Heading to California

You're probably wondering who I am. Well my name is Dylan Rodriguez. I'm a 14 year old from Del Ray Beach, Florida with three scars right behind my left eye. My parents decided to move to the other side of the country because of family leaving all my friends behind.

"What do you think of us moving to California, son?" A woman sitting in the front seat of the vehicle asked.

"It's okay." I shrug my shoulders. To be honest, I wasn't very impressed.

It wouldn't take long for that to change though. I stare out the window at our new hometown.

"Hopefully it doesn't take long for me to find a good-paying job." My dad stated. There were stories of a well-known car dealership in the area.

We drove past a car lot owned by a man my dad will run into quite frequently.

Arriving in our new neighborhood, the closest person around my age was a Asian kid named Kyler Park.

"You must be new to the neighborhood?" Kyler guessed that he had never been here before.

"Depends." I reply back to Kyler nonchalantly.

"Kyler Park." Kyler introduced himself.

"Dylan Rodriguez." Dylan introduced himself as well.

For some reason, Kyler quickly rubbed me the wrong way. It wouldn't take very long to find out why.

It wouldn't take me long to realize he was a rather sadistic bully.

"Come unpack your belongings!" My dad yelled.

"Sure dad. Be there in a second!" I shout back to him.

"Gotta go." I run off to help take the last of our stuff stored in boxes into the house.

My bedroom was on the second floor of the house, not far from the stairs. This made getting ready for school a breeze as it would not take long to get to the front door.

"I'm gonna go on a ride to get settled in. Do you guys want me to get anything?"

"We're good." My mom responded.

A Harley Davidson belonging to my dad was parked in the driveway. I climbed on it, put a helmet on and inserted the keys into the ignition.

Making my way towards the city, a 1947 Ford Super De Luxe alongside me.

The driver lowered the window.

"Hey there!" He greeted me.

I raise the visor of the helmet to look at the owner of the vehicle.

"Nice motorcycle." He complimented it.

The person speaking to me is Daniel LaRusso, owner of LaRusso Auto Company. His daughter Samantha LaRusso was in the back seat.

"This is my dad's. I'm just going on a ride to familiarize myself with the Valley." I informed him.

"I see." Daniel nodded.

The traffic light turned green and I lowered the visor on the helmet. Revving the engine, I took off leaving the other vehicle in the dust.

Out of the corner of my eye was a strip mall. I pull in to the entrance and stop in front of a mini-mart.

Kyler and several of his friends loiter around the strip mall.

"What are you doing here, Kyler?" I question Kyler.

"Kyler, how does he know your name?" One of Kyler's friends asked.

"Saw him and his parents pulling into their driveway earlier." Kyler told his posse.

"Anyway Brucks get the light beer." Kyler instructed.

A homeless looking man was sitting on the curb. I was the only one who paid any attention to him.

Then I follow Kyler and the other three into the mini-mart.

Opening the soda fridge, I remove a 20oz Mountain Dew from the cooler and proceed to head to the counter so the cashier could ring it up.

"Anything else, sir?" The cashier asked.

"No." I shook my head. The Mountain Dew was the only thing I wanted.

I requested the soda be placed into a plastic bag after purchasing it as Kyler went to check out.

Nearby a Hispanic kid with a container of Pepto Bismol paid for his stuff and turned to walk out, staring at us.

"Do you have any ID?" The cashier asked.

"It doesn't look like any of them are 21." The Hispanic kid remarked.

"Mind your own business." Kyler demanded. The Hispanic kid stared at the ground with a sad expression on his face.

"Leave him alone Kyler." I insist. It was a honest mistake after all.

"You need to leave before I call the cops." The cashier said.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Kyler yelled, causing the kid to take a step back out of fear.

"I...I..." The Hispanic kid stuttered.

"Why did you have to blow up my spot?! He thought we were in college dumb-ass!" Kyler screamed at the freaked-out kid.

"Back off Kyler." I instruct him.

"I didn't know you guys were trying to buy beer, I'm sorry!" He frantically said before Kyler shoved him through a bush and onto the grass.

He grunted in pain as the boys laughed mockingly. It was then any respect Dylan had for Kyler and his friends just vanished.

"Screw you." I stand between them and their victim with the intent of protecting him.

"You want to end up like this kid!" Kyler shoved me out of the way to get to his real target.

"Big mistake." I gritted my teeth. Kyler had no idea who he was messing with.

"What's this?" Kyler asked, noticing the Pepto Bismol bottle in his pocket and picking it up.

"Ha ha someone's got diarrhea." He sneered at the kid.

"Please give that back. It's for my grandma." The Hispanic kid pleaded.

"Maybe we should call him Rhea." Brucks said, laughing his ass off.

"Please give it back. My grandma doesn't feel well and she needs it." He pleaded once again.

"You want it back? Here, take it." Kyler dumped all of it on his head.

"Take that! Yeah." Kyler said as the rest of his gang laughed.

"Bitch!" Kyler remarked as he threw the empty bottle at the kid.

"That's it!" I snapped, tackling Kyler and punching him in the face. What Kyler and his friends didn't know is that I practiced MMA fighting before I moved to the Valley. My hope was to become a professional fighter someday.

"Asshole." The Hispanic muttered, but we could clearly hear him.

Kyler walked slowly towards him after getting back up.

"What did you say Rhea?" Kyler challenges and the kid took a step back out of fear.

"Nothing." The kid nervously muttered before Kyler punches him in the stomach.

"Oh that's brute Ky." Brucks said.

The Hispanic kid made a break for it. He needed to get as far away from these jerks as possible. I held them at bay for the time being.

Kyler spotted him running off through the parking lot.

Unfortunately, he didn't get far before Brucks shoved him into a red Pontiac Firebird.

"Going somewhere!" Kyler yelled.

"HEY!" The homeless-looking guy from before yelled as he stood up.

Our attention was now focused on him.