The Lawrence's and the Mill's had been friends for years; they were members at the same country club and vacationed in all the same spots. John Sr. and her daddy were even partners at the same law firm. Thankfully for Ali, her father didn't take his work home with him, unlike Mr. Lawrence. For as long as the blond boy could remember, his dad would get mad or just plain stressed out about work and take it out on him, his only son, and his own mother wouldn't do anything to help. Ali had always viewed Johnny in a sympathetic light, that is until the summer they turned 14. Ali had gone to summer camp instead of vacationing with her parents like she usually would and Johnny had stayed behind as well, he had to do summer school and his father's punishment was to leave him behind with just the help for company, which was okay with Johnny as they treated him better than his father did anyway. While Johnny was home, mostly alone, he made friends with a group of other summer schools boys, much different from his usual country club crew and started going to karate classes with them. That, combined with a growth spurt, meant he could finally stand up to his father, and God knows he did. Ali was pleased for her friend, and suddenly attracted to him as well, which proved to thrill her mother to bits. So, they dated.
They were perfect; Ken and Barbie, together at last. Their mothers had been waiting years for this and now it was finally happening. They would get married, have a bunch of beautiful blonde babies, and most importantly, John Jr. would go to work for the fathers. It was the perfect plan.
The perfect plan, that is, until suddenly it wasn't so perfect. Johnny was letting the power go to his head; he was always fighting and didn't like to be told 'no', and issue that caused particular friction in his relationship with the innocent Ali, who wasn't ready for the more physical relationship that Johnny craved and that he saw all his friends getting from their girls. Maybe it was because they weren't all pristine, country club, teases, and she was, but Johnny felt like he wasn't getting his fair share. He treated her well, sure, he didn't lay a hand on her, not violently at least. And he certainly didn't break up with her, that would never do. Instead, he started taking up company with some of those less-pristine types. They weren't teases and God knows they didn't belong to the club, but they were good for a bit of fun after you take your girlfriend out for a classy, if stuffy, evening. Good fun, that is until said girlfriend starts to take note of said indiscretions and starts to take offense to them, of all things. You tried to show her the benefits- you were taking the pressure off her, after all- but she didn't quite see it your way. Girls never do, do they?
So Ali broke up with the blond prince and that didn't make either king very happy, specifically Mr. Lawrence, who's temper didn't stress to meet the fair maiden, but readily rested on Johnny, as usual. Mr. Lawrence didn't like that Johnny had offended Ali's delicate senses and wanted a reunion between the two to make sure there were no hard feelings before the next term at work. So, Johnny sucked it up and tried everything to win her back. He had one year to get it all going right, or Daddy Dearest was going to cut him off. He tried to talk to her, but did she listen? No, she turned up that stupid boombox and talked to that new kid, from Jersey of all places. Girls, man. They just don't get it.