CHAPTER 114
Despite the olive branch that Tory had extended, it was pretty awkward between them, only minimal conversation breaking through the wall of silence. However, Tory and Robby had an idea on how they could change this, a sure-fire way for people who don't normally get along to suddenly do so, even if just for a night…
"Can I get any of you something to drink?" The waitress who came over asked.
"Just a water for me please." Robby replied. He didn't drink. After seeing the damage alcohol had done to both his mother and father, knowing the genetic component to addiction, he wasn't going to risk it.
"A margarita for me please." Tory requested. It wasn't exactly uncommon for her to drink in public, aided by her fake ID. However, it was what happened next that surprised her.
"A michelada for me please." Sam asked for.
"Make that two please." Miguel added. It was a struggle for Robby and Tory to keep the surprise off their faces as the normally so… vanilla couple had ordered alcoholic drinks like they were nothing.
"Could I see your IDs?" The waitress requested. Sure enough, all three of the teenagers who had ordered drinks reached into their bags or wallets and pulled out some kind of I.D, false identification of course. The waitress scoured at them for a few moments, as if sniffing out the possibility that they weren't authentic, before eventually shrugging and nodding, passing the back to the teenagers.
As soon as the waitress had retreated deeper into the restaurant to place their order, Robby and Tory turned to the other couple, shocked.
"You guys have ?" Robby couldn't keep the surprise out of his tone, and the other two teenagers laughed.
"Wooow. I get we might not be as… edgy as you guys, but come on! We're still teenagers." Miguel pointed out, laughing. Fair enough.
Sure enough, the alcohol did wonders. With each sip the teenagers took, they could feel the tension and awkwardness burn away, slowly but surely, leaving in its place a feeling of harmony and co-existence. If they really thought about it, they had a lot in common, the four of them. After all, how many couples in the Valley based their entire lives off of a Karate war that their parents had waged more than 35 years ago? They were all in what would be their final year of fighting before going off to do whatever great things lay ahead for them. As the tension continued to ebb away, casual conversation rose between the 4 of them. They talked freely about whatever came to mind.
"So, how's working at Larusso Auto?" Sam asked Tory. "I gotta say… thank you for taking that job. You doing it finally got my dad off my back about taking over the company one day."
"Um… it's going well." Tory replied. "Actually, better than well. I broke my own monthly sales record last month. 9 cars in the month."
"Wow. That's awesome. Congrats, Tory." Miguel said. "It's gotta make things a lot easier for you with paying rent and expenses and stuff."
Tory nodded.
"Much better, yeah. Not only that, but it's the first time that a job hasn't felt like pulling teeth for me." Tory said. "What about you guys? What have you got planned next?"
"Sam's going to Columbia next year. One of the best universities in the country. She'll be moving to New York in September." Miguel said, extremely proud of his girlfriend for what she had achieved.
"That's awesome. What are you studying?" Robby asked. For some reason, while he knew that Sam was on her way to Columbia, he had no idea what she was staying. It was an innocent enough question, but it caused more awkwardness than it should've.
"Psychology." Sam responded. "I'm trying to become a Psychiatrist for teenagers suffering from PTSD and other mental health issues."
Immediately, there was a short silence at the table. Although Robby and Tory didn't know the details, they had a pretty good idea why Sam wanted to go into that field. She had been through a hell of a lot mentally in the past year or so, all due to the person sitting across from her at the table. Unsurprisingly, a pang of guilt stabbed through Tory as she remembered the kind of person she had been to the brunette, how unrelenting she had been with her physical and mental abuse. Though she had apologized to Sam already, that didn't mean that the guilt had faded. It probably never would.
Noticing the awkwardness that had consumed their table for a moment, Sam quickly decided to change the subject.
"So that's what I'm doing. Pretty boring if you ask me, in comparison to what you're doing, Robby." Sam remarked.
"Ah yes. The wannabe G.I Joe who's going to get himself shot within a few days of arrival." Tory remarked, sarcastically but with hints of truth to her tone. The concern and worry about her boyfriend had already begun for Tory, even though the boy hadn't even left yet and was sitting not even two feet away from her.
"I gotta say… I still can't believe you're doing that, Robby." Miguel commented. Robby nodded.
"What can I say? I'd rather be out there serving than studying for an exam I already know I'm going to fail because I have 0 academic brain cells." Robby replied. "Thank you, by the way, for your family signing the waiver to allow me to enlist despite my juvie record. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't."
"Not a problem." Miguel said.
"Wait… you had to sign something to let him enlist? And you agreed to sign it?!" Tory exclaimed, before unleashing a half-hearted kick under the table at Miguel.
"Ow!" Miguel laughed. "Come on, what was I supposed to do? If I didn't agree to sign it, he probably would've kicked my ass!"
"Like he could." Tory scoffed. "Mr. 0/2 in All-Valley finals couldn't have done anything if he tried."
Although it would be easy to misinterpret what Tory was saying as an insult, it was really just said in a playful way. It was a testament to how much the relationships of the 4 teenagers had evolved. Now that they weren't actively trying to attack one another, they were able to joke like friends, openly mock one another without risk of a brawl breaking out.
"Damn, that's… harsh." Robby chuckled.
"Here. For your tears, Mrs. Keene." Sam joked, tossing a napkin from the middle of the table at Robby. Robby rolled his eyes as he caught it.
"Much needed, thank you." Robby responded, dabbing his eyes with the napkin playfully, warranting Tory to jokingly comfort him in the most patronizing way possible.
"Not a problem." Sam said. "To be fair, you'll probably fit right at home in the military, Robby. What, with all the stupid fights to the death you've been in this year. How you weren't scared at all to fight Marcos and Cobra Kai, I'll never know."
"I can tell you. It's one word: stupidity." Tory remarked. Robby shrugged.
"I don't know. I guess that feeling never really scared me. At least, not as much as the feeling of not making anything of myself my entire life." Robby responded. "I feel like this is something I could actually be good at, so it would be really stupid to turn it down."
There was another short silence, before Robby spoke up again.
"Anyways… enough about me. Miguel, what about you? Are you any closer to deciding what you want to do next year?"
The smile faded a little from Miguel's face, and was overtaken by a look of deep thought.
"Um… kind of. Not really." Miguel responded. "I want to do something meaningful, you know? Like all of you are doing. I was thinking about starting a business that helps people in some way. Starting a business… you don't really need a college degree for that if you work hard enough."
"Any idea what kind of business?" Tory asked.
"I'm not too sure to be honest. Not yet at least." Miguel replied, the smile slipping further from his face. Sam placed a comforting hand on his knee.
"Well you have tons of time to find something. Just do what you're passionate about and I'm sure you'll be great at it." Sam told him.
All of a sudden, loud music began to ring around the restaurant, traditional Mexican music that couldn't help but get them surreptitiously dancing in their seats. All four of them had the same thought at once, and simultaneously they leapt to their feet.
"Wanna dance?" Both Robby and Miguel asked their girlfriends, taking them by the hand.
"I'm not so sure. The last time we saw the two of them dancing, the night didn't end so well, did it?" Sam remarked jokingly.
"Come on. What, are you scared or something?" Tory challenged her playfully. Eager to not let the challenge go without a response, Sam stood up too, and her and Miguel took to the dance floor, following Robby and Tory.
Robby and Tory didn't let a second go to waste, immediately feeling the rhythm of the music and beginning to dance like they had done so their entire lives. Sam and Miguel, however, were a bit more hesitant, as Sam looked at her boyfriend nervously.
"They're very good." She remarked, embarrassment already beginning to kick in, despite them not having danced a step themselves yet.
"Ignore them." Miguel told her. "Salsa dancing is all about living in the moment with the person you love. Just you and them. Not you, them and your exes."
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"You seem to know quite a bit." Sam stated. Miguel blushed faintly.
"Okay, I'll admit… my yaya might have taught me a few steps when I was younger." He admitted, and Sam couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"Really?! Miguel Diaz… what other secrets have you been keeping from me?" She giggled. Miguel shook his head.
"Just that one, I swear!" Miguel replied. "My yaya firmly believes that you aren't truly a hispanic man if you don't know how to Salsa. Back when I had no friends, I'd come home from school and while my mom would still be at work, my yaya would spend an hour or so a day teaching me how to Salsa."
"Right… well, Miguel Diaz, show me your moves…"
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Shockingly, Miguel was even better at it than Sam thought. Sam, on the other hand, wasn't. If you crossed a elephant and a rhino, even that creature wouldn't have been as bad at Salsa dancing than her.
"Ow!" Miguel exclaimed, laughing. "How is it possible that you stepped on both of my feet at once?!"
"Sorry!" Sam blushed, trying to keep up but failing miserably.
Thankfully, whoever was in charge of music in the restaurant eventually decided to take pity on her. The lively Salsa music slowed to a calming, emotional ballad, one which Sam could definitely keep up with a lot better. With her arms around Miguel, there was nowhere Sam would have rather been in that moment.
The couples had both diminished into silence for a while, dancing with their significant other, enjoying the moment of pure tranquility, peace and affection that they had for their boyfriend or girlfriend.
"Promise me something." Sam suddenly spoke up quietly, interrupting the silence a little. Miguel looked down at her, confused.
"Yeah. Sure. Anything. What's up?" Miguel asked.
"Promise me whatever happens next year, wherever you end up and wherever I end up, we don't lose what we have." Sam said. "I think about the uncertainty about what's going to happen next year, with me in Columbia and you wherever you are next, and I just can't help but feel scared that we're going to be like every other high school couple, broken up by Thanksgiving."
Suddenly, Miguel leaned down and planted a sweet kiss on Sam's lips, a gentle show of affection, before breaking apart and staring her right in the eye.
"Trust me, Sam. That's not something you ever have to worry about." Miguel reassured her. "I plan on being with you for a long time, no matter where we are next year."
"I love you." Sam murmured, her eyes shimmering with her sheer affection for the boy opposite her.
"Love you too."
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Eventually, the couples stepped away from the dance floor, receiving a hearty round of applause from the restaurant staff, as the four of them had been the only ones with the courage to dance. After they did, for the first time since arriving at the restaurant, Robby checked his phone. He sighed when he saw that he had a few missed calls from his dad.
"Come on. I said only call if there's an emergency." Robby muttered as he called Johnny back. It took a few seconds for Johnny to pick up but when he did, the sense of alarm in the middle-aged man's voice was palpable. "Dad, what's going on?"
"You need to get the hospital! Carmen's giving birth!" Johnny shouted into the line. Robby almost dropped his phone in shock.
"W-what?" Robby stammered.
"You heard me! The hospital! Now! And call Diaz on your way! He isn't picking up either!"
With that, Johnny abruptly hung up, allowing Robby to turn towards the other teenagers, the shock on his face matching that of his father's from across the Valley.
"Carmen's in labor."
That was all it took to have the teenagers racing out of the restaurant, practically throwing money at the restaurant on their way out. They drove at break-neck speeds towards the hospital, desperate not to miss the miracle of their sister being born, praying that no policeman stopped them for speeding.
They made it. But only just. By the time they had their scrubs on, Carmen had finished giving birth and they were able to see the newest member of their family for the first time.
She was beautiful. Perfection itself. Or at least, the closest thing God had ever come to it in the history of humanity. The purity, the innocence on her face, like she hadn't been marred by the troubles that the world had in store… it made every single one of them determined to never let those horrors come even close to the child.
"What's her name?" Sam asked, as she gazed lovingly at the child in Johnny's arms. It was the question on everyone's minds, the one thing Johnny and Carmen hadn't planned out yet. They smiled faintly at one another before turning to all of the teenagers.
"We decided to name her after Johnny's mum, Laura, and Miguel's yaya, Rosa." Carmen said. "Everyone, meet Laura Rose Lawrence…"