"Dear Clarence,..." ~a teen idol story

Too real

Johnny felt empty when he walked back home. The fights between his mom and Sid were becoming worse and worse and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't just beat up his step father, he had to think of his mom, too.
He was so angry at himself for leaving just like that, but he couldn't take it any longer. If he had stayed, he probably would have killed the man.

The door to the apartment was still open, but no one was inside anymore, so Johnny just assumed his mom went after him and Sid went to the bar like he used to, drinking away all their savings.

Something was sticking out of the mailbox and out of habit, he pulled it out while passing and frowned at the letter with no stamps, only a name written on it and his heart dropped in his chest when he read: "To Clarence?"

There was only one time he had ever used that name and that was about a week ago, when he sent a fan-letter to the teen idol Daniel LaRusso.
His heart started to beat so fast because his first assumption was, of course, someone must have found his letter and was now making fun of him..

Johnny sat down in front of the door, not bothering to go back inside and opened the envelope.
It wasn't even sealed.
Inside was a Polaroid photo and Johnny had to look twice before he realized, that it was a real, unique Polaroid of the Daniel LaRusso. It even had a date stamp and the date was today. There was a message written on the front, with a silver marker and Johnny couldn't believe what he was reading.

"I'm real.

love Daniel."

Johnny just stared at the photo in his hands, trying to process what was happening and suddenly remembered, that he bumped into someone when he had left the apartment..

"No.. that's impossible.."

Johnny laughed dryly. Yeah sure, a teen superstar came to his home, in the middle of the night, to drop a Polaroid in his mailbox.

But he was holding a Polaroid in his hands and there was his crappy old bracelet, touching the Daniel LaRusso's sacred lips..

Johnny stood up and walked inside, just to pack a few things and grabbed his helmet.
He left a note for his mom, that he would stay at a friend's house and closed the door behind him, leaving the key on the doormat.

It had been three times so far, that he was too close to have to sell his dirt bike, but he was so glad his mom saved him from doing it each time.
A little bit of freedom he had left and he hopped on and drove to the only person he could think of now.
He needed to talk to someone about this or he would implode and just vanish forever.

Bobby Brown wasn't one of the super rich kids, but his family was wealthy enough to afford a good quality life.
Johnny met him for the first time when he had joined Cobra Kai and they immediately clicked.
Though they were a pack of five, Bobby was the one Johnny always felt the closest to.
He would consider him his best friend and probably the only one who was capable of taking his problem seriously.

Bobby's mother opened the door, surprised to see one of his friends at such a late hour, but when she recognized that it was Johnny, she immediately stepped aside to let him in. Johnny apologized before he even said hello.

"Mrs Brown, I'm sorry to show up so late, but.."

"Is it your parents again?" Bobby's mother asked softly and Johnny nodded.
He didn't need to say any more. The only one who knew a bit about his family situation was Bobby.
It wasn't the first time Johnny needed a place to hide and she let him in with a concerned frown.

"Come in, sweetie. Go wait in the kitchen, get yourself some leftovers, I'll go get Bobby." she said and Johnny nodded with a weak smile. "Thank you, Mrs Brown."