always you || eli moskowitz

11

Miguel and I have been training harder then ever, working out in the mornings, and training daily. Dad's been pushing us but we've gotten stronger. Honestly, I think we can actually kick ass now.

The only downside is that since we're still broke, a yoga class gets the dojo at 5.

Currently, Miguel and I are doing punches.

"What's the first rule of the fist?" Dad asks.

"Strike hard." We answer at the same time.

"That's right. There is only one reason to hit someone. To inflict pain. Striking hard is about giving your all." Dad informs us.

As i'm about to punch the pads on his hands, I hear the door open. We all turn and see a girl walking in.

"What the hell?" Dad mutters. "No yoga till five. No matter how bad you need it."

"I'm actually here for karate." She says. "I saw your website, it said that there was supposed to be a session today."

"Hell yeah!" I call out, earning a look from my dad.

"I appreciate you coming in, but there are no girls in Cobra Kai." Dad says, causing the other two to look at me.

"Um, I'm here?" I say, raising an eyebrow.

"Well that's different." He says to me, making me scoff.

"Uh Sensei, I need to show you something in the office." Miguel says, leading my dad away.

"It's Aisha right?" I ask the girl.

"Yeah, you're Cassie right?" She asks and I nod. As I'm about to continue the conversation, Miguel and Dad walk back out.

"Take off your shoes and get on the mat." He orders her, and she does what he says.

"Ok, after further review I've decided to allow female students. But if you wanna be in Cobra Kai, you can't act like a girl." He says to her.

"Hey, what does that mean?" I ask him, kinda offended.

"Yeah, what do you mean? How do girls act?" Aisha asks him.

"Don't give me that. You know all emotional, loud, complain-y. Never let anyone finish a sentence." He answers us.

"You can't say that, do you know how many times you've interrupted me while I was-" I start to say, but then get cut off.

"Quiet!" He yells, directing it at both of us.

"My student tells me you've been harassed at school." He says, circling around her.

"Yeah. Mostly online. Um, I get mean texts and emails sent to me. Makes me not wanna go." She tells us.

"And who sends you these messages?" He asks her.

"They're mostly anonymous." She says. "These kids create fake accounts, and they tell me I'm ugly and that I should kill myself."

"Oh my god." Dad says, staring at her. For a second I think he's going to be sympathetic, but I was wrong. "What a bunch of pussies! Back in my day, if you wanted to tease someone you did it to their face. There was honor, respect. These geeks hiding behind their computers, what a bunch of spineless losers. You're not afraid of these losers, are you?"

"No." Aisha says.

"You gonna take shit from these losers?"

"No."

"Good, because when I'm done with you, you're gonna be sending a message back. Only it's not gonna be with your keyboard. It's gonna be with your fists." He says to her, holding his fists up.

~~

As it turns out, Aisha is a pretty good fighter. Dad made Miguel and Aisha fight, and Aisha ended up winning.

It's lunch now, and I'm getting food in line with Eli, Demetri, and Miguel.

When we start to walk to our table, we notice Sam and Kyler arguing.

"Hey guys, you know that billboard with a big ass dick on it? I guess Sam takes after her dad." Kyler says, and everyone starts to laugh.

Suddenly, Miguel walks closer to them.

"Hey Kyler! Why don't you shut the hell up and stop being such an asshole." He says, now dangerously close to them. If something goes wrong, a fight may form.

"Want another beat down 'Rhea?" Kyler asks, walking close to Miguel. I set down my food and walk over to them. Kyler pushes Miguel a little, but not enough to make him fall.

"I'm ready for your lame ass karate this time." Kyler says, pushing Miguel into a table this time.

"It's not lame ass karate." Miguel says to him, and instead of responding, Kyler goes to punch Miguel in the face. Miguel blocks his punch though.

"It's Cobra Kai." Miguel says before punching Kyler in the face.

Miguel and Kyler get into a full on fight now, and while Miguel is distracted, one of Kyler's friends go to hit Miguel. Before he can get there, I push him back.

"I'm not gonna hit a girl." He says to me in a low voice.

"Oh yeah? Cause I'll hit you no problem." I say in a teasing voice. I see him step to push me down but I kick his foot, causing him to fall to the floor.

Another guy comes at me, but I kick him in the chest before he can get too close. I look over and see Miguel about to hop over a table, and I run up next to him. We go over the table at the same time and we both grab a lunch tray, ready to fight. In the corner of my eye I see a guy coming at us, so I hit him in the head. The other guy came up to me and I punch him in the face, causing him to fall over.

I look to find Kyler, but I see Miguel standing on the table with the tray in his hand, and Kyler laying on the floor. When none of them get up, the students start to clap for us.

I look at the crowd and make eye contact with Eli, and start laughing at everyone clapping. I see him laugh a little too, before I see the counselor entering the room.

"Hey! Get down from there right now." She yells at Miguel and I realize she doesn't notice that I was fighting too, so I don't get in trouble.

She drags Miguel off the table and starts to walk him away, but before he leaves I make eye contact with him, and I see that he looks proud of what happened. To be honest, so am I.