the other girl

Chapter 10

Daniel's POV

"MA!" I yelled. "You didn't even give me a chance to explain anything!" 

"Don't raise your voice at me, Daniel. She said everything that needed to be said. Don't you dare go around her again. Got it?" 

"Ma, you don't get it. Her parents really do suck! Have you seen her face and arms? It's covered in makeup cause there are bruises underneath them. She showers everyday after school cause her parents don't let her back into her house! She didn't plan to date in high school because it wasn't worth it. She dated Johnny Lawrence and she saw through his window him having sex with some other blonde. She has excuses for acting the way she does. And she lied! We both agreed! I never said no!" 

She cut me off. "You're grounded." 

"MA!" I yelled. 

"I said you're grounded! Got it?" I groaned and went back to my room. 

Mrs. LaRusso's POV *The Next Day*

I drove Daniel to school and he slammed the car door. "Hey, don't act like that." I said. 

"Just go away." He said. "Nobody's parent drives them to school." He said looking through the window. 

"I gotta make sure you do the right thing." He rolled his eyes. "You'll thank me later." 

"I don't think I will." He said. 

"I love you." I called out. He ignored it. 

This boy doesn't know what he's talking about. Courtney's obviously a bad influence. 

I went home before I had to go to work and I dialed the phone number she wrote down. It rang for a few seconds and someone picked up. They didn't say anything at first so I spoke up. "Is this-" I realized I don't even know her last name. "Courtney's parent?" 

There was heavy breathing at the other end of the phone. "Mhmm. It's her mom. What did she do this time?" 

"Hi, I'm Lucielle LaRusso. I walked in on her and my son yesterday morning doing things they shouldn't be doing." 

"Drugs? If she is, I don't really care." She said groaning. 

"Uhh... no. They were having intercourse."

"If I don't care about drugs, what makes you think I care about sex. If you see her, tell her to stop ruining other peoples lives."

I heard the phone click on the other end. "Hello?" I asked. Nobody answered. 

Well, maybe Daniel was right. 

Courtney's POV

"Hey." Daniel said coming up next to me.

"Hi." I said refusing to make eye contact. 

"Look, I'm sorry about my mom-" 

I cut him off. "No, she's right." I was starting to get angry. "Daniel, we're kids. We shouldn't have done it. I get where your mom is coming from. I'm with her on this one. And I'm almost certain she told you to stay away from me." 

"I don't care." 

"Well I do. Don't talk to me." 

I slammed my locker shut and left. 

I tried to play a guy and I played myself. 

This was supposed to get back at my dad. And now I'm in love. 

God, I'm in love. 

Fuck. 

I hate this. 

I mean, I never thought I was in love with Johnny and I've known him my entire life. Maybe that's why we didn't last. We were just friends. Dating was a dumb idea. 

That still applies.

The day went on and I've never been more lonely and miserable in my life.

But I showered after school and I dried my hair and changed. I felt better after I cleaned off. I walked through the empty school and started to walk home. I heard a car honk behind me. I kept walking thinking nothing of it. 

"Courtney!" Someone yelled. 

This got my attention. I turned around and I saw Mrs. LaRusso pulling up behind me. "Oh hey. Uh, I think Daniel already left." 

"I'm here for you. Daniel won't be home until later cause of karate. I thought I'd drive you home." 

"You want to drive me home? Like to my house?" She nodded. "Uhh... it's kinda far away." 

"Are you gonna walk home?" She asked. I nodded. "It'll be quicker if I just drove you." 

"Don't you have work?" 

"I got the day off." She said. "Come on. Hop in." Her car was old so she was trying not to stop. I sighed and threw my bag in and jumped in the front seat. 

"So just tell me where to go."

"Well, you turn onto Parkway, go all the way down, make a left on Jordan, and my house is on Alston Road." 

"Wow that is a long way. Why don't you just have your parents pick you up. I'd love to meet them." 

"Oh, so that's why you're here." 

"No, Daniel told me you walk home so I thought I'd help you out. So why don't your parents pick you up." 

Well played, Mrs. LaRusso. "Well, my dad goes to work before I get out of school." 

"What about your mom?" 

I let out a breath. "She doesn't have a drivers license." It wasn't a lie. It was suspended for drunk driving. 

"Oh. I'm sorry." 

"It's ok. I'm used to it. I've been doing it for a while. It's kinda just become a routine." I said with a grin. 

"If you ever need a ride, I'll pick you up."

"It's ok. I don't walk home that much. I used to go to Cobra Kai so I only had to walk downtown and then I joined Miyagi-Do and even that's not too far either. So it was only on the days my-" I cut myself off. I almost said dad. "Sensei, John Kreese, only wanted the guys." 

"Why'd you quit?" 

"He wouldn't give me a black belt cause I'm a girl. Well, that's just one reason. That's the reason that finally pissed me off enough to get me to quit. But it's kinda like World War I... there was a bunch of things leading to it." 

"World War I?" I nodded. "Wasn't it because someone shot someone from Austria-Hungary?"

"That's kinda what I'm saying. Most people think the only reason is because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. A Serbian terrorist group killed him and his wife. But that's not enough for the entire world to be at war. There was a lot leading up to it. Like nationalism, the Triple Entente, the Triple Alliance, secret treaties, militarism, and imperialism. So there was a bunch of other things that lead up to it starting cause killing two people isn't enough for an entire world to go to war. Barely even enough for two countries to go to war. So like that, a bunch of things happened at Cobra Kai. I just didn't quit until I hit my breaking point." 

"Wow. I didn't know that. You really know your stuff." 

I laughed. "Thank you." I said with a grin. "I love history. It's one of the only classes I know what I'm doing in." 

"Keep it that way. It's good to know that stuff." 

I grinned. We drove for about ten more minutes and she pulled op to my house. 

"I'll see ya later, Courtney. Stay safe." 

"Thank you, Mrs. LaRusso." I said getting out. 

"Lucielle is fine." 

I smiled. "See ya later."