patience is key | the karate kid

vii. those baby browns

"Ma–"

"Now." She urges, not smiling nor joking anymore. Sighing, Daniel takes off his glasses and Lucille immediately gasps. Her anger fades away and instead, her motherly instincts kick in.

As she stands up from the table to rush over to her son, Kat comes in, almost running into Daniel as she does so.

"Hey, Dan–"

Lucille glances down at Kat as she cupped her hands around her son's face, about to say something.

But noticing that this strange girl had a black eye too, she gasps again.

"Oh my god!" Lucille exclaims, looking back and forth between her son and this random girl. Then she glares at the girl unpleasantly, causing Kat to feel scared as she stands there.

"Did you do this to my boy?" Lucille asks, making Kat's and Daniel's eyes grow big.

Then Lucille whips her attention back towards her son, giving him a concerning look. "Daniel, was she the cause of this–"

"Ma, ma," he motions for her to calm down as he backs away a foot or two. He gazes over at Kat, who still appears to be scared and timid.

"This is Kat. She's the girl next door." Daniel explains. "She didn't do anything to my eye, Ma. I swear."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Ms. LaRusso." Kat tries to smile pleasantly, extending her hand out for a shake.

Taken back a little, Lucille's lips begin to curve upward and she laughs at herself while shaking the girl's hand.

"Oh dear, I apologize." Her cheeks turn a tickled pink. "It's just sometimes I get all worked up - call me Lucille."

A few, uncomfortable quiet minutes passed — all three's eyes glancing back and forth between each other as they stand there. Then Daniel clears his throat.

"Well, we should get going," he motions Kat to head towards the door, and nervously smiles back at his mom. "We don't wanna be late for our first day."

"Right!" His mother exclaims once she gets the signal. She gives her son a wink. "Are you sure you don't wanna stay home?"

"Ma!" The boy whines while opening the door to leave. Lucille shakes her head, giving up, and waves him off.

"Have a great day!" She calls out while watching the two grab their bikes and hurry down the stairs.

◈

    "IS YOUR mom always like that?" Kathleen tries holding back a laugh as her and Daniel walk alongside the empty pool.

    "I wouldn't say always."

    "I think she's pretty.. interesting," Kat says, unlocking the wooden gate. "I mean, she kind of scared me at first.. but she seems sweet."

    "Yeah, she's alright." Daniel shrugs and pauses to get onto his bike. Kat does the same, and Daniel watches as she adjusts her hat to be down low.

    "How does your eye feel?" He asks, kicking up his bike stand. He feels a wave of guilt wash over him. "It looks worse."

    "Yeah, feels worse too." Kat lets out a poor laugh as they cross the street. "Ace said it could take up to two weeks to heal."

    "And what did your dad say about it?"

    Kat looks over at Daniel as if he was speaking a different language. "My dad?"

    Wondering if he had said something wrong, Daniel slowly nods. "Yeah..."

    Kat glances away and back ahead of her — they were coming close to the front entrance of the school. She exhales and slows down her pace.

    "Nothing." She mumbles, coming to a complete stop close by the bike rack. "He was too tired to even ask – he thought I hit my eye on the door."

Speechless, Daniel watches the girl gets off of her bike and walk with it towards the rack. He steadily rolls his own bike up next to her's.

"Uh," he stammers, blinking rapidly, "I-I'm sorry for asking." Kat laughs, locking her bike up.

"It's whatever, LaRusso." She shrugs it off and turns around. She walks towards the front doors of the school. And she stops, along with Daniel.

The two are both looking directly at the same person — Johnny Lawerence. Beach boy. Karate King. Old friend.

    He's sitting on the seat of his bike, surrounded by his group of friends and laughing. At this moment, Kat experiences a mix of emotions. Anger, fear, but one in particular really stuck out.

For a minute she finds him attractive, and again her past runs through her mind. But she shakes it off and grabs a hold of Daniel's wrist.

"C'mon," she lightly drags him while eyeing Johnny. "We're going to be late for class."

As the two walk at a very fast pace towards the door, with Daniel barely catching up, Kat keeps her eyes on the blond boy.

    After a minute or so, Bobby, one of Johnny's friends, points at her, causing Johnny to turn his attention her way.

And once he does, she immediately looks away, embarrassed with her cheeks pink.

———
a/n;
i found out tonight that i like
the first karate kid better than the second !