patience is key | the karate kid

x. what do you mean "we"?

x. what do you mean "we"?

KAT RETURNS home later that evening feeling overwhelmed and yet, so happy inside. Despite what had happened the other night at the beach, she's glad that she and Johnny talked to each other that afternoon.

    You see, ever since he dated Ali, the two never talk like they did before. In fact they never talk at all.

Before Johnny and Ali were an item — that's not even on the market anymore — Ali and Kat were the bestest of friends. Crazy, right?

Ali would always invite Kat over, not minding where she lived or what her parents thought of where she stood on the social pyramid, and the two would stay up all night long.

    They'd paint their nails, obsess over boys, read magazines. The things Kat would admit now that she doesn't like doing.

Then Johnny came along — Kat swears to this day that she was the first to ever lay eyes on him. Ali differs.

Occasionally, her and Johnny would talk when seeing each other at lunch or after school. But their conversations would always be interrupted by Ali.

"Oh hey Johnny," Ali would say, moving in front Kat and slightly pushing her over while fluttering her eyes up at Johnny.

    She'd give him a sort of dreamy daze that made him feel slightly uncomfortable, but he would go with it, of course.

Sure enough, a couple of weeks later after getting to know Johnny, Kat watched as her two friends started dating.

The two left her to be alone for the rest of the school year.

    Every now and then, Freddy and his band of losers might drop by and sit with her. But other than that, she'd sit alone.

Kat snaps out of her thoughts when she approaches the apartment door. She can feel her cheeks blush just by thinking of Johnny.

    She sticks her hand inside the back pocket of her baggy jeans and pulls out the key with the number '19' engraved on it. Then she inserts it into the lock before twisting the knob open.

Her foot lightly kicks the door open so she and her bike can enter the apartment together. Once she steps inside, she notices that something is off.

The television is left on, the weather guy announcing the afternoon's forecast, and her nose twitches as an aroma of food being cooked fills the room.

    Kat slowly closes the door behind her and sees Ace walking out of the bathroom. He's shirtless and is wearing a red pair of boxers. A damp towel is tossed over his shoulder.

"There you are Kat." He frowns and walks over to the kitchen. "We were startin' to wonder where you were."

    Kat gives her brother a weird look as she sits her bike up by the door. She kicks the kick stand so it isn't leaning up against the wall and then turns around.

    "Who's we?" She questions.

And right then, another strange thing — or rather person — appears out from the darkened hallway. Her father.