!DISCLAIMER!

I do not own the Kickin' It characters in this story!

The only thing that belongs to me is the plot!

Kim Crawford walked with sturdy steps down the road. The thumps of her burgundy Converse repeatedly hitting the pavement was all that could be heard in the silent night. She was walking quite aimlessly really, not caring where her feet took her or where she would end up. All that was on her mind was that she had to get away. At least away from home.

When the Crawford family had sat down to dinner that evening, there had already been some unresolved business in the air between Mr and Mrs Crawford. The fact that Kim's younger brother kept complaining about the food didn't really do much to ease their mother's temper, and when dinner came to an end, the adults were outright screaming at eachother. Kim got fed up with her parents childish behavior, implied aloud what "good examples" they were portraying and slammed the door behind her as she left the house.

That wasn't the first time her parents got into an ugly fight and she knew it would certainly not be the last. Considering it happened on an almost daily basis, you would think she would have gotten used to it. The thing was, the fights were getting worse. She couldn't remember them ever being as bad as they had been this particular night. It was really just a matter of time before violence got involved.

Kim closed her eyes tightly, trying to keep the ridiculous tears from rolling down her cheeks. No tears in the world would make things better, so shedding them just felt like a waste of energy. She focused her eyes on the ground again in fear of walking straight into a pole (yes, she had the tendency to do that sometimes).

Before she knew it she was standing in front of the tall, massive building that was Seaford High. Kim's head fell back against her shoulders as she read the big, silver letters etched to the brick wall. For a moment she wanted to turn around and keep walking until she fell over the edge of the earth. But when her worn out legs gave in under her, she collapse against the wall and decided it would have to do. A swift breeze swiped past her and made the wet streaks on her cheeks go cold. Great, I can't even succeed with keeping my own tears at bay, she thought, wiped her face on her sleeve and took a deep breath as her scalp made contact with the bricks.

All of the sudden, Kim felt a vibration in her jack pocket. Relieved when she realized it was just her phone, she stuck her hand inside her jacket and pulled it out. It announced that she had a new text to read. With a sigh, she opened it.

Message received from "Grace".

Wanna c'mover n watch a movie at my place? I've got Chan-Tat's l8est on Blueray! O M G! Haw-tee alert! ;)
Btw, u left ur headphones here grl!

Grace, Kim sighed. While silently debating on whether or not to explain the situation, she was simultaneously fighting the growing feeling of loneliness. Eventually she decided that her best friend deserved to know, plus she wasn't the worst company in the world.

Can u meet me instead? I'm at the school entrance.

Need 2 talk.

She pressed send and the text was on its way. Now Grace didn't live more than five – maybe six – minutes from school and Kim knew that getting a text like that from your closest friend would reduce the time dramatically.

While tucking the device back into her pocket, her eyes landed on the bottle she had carried under her jacket, pressed tightly against her body. She wasn't exactly sure of why she took it, it was really just an act of impulsiveness. Her brain didn't participate in that decision but now that she was actually considering the consequences of jugging down the entire bottle, she wasn't sure it was really worth it just to forget about her troublesome life for one night.

Kim pulled it out and held it up to her face. The label on the glass bottle read "Midori – melon liqueur" and since she had no idea of what it was (she just grabbed the first thing she saw that looked exciting) she unscrewed the cap and sniffed at the emerald green liquid. The strong scent of melon and alcohol pierced through her nostrils and buried itself deep in her lungs.

Her heart started pumping and she felt a strange rush run through her body. It may come as a shock to some, but Kim Crawford had never tasted alcohol before in her life, not counting the one glass of champagne she had on her cousin's wedding once. Considering the fact that she was just sixteen years of age, it wasn't really weird but some people start early.

Despite her voice of reason screaming, begging her not to do it, she brought the cool bottle up to her lips and rested it against her bottom one a few seconds before tilting it upwards and closing her eyes. She held her breath as she took in a huge amount of the liquid, not allowing herself to breathe again until she had swallowed. Kim grimaced when it burnt her throat on the way down and shook her head slightly to rid herself of the feeling. The aftertaste actually did taste a bit like melon which made her smile – she loved it! Well, despite the strong flavor of alcohol, but she could live with that. Happily, she took another swig. And another. And another. It got easier and easier to ignore the alcohol and after a while, all she could taste was the melon.

This is SO good! she thought as she clasped the bottle harder in her hands.

AN: I am well aware of the fact that this was a really short chapter, but it's just the beginning. If you like it then I will continue to upload new chapters (I probably will anyway).