Cafeteria at this school was crowded. Kim took a few steps in looking for a familiar redhead. 'At least there are some people I know here,' Kim thought to herself.

This was her first day at the Seaford High after returning from Tennessee. She lived here before, though it was a few years ago and the kids that she knew, she knew from the middle school. Milton was a neighbor before the move, so they went to same middle school.

She spotted him at the far off table, sitting with a curly haired brunet. By the looks of him, Milton hasn't changed and was still the same brainy boy in checkered shirts and vests.

There was time when Kim cared about social standing of various cliques and would have preferred to be with the cheer leaders, but that sort of thing didn't matter to her as much anymore.

She'd like to claim that she evolved into a better person, the kind that was accepting of all people.

But the truth was that she has faced loss and it was so ordinary, which made it so much more tragic. In the end, it has made her care less about school politics.

Her mother passed away from a long battle with cancer. The disease ravaged her mom for so long, draining them of all happines, optimism and finances. Her small family became even smaller with just her and her dad, and they were very much alone right now. Her dad took mom's illness very hard and when she died, he basically died with her. He hardly smiled and existed almost on autopilot. Kim was the only meaningful connection to the world that he had. His grief was so palpable and devastating that she almost couldn't deal with it.

He still worked, but they were practically ruined financially. Kim no longer lived in the same house as before, but in a rented apartment.

She shrugged off unhappy thoughts and went to Milton's table.

"Mind if I sit with you, Milton?"

He looked at her startled and she smiled at him again. "Kim Crawford... once upon a time I was your neighbor."

His eyes open wide and he stuttered, "Kim. Of course, I remember. You did Karate and gymnastics. So, you are back at Seaford. Didn't you go somewhere in the South?"

"Yes, and now I am back again for the final year of school. So, can I sit here? You are practically the only person I know..."

"Sure, but wouldn't you want to sit with popular kids? We are kind of the opposite of popular..."

"And I plan to exist outside of all these structures, if I can." Kim answered him and sat down.

She took out the sandwich she made at home and looked at the brunet sitting next to Milton and staring at her with round eyes.

"Hi, I'm Kim." She said with her polite smile.

The brunet still stared without answering and Kim looked back at Milton, silently asking him if this was a normal reaction.

"That's Jerry Martinez. My friend. Don't mind him. He just can't believe that I know girls and that they would talk to me."

Kim shook her head and went back to eating.

She and Milton chatted about her return and some other kids that Kim might know from before. Milton asked after her parents casually (did your parents have a job transfer?) and Kim paused before saying that her dad has in fact switched jobs. He was about to ask further, but she just shook her head and he stopped. He was always smart and it seemed like he figured aomething was amiss.

Jerry finally came out of his shock and blurted, "look, girl, I am happy you're talking to us. But that's a bad move for you. We are not only unpopular, but also the first ones to be picked on."

Kim's smile was wan, "I'll take my chances."

She hoped to avoid anything that would draw attention to her. In fact, all she wanted was to fly under the radar, work on her grades, save money, apply for scholarships. This would be her only option in terms of higher education. They were so deep in debt, that she doubted that her dad could co-sign on her student loan.

There were quite a few people who took notice of Kim sitting with Milton and Jerry, but the day went surprisingly quiet. She thought she saw Kelsey and Grace, who she knew from gymnastics, but three years could change people a lot physically.

She was off to one of her jobs right after school. She was a barista at a small coffeehouse at the mall and she had an easier shift.

Once there, Kim rushed to settle in to relieve her co-worker.

"Here is where we keep the first aid. Some burns are unavoidable. Watch out for the high school students. They come around this hour and some of them are obnoxious, present company excluded."

Kim nodded along. She would try to keep her cool. She needed all the money.

It was past the lunch rush and only people who took late lunch breaks came in at this hour. She worked at the coffee shop in Tennessee and this was an easy part to her: making the drinks and running the register. In quiet moments she worked over the class work. She wasn't a bad student, but everyone's grades could use some work.

Five minutes into organic chemistry book, the bell at the door chimed and Kim saw a group of jocks coming in. She had a vague notion that she saw at least one in school. There were two girls with them and they asked for skinny medium green tea lattes. With an almost coordinated move that sent their hair bouncing and skirts fluttering, the girls went to sit down. The rest of the group, four boys about Kim's age and definitely athletes, asked for regular coffees with varying combinations of milk and sugar. She asked for a name in the order and one of them, the obvious leader, gave her a winning smile.

"Brody. Brody Carlson."

Kim nodded her head penning the name of one of the cup sleeves.

"Didn't I see you at Seaford High today?"

"It's possible. I go there now." Kim hoped that the inquiry would stop there.

"Ahhhh... you must be a new student. I would have noticed someone like you." Brody's voice and face were full of suggestion.

Kim refrained from rolling her eyes. Must be polite to paying customers.

"Yes." Was all she said.

She could see that it didn't exactly go unnoticed that she was not engaging his flirting.

Brody's friends exchanged smirks and his face showed this combination of frustration and challenge. Luckily Kim was making their drinks so she couldn't quite talk. She returned with a tray of coffees passing it over the counter.

"Lattes will be out in a moment." Her smile was polite.

She went back to making the next round of drinks.

"Say, why don't you sit with us at lunch tomorrow? I could show you the ropes, so to speak..."

Kim sighed internally. She really didn't want to get into this right now.

"I'll keep that in mind." There, nice and noncommittal.

"Don't be so shy. You'd need a guiding hand..." he trailed off suggestively, waiving his one hand in the air.

Kim barely suppressed the shudder of revulsion. "I might need one... But I'd prefer clean, free, hands, you know. You look like you like to work with your hands..." Kim patted herself on the back, there were at least two innuendos in her response. By the burst of laughter from Brody's friends, they at least got one of them.

Before he could respond, one of the girls came over with a sour look on her face.

"I am still waiting for my latte... Are you done with them?" Her words weren't mean, but her tone and expression dripped with contempt. She was pretty, with long shiny hair and long legs.

"All done. Here you go. Two skinny green tea lattes." Kim passed the drinks to the girl, who signalled at boys and they took their drinks to the table. Kim was wiping the counter, when she saw that the girl lingered.

"Is there anything else that you need?"

"Yes. Listen, you are new, so you don't know how things are here, so let me tell you... Brody is mine. Do not talk to him or I'll make you life difficult. OK?"

Wow, straight into the mean girl territory. Well, alright then.

"OK. Just make sure he doesn't talk to me. You can do that, right? Keep all of his attention?"

Girl's face twisted and her eyes hardened. "I warned you, Blondie."

That particular group left pretty quickly. Probably because Brody's fan has whined loudly that the latte was terrible and that the barista clearly was too 'incompetent' to prepare a decent drink.

Nice, thought Kim. Well, if she never sees or talks to this bunch, she'd be fine.

She was done with her shift and had to run to make it in time to another job she had lined up.

She didn't have a car. She could hear her dad saying, 'insurance payments, Kim, that's what gets expensive after a while.'

She didn't mind. Public transport in Seaford was better than where they have been and she could use her bicycle if she needed to.

Her second job was at the decent restaurant bussing tables. Not a waitress, mind you, just taking dirty dishes, refilling glasses and generally doing some clean up.

She was almost there, checking her phone, when she walked straight into someone's back. Which was kind of hard and, surprisingly, another person did not even stumble.

She stepped back, rubbing her nose, and looked at the person she walked into. He was a tall guy, maybe her age, with brown hair pulled into a pony tail. He was scowling at her and she almost regretted the apology that slipped out automatically.

"Sorry."

The guy's frown deepened and he said unkindly, "Watch where you are going. You might run into wrong kind of people."

His expression was matching his words and Kim could easily tell the guy was strong and with such a temper that she stepped back even more. It's like her hackles were raised in warning.

"Right. I'll do just that. Bye."

She stepped around him and walked quickly away from him, feeling that was still scowling at her.

The shift was long and tiring, but the waiters were alright and she had some decent share of tips. She also grabbed a quick bite. It was part of her pay: she got to have a free dinner.

She made it home late enough that her dad was already home. Knowing him, there wasn't any dinner and he might just go to bed hungry.

She made him eat the food she brought for the restaurant.

Finally, she was in her room and simply collapsed on the bed.

One more year and then I am off.

Jack's day has started bad and it set the tone for the rest of it. He slept poorly despite working himself to exhaustion. He stood by the window observing the sunrise and mentally preparing the things he had to do today. There was a morning run, go to school, shadow his father at the office, have a training session with his sensei and then meet father at the business dinner.

Now that school started, his days became even longer. He wouldn't miss the morning run and the training, relishing the moment when he was free of expections. Everything in his life was focused and intense, but physical exercise seemed like the only thing that relaxed him nowadays.

God, when did he start feeling like a man with midife crisis? And yet, every morning he woke up with a growing heavy feeling in his chest and despite all the physical and mental exercise, he felt more and more melancholy.

Jack shook off his gloomy thought and prepared to face his father. He wiped all discernible emotion, because 'a true man, Jack, does not let his moods affect how he acts.'

He knew that he had no right to feel this way: what was so terrible in his life that he'd feel this way? He had his family, some friends, his parents were well off and he had solid plans for his life: become a Grand Master and eventually take over his father's business.

He had an important tournament to prepare for and his family expected nothing short of perfection. So, the moment he went down for breakfast, his father was rattling off the training schedule and stats on his likely opponents. It wasn't anything new or unusual, but this morning it was just rubbing him the wrong way.

His mother was silent, her contempt for the sport obvious. She didn't exactly hold it against Jack, but over the years, she came to resent Karate. Which was quite a feat.

Karate was the Brewer family legacy. It started with Jack's grandfather, who became a Grand Master and trained Bobby Wasabi for all of his movies. Grandpa's two sons continued the tradition. Jack's father had a business centered around martial arts equipment and clothing. Jack's uncle was a stunt double and later transitioned into fight scenes choreography. Jack was already a black belt in karate and was working on his rank in extreme martial arts. His cousin Kai was a fellow black belt and his greatest competition.

The two cousins were fairly evenly matched, not surprising considering their background, but Kai was willing to use underhanded tactics to win. Jack wanted his wins to be fair and honorable, but his father expected nothing but victories and often compared him to Kai. If Jack was unkind to his father he'd say it was because Christopher Brewer never bested his own brother and Jack's uncle Thomas.

He finished his breakfast in silence and went for his run, keeping his face blank.

Later, at school, he stuck to his usual cold and aloof behavior, which had a benefit of keeping people at arm's length. Still, it wasn't quite enough to deter everyone. He was on a basketball team and with it came the necessary association with other students. Today there was a buzz about a new girl, who majority of guys described as pretty and blonde. Randy was most optimistic that he would score with the "fresh meat," because Brody had Donna chasing him and Brett was with Kelsey. Jack was single, but everyone knew he didn't have interest in dating, despite all of Lindsay's efforts.

Jack scoffed internally at this. Fresh meat, indeed. Sometimes being in school and associating with this particular crowd felt so claustrophobic. Guys were either discussing girls and cars, or video games and movies. Girls were no better: instead it was boys, fashion, stars and their scandals. Chances were that the new girl was also similarly minded. Not that he was interested. His forays into high school dating scene were brief and entirely too awkward. He found little in common with girls and the physical aspect, while satisfying on a level, left him feeling terribly empty. Like he was both user and the used one. While he didn't think that the girls he dated were heartbroken, his own sense of honor demanded that he never lead them on. Nowadays he tried to avoid situations, where girl like Lindsay could corner him into actually turning her down.

After school, Jack left to see his father at his office. Shadowing his father was an extra boring affair, but Jack could not afford to let his attention wander. If Christopher thought that Jack wasn't paying attention, Jack would be in for a lecture on responsibilities and expectations. 'You are blood of my blood, Jack. This business that keeps you fed and clothed, was built by my own hands. Everything you are you owe to me and this business. You are part of it, just as it is part of you. Never forget that.'

Finally, he was off to train with Rudy, who was his sensei and quite possibly his only friend among adults. Jack's father didn't like Rudy, whose attitude was seeing karate as a way of living with moral compass and honor code. Christopher Brewer wanted success and his idea of it didn't exactly match Rudy's. But even Christopher Brewer couldn't deny that Rudy's training brought results.

When Jack sweated through hours of training to the point of trembling limbs, he finally took shower and got ready for a dinner with his father and some business associate.

He was walking towards the restaurant, when he recalled that he left his phone in the car. He stopped abruptly and was about to turn around, when someone walked into him. His physical and mental exhaustion must have caught up with him, because instead of simply waiving off the apology that the short girl offered, he told her brusquely to watch it. Her expression didn't quite turn fearful, but she took a step back suddenly weary and he immediately regretted his harsh tone and words. 'A man in control of his own emotions, is in control of any situation, Jack. Never let others see you rattled or upset.'

She kept her eyes on him and spoke in a steady voice. She seemed to hold herself under control better than he did.

It was only when she walked away, leaving Jack to stare at her, that he noticed that her eyes were limpid light brown in contrast to the golden mane on her head. She was pretty.

Pretty and blonde.