Serendipity & the Serpent

A Crash Course in Dating

"We're so bad."

You and Ali laughed mischievously in the restroom. The two of you took your grand old time reapplying lipstick, fixing each other's hair, anything to pass the time while the boys suffered.

"Hey," you piped up as you fixed her headband, "do you think that maybe since they're forced to be alone right now, that they'll get along?"

"Not a chance."

The two of you laughed some more before she grew silent and looked in the mirror. She scrunched up her face before pulling the bandana from her hair completely, and shaking out her curls.

"I think I should wear my hair down for the rest of the date, don't you think?"

"It looks amazing, Ali."

"Good," she squealed, "because things between Daniel and I are going really well. I really like him. It's just... I don't know, I feel like I wore a headband on every date I've ever been on. I want Daniel to be... different. If that makes any sense at all."

You smiled brightly. "It makes perfect sense."

Suddenly, she let out a sigh. "And it's hard too because headbands remind me of Johnny. I know it seems silly... but I can't help it."

She pulled her eyes away from yours in the mirror and looked at you directly. "You know that black headband he wears sometimes?"

You nodded your head.

"Yeah," her shoulders slumped, "I gave that to him."

You hated the way your heart constricted at this information. Johnny was still wearing it so often...

Before you could ask anymore questions, she looked you up and down, grinning ear to ear.

"Here," she reached up and placed the twisted bandana around the top of your head, tying it behind your neck, "it looks better with your outfit anyways."

She turned you to the mirror then, forcing you to take in your reflection. You smiled, soaking in the surge of confidence it left you with.

"Come on," she smiled and tugged your arm gently, "the food is probably at the table by now."

"Oh, but torturing the boys is so much fun."

"Agreed," she giggled and extended a pinky forward, "guess that just means we will have to do it again someday."

Grinning, you interlocked your pinky with hers. "You have yourself a deal."

The two of you let out a fit of laughter as you exited the restroom and headed back to the table.

Only to find the boys raising their voices at each other.

You and Ali looked to each other with fear as a fist came down onto the table. Then, you practically ran to their sides. As you reached Johnny, he was standing to his feet, fists ready to fly. You pulled him back as a manager came running over.

"You kids can't be fighting in here! Take it outside." She snapped.

"Gladly." Johnny hissed toward Daniel.

"That's enough!" Ali shouted, "can't we just have a civilized dinner together?"

"Clearly not." Daniel huffed.

Shaking your head, you pulled out your wallet and threw down a generous tip. "You guys stay and enjoy the rest of your date. We were just leaving."

All you saw was red as you pulled Johnny from the diner and shoved him to get in the car door. When he slammed the door shut, the entire car shook.

"Rule #2 was to be nice to Daniel. What happened in there?" You yelled.

"He was provoking me! Kept bringing you and Ali into conversation, I wasn't just going to let that slide."

You rolled your eyes. "What's your problem with him anyway?"

"You've got to be kidding me," he huffed as he whipped out of the parking lot, "don't tell me you haven't been paying attention."

"Please enlighten me." Your attitude grew with every passing second, the volume of your voice joining it willingly.

"Look," he gripped the steering wheel, "I know what I did to him was wrong. I shouldn't have just bullied him for fun, but I got carried away. It's like I told you before. The cobras and I play this game with all the new kids, we mess with them until they snap. Well now I'm the one about to snap. I know he's your friend, and that's fine, but I'll be the first to admit that I got a little jealous, alright? I just didn't want him taking two things that I lo- care about."

You swallowed. "That first thing being Ali?"

He rolled his eyes, his foot stepping on the gas unknowingly.

"Johnny slow down!"

"You know," he continued, "it really hurt to see her with him. Here I am trying to move on, and I'm scared to rush into a relationship with you because of guys like Daniel. Ali got with him not even two weeks after we broke up. It just doesn't seem fair!"

"Johnny-"

"I have trust issues, alright?! I love Ali. I want the best for her. But that's hard to say when what she considers best fit is now my opponent in the All Valley. Not to mention, he's only in the tournament because of you. So I'm sorry if all of this seems hard to swallow right now."

"Johnny, please-"

"I have been training for this tournament overtime, every day since the last one. And somehow, this little twerp comes along and ruins my life in more ways then one. It's painful. I refuse to just sit back and watch him take everything from me!"

His last string of shouts was enough to push him over the edge. You saw the red light up ahead, approaching faster then it should have been. But Johnny didn't see the light or oncoming traffic. He was completely out of it. With one last final warning, you yelled at him louder then ever.

"Johnny, stop the car!"

But it was too late.

A car with the right of way came barreling toward the passenger side door. When they saw Johnny's Avanti crossing traffic, it was too late to register. The car slammed on it's breaks, but not before crashing into your side.

That was the last thing you saw before everything went black.