See You There

Chapter 5

Jack's POV:

Once inside Phil's, I visibly relaxed. Everyone's my friend there, and some of our best adventures, karate and otherwise, began here. But my best memory by far was in Circus Burger. After dethroning pop sensation Ricky Weaver, Kim and I grabbed a bite there and talked. It was the first time I really recognized that what I felt for her was more than just a crush. I have felt the same way ever sense. Sitting down at a booth, I looked around, trying to spot a familiar face. There was Phil, with his pet goat, Tootsie, by his side, trying to convince a wary customer that the F on his sanitation grade stood for friendly service. It didn't appear to be working. Sitting at a booth next to me was Joan, the mall cop. She was, unsurprisingly, eating alone. She may be a good person, but she's a little strange. Okay, a lot strange. The only other people in the shop were an older man in a suit and the young woman he was talking to. She appeared to be in her early twenties. They were deep in discussion, though about what, I couldn't hear. After a while, the customer Phil was arguing with left empty-handed, and Phil, Tootsie trailing behind, walked over to me.
"What can we get you today?"
"Nothing, thanks, Phil." I replied. I wasn't really hungry. After what had just happened in the dojo, my stomach was feeling kind of upset. It wasn't that big of a deal, but somehow, I felt as if my biggest secret had almost been revealed. Oh, wait. It had. It occurred to me that dry humor was often my method of self-preservation. I ignored myself.

Kim's POV:

Glancing at a fuming Grace, I decided to take a walk, see if I could find Jack and get some sense out of him. If not, there was always Rudy, our sensei. After a few minutes of walking through the nearby areas of Seaford, I realized I wasn't going to find Jack anywhere around. When I got back, Grace had disappeared. I entered the dojo, to take one last good look around, to see if there was anything new out of place.

Jack's POV:

Getting up, I retreated to the courtyard outside. Grace and her lemmings were gone, so I could walk in peace. Instead of heading to the dojo, though, I sat down on a bench nearby. "If Jerry really wants to talk to me," I thought, "he can come out here." But it wasn't Jerry who walked out of the Bobby Wasabi Dojo. It was none other than Kim.