I Hate Myself For Loving You

Chapter 4

The hot water hit Johnny's back and slid down his broad body, relaxing his muscles. Between his thoughts about Daniel and the steam billowing around him was enough to make him dizzy. He leaned against the shower wall, collecting his thoughts as he tried to regain his composure. He lathered his hair with shampoo as the smell of Old Spice drifted through the air. He took his sweet time soaping up his hair as he gently ran his fingers through his wet, soapy hair.

His mother knocked loudly on the door while shouting, "Johnny, hurry up! You're going to be late for school and if I get another call about you missing your first class, I will skin you alive."

"Damn it, Ma!" Johnny said in a startled tone, losing his balance and falling forward in the shower and landing with a crash, hitting his chin against the tub, getting a mouthful of bitter suds in his mouth. He scrambled up off the shower floor and towel-dried his hair, haphazardly throwing on clothes while quickly swishing some Listerine, nearly choking on the mouthwash. His chin was already bruising from the fall, matching his black eye perfectly. He scowled at his reflection in the mirror before grabbing the wet towel off the floor, hanging it up on the door, and making his way downstairs. He opened the fridge and grabbed the orange juice container, pressing his lips up to it, and took a long swig just before his mother reached out and took it away from him.

"Come on, Johnny. How many times do I have to tell you to pour it into a glass? It's not that hard." She said in a strict tone, rubbing her forehead in irritation.

"Mmm, sorry." He said in between mouthfuls of orange juice-soaked toast and kissed her cheek before scampering out the door. He jumped on his motorcycle and drove off to school, feeling the wind through his damp hair. As he reached the school parking lot he saw Tommy and Bobby waiting for him, along with the rest of their crew.

"Did you get in another fight on the way to school? What the hell happened to your chin?" Bobby asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I got in a rumble with the shower this morning and the shower won." Johnny grumbled out as Bobby looked at him in confusion to which Johnny replied with, "Oh, never mind."

Out of the corner of Johnny's eye, he saw a brown-haired blob in the distance and before he even had to get a good look, he knew it was Daniel. His knees nearly weakened when he saw him in the red flannel shirt with sunglasses that occupied his face, covering his Hershey-kissed eyes, including the bruise that Johnny had left from the night before. He made eye contact with Daniel and watched as the smaller boy darted off in the crowd, knowing he was trying to escape from Johnny's wrath. Johnny's stomach plummeted in disappointment as Daniel disappeared like the smoke that dissipated from the end of a cigarette. The butterflies that filled his abdomen soon turned into moths that were trying to escape from the pits of hell as he realized how much Daniel must hate him. The bell trilled out, causing students to flock to class like a pack of sheep being herded and Johnny picked up his pace, racing to his history class before the next bell could ring. History was Johnny's favorite class, only because it was the only class Daniel was in.

Daniel was already perched in his seat with pencils all lined up in a row, color-coded and everything. Johnny chuckled softly while muttering under his breath, "What a nerd." But he didn't say it quietly enough because he saw the tip of Daniel's ears turn bright red as he shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. Johnny found his seat in the back and admired the back of Daniel's head as they all waited for the teacher. The teacher strode in with his briefcase, grinning like a mad scientist that just discovered a cure for something important.

"Today's the day, class! I've finally paired you up for your project. I know how excited you all are, so without further ado I'll name off your partners," Mr. Robinson said as a teasing smile curled upon his lips while students groaned loudly in agony. Mr. Robinson peered at his list while saying, "Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso."

"That is bullshit!" Daniel shouted in a cynical tone as he jumped out of his chair.

"Mr. LaRusso, that kind of language will not be tolerated in my classroom, do you understand?" Mr. Robinson said as he crossed his arms, glaring at Daniel.

"Well, it is! You might as well give me a zero right now because I refuse to work with him," Daniel spluttered out, challenging the teacher that stood in front of him.

Mr. Robinson turned to Johnny and said, "Will this be a problem? You two can work together, can't you?"

Johnny's blue eyes widened with feigned innocence as he sweetly said, "I don't mind working with Daniel at all. I think the reason he's so sore that you paired us together is that I'm not exactly as smart as he is, even though I do try my hardest."

"WHAT? That's not even true!" Daniel said with a scowl.

"But I overheard you the other day saying you hope you wouldn't get paired up with me because I'm too dumb and would make you do all the work anyway," Johnny said with his fake sweet tone.

"I outta strangle you, y'know that? You're batshit crazy!" Daniel spits out with his eyes ablaze in anger as he stepped forward, fists clenched as he almost launches at the boy, but the teacher grabs his shirt collar, pulling him away from Johnny.

"That's enough, Mr. LaRusso! Take your stuff and go to the office now. I've had it with you."

Daniel grabbed his things while saying, "This school sucks, man. I hate it here!" He ran out of the door, catching a glimpse of Johnny waving at him with a shit-eating grin, crossing his arms in triumph. Anger blossomed in the pit of Daniel's stomach as he thought about working on that stupid project with Johnny for the next month. How would he even make it out alive? That was the question he didn't have an answer for.

***

The day dragged on, but it soon came winding to an end and Daniel couldn't leave quick enough. He biked the entire way to Mr. Miyagi's, looking behind him every so often, making sure Johnny and his crew weren't stalking him since it was such a usual occurrence. He walked in on Mr. Miyagi nursing a Bonsai tree, giving it life with his hands. Daniel grabbed a tree that was next to him and began working on it.

"How was school?" Mr. Miyagi questioned as he kept his focus on the Bonsai tree.

"You know that boy that beats the shit out of me? He and I got paired up for a class project and having to think about working alongside him for a month honestly makes me want to pluck my eyeballs out and dip them in candle wax because that would probably be less painful. I'm getting my face kicked in every other day. It's such bullshit, man," Daniel sourly said.

"Because boys have bad attitude. Karate for defense only," Mr. Myagi said with a shrug as he turned his attention to the boy.

"That's not what these guys are taught," Daniel exclaimed bitterly.

"No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do."

"Oh, great, that solves everything for me. I'll just go down to the school and straighten it out with the teacher, no problem." Daniel said sarcastically.

Mr. Myagi nodded and said, "Now use head for something other than target.

Daniel widened his eyes and said, "Hey, man, I was just kidding about that. If I go down there I'll get killed."

"Get killed anyway." Mr. Miyagi said as he returned to his Bonsai tree.

"Or you could come with me! Yeah, yeah you could come down to that school with me and have a talk with the teacher." Daniel said with enthusiasm. "Oh, please, Mr. Miyagi?"

"You fight own battle." Mr. Myagi exclaimed as he shook his head.

"Come on, please? Just help me out, will ya?" Daniel pleaded desperately.

"Fine, tomorrow. Meet here, understand?"

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Mr. Myagi. You're the best! I'll be here tomorrow, I promise." Daniel turned to leave, leaving Mr. Myagi grumbling over his Bonsai trees. Daniel felt lighter for the first time since he's been in Reseda.