GOOD HEART, BAD TEMPER - keene, robby

two

warning: abuse! (if that triggers you, i suggest skipping that part!)

"You what?!" Demetri yelled, grabbing Rory's bruised hand for the 100th time.

"How many times are you going to look at my hand?" Rory rolled her eyes, pulling her hand back.

"Are you okay?" Eli asked.

"Eh. My Dad doesn't know I lost my job, so I have to find a new one before he does." she says.

"I know this Japanese restaurant that is hiring." Miguel voices.

"Take me Friday?" Rory questions.

"I have this thing after school, but I can take you when I finish my thing Friday." Miguel says.

"What thing?" Demetri questions.

"Karate." Miguel answers.

"Karate?" Rory laughs.

"Yeah. My sensei is looking for new recruits. If you guys are tired of getting picked on, then you should look into joining. I could probably get you all discounts." Miguel says.

"You hear that guys? A little karate training, and you're gonna kick some major ass." Demetri says.

"I'm serious, Demetri." Miguel tells him.

"I'll check it out. I have nothing to do after school anyways." Rory speaks up.

Miguel smiles at her, before turning to Eli and Demetri.

"You guys?" he asks.

"As enticing as that sounds, I think we'd rather spend our afternoons playing Crucible Control than getting hit in the face." Demetri says.

"You'll get hit in the face anyways, Demetri." Rory tells him.

"Wha-"

Rory cut him off by slapping him in the face.

"Ow!" Demetri yelled out, holding his cheek.

Miguel and Eli only laughed and told him he deserved it.

"Oh, and one last thing." the counselor speaks up, grabbing the 4 teen's attention.

"While we're all looking forward to the Halloween dance, let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive. For example, instead of "sexy nurse," maybe try "gender neutral hospital employee." the counselor says.

Rory laughs a bit at the counselor thinking she's actually doing something.

"What are you going as?" Miguel asks Rory.

"You'll see." Rory smiles.

Miguel smiles back. As the two flirt, Eli shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Rory was his girl, even though he hadn't made a move, she was still his girl.

|

"Hey. You ready?" Miguel asks as he approaches Rory, scaring her and making her jump.

"Jeez. You scared me." she laughs.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to." Miguel smiles.

The two begin to walk. They talked about their day, jobs for Rory, and other random stuff. Finally, they got to the dojo, but no one was there, so they waited.

"I'm sorry. Usually he's here on time." Miguel tells her.

"Hey. It's ok." Rory reassures him with a smile.

Miguel watched as she smiled, his heart slightly missing a beat. It wasn't hard to tell that Miguel was attracted to her, because, who wasn't? Rory was naturally beautiful, her friends are what turned everyone away, and she knew that, but she didn't care.