Panic surged through the Wasabi Warrior and she turned her phone off before she could even see what Brody texted her.

Kelsey got up from her vanity and walked over to her nightstand and picked up the picture frame. "Ooh that's a cute picture."

Kim changed the picture in her picture frame to one of her and her extended family from this year's Thanksgiving. Janine and her kids left the day before they took the picture which was perfectly fine with Kim. Before her Mimi and Papa left her uncle Landon suggested they take a picture to commemorate the occasion. They all agreed and took the group picture on the backyard patio. It was a bit of a tight fit since there were eleven of them but they made it work. Mimi and papa sat in the two round patio chairs that were across from each other with Belle in the former's lap and Summer in the latter's. Behind papa stood aunt Sandra and next to her was Maddy then Andrea, then herself. In the row behind herself and her cousins was her aunt Sandra's husband, her mama, Chuck, and Landon.

Kim absolutely loved the picture. It was the first family picture with everyone in it including Chuck. Chuck was really starting to cement his place in the Abernanthy family. He was becoming a part of them. Which may sound a bit ridiculous considering he has a whole child with one but to Kim that doesn't mean your family. Family is the relationships and memories you build with the people. The trust and the love that slowly builds. The unforgettable memories you create to remember years to come. That was what Kim, Belle, and her mama were doing with Chuck.

Chuck proved himself day by day that he was trustworthy and reliable. He stood by her mama's side when he found out she was pregnant with Belle and never left. He was patient with Kim's hostility towards him and constant goading to see his kindness was a facade. Once Belle was born he proved to be a good father to her. Was so gentle to her, so loving and patient when she cried. Never raised his voice at her or unnecessarily hit her. When Kim allowed him to, he proved to be a good father figure to her too.

Recently Kim has been thinking a lot about the d word. Kim swore to herself when she was ten that she'd never call another man that again. That she didn't need one anyway. She has her papa and she has her sensei Rudy and that is all she needs. When Chuck came she already had a bad opinion of him due to her trauma and the fact he knocked her mama up. To her that proved he was a womanizer that thinks women are nothing more than a warm body for him to sleep with then dump. Only he proved her wrong. Proved that not every man was like Lester. That some men actually deserved the title given to them when they have kids.

Chuck has now been around for four years. Over the course of the years Kim slowly allowed him to become a father figure to her. Started seeing him as more than just Belle's father, starting wanting him to be more than just that. He was the father figure she wanted Lester to be. The type she saw on tv shows and movies. In seventh grade she decided to change her last name from Abernathy to Crawford in school. By then Chuck recently proposed to her mama and she helped him out with it. Weirdly enough Kim didn't dread the proposal, she was actually excited by it. The thought of truly becoming a family, a real stable family thrilled her. So the Wasabi Warrior decided to change her surname in school to Crawford.

Which brings up the question again if she should start calling him the d word. It's the logical next step in their relationship after he began the process to adopt her. He's legally her step father as of last September. She should call him that right? She both wants to and does not want to. The thought terrifies her while at the same time excites her.

"Beulah!" A pillow hit her in the face knocking her out of her thoughts. Donna and Kelsey were now both looking at her and seemed to have quit their bickering. Kim glared at Donna, the offender. "What?"

The red and black ombre haired girl was unrepentant of her actions. "We were talking to you, where'd you go?"

"Nowhere I-I was just," Kim shakes her head, "I just blanked out. What'd you say?"

Kelsey crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side as she scrutinized her fellow blonde in concern "O-kay?"

Donna was leaning on her elbow as she too surveyed Kim in concern. "You good?"

"Always." Kim promises with a forced smile. She hopped off the bed wanting to ignore the looks. She walked over to where her IPod sat on her dresser and started messing with it. She scrolled through her playlist for a song to play

"Well if you guys aren't gonna say anything," Kim begins, finding a song that she liked and pressing play then turned around to face her friends with a practiced smile on her lips, "then let's just dance."


Kitchen

After about an hour-long dance party in Kim's room to Britney Spears Kim, Kelsey, and Donna were worn out and headed towards the kitchen. Kim was glad her friends let her moment of spacing out go and danced along. She didn't want to confess why she spaced out. Tonight was supposed to be about letting go and forgetting. About having fun.

"So, what's our movie plan for tonight? The same as usual?" Kelsey asked. She was sitting at Kim's round white kitchen table as was Donna. Both girls were digging into the fruit bowl set up with their forks while Kim was standing by her kitchen island pouring three cups of lemonade.

Donna lazily raised her free hand. "I vote no. I'm starting to get tired of The Notebook and Grown Ups. We can only watch them so many times."

"I'll admit I'm getting tired of Adam Sandler and as much as I hate to say it, Mean Girls. Seeing Regina George get hit by a school bus is starting to get boring."

After fishing, pouring the drinks Kim screwed the top back on the container and opened the fridge to place it back in. After taking a sip from her cup, her text notification went off. She suddenly remembered that Brody texted her earlier but she never texted him back. She pulled her phone out to see if it was Brody again but no it wasn't. It was Jack.

"Okay then what do you suggest we watch instead?"

"Heathers."

Kelsey nearly rolled her eyes then popped a grape in her mouth. "Heathers, of course."

"Hey, we haven't seen that movie in a while." Donna argued

"Okay fine. But I have an even better idea."

"Oh yeah and what's that?"

"The High School Musical trilogy!"

"I should've known."

Jack was complaining about his dad wanting to watch Karate Kid 3 for their family movie night. His father came back into Seaford Monday to visit. Kim never met Christopher Brewer. He lived all the way in Bakersfield and Jack is the one to visit him, it hasn't been the other way. Until recently with the Frank scare. She only knows what the man looks like because of Audrey's Facebook page.

Kim chewed her lip as she debated what to text back. She had to be careful when talking about Chris Brewer. The last time they talked about him was when they were dating and it ended in a terrible fight. He was a touchy subject for Jack and Kim didn't want to offend him again.

The Karate Kid trilogy was Jack's go to movies next to Bobby Wasabi films for when the gang hangs out at Milton's. Kim likes the movies just fine but they aren't her favorites. She can't stand the blonde guy Johnny who goes to the rival dojo and his possessiveness over Ali. She dumped his ass but he still treats her as if she's his property. Kim couldn't help but voice her opinions about him whenever they watched the movie that it got to the point he stopped watching them with her.

Kim settled on texting about Terry Silver being cute. It was harmless and teasing said nothing about his dad. While waiting for Jack to reply Kim decided to switch over to Facebook to check Brody's text. He asked if she's into the band Arctic Monkeys. Kim was a bit thrown off by the random question. Their last text was about Macbeth and now he's asking her about a band. She listened to a few of Arctic Monkeys songs over the years. They were cool and all but she wouldn't call herself a fan.

"Oh don't say it like that. As if you don't like HSM too."

"Yeah, yeah I never said I didn't."

"And you better not or else we won't be friends anymore."

"Wow you're willing to flush eight years of friendship down the drain over a DCOM trilogy."

"It's not just any DCOM trilogy. It's the DCOM trilogy."

"Eh, I wouldn't go that far. The first movie was great, the second one was good, and the third one was okay. I only really liked one song from the last movie."

The blonde decided to play coy and tell him that she listened to a few of the bands songs then asked him why'd he asked that. After texting Brody back Kim pocketed her phone and grabbed all three cups and walked them over to the kitchen table. She set the respective cups in front of her friends then kept the last cup to herself.

Kelsey gasped dramatically and clutched her chest. "The second one was good? Just good? I think you mean the second movie was great and the first movie was just good."

"No, I think the first movie was the best out of all the movies."

By the time Kim was sitting at the table and took a sip from her cup Brody already texted her back. He explained he was curious what type of music she was into and the Arctic Monkeys was one of his favorite bands. Kim sat back in her chair and pondered the question. Her music taste was varied. She liked some alternative music because of Donna and Kelsey's influence. The three of them are fans of Lana Del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, and Panic! At the Disco. Kim also liked country because of her southern roots. She's a huge Carrie Underwood fan, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, and John Mayer. She had a few favorite pop artists such as Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Ke$ha, and Bruno Mars.

"You're crazy, High School Musical 2 is better!"

"No you're the crazy one. The first High School Musical is better."

"How could you even say that? How could those words come out of your mouth?!"

"Cuz it's true! It has all the amazing songs; Get'cha head in the game, Bop to the top, Start of something new, We're All In This Together!"

"But you know what's better? Fabulous, I Don't Dance, Bet on It, Gotta Go My Own Way!"

"Fabulous wasn't even that great of a song. Bop to the Top is so much better."

Kim silently agreed with Donna. She found Fabulous to be annoying and sometimes fast-forwarded the song when she rewatches the movie. Plus Ashley Tisdale's dress for Bop to the Top was gorgeous.

After texting Brody back about her music taste Jack had texted her again. It was three disgust emojis. Kim grinned at them.

"Well Bet On it is better than Get'cha Head in the Game. Zac Efron didn't even sing that song."

"Ugh no one cares about who sung the song. I don't even think a lot of people know that. I didn't and was totally happy not knowing that until you had to ruin it for me! "

"And I'll happily do it again."

Kelsey dramatically gasps, "Kim, tell Donna she's insane." That demand perked Kim's ears up. After writing a quick text back to Jack she turned her phone off to focus back on her friends

"No, Kim, tell Kelsey she's insane."

Kim plucked two strawberries onto her fork and took her time eating them. She was half heartedly listening to her friends bickering so she thinks she can come up with a reply to the demand. After swallowing her second strawberry she answered. "Don't drag me into this. I think the Cheetah girls movies are superior over both."

That statement caused both girls to pause as they pondered the statement. Kim feels her phone buzz and her hand twitches to see who texted her back first. Instead Kim plucked some more fruit onto her fork to try and distract herself.

"Yeah, you're right." Kelsey conceded

"Cheetah Girls are superior in every way." Donna agrees, "we should watch that too."

Kelsey sticks two more pieces of fruit on her fork then twirls the silverware. "Do you know what Valentina might want to watch?"

Momentarily Kim forgot about the need to check her phone as she thought about the question. "Camp Rock. She's a huge Jonas Brothers fan."

"Camp Rock?" Kelsey repeated distastefully. Face, scrunched up. "Huh okay."

"When is she coming over?" Donna asks

"Pretty soon. Like any minute now. She left her club already and Ezra is driving her over now."

"Can we at least agree that Joe is the best Jonas brother?"

"I don't know, Nick was pretty cute in a geeky way."

Donna loudly groaned and facepalmed. "Kelsey, you're hopeless."


Basement

Around five-ish found the quartet in the Crawford basement. With their bags lined against a wall next to two twin size air mattresses and food spread out on the coffee pushed to the side to create more space, they were good to go. Kim's IPod Touch was sitting on its speaker dock and playing a One Direction song. Kelsey was sitting on the longer side of the couch on the right side of the couch with Donna half propped in her lap with a bag of Doritos. With Kim's permission Valentina was over in the music area playing her keyboard. Kim was piling pillows on top of some folded blankets and pillows near Kelsey and Donna for when it was time to lay down.

"You're just mad because Grace and Brody are your co-captains." Donna teases.

Kim stiffened at the boy's name but tried to quickly play it off. Thankfully her friends weren't looking at her. "Am not." she grumbled. Her friends don't realize just how true that statement was and she's not sure she's ready for them to know yet.

Finished stacking the linens, the blonde moved to sit on the couch. She moved Donna's legs out the way so she could sit. Then once seated Donna stuck them in her lap. "Doll, you're gonna have to eventually realize you're a cement mixer. Brody and Grace aren't."

Kim and Kelsey glanced at each other with matching looks of confusion. "Cement mixer? Another one of your old people slang?" Kim was the one who asked that

Donna took the jab in stride. She knew Kim didn't mean it in a mean way and was joking. She was more than used to her friends' jokes about her love of the early to mid 1900s. "1930s to be exact." She clarified then ate another chip

Donna offered a chip to Kelsey who opened her mouth to have it be fed to her. "What does that have to do with Kimmy being a bad dancer?" The blonde asked after she finished chewing and swallowing

Kim half heartedly glared at her fellow blonde. "You know I hate being called that." Her remark seemed to have fallen on deaf ears

"Cement mixer. Like her feet are cemented to the ground." Donna explained

Valentina finally finished playing on the keyboard and walked over to where the other girls were sitting. She chose to sit in one of the bean bag chairs near Kim chairs instead of the couch.

Kelsey cocked her head in consideration."Huh. Well I think it would be better if they actually were. Then we won't have to see her attempt."

Kim grabbed the pillow nearest to her and hit Donna with it first then Kelsey. Both girls were laughing so Kim hit them again before sitting the pillow down next to her. Valentina watched the interaction in bemusement. Kim snatched the Doritos bag from Donna who pouted.

"Anyway," Kim loudly begins, wanting to change the subject. She turned to face the younger Martinez. "Val, does Swathmore have a Field Day?"

"No we don't."

"Oh well that's a bummer."

"Rich people too scared to sweat and look anything less than perfect?" Donna snarked. Kelsey gave her a warning glance that she ignored.

"It's a whole big deal at Seaford. Each grade is competing against each other to win a pizza party and a trophy. There's different games and obstacle courses and your standard tug-a-war." Kim explains

"If you compete in Field Day then you get to go home after they pick the winner. But if you don't then you have to go to class afterwards." Kelsey adds

Val nods, digesting the information. Kim offered the Dorito bag to her but she shook her head. "You guys are all participating?"

"No, Donna's boring and doesn't wanna."

"I hate PE. Why would I willingly sing myself up for basically two hours of PE when I don't have to?"

"Because of school spirit and it's fun."

Donna snorts. "When have I ever given you the impression I have school spirit?"

"I repeat, Donna's a bore. Or as the old timey people would say she's a square."

Donna fully sits up and moves off of Kelsey's lap then gasps dramatically. Holding a hand to her heart. "I want to feel insulted but I can't help but feel proud that you used that slang correctly."

Kelsey playfully rolled her eyes but a smile was tugging at her lips. "So Valentina."

"You can just call me Val, everyone else does."

"Ok Val, Kim told me that you're like insanely smart and skipped the eighth grade?"

"Insanely smart, huh, I guess that's better than being called a nerd or geek or a know-it-all."

"I wouldn't say that I'm insanely smart. There's a lot of students at Swathmore that are smarter than me. I'm not saying that to downplay my intelligence because I know that I am smart, just not child prodigy level if that makes sense."

"Yeah it does. But anyone smart enough to earn a scholarship to a fancy smancy prep school is child prodigy level to me."

"Yeah me and my normal brain won't be able to keep up with the Swathmore students and I'm the same age as them."

"What's it like going to Swathmore? Do all the students there have that same ridiculous accent as Claire Zimmerman?"

Val looked to have held back an eye roll, "No." She exasperatedly denies. "Most students there speak normally. The only people with the accent are Claire and her posse."

"Hm. My world is rocked." Donna deadpans

"I know Swathmore has a bad rep. And I won't lie, some of that bad stuff is true. There are snobby conceited students and students that look down on scholarship students. And that also looks down on Seaford High. Claire and her friends are an example but not all the students are like that."

Kim and Donna watch Val with matching confused expressions. They both have trouble believing that any student at the private school would be nice.

"Like my friend Wendy. She's not like Claire and her friends."

"But don't you ever feel like…an outsider there?" Kelsey hesitantly asks

Val is silent for a long moment. "Sometimes. But I already feel like an outsider in my own family so it's nothing new." It wasn't said with sadness but matter of factly. Like it was a fact she'd come to accept long ago.

The group falls into an uncomfortable silence. The only sound was coming from Kim's IPod. Kelsey looks to be regretting her question as she fiddled nervously with her TARDIS necklace.

Donna smirks. "Dude. Literally same."

That breaks the tense atomosphere as the girls break into a laugh.

"Anyway enough chit chatting," Kelsey says, "what are we starting off with? DCOM movies: HSM series, Camp Rock movies or Cheetah Girls? Or Heathers, Easy A, or Thirteen?" Kelsey listed


As per usual when High School Musical began so did the song-a-long. Nobody got up for Start of Something New but Donna and Kelsey belted along Vanessa and Zac while Kim chomped happily on the freshly delivered pizza. When Getcha Head In the Game started Kim hopped up from the couch startling Donna then grabbed the remote to use as a mic.

Unlike the other three girls, Val didn't like HSM all that much so she wasn't going to be joining in on them singing because she doesn't know the lyrics by heart. Instead the thirteen year old just watched the girls in amusement as they sang. The blonde hopes that their impromptu karaoke won't bother the girl. So far it doesn't seem like it was. After the song finished Kim flopped down on the couch then grabbed her cup of water to hydrate. After finishing the whole cup she grabs a handful of chocolate covered pretzels and puts them on her plate. Donna flops back down on the longer side of the couch while Kelsey chooses to sit on the carpet.

Donna recites the script while Kelsey busies herself with her plate Kim decides to pull out her phone. It's been almost an hour since she texted Jack and Brody back and she was curious. She sees that both boys have already responded and her thumb hovers over the screen as she debates what chat to open first. She closed her eyes and decided to choose randomly. When she opened them she saw she chose Brody.

Kim told herself not to think too much about it. As Kim gets caught up in texting the newer Wasabi Warrior she zones out of the movie and chatter between her friends. She doesn't notice the smile that was on her lips or Val watching her suspicious as to who was causing her to smile like that.

When it comes to the audition scene Donna hops up from the couch nearly startling Kim half to death. She grabs the remote that Kim previously used as a mic to copy the use. Kelsey also stands, eager to participate in the duet with the black and red ombre haired girl. The two began to copy Ryan and Sharpay's routine beat by beat.

Kim tried to split her attention between their performance and her phone. Her friends won the small battle and she exited the chat to open her camera app to record them. Once their performance was over the girls settled back onto the couch and floor respectively to watch the movie.

"Am I the only one who thinks it weird that Sharpay and Ryan are auditioning for roles where they'll be boyfriend and girlfriend?" Donna rhetorically asked

Kelsey brows scrunched in confusion at the question. "They are?"

Donna shoots the girl a bewildered look. "Yes they are. How do you not know that? What roles do you think Troy and Gabby were auditioning for? Why else would Sharpay want to stop them so badly?"

Kelsey shrugs embarrassingly and avoids eye contact. "I guess I never realized that they wanted the same part."

"Why did you think Sharpay wanted to sabotage them so badly?" Kim interjects, also shocked by her friend's cluelessness

"I just thought she was mad that they were auditioning for the play because they had no experience. Like she didn't want anybody that weren't theater geeks to be auditioning. I didn't think it was specifically because they wanted the same role." The girl in question asks a bit defensively

Donna shakes her head, blue eyes still widened in shock. "Wow."

Kelsey glares at her. "Oh don't wow me." She snaps

"I just did."

"Well whatever. Now knowing that it is kind of really disgusting to audition for that part."

Kim realized that earth shattering revelation a few years earlier so the shock has worn off. "I guess Kenny Ortega didn't think that through."

"Which is why troyella got the parts and not them." Kelsey says as she stares back at the tv screen

Val gave Kelsey a puzzled look. "Troyella?"

Kelsey nods. "Yeah, Troy and Gabriella, Troyella. It's their ship name."

The explanation only made the younger Martinez more confused. "Ship?"

"It's when you think two people would make a good couple or when you like a couple."

The explanation didn't satisfy the younger girl. She was still completely confused. "But what does 'ship' have to do with it?" She presses

This time Kelsey looked at Val with slightly impatience. In her mind everyone speaks her language of Tumblr talk and fanfiction. "Relationship, ship? Get it?"

Val slowly nods in understanding. "Oh."

"Troy and Gabriella's duet was better than Ryan and Sharpay's anyway. It sounded better slower."

"And their chemistry, ugh, off the charts." Kelsey gushed

"It should be considering they were dating at the time."

"I miss Zanessa." Kelsey whines

Donna scrunches her face up. "Zanessa. That sounds like a type of medicine." She complained and Val snickered at the comment

"I don't know, I think she and Austin Butler are pretty cute." Kim says

Kelsey shakes her head, "No she and Zac are meant to be," she argues, "I mean just look at them!" She gestures wildly to the tv screen that shows the former couple staring lovingly at each other

Donna raises a brow as she glances at her friend. "You do know they're doing this thing called acting right?"

Kelsey makes a face then makes mocking sounds at the red and black ombre haired girl. Donna just looks at her flatly, "Real mature Kels."

"On the topic of couples," Kelsey begins, then turns to face her fellow blonde, "Kim there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

Kim sighs then sinks a little into the couch in dread. "Oh no. That's never a good sign."

"You still have time to run." Donna assures her in a fake whisper loud enough for Kelsey to hear from her spot on the floor

Kelsey rolls her eyes. "Shut up both of you." She said with no heat and the two girls on the couch broke into giggles

"You were talking to Brody in the lunchline today."

That was true. Kim got out of her fourth period class before Kelsey did so they agreed to just meet up in the cafeteria. Kim prefers sitting in the cafeteria than the amphitheater, the steps just hurt her butt. Besides that's also where Grace and Co like to eat their lunch so she makes sure she's not.

In the hall she saw Brody and because of their rekindling of friendship she decided to talk to him. Brody perked up when he saw her and Kim's returning smile wasn't forced like before. It was still awkward between them, the ice hadn't melted away completely but it was getting there. They fell into a conversation about how much they miss winter break. By the time they reached the lunchline the conversation became more natural and Kime even laughed at one of his jokes.

She didn't see Kelsey walking up to them. Only when the former cat ear wearing girl pointedly cleared her throat. After getting his food Brody left the cafeteria to join his friends and Kim tried to quickly talk about something different before Kelsey could interrogate her.

"Okay and?" Kim heatedly snaps

"You were talking to him nicely with respect. You didn't insult him even once." The girl presses

That piqued Donna's interest. "Wait what?" She piped up. "Since when did you decide to call off your one-sided feud with him?"

Kim rolls her eyes at the description of her anger towards Brody. "I ran into him at Big Bear this break?" For some reason it came out more as a question than a statement

Kelsey's jaw dramatically drops and Donna's eyes widen. You would think she just told the girls she was pregnant.

"You what?!" They both shout in unison

"I ran into him and we talked and it turns out he's not so bad. I'm starting to think he might actually not be a two faced douchebag."

Silence. Then in five, four, three, two,

"You ran into him at Big Bear?!" Kelsey repeated

"And you're just now telling us?!" Donna adds in an equally loud voice. "And now you changed your mind? Kim 'Stubborn Ass' Crawford changed her mind?" She continued

Kelsey stared at her as if she's never seen her before. "Yeah who are you and what have you done to Kim Crawford?"

Donna's eyes widened as if she had a sudden realization. "Is he back to being potential bf number two?" She asked

Kelsey squeals and claps her hand in excitement. "Oh my gosh he is, isn't he?"

Kim had enough. "Guys, guys stop! One question at a time, jeez!"

"Oh I'm sorry. You drop a bomb like this on us, forgive us for having questions." Donna snarked

"He isn't back to being a potential boyfriend. I still don't trust him as far as I can throw him. We're just friendly okay?"

Potential boyfriend. Kim literally hasn't even thought about that yet, She wouldn't let her mind even go there. That's stupid, she would be stupid thinking like that. Brody Carlson; the new Elite member. Who's close with the two worst people in the school Grace and Lyndsey.

Besides, there's still Jack. She doesn't know how she feels about him. She thinks she still has some unwanted feelings for the black belt if she's honest to herself. She's been listening to Adele and All Too Well more than she'll like to admit.

Kelsey and Donna didn't look convinced. "Uh huh."

"But you'll tell us if there's more between you two right?" Kelsey presses

Kim waves the question away. "Of course. But there's not so can we just drop it?!"

Her friends murmur their agreement and falls into silence but Kim knew it wasn't the end of it.


"You were nothing before you met me. You were playing Barbies with Betty Finn. You were a bluebird. You were a brownie. You were a Girl Scout cookie! I got you into a Remington party and what's my thanks? It's on the hallway carpet. I got paid in puke!" Heather Chandler angrily ranted to Veronica Sawyer

"Lick it up baby. Lick. It. Up." Veronica defiantly retorted with a challenging glare

Heather regarded Veronica coolly, her icy mask back on. "Monday morning, you're history. I'll tell everyone about tonight. Transfer to Washington. Transfer to Jefferson. No one at Westburg's going to let you play their reindeer games."

An hour has passed since Kim's big Brody reveal happened. Thankfully Kelsey and Donna agreed to stop pestering her with questions about Brody and watch the movie. For now at least. After the first High School Musical movie ended the trio decided they didn't want to watch the full trilogy. Instead they decided to put on Heathers, one of Kim and Donna's all time favorite movies.

Kim and Kelsey were sitting on the floor as Kelsey painted the natural blonde's nails. Donna stayed on the couch and has fully spread out on it now that there was more space. Val stayed in the bean bag chair she claimed earlier and now had a plate with two slices of pizza on her lap. Jill allowed them to order delivery pizza to have with their other assorted junk foods.

"I mean c'mon it's not even a competition, Heather Chandler is in all ways superior." Donna exclaims

Val shook her head. "Homegirl was literally murdered within the first twenty minutes of the movie."

Val has slowly warmed up to her friends, specifically Donna. On the outside Donna may look intimidating but she was actually really friendly. She goes out of her way to talk to the loner students and the new students. A lot of the students are put off by her appearance so they try to escape when she talks to them. Now the two of them have been debating who was the better queen bee; Regina George or Heather Chandler.

"She was so powerful that they had to kill her off. Also she was smart, she wouldn't have been tricked into eating a Kalteen bar and would know what carbs are." Donna argues

"Ooh snap." Kelsey murmurs

Kim adds, "She does have a point." She wasn't really interested in the debate but wanted to add in her two cents anyway

Kim tries to carefully reach for one of the chocolate covered pretzels in the bowl a few feet from her with her non painted hand. She managed to touch one with the tips of her fingers but couldn't fully grasp it. Kelsey huffed a long suffering sigh and grabbed a pretzel and fed it to her. Kim smiled happily.

"Now stop moving unless you want your nails to look jacked up." Kelsey warns then dips the wand into the nail polish tube again

Val shakes her head. "That is a terrible argument. Regina is way more powerful. She had the entire school under her thumb including the teachers and principal. A bus couldn't even kill her and she still looked beautiful in that head gear stuff."

Kelsey has had enough of their debate. "Since we're talking about Rachel McAdams I brought The Vow with me in case we wanna watch it." She tells the group and points to her bag with her free hand

Donna's face scrunches in confusion as she thinks about the movie. "Is that the one where the woman gets amnesia?" Donna asks

The bottle blonde carefully nods at the question. Her gaze focused on Kim's nails. "Yes and don't forget it's based on a true story."

Kim makes a sad face at the news. She forgot it was based on a true story. "Aww."

"I can't imagine what it must be like to have amnesia. Just forgetting everything and everyone you love, you know? Can't even recognize your own parents." Val mused before taking a bite of one of her pizza slices

"The real women from The Vow recognized her parents." Kelsey says

"I'm not talking about the movie, I mean in general." Val clarifies

After one left careful stroke, Kelsey finally finished Kim's left hand. "I don't know. I think we all have something we'd like to forget," Kelsey says thoughtfully as she crewed the cap back on the bottle

A bittersweet smile crossed Kelsey's lips. "I sure know I do."

Eddie instantly flashed in Kim's mind at the words along with anger. Despite Kelsey claiming she's over the prank, Kim's not. The honey blonde haired girl isn't sure she can forgive him. She thought she knew Eddie after being friends with him for two years. She felt bad for him at first. She just thought of him as a harmless, insecure kind of pathetic boy. In an endearing kind of way. She knew he cared a lot about popularity and wanted to be a quote on quote 'playa'. She never thought he would do something so cruel.

Kim won't lie and say she was close to him and they were best friends. At the very beginning of their friendship Eddie seemed kind of scared of her and would always stumble over his words when she tried to talk to him. It was cute, in a pathetic kind of way. It reminded her of when she would try to talk to Milton's AV club friends and they just started blubbering and turned beet red and some even ran away.

After Eddie eventually calmed down around her she learned he was into music. They started to bond over their love of music. He actually has a pretty great voice and they even started singing together. Not only that they even tried to write a few songs that ended up being terrible.

Kim trusted him. She defended him against bullies when she could and even tried to give him tips on how to talk to girls. She even tried to comfort him when the bullying got to him again. The jokes about his looks, specifically his weight. But he repays her by humiliating one of her best friends to impress Grace and Co. Putting Kelsey through the same thing that has hurt him.

Donna's face goes expressionless as she reaches for another slice of pizza. "You're right about that." She adds in a blank tone

Kim's heart ached in sympathy for the red and black ombre haired girl. She has a horrible mother that doesn't even deserve that title that blames Donna for her husband leaving. Donna only has a handful of memories of her father since he left when she was only six.

A phone ringing broke the sudden silence amongst the group. Val quickly brings her phone out. "Sorry it's my mami, I got to take this." She gets up from the bean bag chair then answers the phone as she leaves the basement.

The blonde beauty hardly hears the thirteen year old as she gets lost in her own head again. Unwanted memories flashed through her head that she desperately tried to immediately erase."Yeah, you're right Kels."

That garnered similar curious looks from Kelsey and Donna. The two looked at each other to silently communicate. The same question popped into both their minds, something they've been curious about for about as long as they knew the natural blonde. Eventually a decision was reached and Donna nodded. She glanced back at Kim and nervously bit her lip before opening her mouth.

"You don't really talk about um… Lester was it?" Donna questioningly says,

The Wasabi Warrior freezes at the man's name. Weirdly enough she wasn't surprised at the question. She knew the girls had questions about her life in Knoxville and her biological father. Whenever it was brought up over the past years Kim swiftly changed the subject or gave a vague answer. Thankfully her friends never pushed.

Kim stiffly nods, "What is there to talk about? He was an ass. He treated my mom and I like shit and now he's gone."

"I don't want to sound pushy or insensitive or anything but we've been friends for four years and you still haven't told us what really went down."

"Yeah. Kim, you know you can tell us anything, right? You can trust us with anything. We won't tell anybody else, ever if you don't want us to."

Kim kept her gaze on her freshly painted red nails. She worked her jaw as she tried to calm herself down and process what was said and how to respond back. It's true that she never divulged deep into her past and Lester. She hasn't told the guys anything at all but told the girls bits and pieces of it. They know Lester was a traumatized veteran that came back to them changed for the worse. He treated her mama and her like shit to the point her mama had enough and left him.

They don't know the details and just how bad he treated them and Kim doesn't think they need to know all the gory details. They don't need to know about the shattered beer bottles aimed towards her mama's head. Or the bruises and screaming matches Kim tried her hardest to tune out by covering her ears in her bedroom. They don't need to know the hysterical phone call seven year old Kim made to her uncle Landon, afraid that Lester finally killed her mama.

They don't need to know that.

Kim inhaled a slightly shaky breath to ready herself. "I know that and I do trust you guys. I just don't see the point in bringing up my past. Lester was a deadbeat that treated my mama and I like shit so we left. Why do I need to go into more detail than that? Some things are better left buried. I did enough talking and processing in therapy when I was a kid and I don't want to do it again."

Kim's breathing started getting a bit quicker as unwanted memories began flashing in her mind. Blood staining parts of the carpet, banging on a locked door then being kicked in and sounds of pained screams after. Her heart began speeding up and if she kept thinking about this she knew she was on the verge of a panic attack. She didn't want to talk about this. She can't talk about this. Tonight was supposed to be fun.

She felt something splash against her hand and when she raised it to touch her cheek she felt a wet line. Crap a tear escaped.

Kim hastily brushed it away. "So can we please, please talk about something else?" she didn't mean for her voice to crack and sound as wrecked as she's starting to feel.

Kelsey and Donna nodded jerkily in agreement. "Of course." They were quick to agree, knowing not to push

A long, tense pause followed after. Kim struggled to collect herself. She inhaled long, slow breaths and tried to get her heartbeat to slow down. She clenched and unclenched her fists and repeated an old mantra that her former therapist taught her.

"Have I mentioned how excited I am for the new Iron Man movie?"

In spite of her current state Kim couldn't help but laugh at her friend. "Kelsey I love you."