Before I Forget

Dark Clouds

A week.

Seven excruciating days.

That's how long Sky had been absent from school, and each day made the worry grow like a storm cloud over Hawk's head until it became unbearable.

He hadn't thought much of it after the first couple of days - Sky skipped school sometimes, especially on the days when they would have English together (which also happened to be the days Hawk never skipped). But after two days turned to three, three to four, and Hawk didn't see a glimpse of Sky in school, he couldn't shake off the thought that something was wrong.

He knew it was pathetic. Sky's whereabouts were none of his damn business. They had broken up more than a month ago, and she had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him, but—

He was freaking out, and he couldn't help it.

She had disappeared, like she'd been fucking abducted by aliens, and no one seemed to know anything about it. But that wasn't true, was it? People knew - they just weren't talking to him about it.

It was a bitter truth to swallow.

Hawk was sure that Sky's friends knew exactly what was going on. He had noticed their worried expressions and their hushed conversations. Even now, as Hawk glanced in their direction at the cafeteria, he saw Moon, Yasmine, Sam, Demetri, and Miguel (who had joined that group as naturally as if he had never been away at all) conversing with serious faces while they ate their lunch.

Hawk almost picked up his tray and walked to them, but managed to stop himself at the last moment.

So fucking stupid.

There was no way to ask them about Sky, and he knew it. Those bridges were burnt to ashes ages ago. He had broken Demetri's arm - the cast was a stark reminder of the way things were between them nowadays. Sam would probably try to claw his eyes out if he approached any of them, and Hell, Yasmine too. How the fuck had Demetri managed to hook up with the ice queen was still a mystery to Hawk, but the text "I love your BIG dick" on the cast gave out some clues.

It bugged Hawk beyond belief. No one was loving his big dick at the moment, which truly sucked.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Hawk drew his eyes off Demetri and their little group and forced himself to eat a bit of the overcooked pasta that tasted like feet. He would have given an arm for one of Mom's sandwiches, but he had forgotten to pack lunch in the morning as he had barely slept the night before, his thoughts going around in restless circles all night. Luckily the other Cobras at the table didn't seem to notice his silent sulking - Kyler was going on and on about something that he thought was hilarious. It involved throwing someone's backpack into a garbage bin, and something about pouring yogurt on someone's pants - Hawk wasn't sure and he didn't care, but the guys were laughing loudly as Kyler kept retelling the stupid story.

It made Hawk annoyed, tense like a string. It should have been him, talking like that about some prank he'd done, it should have been him to make the guys laugh. And it had been him, before, but lately, he felt like Kyler was taking his place - like he wanted to be the toughest guy in Cobra Kai, the leader, the next champion—

And the worst part was that he felt like Sensei Kreese was on it too. He was bringing all these new recruits in - first Kyler, and now Robby Keene–

As if Sensei didn't believe in him anymore.

Hawk swallowed the bitterness that thought brought to his mouth and stuffed his fork deep into the pile of pasta, giving up on the food. He couldn't blame Sensei for this, nor Kyler, nor Robby Keene. His own doubts, his own incapability of letting go of Sky - and turning against Rickenberger and his other teammates because of it - that was what was creating a gap between him and the rest of the Cobras.

He had a feeling they weren't telling him everything. Someone had painted insults on the door of Sky's locker, but when Hawk had confronted them about it, no one had confessed. The lies were eating at the core of his being, the doubts were like maggots in his heart. He knew he needed to stop thinking about Sky, to dedicate himself to Cobra Kai 100% again, but how the fuck was he supposed to do that, when the truth was that he still loved her so much that it took his breath away.

That brought Hawk's thoughts back to Sky's absence.

He glanced at Kyler and the others at his table, the dark cloud of fear and anxiety overtaking his mind. Had they done something to her? If they had, he would rip their insides out.

But no - he didn't think they had. Even if the guys were lying to him about stuff, Hawk was sure he'd know if they had attacked Sky. Sam LaRusso would have been out for blood if that was the case.

Besides, Hawk knew Sky had been doing drugs - that fucking Cody Bishop was selling to her. Her disappearance probably had nothing to do with Cobra Kai, and everything to do with that. Maybe she had tried to overdose again? She could be in a hospital, on her deathbed right now, while he sat here at this fucking table, listening to Kyler's nonstop bullshit.

Sky could die. She could fucking die, never knowing that Hawk still loved her.

That thought was so painful, it felt like a dagger through his heart. If Sky died, it would be on him. He had pushed her into doing drugs by the idiotic comments he had yelled at her that night on his front steps, the lies that still made his stomach turn.

And as if that hadn't been enough, he had made it all a thousand times worse by sleeping with Maya - and then beating up Cody—

Cody.

Hawk glanced at the dark-haired boy who sat at a table not too far from him, having lunch with that fat friend of his, whom Hawk knew to be the editor-in-chief of the school paper. There was a group of girls sitting at their table as well, and they were laughing at something Cody had said, looking at him like he was a fucking rock star. He seemed to have that effect on girls, for reasons Hawk couldn't understand, and silently he rolled his eyes at that sight.

Cody looked the same as always, annoyingly smug and confident, as he kept flirting with the girls. That asshole. Sky could be dying, and here he was, checking out other girls as if she meant nothing to him, as if she didn't deserve the whole fucking world. Hawk would never understand what Sky saw in Cody, and he knew for a fact that  asshole was treating her like crap. His insides were boiling with anger as he observed how those girls kept giggling and batting their eyelashes at Cody. If he was thinking about Sky at all, there was no way to know. Either he didn't know what had happened to Sky or he just didn't care - and well, Hawk couldn't ask him could he? After the incident in the bathroom, Hawk was pretty sure that this time Cody wouldn't wait for him to strike first.

He could end up with a knife in his gut. And that sure as Hell wouldn't bring him any closer to finding out what had happened to Sky.

What the fuck am I gonna do? I have to find out if she's okay, I fucking have to–

And just like that, the answer came to him, clear and bright, like rays of sun shining through the dark cloud that had been hanging over his head for days. There was someone he could ask, and he would do it tonight.

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I always mean to finally move on with the plot but every time I just keep getting lost in someone's head... 😫 I shall never get to writing season 4 and everyone will grow sick and tired of this nonsense. 😣