Serendipity & the Serpent

Fresh Coat of Paint

"I'm going as Baby from Dirty Dancing."

You watched his face furrow in confusion. Satisfied, you grinned. Johnny had no idea what you were talking about.

"Baby from Dirty what?"

You laughed to yourself, counting this as a minor victory. If this was your only win for now, so be it. You liked to see Lawrence squirm, no matter how foolish of a reason.
•••
That afternoon, you skated to the record shop to let your mom know you would be at Mr. Miyagi's for awhile. You couldn't help but notice her worry beneath the surface. The record sales were rising, and you knew she couldn't handle it all on her own. You wanted to help, and you would, but right now you needed to help your friend.

When you got to Mr. Miyagi's you hid behind a boulder and waited for Daniel to arrive. Just in time, he came marching around the corner with Mr. Miyagi.

"This is a pretty sweet place you got here, Mr. Miyagi."

"Thank you, Daniel-san."

You peaked around the corner of the rock and saw him looking around. With his hands on his hips, he took it all in.

"So why am I here again?" He started, "I mean I don't mind it at all, it would just be nice to know."

"Talk."

"Talk?" he furrowed his brow, "what do you mean by that?"

Just then, Mr. Miyagi gestured to the boulder. When Daniel looked over in your direction, you stepped out from behind the rock and showed yourself.

Daniel immediately began to panic. You could see it in his eyes from all the way across the yard.

"Hey..." he said nervously, "what are you doing here?"

"Cut the crap, Daniel."

His shoulders slumped at your statement. He had been caught. As you marched across the grass, he muttered something under his breath and kicked a pebble.

"Why didn't you tell me?" You folded your arms across your chest.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Tell you what?"

"The reason you've been avoiding me for weeks on end."

"What," he scoffed, "like I was supposed to tell you that your boyfriend and his little gang beat me to a pulp all the time."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Tell him that!" He raised his voice.

Brushing off his comment, you snapped. "You should've told me!"

"How was I supposed to? They threatened me not to!"

"I don't care what they told you, I could've handled it myself."

"Yeah right," he laughed sarcastically, "because that would've ended well."

You rolled your eyes and looked around, trying to plan the next course of action. "Well," you sighed, "do you know why they've been doing this to you?"