halley's comet ✓

i ✶ cute beach guy

"𝐈 𝐌𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 cute guy at the beach yesterday," Ali was saying. "I wonder if he goes here."

Olivia nodded. "He was really cute - and he totally likes you."

"I really wish you could've been there," Ali pouted.

"Well, if you see him, you're gonna have to point him out," I replied, smiling knowingly.

This was our little group of three, and we had been best friends since we met at the beach two months ago. I had just moved here, and Ali and Olivia asked if I wanted to play volleyball with them and Olivia's older brother. I said yes, and from then on, we had been inseparable.

We walked into the school, each of us going our separate ways to our lockers. As I opened my locker, I heard an all-too-familiar voice. I ignored it, hoping I was imagining things.

But no.

Daniel LaRusso, in the flesh, walked up to the locker next to mine and began to enter a combination.

I stared at him dumbfoundedly for a moment before quickly busying myself, pretending I hadn't noticed him yet. He hadn't noticed me, and I figured it was only a matter of time before he did.

I shoved my new textbooks into my locker before giving Daniel another glance. He had been wearing sunglasses before, but he'd taken them off, revealing a black eye.

I decided I didn't want to know, and closed my locker.

Olivia came up to me, followed by Ali. We stood in a circle in front of the water fountains, chatting animatedly.

I was facing Daniel, and once Ali spoke, he turned to look at our group. We made eye contact for a few seconds, giving each other confused looks, before Daniel turned his attention to Ali and I turned mine to the conversation.

"You're so lucky, Judy," Ali said.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"That guy with the locker next to you is the guy from the beach."

I just about fainted there on the spot. It was bad enough that Daniel was here, again, but it was even worse that Ali liked him. And worst of all, he seemed to like her back.

"Oh, is he?" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. "He's cute, I guess."

"You guess?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"He's just not really my type," I shrugged. That was a total lie. We hadn't dated for a year because he wasn't my type.

"Well, he's definitely mine," Ali giggled, causing Olivia to giggle too. I joined in on the laughter, trying to make it sound as natural as possible.

The bell rang, and Ali and I walked away from Olivia, giving her sad waves. Ali and I, thankfully, had the same first period, but it was unfortunately without Olivia.

"So, are you going to cheerleading tryouts after school?" Ali asked as we walked into the classroom.

"Yeah," I replied. I'd been on the cheerleading team at my old school, and since Ali and Olivia were both trying out, I figured it'd be fun to anyway.

"I can't wait! It'll be so fun," Ali exclaimed as we sat down in the classroom.

"So fun," I echoed distractedly.

After school, Ali, Olivia and I walked down to the soccer field. As it happened, the soccer team was also holding tryouts.

"Isn't Dutch so cute?" Olivia sighed as we passed a group of four boys.

"Yeah, but he's friends with Johnny," Ali made a face.

Johnny was Ali's ex-boyfriend. And even though they weren't together anymore, Johnny couldn't seem to let Ali go.

As we walked by, Johnny tried to smile and wave at Ali, but she ignored him. He lowered his hand defeatedly.

We began stretching with the other girls as a whistle blew. The boys that had been previously running around the field slowed to a stop. A group of them went up to a dark-haired boy.

"God, does he follow me everywhere?" I muttered as I stared at Daniel, who was talking with the boys.

"Huh?" Olivia asked, turning to look at me.

"Nothing," I mumbled, shaking my head. It was only then that I noticed Ali was gone.

"Hey, where's..." I started to say, until I saw a certain blonde once the group of boys had scattered.

Ali threw a soccer ball at Daniel, who caught it. She giggled. They started talking, and I tore my attention off of them.

We'd stopped stretching by now, and I kept stealing glances at Ali and Daniel. Ali had taken the ball from Daniel and was now bouncing it from one knee to the other.

"When did Ali learn to do that?" I asked Olivia.

"I dunno," Olivia said. "Weird. She's never been into soccer."

I shrugged as a whistle blew. "Cheerleaders, over here," a voice called, and Ali walked back over to us.

"Gosh, isn't he dreamy?" Ali asked, and Olivia and I nodded.

"He sure is," I mumbled, glancing at Daniel before turning back to the other girls.

"Don't tell me you like him too," Ali teased.

"Me?" I asked. "No. Funny story, actually. He's my ex-boyfriend from my old school. What a coincidence that he moved out here, right?"

Ali's eyes widened. "Are you serious? Should I not go for him then?"

"What? Oh, no. You totally can. We broke up a while ago," I assured her.

Ali exhaled. "Thanks. I don't know if I'd have been able to let him go that easily."

I laughed, genuinely this time. "I'm glad you don't have to," I said, and I was sincere. I wanted Ali to be happy, even if it meant her getting with Daniel.

Right?

We began practicing a routine, and we all chanted. "Let's go! Go, fight win! Let's go!"

A whistle blew, and the boys began running around as we kept repeating the routine.

I watched as Daniel was tripped by a boy in red, and then as Daniel promptly tackled him and gave him a swift punch to the face.

"Oh my God," I whispered to Olivia as we kept cheering.

The coach separated the two of them before kicking Daniel out of the tryouts.

"This school sucks! It sucks!" Daniel shouted as he walked off the field.

I turned to Ali, only to see that she'd stopped cheering completely, and was distractedly clapping her hands.

"Ali?" I asked, and she turned to me.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," she mumbled, going back to the routine.

I raised an eyebrow at her, then glanced in the direction Daniel had walked off in.