I eventually decide to just take the bus. I sit by Miguel and we talk about how much we miss summer. I get off at the stop in Encino. The rest of the week goes by very slowly. The lunch table wasn't very eventful. Demetri talking about how bad things were, Eli sitting there quietly, Miguel talking about his karate dojo which was actually sounding more and more interesting. Kyler even left us alone or whenever I was around at least. I assume he didn't mess with the others either. Finally Friday, the big day of my date with Moon. Well I hope it's the first of many. I also made a note to patch things up with Sam so she stops shooting me death flares in homeroom and because I'm sick of taking the bus and having to walk a mile to get home everyday. First world problems am I right?
I walk up to Sam's locker.
"Hey, we should talk," I say.
"About what?" She responds not looking away from her locker.
"Look I was wrong to judge you on your choices. I was definitely out of line. Your a person who's perfectly capable of making your own choices," I say.
"Yeah I am. So don't do it again," she responds rudely before turning to walk away.
"I'm sorry okay. I just thought you deserved better that's all," I say quietly sounding offended and I give her a whatever look and walk away before she can say anything.
I was offended all right. I wasn't trying to look out for her or anything. She doesn't need me to do that. I just know Kyler only wants to be with her to get in her pants. People like him always do. I certainly wasn't the bully on that first day. Those assholes needed to be put in their place. I sigh and sit down next to Miguel in algebra 2.
"What's the matter?" He asks.
"Nothing man," I say in a gloomy tone.
"Cmon you can tell me you know," he whispers as Mrs. Johnson begins her lesson.
"It's nothing alright," I whisper in a harsh voice.
"Damn, sorry dude," Miguel says giving me the chill out look.
"It's fine. Just been a long week," I whisper.
"Totally," he whispers back.
"Think about it this way. You have your date tonight," Miguel says in an encouraging tone and elbows me in the side.
A small smile forms on my face.
"Mr. Diaz, I would appreciate it if you didn't talk during my lesson," Mrs. Johnson says to Miguel.
A piece of paper hits Miguel in the back of the head and he turns around. I see Brucks and Rory snickering quietly. I'm already in a bad mood and I really don't need this shit right now. I pick up the crumpled paper and dip it in my water yeti water bottle. I spit on it just to add some some icing to the cake. I stand up and throw it right at Brucks who moves his head out of the way and it slaps right against Rory's face. His face scrunches up in a grossed out manner. I give him an evil smirk.
"Mr Murphy! Go to the office right now!" Mrs. Johnson yells.
Brucks and Rory start laughing and I just shake my head and walk out.
I get a detention then he sends me on my way. Luckily, Moon isn't picking me up until 6 so I have plenty of time, but it also means I really have no ride home because the busses will be gone. I get through anatomy and head to Mrs. Peterson's class for my detention. I'm struck with anxiety the entire time. I can't walk home because by the time I get home it will rn time for the date. Finally the clock rings and I'm free to leave. I walk out and sigh sadly. School has been kicking my ass tremendously. I'm not even doing football anymore and I'm completely wiped out. I walk with my shoulders slumped.
"Need a lift?" I hear a familiar voice.
I turn to see Sam leaning against a pole.
"What are you doing here?" I ask.
"Look I'm sorry to. This week has been hell and I'm dealing with some stuff right now. I took it out on you and it was wrong of me. Brucks and the other guys had a field day about getting you detention so I thought I'd wait. Plus you can't be late for your big night" she says smiling.
I smile back.
"Also if it's any consolation. What you said really made me feel better. I needed that boost," she says as we walk to her car.
"Did you just stand out here?" I ask stupidly.
"No, I got Starbucks then came back," she says shrugging with a lip smile.
I chuckle.
The ride home is nice. Sam tells me about her upcoming weekend. Movie with Kyler and kickback at Yasmine's.
"Sounds like fun," I say sarcastically with a smile to let her know I'm joking.
She laughs and asks me what I'm doing.
I freeze for a second because I literally have no plans tomorrow. It's fucking Saturday and I have no plans whatsoever. I probably look like the biggest loser on the planet.
"Not sure yet. I'm just focused on tonight," I shrug.
"Perfect. You'll crush it. Moon's been talking about it all week," Sam says.
My heart does a backflip.
"Yeah we've been texting about random things throughout the week," I answer.
We talk for the rest of the ride and say our goodbyes. I go inside and look at my phone for the time. I still have an hour and a half. I take a shower then think about what I'm gonna wear.
I open my closet and look through it.
"Polo? Nah to nerdy," I say tossing it behind my back.
"Nope," I say tossing more and more clothes out of my closet and drawers.
I finally come across my navy quilted Barbour jacket.
"Perfect," I say.
I wear a grey T-shirt under the open jacket, a nice pair of jeans, and my nice dark brown boots. I fix my hair then just pace around my room. Finally Moon texts me that she's here. When I get downstairs, my mom tries to give me a lecture about confidence and manners before I leave. I tell her im good and walk out the door.
I open her car door and freeze a bit when I see her. (Note: she's wearing the same drip as the stuff she wore to the canyon party in season 1) I stand there for a second.
"Hey," she says excitedly.
"Hey," I whisper and smile a bit.
"You okay?" She asks smiling oddly.
I blink.
"Oh yeah, you just look great. That's all," I say and climb in.
"Thanks, so do you," she says and her eyes check me out.
We decide to drive around for a bit and she gives me the lay of the land. Tells me where to go, best restaurants, best beaches on which days. We grab shakes at Salt N Straw. They're really good.
"Wow how come you always know the perfect places to eat in town," I say smiling.
"Let's just say I have an eye for things like that," she says.
We walk around the pier for a while and just talk about everything. For once nothing matters. Just the two of us enjoying life. No Kyler, no school, no parents, no problems.
She bursts out laughing when we talk about me "accidentally" dropping pudding on Kyler's shoes.
She asks me about Miguel, Demetri, and Eli. I say good things about all of them, even Demetri. Demetri isn't perfect, but he's growing on me.
She talks about her family. She's an only child. Her mom is a yoga instructor at the best spa in The Valley. Her dad works at a firm. She tells me how they are always busy so Moon has a lot of freedom, but she wishes they were around more.
"Now for the highlight of the night," she says as we pull into Golf N Stuff.
I pay for our arcade passes and golf clubs. All I can say is I've never had more fun in my life. She kicks my ass in mini golf even tho I completely let her cheat. Most holes, we'd both play terrible and laugh until our stomachs hurt.
In the arcade. We both hit the jackpot on ski ball and we cheer and high five. We win a ton of tickets at various games around. We head over to the basketball shooter.
"Okay time to let the dawg out," I say and swish three baskets in a row.
"I thought you were a football guy," Moon says smiling at me.
"Having a big brother woup you in basketball your whole life teaches you a thing or two," I say as I look at her, smile, and blindly make another shot.
"Here let me teach you my secret," I say and stand behind her.
I gently guide her hands to grip the ball as the clock is ticking.
"Buzzer beater," I say.
She shoots and splashes it.
We cheer and she hugs me. We go to the booth to exchange our tickets.
"Okay some of your options are 14 erasers and an airhead. Two pikachu plushies and a pack of skittles or 30 mini slinky's," I tell her lightheartedly.
"Hmm tough choices. How about that one," she points to a stuffed black dog.
"Here you go," the woman behind the register says.
"Thanks," I say and we look at the dog and then make eye contact.
Moon grins warmly at me and shows her pearly whites. I smile back widely.
"One last stop," she says.
"Okay where to," I say.
"The photo booth. We're documenting this," she says with enthusiasm.
"Oh for sure," I reply and we go in the box.
First picture is us smiling, second is the same except I have my arm around her, third is a funny face, and the fourth one we make eye contact for a brief second. She looks into my eyes, leans in swiftly, and kisses me. Our lips connect and we embrace the moment. We kiss for a little while after that. Then when we separate we look at each other again. Then both snort in laughter.
"Not bad," I tease.
She laughs really hard and lightly elbows me in the side. My mind is still stuck on the kiss tho. It.. it was amazing. I never wanted it to end. I was about to kiss her again, but I didn't wanna move to fast. All we have is time.
We get out and take two copies of the photos. I laugh really hard at the funny face pic.
"That's my favorite," I say pointing to it in between laughs.
"I liked that one," she says warmly and points to the last one of us mid kiss.
Her hand is on my cheek, my arm is around her shoulders, and our lips are together.
"Yeah me to," I say warmly while.
Moon gets the stuffed dog and we walk outside. I have my arm wrapped around her shoulders. She feels cold so I take off my jacket and put it around her shoulders.
"Thanks," she says
The drive back to my place is one I'll never forget. We're singling along stupidly to music and just having the time of our lives. I have a warm feeling in my body. When we get back to my place we walk up to my doorstep holding hands.
"You know this was the best date I've ever been on," she says wrapping her arms around my hips.
I wrap my arms around her back and our faces are inches apart.
"So, does that mean I've earned my second date?" I ask jokingly.
She snorts and smiles. She kisses me again and it's a lot more passionate this time. We separate after a little while and just stare into each other's eyes.
"I've been wanting to do that since that night at your house," I whisper.
"That makes two of us," she whispers with a smile.
She walks back to her car.
"Night," I say confidently.
She turns her head around and grins at me before getting in her car.
I go inside my house and my dad is sitting on the couch.
"So, how'd it go," he asks with a smile.
I pull out the pictures from my wallet and show him.
"Awesome dude," he says and high fives me.
I just laugh like an idiot.
I run upstairs and jump and touch my ceiling in celebration.
"Yes!" I say and fall on my bed.
"Who's the man?" I whisper to myself with a cocky smile.
I get out my phone and see texts from Miguel.
MD: sooo how'd it go
BM: crushed it!
MD: LETS GO BRO!
BM: you doing anything right now?
MD: just left the dojo so I'm heading home.
BM: ok I'm coming over
MD: awesome I live in apartment 109 in Reseda.
BM: nice see you soon
"Dad in celebration of my totally awesome score. May I ask for the keys to your car?" I say holding my hand out.
"Oh quit being such a dork" he says jokingly and hands me his keys.
"Ouch," I lightheartedly reply and walk out the door.
"If you wreck it your paying," he says.
"Deal," I say over my shoulder and close the door.
I have a permit, but I don't have a license. I blare AC/DC and Queen the whole drive. I sing along dramatically in pure happiness. A really stupid idea goes through my head. I pull over to a hole in the wall gas station and decide to test my luck with getting some beers for Miguel and I. I don't have a fake ID yet, but I think I look old enough. Texas stations didn't give a hoot and New Orleans barely gave a rats ass. Yup I spent a good part of my life living it up in NOLA. Gets boring after a while, but it's easy to kiss drunk college chicks on Mardi Gras. I walk in and grab a 6 pack of coors banquet.
"Hey man," I say to the register.
"Hey bro," he says.
He looks at me for a second.
"Going to catch up with a brother I haven't seen since the beginning of summer," I lie.
"Gonna need to see some ID," the guys says shrugging.
"Oh of course man I get it," I say and dig through my pockets to get my wallet.
"Shit, it won't come out just gimme a second," I say and fake struggling to pull out the card out of the slot in my wallet.
"Ya know what don't worry about it," the guy says waving his hand in a nonchalant manner.
I eventually get to Miguel's apartment complex. I feel a pang of synoathy because while I'm living it up in the suburbs and complaint to myself about the short walk after I take the bus, he's living in a two to three bedroom apartment with broken AC. I knock on the door and Miguel answers.
"YOOOOOO!" He says when he sees me.
"EEEEEYY!" We both yell like idiots in celebration of my successful date.
We do a bro handshake.
"Come to the car I gotta show you some good shit," I say.
"You scored beer? No way," he says in awe when we get in.
We drive to across the street and sit in the trunk of my dads car and enjoy our beers.
Authors note: that was a lot of fun to write. I know I ripped off a lot of sam and Miguel's date, but I tried to change a few things. Next chapter will involve Miguel and Blake talking about the Cobra Kai dojo along with Moon's aftermath of the date.