Author's Note: Three months on the dot here's the newest chapter
Munira261: I always appreciate your review and I greatly appreciate your constructive criticism. To me that just shows how engaged you are in my story and I'm so grateful for that. I made Sloane the best in the dojo because of her canonically being a well known karate prodigy. From my understanding she never got a break to just be a regular teen until that episode. As we know for Jack he took a break from karate before the pilot episode which made him lower on the ranking. Him and Brody are neck in neck and it could change any day on who's better than the other. As for Jack being slightly out of character, remember that they're only freshmen. Jack has a lot of growing to do before he becomes the mature and humble leader/glue of the group. I can promise you if I do finish the whole series he will continue to grow and become more recognizable.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin it or any characters you may recognize
Now onto the story
Thursday, February 14th, 2013
Seaford High
Media Center
"Hydrophobic ligands cross the cellular membrane to use what kind of receptor?" Nigel asks
Milton drums his fingers on the table in thought. He goes through the mental file in his head to find the right answer. "Intracellular receptors."
Nigel flips the index card over. "Correct!" He reveals
Milton preens in happiness.
School recently ended so Milton and Nigel agreed to study in the library before their parents picked them up. Nigel was quickly becoming Milton's second favorite study buddy. Kim will always be his favorite and that's not just because if he doesn't say that she'll beat him up. But Nigel's on the same wavelength as him, they think more similarly in how they take notes and break things down.
Nigel flips over to the next index card. "This is an easy one. Maintaining homeostasis is?"
"The tendency to maintain a stable, constant internal environment."
"Correct. If you got that wrong I would've left." Nigel jokes and Milton laughs
"Last question. True or false thermoregulation is an example of negative feedback?"
Milton nods. "True."
"Correct and how?"
Milton drums his fingers on the table again in thought. Irritatingly enough that was one of the few questions that still stumps him. He bet Lorie would be able to easily give the correct answer. She was scarily smart, and that's coming from him. But she was also just scary in general. It also seemed like she hated him. Whenever he raises his hand in biology she gives him the evil eye. If Milton hadn't known Jerry's sister Paula and been best friends with Kim for the past two years he would've' been terrified.
Milton fought the urge to take a peek at the index card. "Something to do with temperature?"
"Correct but could you elaborate further?"
Unfortunately his mind was coming up blank. "Uh…no. That's all I got." Milton shamefully admits
"Well, it's because when your body temperature increases or decreases the body metabolizes to return the temperature to normal."
Milton huffs out an irritated breath as he plops his hand down on the table. Nigel shot him a sympathetic look then handed the cards over to him. Milton took them and began packing his things up.
"You still got twenty eight out of thirty correct. You are going to ace this quiz."
"I will." Milton confidently agrees. "And so are you. Thanks for studying with me."
Nigel smiles more genuinely at him. "What are friends for?"
Friends. Something Milton never thought he'd have back when he was seven and Jerry still picked on him. When the other boys saw him as a weirdo since he didn't like roughhousing with them on the playground or playing sports. He thought girls had cooties so instead he spent his time reading books.
But then towards the end of third grade Jerry finally became his friend. Jerry met Eddie during summer camp and by fourth grade they became a little trio. It stayed that way until seventh grade when Jack came and Kim followed not long after. And now in ninth grade he knows another group that are becoming his friends. Skylar, Marcus, Arthur, Nigel, and Kandace.
As if she was reading his mind his crush came walking up to the table with a soft smile on her face. Today was a little chillier than usual for a February so she wore a black and white checkered knee length dress over a long sleeve turtleneck white shirt. Her sleek black hair was styled into two pigtails. She looked beautiful as usual.
"Hey guys." She greeted them when she reached the table. She chose to sit in the empty chair on Milton's left and the Scot tried not to think too much about it and willed his heart to calm down
"Hey Kandy." Nigel casually greets the tenth grader a way Milton couldn't,
Milton shoots her a quick smile. He sets his hand in his lap to clasped them together to stop them from trembling with nerves. "Hey Kandace."
She eyes the pencils and green folder on the table that he hasn't packed away yet, "I'm not surprised to find you two studying."
"You're one to talk." Nigel teased
"We actually just finished studying for our Ap bio test tomorrow." Milton adds, wanting to add something to the conversation and not sit there like a bump on a log
"Ah. I see." Kandace sets her backpack next to her chair. "Well, Happy Valentine's Day you guys."
"Thanks. Happy Valentine's Day to you too." Nigel says back
"Yeah happy valentine's day." Milton belatedly adds
The Scots eyes scan the library and take in the holiday decorations hanging up. The pink heart garlands on the wall, construction paper red hearts on the shelves, and the decorated bulletin board in the back. The halls were way more decked out thanks to the student council. You couldn't go anywhere without seeing pink and red. It looks good if he does say so himself and it was kind of fun decorating.
But it brought back memories of Julie. This will be his first Valentine's Day without her. The first time he doesn't have to plan something or save up to buy something. It still hurt but it was bearable. Milton thought he was finally over his ex until Valentine's decorations and commercials started popping up. The memories followed soon after along with the pain. He's not sure when the pain would be fully gone but he couldn't wait until it was.
"Did you get a candy gram?" Nigel asks drawing Millton's attention back to the conversation
Candy grams were the annual fundraiser run by the prom committee. It became a popularity competition amongst the students to see how many each got. He heard Lyndsey, Erica, and Cathy boast about how many they got at lunch. The last two years bought Julie along with her favorite chocolates and a rose.
"Surprisingly I did."
"And let me guess it was Ro?" Nigel asks with a knowing smirk
The girl in question's cheeks reddened as she shyly looked down at the table. "She didn't mean anything by it. It's probably just a friend thing."
"Right." Nigel draws the word out in a way that mean he doesn't believe it one bit
Milton frowned in confusion at the exchange, feeling like he was out of the loop. This was the first time he truly remembered that he was entering a group of people that have been friends for years. Nigel and in a surprising turn of events Arthur (or Archie) had made him feel extremely welcomed into the group and treated him as if they'd been friends for years.
Kandace clears her throat. "Anyway, what about you two? Did you guys get any candy grams?" She asked, desperately wanting to change the subject
"You mean besides the one you gave me?" Nigels asks. "Then no."
"I got yours- thank you by the way- and my friend Kim's and that about it."
Milton was extremely shocked when he was handed two candy grams at lunch. He came to expect a candy gram from Kim and in return sent her one too. Milton stupid first thought was that it was from Julie. He hated his heart leapt with hope in his chest at what that could possibly mean. But when he read the note all thoughts of Julie left his head. It was from Kandace.
His mind worked in overdrive at what that could possibly mean. Kim snatched the candy gram from his hand and started grilling him with questions about the tenth grader. Milton didn't want to get his hopes up. And it appears he was right to do that because Nigel also got. It really was a friend thing. He really hated the sinking disappointment in his chest at the confirmation.
Kandace smiles sweetly at him. Yep his crush really was coming back with a vengeance. "Well you're welcome."
Milton turned away from her to shove the last of his things in his backpack. "Are you guys doing anything for Valentine's Day?" He asked
"We're going to the SCC Valentine's Day dance." Nigel answers
That caught his attention and he righted himself to face Nigel. "Oh?" He thinks he remembered his mom mentioning the dance a week ago
"Yeah both our parents are forcing us to go." Nigel continues and Kandace nods in agreement
"Do you have any plans?" Kandace asks the freshmen president
The boy in question shook his head. "Uh nothing much. Just studying, maybe practicing my french horn or finishing my book."
"Why don't you come to the dance?" The tenth grader suggestive
Milton's heart stupidly leapt in his heart and he blinked. "Huh?"
"C'mon it's Valentine's Day, take a break from your usual routine and join us." She presses then rest her hand on his arm and his brain short circuited
Milton blinks rapidly in surprise. With both Kandace and Nigel smiling encouragingly at him he caved. "Um, uh okay. Yeah, sure."
Kandace smiles. "Great."
Crawford Residence
"There. You're all done." Jill happily announced
Kim eagerly turns towards the mirror. For the dance Kim asked her mama for help getting ready. Her mama was thrilled to learn she was going to SCC Valentine's Day dance. But she was less thrilled when she learned it was with Brody Carlson. Her mama didn't voice any of her displeasure, she helped her get ready without fuss. It set Kim on edge that she almost wished her mom would just say something.
Kim wanted to do something different with her hair so her mama decided to give her loose curls. Since Brody asked her so last minute Kim didn't buy a new dress for the dance. Instead she fished out one of her favorite old dresses from her closet. A spaghetti strap purple knee length dress with a gold belt in the middle.
"So what do you think?"
Kim smiled widely at her appearance in the mirror. She looked good. Like really good, beautiful even. "I love it."
She couldn't help anticipating Brody's reaction. As soon as that thought entered her mind it brought the usual conflicting emotions. Her smile slowly faded as she looked down at the sink in front of her in thought.
"Do you think I'm making a mistake?" She finally asked
It was funny how much she hated peoples unwarranted opinions she wanted her mama's. She was one of the few people whose advice she fully trusted and would actually take into consideration. Deep down Kim knew she needed her reassurance that she was making the right choice.
Jill hummed as she ran a hand through her daughter's golden locks. She was quiet for a moment in contemplative silence. "I think my opinion doesn't matter. Part of growing up is making your own decisions and believing in them without looking for the approval of others. If you like Brody and want to go out with him then do it. If you don't want to then don't. You still have time to bail."
Kim laughs softly before turning around to face her. "Mama I'm all dressed up and you just finished my hair." She half heartedly argued
"So? You said his friends were there. He won't be lonely." Jill reassured her daughter with a dismissive wave
Kim was back to smiling. All her previous nerves were washed away. "He'll be upset."
"He'll get over it."
Kim fully laughs. Her heart swelled with affection as she stared lovingly at her mom. She leans over to hug her tightly. "Thank you mama. I love you."
Her mama hugs her back tightly then leans down to kiss the top of her head. "Oh you're more than welcome sweet girl. I love you too."
Seaford Country Club
After their hug in the bathroom her mama wanted to take pictures of her before she left. It felt like her mama wanted to take a gazillion pictures of her but thankfully Chuck eventually got her to stop. After all the pictures were taken Kim went to her room to grab her purse and phone so she could leave. Chuck bid them both farwell with kisses, her mama- grossly- on the lips and her on the top of her head. Once again Kim could feel the urge bubbling up again to call him those three letter words.
It wasn't that far a drive to the Seaford Country Club. It was an estimated fifteen minute drive from her house to there. But tonight it felt like five seconds as if she blinked then she was there. Her mama drove up to the entrance of the clubhouse where Brody was standing there waiting for her. For the semi formal he chose to wear a blue and white checkered collared shirt and black slacks. He was staring down at his phone until her mama drove up to the front. He tucked his phone away and walked up towards her car.
"Alright we'll have fun but not too much. I'll pick you up at nine." Jill instructed her daughter
Kim smiles at her mama while trying to ignore her growing nerves again. She unbuckles her seatbelt then leans over to kiss her mama on the cheek. "Thanks, bye mama."
Kim carefully gets out of the car, making sure not to reveal anything. If there's one good thing about her southern upbringing was learning tips on how not to accidentally show anything when wearing a skirt or dress. Once done she then smooths down her dress and pushes her hair back over her shoulder. She finally meets Brody's eyes and a small but genuine smile forms on her lips as she walks over to him.
He gives her a clear once over. His eyes linger on her bare legs before snapping back up to her face when she pointedly cleared her throat. "Uh Kim, hey."
Kim flashed him a nervous smile. "Hey."
Brody gives her another once over then clears his throat. "Wow you look…really nice."
"Thank you." Kim says, pink coloring her cheeks. "You don't look so bad yourself."
Brody nervously rubs the back of his neck. "Thanks."
A lull of silence fell between them after that. Both not knowing what to say next and hoping that the other will break the growing anxious silence. It was weird for Kim to feel this nervous around Brody again. It was like seventh grade all over again. With her being flustered that this cute new guy is talking to her, flirting with her, noticed her.
Mercifully Brody was the one to break the awkward silence. "So let's-" Brody awkwardly gestures towards the doors
Kim eagerly nods. "Yeah."
They both head towards the double doors then Brody opens one of them for her. Kim bites back her instinctual reply that she could do it herself. Instead she allows herself to indulge her inner girly girl and feel flattered by the move. Brody easily falls into step next to her as they walk down the foyer and towards the back hall.
Kim eyes the high ceilings, archways, and expansive halls. She almost forgot how disgustingly impressive the clubhouse was. This was where all the Swathmore Rejects loved hanging out at. And unfortunately an actual Swathmore student, one of the worst ones alive, Claire freaking Zimmerman. Kim's not sure she'll be able to control herself if she runs into that uppity bitch. Grace was one thing, hell even Lyndsey was one thing but Claire. Don't even get her started.
"Do you come here often?" Brody asks, snapping Kim out of her darkening thoughts
If this was his flirting skills then Kim would leave in a heartbeat. She gives him a flat look. "Are you serious Carlson?"
Brody cringes, "That wasn't a line. I just come here a lot with my friends and I haven't seen you around."
"That's 'cause I don't come here often." She says the last part in a mocking low tone causing Brody to roll his eyes. "My family doesn't have a membership. I've only come here as Milton's guest."
Brody nods. "Oh well uh this place is really cool. My aunt and uncle have a membership so you can come as my guest whenever you want."
Kim blinks, stunned into momentary silence. She didn't have a snarky comeback to that. She bit her lip. "Okay. Thanks."
"Yeah, sure, course." Brody flashes her a smile that did things to her stomach. Gosh she really did sound like such a girl
As they neared the end of the hall Kim could feel the vibrations from the loud music course through her body. It felt kind of tingly. They rounded the corner and finally reached their destination.
"And here we are." Brody announces.
This time the doors to the ballroom were already open so she didn't have to worry about Brody opening the door for her again. She was slightly disappointed. But she didn't feel that way for long because she was taken aback by the decorations in the ballroom.
"Wow."
Brody hesitantly grabbed her left hand. She shot him a look of surprise but allowed it. Feeling more confident Brody grinned at her. "C'mon I'll show you where my friends are."
Kim allows herself to be led despite every fiber in her being screaming to run away. She was thankful Brody's back was to her so he didn't see her face drop. That was the last thing Kim wanted to do. It was something she dreaded having to do and almost made her back out of coming. Unfortunately she caved to Brody's dumb hazel eyes, stupid grin and promise that Lorie and Lyndsey won't cause problems.
When she pressed about Grace he just gave her a confused look. He, like all the other dumb boys, were easily tricked by Grace's nice girl persona. He didn't recognize the double meanings behind her words or see the wickedness in her 'sweet' smile. Either way Kim didn't believe Brody one bit that Lyndsey and Lorie will be nice. She just hopes it won't be too much of a disaster.
Kim works hard to not immediately scowl when she spots her nemesis. The brunette bully was sitting at one of the tables with her fellow brunette Grace, Brett, and Lorie. Grace was chatting with Lorie who was the first one to notice her. Lorie whispers to Grace then nudges her. Grace's green eyes meet Kim's brown ones. Her face was unreadable before she broke eye contact to lean across the table to wave a hand in Lyndsey's direction to get her attention.
Lyndsey was absorbed in her phone but eventually glanced over to Grace. By the time Lyndsey makes eye contact with Kim, the blonde has already reached the table. Lyndsey sets her phone on the table and stares coolly at her. Kim met her gaze head on, daring the brunette to try her.
Instead Lynsdsey's face breaks into a smile. "Brody, you found Kimmy." She enthused
Kim narrows her eyes. So that's how they were gonna play it. "It's just Kim. After four years of having the same classes together I would think you know that by now." She corrects in a saccharine sweet voice
Lyndsey fakes a laugh and taps her head with her hand. "Right, silly me I forgot."
"I'm so glad you could make it Kim." Grace enthuses then stands up and gives her a hug
Kim tenses at the unexpected act. She doesn't like people unexpectedly touching her. Especially when it's someone she absolutely loathes and their touch makes her skin crawl. Her hands had automatically balled into fists before she caught herself and relaxed them. Thankfully her arms were trapped awkwardly by her sides so no one saw them.
Grace finally pulled back but her hands lingered longer on her shoulders as she inspected Kim. "And your dress! It's so…you!
Kim pursed her lips. She's pretty sure that was an insult. If this was what she'll have to deal with for the enite night she swears she'll come up with an excuse to leave early. She can only deal with two faced and ice princess for so long before things get ugly.
"Nice to see you Crawford." A male voice says
Kim's eyes slides over to the owner of the voice; Brett. "You too Parker. Wow a collared shirt you're really all dressed up huh?"
Brody snickers and even Lorie smirks at the jibe.
"Here's your plate Grace. And your cup Lori." Brad says as he walks towards the table
"Oh hey Kim, you're here."
"Hey Brad."
"Thank you Brad." Grace says with a sugary sweet smile
"Yeah thanks." Lori belatedly adds without looking up from
Brody sits in an empty seat next to Lorie then pulls out the added seat next to him and gestures for Kim to sit in it. She reluctantly complies. Kim was coiled tightly like a spring just waiting for the other shoe to drop. She tries to relax but it was damn near impossible when she was sitting between her two arch enemies. She felt unsafe being in enemy territory. She tries to remember why she did it.
"Well this has been fun but." Lyndsey fake enthused. "But uh c'mon Brett I wanna dance."
"Good for you." Brett quips
Lyndsey huffs and glares at him. "You're coming with me, asshole."
Brett scoffs. "Uh no."
"Uh yes." Lyndsey copies his tone as she tugs him out of his seat
The spiky haired boy reluctantly relented. "Ugh."
Kim watched their interaction with bemusement. Their friendship was odd. Brody clears his throat, gaining her attention. "So uh do you wanna dance too?"
Kim slowly nods. It was better than sitting with Grace. She stands up. "Sure."
Here Milton was already back again at SCC. This was really becoming a recurring hangout place for him like the dojo. When Milton got home and told his mom about the Valentine's Day Dance she was more than delighted to drive him there. She of course asked for further information of why he's going and who he's going with. Milton didn't miss the way his mom's eyes lit up when he told her about Kandace so he made sure to stress Nigel was coming too and they're all going as friends.
He really doesn't want to deal with his mom teasing him about his crush or even worse try to meddle. For his own sanity it's best if he keeps his crush to himself. Besides, it's not like he's ready to do anything about it. He doubts Kandace even likes him like that and Milton is not about to make a fool out of himself. He's finally starting to settle into the group, the last thing he needs to do is give them a reason to drop him. He can do friends. Thanks to being best friends with Kim for two years now he's not afraid of girls. He recognizes that girls are just humans and not some exotic species. They can actually make really good friends.
So that's what he and Kandace are, friends. When Milton entered the SCC ballroom he was a little disappointed to see that Kandace wasn't there yet. When Nigel reached Nigel he was informed that Kandace got held up with studying but she'll be here shortly. They fell into easy conversation about Nigel and Marcus's upcoming lacrosse game.
But then when Kandace walks up to their table all thoughts of just being friends flee his mind. She looked absolutely gorgeous and his middle school crush came back with a vengeance. She wore a spaghetti strap beaded baby pink knee length dress. Her hair was pulled into a sleek low bun with a braided crown. Milton's jaw dropped before he came back to himself and shoved a cookie in his mouth to play it off. Thankfully Nigel wasn't looking at him so he didn't see his dramatic reaction.
But it was as if Milton reverted back to his sixth grade self. He couldn't look Kandace in the eye no matter how hard he tried and kept pulling at his collar in nervousness. He felt itchy and hot and he didn't know what to do with his hands. He stumbled over his words and Kandace and Nigel were staring at him with matching looks of concern.
It became too much for Milton that he left their table with a flimsy excuse of needing to refill his cup. When in reality he just needed to get away from Kandace so he could clear his head and think properly. He felt like a total idiot. All it took was seeing Kandace in a nice dress and he became a blubbering buffoon. He needed to pull himself together.
After Milton refilled his cup with water he walked towards the buffet table. He wasn't necessarily hungry, he was just stalling for time so he didn't have to go back yet. When he headed over to the table he noticed the back of a blonde girl wearing a purple dress. Something about her was familiar but it couldn't be who he thought she was. Could she? He decided to ask anyway.
"Kim?" Milton asks, causing the girl to turn towards him. "I thought that was you. What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." She shot back
"I was invited by Nigel and Kandace." Milton explained
Kim pulled a face at their names. "Oh the Swathmore rejects."
Milton huffs and rolls his eyes. The familiar irritation was bubbling up inside him. "Could you please stop calling them that?"
Kim shrugged unabashedly. "Wait Kandace is still fifteen? I thought she was sixteen by now." She asks, deciding to change the subject altogether
Milton narrowed his eyes at her but decided to leave it. He didn't want to get in a fight with her. "Not yet. Her birthday is at the end of February."
A sly look crossed Kim's face. "So you guys have been spending a lot of time together." She starts
Milton shrugs, "I guess." He confirms
He hasn't really spent one on one time with her. They were always in a group setting with the others at SCC. If it wasn't that then it was before or after school in the library. But he does have Kandace's number but only because she doesn't have any social media accounts. Stating her parents won't allow it.
"And she's really smart like you." Kim continued
Milton knows she was working towards something he just wasn't sure what yet. He nods. "Yeah."
"And she invited you to the Valentine's dance."
Milton reaches for a cookie on the buffet table then takes a bite and swallows before answering. "Yeah and she was already going there with Nigel."
"And you think she's really pretty."
Oh no. Now he sees where Kim was going with this. He levels with a look as stern as he could muster. "Kim don't."
The girl has the gall to give him an innocent look. "What?"
"Do not go there."
"I'm just asking simple questions." She counters
"We're friends that's it." He stresses
Finally Kim dropped the innocent act and grins mischievously at him. "But you liike her." She teases and pokes him with her finger
Milton huffs again and looks away from her. Not wanting to hear the truth or admit she was right. Instead he downs the rest of his water to prolong replying. At this rate he'll be making multiple bathroom runs throughout the rest of the dance.
"You should ask her to dance. I'm sure she'll say yes." Kim presses because she'ls like a dog with a bone. Once she gets something in her mind she won't stop.
Milton closed his eyes and pleaded for patience. "Kim." He groaned
"And if she doesn't I'll kick her ass." She continues nonchalantly
Milton's eyes popped open and he turned on her. "Absolutely not!" He exclaimed
Kim holds her hands up in surrender. "Relax, I'm joking. Mostly."
They both knew she wasn't. Kim's overprotectiveness is something he both loves and hates about her. Milton had his fill of Kim pestering him about his non-existent love life. It was his turn to change the subject.
He takes another bite of his cookie and swallows before speaking. "Enough about me. What about you doing here?"
Kim suddenly found the cookies on the buffet table very interesting. "Uh, I was invited too."
"By who?" Milton already had a good guess who it was but wanted to hear her say it
He considers it payback for all the teasing she just put him through. Milton knew it was only a matter of time before she got together with you-know-who.
It was funny seeing Kim act all flustered. She refused to meet his eyes as she broke the cookie on the plate she was holding into pieces. "Um, well, that's a good question with a funny answer-"
To make matters even better Brody freaking Carlson walks up to Kim and places a hand on her back. "Hey there you are." He greets her with a smile
And sure enough Milton was right. Milton regarded him coolly. "Brody." He greets him
Brody looks at him in surprise, too focused on Kim that he didn't notice the other boy at first. "Hey Milton. Nice to see you."
"Yeah likewise." Milton cordially replied
Milton doesn't have any issues with Brody. If Kim forgave her then Milton doesn't see why he needs to hold a grudge. Brody has been nothing but decent whenever they crossed paths in the dojo or at school. Still Milton does have his guard up just as a precaution and to show loyalty to Jack. Jack has made it very obvious since back in September he doesn't trust Brody for a multitude of reasons. Milton had his own opinions about Brody but he still stuck by Jack because at the end of the day that's his best friend.
Milton's not sure what Jack thinks about Brody now but at the very least he's not openly hostile towards him anymore. Lately it seems that the only thing Jack cares about is karate. He declined invites to hangout with the group and continually had extra one on one karate lessons. Milton guesses the plus side was that he bumped himself up to the second best student. He's repeatedly beat Brody when they spar but he doesn't seem to get any vindictive satisfaction from it. He shows good sportsmanship towards Brody then begins sparring with Sloane.
Milton was growing really concerned about him, especially ever since the panic attack a few weeks ago. The way Jack was going it was only a matter of time before he crashed badly.
"So you two are here together? Like a date?" Milton asks
Brody glances at Kim who remained quiet. "Yeah." He confirms then glanced at Kim again who slowly nodded
Milton nods. "Nice."
Milton looks at Kim who keeps her gaze on her plate while Brody stares at Kim and him and opens and closes his mouth unsure what to say. The awkward silence grows thick between them. It got to a point where Milton decided he'd rather face Kandace again than stand here any longer.
Milton clears his throat. "I should head back to my friends. I'll see you guys around." Then he hurries away. He couldn't get back to his table any faster
Surprisingly it wasn't too bad being around Grace and company. That's not to say it was pleasant but it just was as tortuous as she feared it would be. Lorie completely ignored her existence which was for the best for the both of them. Lyndsey split between giving her passive aggressive remarks, ignoring her, and whispering to Grace. If she became too transparent in goading her Brody chastised her for it and she claimed she was 'just teasing' but stopped for then.
Kim was more pleased than she'll admit at Brody defending her against Lyndsey. That's not to say she can't defend herself- she can thank you very much- but it just shows that Brody really has changed. That he's taking their friendship seriously and will defend her when needed.
Brett was as chill as ever. Kim never had a problem with him and usually gets along great with him. They have the same sense of humor. Brad was nice as ever, he breaks any growing tension when Lyndsey gets too snarky. It reminded Kim why she had a crush on him in seventh grade.
Then there was Grace. Shockingly she hardly paid Kim any mind. All of the brunette beauty's attention was on Brad. She was fawning over him the entire time, batting her eyelashes, giggling like an idiot, etc. She sat close to him at the table and used any excuse to touch him. But Brad didn't really seem to mind.
When the dj finally started playing some slow songs Brody asked her to dance. Despite it being obvious he was going to ask her considering he asked her to be his date, butterflies still birthed in her stomach.
She noticed Grace was dancing with Brad. The pair wore matching grins as they stared at each other and swayed to the crooning of Bruno mars. It looks like Grace is finally getting what she wants. Girls like her always do.
"So is that finally happening?" Kim asks
Brody glanced over to the dancing pair before looking back at Kim. His eyebrows were raised in surprised. "You know about Grace's crush on Brody?"
Kim scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Of course I do. Everyone knows. It's very obvious."
"Oh," Brody says, then shrugs. "Well Brad agreed to go as a friend date. Who knows what'll happen at the end of the night."
Kim glances back over to the pair. The look Brad was giving Grace didn't seem all that platonic. He might not know it yet, but his feelings for her were changing. They were going to be Cory and Topanga after all.
"It's only a matter of time before they get together. Everyone knows how she feels about him."
"Everybody but Brad." Brody corrects
"As much as I hate to admit it, they look good together." Kim begrudgingly says as she watches Grace rests her head on Brad's shoulder
How stinkin cute.
"They do, don't they?" Brody agrees.
Kim finally had her fill of staring at the couple and tore her gaze away. She has done talking about them. She desperately wanted to change the subject.
"I'm surprised I haven't seen Stassie yet. Where is she?"
Brody shrugs. "I don't know. Home I guess. She and Brett broke up."
Kim stops swaying to the music in shock. "What?!" She exclaimed. Brody belatedly stopped swaying too but kept his hands in her waist
"Yeah. They've been fighting a lot the past few weeks so no one's surprised." Brody further elaborated with a shrug
Kim blinks as she tries to process the information. She's surprised she hasn't read about it on SDL. For once it looks like Tj was slacking. "That's wow."
Kim begins swaying again and Brody follows her lead. "Yeah."
Kim wonders if Sloane knows about the news. The blonde knows that Sloane and Stassie aren't friends anymore though she's not entirely sure why. If Kim has to guess, maybe it has to do with Stassie becoming friends with Grace and company. Maybe the well known diva ditched Sloane for them? Knowing how Grace and Lyndsey operate, Kim doubts they'll be talking to Stassie now.
"So uh are you having fun?" Brody asks, drawing Kim's attention back him
Kim paused in consideration. Was she having a good time? There hasn't been any bloodshed, she hasn't wanted to make an excuse to leave early. All signs point to a positive. "Yeah, yeah I am. It's better than I thought it would be."
Brody's lips quirk in amusement. "I'm not sure if that was a compliment."
"Me neither." Kim admits
Brody laughs. Kim wanted to punch him for the warmth that flooded through her veins at the sound.
"It's nothing against you it's just your…" Kim trails off
"My friends." Brody finishes
Bingo. "Really only Grace and Lyndsey."
Brody nods. "I still don't really understand your problem with Grace."
Kim bites back a sarcastic reply as she glances at Grace and Brad again. "She's not as nice as she seems."
"So you've said." His tone made his disbelief crystal clear
Kim presses her lips together to keep from saying anything more. She knows it's useless. Grace has every boy under her spell, they're the easiest to trick because boys are dumb.
"I don't wanna talk about Grace or Lyndsey, I wanna talk about… us."
That draws Kim's eyes back toward his hazel ones. "Us." She repeats
"Yeah. Us."
The butterflies were back in her stomach again. All the thoughts and feelings she shoved in a box in the back of her head were rattling loudly. "Okay."
Brody met her gaze with a determined glint in his eyes. "I'm really glad you agreed to come here tonight with me. I wasn't even sure you were gonna agree and I almost didn't ask because of that and I would've just gone with Lyndsey."
At Kim's raised eyebrows he realized how that sounded and hurried to correct himself. "As friends! Just friends, I have absolutely no interest in her anymore than that. I mean c'mon at this point I thought it was pretty obvious to everyone that I like you."
Kim was speechless. "I uh, I."
Brody chuckles. "I guess not you huh? Well I do a lot. And tonights, tonights been good right? We're having a good time. Well I'm having a good time, I don't want to speak for you I know you don't like that and I respect that I-"
"I'm having a good time." Kim mercifully interrupts him
"Then we should keep doing this. As more than friends if you want. If you, if you even like me like that too." Brody closes his eyes and curses. "I probably should've asked you that first before I started rambling like an idiot. Shit."
"I do." Kim blurts out. She stops swaying again. "As much as I tried not to. I do."
Brody squinted in confusion. "Tried not to?"
Kim nods. "Simply hating you was easy. Feeling…other things made things more complicated so I tried not to but you don't make it easy."
The boy blinks as he looks to be processing the information. "I don't know how to take that." He eventually says
"You understand why I'm so hesitant right? I'm not being dramatic and I'm not trying to get one on you I just." She trails off again
"I do get it." Brody reassured her. "I used you and I broke your trust. I can't apologize enough for what happened in seventh grade. I'll always regret it. And I swear on my life I'll never do something like that again. I hoped that I had redeemed myself these past few months. Showed you that I changed you know?"
He had. Damn it he really had. As much as Kim was determined to hate him the moment she saw him in her dojo. He was way different than what she previously pegged him as. He was actually pretty sweet and a little dorky with darker humor than she thought he would have. Of course he had his flaws, two shining ones being his friendship with Grace freaking Overland and Miss Ice Princess.
"I was hoping Kim Crawford that you're willing to take a chance on me. But If you're not we can just stay friends if that's what you really want. We can forget that any of this happened. No pressure."
Such a freakin dork. Kim hates how her heart swells in fondness at his nervousness. Why was she surprised, the fact that she agreed to go with him to this dance should say it all. She already made up her mind, she just didn't want to admit it to herself yet. But here she was. Brody wanted to talk about their unspoken thing, forcing her to confront her feelings. She was Kim Crawford when has she ever cared about what other people think? Screw whatever her friends have to think the fact of the matter is she wants Brody. She likes him. A lot.
"Damn it Carlson." Kim muttered. "Okay…I'm willing."