the other girl

Chapter 18

Courtney's POV

I stood there dumbfounded. It's been almost three years since I've seen him. I'm almost 19 and I'm pretty sure he turned 19 last month. I talked to him last when I was 16 and he was 17.

"Umm... I think you broke the eggs and the milk is everywhere. But you got the toothpaste! And the bread might be able to be saved? Do you two know each other?" Jess asked.

"Umm... you could say that." I said to her. "What are you doing here?" I asked changing my tone to be more rude towards Daniel.

"Uhh... Mr. Miyagi and I are opening a store. It's gonna be for bonsai trees."

"Oh, was a love for bonsai trees established before or after you told me I would never be a student to him or when you went out with Ali?"

"Come on, don't start with this."

"No, I will start with this." I said before he could say anything else. I went upstairs and slammed the door.

Daniel's POV

Well that was one first impression...

"Look, I know all that sounds bad but-"

"She's told me the whole story. And I do mean the whole story... if what she said was true, then I'm on her side."

I sighed. "It is true. But I never meant for it to go that way. I really do want to apologize. I messed up."

"How about this... we go out tomorrow with her to the dance club downtown. She would never say no to a party no matter what. Trust me. She'll drive us there and you can apologize and we can enjoy the night before I leave."

"Where are you going?"

"My boyfriend and I are trying to mend a past relationship. Courtney will be staying here and I'm going back home to live with my family again."

"Oh, well good luck. I'll see you tomorrow at 8?"

"Perfect. See ya then."

Courtney's POV

I CAN'T BELIEVE HIM! WALKING BACK INTO MY LIFE LIKE THAT! FUCK!

I heard a knock on the door. "Court, you good?" Jessica asked.

I sighed. No. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She opened the door and she sat on the bed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it was Daniel LaRusso. Otherwise I wouldn't have made plans with him."

"You made plans with him?" I asked. "What about your boyfriend?"

"Well, we were gonna go downtown to that club thing and we were gonna have you go. I was gonna try and set you two up. Y'know, he seems like your type. You love italian guys and he did karate so I figured it was like a match made in heaven."

I wish.

NO! STOP THINKING LIKE THAT!

"We're going to the dance thing downtown? Like a party?" She nodded. "I'm going but not for Daniel."

She grinned. "You'll have a good time.

*The Next Day*

Daniel came over and I drove him, Jess, and I downtown. It was an awkward car ride. Especially since Jess made Daniel sit in the front. I begged her to let him sit in the back but she refused.

"So..." Daniel said breaking the silence. "About Ali-"

I cut him off. "I don't care to hear about Ali. I'm over it.

"Are you?" He asked.

"Yes, Daniel, I don't care. I told you at the very beginning I didn't like her and you didn't care. That shows enough. You can do what you want."

"But I didn't mean for it to happen-"

"You didn't mean to lead her on, take her on a date, and let her kiss you? I'm sure."

"So, you aren't over it?" He asked. I ignored him. "I know it was a bad time with your mom leaving and your dad-"

"How do you know my mom left?" He got red. "Daniel?" I asked taking my eyes off the road.

"I may or may not have tried to find you after we ran into each other at Golf n' Stuff and overheard your conversation with your mom in the phonebooth..."

"WHAT!" I yelled. I took my hands off the wheel and threw the water in the cupholder at him.

They both screamed. "COURTNEY!" Jess yelled.

"Relax, you two will be fine." I said angrily. "You mean to tell me you heard me crying and didn't care to ask if I was ok?" I yelled at Daniel.

"I thought it would be better if I didn't. You were already mad!"

"DANIEL! THAT'S NOT HOW GIRLS WORK!" I yelled.

"Can you please focus on the road?" Jess asked.

"We'll be fine. We're almost there."

I blocked out everything they said for the next five minutes and just drove to where we were going. We finally got there and I went inside while they got there stuff together.

I went right to the bar. "Can I have a beer?" I asked.

"Can I see an ID?" The bartneder asked.

"Water is fine." I said giving up.

I sat there upset about tonight. I love parties but this one sucks.

"Hey." Someone said sitting next to me.

I looked up from the water and almost spit it out. "Hi." I said in awe. The most gorgeous man of all time was sitting in front of me.

"Couldn't help but notice how lonely you looked. What's a gorgeous girl doing here by herself?"

"My friend tried to set me up with my ex because she doesn't want me to be alone cause she's going back to Ohio to fix things with her boyfriend and I'll be all alone cause my parents abandoned me and it didn't go accoring to plan and now they're besties and I'm alone." I said quickly.

"Oh goodness. That doesn't sound like a real friend."

"She is. She meant well. He didn't. He's a bitch."

"He must be if he left you."

I grinned. "You're right. I'm much better than him." I said with a dramatic hair flip. "Quick question, how old are you?"

"I turn 19 in two weeks."

"Perfect." I said with a grin.

Maybe tonight won't be so bad after all.