Braver - Jack Brewer

5. Swords and Magic

Jack, Milton, Eddie, Kim, and I were stretching when Jerry bursts in.

"Guys, huge problem- Kelsey Vargas, the coolest girl in school, is on her way here." He runs over to us.

"For your sake, I hope you meant coolest girl that is not in this dojo right now." I glare at him, popping my knuckles. He nods fast, scared. "Good." I go back to stretching.

"Don't panic. We've trained for this. Guys, bust out the emergency deodorant." Jack runs to his locker.

Jerry scoffs,"I don't need deodorant."

"Yes, yes you do." I pat his shoulder. I walk up to Jack and lean on the locker next to his, my locker. "I don't take any chances. I'm wearing a necklace of air fresheners right now." Eddie pulls out the necklace that has 5 or 6 car air fresheners on a chain,"This week I'm Alpine Meadow." He sniffs them.

"I told Kelsey I was a martial arts expert and the youngest sensei in history." Jerry panics. "Welp, you straight up lied." I smile and Jack elbows me in the gut. I put my hands up like I'm going to fight him and he cowards, tripping over his bag. I hold out my hand and help him up while I laugh and he glares.

Just then, our sensei walks in. "Oh, Rudy, Kelsey's on her way. Dude, please hook me up with that black belt." Jerry pleads. Rudy scoffs,"You can't have this black belt. It's a symbol of hard work, honor, and respect."

"Then why do you use it to walk your dog?" I jump on Jack's back and he carries me over to Rudy, not setting me down even when we reach the sensei. Rudy turns and points at me,"That was one time and it was an emergency. I had a pug with the squirts and new white carpet." Jack and I grimace at his statement.

"Look, can we stop talking and get back to sparring, please?" Rudy sounds ticked off. "Jerry, you're up against Naomi. Milton, you're with Kim. Jack, you're with Eddie." Rudy walks to the side of the mat. "Jack?!" Eddie questions. Jack shows off his moves and Eddie looks terrified. "Hold on, my phone's vibrating." Eddie pulls out his wallet and pretends it's a phone.

"I hate to be that guy, but- Hello." Eddie puts the wallet up to his ear. "You mean the guy that pretends his wallet is a phone?" Jack scoffs. "Please, shhhh!" Eddie shushed Jack. "Can you hear me now?" Eddie walks out, leaving Jack partner less. Rudy tells us to hurry up when Kelsey walks in.

Jerry and I step up and get in a fight position. "Hi, Jerry." Kelsey looks at the boy while he spins around. He gasps,"Kelsey, what a surprise." Kelsey crosses her arms,"So these are your students that fear and respect you?" I fake smile,"Yes we are." I drop the smile,"And I'm about to fear and respect the living grits out if him right now."

"Oh, no, not my grits. I'm gonna need my grits." Jerry cowards. I fake smile again, grabbing Jerry's arm and flipping him. He stands up looking around, dizzy,"Yeah, I'd say you've got that move down pretty well. Oh, you guys take a five. Kelsey and I are gonna get a froyo. Oh, come on Kelsey." Jerry walks over to her but puts his arm over Rudy's shoulders, leaving Kelsey behind.

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Jack and I were in the hall, along with Eddie and Kim, studying for a test we have in English today when Jerry walks down the stairs,"Hey, thanks a lot, Naomi. You cost me a date with the coolest girl in school." I scoff,"What are you gonna do, Sensei Martinez? Throw me out of the dojo?" Eddie laughs and Jack holds in a laugh. "Naomi, in the future, let's respect Jerry enough not to embarrass him in front of girls he's lying to." Jack says, out of sympathy.

"Jack, Jack, Jack, you gotta be kidding me. He already does that himself." I shrug as Eddie and Kim burst out laughing. Even Jack let's out a small chuckle. "That's it." Jerry tries to lunge at me. I hold out my fist and leave it there as Jerry's face rams into it. He rubs his cheek,"Owweeeeee."