Huge shout out to my friend, Majestic Butter! :) Show him some love and check out his story Johnny's Confessions! It's a great story. :)

Once the LaRusso family reaches California, this story is going to follow the Karate Kid movie line. Johnny is still our main character, but Daniel is still going to get bullied; he is still going to take karate lessons from Mr. Miyagi; he's still going to be in the All Valley Tournament. But, Johnny is going to get thrown into the mix, so it'll be interesting. :)

When you get done reading, please review. It means a lot! :)

Johnny couldn't help but feel relieved when the old station wagon pulled up to their destination. He couldn't take the silence any longer, and Daniel was starting to make him feel uncomfortable. Lucille shut the car off and looked her oldest son.

"Daniel, wake up," she said quietly. Daniel stirred slight. "Look off the starboard bow. Paradise at last. We made it. Come on. This is it. This is the end of the line." Johnny looked out the window and at the building. His mother considered this paradise?

"You're telling me," Daniel sighed, opening the door. He got out and slammed the door shut.

"Come on, all hands on deck," Lucille said once more. Johnny crawled over to the left side of the car and got out. He shut the door behind him and went to help his mom unload their boxes. "Look at those palm trees! Damn, do you know what that means?"

"Yeah, watch out for falling coconuts," Daniel answered plainly. Johnny looked at him and frowned. This kid was emotionless.

"Wise guy. No more Newark winters!" Lucille exclaimed happily.

"I like winters, Ma," Lucille looked at him and frowned.

"Oh, you like sore throats? You like frozen toes?"

"I don't like smog," Johnny grabbed onto a box and struggled to pick it up. It was heavier than he imagined.

"Did I tell you about the pool here?" Lucille asked.

"About 100 times,"

"Okay, so make it 101. Open your eyes, my darling son. This is the Garden of Eden . . ." Johnny's mind raced back to Ponyboy. Garden of Eden. Eden. That was mentioned in a poem he memorized. ". . . One flight up." Lucille disappeared into the building while Daniel continued struggling with his bike.

"Do you need help?" Johnny asked him. Daniel shook his head and pulled the final bungee cord away. "Are you going to be able to take the bike down on your own?" Daniel nodded his head and pulled the bike down with ease. He picked up his suitcase and slid one of the handle bars through the suitcase handle. He ignored Johnny and began the journey to their new apartment. Johnny didn't hear what number they were, so he followed behind his older brother. He was about to open the gate for Daniel, but instead, he kicked it open. Hitting some kid in the process. Daniel leaned his bike up against the building and quickly went to help the kid.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it," the kid replied holding his nose.

"Let me help you up,"

"Thanks,"

"I shouldn't have done that. It was pretty stupid," Daniel said. The kid looked at Daniel and glanced at Johnny.

"You must be the new people in 20, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so,"

"Freddy Fernandez, apartment 17," Johnny held on tightly to the box and managed to slip past his brother and Freddy.

"Daniel LaRusso," Johnny stumbled across the concrete and up the stairs. He thought for sure he'd fall and hurt himself. Somehow, he made it to the top successfully. Lucille saw him coming and opened the door for him.

"Hey, where's Daniel?" she asked. Johnny sat the box on the ground and looked up.

"He's talking to some friend he made," Johnny answered. Lucille looked out the door and smiled.

"He was afraid he wouldn't make any friends either. Oh, that's one of Daniel's boxes. His room is the one with two beds. You don't have any luggage, do you?" Johnny shook his head. "Don't worry. We'll go to the store tomorrow and get you some things for school and such." The one downfall of coming back to his biological family. Back in Tulsa, he never went to school. He wasn't very good at grasping things shoved at him quickly; he took his time learning stuff.

"What grade am I in?" Johnny asked. Lucille stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him.

"Well, what grade were you in last year?"

"I stopped going to school. I failed the ninth grade, and the teachers thought I was dumb," he answered sadly. Lucille looked at him sympathetically.

"You'll be in tenth grade then, but don't worry, if you struggle, you can ask Daniel for help. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to help you," Johnny resisted the urge to laugh. Daniel couldn't stand him. He didn't know what he did, but it was the truth. "Hey, sweetheart, can you do me a favor? Can you go to my room and see if the phones work? They're supposed to, but the lady told me they may not." Johnny nodded his head and went to find his mother's room. It was at the end of the hallway, and it wasn't much bigger than his and Daniel's room. Johnny walked over to the side table and picked up the phone. He held it to his ear and heard a dial tone. That's when he remembered. He pulled the phone away and dialed a very familiar number. When he finished, he held the phone back up to his ear. It rang a couple times. Three times. Four times. Finally, on the fifth ring, someone answered.

"Hello?" they answered. Johnny wanted to cry. It felt like forever since he heard his voice. He wanted to cry tears of joy.

"Soda, where's Ponyboy?"

XxXxXxX

Soda sat in his father's recliner with a big smile on his face. He was talking to someone on the phone, and everyone was curious to find out who it is.

"Johnny? Johnny Cade, is that you?" Soda asked happily. The whole gang's eyes widened. It might have been only a day, but to them, that day felt like forever. "You want to talk to Pony? He's right here." Soda pulled the phone away and handed it to his little brother.

"Johnny, is it really you?" Ponyboy asked eagerly.

"It's me, Pony,"

"How do you like California so far?"

"As long as I'm as far away from Daniel as possible, it's all right," Johnny answered him.

"Is he that bad?" Pony asked him sadly.

"I don't have anything against him, but he hates me for some reason. I don't even know what I did to the kid," Johnny explained.

"Maybe he needs time to adjust to the fact that he's got a younger brother. This is new to him too," Pony said. Johnny sighed on the other line.

"I guess you're right," he said softly.

"Well, Johnnycake, do you want to talk to the other guys?" There was a moment of silence before he answered. Ponyboy was starting to believe his best friend had hung up on him. Finally, Johnny's voice broke the silence.

"Hey, my mom is callin' me. I'll call y'all later," he said. "Bye, Ponyboy."

"Bye, Johnny . . . Hey, Johnny,"

"Yeah?"

"Stay gold," Johnny chuckled.

"Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold," Seconds passed and Pony heard the dial tone. He placed the phone on the receiver and smiled. The pain of Johnny being gone had let up a little.

review loves. :)