GOOD HEART, BAD TEMPER - keene, robby

eleven

"It was supposed to be a round of drinks, but the waitress was not feeling Hawk's fake I.D." Aisha says towards her live.

"Hey, don't talk about that. My parents follow you." Hawk tells her before turning to Rory. "Are you going to eat?"

"No. I'm not hungry." Rory smiles.

"When was the last time you've eaten? Because it's been days since I've seen you eat." he says.

"Uh, I ate this morning." she says.

"What'd you eat?" Hawk turns towards her.

"I ate a pop tart. Are we done with this interrogation?" Rory laughed.

"You don't like pop tarts." Hawk catches her in the lie. "Are you... starving yourself or something?"

Rory only turned away, not answering him. She was about to talk to Demetri when Hawk turned her back to him. "You gotta eat, Rory. Starving yourself will only ruin your body."

"You're starving yourself?!" Demetri shouted in shock, catching Aisha's attention, then soon, the tables around them.

"Jesus, Demetri." she rolled her eyes before stuffing a nacho in her mouth. "No. I'm not starving myself."

The three watched as she continued to eat the nachos, and finally, Hawk slid his arm around her waist. "It's fine, Rory."

The girl sighed as she dropped the chip on the plate and looked down. Aisha and Demetri looked at the girl worriedly.

"I'm fine guys. I promise." she tells them. "Please stop looking at me like I'm mental."

"We don't think you are, Rory." Aisha says. "We just don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I'm not." she tells the group. "I- Can we just talk about something else?"

"Uh," Demetri spoke up. "I've got to say, it's nice to be at a victory party."

"Yeah," Hawk took his chip. "Except you had nothing to do with the victory."

"Yeah. I got kicked in the gut." Rory says.

"Well, then I consider this a belated party for the coding competition we won at computer camp." Demetri says. "Remember? Demetri and Eli, binary brothers."

Rory and Aisha immediately burst into laughter, but Hawk shut Demetri down quick.

"Hey, where's Miguel? His wings are getting cold." Rory says.

They looked around the restaurant to see him sitting alone, and quickly rushed over to him.

"El Serpiente, there you are." Hawk spoke as they approached him.

"This is how you celebrate a first-place trophy?" Aisha asks as they sit down.

"She blocked me." Miguel says.

"So, what happens when you get blocked? You counterpunch. Except maybe don't actually hit her this time." Hawk laughs before Rory slaps him. "What, too soon?"

"Obviously." Rory tells him.

"Look, all I'm saying is don't give up." he says.

"It's no use." Miguel spoke lowly. "I blew any shot I had with her."

"Just give Sam some time. She'll come around." Aisha reassures him.

"Or she won't." Hawk speaks up. "You're the champ now. You can get any chick in the Valley you want. You're like Drake. Enjoy it."

Rory rolls her eyes in annoyance as her boyfriend and friend walked away. The ginger sat down beside Miguel.

"Sam LaRusso isn't worth all this pain, Miguel." the girl says. "Someone is out there who will love you more than Sam ever could."