Author's Note: Look at me updating less than a month later! I call that progress!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin It or any characters you recognize
Now onto the story
Seaford High
Library Media Center
Monday, January 21st, 2013
Eddie couldn't wait to go to school today.
For once he woke up before his alarm went off on his phone. He was quick to go through his morning routine and once dressed went downstairs to his kitchen to eat his breakfast. His mom noticed his unusual morning pep and questioned him about it. Eddie played the question off that he just got a good night's sleep. After his mom dropped him off at school he threw out a distracted goodbye before hurrying into the building. There were no students sitting in the courtyard since there was still good forty five minutes before the bus students arrive at school. The only students that should be at the school were student council members or other clubs that meet before school starts.
Eddie raced into the library eager to find Milton and tell him his good news. He nearly bumped into the Amelia Earhart statue, not looking where he was going. The librarian snapped at him for speeding in the library but he ignored them. He finally reached the back of the library and found the meeting room the student council meeting was usually held in. A few of the older members were already inside seated at the long table. He spotted his ginger haired friend sitting in his assigned seat towards the back of the room looking like he was seconds away from dozing off.
Eddie grinned then walked towards him. "Milton!"
The boy in call startled at Eddie's loud, bright voice. He blinked a few times then rubbed his eyes before looking up towards the sound of the voice. "Morning Eddie how-"
"I found a new way to win Grace back." Eddie interrupted as he situated himself into his assigned seat next to his friend
Milton lets out a long, suffering, sigh. He nearly face planted onto the table, already over this conversation. "It's too early in the morning for this."
"Hairspray!"
Milton stared blankly at him. "Hairspray?"
Eddie nodded enthusiastically. "Yes the spring musical the choir is putting on."
"I'm sorry but my brain isn't fully functioning yet I still don't get it."
Eddie huffs then rolls his eyes. Milton was usually never this slow. It felt like he was talking to Jerry right now. "Grace is auditioning for the play. I heard she wants to be Penny so I need to audition for Seaweed." He impatiently explained
"Forgive me for being blunt but I'm going to blame it on the fact that I'm not fully awake to be nicer," Milton begins, "but when are you going to let this fantasy of you and Grace go? We're in the second semester and I think if it would happen if it would've happened by now. Isn't it time to let it go?"
Eddie gawked at the question. He can't believe Milton would say something like that. He was supposed to be on his side. He was supposed to encourage him. Hype him up not bring him down. He had enough people not believing he could win a girl like Grace.
"Absolutely not Grace is my soulmate! If it wasn't for Kim not being able to take a joke and making Grace feel bad then our relationship could've moved further."
Milton's eyes widened incredulously at the statement. "Soulmate? Eddie do you realize how ridiculous you sound? You're fourteen!"
"So Romeo and Juliet were soulmates and she was thirteen!"
If Milton widened his eyes anymore they would pop out of his sockets. His eyebrows rose too. This conversation was starting to hurt his brain.
"They weren't soulmates, they were two teens that fell in love with each other's appearances and never actually had a proper conversation to get to know each other. Their miscommunication ended up killing them." He explained
Eddie smacked his lips and waved the explanation away. "Blah, blah, blah mister know-it-all, you know what I mean."
Milton resignedly nods his head and rubs his face. "Sadly I do. But now that I think about it, I see the similarities. You haven't had a proper conversation with her either."
"Have too!"
Milton stared flatly at his shorter friend. "Oh really? So you know her deepest fears? Her favorite memory? Her favorite books? Proudest moment? A pet peeve of hers? Her favorite singer?" The ginger haired teen challenged
"I know her favorite singers are Bruno Mars and Katy Perry. But the other stuff I don't know but so what?" Eddie wasn't going to admit that the only reason he knew that was because of her Facebook. He knew that wouldn't help his case.
Milton pinched the bridge of his nose and prayed for patience. It was really too early for this conversation. "So what is that is the type of stuff couples talk about. I knew all those answers for Julie." He explained as if he was talking to a child
There finally wasn't any pain saying Julie's name or bringing up their relationship. They broke up about three months ago and Milton was finally feeling peace over the breakup. Could see it for the secret blessing it really was. The new Julie wasn't the Julie he fell in love with. She was a stranger, a Lyndsey clone. It was for the best she broke it off because Milton wasn't sure he'd have the strength to do it.
"Well I'll get to learn them when we start dating." Eddie decided
Milton shakes his head at his deluded best friend. It was sad to watch really. "Eddie if you want my advice, it's time to let her go. Let the fantasy go."
Eddie locks eyes with him. "Never. You never give up on love." he declared.
Millton huffs. "If only you put this much persistence in Algebra and Spanish you would have better grades."
"Shut up."
Further conversation ceased when Evelyn called the meeting to order. After going over the minutes for the last meeting they started discussing the upcoming Field Day. It was right around the corner and they needed to finalize all the little details such as the sponsors, the amount of students participating, and the activities.
After the meeting ended Eddie started chatting about Hairspray again and Milton nodded robotically but wasn't really listening. After they finished packing up they headed towards the door but were stopped by none other than Anastasia Walters. Both boys gulped at the sight of her. Their fellow ninth grader look pissed. Hands propped on her hips and brown eyes glare focused on Eddie.
"Eddie! We need to talk!"
Eddie was too young to die. He only lived for fourteen years. He has so much more to live for. To do. He's never even kissed a girl before. Never lost the twenty pounds he's been struggling with since he joined the dojo. "Oh no."
Milton tightened his hold on his back pack straps and tried to make an escape. He knew whatever was about to go down he didn't want to be a part of it. He had better things to do. "Well I'm gonna just go-"
Eddie panicky grabs onto his friend's bony wrist causing him to flinch. "No, Milton you stay, I need a witness!" He hisses to him
Milton sighs and releases his backpack straps. He snatches his hand from Eddie's tight grip and rubs his sore wrist. With much reluctance he hangs his head in defeat. "Oh goody."
Feeling a bit better that Milton will stick with him, Eddie stared back at Ana. "Are you gonna kill me?"
The pint sized diva ignores the question. "It has been nearly two months since we had a band rehearsal. Two months. That is completely unacceptable."
Eddie nods, knowing it's best to just agree with her than to argue. Maybe after she yells at him he'll be able to leave.
"Are we still even doing this? Have you lost your motivation? You can't just start something and have us excited then ditch when you don't feel like it anymore. That's not good leadership skills Edward!" She ranted
Eddie cringed at the use of his full name. His mom only did that when she's really pissed. Like after she found out why Kim punched him in the nose It was giving him war flashbacks. "Look if I may interrupt Ana-"
If possible her glare hardened. "Stassie. I go by Stassie now." She interrupts sternly
'Right. Sorry, Stassie. You're right, you're completely right and I'm sorry about that. But uh, now is really not a good time for this discussion. I have to uh, meet my uh algebra teacher for um, you know, to talk about yesterday's quiz. Re-do it I mean."
Milton leaned closer to Eddie. "Yesterday was Sunday." He mutters to him under his breath
"And by yesterday I meant Friday." Eddie shot her what he hoped what a sincere grin and
Stassie's glare hadn't lessened at atll. If anything it seemed to have darkened more. She takes a threatening step towards him. "Eddie-" She growls
But Eddie didn't want to stay here any longer. He needed to escape, he had things to live for. Grace to live for. Eddie stepped around and fled for the door. Milton hot on his heels. "Sorry, gotta go bye!"
Seaford High
Dance Room
"-the bus will leave at six thirty sharp. So we need to be in this room by no later than six." Quinton told his team of dancers who were spread out on the floor in different sitting positions
If Jerry was being honest he wasn't really listening to the advisor. He was spinning a loose thread on his pants and trying not to fall asleep. He had a late night and didn't return home until midnight. Which caused him to oversleep and miss his alarm so his mami had to drive him to school for dance practice. It was his third time being late to practice.
Jerry doesn't feel too bad for being late. He thinks last night was worth it. He went to Hijinks with Randy, Zane, Ethan, Mika and her girls Erica and Cathy Sunday night. It was Mika's idea because she wanted to hangout and after being introduced to Hijinks a month ago by Cathy, she fell in love.
He still hasn't made Mika his girl yet. She just wanted to 'have fun' and keep things easy. It was still hard seeing Mika flirt with other guys. Hard seeing Ethan's hand on her waist and whispering in her ear. Or even worse Randy kissing her. He likes Randy, of course he does, he's one of his good friends. But seeing him with Mika makes him want to break the number one rule he promised Sensei Rudy and jump kick him. It fills him with boiling rage and envy that he's never felt for someone other than his papi.
The only boy that wasn't interested in Mika was Zane. Instead, Cathy and him seemed to have something going on between them.
"Okay, everyone that is it for today. You all did an amazing job. Now make sure to practice ok? But also don't overdo it. See you guys next time."
The team stood up and dispersed to get their things. After getting to his feet Jerry stretched and yawned. He distractedly scratched his left armpit and tried to make a break for his belongings. He wanted to get to the cafeteria for breakfast since he didn't eat any before he left his house.
"Jerry!" Layla begins, stopping the ninth grader in his tracks. "do you want to explain to me why you were late again today?"
He should've known Layla would have something to say about him being late. She had something to say about him being late the first three times. Jerry closes his eyes and curses under his breath and braced himself before turning around to face the junior.
"Um, is that a trick question?"
If looks could kill Jerry was pretty sure he would be dead right now. "This is the third time you were late Jerry."
Jerry nods. "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. I just I overslept and slept through my alarm and missed the bus so my mami had to drive me."
Layla didn't need to know the reason he overslept was because after leaving Hijinks at ten they stayed out longer to hang out at the Wolfe memorial garden since it was close by. Randy brought the good weed his step-sister's boyfriend, Evan, gave him and Zane had a bottle of jack in his bag. Jerry didn't drink but when the joint was passed to him he took a few drags, but not enough to get high. It wasn't long before Cathy and Zane started making out and Jerry made out with Mika until Cami came to pick him up near eleven.
Unfortunately this time it seemed like his explanation wasn't going to satisfy the team captain. "This is becoming a habit Jerry. Do I have to remind you how important it is to be fully committed to this team?"
Jerry shook his head. "No, no I got it."
"Then you shouldn't be missing practice -which you have missed twice already- or coming in late." The junior still seemed to be full of steam and not ready to let him go. Which means he probably won't make it to the cafeteria before they run out of their french toast sticks
In a surprising turn of events, Smooth- who overheard the conversation from a few steps away- chimed in for Jerry's defense. "Layla, c'mon lay off him."
Both Jerry and Layla looked at Smooth with matching shocked expressions. "Lay off him? Dan this is the third time he's late and in case you forgot Nationals are coming up fast and-"
"Yeah, yeah I know. We all know how important Nationals are. But he was only like eight minutes late. It's not that big a deal."
Ever since they were forced to stay after practice in the dance room together, things between him and Smooth have gotten better. Smooth acted like less of an asshole and stopped critiquing ever little move he did. Jerry came to see that he actually wasn't that bad of a guy. They weren't friends or anything, they were just cool with each other.
If they saw each other in the wall they nodded to one another but that's about as far as it went. Jerry never would've guessed that Smooth would take up for him to Layla of all people. Their relationship was confusing. Sometimes it seemed like Smooth was Layla's bitch but then other times he argues with her. Like now for instance.
"Not a big deal?! Every minute counts! If-"
Smooth was the only person he's seen with the balls to interrupt Layla mid rant. "And what about when Ro missed half of practice? Or Stacey who didn't even come to two of them at all." He challenged
Layla crossed her arms over her chest "That was different-"
"Oh was it? How so?"
The two juniors had a stare off, both daring the other to say something else. Jerry's eyes bounced between the two with a mixed feeling of awkwardness and interest. He glanced towards the room's entrance debating whether to make a run for it.
In an even more surprising turn of events, Layla backed down. "Fine." She all but spits out
She glared once more at Jerry, "Don't be late again." She demanded
Jerry jerkily nods, "Yes sir, I mean ma'am."
After that Layla stomps away. After exiting the doors Jerry's shoulders relaxed and he felt like he could breathe properly again. He shoots Smooth a grateful look.
"Hey thanks for that man."
"Yeah, don't mention it." He says as he twisted the top off of his bottle then brought the container up to his mouth to take a drink
"Dude you have to tell me, are you two smashing?"
Smooth choked on the water he was drinking and coughed up a storm. Frankly, Jerry thought that was a bit over dramatic. He waited patiently for the taller boy to get his breathing back under control. Once he did he asked a weak, "What?"
Jerry rolled his eyes at the question. "Banging? Hooking up? Doing it?" He clarified and even did a lewd hand gesture in case Smooth was still confused
The ninth grader never knew the older boy could turn such a shade of red. Or his face could twist into such a horrified look. It was fascinating. "What? I-are you? No, No! I'm dating Farrah!" He sputtered out
Jerry waved the answer away. "Yeah, yeah that doesn't really mean anything."
His papi was married to his mami but that didn't stop him from cheating. Besides, Farrah was hot sure and has been a guest star a few times in his late night fantasies. But Layla was also kind of hot. In a crazy chick type of hot. Like the girl you're not sure is going to cut off your dick or suck it.
"No, hell no, we're not."
"Have you ever?" Jerry pushed
"No! She's literally my cousin." Smooth snapped
Jerry was not expecting that answer at all. That broke any and all scenarios of Smooth and Layla sneaking into the dance room to hook up. "Huh?"
"Yeah, we're cousins."
"Really but you, and her…" Now Jerry was the one sputtering as he tried to come up with a way to say they don't look anything alike.
As far as he knew Smooth was black. A light skin black. Layla doesn't look black at all. And her last name is Corazon. Jerry overheard once she's from the Philippines.
Smooth finally stopped looking horrified and is now looking at him with his old expression of annoyance. "I'm mixed dumbass. Half Filipino and half black."
Well that would explain the look difference. "Oh."
Now Jerry just felt stupid. And really embarrassed.
Smooth shook his head in exasperation. "Just don't be late again. I won't bail you out next time." After giving the warning he walked towards the entrance of the room to leave
Jerry stood there a few seconds longer, stewing in his embarrassment. Then he remembered breakfast and hurried to grab his things and rushed out of the room.
Main Corridor
Eddie eagerly left his second period class, not retaining a single thing his teacher said. He was too busy daydreaming about Hairspray. Auditions start the first week of February and Eddie wants to blow them out of the park. He has to be better than Marcus Reed, who is also auditioning for Seaweed. Because of course he is, because things can never go easy for Eddie.
Marcus would be the perfect Seaweed. He's got the looks, the voice, and the moves, so will probably hand the role over to him. But Eddie can't have that happen. This is probably his last chance to win Grace. If she gets the role of Penny -and Eddie has no doubt she would- and he gets Seaweed then they will be forced to spend around two months together preparing for opening night.
He can't give up on her, he just can't. If he gives up then he'll stay a loser forever. He'll never have an easy way to break into the popular group. He'll never experience unforgettable memories that he'll look back on in twenty years with fondness. He and his dad will never have something in common to talk about. His dad will always think of him as a disappointment of a son. A son that couldn't follow in his footsteps when he was in high school.
He needs this. He needs this bad. He already damaged his relationship with Kim, probably beyond repair. That broken friendship had ripple effects in his relationship with the gang. That can't be for nothing.
On his way towards his locker he spotted Milton and Jack chatting at the former's locker. Things between him and the black belt have slightly improved. He wasn't icing him out anymore. He doesn't walk away anymore whenever Eddie sees him talking to Jerry or Milton and tries to join the conversation. Jack even invited him to join his table with Sidney again in biology.
Eddie walks towards the directions towards his friends and was close enough he caught the tail end of Milton's sentence.
"-good thing about living in SoCal, you can go to the beach whenever." The freshman president says as he exchanges books from his backpack to his locker
Jack nods in agreement. "Yeah. I can't wait." He enthused . "I hope Kelsey's mom packs snacks. I love her homemade trail mix. And her beach roll ups-"
"You guys are going to the beach?"
Both heads turned in the direction of his voice. Matching looks of awkwardness crossed their faces. Jack runs a hand through his hair and glances away. "Oh uh yeah. After practice."
"Cool I can't wait!"
Jack and Milton looked at each other, seeming to be having a silent conversation. Milon looks away first and clears his throat, "About that Eddie um," the ginger haired teen trails off, tightening his hold on his backpack straps then shooting Jack a pleading look
Jack sighs, taking mercy on his friend. " Look Eddie, you, you can't come." He picks up Milton's sentence
Eddie's eyes widened in shock. "What? Why not?"
"Kim, Kelsey, and Donna are also gonna be there."
"Why are they gonna be there?"
"Well it was Kelsey's idea to go and Kim invited us. We're gonna carpool over with her parents and mine's." Milton adds, finding his voice again now that the what he perceives as the hard part was over
"I can't believe you guys! You're choosing them over me? What happened to bros before…girls?"
Jack huffs in exasperation. "Eddie c'mon don't make this a big thing. They're our friends too and we're gonna hang out with them. That's it. We're not choosing them over you."
"Well that's kinda what it feels like." Eddie petulant argues
"Well we wouldn't have to do this if you wouldn't have done what you did in the first place. You could've gone with us."
This time Eddie was the one to huff as he rolled his eyes. "We're still on that? That was a long time ago."
"Yes we're still on that. Eddie you can't just humiliate one of Kim's best friends and expect her to just forget about it. Especially when you don't even seem to care."
"It was a prank."
"And Eddie you of all people should know how cruel and hurtful pranks can be."
The yellow belt stiffened at the reply. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I think you know what I mean."
Eddie didn't respond to that. He just stared at Jack, a mixture of anger, shock, and embarrassment brewing in him. The black belt stared right back, unrepentant and challenging. Milton's eyes bounced between his two friends, unsure what to do and not liking the tension growing between them.
"Hey guys I-uh, I think we should start heading to class. We don't want to be late."
The two continued staring at each other for a bit longer before Jack broke eye contact to look at Milton. "You're right," he calmly agrees, "check you guys later."
Jack walks away without a second look back. Milton stares at his retreating form then glances over at Eddie, unsure what to say. He settles for a forced smile then leaves to, mumbling a bye.
3rd Period English
"-she's starting to drive me crazy." Brett vents
"Really why?"
The two of them were supposed to be working on their assignment together but they haven't put pencil to paper yet. Jerry could tell Brett was in a mood as soon as he entered the class. He saw the spiky haired boy talking heatedly to his girlfriend outside of the class before stomping in. Jerry may not be as smart as Milton but he was able to put two and two together. He couldn't ask him about it during class so he waited until the end of it.
"All she wants to do is hangout together. All. The. Time. I'm starting to feel suffocated. I can't do anything by myself. At first I thought it was cute but now it's annoying. And when I do try to spend time with just Brad or Brody she gets all mad at me."
"Girls can be really annoying, yo." His mind brings up his numerous sisters, memories of Ezra and Val coming up more than once
"Girlfriends can be really annoying. And whenever we hang out it's always what she wants to do. Watch another stupid musical or that horrible show Glee, go to the mall, sing karaoke."
Jerry cringed, "Yikes."
That sounded like the ultimate torture. Jerry dreaded whenever Kim or Eddie chose a movie for movie night because it was either a romcom or cheesy musical. He's not sure what's worse, a musical or the Barbie movies Lia and Talia love.
"Yeah I know right? And we hardly even makeout anymore and when we do she doesn't let me touch anything."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"Damn how do you survive? I would go crazy."
"I'm starting to. I don't know how much longer I can put up with this."
Their teacher stood up from their desk with two hands full of papers. "Okay before you guys leave I'm going to pass back your quizzes from last week."
Jerry curses under his breath at the announcement. He already knows he didn't do so hot on that quiz. He didn't do any of the assigned readings he was told to. He just could never find the time between karate, hanging out with Mika, and taking care of his little sisters. Plus the book was wack, yo.
"You guys will not be keeping these papers. After you guys are done looking then pass them back up to the front." Their teacher instructed as he started handing the papers back to each person in the front row.
Jerry slouches in his seat. Dreading seeing the grade on his paper. He knows he needs to keep his grades up. It's a requirement to stay on the dance team. His GPA can't be any less than 2.0 or he's off the team. He doesn't want to be off the team. It was his dream to be on the dance team. He loves dancing. It was just lately his focus has been on other things and people.
Sure enough when he got his paper back it was a sixty five. Honestly it was better than Jerry thought it would be. He thought it was going to be in the fifties. Still the grade wasn't a passing one.
Jerry sighs then thumps his head against his desk.
Jones Residence,
Sage Road, Seaford
"-Eddie? Edward!"
Eddie snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of his ma's voice. He suddenly remembered that he was having dinner with his parents. He couldn't focus on making conversation with his parents. His mind was stuck on the people who he thought were his friends choosing Kelsey over him.
Eddie dreaded going to karate practice after school. He didn't want to see those traitors or be stuck around them for forty five minutes. He can't believe they were choosing Kelsey over him. Kelsey. She's still ruining his life months later.
Eddie tried his best to ignore them. Instead of sparring with with Milton or Jerry as a warm up, he chose to practice on a punching dummy. Milton tried to reason with him but Eddie just ignored him. Jack even tried to talk to him when they were changing in the locker room but Eddie acted as if he didn't hear him. Jack eventually gave up and left him alone for the rest of practice.
"Huh? I mean ma'am?"
"Where's your head at boy? Cuz it's obviously not here with us." Nathaniel Jones said with a mouth full of food
Eddie didn't want to tell his dad that as much as he tried not to, his mind was stuck on his so called friends. When Eddie got home from practice he tried to distract himself and not think about when he overheard Jack, Kim, Jerry, and Milton talking excitedly about the beach towards the end of practice. He tried to read the assigned reading book for English. He got through two chapters before putting the book down and doing his biology homework. But he quickly got bored of that too.
Not much later Eddie found himself checking their Keeks. He watched Jack's clip filming Kim and Kelsey singing in the car. Jerry's clip of him eating food on the boardwalk. And even though Eddie doesn't consider her a friend anymore he still follows Kim on Keek. He watched a clip of her with Kelsey and Donna on a boardwalk ride too.
Eddie looked down at his plate of meatloaf, mash potatoes, and green beans. "I'm sorry sir I just got a lot on my mind with school and the upcoming karate match."
"What's going on at school?" Marcie asks her son in a gentler tone than her husband
The yellow belt didn't really want to say his next words because he already knew the reaction of one of them would be. Still his mouth formed the words. "I was thinking of trying out for the choir musical."
Nathaniel Jones makes a sound of obvious displeasure at the news so Marcie sends him a warning glance before focusing back on her son. "Oh really? That's great, what's the play?"
To stall longer the boy in question shoved a spoon full of mash potatoes into his mouth. Then after that he took a sip of his fruit punch before answering. "Hairspray."
His father makes another loud sound of displeasure. Only this time he spoke. "Really Eddie? You want to audition for a play about racism?"
"Nathaniel." Marcie says in a warning voice
"What? It's bad enough to be in a play but Hairspray too? What black person would want to do that? Be reminded of the Jim Crow era?"
Eddie looks down at his food. He didn't expect anything less from his dad. His dad already made his opinion on his choice of extracurricular activities known.
"If you don't have anything nice to say shut up and eat ya damn food."
"That sounds wonderful baby."
Eddie smiled weakly at his mom. "Thanks ma. How was your day?"
Marcie and Nathaniel both stared at each other. They silently communicated for a few moments before his mom looked back towards him. "Actually Eddie there was something we wanted to talk to you about."
Eddie's stomach twisted in dread. That was never something a kid wanted to hear his parents say. Eddie panicky ran any and all secrets he kept from his parents and sneaky things he's done that would warrant a conversation like this. "O-okay?"
Oh. That wasn't bad.
"I got offered a promotion to be head nurse."
Eddie forces a smile on his face. He knew this was a good thing for his mom, they could always use the extra money. "Really? That's great mom."
"Yes baby thank you," she says then glances down towards her own plate and fiddles with her green beans. She clears her throat, "only it's in Washington."
Eddie blinks, maybe he misheard her. "Washington? As in Washington, Washington?"
Marcie nods in confirmation. "Yes."
"You're father and I talked about it and I decided to accept."
It felt like Eddie's entire word came to a stop. He wasn't hungry anymore. He wasn't stewing with anger towards his friends anymore. The only word running through his mind was Washington. "So this means that- Are you saying- you're saying that we're moving to Washington?"
Marcie nods again. A sad expression on her face. "Yes."
Eddie's mouth opened but no words came out. It felt like his heart fell out of his chest. His mouth dried. Maybe he misheard again. Maybe he fell asleep doing his homework and this was a nightmare.
"I know it's a lot to process but we decided it was for the best. With this new position I get more money. We can afford a better house."
Eddie shakes his head. His tongue was now unstuck from the roof of his mouth and he could form words again. "No, no, you can't. We can't move! I like Seaford! I have a life here! Friends! Karate!"
His mother smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry but it's already been decided."
"We're gonna move at the end of the school year so you can finish your year out." Nathaniel spoke up for the first time. Completely calm and unconcerned that his son's life has just been ruined
Suddenly his biggest concern wasn't getting the role of Seaweed anymore.
