Always ~Cobra Kai~

2 | Kyler and Brucks

Maria walked the empty halls to her locker, rushing so she could catch the bus. In the hallway her locker was in, there were only three other lockers, so this particular way was empty.

Maria placed her text books in her locker and shut the door. As she rewinded the lock, a voice sounded from behind her, making her jump.

"Hey there, babygirl." She knew who it was before she even turned.

"What do you want, Kyler?" She growled, turning to see the Asian and his little puppy Brucks.

"I want you -" He stepped closer to her. "To tell me something."

Maria tried not to allow her fear to show on her face. "What?"

"Why do you hang with those freaks," He took two more steps closer, and Maria soon realized that Brucks was keeping watch at the end of the hall. "When you could hang with me?"

"And me!" Brucks called from down the hall.

Maria tried to slip past Kyler, but he placed a firm hand on her locker, keeping her in her place. "As fun as that sounds," She snarls, getting away from the lockers only to be cornered by Brucks.  "I'd rather hang with guys that don't try and get in my pants every five seconds."

Kyler let out a short laugh thats empty of any humor. "At first I thought your smart-mouth was kind of hot, but now -" He moves to the right, backing her against the lockers once more. "It's kind of annoying."

Maria turns her head away from him, and just before she calls for help two girls walk down the hall. They're too busy laughing at something to notice what Kyler and Brucks are doing, and when they do they've both backed off.

"See you later, babygirl." Kyler says to her with a mischievous smirk as he runs down the hallway.

She rushed towards the bus in shock, trying not to think about what would've happened if the two girls hadn't come around the corner. She seats herself beside Miguel, panting a little.

"Hey, do you -" Something stops Miguel's speech, and Maria turns to face him. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you okay?" His voice is full of worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" It feels weird and wrong not telling her brother what just happened, but she's  too worried about how he'll act. So, to really sell it, she chuckles at the end of her words.

He gives her a suspicious smile. "Okay, whatever you say."

"Miguel, I was thinking . . ." She bites her lip absentmindedly. "Do you think I can do karate too?"

He looks at her with surprise and excitement. "Yeah! Yeah, yeah, of course. What changed your mind?"

She wishes she could tell him, tell anybody. But Maria knows that karate is her only option. "I don't know, just sounds fun." She shrugs.

"Welcome to the 'debate team'!" Miguel puts quotations around the word, making Maria smile. She knows that their mother doesn't approve of violence. She laughs a little, but in the back of her mind is still the scene in the hallway.

★★★

Okay, so this was a really short chapter. Sorry about that, but I'm going to put in a time jump here soon. Don't forget to vote and comment what you think! I'm really excited for what's to come in Maria's journey, but I've got a lot to do today, so peace out.

Question: Who's your celebrity crush? And not from Cobra Kai.