Chapter Text
I despise Johnny Lawrence. I am not one to hold on to such strong feelings about people who have hurt me- but him, I cannot forgive.
It was dark and the sounds of laughter, the nightlife of California, the ocean waves and the big campfire filled the beach, where many teenagers sat, enjoying the end of the summer holidays. "Hey" a brunette, tall, tan, young boy walked up to a group of girls. Amongst them- this girl, the most gorgeous of them all. "Hi." A shy grin covered her beautiful face. Her cheeks had flushed, and her eyes shined under the road lights. "Sorry for 'em," he pointed to a group of boys laughing knowingly "they tend to be rather annoying sometimes." he gave her a cheeky smile. "You, uh- you mind if I take that back?" he raised a thin, long finger, pointing at the football she had in her grip. She laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, sure, there you go, here, take it." She stretched her arms and passed it to him. He beamed. "Heh, thanks." He took one good look at her before he walked away.
"What was that about?"
"Yeah, tell us! Do you know this guy, Ali?"
She just smiled. "No, I don't." she let out a loud laugh. "Come on, lets listen to some music!" She stood and walked to the big radiophone she had brought from home. Soon, Girls just want to have fun started playing and they all started dancing to the rhythm. From afar, the ships looked like fairy lights and the sounds of motorcycle engines filled the air, getting louder as seconds passed. Soon, five boys, with built shoulders and strong arms appeared. The one is the middle, the biggest of them all, unmounted his bike and stood in front of the terrified blonde girl. He grabbed the music player and furiously pressed the turn-off button. "Hey, what are you doing?"
The boy sighed as he rubbed his forehead in a disappointed manner. He was tall and muscular. His hair was a bright blonde color, as a big chuck of it had been covering his eyes. He wore a black headband that complimented his face. His nose was straight and slightly curved downwards at the tip, his jaw was sharp and his eyes blue, grey tinted too. His lips soft and his mouth frowning. The boy was wearing a black T-shirt and a bright red leather jacket on top, with a logo on it, which read 'Cobra Kai'. Along with it, he wore some tight grey jeans and All-Star Camouflage converse. "C'mon, can we just talk? Please?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper.
Ali grunted. "There is nothing to talk about. Leave me alone Johnny!" She turned her back to him and walked towards the rest of her friends. Johnny's face reddened and snatched the transistor away from the ground. Ali at once ran up to him "Hey! Give me back my radio!" Johnny and his goons started cheering and laughing. "Fine, tell me what you want."
Johnny stopped and stood right in front of the stressed girl and opened his mouth to speak, unintelligible to the brunette words falling from it. The boy took that chance as he slowly and quietly sneaked up to Johnny, ripping the radio off his tight grip. Unfortunately, he pretty much noticed.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" The brunette at once dropped the receiver and took a defensive stance, his hands raised into a wary position. "Chill man, I don't wanna fight. Let the girls have fun, they didn't do anything to you." Johnny's brows furrowed as his body whipped around, now facing the other entirely. "And... who the fuck are you?" Johnny smiled cockily as his eyes undressed him, watchfully under his long eyelashes. "None of your damn business" Daniel's eyes couldn't keep up with the tension as they eventually broke contact with Johnny's, suddenly finding the tiny grains of the sand extremely interesting. He then heard a laugh. Johnny pushed him abruptly and Daniel almost fell to the ground, almost.
At this point, everyone had been surrounding them and besides Ali, who seemed to be overwhelmingly worried and nervous about Daniel, everyone seemed intrigued and excited. "Daniel, you know karate, right?" an excited voice was heard on top of every other. Daniel remembered him. He was the guy from Reseda, the place where he had just moved to. He was the guy to whom Daniel had kicked the door accidentally when he first arrived, and it was the guy who had invited him to this party in the first place. He subtly nodded. At once, everyone started cheering even more loudly. Johnny had kept his eyes on Daniel the entire time, lingering in his brown ones. He smiled, almost innocently. He walked to the one corner of the circle formed by the crowd and took an alert and ready stance.
Daniel knew he wouldn't be able to defeat Johnny. He doubted if he could even call the training, he did back in New Jersey karate. He walked hesitantly to the other side of the circle and tried to remember the few things he'd picked up from his past lessons. Nothing. So, he just shrugged. He paused for a moment, took a defensive pose and started running, attacking Johnny like a fool. But the other boy easily dodged it and sent Daniel to the ground. Then Ali screamed something, or he thought she did, which distracted Johnny momentarily. Daniel thought that it was a good chance as he stood up and punched Johnny, blood now running down his nose. Johnny's eyes widened as his sharp gaze fell on him. He aggressively wiped the remaining blood and took a stance, his facial expression hardening. Then, he moved gracefully and quickly, punching Daniel in the right eye. Because of that Daniel lost his balance and became one with the sandy ground once more. The loud sounds of laughter were echoing on the empty beach. Soon, Daniel could hear the groans the bikes' engines let out as he watched the five boys ride away. He stayed on the ground, frozen, until everyone was gone.
After what had felt for decades, Daniel decided to finally start moving. He moved carefully so as not to cause his body any more pain and found himself in a sitting position, looking at the peaceful ocean.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry for them." Ali. Ali. Her eyes shined under the lights. Daniel couldn't help but stare at them, he thought that he could get used to waking up looking at them. He shook his head. Now was not the time to be making such thoughts. "Go away." Ali (God, Ali) looked heartbroken as she squeezed. "Please, let me help." Daniel was pissed at this point. "I said go!" He kept his eyes shut. He heard a tired sigh and then slow footsteps leading away from him. Daniel stood up slowly. He kept his eyes shut for a good while as he breathed. His ma had always said that breathing makes you feel better even if you found it impossible. He opened them. He looked around. No one. He let out a shaky breath, he was overwhelmed.
He was glad they 'd left but felt guilt for sending the blonde girl away. He limped his way back to Reseda, his eye aching increasingly as the poorly sustained building came into Daniel's view. He climbed up the stairs leading to the apartment in which he and his ma stayed and opened the creaking door as quietly as he could, trying not to wake any of his new neighbors. He figured that his mom had gone to sleep so on his tiptoes, he found his way into his room. Daniel jumped in the cold shower, his body aching unimaginably, and the icy water rinsed the sweat off him. Soon, he found himself under the familiar covers drifting off to sleep. Little did he know that this would be the last time he'd go to sleep without having his thoughts interrupted by the blonde boy.