TEENAGE KICKS

CHAPTER THREE: I HATE SCHOOL

SCHOOL, THE ONE PLACE Rory did not want to be, at that very moment. Who actually enjoyed school? Sure, she enjoyed gym class and AP English, but everything else from socializing to Pre-calc was traumatizing.

The first day of school had finally ended and Rory was more than ready to go home, but remembering the weight of the gym bag in her hand, the girl sighed in exasperation. But spotting the boy for the first time that day on the field made her grin slightly.

"Hey LaRusso, welcome to the shitshow you will come to know as your last year of torture!" she shouted over to him as she made her way over towards where he was stretching for soccer try-outs. He laughed at the snarky remark making the girl grin in response and jog the last part of the walk to where he was. "You trying out for soccer?"

"Oh, yeah. And you're trying out for..." Daniel looked over her shoulder towards where the girls were talking and stretching in a circle "cheerleading? Huh, never pegged you as that kind of gal"

"I was forced to by the principal" he shot her a look making her wave it off "it's better not to ask"

Nodding slowly, the boy looked over his shoulder towards where Freddy was "Hey Freddy! How you doing?"

"Hey, Karate kid" Freddy joked "let's see the moves"

Watching him pretend to do a karate kick made Rory roll her eyes, but before she could say anything, another one of the boys cut in "Daniel only knows how to get his but kicked"

"Hey Curly!" the boy looked over to Rory with a smirk "why don't I break the other leg so you can say that your ass was kicked by a girl for the second time?"

His eyes widened as his friends laughed, patting the boy on the shoulder and running off with him in tow.

"Thanks, Rory" Daniel smiled "But I think I could've handled that"

She scoffed and tilted her head at him "Oh yeah? Well, I'll make sure to get front row tickets next time you do." He turned to fully face Rory and jokingly glared at the smirking girl, but it went away when she noticed how bad his eyes actually was "oh geez, he really did do a number on your eye"

"Oh don't worry, it looks worse than it feels, believe me"

"I don't know if I said it last night, but thank you. No one's ever really got sucker punched for me before" Rory laughed, and at that moment, Daniel decided that his favorite thing about Rory Lawrence was her smile.

"I distinctly remember you saying that once, but I don't know, I was a little delusional" now it was his turn to laugh as he continued to bounce the soccer ball on his knee impressively "I'm just sorry about your boombox"

"Don't worry about it, I'll just guilt trip my brother into getting me a new one"

Daniel raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head (he seriously looked like a puppy dog right now) "I remember you mentioning you had a brother, but I don't exactly remember you giving me a name...does he go here?"

Rory's eyes widened this time as she fumbled for an answer. I mean, how else are you supposed to tell a boy that her brother beat you up "well, you see, my-"

"Rory!" her head snapped over to where Cindy was waving her over "come on, we're starting!"

She sighed in relief before turning to Daniel apologetically "I'll see you later, right?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah"

Rory sent a last shy smile towards the boy as she jogged over to where Cindy stood in shades and her sweatshirt tied around her neck, her eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"Oh shut it, not this again" Rory groaned, slapping the girl in the arm.

Cindy rubbed her sore arm "I didn't say anything?"

"But you were thinking it, weren't you"

"Come on, there's no way that you don't like him!"

The other girls on the cheer team looked over to where they stood and ran over, they really did like their fair share of drama and boy talk as they yelled about who it was and when Rory knew she loved him (Rory didn't know where that last one came from).

In the end, Rory brushed them off with a "I don't like anyone" making the girls groan in disappointment and walk off, all except for Ali who shuffled closer to Rory.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, you like someone?" she squinted serpent-like, but her teeth were showcased in a charming grin "it wouldn't happen to be the boy from yesterday, would it?"

Rory choked on a laugh when she realized why the girl seemed jealous "Oh no no no no, I don't like Daniel, he's all yours blondie"

Ali eased up on the pointed look and finally let out a full-blown grin "oh, ok. I was just asking" she turned around to the other girls who chatted amongst themselves "come on ladies, get in formation"

Rory shuffled to the back where she could just follow what the others were doing and Cindy walked to the middle row, just in front of Rory and to the left.

"Go, fight, win! Touchdown!"

They cheered with the lame-ass routine, Rory ending it with a high kick since she was flexible after years of karate and gymnastics from when she took classes at a young age.

She watched the boys play soccer with the other girls, her eyes scanning until they ended up on Daniel who was running down the field with the ball. Out of nowhere, Johnny slide out a leg and tripped him making the infuriated boy jump up and tackle him to the floor.

Rory's mouth dropped open watching Daniel slam his fist across her brother's face and get pulled off him by the soccer coach. One of the other players held a still angry Daniel back while another held Johnny.

"There's no place on this team for that kind of crap" the coach yelled at Daniel, obviously not having seen that Johnny started it first.

"Well, he hooked me, man!"

"I said out of here!" coach finally pushed him back once again and pointed off the field "what are you lookin' at? Back to it. let's go!"

Daniel turned back around "this school sucks, man!" preach it, sister, Rory almost felt tempted to yell for him to take her with him.

"I said get out of here!"

"It sucks!"

Seeing her brother get punched in the face brought a new sense of utter happiness to Rory, someone finally stuck up to the asshole and she was happy that it was Daniel.

"That was so hot" Rory sent an exasperated look towards a grinning Cindy, her mouth open just the slightest bit as they watched Daniel walk away.

"Hey, Cindy" Cindy nodded distractedly "might wanna wipe away the drool on your chin, it'll attract flies." She laughed as she watched Cindy hurry to wipe at her chin, before realizing that there wasn't any drool so she glared at her best friend.

"ha-ha, laugh all you want Rory, but you know that Daniel sucker punching your brother gave you a rise, I can smell the sexual aura just being in your presence"

"you're starting to sound like Miss Crazy Lady and her sidekick, wonder pup"

"Well, I mean, we're in 12th grade and you're still a virgin...and Daniel looks like a virgin? You get what I mean?" Cindy made a hole with one hand and used the other to stick her pointing finger into it.

Rory shuddered and glared at the smirking girl "ew Cynthia, I'm perfectly fine with not sucking dick at my age. I've lasted this long, I can last another 17"

"Fine, whatever you say Virgin Mary who will smoke openly but be repulsed by the mention of sexual intercourse"

"don't say it like that, you sound like my mother"

"You had the sex talk with your mother?"

"You didn't? Lucky ass motherfucker, I had to have it with my brother in the same room"

"gross"

"gross?"

"yeah, gross"