The water park.
That's all everyone's been talking about lately. How I went psycho on Alyssa and "could've put her in the hospital". What a load of bullshit. What I did at the water park was nothing compared to what Alyssa put me through. I should've kept punching, kept showing her who was boss, but I didn't. Because Robby decided to pull me away and tell me how insane I was acting. It wasn't fair. He would never understand what I was feeling. He was too focused on fighting with Miguel.
"Hey Ryles," Dad gently knocked on my door, walking inside soon afterwards. "You doing ok?"
"I'm fine." I snapped, though I regretted my words a few seconds later. I didn't mean to be so harsh with my dad, for all he was trying to do was help.
Dad nodded, leaning against the door. That was his way of saying he wasn't leaving anytime soon. I let out a sigh, placing my headphones in my ears and turning on my side.
"Ryleigh," Dad spoke, now walking inside of my room. "Miguel told me what happened at the water park. How you went all crazy—"
"I didn't go all crazy," I cut him off with a scoff. "God, what is wrong with all of you? I've been nothing but calm with Alyssa. Now all of a sudden when I give her some payback I'm the crazy one. But when she attacks me I get told not to engage or that I can't get risk getting sent back to juvie."
"Because you can't get sent back to juvie. All we want to do is protect you, Ryleigh. But if you keep pushing away from me you're going to end back up in prison."
I let out a scoff and shook my head. I thought that of all people my dad would understand, but no. He was just like everybody else, wanting to keep me in a little box so that I would be their perfect little Ryleigh. I was sick and tired of it. I needed to get away. I stood up, grabbing my jean jacket and beginning to make my way out of my house.
"Where are you going?" Dad called, following me down the hallway.
"I need to take a walk, dad. Just......don't follow me, alright?" I replied, opening the door. I waited for a mine to hear his response but when there wasn't one, I rolled my eyes before slamming the door shut behind me. Once the warm breeze hit my body I looked down at my hands, unsure of what the hell I was doing. I just went ham on my dad who was only trying to protect me. I wanted to go back inside and apologize, tell him how I was acting like a complete asshole and that I didn't mean anything I said. But my body refused to move, instead keeping me stuck in place.
I ran a hand through my hair before pulling out my phone and shooting a quick text to my twin. We're mad at each other, but that doesn't mean we won't drop anything and everything to listen to each others problems.
**********
"I was glad you called," Robby stated as he opened the door to Shannon's new apartment. "Figured you were still mad at me."
"Oh, I still wanna punch you across the face every time I look into your eyes," I joked, a grin forming on my face. "But I figure I'll tolerate you just this one time."
"Your text seemed pretty urgent. Everything ok?" Robby questioned, patting the spot next to him on the couch. I wasted no time before sitting next to him, letting out a small sigh. I didn't even know where to begin to be honest. There was so much chaos and disorder in my life that if I went into debt about it all we would be sitting for hours on end.
"I'm just fuckin' pissed about the water park situation," I explained, shrugging my shoulders. I figured I should talk about that since that was the main thing bugging me at the moment. "Everyone's mad that I went in on Alyssa, but they don't know all the pain she's caused me. She deserved everything I gave her and more."
Robby sighed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Sounds like you got post-juvie syndrome."
"What the hell is a post-juvie syndrome?"
"Oh, its basically a shit ton of bottled up anger that you're releasing into the world. You try to contain myself, but you can't. It goes away overtime though, so don't stress. Trust me, mine was the worst."
I didn't know why Robby chose that name of all names, but I did know that the symptoms sort of did make sense. Ever since summer started pretty much I had been nothing but angry. Scratch that, my anger started as soon as Alyssa held that trophy in her hands after the tournament.
"How do I get rid of it?" I questioned, turning towards Robby. "I'm sick of feeling like this."
Robby shrugged. "You gotta let it go away on its own. Trust me, it passes."
"Was your little Cobra Kai phase part of your post juvie syndrome?"
"Oh god, don't remind me. My leg is still sore from all those front kicks Silver made us do."
"Those front kicks are the reason why the supermarket kept going out of stock on ice packs. Seriously, I felt like my leg was about to fall off." Robby and I laughed at my joke, and I felt a warm feeling in my chest. It had been so long since we shared a moment like this. Between Shannon being the reason why we were apart all the time, Robby getting shipped off to juvie and joining Cobra Kai soon afterwards, the only time we truly got to spend time together was post karate. Sometimes I wonder what life would've been like if I never started karate when I was four. If dad never came up to me and asked if I wanted to "learn the way of the fist". I didn't understand what the hell he meant by that back then, only that the idea of punching and kicking sounded awesome.
Maybe I would've been one of those stoner skater kids you see on tv to look like they "understand what teenagers are like" and that they're "woke." But then again, I can't see myself not doing karate. It had became a huge part of my life. It was how I met my best friend, how I fell in love with Eli, and mainly, how I led the biggest fucking revolution in juvie.
"Enough about me," I stated, attempting to change the topic. "Whats been going on with you?"
Robby sighed, frowning deeply. "Well, Tory and I broke up at the water park. I couldn't stand her staying in Cobra Kai so I told me it was either me or the dojo. Clearly he chose the dojo."
My jaw dropped, not expecting that at all. Even when Robby and I hated each others guts I had to admit, him and Tory made a fucking adorable. To hear they broke up hurt me, and I wasn't even in the relationship.
"I'm sorry," I spoke, rubbing my twins shoulders gently. "Breakups suck ass. I'm here if you wanna talk."
"I just—I just want her to see that being in Cobra Kai is wrong. But I can't watch her destroy herself anymore. And I know that makes me selfish or whatever but—"
I shook my head, cutting him off. "I don't think that makes you selfish. You love her too much to watch her destroy herself. If anything, that proves you love her even more then you think."
"When did you become a therapist?" Robby teased, punching my shoulder lightly. I rolled my eyes playfully before shrugging my shoulder.
"Just went through way too much shit. You tend to get wiser." I explained.
"Guess so," Robby agreed. "Hey, thinks for this. I kinda needed this talk with my annoying ass twin."
"I also needed this talk with my annoying ass twin. This is a nice apartment by the way. Looks like Shannon really turned herself around."
"Still won't call her mom?"
"Never in a million years my annoying ass twin." I stood up to look around, taking notice of the numerous weird paintings around the house. There were a few baby pictures as well, and my eyes widened when I found of me. I had to at least been two in this photo, due to the fact my hair was a much darker shade of blonde (dad told me my bright blonde hair came in when I was around five).
"She kept this?" I questioned, turning the photo around.
Robby nodded. "She has a shit ton baby photos of you. Believe it or not she really cared about you Ryles."
I stared down at the photo once more, a soft smile appearing on my face. All my life I had been hating on Shannon, telling myself that she was a terrible mother. But seeing this photo and hearing that she had numerous more of me, it made me feel a type of way that I've never felt towards my mother before.
"Yeah. I guess she does care."
*********
My conversation with Robby had calmed me down somewhat, which caused me to return home. After apologizing to Dad about a billion times and telling him I would never run away again along with showering, I laid in bed scrolling on my phone while my Taylor Swift playlist I've been making since I was twelve played softly in the background. To put it simply, I was living the life.
Well, I was living the life.
"Hey, your boyfriends here to see you." Dad informed, sticking his head through the door before walking out. I didn't even have a moment to process what dad had said before Eli had walked inside my room, a nervous smile on my lips. I turned down my playlist, standing up to wrap my arms around his shoulders.
"Hey you," I greeted, pressing a kiss to his lips. "I feel like you've been MIA for days. You ok?"
Eli nodded, pursing his lips. "I'm fine. I just think there's something we need to talk about."
I was a little confused, but nonetheless I still sat on the edge of my bad and waited for Eli to continue. My leg bounced up and down anxiously, not knowing what was going on.
"Uh, I just want you to know that love you a lot, Ryleigh," Eli continued, playing with his hands. "But I think we.......we need a break."
My blood went cold as I listened to my boyfriend pathetically trying to explain why he was ending things with me. Something about my anger, and me needing time to myself. I couldn't believe this.
"You don't know what I need!" I shouted, standing up from my bed to glare at Eli who continued to stare at the ground. "I mean, seriously? You're dumping me after everything?"
"Taking a break," Eli corrected. "And I'm doing this for you! I can't watch you get yourself locked up again for a stupid mistake. I think this is what we need. You need time to yourself to get your anger in check."
"God, fuck you Eli," I scoffed, letting out a dry laugh soon afterwards. "You swore you wouldn't do this to me again. You're breaking my heart just like you did the first time."
"I don't wanna do that Ryleigh. I just wanna help you. I've always wanted to help you. But seeing what you did to Alyssa, how you could've killed her, it scared—"
"Are you fucking joking? This is coming from the same guy who broke Demetris arm and almost killed Brucks! Don't fucking stand there and tell me that you're scared when all I did was punch Alyssa twice!"
"I don't want you to become like me!" Eli shouted, making me grow silent. "Look at you. You're acting the same way I acted when you got locked up. Angry, taking it out on everyone. I can't—I can't see your mugshot on tv again."
Tears welled in my eyes, but I sniffled and wiped my eyes. Eli was crying now as well, and pretty soon I was going to let out gut wrenching sobs.
"Get out," I whispered, pointing to the door. Eli's face fell, and I clenched my jaw. "Deja vu, Motherfucker. Now get out my house."
Eli stared at my eyes for a moment longer before walking out of my room. Once I slammed the door I rested my head against the wall, letting out loud gut wrenching sobs. Dad didn't even hesitate before barging inside of my room, holding me close to his chest and rubbing my back softly.
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