Drowning

When Sensei Has No Sense

2 hours of working on homework was enough to drive anyone insane. So when Mrs. Collins asked her kids to go pick up the takeout they had ordered, Finley quickly volunteered. Obviously because she was a good daughter, it had nothing to do with wanting to get out of the house.

Thumbs Up Diner was only 5 blocks from her house, so she just walked there, black converse slapping against the sidewalk. The bell above the door jingled lightly as she entered the building to the small mom and pop diner. She walked up to the front counter and waited for a moment before an older man in an apron walked out front and gave her a kind smile.

"Hello. What can I get for you?"

"Hi. I'm here to pickup an order for Collins."

He nodded as he grabbed a receipt lying next to the register and scanned it in to the system. "Total will be $37.43."

Finley handed him her mom's credit card and he swiped it through the machine. There was a moment of silence as the register processed the transaction before spitting out the receipt which he handed to her along with the card.

"It'll be about another 5 minutes before it's ready."

"Okay. Thank you."

Finley smiled at him before walking towards the nearest side wall so that she was out of the way. Not that it was very busy. Only about 6 tables were in use at the moment. 2 college kids sharing a basket of fries, a father and son sharing an ice cream sundae, a hobo, an older cou-

Wait.

Her eyes darted back to the hobo man. Not a hobo. The man was wearing blue jeans and a slightly faded gray long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. She knew him, and he definitely had a house. Apartment number 2.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she walked up to the man that was eating his burger in peace. "You're Johnny Lawrence, right?"

Icy blue eyes looked up at the teenage girl who had seemingly materialized out of thin air. He looked her up and down trying to figure out if he knew her, before coming to the conclusion that he did not.

"So what if I am?" His tone was slightly defensive as he leaned back in his chair.

Finley pulled out the folding chair across from him and sat down so she was facing him head on. "Look I don't normally do this type of thing, but you're hurting my friend. So you need to get over your little pity party and help him, and if not we are gonna have an issue here, because I refuse to let him lose his Uncle Ben."

Johnny's eyes were filled with confusion as he stared at the girl in front of him, who he wasn't completely convinced wasn't speaking in tongues.

"Are you on drugs?"

"Right, yeah, that was really confusing." Finley muttered before she took a deep breath in and started over. "I'm worried about Miguel."

"Miguel?" He spoke slowly, still confused as to what was happening. "Like Miguel Diaz?"

Finley nodded in confirmation. "Yeah I'm his friend from school. Finley."

Johnny narrowed his eyes for a moment, maybe he did know her. Realization suddenly dawned on him. "Wait a minute, you're that chick that was over at his house the other day."

"Yeah." Finley said flatly. "I'm that chick." She wasn't a fan of being called chick, but whatever. "And you're Miguel's Sensei."

Johnny sighed. "No I'm not. At least not anymore."

"Yes you are. You don't get to be a wuss and quit on Miguel just because he got hurt." She paused for a second as she saw regret flash through his eyes, and continued with a softer tone. "He doesn't blame you for what happened. All he keeps saying is he needed more practice. So help him."

"You don't get it kid. I can't. I'm not qualified to teach anyone and I never should have gotten involved with him in the first place. It was a mistake." He tossed a crumpled up napkin into his empty burger wrapper and stood up to throw his trash away.

The bell jingled as Johnny walked out. But it rang again as Finley rushed out after him. She jogged until she caught up and then stopped in front of him, cutting off his path to his car.

"Kid, just get out of the way."

"No." Finley's eyes were hardened with a new resolve. "Miguel needs you. And don't give me crap about how he's better off without you. He's a good kid, and you're making him better. He still talks about your lessons all the time- both about karate and about life."

Johnny shook his head and shifted his gaze to the right, not even looking at the girl in front of him. Despite being ignored, Finley pressed on.

"Miguel stood up to Kyler today. Again." Johnny's eyes momentarily flicked to hers before darting away again. "You taught him that he should stand up for himself, for his friends, and now you want to walk away without teaching him how. You don't get to just quit on him like that! Especially when he still hasn't given up on you."

The blonde haired man stared down at her, confliction swimming in his eyes. Before he could say anything, Finley walked back into the diner, leaving him alone to think.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night Finley was mindlessly watching videos on YouTube when her phone rang. The picture of Miguel in his Halloween costume popped up. She may or may not have sent the picture to herself from his phone when he had given it to her.

She clicked accept and held the phone up to her ear. "What's up?"

"My mom is letting me do karate again!!!" The boy nearly yelled into the phone.

A grin spread over Finley's face. "Are you serious? That's awesome dude! What changed her mind?"

"Apparently Sensei came over and talked to her. And then I think my Yaya might have also helped my case." He smiled at the memory of his Yaya knowingly smiling behind his mom when she told him.

"You're Yaya seriously sounds amazing. I do expect to meet her one day."

"Look I gotta go but I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"See ya Spidey."

"Bye Finley."

She clicked her phone off and smiled to herself. Maybe there was some good in Johnny Lawrence after all.

🥋

With this story it doesn't make a ton of sense to have Finley interact with Johnny but I figured I'd try and throw in a scene somewhere since he is such a big part of the show.

Hope everyone is enjoying this book so far!