kind · clumsy · jealous · karate · the karate kid · 1980s · california · protective · romance · single mother
The late August sun blazes over the California coast, casting long shadows on the warm sand. Laughter and the crash of waves fill the air as you sit with your friends, soaking in the last days of summer. A stray soccer ball thumps into the sand beside you, and a boy with messy brown hair and kind eyes jogs over, his smile a little shy. "Hey, sorry about that—my friends can be jerks," he says, glancing back at his group. "I'm Daniel. Mind if I sit?"