Ali felt the negative ions wash over her in the ocean spray. The darkness seemed to slip gently over everything. She felt stoned on the sweet ocean air, the smell of the hot dogs cooking and the marsh mellows. She liked every song that came on her radio.
But she knew the real reason she was feeling this way. It was the new kid, the one hanging out with Freddie. The one with the big dark eyes and dark hair. The one who was flirting with her. She smiled and laughed with her friends, and she knew she was pretty. Guys flirted with her all the time, but they were usually nerdy dorky guys or dumb jock guys and she didn't care, just toyed with them like a cat with a string, or a scared little mouse.
But this guy, he seemed different. She liked his east coast accent and she liked his dark tanned skin and straight black hair. She felt like she wanted to talk to him more. And she could see him over at the other fire, saw him heating up his hot dog on a stick, his face intent on the fire.
She licked her lips and watched him, watched him talk to Freddie and all his friends, watched him smile and laugh. Maybe he seemed different from her ex-boyfriend Johnny, different in looks and temperament, and maybe that was something she was looking for.
"Are you looking at that new kid?" her friend said, nudging her. She shook her head and smiled but she didn't take her eyes off of him. He was standing up now, talking to Freddie and his friends, gesturing with his hands. He glanced over at her quickly and then glanced away. She looked away, too, looked at the great expanse of the ocean, ripples of black in the inky sky.
She felt the soccer ball slam into her leg and roll away, and one of her friends took it and tossed it to her. She caught it and saw the boy coming over to her while Freddie and his friends laughed. Her friends parted like the red sea for him, and she stood up and tossed him the ball. He caught it easily and ducked his head and smiled at her.
"Thanks," he said, and she liked his voice, liked how it was deep and scratchy, "I hope we aren't bothering ya," he said, and she noticed the accent again. It was either New York or New Jersey, she couldn't be sure which. His voice made her think of New York city skylines and the backs of restaurants with the metal fire escapes clinging to the side of the brick buildings.
"No, it's okay. Hey, how do you-" she didn't know how to describe it so she bounced the ball on her knee like he did early in the afternoon. He smiled and showed her how to do it. She practiced for a while and when she lost the ball he tossed it back to her. In the distance she heard a noise, a soft rumbling. With this noise she felt anxiety, a rain drop of fear in the blue sky of her perfect day and she shook her head. The rumbling noise got a little louder and she knew what it was. Johnny and the rest of the stupid Cobra Kai coming to ruin her good time.
She saw them, saw their motorcycles glistening in the distance, saw their blond heads under their helmets. She thought it might be better if Johnny didn't see her with this boy. She knew Johnny and she knew he wasn't over her. She knew he would tear his jaws into someone like a bit pull to get what he wanted. She didn't want anything to happen to this sweet boy that she innocently decided to flirt with. It wasn't his fault she had a psychotic ex-boyfriend. She sought to spare him. So she kicked the ball away, far enough away that Johnny would come and go and not notice him. That was the hope.
But he started in again, just like always. He demanded her attention, he wanted to talk. She was done talking. She wanted him to leave. The arguing was taking too long and the cute dark haired boy came back with the ball and watched Johnny take her radio from her and toss it down and that started it all. He went to hand her the radio back and Johnny shoved him down. There would be no stopping whatever would happen, and Ali knew that. She knew Johnny. She bit her lip and watched.
He probably couldn't win a fight with Johnny. He took karate and he was good. She knew that. She'd seen the tournaments. She'd seen fights and he always won. She knew what he could do. She'd fought with him herself and felt her wrists bones being squeezed in his grasp. She'd felt his shoves and knew the power behind them. She watched Johnny kick him in the stomach and punch him in the face and leave him in the sand. When he finally left and took all his Cobra Kai's with him she went over to the dark haired boy. He was lying on his stomach on the sand, writhing in pain, and close to him she could hear him moaning and almost crying. She bent down and touched his shoulder and felt him jerk away from her.
"Leave me alone," he said, choking, barely able to speak.
"I-I can help you-" she said.
"No. I'm okay, just leave me alone," he said, and she watched him double up in pain, and her friend pulled her away.
"C'mon, Ali, it's better if you leave him alone,"
She walked away but looked back over her shoulder. The thing was, she didn't want to leave him alone. She wanted to help him because she understood. She understood how mean and how strong Johnny could be. And was there some sick twisted part of her that liked seeing him hurt like that? That liked the sound of his low moans of pain and the way he squeezed his eyes shut? Was there some sick twisted part of her that liked the fact that she could help him?
In the first days of school she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. She gazed at the purple bruising around his eye, at the way it made him look tough and vulnerable at the same time. In those first days she knew she would have him. He would be hers.