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The sun was shining down on the beach, laughter flowed through the air as two children run in and out of the water as the waves lap against the shore teasing the two. "First one to find a shell wins!!" The oldest of the two shouted with a giggle, the six-year-old quickly moved to find a shell while the youngest of the two pouted and looked around in hopes to find a shell before the eldest. "I win!" The oldest cheers before turning to see the youngest fighting back tears. "Don't cry, Kali," The oldest said with a pout, he walked over to her as she sniffled.
"You always win these games, Robby," Kali whimpered with another sniffle knowing their mother hated it when she cried. "I'm sorry, Kali... here, it's for you," Robby held out the small shell that formerly belonged to a hermit crab. "Rweally?" Kali asked before smiling, she carefully grabbed the shell from her brothers hand before hugging him. "Best brother ever!" Kali cheered making Robby laugh as he hugged her back. "You my twin, of course its for you," Robby replied to her before the two continued playing in the sand until they had to leave.
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Kalon let out a quiet groan as she sat up in bed only to groan louder as she looked at the time on her phone almost knocking the small vial holding a shell. "Why so early?" Kalon whined before turning and faceplanting her pillow. "KALON!" Johnny called out to his daughter, she rolled her eyes before climbing out of bed adjusting her Flash tank top and shorts. "Dad, why so early?" Kalon mumbled as she walked out of her room, her father serving up some cooked ham and scrambled eggs.
"Because I've made breakfast and if I don't wake you before I leave for work, you won't get up till late," Johnny explained to his daughter before pouring some juice into a cup. Kalon yawned again as she sat down at the counter, brushing her short hair out of her face. She smiled up at her father as he placed her plate in front of her, grabbing her fork she began eating before looking over to the three trash bags.
"Did you actually clean up without me whining about it?" Kalon asked between bites, Johnny nodded at his daughter as he took some pain killers for his headache. "I could hear your voice in my head and it was irritating," Johnny whined to his daughter who smiled proudly. "Good, I'm conditioning you right then," Kalon spoke with a chuckle before finishing her breakfast. "How about this? I'll help put them in the bin," Kalon offered.
The two of them made their way outside to the bins when someone startled Kalon. "Hey, I'm Miguel," The voice spoke, Kalon turned to him as did Johnny. "My family and I just moved into 109," Miguel continued before looking to Kalon with flushed cheeks as she smiled sweetly. "Great. More immigrants," Johnny whined causing Kalon's eyes to widen. "DAD!" Kalon snapped at him before slapping his arm.
"I'm sorry about my dad, he forgot to take his medicine that tames his personality," Kalon spoke cheekily ignoring her father's playful glare but smiling wider when Miguel laughed along. "Actually, we're from Riverside. But anyway, I was just wondering if you were having trouble with your water pressure, 'cause I know our sink's being a little weird right now and..." Miguel rambled on as Kalon listened.
"Bottles go in the blue bin," Kalon and Miguel said in unison but Johnny ignored both of them as he tossed them into the bin. "Listen, Menudo... I've lived in this shithole for as long as my daughters been alive. The pipe's don't work. The fountain's full of piss. And the only good thing about being here is I don't have to talk to anybody but my daughter," Johnny spoke towards the boy before turning to Kalon. "I'll see you after work," Johnny fist-bumped his daughter before walking away.
"Okay, well... have a nice day, I guess," Miguel spoke towards Johnny before looking to Kalon and taking notice of her pyjamas. "You're a fan of The Flash?" Miguel asked with a smile. "Hell yeah! Barry Allen is an epic hero, except for the whole Flashpoint situation but ultimately, my obsession lies with Cisco Ramon," Kalon rambled before flushing red in embarrassment. "Sorry... My friends don't really like DC or Marvel or pretty much anything... nerdy," Kalon explained.
Miguel nodded, "They aren't good friends then, are they?" Kalon looked down as she mentally agreed with him. "Ah, I just realised that I didn't introduce myself. That was my father, Johnny Lawrence and I'm the bane of his existence, Kalon Lawrence," Kalon introduced before holding out her fist for him to bump, which he did. "Nice to meet you. I didn't expect someone like you to be, uh...." Miguel trailed off as Kalon sighed.
"Nice. Yeah, I get that a lot. Most people don't understand where my kind nature comes from because it definitely wasn't either of my parents. I just kind of run with it, you know?" Kalon shrugged as the two walked towards the fountain. "I think that's really good. There aren't a lot of nice people left in the world after all," Miguel responded which made Kalon blush lightly before she cleared her throat, "Well, I gotta go get dressed for the day but I'll see you tomorrow, right? Or just, whenever... Uh, yeah..."
Miguel nodded with a wide amused smile, "See you then, Kalon. Enjoy your day." Kalon nodded before waving awkwardly and walking towards her apartment, stepping inside before closing the door behind her with a wide grin. She felt happy that she made a new friend, but she was worried his opinion may change once he sees the people she hung out with.
Kalon changed into some white denim jeans, grey ankle boots and a Guns 'n' Roses shirt before pulling on a cute beige beanie and clipping on the necklace that she holds close to her. Her phone began to ring and she quickly picked it up with a smile, "Hey Sammy!" Kalon grabbed her bag and double-checked that she had everything she needed. "Hey K, we are almost at the mall so you still coming?" Sam, Kalon's best friend, asked as she ignored Moon and Yasmine.
"Yeah, I'll meet you a Hot Topic so I can get my "grunge" on as Yas calls it," Kalon answered before the two laughed and said goodbye. Kalon called for an Uber to the mall and let out an uneasy breath. Kalon hid most of her life from her friends, more specifically where she lived as she couldn't risk the reputation that she and Sam had built for themselves with Yasmine and Moon placing them on the top of the hierarchy.
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"Hi, I'm Sam. Can I sit with you?" A brunette girl asked as she stood with a lunch tray in her hand, she had an anxious expression. "Sure, you can sit with me," Kalon replied to Sam, her smile was wide as the pre-teen sat with her. "What are you reading?" Sam asked Kalon who held a comic book in her hand. "Oh, it's my favourite comic book about Scott Pilgrim," Kalon answered her with a grin. "I'm not really into comic books," Sam responded with a sheepish expression. "That's okay! You just need to find the right one," Kalon exclaimed to Sam before the two began talking about their favourite hobbies.
Sam and Kalon became close friends but after Kalon met Sam's dad, she avoided introducing her own father not that it mattered when her father was drunk most of the time; he didn't even know she left the house for sleepovers or school. Kalon spent a lot of time in the LaRusso household, it was the first time she saw a true family happy rather than the nightmare she lived. Kalon loved her father but as she always told Sam, she adored the LaRusso's and Daniel never failed to make Kalon feel welcome in the home even though he didn't know her family.
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Kalon trailed behind Moon, Sam and Yasmine as they walked through the mall in search of new clothes and makeup. Kalon focused most of her attention on the Pokemon cards she was unwrapping as she ignored the girls talking about boys... well, until- "So Kalon, any chance that Mike will have a chance with you?" Yasmine spoke up as she looked at Kalon. "Uh, not likely. I'm not, uh, interested in him," Kalon answered before looking over to Gamestop.
"I'm gonna go. I'll see you girls tomorrow!" Kalon smiled at them before hugging Sam. They said their goodbyes and walked away, Kalon grinned before making her way towards Gamestop. She tucked her cards into her bag before making her way inside to look at the games. "It's been a while since you've been in here," A familiar voice caught Kalon's attention, she turned to see Chris standing there with a kind smile.
"Hey, Chris!" Kalon cheered, "Yeah, I know. But hey, I finally escaped the grasps of fashion and perfection to the world of the geeks." Chris and Kalon laughed together. "We got the new Crash Bandicoot in today and Little Nightmares 2," Chris informed her, smiling at the way her eyes lit up before leading her over to the shelf where they sat. "I'm so getting both of them," Kalon spoke happily before grabbing them and following Chris to the counter.
"Bye Chris!" Kalon smiled sweetly at the boy before making her way out of the Gamestop where she accidentally bumped into someone. "Sorry!" Kalon squeaked out as she stood up fixing her beanie. She looked up to see a familiar face causing her to smile, "Oh. Hello Eli." Eli stood quiet as he raised his hand to slightly hide his mouth. Kalon turned to see another familiar face, "Hey Demetri." He smiled awkwardly at Kalon before they all stood in silence.
"Right, uh... Sorry for bumping into you. I'll, uh, see you two around," Kalon spoke before walking away from the two, keeping her head down as she frowned to herself. Eli turned his head to watch her walk away, a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks as she disappeared around the corner. "Come on, Eli. She wouldn't care about us," Demetri spoke with his own frown before walking into Gamestop while Eli focused on his feet where he noticed a piece of paper.
Eli picked it up and turned it over to see a sketch of Cisco Ramon, the detail and realism of the drawing made him smile before he looked down at the signature. "Kalon Lawrence," Eli whispered before carefully putting the art piece into his bag and following Demetri into Gamestop, his focus now on gaining the confidence to return the art piece to her and possibly start a friendship, though he didn't have a lot of faith in himself.
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When Kalon got home, she noticed Miguel sitting on the fountain with his head looking down as he fiddled with his hands. "Hey Miguel, what's up?" Kalon spoke as she searched for her keys noticing that her father's car wasn't in its usual park space. Miguel looked up at Kalon and let out a sigh before walking over to her. "Uh, your dad won't be home tonight," Miguel scratched the back of his neck as Kalon looked down with a sigh.
"What was it this time?" Kalon asked with a defeated tone that made Miguel frown as he realised this was the normal routine for the Lawrence father-daughter duo. "He, uh, actually protected me from some boys who poured my Grandma's Pepto over me," Miguel explained as Kalon motioned for him to follow her into the apartment. "Wait, he helped you out?" Kalon asked surprised as she placed her bags on the counter.
"Well, they pushed me into his car," Miguel pointed out getting an 'oh' response from Kalon as she unpacked the groceries she grabbed. "That makes more sense honestly," Kalon spoke up as she put the milk and juice into the fridge. "Anyway, are you okay?" Kalon asked Miguel as she finished up with the groceries. "Ah, yeah. I'm alright, but I'm convinced those guys are gonna go after me," Miguel explained as he sat on the arm of the couch.
"Try not to worry too much," Kalon smiled sweetly as she handed him a can of soda before she sat down on the couch. Miguel sighed as he slid onto the couch beside her, "Though your dad did kick their ass." Kalon laughed as she nodded along. "Anyway, are you gonna be okay by yourself?" Miguel asked his potential new friend. "Yeah. Trust me, I'm used to this. But, uh, if you aren't in a hurry to go home, wanna play some Crash Bandicoot with me?" Kalon asked as she held up the new game.
Miguel instantly agreed and the two made themselves comfortable after Kalon set it all up and ordered a pizza. The two new friends spent a few hours laughing and getting to know each other while playing a classic video game together. Miguel had new hopes for his new life in Reseda, California. And Kalon, she had new hopes that maybe this year she'd be more than just the nice popular girl hanging with the primadonnas.
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Rosemary Speaks
Edit [September '23]: This book has returned now that I have a better idea of what to do with Kalon and her relationship with Demetri and Eli.
It will have new scenes, added content, and more depth to the characters. This is my book and my adaption, don't like it, don't bloody read it.
Love ya!!
Thoughts on the first chapter?
Thoughts on Kalon and Johnny?
See you in the next chapter!