c. thomas howell as benny thomson

✰*ੈ✩➶༻᯽༺✶☾༄✰

JOHNNY LAWRENCE WAS SEETHING in crimson red anger. Certainly, it was nothing new, but the way his eyes were filled with nothing but pure fury, genuinely scared his fellow karate friends.

They only had met Thea for several minutes and they could instantly tell that Johnny had a complicated past with the girl. The way his fists were clenching and unclenching, his knuckles turning a milk-white color.

Bobby's curiosity piqued and as much as he wanted to ask Johnny what that banter was about, he knew he should wait until the blonde boy cooled down.

But then, Dutch's mouth started to talk.

"Dude, you are friends with her? Holy shit, how did you pull that off?" Johnny's death glare and heavy breathing seemed to be oblivious to Dutch that Johnny wanted to change the subject, but Dutch being Dutch, continued to pry.

"I mean if you're not going to make a move, I guess I wi—"

Dutch wasn't even able to finish his sentence when Johnny picked him up from the collar of his Polo shirt and pinned him onto the wall, having enough of hearing his voice.

"I don't want to hear you—as a matter of fact, any of you to say that bitch's name in front of me ever again." Dutch put his hands up in surrender, slowly fearing his friend from the tone he had in his voice.

Johnny has yelled at them before, yes, but this tone was different. With the mention of Thea, the boys noticed there was a hint of sadness, anger, and betrayal laced in his eyes.

Johnny angrily walked out of the coffee shop, leaving his friends with no explanation, but he assumed his blowout was more than enough words to explain the emotions he was feeling. He desperately wanted to get Thea out of his mind and she was simply a distraction to him.

But at the same time, Johnny didn't want to get rid of this distraction either.

✧༺♥༻∞

Thea tried her best to get rid of the blonde boy out of her mind, but he seemed to be just as pestering as his rigid personality. Thea put on her headphones, hoping that she would be able to get out the thought of Johnny inside her stubborn head.

She even drove to her childhood arcade, hoping she can change her childhood memories into a more positive one, rather than it being filled with a temperamental blonde teenage boy.

Flipping her hair out of her face, Thea released a deep sigh, walking to the one game she used to play all the time whenever she went to the arcade. Not looking up from her shoes, Thea accidentally bumped into a kid around her age and immediately apologized for her clumsiness. 

"Oh my god, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it—wait, Thea? Holy shit, are you back in town?" At the mention of her name, Thea whipped her head up to instantly recognize the boy in front of her.

Benjamin Thomson was his name. His brown hair which was structured beautifully accented his sharp jawline and his smile was just as bright as when they were kids.

Thea gasped in admiration of the boy. When they were younger, Thea was visibly at least a good five inches taller than the boy, but as teens, Benny towered over Thea.

"Holy shit, Thea? How have you been?" Benny asked while embracing the girl in a warm hug.

"Could be better, ran into a few obstacles," Thea said with a dry chuckle, referring to Johnny. Benny rolled his eyes and let out a groan, making Thea tilt her head in confusion.

"Please tell me you aren't referring to a certain blonde boy?" Thea glared playfully at Benny and elbowed him in the ribs. 

"Unfortunately, I am. I was getting a coffee when I ran into Johnny." Benny wiggled his eyebrows and put his chin in his hands, giving Thea a knowing look, but she was simply confused by the boy's actions and she laughed nervously.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What do you think of Johnny now, do you think he's hotter?" A smirk was plastered on the edge of Benny's lips and when Thea finally knew what he was going on about, she rolled her eyes and huffed out in annoyance.

"I thought he would change now that he's older, but he accused me lying to him, just like he did when we were kids and it occurred to me that Johnny Lawrence does not  and will never change."

"Do you think you and Johnny will ever be friends again?" As kids, Benny saw the way how Johnny and  Thea connected with each other and how they were inseparable, their arms literally stuck together at times.

But one day when Johnny accused Thea of a lie, they despised each other to the fullest. Their antagonistic behavior became so intent, Johnny bullied Thea when up until she moved to Boston. And Johnny is seemingly repeating his same actions and Thea knew what to do this time.

Fight back.

She wasn't going to stand by and let Johnny get the upper hand just like in the past, so Thea vowed to herself that she won't take his crap anymore.

"Trust me, Benny. Johnny and I are going to loathe each other for the rest of our lives. Even in our graves, he'll still hate me." 

"Uh-huh, sure, Thea. Whatever makes you sleep at night," Benny said, not believing a word Thea was saying. Thea rolled her eyes playfully and continued to play her arcade games with the occasional scares that Benny would give her when she was fully focused. But she also retaliated seeing how she can mess with him on his shift.

To say Thea was ecstatic to have a friend back was an understatement, considering how fast the pair instantly clicked again and it was like Thea never left Los Angeles in the first place.

✧༺♥༻∞

Thea stayed at the arcade up until Benny's shift was over. She wanted to go back to Benny's house so she can get reacquainted with his apartment back in Reseda. The apartment complex certainly didn't compare back to the area Thea lived in, but that didn't make her love Benny's home any less.

As kids, she adored Benny's place and didn't even notice the way the pipes were leaking, or how the walls were slowly diminishing by the day.

Benny's home was Thea's second home and it has always been like that even until today. Thea walked into the familiar apartment complex and breathed in the familiar smell of lemon-scented washing detergent from the neighbors.

"Welcome back to your favorite shithole, Thea. Everything is pretty much the same, except the fact that I have a new neighbor. He's actually our age."

"I feel bad for your neighbor then," Thea snarkily remarked, a smirk slowly forming on her face. She laughed out loud when she saw the annoyance on Benny's face and how he flipped her off sassily.

The teenagers continued to argue about whether or not Benny should dye his hair blonde and as they were about to open the door to his apartment, Thea stumbled back on an unknown figure making her fall backward onto the ground.

"Ouch, well there goes my record for falling on someone again." The mysterious person stood up instantly and stood in front of Thea, apologizing to her excessively.

"I'm so sorry, oh my god. Here, let me help you up." Thea kindly accepted the byos hand and once she was up on her feet again, she looked up to see a boy with luscious black hair, his tan skin accenting  his brown doe eyes perfectly.

I didn't know Los Angeles had cute boys like this. Thea thought to herself.

But it was in fact, Thea did not say this to herself. Instead, she said it aloud in front of the boy and Benny, who was surely going to make fun of her for it later.

"O-Oh, I'm flattered. I'm actually from New Jersey, so LA is going to have some competition. I'm Daniel by the way." Thea was glad that Daniel drifted away from the subject from the very embarrassing first encounter and Thea gladly took his hand.

"I'm Thea," was all she said. She was still too embarrassed by her thoughts and her cheeks were burning as she mustered up a sheepish smile.

"That's such a beautiful name," Daniel said, making Thea even more flattered by his compliments. She absentmindedly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and Benny saw the way Thea looked flattered by Daniel's compliments. Internally barfing, Benny gently grabbed Thea's wrist saving her from embarrassing herself any further.

"Okay, we gotta go now. Nice to see you, Daniel. Oh, are you also going to the hangout on the beach later? " Benny questioned his neighbor.

Daniel looked at the girl and a small smile formed on his lips. "Are you going, Thea?"

"U-Um, yeah, sure. It sounds like fun."

"Great, then I guess I'm going to the beach then. See you guys there." Daniel walked back into his apartment, as did Benny and Thea.

Thea admired Daniel. He didn't seem like the other stuck-up boys in Los Angeles or even the preppy boys from Boston. He seemed different and Thea wanted to get to know the boy better so she was hoping the beach hangout would give herself new friends to hang out with.

But little did she know, a certain blonde was going to ruin their moment.

i need a friend like benny smh

guys I'm so sorry if this chapter is bad. my weekend was so mentally gaining from the two essays and three exams i had to do dsdjfksdjfs.

but if you're here, hi thank you for reading and ily. i cant wait for you all to read the next chapters of this book eeekkk