Chapter Text
“Come on Susan I’ll show you a good time, honest.” Johnny circled around Susan as she tried walking away from him.
“ You're honestly a bad liar. You know Ali’s my best friend, no way I’d do something like that.” Turning her nose up she finally pushed past him.
Johnny slouched defeated. He had already tried Kimberly and Heather. Susan was his last hope. Ever since their break up, which resulted in 2 years down the drain and the necklace he bought for their anniversary pitched into the Pacific Ocean, Ali had already started flaunting some varsity meathead in his face only a week after they split. Not even waiting for the salt water to dry off the necklace before jumping to a new guy.
Johnny wasn’t going to be shown up like that, no way. So if Ali wanted to play her little petty game then he could do it better. That wasn’t going as well as he thought it would. For starters, her close circle of friends and cheerleading buddies were unanimous in putting an embargo on any contact with him. Effectively icing him out before he could even shoot his shot. You’d think he had the plague the way they’d start running away from him.
It wasn’t like he had a problem picking up girls. He could easily get a random hottie and flaunt her around town for everyone to see. Attractiveness wasn’t the major factor in this though. What Johnny needed was someone who would make Ali seethe, someone who’d make her head spin if she saw them together. Getting any run-of-the-mill girl would only garner mediocre results. At best Ali would shoot a couple of dirty looks and badmouth them behind their backs. It had to be someone who would give her hell.
Try as he might, he couldn't think of a single person like that to save his life. Maybe he should have paid more attention when she’d get on the phone and rant to him, saving him the headache of trying to scrounge up potential candidates. But, luck seemed to be on his side, as the answer to his prayers practically fell into his lap.
The class was busy filling out a worksheet in English. Heather and Susan were preoccupied gossiping behind his seat as they worked. Despite them being within earshot, the two paid him no mind as he had his headphones on. Unbeknownst to them, Johnny had adjusted them in such a way that to the girls it looked like he was listening to his tape. When in reality he was eavesdropping on their every word.
“I can’t believe he did that. Anyway did you hear about Ali and Greg?”
“No, spill.”
“Guess Ali’s already looking for a reason to jump ship.”
“So soon? I mean she just got together with him.”
“Ali said he’s kinda dense and doesn’t like doing anything except watching TV and hanging out with his friends. Plus, she’s got it bad for that new transfer kid.”
“Who?” Heather asked. Yeah, who? Johnny wanted to ask but didn't want to blow his cover.
“Daniel.” Susan gestured to a kid near the front row with dark hair.
“Daniel LaRusso?” Heather asked tentatively.
“Yeah, why?” A hint of worry in her voice.
“Nothing, it's just there’s a rumor going around that he… plays for the other team. My brother is friends with one of the guys who play soccer with him. He told me that he said LaRusso never hits on any girls while they’re out.”
“Come on, just because he's not a grody perv like the rest of the guys here doesn't mean he's…like that. Maybe he’s already got a girlfriend.”
“Whatever, just don’t let Ali know. She’d be crushed, she was trying to hang out with him all day on Sunday. We’ll just have to wait and see.” Done with their conversations they started quickly filling out the questions with only a couple minutes left of class.
Leaning back with a smug look on his face he knew he had struck gold. There it was. Johnny’s search was over.
After class, he followed Daniel back to his locker. Johnny was starting to lose his nerve. If it turned out the gay thing was just a bit of information that got jumbled in the telephone lines then he’d end up making a complete fool of himself. Not to mention he wasn’t totally sure how he was supposed to ask out a guy. Hopefully, it was the same as with a chick.
Johnny knew that it was gonna be weird walking around with a guy on his arm, but the thought of finally getting one over on Ali outweighed the potential embarrassment. Psyching himself up to do it, he fixed his hair and straightened his shirt before coming up next to the brunette and leaning against the neighboring locker.
“Hey, you’re Daniel right?” Putting his hands into his pockets to try and play it as casually as possible.
“Who’s asking?” That thick Jersey accent kinda took him out of his head. They continued to grab their things as he waited for Johnny to answer.
“Uh me, I’m Johnny. Ahem, so Daniel I’ve seen you around and I wanted to ask if you wanna go out sometime.”
They froze nearly dropping their book.
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, just to see if you were down to get to know each other better. So how about it?”
Daniel’s look of confusion quickly shifted to one of annoyance and anger. Getting into Johnny’s personal space, he spoke curtly.
“I dunno who put you up to this, but I’m not the one. Pull this shit again and you’ll regret it.” Daniel threatened, slamming his locker shut and leaving Johnny dumbfounded in his wake. The sound of the metal continued to ring in his ear even after Daniel disappeared from sight. He’d never bombed that hard before. For a scrawny guy, LaRusso could sure be intimidating. If it weren't for his experience in karate he probably would've taken the threat to heart, but Johnny wasn't a pussy. It just seemed like LaRusso wanted to play hard to get, so he needed to kick it up a notch.
Going into the office he made up a lie about wanting to make sure his mother’s phone number was up to date in his contact information. Lucky for him the secretary couldn’t care less. Barely looking up from her typewriter, she pointed a bony red polished finger across the office to the row of filing cabinets lining the back wall. He uttered a quick thanks before looking for the correct cabinet. He flipped through the L's until he found the one marked LaRusso in black Sharpie. He took a pencil and paper he had tucked in his pocket out and began jotting down the address and number. Once he was done he placed it back where he had found it and was on his way.
Sometime after 6 he drove his firebird down to the South Sea’s apartments in Reseda. Parking in the alley, he looked around. The place was pretty shabby looking with dated fixtures and a thick coating of white paint to try and hide the aging building. After a brief moment of looking, Johnny found the right apartment number.
He knocked a few times on the door and stood waiting for a response. He could hear the chain lock unhook and the creaky door start to open.
Daniel appeared on the other side, once he recognized that it was him at his front door his eyes got real wide before trying to shut it. Johnny was faster, placing his foot in the doorway to prevent him from shutting him out.
“Don’t be like that LaRusso. I just wanna talk.” He pressed his forearm against the door to keep Daniel from crushing his foot even more.
“Get out of here Johnny.” He hissed, obviously trying to keep whoever was in the apartment from knowing he was there. Daniel attempted to use his whole body to push against the door, but it was no use. He easily had at least 20 lbs of pure muscle on him compared to Larusso’s lanky build.
“Danny, who is it?” A woman’s voice asked from somewhere beyond inside the apartment.
LaRusso stopped his retaliation and changed his tone to be less agitated.
“Just a friend from school Ma. He needed to ask me about a project we’re doing. I’ll be right back.”
“See, we're already friends. Maybe by tomorrow, we’ll be more than that, Danny.” Johnny teased. Daniel mouthed for him to shut up.
“ Be quick, dinner is almost ready.” Daniel stopped his pushing and opened the door to step out, Johnny nearly stumbled as a result.
“Okay, Ma.” He motioned for Johnny to follow him. They went downstairs until they exited through the gate. Once they were out of range from where his mom was Daniel started talking.
“You’re a real fucked up kid, you know that? School was one thing, but coming to my house for a laugh, that’s low even for you.” Rubbing a hand over his face Johnny reiterated his intentions.
“How many times do I have to say it? It’s not a joke. I want to ask you out. Come on LaRusso I need you.”
“Bullshit! What you need is to get your head looked at.” As he turned to walk off Johnny grabbed his shoulder to stop him from getting away.
“I wouldn’t be out here wasting my time if I wasn’t serious. It has to be you, Daniel.”
“Me?” His gaze softened. Arms dropping to his side instead of hostilely across his chest.
“Yeah, I need you to help make Ali jealous.”
Daniel stood there dumbfounded.
“Make who what?” His body tightened up again. If Johnny was gonna get him to say yes then he needed to defuse the situation before he lost him.
“We were going steady for a while then boom she leaves me for a dickhead. I want to get back at her a little. Nothing cruel, just enough to piss her off a little. Give her a taste of her own medicine.”
Daniel stood silently for a moment. His closed fist relaxed.
“You just want us to pretend date?”
“Yup. Just a month or two to really sell it then we can “break up” and go our separate ways. Won’t bother you ever again.” Daniel let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing his temples.
“Has the peroxide from your hair fried your brain or something? That’s gotta be the weirdest plan I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“ Uh for one, this is all natural. And two, I don’t care if you think my plan is ethical or not I just need you to go along with it. Do I have to beg or something?”
“It would be a start” Daniel responded, a sarcastic grin spreading across his face.
As Johnny went to kneel, Daniel waved his hands to make him stop.
“I was just kidding. Man, you really must be desperate.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“Still, I’d be walking around with a pretty big target on my back with everyone knowing we were together. What’s in it for me if I say yes?”
“Uh, obviously.” He gestured to himself. Johnny had been hit on a few times before by guys so he knew that whatever he was selling they’d be buying. But clearly, he had overestimated his market value as Daniel continued to look skeptical waiting for a real answer. He didn’t blame the kid, it was a big ask. One that couldn't be covered by usual favors like free beer or weed.
“You drive a hard bargain Larusso. I’ll pay you $100 and my boys will keep you from getting beat up for the rest of the year. Does that work for you?
Daniel tapped his finger as he went over the benefits in his head.
“Alright. Yes, Johnny, I will be your fake boyfriend. Now go home before I change my mind.”
“What, not gonna invite me up to meet your mom? That's cool, I get it. We can take it slow. I’ll see you tomorrow babe!” He knew that little nickname would get a rise out of him. Daniel flipped him off whilst trudging back upstairs.