"Good job girls! I think this was one of our best performances of the year! See you all on Monday!" Kim waved goodbye to the other girls and packed up her cheer bag. She was supposed to meet up with Jack and the guys for some ice cream later and she wanted to get there as soon as possible. Because she was the captain, she waited for everyone else's to leave. Once everyone was finally gone, she closed the lockers and walked out of the girl's locker room.

The football team had finished up and the boys were already leaving or talking or doing whatever boys do after their games. Kim texted Jack to let him know she was done. She started to walk out when Troy, one of the football players, walked over to her.

"Hey, Kim," he said, matching his pace to hers.

"Uh, hi, Troy." She had never talked to Troy before, only seen him in the hall. She didn't really know much about him, so she was confused about why he was talking to her.

He didn't say anything for a second, he just kept walking next to Kim as she made her way to the parking lot. "I just got a new car, wanna ride?" Troy asked.

"No thanks," Kim said.

"Come on, I know you want to," Troy persisted. "Here let me get that for you." Troy reached down and grabbed Kim's bag from her and draped it on his shoulder.

"Sorry, Troy, I don't want to. I have plans."

"Cancel 'em," Troy said. "Let me just show you." Troy put his arm around Kim and forced her toward the direction of his car.

"Troy, I have plans," Kim said again.

"This'll be better than whatever you have planned. Trust me."

"Troy, I said I have other plans," Kim replies sternly. Kim tried to hold herself back, but Troy just kept her moving forward. She tried to move to the side out of Troy's grip, but couldn't do that either. Her heart rate increased the further Troy led her.

"Troy, this isn't funny." Kim stopped trying to casually step away and tried more force. She lifted her hands and tried to push her body away from Troy. Troy grabbed her arm and pushed it back to Kim's side. "Troy, let go of me." Kim realized her efforts to get away by pure force were useless. She had always assumed her karate knowledge was enough to take down any opponent. Well, at least any high school boy. However, now she was realizing that the amount of strength Troy had was too great for Kim's karate knowledge.

"Come on, Kimmy, live a little!" Troy laughed.

Kim tore herself away from Troy's arm and held out her hand. "Troy, just give me my bag," Kim asked. Troy looked somewhere beyond Kim and she turned around to see what had his attention. She saw two more football players wave to Troy and walk over. They stopped a little behind Kim, on either side. She gulped as she realized if anything were to happen she was largely outnumbered.

"Troy, give it back," she asked shakily.

Troy chuckled and held out Kim's bag just beyond her reach. She grabbed for it and Troy moved it farther back. Not in the mood to chase after her bag, Kim just held her hand out. "Troy, please. I have to go," she tried again.

"I'll give it back soon," Troy promised. Troy grabbed Kim's outstretched hand and pulled her to his car. She struggled in his grip but could shake it.

"Yo, Troy! Are we gonna ride together?" One of the other football players asked.

Troy glanced at Kim before shaking his head. "Nah, I'll meet you there!"

The other two smiled and sent weird looks in Kim's direction. She shivered and looked away. Troy turned his attention back to Kim and tossed her bag to the side. Kim made a move to go get it but Troy slapped his hand to the car. Kim walked right into his arm and stumbled back. Before she could fall, Troy caught her wrist. They stared at each other for a second, neither saying anything. Then, Troy yanked Kim up and right into his chest. He wrapped both arms around Kim tightly and rubbed her arms.

Kim struggled to get away but Troy easily overpowered her. He pulled back from the embrace and held Kim at arm's length. "What do you want, Troy?" Kim demanded.

Troy ignored her and looked Kim up and down. "You're very pretty," he commented.

Kim subconsciously looked down and tried to cover herself up more, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Troy brushes Kim's hands aside and tilted her face to look at him. In his moment of weakness, Kim turned around and ran.

She only made it a few steps before Troy grabbed her arm. He pulled her back toward him. "Don't leave so soon!" he said. He slammed Kim's back to the car and started to close the gap between the two of them.

He put one hand on the car by Kim's face and the other trailed along her side. He felt all along her waist then moved to her bottom and the back of her leg. "Get off of me!" Kim squealed. Before she could put her arms between her and Troy, Troy closed the gap completely so she couldn't get away.

"Why don't you come home with me?" Troy started.

"Why don't you get off of her!" someone shouted.

"Jack!" Kim yelled.

Troy backed up and turned around to look at Jack. "Can't you see we're in the middle of something?" Troy asked, annoyed.

"Can't you see she doesn't want to?" Jack countered. "Come on, Kim," he beckoned.

Kim peeled herself away from Troy's car and started to walk over to Jack. Troy grabbed her wrist as she walked by. "Stay," he commanded.

"Let go!" Kim said as she pulled her hand away. When Troy reached out again, Jack pushed Kim away from Troy. Kim fell but Jack didn't notice, his focus was all on Troy.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted as he threw a punch at Troy's face. It was the perfect throw and Troy's head snapped to the side. Kim was positive it hurt. Just then, Troy threw a punch at Jack, who dodged it.

"Stop!" Kim yelled. "Jack, don't," she pleaded. The boys didn't look at her, they just focused on each other with a killer glare. Jack threw another punch, but Troy dodged it this time. He kicked Troy hard enough that there was no going back now. Troy was mad.

They started to punch and kick each other and soon enough a few football players saw and came over, supporting Troy of course. They didn't mess with the fight, that was the first rule of school fights. You don't get involved if you didn't start it, you just watch and enjoy. Jack spit to the side and Kim could see a little bit of blood on both boys now. They were going to kill each other.

"Boys, stop! Jack! You're going to regret this!" Kim screamed.

"Listen to the little girl, Jack," Troy taunted.

Being called a little girl did not bode well for Kim. She marched right in between Troy and Jack and threw her own punch at Troy's face. The adrenaline coursing through his veins blocked any sort of pain he may have felt from Kim's punch. He barely moved an inch when her fist made contact with his cheek.

Troy grabbed Kim's wrist tightly and bent her arm back down. She cried out in pain as he threw her behind him. She fell down and tried to get back up but one of the football players watching pulled her back. He grabbed the waist of her skirt and wrapped an arm around her torso so she couldn't move.

Troy gave Jack one strong kick to the stomach and Jack fell back. Troy chuckled darkly as he turned back around to Kim. She struggled against the football player holding her as Troy inched closer.

"Let me go! Get away from me! Stop!" she screamed. "Please! Let go of me!"

Troy nodded to the player holding Kim, and he let her go. Troy quickly bent down to stand at her level and put a hand on Kim's back. He kissed her lips and held her so tight she could barely move. Some of the other football players there started to cheer and whistle.

Troy pulled back and Kim gasped for air. Before Kim could leave or run he threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Put me down!" Kim cried. She was barely heard over the other guys. She kicked and yelled to no avail.

Jack had momentarily passed out but when he opened his eyes he had never been so mad. He saw Troy kiss Kim and throw her around like she was some rag-doll. She pleaded and cried but she was no match for the other boys. Jack jumped to his feet and stomped over to Troy. The other boys tried to warn Troy but it was too late. Jack body slammed Troy and he fell over, landing on Kim's legs.

Jack yanked Troy off of Kim and started to beat him to a pulp. "Jack! You're going to kill him!" Kim screamed. Jack didn't hear though. Kim drug herself over to Jack and tried to pull him away, but he pushed her to the side.

The other players had worried expressions on their faces and looked at each other. Screw the rules, they jumped in the fight. It took all 4 of them to pry Jack off of an almost completely unconscious Troy. After a minute of thrashing around, Jack had all the football players laying on the ground in pain. He started to crawl back to Troy and finish him off.

Kim threw herself in front of Jack and wrapped her arms around him. "Jack stop!" she cried. Jack seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in. For the first time since Kim had seen him that night, he looked at her with all his attention. His eyes softened and he knelt down.

"Kim," he whispered. He put his hands on Kim's red cheeks and looked her over. She had a few tears running down her face now. Jack pulled Kim into a warm embrace and rubbed her back. Even though Kim fought it very hard, she couldn't help herself as she started to sob. Jack ran his fingers through her hair.

Jack's phone kept buzzing with text messages and then somebody tried to call him. He pulled it out to turn it off, for Kim's sake, but answered when he saw who it was.

"Hello?" He paused for a second. "I know, I know. We're still here… something happened… yeah, that that would be a good idea… quick… okay, bye."

Although Kim didn't say anything, Jack knew she was wondering who he was talking to. "That was the guys," he explained. "They were wondering why I hadn't come back with you yet. They were waiting in the car."

Kim just nodded in response. She just realized that the football players had gotten up and were quietly crowding around Troy, who was starting to come to. She could hear a few colorful words exchanged and was sure they were all aimed at Jack and her.

"Jack!" Jack turned and saw Jerry, Milton, and Eddie running toward them. They stopped when they saw Troy surrounded by football players and covered in blood and Kim clinging to Jack, also covered in blood (but slightly less).

"What did you do?" Eddie breathed out.

"I did what had to be done," Jack stated firmly.

"Wait, you did this!" Jerry asked.

"What happened to the Wasabi code!" Milton cried. "You know you're not supposed to start fights!"

"I had to! Troy was hitting on Kim!" Jack yelled.

"So you got jealous?" Eddie challenged.

"No! Troy was trying to force Kim to go home with him! He and his friends here were taking advantage of her!" Jack grunted.

The football players had been focused on Troy but now they turned back to Jack. "You didn't have to nearly kill him!" they shouted.

People from the stadium started to walk over and see what was going on with the gang. Namely, a few students from the other school, a few more from Seaford, a few football players, the football coach, the principal, and the school resource officer.

"You didn't have to egg him on either!" Jack shouted. He started to get mad again and his eyes narrowed.

"Jack, please don't!" Kim cried. Unlike the last time, Jack listened. He stood up and pulled Kim up with him. Kim held onto Jack as the adults started to deal with the situation. They ushered away the students who were trying to see what was going on and started to clean up Troy. The resource officer saw Jack and Kim and walked over to them.

"What did you do this time, Jack?" she asked.

"I didn't mean to start a fight!" he argued. "I was just trying to protect Kim!"

The officer saw Kim and Jack's embrace. She noticed how shaken up they both seemed, especially Kim. Officer Kassner didn't know Kim super well, but she knew enough to know that things didn't usually bother Kim. Not like this anyways. "Okay, okay. Save it. Let's go to my office to finish this conversation." Jack nodded appreciatively and Jack and Kim followed Officer Kassner.

When they got there Jack and Kim sat down on the couch by Officer Kassner's desk. Officer Kassner sat at her desk and moved the chair to sit by Jack and Kim. "So, what happened?" she asked as she handed Jack some wipes to clean off his face.

Jack looked at Kim and nodded for her to tell the story. "After the game, I waited for all the girls to leave, and then I closed up the locker room and started to walk to the parking lot to meet up with Jack. Troy came out and started talking to me and then he started forcing me towards his car. I told him to stop but he took my bag and wouldn't let go of me. Then he tried to force me to kiss him and get in his car, then Jack showed up. Jack pushed him off me and then Troy-"

Jack cut Kim off. "I got angry and started to beat up Troy. I was just trying to get him away from Kim but I let my anger get the better of me. Once I started I- I couldn't stop. I'm sorry, I know that doesn't make it right." Jack looked down in shame.

Officer Kassner sighed. "No, that doesn't make it right. But at least I understand where you are coming from. Troy was wrong for doing what he did to you, Kim. There will be severe consequences for him. However, for now, I think it is best if you two head home for the weekend. We'll try to get this all sorted out soon enough. Do either of you need a ride?"

Jack still had his car in the parking lot and shook his head. "No, we're good. I'll take Kim home." Jack looked at Kim when he said that to make sure she was okay with that plan. She nodded in agreement. They all stood up and walked to the door.

"Could I speak to you for a minute, Kim?" Officer Kassner asked before they left the room.

Kim turned back around. "Um, sure," she replied. She turned back just in time to see Jack close the door behind him and wait in the hall. "What is it?" she asked.

"Are you okay?" Officer Kassner asked. She may be a police officer and most of the kids knew her as the one who busted the druggies, but she had a sweet side. She gave Kim a genuinely concerned looked, waiting for an answer.

Kim simply nodded and looked down. "Did Troy try to, do anything? Did he kiss you? Did he touch you?" Kassner asked.

Kim just nodded again. "He kissed me, but that was as far as he got," she explained curtly. She knew if she said anything else, she would snap. Her voice was already getting a little shaky.

Officer Kassner saw right through Kim though. "I can see you're scared, Kim. Come here." Officer Kassner opened her arms and Kim fell into the hug. Officer Kassner squeezed her tight and rubbed her back. "Why are you so scared?" she asked quietly.

"I've always thought that with my karate and everything that I was strong. I knew I wasn't as strong as Jack or anything and I know I'm not Supergirl, but I thought I could take care of myself! I've never been scared before because I knew that whatever happened, I was strong and smart enough to beat anybody." Kim paused for a second, then scoffed. "And then Troy came along and I just felt so weak! I thought I could beat him, but he was way stronger than me. I didn't know an average teenage boy could be so strong. It scares me that Jack isn't the only one who can cream me in a fight. Anyone of those football players could have done the same thing! They still could and I would be defenseless!" Kim started to sob into Officer Kassner's chest.

"It's okay, Kim. I can see how that must be scary to you," she said. Officer Kassner brought Kim back to the couch so they could both sit down. "I want you to listen to me though," Officer Kassner said with a stern voice. "You are not weak. You are actually very strong and I don't doubt that there are many opponents you could take down with your mad karate skills. Maybe Troy is stronger than you, maybe he just caught you off guard. It doesn't matter. Troy is not an average teenager, he is one of the strongest boys in school. He has to train every day for football, it's no wonder he is stronger than you. In fact, I'm surprised you held him off as long as you did." Kim smiled slightly at hearing that. "The point is, you are strong. Physically, and emotionally. You can't let this one kid destroy you, okay?"

Kim nodded. "Okay," she whispered.

"Good. Jack is a good friend, you know," Officer Kassner commented.

"Yeah, I know," Kim said.

"Do you trust him?" Officer Kassner said, making sure Kim wasn't forced to ride home with him if she didn't want to.

"Yeah. I do. He's a really good friend. He is always there for me. He's the one who saved me tonight, the only reason I'm here and not at…" Kim trailed off as she realized what a good friend Jack was. It was all true. Jack was the best friend Kim had ever had. She didn't deserve him, but she didn't care.

"A really good friend, or more than a friend?" Officer Kassner teased. Kim thought about it but didn't say anything. "Alright, well, if you ever need anything, please come talk to me. On Monday I want you to check in with me too."

"When?" Kim asked.

"What's your least favorite class?"

"3rd bell," Kim said.

Officer Kassner smiled. "That's when. Just come after 2nd bell and I'll write you a pass when we are done talking. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Drive home safe," Officer Kassner said as they walked to the door.

Kim turned back and gave her a smile before walking out. She had a lot to think about. Jack didn't say anything as they walked to his car. He watched her closely and could tell she was deep in thought. Kim didn't even realize she was cold until Jack wrapped his arms around hers and she could feel her body heat up. She gratefully leaned into him until they got to the car. Jack pulled out his keys and opened Kim's door before opening his and starting the car.

"How do you feel?" Jack asked as he looked at Kim staring out the front window.

"I… I don't know." Jack shot Kim a confused look when she looked over at him. She remembered what Officer Kassner had said about Jack being a good friend. And what she had told Officer Kassner about how she felt. She decided if Jack really was a good friend, he would want to know and would want to help her. "I'm scared," she whispered.

"Scared? Kim, why are you scared?" Jack held Kim's hand. "Troy won't ever lay a hand on you again. I promise. You don't have to be scared of him. I'll be here for you!"

"That's it, Jack. I'm not scared of Troy. I know you'll be here for me, but what about when you aren't?" Jack looked confused. "I'm never scared because I know that I can take down anybody, that's one of the perks of being a black belt. But today, Troy threw me around so easily and I couldn't do anything to defend myself. He was way stronger than me and without you, I would have been toast. If Troy could do that, anybody could. I didn't realize how weak I was, I've lived with a false sense of security and now that I know, I'm scared." Kim looked into Jack's eyes to see how he would take this.

"Kim, you haven't been living with a false sense of security. You actually are very strong and very smart. Troy just got the better of you. Sure he is strong, and so are others, but you don't need me. I know for a fact that even if I hadn't shown up, Troy would not have been able to get very far with you. He might have tried to take you home, but you wouldn't have let him. When it matters most, you always pull through. You always find the strength you need, Kim," Jack said earnestly. He wanted Kim to believe him so bad. Everything he said came directly from the bottom of his heart and he meant every word. He just wanted Kim to believe it too.

After Kim thought about it for a second she replied. "You really think I would have been able to stop him? You saw how strong Troy was. He almost beat you, Jack. You're like 10 times stronger than me!"

"But he didn't beat me," Jack said.

"Because you were mad at him."

"Because I had something to fight for. He was strong, but as soon as I saw what he was going to do to you, I found the strength to beat him. Maybe a little too much…" he joked. Kim giggled. "If I could beat him when it came time to, you could have too. You just needed a little more push. But you would have."

Kim smiled, realizing that maybe Jack was right. She wasn't giving herself enough credit. "Troy will always be stronger than me, but that doesn't mean I can't beat him. There is a whole lot more that goes into fighting than strength," Kim said.

"Exactly, and you have it," Jack said. "Let's go home."