princess -johnny lawrence-

s3 e6

Johnny sits at his table, reading the message he got from Ali. He notices he's got a message from Torrence, but he's focused on Ali at the moment, so he doesn't answer, he just continues reading. "What are you up to these days?" He mumbles to himself with a sigh. Torrence checks her laptop like clockwork every five minutes while Daniel walks into his house. Announcing he's home. Amanda hadn't known that he had gone and seen Torrence before he came home that day, he planned on telling her today. His plan had been foiled when she mentioned Kreese. Torrence sighs.

She checks again before slamming her laptop shut. Miguel knocks on her bedroom door, having been given a spare key by Eliza. "Torrence?" "Go away." She mumbles, burying her face in her pillow again. "No can do. Sensei sent me in to come get you." He shoves the door open, surprised to see her room messy, clothes strewn across the floor, and cups stacked beside her bed. "Hey, what's going on? Since when is your room this messy?" He questions, starting to pick things up. "I'm stuck in a wheelchair, Diaz. I don't give a shit how my room looks." She mutters, looking at him.

"Are you doing okay? You've been kinda moody." He says, sitting on the bed beside her. "Johnny's been distant lately, and I can't walk, and I miss Moskowitz. He hasn't talked to me in weeks." She mumbles tearfully. He sighs. "Well, Sensei sent me to get you, so maybe he realizes he's been distant. And you'll walk again. And I'll talk to Eli, I'm sure he misses you too." Miguel says softly, carefully pushing hair out of her face. She sighs, sitting up. "Grab me a hoodie then help me into my chair?" She asks sweetly. "Of course." He says, kissing her forehead before standing, walking to her closet.

At Johnny's, he puts Torrence into a harness, a rope attached to the back of it, lifting her up. "Are you ready, or what?" Johnny asks. "I hate this. This is ridiculous." She snaps. "What's ridiculous about it?" He questions. "I look like a giant baby!" She exclaims. "The way you're whining and not walking, you might as well be a baby." He answers. "Isn't there a more badass way we can do this?" She pleads. "You think tapping your foot at a concert makes you ready for badass training? Your legs are still pussies! Now, you ready to stand?" He asks. "Yes." "Okay. One, two... three, go." He lets go.

She topples to the floor with a groan. "All right. Better fall that time. Let's take five." He says, looking down at the girl who continues to lie on the floor, tears welling up in her eyes. Miguel helps her up onto the couch after unhooking the rope, shushing her quietly as he smooths down her hair. She leans against him, sniffling silently. She wipes her face, sighing. "My mom wanted to thank you for taking me to that concert, she just hasn't had a chance." Torrence says to Johnny as he grabs a beer out of the fridge. "It was no problem." He shrugs, walking over to the couch and sitting on the opposite side of Miguel. Torrence looks down.

She notices a large paragraph written on his laptop. "You writing a novel?" She questions. "Oh. No. It's a Facebook message." Johnny answers. "That? To who?" Miguel questions. "I, uh..." Johnny glances at Torrence before answering. "Babe from high school. Ali." Torrence stiffens as Miguel sits up straighter. "Ali? Like, the Ali? This is huge. This is huge! This is so... But I mean, you're not gonna send that, right?" Miguel questions. Johnny glances at the laptop. "You cannot send her that message." Miguel reiterates. "Why not?" Johnny asks. "Because it's, like, eighty pages."

"In all caps." Torrence speaks up with an edge to her voice. "I have thirty-five years' worth of stuff to say, all right?" Johnny snaps back to her. "Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. But shorter messages are way cooler." Miguel butts in, not noticing the tension between Torrence and Johnny. "This just looks desperate. And a little creepy." Torrence snaps. "Sending her this would be like if you... like if you 'liked' all her photos." Miguel says. Johnny's eyes widen slightly and he doesn't say anything. "Oh, no. Oh, no!" "What the hell, man? I enjoyed the photos! And there's a button for exactly that, why would I not click on it?" Johnny asks.