Kickin' It With You - Jack Brewer

Homecoming

"Red!" a voice shouted, mere moments before I opened the doors to the Bobby Wasabi Dojo. It was supposed to be a surprise, but it didn't shock me that I was noticed so quickly. I was headed for the glass doors in front of me so I could finally see my best friends again, but Rudy Gillespie had other plans. He burst outside just before I could place a hand on the door handle, almost whacking me in the face. He engulfed me in a quick hug and placed his hands on my shoulders when he pulled away.

"Hi, Rudy!" I exclaimed. I was so beyond happy to see him. To be back at the dojo. I had been longing to breathe the air of this mall for months, and I finally could. I felt like there was a chance of being happy again.

"We missed you so much! These past five months haven't felt complete at the Dojo without you here," Rudy told me. I sighed. It felt so good to be back. I was almost too happy to believe it.

Five months ago, my parents decided to move to New York. It was only a temporary thing, something we all knew wouldn't last from the beginning, but it still hurt more than anything. Leaving behind Seaford, the Dojo, and my friends, was something I couldn't even fathom doing. Even if I knew I was going to be back sooner than later. But, when my parents finally came to their senses and realized that New York had too many rats and the rental bills were too expensive, we moved back to our nice home in Seaford. And I didn't tell anyone, hence my arrival being a surprise.

"I missed you guys too. New York's Dojo wasn't nearly as good as good ol' Wasabi. And their sensei was a bore compared to you," I said. Rudy waved the air once and clicked his tongue.

"Oh, stop, Red. You're flattering me," he chuckled. "But no need to worry, I know I'm the best sensei in the world." I laughed. Same old Rudy. I guess I expected him to change somehow in the past five months. Although, I wasn't surprised that he stayed true to his eccentric, narcissistic self.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked. I peeked over Rudy's shoulder to see inside the Dojo. My best friends, Kim, Jerry, Milton, and Jack, were almost always at the Dojo. Just like I was not so long ago, and just like I would be again. No one was in my sight, but I figured they were in there anyway. I moved past Rudy and pushed open the doors.

"Hello?" I called out.

"Red?" a female voice called back. The blond-haired girl with gorgeous golden brown eyes peeked out through Rudy's office door. When my eyes met Kim's, she blinked real hard and opened her eyes again to do a reality check. She turned her head back into the room and whispered a quick, "Guys! Red's back!"

As soon as the girl turned back toward me, she sprinted in my direction. I wrapped my arms around my best friend and squealed as if I were meeting a celebrity. I could barely breathe from how hard the black belt blond was squeezing me, but I also didn't find myself caring much. I was finally home.

When I let go of Kim, I rushed toward Milton and Jerry. I jumped up, and the only thing keeping me from falling was my strong grip around each boy's neck and their arms hugging me back. I squeezed them extra hard just to let them know that even though I was having my homecoming, I would still do everything in my ability to annoy them. I finally got placed on the ground and looked at my best friends. But one was missing.

For a split second, I thought that he wasn't there. That my luck was just so bad that he was somewhere else when I came home. Perhaps when I left, the group broke apart and he went to join some other Dojo. But when Jerry stepped out of the way, all of my negative thoughts were proven completely wrong. There he was; Jack Brewer. Fluffy hair and all, standing just before me. He thinned his lips into a smile with his hands behind his back. My face broke into the largest smile I had ever smiled. We only stared at each other for a moment before I crushed him with a hug.

Jack spun me around and set me down. I was still grinning ear to ear. He was still bright red and flashing his bright teeth. He looked a little bit different than he did five months ago. His hair was a bit longer; down to his chin at this point. I reached up and ruffled it. His hands shot to his head and he protected his hair as if it were his own child, fending me off.

"Woah, Red! Watch the hair!" he exclaimed jokingly. I chuckled. He pushed my shoulder.

"None of it's real, anyway. We all know it's just product at this point," I retorted. Jack gaped and looked to the others for some backup. Unfortunately for him, the statement was undeniably true and he had no one to help him out.

Jerry stepped forward and placed his arm around my shoulder, "Gotta agree with Red on this one, Jack." I shrugged off his arm and scoffed. Jerry was always trying to get a girl—even if that girl was one of his best friends since the first grade. He was usually pretty accepting of the fact that I would never date him and that we were strictly platonic, but that didn't seem to stop him from relentlessly flirting. Kim pushed Jerry out of the way so she could stand by me.

"So, what's got you back in town?" Kim asked me. I struggled to hide my smile. Otherwise, I could give it away. I bounced on my heels and squeezed my hands together in excitement. Kim's open mouth was enough to tell me that she could read my body language. "Oh my God! Are you staying?"

I couldn't contain my excitement. "I'm staying! I'm back for good!" I exclaimed. Kim squealed and pulled me into another hug. I squeezed her back just as hard and held her hands while jumping when I let go.

Kim and I were best friends from the start. When we were twelve, and she was still at the Black Dragons Dojo, we only said hi here and there. They were the enemy. But when Jack joined our group and competed for the belts, Kim transferred to our team. She must have realized that we were more of a family than the Black Dragons ever were. From the moment she walked into our dojo, everything changed. It had always been just me, Jerry, Milton, Eddie, and Rudy. Later, Jack got there. But I was still the only girl. When Kim joined the Bobby Wasabi team, I finally had another girl to spar with that was actually good. We quickly found that being the only girls, we needed each other to survive the annoying boys that surrounded us 24/7. So, that was that. We became best friends.

"What happened to New York?" Rudy asked me. I clicked my tongue.

"Pretty much as soon as we got there my parents hated it. They tried to give it a few months just in case, but it wasn't any Seaford. So, we moved back," I explained. I was grinning with each word that came out of my mouth. This was too surreal. I was too happy.

"We're so glad you're back," Milton said, patting my back, "This was the best surprise."

"Thanks, Milt," I said. I made eye contact with Jack again, but this time I had to look down to hide my blush. His smile was endearing, and I couldn't help but look away when it was directed toward me.

"So, you guys wanna go to Phil's?" Jack asked the group. Everyone nodded. Even though Falafel Phil's was the restaurant we went to all the time, none of us knew anything different. It felt weird going anywhere else because Phil's was our place. His food wasn't the greatest, but we all got used to it over the years. I was excited to have one of his falafels again. It had been so long.

Jack and I let the others walk ahead of us as they conversed so we could stay back a few steps. His hands were behind his back again, something he did when he was nervous and something I always noticed. I bumped his shoulder with mine.

"I missed you a lot, Jack," I mentioned quickly before I could chicken out. The blood rushed to his cheeks and I saw him smile. He flicked my brown hair.

"Not as much as I missed you," he replied shortly before placing his arm around me. I didn't shrug it off like I did Jerry's. I just peeked up at his face, a smirk plastered across it. I found myself blushing even worse than he was before as we walked into Falafel Phil's.