Stay With Me | Robby Keene

3 | Apartment Complex

Ivy walked towards Miguel's apartment building, her science books held tightly in her arms.

"Kid, what are you doing here?" A scruffy man said from behind her.

"Uh- I'm going to study with the kid that lives here." She said as she pointed towards Miguel's door.

"You're friends with Miguel?" The man laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah, he's cool." Ivy said, cocking her eyebrow. "Do you know him?"

"I teach him karate." The man said proudly.

"You know karate?" She asked. "I know karate."

"Yeah sure, kid." The man scoffed.

"My dad is Daniel LaRusso, I know how to fight." At the sound of the words, the man's face turned sour.

"You're his kid?" The man said. "Samantha?"

"No, I'm Ivy." She said, confusion taking over her features. "How do you know my sisters name?"

"I do my research." The man shrugged.

"That's creepy as hell, man." Ivy said.

"I'm Johnny Lawrence." He sighed.

"Didn't my dad beat your ass in '84?" She laughed.

"It was an illegal kick." He said, getting defensive. "The ref specifically said no kicks to the face!"

"Yeah sure." Ivy scoffed. "See you around, Johnny."

She huffed as she turned around and walked towards Miguel's door, knocking on it 5 times.

"Hey, Ivy!" Miguel said as he opened the door. "Hey, sensei!" He said to Johnny that was still behind Ivy.

"I can't believe that man is your sensei." Ivy mumbled.

"Why?" Miguel said, clueless.

"Because my dad smoked him back in the 80's and he's still emotional about it." Ivy chuckled.

"Your father did not smoke me!" Johnny yelled from behind her.

"Then how come the trophy is in our living room?" Ivy laughed as she walked into Miguel's house.

Miguel chuckled as he closed the door, turning back towards Ivy.

"What's going on between your dad and Sens- Johnny?" He said, shaking his head at his mistake.

"Back in the 80's, my dad moved here from New Jersey and Johnny kept beating him up." Ivy said. "Eventually my dad fought back and beat him in the All Valley Tournament."

"So that's why he's so salty about it." Miguel said, realization hitting as to why he was so passionate about karate. "Do you know karate?"

"Yeah, I do." Ivy nodded, opening up her science notebook. "I haven't used it seriously in like 7 years though."

"You've gotta be like extremely rusty then." Miguel said as he sat next to her.

"I never said that I don't use it against my siblings." She smiled, causing Miguel to laugh.

"I think Demetri has a crush on Yasmine." Miguel said as he flipped to the respective page in the book.

"Everyone has a crush on Yasmine." Ivy scoffed. "I understand, she's gorgeous, but she's a horrible perosn on the inside."

"I haven't been at school for long, but isn't she best friends with your sister?" Miguel said as he skimmed the page.

"Yeah, that happened like 5 months ago." Ivy said as he reached over Miguel and grabbed a pen. "It was so sudden. First she was talking science with Aisha, and then she was wearing crop tops and putting on makeup in her vanity mirror."