Always ~Cobra Kai~

3 | Karate

Miguel and Maria walked down the street to the strip mall where the karate dojo was after school. "This is it, Cobra Kai." Her brother said as he opened the door for her to enter.

The place was . . . welcoming. In it's own way. As she entered there was a huge snake on the wall, the Cobra Kai symbol. She took slow steps into the dojo, where the wall to her left was covered with mirrors and the wall to her right had the Cobra Kai saying, she assumed.

Strike First
Strike Hard
No Mercy

There was a hallway at the back of the dojo, she guessed lead to the bathroom and the sensei's office.

A blonde man came strutting down the hallway. He looked middle aged with pretty blue eyes, sporting a black gi. "Miguel, who's this? Your sister?"

"Yes, sensei," Miguel straightens his back when the blonde man walks over holding his wrists in front of him. "She wants to join Cobra Kai."

"Sorry, there are no girls in Cobra Kai." He said it like it was a question. Maria wasn't asking.

"I need to join a karate dojo, and I chose yours. Is there something wrong with that?" Maria asked in a bittersweet tone.

The blonde man looked at her head on for a moment, but he faltered. He sighed dramatically. "Fine," He dragged the word out, like it was something he really didn't want to do.

"Shoes off, on the mat." He continued. "Call me Sensei Lawrence."

Maria nodded with a quick, achieved smirk. "Miguel, show her what you've learned."

"Uh, sensei, I don't think that's fair." Miguel says.

"Come on, Miggy," Maria replies confidently, standing in a fighting position. "I can take you."

Miguel looked at sensei as if he could stop Maria, but he just grinned at Miguel. "Bow to me," The Diaz twins did so, "Bow to each other." They followed orders again. "Fight!"

Miguel stepped closer to his sister. "Sorry, Maria." He whispers.

"Don't be," Maria takes Miguel off guard, kicking him right in the stomach. You don't have to be a karate master to know how to kick.

Miguel falls back ward on to the mats, resting his head there in surprise. Maria takes this moment, and the girls slides down on her knees, punching her twin in the face.

"Girls a natural cobra," Sensei says with a smile on his face. "Keep it up, I've got to check something."

Maria helped her brother to his feet. "Are you sure this is your first practice?" Miguel asks desperately.

"Yeah, Miggy, I'm just better than you." She smirks at her brother.

"We'll see about that," Miguel challenges. "Fight!"

The twins spar for the most of practice, whatever's in sensei's office was really distracting him.

★★★

As the weeks went by, Maria became skilled in karate and started to develop feelings for a certain boy with a unique lip. She doesn't know how it happened, but somehow, she started to blush whenever he smiled, and she would get butterflies when their arms skimmed each others in biology. Every little thing Eli Moskowitz did that was even a little bit related with Maria made her smile.

She didn't notice it, but it made him smile too.

Maria had stopped going to her locker after school unless one of the guys could accompany her, and she wasn't about to ask them to join her extra stop. She avoided all contact with Kyler and his goons, as well as the rich girls who started to torment Maria as well.

They would throw her clothes in the trash after gym class, and they'd just start laughing whenever she walked by. Maria was a confident person, she stood up to these girls, but she was always knocked back down.

Yasmine, Moon, and Sam. Those were the mean girls, and they were making Maria's life miserable. Miguel could see that she wasn't telling him something, or rather things, and the twins were drifting apart.

On the bright side, Halloween was coming up, and that was Maria's favorite holiday. It was the one day that she could be anything she wanted, that she actually couldn't be. Plus, she loved to dance, and that was where she was going. The Halloween dance.

"So have you guys decided your costumes yet?" Maria asked the boys she sat with at lunch.

"No, not yet. Have you?" Demetri inquires.

"Considering Halloween is my favorite holiday . . ." Maria flicked her wrist as if this was supposed to be obvious. "Yes!"

"What're you going to be?" Eli asked. Demetri had taken into notice that Eli was talking more now that Maria was around them.

"Oh no, don't get her started." Miguel presses his palms into his eyes.

"I'm going to be . . ." She paused in a suspenseful way, drumming on the table. "Harley Quinn!"

All the boys booed at her. "Come on, really?" Eli looked at her wide eyed.

"Yes, really, I'm going to be the hottest Harley Quinn around!" Maria smiled a wide smile as she took a bite of her pizza.

"I don't doubt that," Demetri says, earning a look from Miguel. "But . . . is that costume really school appropriate?"

"Why would you care, Demetri?" Maria asked, a mouth full of food.

"Because I need to know if you're going to be wandering around the school half naked," Demetri says like it's supposed to be obvious.

"Okay, the costume isn't 'half naked', it's a little more school appropriate." Maria assured.

"Have you ever seen Harley Quinn in anything 'school appropriate'?" Miguel puts in. "No? Me neither."

"It's fine, it'll be fine." Maria wouldn't admit this, but she was a little nervous. She'd been planning this costume since July, picking up pieces that would go well with it. But she didn't plan on having a physical tormenter like Kyler. She'd just have to be extra careful.

★★★

And here is chapter three! I hope you guys are liking it so far, be sure to tell your friends about The Difference ~Cobra Kai~
Anyways, have a great day, vote and comment your thoughts!
Oh, and give me some suggestions too. Help these Veronica Sànchez braincells work their magic.

Question: What's the nicest thing a strangers ever done for you?