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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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Kalina Lawrence 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?" Kalina whined before turning and faceplanting her pillow. "KALI!" Johnny Lawrence 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?" Kalina 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. Kalina 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?" Kalina 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," Kalina spoke with a chuckle before finishing her breakfast, she loved her father but he wasn't the most competent parent in the world. "How about this? I'll help put them in the bin," Kalina offered.

The two of them made their way outside to the bins when someone startled Kalina. "Hey, I'm Miguel," The voice spoke, Kalina turned to him as did Johnny. "My family and I just moved into 109," Miguel continued before looking to Kalina with flushed cheeks as she smiled sweetly, he wasn't good with pretty girls. "Great. More immigrants," Johnny whined causing Kalina's eyes to widen. "DAD!" Kalina snapped at him before slapping his arm.

"I'm sorry about my dad, he forgot to take his medicine that tames his poor personality," Kalina 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 Kalina listened intently, she was eager to make a friend.

"Bottles go in the blue bin," Kalina 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 Kalina. "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 Kalina 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," Kalina rambled before flushing red in embarrassment. "Sorry... My friends don't really like DC or Marvel or pretty much anything... nerdy," Kalina explained.

Miguel nodded, "They aren't good friends then, are they?" Kalina 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, Kalina 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 Kalina sighed understanding what he was saying.

"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?" Kalina 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 Kalina 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, Kalina. Enjoy your day." Kalina 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.

Kalina 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!" Kalina 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, Kalina'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 Yasmine calls it," Kalina answered before the two laughed and said goodbye. Kalina called for an Uber to the mall and let out an uneasy breath. Kalina 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," Kalina replied to Sam, her smile was wide as the pre-teen sat with her. "What are you reading?" Sam asked Kalina who held a comic book in her hand. "Oh, it's my favourite comic book about Scott Pilgrim," Kalina 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," Kalina exclaimed to Sam before the two began talking about their favourite hobbies.

Sam and Kalina became close friends but after Kalina 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. Kalina 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. Kalina loved her father but as she always told Sam, she adored the LaRusso's and Daniel never failed to make Kalina feel welcome in the home even though he didn't know her family.

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Ka8lon trailed behind Moon, Sam and Yasmine as they walked through the mall in search of new clothes and makeup. Kalina focused most of her attention on the Pokemon cards she was unwrapping as she ignored the girls talking about boys... well, until- "So Kalina, any chance that Mike will have a chance with you?" Yasmine spoke up as she looked at Kalina. "Uh, not likely. I'm not, uh, interested in him," Kalina answered before looking over to Gamestop.

"I'm gonna go. I'll see you girls tomorrow!" Kalina smiled at them before hugging Sam. They said their goodbyes and walked away, Kalina 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 Kalina's attention, she turned to see Chris standing there with a kind smile.

"Hey, Chris!" Kalina cheered, "Yeah, I know. But hey, I finally escaped the grasps of fashion and perfection to the world of the geeks." Chris and Kalina 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," Kalina spoke happily before grabbing them and following Chris to the counter.

"Bye Chris!" Kalina smiled sweetly at the boy before making her way out of the Gamestop where she accidentally bumped into someone. "Sorry!" Kalina 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. Kalina turned to see another familiar face, "Hey Demetri." He smiled awkwardly at Kalina before they all stood in silence.

"Right, uh... Sorry for bumping into you. I'll, uh, see you two around," Kalina 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. "Kalina 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 Kalina 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?" Kalina spoke as she searched for her keys noticing that her father's car wasn't in its usual park space. Miguel looked up at Kalina 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 Kalina looked down with a sigh.

"What was it this time?" Kalina 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 Kalina motioned for him to follow her into the apartment. "Wait, he helped you out?" Kalina 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 Kalina as she unpacked the groceries she grabbed. "That makes more sense honestly," Kalina spoke up as she put the milk and juice into the fridge. "Anyway, are you okay?" Kalina 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," Kalina 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." Kalina 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?" Kalina asked as she held up the new game.

Miguel instantly agreed and the two made themselves comfortable after Kalina 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 Kalina, 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 Kalina 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 Kalina and Johnny?

See you in the next chapter!

Dec '24 update: editing to change 'Kalon' to 'Kalina' or 'Kali', if you see 'Kalon', please point it out for me to fix <3