Graduation was great: I got valedictorian. Couldn't believe it. 16 years old. This was the best, and I got the hottest girlfriend in school as my date to the prom. But something kept eating at me. I wanted to tell Ali the truth about what happened to Johnny that night after the All Valley, but I didn't want her to sympathise. Rather than ask Mr. Miyagi for advice, I went with my gut.
Picking Ali up in my car, I met Mr. and Mrs. Mills again. They met with absolute amazement.
"Daniel, great to see you", said Mr. Mills.
Mr. Mills extended his hand and I shook it.
"You too, sir", I said.
"Very handsome, Daniel", said Mrs. Mills.
I blushed a little when she said that. Only Ma and Ali ever said those things to me. Hearing a grown woman say that was kind of flattering. I then turned to Ali. I couldn't believe my eyes: a goddess, the sky-blue dress, the perm, the cherry lips and those eyes. I was speechless.
"How do I look?" she asked.
I smiled with glee and held her hand.
"Like a queen", I said.
"Photo time", said Mrs. Mills.
Hearing this, Ali and I faced Mrs. Mills.
Driving the car to prom, Ali could tell straight away that something was on my mind.
"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Ali.
"Ali, there's something I got to tell you, that I should have told you a long time ago", I said.
"What is it?"
"The night after the All Valley, I saw Johnny and his sensei arguing about how he came second place".
"Johnny did always say that Kreese was hard on him".
"It gets worse: Sensei Kreese then broke his second-place trophy and tried to kill him".
"What?!"
I didn't realise it at the time, but as soon as I made my confession, I lost Ali forever. If there is one thing that Ali has a soft spot for, it's the underdog. I wasn't the underdog anymore. Johnny was.
"I know, I'm sorry, I didn't tell you, but you had the right to know", I said.
"Well, that's kind of big, Daniel", said Ali.
"Look, I feel bad for the guy, but I didn't want his problems to be ours".
"I just wished you told me sooner".
"What would you have done if I had?"
My question had Ali stumped and a loss for words.
"I guess we'll never know", she said.
I was going to fire back with something, but I could tell Ali was already upset with me, so I didn't push it. Besides, this was a special night for us.
-/-
When we arrived at prom, I wanted to make a grand entrance, so I parked the car at the front of the auditorium. Susan and Barb, Ali's friends were waiting for us with their dates. They used to think I was a loser, now they treat me like a baby brother – I am a year or two younger than them.
"Hey, lovebirds!" exclaimed Barb.
Proving chivalry is eternal, I helped Ali out of the car, and we shared a hug.
"I'm sorry, babe", I said.
"That's ok, champ", she said.
When we released our embrace, I gave Ali a kiss on the lips. We then met Susan and Barb.
"Okay, who's ready to party?" asked Barb.
"It's going to be a hell of a night", I said.
"Uh, guys, I'll meet up with you in a minute, I am just going to the bathroom", said Ali.
"No problem", said Susan.
Not really taking much notice, I hurried inside and saw how crazy the auditorium looked: a band was playing, a whole table of food and drinks (not to mention a large bowl of punch), and all the seniors packed on the dancefloor.
About half an hour had passed, and no sign of Ali, but it didn't bother me, I was too busy dancing. Susan's date had ditched her, so she and I were living it up. After four songs, we went to grab some punch.
"Damn, Danny, you know how to move", said Susan.
"Yeah, I have been my mom's dance partner for years", I said.
Heading straight to the table of punch, I poured Susan a drink and handed it to her.
"Such a gentleman – thank you", said Susan.
"My pleasure", I said.
Once we had our drinks, we toasted and drank. Before I could have a taste of mine, Ali comes running in. My face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Hey, lovely, you're just in time for a…" before I could continue, I noticed that Ali wasn't in the same happy mood as me. Instead it was a look of panic and despair – like someone had died.
"Daniel, where's your keys?" she asked.
"Why, what's wrong?" I asked.
"I can't explain, I just need to borrow your car – it's an emergency".
"Ali, what's going on?"
"Please!"
Not wanting to cause a scene, I reluctantly handed her the keys, and then without so much as a thank you, Ali ran off. I look at Susan, and she shrugged.
Wanting some answers, I decided to confront Ali, but before I could go any further, Susan stood in front of me.
"Don't", she said.
"I just want to know what's going on", I said.
"She'll tell you when she's ready, just cut her some slack".
Not wanting history to repeat itself, like on my birthday, I nodded gently.
"Alright", I said.
I began to walk in the opposite direction, and Susan began to follow.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To the bathroom – you want to come?" I asked.
"Smart-ass".
It was the truth – I actually needed to go. As I entered the men's room, I could see a guy on his knees, vomiting in one of the stalls and twitching every time he need to let it go. I can still remember the stench – like rotten meat and out of date milk. I tried to cover my nose and go at the same. I flushed and went over to the basin, to wash my hands and face.
Once he stopped and flushed, I walked over to see if he was. Looked in, and I couldn't believe my eyes: Dutch! The same asshole who said I was dead meat, now smelled like it and could barely stand. He had vomit stains on his shirt, face covered in sweat and blood shot eyes. Surprisingly his hair stayed the same.
"Hey, you ok?" I asked.
"What the hell do you care, LaRusso?" he asked.
"Take it easy, man, I'm just asking".
Breathing heavily, Dutch began to charge towards me, but I didn't care, as I walked back slowly. His finger was pointing at me, as he spoke.
"This is all your fault. None of this would have happened if you had minded your own business".
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"If he dies, you die".
Although he was probably very drunk and high, I realised he was talking about that night at the All Valley, I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Johnny is fine, Dutch, okay?" I said.
Dutch was a little calmer once I said that, and put his finger down.
"He's going to be ok?" he asked.
"Yeah, he'll be fine, don't worry about it", I said.
Dutch's eyes widened and he smiled.
"Okay, then, get out of here, Danielle", he said.
"Sure thing", I said.
When I returned to the auditorium, Susan and Barb were looking for me.
"There you are – we've been looking for you everywhere", said Barb.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Ali's back", said Susan.
"Great – we can finally dance the night away".
"Danny, there's something you should know".
"What?"
"Just don't overreact".
Hearing that statement from Susan had me already fearing the worst. I charge outside and went to see what is going on. Going around the corner to see where my car was parked: it wasn't there. I was mad. All I could think about was Cobra Kai. Johnny wants revenge. Well if they want a rematch, I'm ready for them.
"Daniel!" I heard Ali's voice.
Turning around, I could see Ali. Just Ali. No Johnny. No Cobra Kai. Just Ali. She wasn't hurt. I ran up to her and held her close. She reciprocated.
"I'm so glad you're alright", I said.
"I'm fine", she said.
I let go of Ali and kissed her on the head.
"Daniel, look, I can explain", said Ali.
"Look, don't worry about it, I am sure you had a good explanation, I just want to take the best looking girl in West Valley High inside so we can finally dance", I said.
"Oh, no, I meant your car".
"What about my car?"
"Come on".
Ali takes my hand and leads me to where she parked my car. A little further away than I thought. I could only see the back. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it.
"Okay, so it's parked a little further away, no problem", I said.
"That's not it", said Ali.
"What do you mean?"
"Look at the front".
Hearing that had my heart sinking like the Titanic, with no way of every staying afloat. As I reached the front, I could see the left front headlight looking fine, bonnet was fine, but my eyes widened in horror at the site of the right headlight: dented, light completely smashed, and the fender was looking worse for wear. My biggest fear was that Ali got hurt, but now that
"What the hell?" I asked.
"I'm so sorry, Daniel, it was an accident", she said.
"What happened?"
"I lost control of the car, and I hit a hydrant".
"How could you let this happen?"
"It was an accident, I'll pay for it".
"Look, I want to know what's going on".
"It's just a car, Daniel, it can get fixed".
Hearing 'it's just a car' tipped me over the edge. I know Susan told me not to overreact, but I was done by this point.
"Just a car? Do you have any idea what this car means? What THIS mean?"
I held up the car keys with Mr. Miyagi's dog tags on them and handed them to Ali.
"Read them", I said.
"Sergeant Nariyoshi Miyagi – United States Army", read Ali.
"I'm not going to go into what Mr. Miyagi went through, but he went through a lot.
"This is not 'just a car', this is a gift, a personal gift, just like THIS…
Fuming by this point, I grabbed the car keys off Ali.
"…is NOT just car keys".
Ali was crying by this point and had running mascara rolling down her cheeks.
"Now I want to know what was so important that you had to take my car, and crash it", I said.
"There's someone else, okay?" declared Ali.
I wished she had lied and told me something else. Even the 'it's not you, it's me' speech would have worked.
"What?" I asked.
"He's a quarterback at UCLA, we haven't started anything, but I do have feelings for him", she said.
"Well, what about us?"
"I know, Daniel, but I can't help the way I feel".
"I can't believe you would do this to me – on prom! First you take my car, crash it, and then dump me!"
"Daniel…"
"No, you know what, Ali? Go be with your meathead quarterback, I'm going back inside and enjoying the rest of my night".
Not wanting to hear anything more, I walked off. Ali ran after me and tried to stop me.
"Daniel, please, I'm sorry", said Ali.
"Leave me alone, Ali", I said.
"I never meant to hurt you".
"You know, these last six months have been the best of my life, but I realised it was all for nothing, because you're moving on to the next guy, just like you did to Johnny".
As soon as I said that, I walked inside and left Ali to think about what she did. I tried to enjoy the rest of the night, but all I wanted to do was drop Ali home, and go hang with Mr. Miyagi.
The prom eventually came to an end and I took Ali home. We didn't speak the whole way to her house. There was nothing to say. I walked her to the door and didn't say a word. I never saw her again after that. I wished I had said something, but all I can say is I have no regrets. I mean let's face it: that was 34 years ago.
THE END