Briar Rose → J. Brewer

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{B. R. RAYNE}

"Hurry up, dear! We're meeting some family friends soon," I heard my mom call from downstairs. I had just moved to Seaford not too long ago and my mom's long time best friend apparently lived here. Another good thing about this 'family friend' is that one of their many, many kids participates in karate and is my age.

"Ok! I'm almost ready!" I called back, admiring my outfit. It wasn't anything special. Just a 'Pop Chop' yellow oversized shirt with jean shorts and a belt. I hurriedly made my way downstairs with my phone in hand. "Alright, I'm ready to go."

"Great. Anna Rose! Come on! I don't want us to be late!" my mom called out.

"Coming!" came the call of my little sister, Anna Rose. My parents let me pick the name when I was 10, so, as any 10 year old would, I named her after myself. "Where're we going?" she asked as she finally made it downstairs.

"Meeting an old friend of mine. Come on. Into the car," my mom ushered us out of the door. We situated ourselves in the car. "Briar Rose, I think you'll like the kid I was talking about. His name is Jerry and he's into karate just like you."

"I know. You've been talking about that all week," I chuckled.

"I'm just so excited. I haven't seen Amelia since we moved to New York 7 years ago," my mom sighed, backing out of the driveway. It didn't take long for us to reach our destination. As we pulled into the large driveway I saw a woman with dark, curly hair come out of the house with biggest smile on her face. "Amelia!" my mom exclaimed the second she rolled down her window.

"Teagan!" the woman, I'm assuming is Amelia, exclaimed back. "How've you been?"

"Pretty good, pretty good. How about you?" my mom replied as I got out of the car.

"Oh I've been doin' great! Oh, you can go inside, dear," Amelia told me.

"Ok, thank you," I nodded, walking into the giant house.

"Ooh, what it do girl?" a boy with dark, curly hair, similar to Amelia's, flirted.

"And you are," I trailed off.

"Jerry," he responded, taking my hand and kissing the back of it. "What's your name?"

"I'm Briar Rose, but you can call me Briar," I replied, shaking his hand. "My mom told me about you."

"And what, exactly, did she tell you?" Jerry asked, worriedly.

"You're into karate," I shrugged. "I am too. I was, actually, gonna ask you if you could help me get into your dojo in Seaford. I just moved here, like a week or 2 ago, but I wanted to continue my training."

"Oh. Cool. Yeah, I could hook you up. We could head over now if you want," Jerry offered.

"Uh yeah, sure. Just let me let my mom know first," I told him to which he nodded. I walked back outside to talk to my mom. I found her talking to Amelia as Anna watched TV on my mom's phone. "Mom," I intervened.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Um Jerry's gonna help me sign up for the dojo around here," I said. 

"Ok, that's fine. Just let me know if you need a ride or something," my mom replied.

"K. Thanks," I waved to her, walking back inside to meet with Jerry. "Alright, let's go." We started walking towards the warf, making conversation along the way.

"So, what's your belt level? I don't mean to brag, but uh I'm a black belt," Jerry bragged making me smirk.

"It's not bragging if I'm a 4th degree black belt," I smirked. He awkwardly cleared his throat, changing the subject quickly.

"So uh you're new around here, do you need a guide or anything?" Jerry asked.

"I think I'll be fine. I mean, the last time I was here I was 12 ish?" I declined. "But thank you." The conversations flowed pretty easily as we made our way to the dojo. We stopped in front of a building with a giant sign that read 'Wasabi Academy'. "This is the place?" I asked, impressed. It was much larger than my last dojo.

"Yep. Come on in," Jerry beckoned me to follow him into the dojo. I followed, curiously looking around the building. 

"Wow," I mumbled, my hand grazing over the rack of bow staffs. 

"Yo, we gotta um check in with Rudy, the sensei. He'll get you signed up," Jerry rushed me towards the stairs.

"Whoa, slow down, what's," I trailed off, my eyes landing on a good looking brunette boy. "Who is that?"

"Um that's uh Jack Brewer. I wouldn't hang around him too much. A year or so ago he got himself involved with the wrong group of people. He used to be my best friend," Jerry explained. "Come on." He tugged my arm, my legs automatically walking up the stairs, but my eyes not moving from the brunette boy. He made eye contact with me causing me to look away quickly and hurry up the stairs with Jerry.

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{J. BREWER}

I exited the locker room, running my hands through my hair as a cute brunette walked into the dojo with Jerry. "Wow," I heard her mumble as she grazed her hand over the bo staffs. She wasn't exactly my type, but I couldn't deny my curiosity. I made my way towards the bo staffs, but, of course, Jerry had to intervene.

"Yo, we gotta um check in with Rudy, the sensei. He'll get you signed up," Jerry rushed her away from me and up the stairs. I sighed in disappointment. I know I haven't made the best choices in the past, but what was I supposed to do? Disappearing behind stacks of alcohol bottles seemed to be the best choice at the time. 

I felt eyes on me causing me to turn to them. I made eye contact with the brunette. She quickly diverted her eyes, rushing upstairs behind Jerry. The familiar flame of anger rose in my chest. I turned to the closest punching dummy, punching it harshly to the floor. What is wrong with me?