Cobra Kai

Esqueleto

I walked into the dojo and saw Miguel punching the dummy next to the window as I kicked off my shoes.

"Hey, you don't happen to have any friends who wanna learn karate, do you?" Sensei asked as he walked into the main room.

"Aw, what am I saying? You don't have any friends. Sorry." Sensei muttered.

"Hey, Sensei, when are we going to learn to do some kicking?" Miguel asked. "I was watching this YouTube video of a guy breaking boards, and it looked badass."

"Yeah, no shit. Kicking is badass, but you're not ready. Besides it I don't get more students in here, I won't be able to teach you anything." Sensei replied.

"You've thought about advertising, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, duh. Of course." Sensei replied. By the tone of his voice I could tell he hadn't.

-

"Cyber bullying is no laughing matter. Sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as hurtful as saying it to their face." The guidance counsellor spoke to the whole cafeteria but Miguel was the only one actually turned to look at her.

"I'm not gonna name names, but the other day a mother called me up because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity." The guidance councillor continued making everyone look at Eli who tried to hide his lip.

"Ignore them." I told him, putting my hand on his knee and sending him a smile which he weakly returned.

"But today, our goal here is to make this school a safe space for all students." The councillor rambled on.

"You know, if you're sick of getting bullied, our karate dojo's looking for recruits." Miguel told Eli who replied with a grateful nod.

"Yeah, right. You hear that, Eli? A little karate training, and you're gonna kick some major ass." Demetri made fun of Miguel.

"I'm serious, Demetri. Our sensei's the real deal. Is sure I could get you both discounts." Miguel insisted.

"As enticing as that sounds, I think we'd rather spend our afternoons playing Crucible Control than getting hit in the face." Demetri ended the conversation.

Eli looked down at the table making me think he wanted to do it but didn't want to be picked on by one of his only friends.

"One last thing, while we are all looking forward to the Halloween dance, let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive. For example, instead of "sexy nurse," maybe try "gender-neutral hospital employee. Instead of a geisha..." The guidance councillor continued but I zoned out, staring at the table.

I sat there for a couple minutes before someone started clicking their fingers in front of my face making me look up to the three boys looking at me.

"What?" I asked, having missed the conversation.

"I asked what you're going as for the dance tonight." Demetri told me.

"I'll probably just go in my football kit." I shrugged, not really wanting to go to the dance.

"No surprise there." Demetri sighed.

"What's that meant to mean?" I replied, sitting up and moving my hand off Eli's knee.

"Just that you don't really make much effort in how you look." Demetri shrugged.