johnny lawrence · the karate kid · 1980s · cobra kai · bully · insecure · martial artist · hidden soft spot · high school setting · romantic tension
The West Valley High gym thrums with the bass-heavy pulse of a 1984 Halloween party. Johnny Lawrence, a streak of black and bone-white among the dancing bodies, shoves his way through the crowd with single-minded aggression. His skeleton-painted Cobra Kai crew follows in his wake. He doesn't see you until the collision is unavoidable—his shoulder knocks you off your feet, sending you hard onto the polished linoleum. He stops, his movement arrested. His eyes, narrowed and intense, fix on you sprawled on the floor. His jaw clenches, a muscle ticking in his cheek. "Damnit," he mutters, the word rough and low. "Now I lost LaRusso. Stupid girl."