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YOU COULDN'T IGNORE IT. The fight was everywhere, all over the news, articles everywhere一 hell, it even went viral on multiple apps... before some posts got taken down due to the fact that a kid got kicked off of a balcony, and his state wasn't publicly known. Four names, mostly, were blamed for the West Valley Rumble; Samantha LaRusso, Tory Nichols, Miguel Diaz, and Robby Keene.
Mari'Elena had to reread his name over and over. She just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that he almost killed some boy一 who was also at the karate tournament earlier that year, where they fought. She couldn't help but feel guilty, like she shouldn't have shut him out. Maybe this could've been avoided, and Robby wouldn't be in jail right now if she just stopped being so stubborn.
As soon as the news first dropped, she took it upon herself to try to hit every place that he could've been hiding at. Her father noticed how much she left the house after school, and knew exactly what it was about. He knew everything about what was going on in her life, and to be honest, he did not like Robby not one bit after she told him that he dumped her with no explanation except the basic "it's not working out" excuse.
But he also couldn't stand for her coming home every night, not exhausted from track practice, but from her going all around the San Fernando Valley trying to find the boy. So after Robby was finally caught by the police, he asked his sister, Celia, to take her to the SJDC to visit him.
However, Celia wasn't able to take a day off of work, and it took a few weeks. Now, it was 10:00 A.M. on a Saturday morning, and Mari didn't know what to feel. She wasn't excited, as the circumstances were far from great, and they haven't spoken since the breakup, which was months ago. Was she nervous? Yeah, she was nervous. That described it best. She had no idea what to say to him.
What could she really say? He was the one ignoring her. He was the one keeping secrets. And he was the one who had the audacity to come through her window, break up with her, and just leave.
No, she wasn't over it, as much as she pretended to be. It sucks when you give someone your heart, and they rip it out like it was a Mortal Kombat fatality.
Her tía, Celia, stood by the wall, wanting to give the teenagers their space when Robby came out. She didn't want to intrude, but she knew her niece, and how hot-headed she could get. Basically, she was doing the security guards' jobs.
She gave her some advice一 don't sugarcoat anything, but don't be too mean, he almost killed somebody on accident. She wasn't very okay with Robby getting into fights, but her opinion didn't matter anymore. Clearly, this was the new Robby, and she had nothing to do with it.
But when she saw him, every thought she had just went out the window. She noticed the large, red bruise next to his eye, she didn't know what to think. The way his aura changed so much, and the confidence that once radiated off of him was nowhere to be found. It looked like he was ready to break at the slightest thing, and it broke her heart.
