Summer of 1984: when the clouds were whitener than beacon hills boys' teeth and the heat forced everyone out of their horny asses. No parents; no rules; no authority over anyone or anything. We were free; we were us. Pointy and rebellious; leather jackets everywhere and no one to tell us not to. No one to tell us how stupid we looked or how completely worthless we were.
Summer was ours.
"Martina please remember to turn off the oven once when we leave and to call Nanny if anything shall happen to you." Repeated my mom: richest folk in the whole valley. She was smart for not skipping college and earning a degree in biochemistry that would end up being one of the most requited majors once she graduated.
"And please go out and make some friends already," added my dad.
"O-kay. I'll try."
Both my parents smile at me with both pity and remorse as they jump on their car and wave goodbye from the window.
Perhaps is wrong of me to feel this way but there is something about being home alone that is just so...exciting. I do not hate my parents; I just love my alone time. To be alone for a whole two months seemed like a dream a year ago and now it was finally a reality. I grabbed a float and chilled the hell out at the pool. Finally... it was a beautiful day here in California and there was no one I would rather spend it than myself.
Suddenly the bell rang and I found myself in the obligation to get up. Sighs. Who could possibly be ringing my door right now? I knew for sure that I was not expecting anyone. Maybe my parents forgot something on their way but they wouldn't ring the bell; they would just come in. To my surprise, a bruised and scrawny boy was waiting at my doorstep looking at me like I was an angel. A savior.
"I think you have the wrong house." I said and was about to close the door when he placed his foot closing the space between the doorstep and him.
"Can you help me? Please" he begged on his knees although I do not think it was voluntary.
I considered my options really quickly: either I let a random boy inside my house and risk being murdered and show at the national news tomorrow or let the neighbors and the universe think I was a horrible person for not helping a messed-up boy.
"I'll bring a first-aid box just...wait here." I decided and closed the door running upstairs for the little box. Let's see; there was alcohol for cleansing, bandages, and cotton for closing and one spider-man band-aid from the last time my cousins were here. Good enough for me. As I rushed down I realized a part of me wished he hadn't left yet, and that thought scared me.
Boys only meant more trouble.
"You can just drop the bike there" I said and helped him sat down on the stairs at my doorstep.
There was so much I wanted to ask him and say but I could see he was having a hard time already trying not to faint without me cornering him to add that to his list of problems right now. I noticed how the blood on his forehead and nose was getting worse so I put an ice pad on it and he flinched inches away from me.
"You know? I can't help you if you don't let me" I hissed at him, a bit upset at his reactivity.
He kept staring at the floor avoiding my gaze but tilted his head to the side so I could get a better look at his cuts. I guess that was the best communication I could expect from him.
"This is a pretty ugly cut...you won't tell me how you got it, will you?"
He could barely shake his head as a way of saying no but I took it as strong response. I wondered then, how it was than I went from eating ice cream in the pool listening to Luis Miguel to literally helping a stray boy who showed up at my doorstep.
And then I just assume I was nuts. But I already knew that.
"My name is Martina," I said, "But you don't have to give me any names if you don't want to. Although, judging by the color of your hair and the Nikes you are wearing I would say that you are from around here."
For the first time he looked up and cut me through with his olive eyes. He was intimidating and painfully beautiful at the same time. He looked like an angel who was banished from the sky for breaking the rules and I couldn't help but blush when he noticed how I was staring at him; showing every bit of vulnerability in myself that he seemed to indulged in.
"The name's Johnny" he said at last, trying to show me a smile glazing his perfectly white teeth that I so ignorantly mocked earlier. And I could saw it pained him to smile.
"Easy there, Casanova"
While he was distracted by looking at me I poured alcohol on his wounds and flinched when he turned around violently.
"Keep still or else I will do it again." I threatened.
He nodded but I could still feel his anger directed at me. Not only his face was dirty with blood but his knuckles were soaked in it as well. Only that now I realized this was not his blood.
"Who did you get into a fight with, Johnny?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't find me too blunt and leave through the door right away.
He stayed silent and took the bandage from my hands but I took it back from his and rolled the bandage myself. His touch was cold and tender all the same. He reminded me of the lions I saw at the zoo when I was a kid: mighty and beautiful but waiting on the right moment to hump on your back and kill you.
"Why did you come to my doorstep?" I asked again, but this time he met my eyes.
"Word in the neighborhood is that you are one of those smart girls who knows how to help people."
"Is it? Do people really know that much about me by just looking at my house?"
"You live in the Hills: get used to it."
To that I had no answer so I just closed up my stuff and waited at the door for him to leave.
"Thanks for the help" he said, like I just almost didn't let a complete stranger into my house.
"Do me a favor?," I asked and he turned around to see me, "Tell everyone you know that I am not in fact a smart girl but only a fool."
He smiled like he knew I was lying; like he thought I was funny.
"I will." He promised.
He was about to leave when he turned once again to ask me a question. His eyes gleamed with mischief.
"Will you come to a party if I asked you to?" He asked casually, like I knew him since forever. And he kept staring into my soul like he knew every part of me.
I didn't like it.
"Maybe" I said trying really hard not to blush and keep holding eyes with him.
I did not like losing.
"If you don't go then I'll get really sad..."
"You will?" I asked entertained by all this tainting. Never in my life had I had so much attention from a man before and it was consumingly addictive and intoxicating.
He traced back his steps to my doorstep standing only a few spaces away from me. He smelled of pine and dry blood.
"Maybe" he twisted my words.
"Don't use my words against me. I hate it"
His gaze was powerful and I could feel it everywhere in my body. Something about him felt as a warning; as if for some reason I should know that I had to run as far away from him as I could. But my legs didn't move and my eyes kept staring at his lips; at his collar and cheeks.
"You could enjoy a better view if you just came to my party." He affirmed.
"Who says I am enjoying any of this?"
"Thanks for not letting me die, Martina."
And just like that he left.
And I feared I had become too engulfed in his bliss to step back now.
YOU ARE READING
Cobra Kai - Johnny Lawrence
Fanfiction"Move, Johnny." "Or what?" he asked and stood his ground in front of me. He was blocking the door. "Or I'll have to fight you and it won't be pretty." At that he laughed flashing his perfect smile at me. Oh, how much I hated him.
