Always ~Cobra Kai~

5 | Hoodies

The sun shines in through the still open window, casting shadows across her face. Maria sits up, extending her arms. She looks down to see an empty spot where the owner of the bed should be.

"Eli?" Maria whispers to the silent, empty bedroom.

She stares around for a moment, enjoying the things that make Eli Moskowitz him. There are Lego buildings on a shelf beside a television. It's mounted onto the wall, under it a shelf with trophies and awards. They're all academic achievements.

Maria gets to her feet, walking to the shelf. She's wearing Eli's hoodie and her underwear, wandering around her crushes bedroom. Could it get any better? She picks up a particular photo that catches her eye of Eli and Demetri.

They're standing beside each other, Eli's arm draped over Demetri's shoulder. They're outside somewhere, crowds of people behind them. But why Maria really likes the photo, is because Eli has a genuine smile on his face. Not like the plastered on smile he has when he talks to adults. A real smile.

The door to the bedroom opens, and Maria turns around quickly. Eli's standing there with a plate, a chocolate chip muffin on it and a cup of orange juice.

"Hey, uh, good morning, I brought you these." He holds out the drink and plate.

Maria walks over to him, a mischievous smile on her face. "Thanks," She whispers, kissing him.

Eli sets the food down on the bed side table, wrapping his arms around her. Maria catches the glimpse of a green light on the nightstand, and her eyes flash that way. It's seven thirty in the morning. Reluctantly, Maria breaks away from Eli.

"Shit, I have to go home," His eyes drop to the ground as she slides into her jeans. "It's not you, Eli, trust me, it could never be you. But it's a school day, and my mom's going to kill me. If Miguel doesn't first." She chuckles to herself.

"Okay," He grabs her wrist before she jumps from the window. Eli kisses Maria's cheek. "See you at school?"

"At school," She feels her face start to burn as she climbs down the pillar and runs through his yard.

Maria slid into her apartment, as quietly as she could. "Where the hell have you been?" Maria jumps a hundred feet, turning to see her mother, grandmother, and twin standing in the kitchen looking very angry.

"I slept over at a friend's," She says. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, it slipped my mind."

Carmen looked at her sternly for a moment before faltering. "Okay," She uncrosses her arms.

Maria wants to hug her mother, but she can't risk her smelling Eli. She nods, thanking her mother and walking back down the hallway to her bedroom. What she doesn't realize, is that someone is following her.

As Maria turns around to close her bedroom door, shes greeted by her brother, who places a firm hand on the wall, stopping her from shutting him out.

Maria rolls her eyes. "What do you want, Miggy?" She drawls.

"I want to know where you actually were last night!" He whisper-yells. "And who the hells sweatshirt that is!"

Maria didn't realize she was still wearing Eli's hoodie. "Its mine, dummy."

"No, no, it's not." How did her brother know her so well? "I've never seen you in that hoodie. Ever."

"Jesus Christ, Miggy, get out!" She pushes him from the doorway, closing the door.

★★★

"Cyber bullying is no laughing matter," Counselor Blatt said, making an announcement at lunch. "Sending a cruel message to someone online is just as hurtful as saying if to their face. Now, I'm not going to name names, but yesterday a mother called me up because her son was crying, because some kids online made fun of his facial deformity."

That was probably why Eli was crying when Maria went over to his house last night. She looked across the table at the boy as he shrunk into his seat, probably wishing he could just become apart of the plastic. Maria reached her foot out under the table, placing it over Eli's. He looked up at her with ashamed eyes, and she wanted nothing more than to run over and kiss him right then. But she couldn't do that in front of her brother and Demetri.

Suddenly Eli kicked her foot, making her jump. "A game of footsy, huh, Maria?" Demetri inquires sarcastically, kicking her playfully again.

"What?" She tore her eyes from Eli's and looked over at Demetri.

The dark haired boy gave her a confused look. "You just had your foot on mine for, like, the entire announcement."

"Oh, sorry, I was -" She cleared her throat, trying not to look into Eli's eyes. "Distracted."

"Oh," Demetri shrugs. "I would have won, anyways."

"You know," Miguel speaks up, looking in Eli's direction. "If you're sick of being bullied, our karate dojo is looking for some new recruits."

"Yeah, Eli, you should join!" Maria adds, giving him a smile.

"You hear that, Eli?" Demetri says sarcastically. "A little karate training and you're going to kick some major ass!" He does a little karate motion with his arms.

"I'm serious, Demetri," Miguel counters. "Our sensei is the real deal."

"Yeah," Maria shrugs. "I'm sure we could get both you guys discounts."

"As enticing as that sounds," Demetri says, sarcasm clear in his voice. "I think we'd rather spend our afternoons playing Crucible Control than getting hit in the face."

"You have to be able to take a punch to throw a punch," Maria says knowingly, looking at Demetri.

"Is that like, some karate metaphor?" The dark haired boy asks, laughing.

"I think it's good," Eli says, not letting his eyes leave Maria, she does the same. "Philosophical."

For a moment, it was just Eli and Maria, and they were back in Eli's bedroom. But then counselor Blatt snapped her from the trance.

"And I know we're all looking forward to the Halloween dance, but let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive." Maria gives the boys a confused look as she listens to the counselor. "For example, instead of 'sexy nurse', try 'gender neutral hospital employee'."

Maria began laughing with the same look on her face. "She does realize she's talking to a room full of high schoolers, right?"

"I don't think so," Miguel says, laughing as well.

★★★

Okay, so I know you guys don't care, but I'm like really hungry right now. My brothers just went to go and get me some Texas Road House, and I kind of feel bad but you know your girls hungry and food overrides all feelings.
I'm really anxious for the next few chapters in this story because I have so much planned and I honestly don't know here I'm going to put it all lol.
But yeah, be sure to vote and comment your thoughts and suggestions!

Question: What's your favorite fast food restaurant? Or just restaurant in general.