After 30 minutes of joking around with Key and Amy in the cafe, I decide to leave so I can train. Subtly peering behind me, I see Kris telling something to his group of friends and everyone roaring with laughter.

My stomach feels like it's been dropped from Mount Everest. He looks like he’s totally forgotten about me.

Peachy.

Absolutely peachy.

I stand up, bid farewell to Amy and Key, and throw Kris one final glare before striding out of the café. And then it hits me: I need a ride back to my house. Kris was the one that drove me here, and I doubt he’s going to emerge from his circle of friends anytime soon.

Huffing in frustration I stomp over to a bench next to the sidewalk, boorishly kicking up clods of grass. After taking a seat I text Kris, Are you coming or should I walk?

A few minutes later my phone buzzes with a new text.

I’m coming.

The two short, cold words seem to glare up at me from the phone screen.

Right at that moment, the café door slams open and Kris comes out, grinning and waving goodbye to someone inside the cozy cafe. When he sees me, however, the grin slides off his face and is replaced with an unfriendly glower.

“Thanks for ditching me back there. That was real nice.” I mutter sarcastically. He scoffs and narrows his eyes.

“Ditching you? Really. Who was the one that left me standing alone to go traipse around with her little boyfriend?” he sneers.

“Boyfriend? Who are you- oh my god. You think Key’s my boyfriend? He’s just a friend, jeez-,”

“That’s not what his body language was saying,” Kris informs me. “His body language was saying that he-,”

“Body language?" I whirl around and stare angrily at him. "Kris, what the actual crap. Just because you were trained at some stupid Academy of Fighters to overinterpret normal behavior… don’t think that you know everything. You... ugh.” I grab my bag and stride over to his car, slamming the passenger seat door.

We don’t say another word to each other until we reach our training grounds.

I am going to take him down today, I promise myself, gritting my teeth.

“We’ll start off with the usual.” Kris cracks his knuckles and moves his head from side to side. “We spar and I kick your .”

"In your dreams.” I crouch down into a ready position and focus all my chi evenly into the different areas of my body. A warm glowing sensation fills up my insides.

“Let’s go.” Kris launches himself at me, dodging the chi orbs that I aimed at him, and spins around in a roundhouse kick. His foot makes contact with my cheek and I drop to the grass, clutching my throbbing face.  

“What’s your problem?” I whine. “You didn’t have to kick me in the-,”

“You’re letting your guard down.” He brings down his hand in a chopping motion on my legs, causing me to fully collapse on my stomach.

Why is he fighting so hard? It’s just training.

He needs to calm down.

I channel my chi into my feet and teleport behind Kris. Fine, if he wants to go tough then I’ll give it to him tough. Channeling all the power I can into my fist, I draw it behind my ear and punch him in the back.

Oh , I overdid it, I panic as he flies forward and tumbles over onto the ground, hitting his head several times. A trickle of blood slowly seeps down from his lips. “KRIS!” I scream and run over to his side. His eyes are closed and his face is pale. It looks absolutely devoid of any blood. Did I really punch him that-

And that’s when I’m slammed into a tree so hard that I see nothing but winking stars for 5 minutes. 

(you should listen to this~  and read a bit slower. Trust me, it'll make it a lot better.)

He tricked me. He faked unconsciousness so he could throw me down.

Oh, I’m not mad.

I’m furious.

First he humiliates me at the café, then yells at me, then throws me around like I’m his personal punching bag.

I’m done with Kris. I have to beat him. I can’t let his strength over power me anymore-

An explosion of heat overcomes my body. The stars I'm blinking are replaced with what looks like a shining white light... the same white light that I saw on the day that I saved Kris from that beast on the first day of school. All of a sudden, I become aware of the fact that the stinging pain of my injuries has ebbed away so that I can only feel a small tingle.

Slowly, steadily, I pick myself off the ground. Kris is leaning up against a tree, smirking. However, when he sees me rising up, his expression changes. The haughty confidence in his eyes has turned to a look of shock and… something else. He says something but I can’t hear anything but the sounds that I am making myself.

I charge.

A/N: JUST GOT REAL