No Lie.

Two.

The next day, during lunch, Dimitri and Eli were awaiting Miguel's appearance. However, what they hadn't anticipated was him hanging out with Maia. The two had waltzed into the cafeteria, laughing at something that was clearly hilarious. They were fast approaching, so the boys has no time to brace themselves.

"Hey, guys." Miguel smiled. "This is Maia."

"Yeah, I'm Maia... uh, and I thought that I should probably actually introduce myself." She nodded. "Um, so I would like to, if you'll have me that is, perhaps, uh..."

"She wants to know if she can sit with us all the time, indefinitely." Miguel jumped in.

"That's fine with me." Dimitri spoke. "Do what you want."

"Oh, okay. Great." She smiled. "I'm sorry, I'm not good at making friends... being alone is all I really know." She shrugged.

"It's okay." Eli spoke, and she smiled once again.

"Hey! Are you going to the dance tonight?" Miguel asked.

"I don't know, maybe." She shrugged. She made to speak again, when suddenly her chair was pulled backwards and she jolted in surprise. She looked up, finding Kyler stood over her.

"Hey, beautiful." He smiled.

"What do you want?" She huffed.

"You goin' to the dance?"

"Not with you."

"Hey... why are you all the way over here?"

"Because nobody's tried to slap my ass yet." She hummed. "That all?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Oh, good. Bye then." She tucked herself back in, and Kyler walked away with a huff. "Asshole." She muttered under her breath.

"You guys fighting, or something?" Miguel wondered.

"Huh?"

"I thought you were dating."

"What?! No! No, never!" She scoffed. "He just follows me around like a lost puppy and he won't go away."

-----

That evening, Maia was mostly watching Miguel train in the dojo. She found it entertaining to watch him train as she used to. Every now and then she would catch his eye, and he would lose focus.

"Hey!" Johnny snapped. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing." Maia smiled innocently. "I'm just being a distraction, is all."

"Yeah? Get up there, kid." She hesitated for a moment, before shrugging and pushing herself off of the floor.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Miguel smirked, as she kicked off her shoes.

"Are you?" She returned, placing herself on the mat.

"Look at me." Her father instructed. "Bow. Now look at each other, and bow." During the bow, both Maia and Miguel held eye contact. "Ready? Fight!"

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." He taunted.

"I wouldn't overthink it." She said, taking him out in the very next second. He landed on his back, letting out a grunt.

"Oh my god." He choked out.

"You talk too much." She chuckled, grabbing his hand and hoisting him up. "You okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." He breathed. "Tell me again why you're not pursuing this?"

"I don't know, I just don't do karate anymore." She shrugged.