Epidode 1 | Playing With Fire

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Sam groaned as she opened her eyes, glaring at the alarm going off on her phone. She tiredly tried to put it on snooze, but thanks to its cracked screen, failed repeatedly.
Sam threw the phone into the wall of her apartment, finally silencing the annoying repeated loop of "Young Hearts".
"Mirror, mirror on the wall... what is the shittiest song of all," she let out a mirthless laugh.
Sam slouched out of bed, picking up a half-empty bottle of vodka.
Half-Full, not empty, she mentally corrected herself. About thirty minutes later, she was struggling to lock her apartment's rusted door. Sometimes Sam hated living in Reseda.
"Excuse me? Do you live here?"
Sam glanced behind her to see a teenage girl with black hair and blonde highlights running up to her.
"Not interested."
The girl frowned. "What?"
"Whatever you want from me, forget about it."
"...I didn't want anything other than —!"
"What's your name, kid?"
"Kira."
"You're new here, right?"
"Yes."
"Then, I'll make this simple," Sam sighed. "My name is Sam LaRusso and I'm here to welcome you to hell, because life loves irony almost too much. So, just follow these next few rules, if want to survive. Never just walk up to someone in Reseda and be nice. They'll eat you alive. Don't act so annoyingly cheerful. And just leave me alone in general."
Kira stared at her in shock. "I..."
"Nice meeting you, Kira," Sam smirked as she got into her 2012 Camaro and drove away.

*****

"Can you fix it?"
Sam looked back up from under the hood of a 2035 Dodge Challenger.
"Who do you think you're talking to, Brandon?" Sam smirked.
The teen gave a weak laugh.
"You just need to replace a few spark plugs," said Sam. "Now, lighten up. You're depressing me with all this anxiety."
"You got it, Ms. LaRusso," Brandon smiled, sighing with relief. "How much do I owe you?"
"For my favorite customer," Sam mused. "Nine-hundred in total."
"That cheap?" Brandon grinned.
"It didn't used to be," Sam sighed. "You're dad still owns the best liquor store in town, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good," said Sam. "I'll expect a huge discount when I shop there... to make up for the rest of the repair cost. Sound good?"
"...I can arrange that," Brandon replied.
"Then, I'll get started on the repairs," Sam went to grab some supplies from a nearby shelf.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
"Good God," Sam snapped, "can you put that damn thing on silent!"
Brandon sighed.
"I'm sorry, Ms. LaRusso. It's... my girlfriend."
"You don't sound too pleased about that," said Sam.
"Chelsea is... hard to figure out," Brandon frowned. "Have you ever wondered how and why you started dating someone? Like it happened while you were drugged or something?"
"No," said Sam. "I did have friends once who made that mistake though."
"You actually had friends?"
"Until I didn't," Sam shrugged. "One of them was a guy named Miguel. He had a... bad breakup and was on the rebound. So, he ended up dating this girl with horrible anger issues. He didn't know how to end it, because he still had feelings for his first girlfriend. Well, this resulted in a massive fight while they were all at school. And Miguel was nearly paralyzed in the aftermath."
"...Wait a minute," Brandon said, thoughtfully. "Are you talking about the Cobra Massacre of 2019?"
"Y'know we had a different idea of what qualified as a massacre back then," Sam replied with an annoyed sigh, "and just like with old cost of living, I really miss it."
"Were you there when it happened?" Brandon's eyes widened. "That was one of the few times any version of Cobra Kai lost a fight! It's historic!"
"Always glad to be known as a relic," Sam rolled her eyes. "Look the repairs are done. Now, pay up. And try to do the right thing with your screwed up love life, before you get hurt. Because you're playing with fire and eventually you'll get burned."

****

Kira walked through the doors of East Valley High, trying her best not to let the massive anxiety she was feeling show. She looked down at the digital map of the school on her phone.
"Okay, my locker number is... 1984. Should be easy enough to find," she muttered to herself.
"Crap!"
"Damn't!"
Kira had bumped into some massively tall, pretty, but insanely pissed off blonde girl. Which is just my luck, she mentally groaned.
"Sorry," Kira said meekly. "I was just trying to —!"
"'Sorry'?" the girl grabbed Kira and threw her into the wall. "We don't accept apologies at East Valley High!"
The blonde kneed Kira in her stomach.
"And we never show mercy!" the blonde punched Kira in her eye.
"Chelsea — back off!"
Another girl, wearing a blue leather jacket, a t-shirt underneath that was inscribed with the legend: "Star Wars Should Have Ended After Episode 15", along with ripped jeans, and sneakers, shouted. The girl had long, light brown hair with blue tips that matched her jacket. Her slate-grey eyes were narrowed at Kira's attacker.
"Screw you, Keene!"
"Wow," Keene rolled her eyes. "You actually managed to say three whole words this time. And none of them contained actual profanities. I don't care what people say, keep up the good work, and you might actually graduate in the next fifteen years."
"If you don't shut up —!"
"You'll do what?" Keene smirked. "Well, whatever it is you have in mind, your little overlord wouldn't be happy about it."
Chelsea glared at Keene, before dropping Kira and nearly shouting at both of them. "This isn't over!"
"Yeah, yeah, it'll never be over," Keene sighed. "Pick something original next time."
Keene walked over and helped Kira up.
"...Thanks," Kira blushed. "Keene, right?"
"Don't worry about it," Keene smiled. "And, yeah. What's your —?"
"My Kira is name — I mean, my name is Kira!"
"Okay," Keene raised her eyebrow slightly. "Nice to meet you, Kira."
"You too," Kira said with a slight tone of embarrassment in her voice. "Cool name by the way."
"It's my last name," Keene smiled. "I'd die if anyone other than my parents called me by my first."
"That bad?"
"Horrifyingly," Keene let out a small laugh. "You're the new girl, right?"
"That's me," Kira sighed.
"Sounds like you're having fun," Keene replied.
"My dad's in the military," said Kira. "So, we move around a lot."
"Seriously?"
"Uh-huh," Kira sighed. "We've never stayed anywhere longer than two years."
"That..."
"Sucks?"
"Well, yeah."
"It's not always that bad," said Kira. "I love seeing all the different cities... but it's hard to make friends, when... y'know?"
"It's not always easy to make friends when you're stuck in the same town all your life either," Keene sighed. "Just one question, though — if your dad's in the military, why didn't he ever teach you how to fight?"
"My mom was a soldier too," said Kira. "She was killed in combat when I was really young. So, he's tried to keep me out of anything even close to resembling a fight."
"Having overprotective parents can be a bitch sometimes," Keene said bitterly.
"You too, huh?"
"What gave it away?" Keene smiled as she shook her head. "My mom and dad just have an... interesting past with the Cobras. So interesting that they won't even tell me about it. And whatever it is they're scared the same thing will happen to me."
"Cobras?"
"Y'know?" Keene raised her eyebrow. "Cobra Kai. The most elite karate dojo in the country. Most known for spawning out sociopaths like Chelsea Santiago. They practically own the Valley."
"I guess that's what Ms. LaRusso was warning me about," Kira replied.
"LaRusso?" Keene raised her eyebrow. "Like Sam LaRusso?"
"Uh, yeah," said Kira. "Do you know her."
"She's one of my mom's clients," said Keene. "They supposedly knew each other growing up, but it's another thing that I'm never supposed to ask about."
"Doesn't that make you want to know even more though?" Kira asked.
"...I like the way you think, Kira."

*****

"What do you want, Anthony?" Sam glared at her brother, dressed perfectly, in his three-piece suit. She had never realized before how much he had grown to look like their father.
"You know why I'm here, Sam."
"Then, tell dad he needs to leave me the hell alone," Sam snapped. "It's worked well enough for the past thirty years."
"He's sick!" Anthony said pleadingly. "And he's asking to see you. Why can't you just —"
"Take a flight in your private jet to Okinawa to go tell him how much I love him," Sam rolled her eyes. "I'll pass on that, thanks."
"You haven't even spoken to him in all this time! You can't just —!"
"That was his idea!" Sam snarled. "And I'm never going to forget it! Now, go!"
Anthony sighed as he walked out of Sam's garage. Once he was gone. Sam threw the wrench she was holding in anger.
CRASH!
"Shit!"
Sam ran over to the picture that the wrench had crashed into. The only one she had cared enough to hang in her auto garage — the one photo she had left of her and Mr. Miyagi.
"Why does everything always go to hell?" Sam sighed as a tear ran down her face.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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