The Karate Kid 🥋 (Daniel LaRusso)

ch.6

Four days later

It was the day before the dance so Daniel, myself, Freddy and Marcia were at the beach with a few other friends. I had opened up to her about the fake relationship as we had grown closer, I could trust her with my secret. "So tomorrow's the big day eh?" Marcia conversed. "Yeah, unfortunately, I'm thinking about not showing up though," I replied, using my hand to play with the sand.

"Riley, if you don't show up she will win. Go there and show her who's boss" she encouraged. I looked at Daniel and sighed. "A kiss would make us seem more believable but how do I tell him I want it to be real and not for entertainment?" I replied. Marcia thought for a moment. "Well, your best bet is to tell him how you really feel, you don't know until you try," she suggested. "But I'm so nervous," I whined. "Oh you big baby," she said, pulling me in for a hug. As we cuddled, Freddy scored a goal. "Yay go on Freddy Teddy!!" Marcia called out supportively. Freddy blew her a kiss as Daniel smirked at me.

We were making s'mores later over a bonfire and listening to music when Ali approached us. Only a couple of people greeted her back, I looked at Daniel uneasily. "I need to talk to you," Ali said to him. I nodded to show him it was okay and they left, heading up to the rocks. But when it had been longer than twenty minutes I felt something wasn't right. "Should I go look for him?" Freddy offered. "No it's okay, I'll go after them," I said, standing up. I headed up towards the rocks where Daniel and Ali were and I was met with a shock.

They were kissing. My jaw dropped open as I watched them, Ali was facing my direction. When she saw me, she pushed him slightly off and moved towards me. "I'm sorry, it's not his fault I initiated the kiss-" she started. "Get the fuck out of my face," I glared. She took one last look at us before running off. "Are you kidding me?" I shouted. After a minute of silence, he smiled. "Okay she's gone now, I hope she never does that again," he said light-heartedly.

I stared at him angrily and he looked at me oddly. "What's wrong?" He quizzed. "What do you mean what's wrong?! You just kissed your ex right in front of me" I exasperated. Daniel crossed his arms. "Riley, she's gone now. You don't have to keep pretending anymore," he said with a small smile. I bit my lip frustratedly. "I can't believe that you still think I'm pretending after all this. Daniel wake up, this isn't me being fake mad so you can get back at Ali, I'm actually mad at the both of you," I insisted. 

"Riley I don't understand, I thought we were-" he seemed confused. "You thought we were what? Going to fake date for however long and not actually catch real feelings? I like you, Daniel, I have for a long time now and I thought at first I could do this fake relationship for you but it's meaningless to me, I want you for real and-and, not for some high school show," I confessed.

I took a deep breath.

"You know, Elly gave me an ultimatum. She said I either have to kiss you at the dance to show everyone we're dating or if I don't go then she'll ruin the rest of my high school experience. I'm not going tomorrow. Okay, fuck that. I'm not going to fake kiss you for their satisfaction, if it's not for real then I don't want it," I said frustratedly.

Then I walked off down to the beach, leaving him there. "Where's Daniel" Freddy asked when I came back. "I just caught Ali kissing him, I'm going home," I explained. "Can I stay at yours tonight?" Marcia asked. I nodded my head and we said our goodbyes to everyone. She kissed Freddy and then we were off, heading towards my house.

"I told him I liked him," I said quietly. "Well done Riley, that's great. What did he say?" Marcia replied. "I don't know I left before he could answer, I'm feeling everything right now and I don't want to hear any bad news," I answered. "I understand," she said, squeezing my hand excitedly. When we got back we found dad sleeping on the couch so we went straight up to my room.

When we finally climbed into bed, we both stared up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "You'll be okay Riley, trust your head," Marcia instructed. Shortly after she fell asleep, leaving me to battle my thoughts. He finally knew that I liked him so now it was up to Daniel to change the dynamic of what we had.