My semi-fictional boyfriend - Young Johnny Lawrence (The Karate Kid)

Chapter 7||Karate-moves.

I took the opportunity to slip out of my dress into a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, tucking my hair into a messy bun. Dad didn't come knocking - thank heavens! - but still, I waited a couple of seconds to be sure.

A sudden knock at the window made my heart leap into my throat. It was soft, but as I listened for my dad's approaching footsteps, it sounded way too loud.

Pulling the curtain aside, I saw Johnny's face reflected back at me, a sly smirk stretching across his lips. I yanked the window up and got out of the way. Johnny pulled himself up and over the windowsill with ease, but his landing was...rough. He fell into the room, bumping his head.

I laughed as he scowled at nothing in particular.

Closing the window, I froze with my hands on the frame.

"Is everything okay, Mija?" Dad was getting close.

Johnny and I gave each other wide-eyed looks before jumping into action. He rolled underneath my bed (which was probably unnecessary) and I moved the chair away from the door, quietly but quickly. Opening the door just enough to poke my face through, I saw that Dad was frozen with his hand in the air. He was just about to try the handle!

"Yeah, Dad. Sorry for the noise. I was getting dressed and I knocked over a lamp."

"Oh. You sure everything's okay?"

"Definitely. You want to come in and see?" Dad blushed - I knew it made him uncomfortable to be in my space, what with me being a girl and all.

"No, no, if you say you're fine, I believe you. Good night, Sweetheart."

"Night, Dad."

He left while I smiled at him. Closing the door, I slid the chair beneath it. Falling down on my bed, I let out a huge sigh.

"That was close." A small laugh escaped without my consent.

"Too close." Johnny laughed as he crawled from beneath my bed. "Hey, what are these?"

He held a small box up that contained trophies and photos. "Put that back!"

"No way! Not with this gem in there." He pulled out a horrible photo from sixth grade, where I was all pigtails and braces. The outfit I had on should have been illegal, it was so ugly. Mom should never have let me dress myself.

"Ugh." I snatched the frame out of his hand and pressed it face down on my bed. "Seriously, put those away."

"What are they for?"

"If I tell you, will you put them away?"

He shrugged. "I make no promises."

I sighed and fell back on the bed. "Spelling bee trophies."

I waited for him to laugh and tell me I was a nerd. Instead he watched me like he was trying to analyze me.

"You can laugh, you know."

"Why would I? This just confirms what I already knew: you're way smarter than I am."

A grin spread across my face. "Nice of you to say, Lawrence."

"Just the facts...Diaz."

He picked up the terrible photo of me on the bed and gave it a once-over. "You don't do these anymore?"

"Not in years."

"But they made you happy, didn't they?"

"I guess." I shrugged even though he wasn't looking at me. Spelling bee's used to make me happy, as did public speaking but eventually after the accident neither seemed to matter as much. Especially since I had panic attacks for everything.

"I think you should do them again. I mean, if they make you happy then why not?"

"Mm."

He sat quietly watching me for a moment, before putting the box back under my bed.

It was my turn to look away as he changed into his own clothes. Getting into his bed, he yawned and said "Tonight was fun."

"Yeah, it was."

A few beats of silence followed.

"Good night Diaz."

"Night Lawrence."

The next morning, he was awake before I was. My parents had already left for work and I was exhausted even though I had slept through the night. Johnny shook me awake, handing me a cup of coffee to get me going. I drank it gratefully.

"Today," he said, after I had showered and gotten dressed. "I wanna show you some moves."

I lifted an eyebrow in question.

"Karate moves." he clarified. "You need to learn how to defend yourself."

And so we spent the rest of the day sparring. He taught me how to get out of a head-lock, how to duck, anticipate and block. Once or twice, he even let me win even though he denied doing such things.

We mostly laughed at one another and joked around but he really did go through a lot of trouble to help me.

At some point he threw me down on the couch, making me burst into a fit of giggles. He laughed with me. I liked his laugh, I had to admit.

He took my hand and helped me up and for a moment we were standing a bit too close to one another. Our heads were nearly touching and he was looking at me with this unreadable expression. I wondered if he thought about kissing me, like I was about him.

A sound outside brought me back to reality - keys rustling, heading for our door. Johnny was about to make a run for it when I grabbed his sleeve.

"It's okay. Stay." He seemed confused but did as I asked.

My mom came in, a frown between her eyes. When she saw us, her mouth fell slightly open - clearly she was surprised to find that I had made a friend.

"Billie?"

"Hi Mom. This is Johnny. Johnny, this is my mom."

He rushed over to her, taking the grocery bags from her hands and putting them in the kitchen. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Diaz."

She smiled and replied the same.

"I was on my lunch break, figured I would finish shopping. I have to head back though." She said, looking at her watch. She kissed me goodbye, told Johnny it was nice meeting him and wiggled her brows at me before she left.

I knew what she meant - he was handsome and I would have to tell her all about him.

"You want to head to the beach?" I asked, unsure where the question had come from.

"What? You tired of my training already, Diaz?" But we both seemed a little flustered.

"I am very unfit, Sensei. Give me a break."

He laughed. "Fine. But only 'cause you're cute."

I blushed, hard. What was this guy doing to me?