Heartstrings ━━ Miguel Diaz ¹

𝟬𝟳. good and bad

CHAPTER SEVEN
bend when you can, snap when you have to

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     𝐌iguel's first day back at school was delightful, according to the boy himself. He was definitely being half-sarcastic. Raegan planned to fill him up on what he'd missed while he was in a coma and trying to regain control of his legs. However, Miguel seemed to handle it just fine when he told her Demetri had told him about what happened in the arcade, and how his dear friend broke his arm like it was nothing.

     Clearly, Raegan wasn't prepared to tell him that his old friends had turned their backs on them. 

     Then he also noticed the fading bruise on her cheek that she hid under a thick amount of concealer. She totally forgot about that while making out with the boy in her car. He ended up smudging a few of it off, revealing the obvious mark on her pretty face. Obviously, that made him furious to know that somebody touched her while he was gone.

     Raegan tried to assure him that he should see the other guy. Really though. Because that punk had more than a bruise on his face. Hell, she swore she almost broke an arm or two if she didn't have any remorse. Thank God, she was still sane and knew her boundaries. The day she lost her cool was not going to be something people were going to look forward to.

     One thing though, the roles had changed. Miguel was adamant not to have his friends fighting anymore, and Raegan was just starting to get comfortable with it. Neither of them had brought up any of those things yet. 

    Never in a million years would she expect Daniel to ditch her out of school, but he did. He appeared outside in his car with Samantha in the backseat, and one wave from him, Raegan slipped out of the school and jumped in the passenger seat. Suddenly, everything felt normal again, and Samantha felt a little bit better having his sister and her father by her side after everything that happened.

     Daniel brought them to the All Valley Sports Arena. They walked into the empty stadium, scanning the bleachers and the newly polished floors below them. There was a familiar tug in her heart when she thought about what went on in this arena, how many tournaments had happened in here. Raegan had always wanted to be on the mat fighting an opponent for her team when she was younger.

     "No matter how many times I come back here, I just can't help but feel a little rush of adrenaline," Daniel said wistfully as he leaned over the rails of the top bleachers overseeing the whole arena.

     "That's great, Dad." Samantha pursed her lips, stuffing her hands inside the pockets of her denim jacket. "But you still haven't told us why we're here."

     Raegan raised an eyebrow at the man. "Why are we here?"

      "Come here," Daniel beckoned them The two girls shared a questionable look before following after him to the ground floor, walking over to the middle of the arena. He pointed at the floor. "Right here."

     "We know," Samantha said nonchalantly, completely confused as to what he was getting at. "This is where you beat Johnny Lawrence."

     "No." Daniel shook his head, looking at both his daughters. "This is where I almost lost to fear."

     Fear. Raegan often thought it was something that shouldn't have existed. But what would people be if not for their fears? It was the only thing that kept them humane. If you're not scared, you're not human. So she learned to embrace them. At least some of them. Because the very thing she fears often tries to set her back from her goals, but at the same it was what pushed her to reach them anyway. How ironic.