Cobra Kai/Karate Kid Imagines

Middle Child

You may think that being born into a family with a lot of money would make life an easy ride - and in some ways, it does. However, being the middle child complicates things. Sam's the oldest, their pride and joy. Anthony is the youngest. He could get away with murder because of that privilege. A privilege I had before he came along. Besides, he takes so much of our parents' attention and sponges off them more than any of us. With the karate war in motion, Sam has been stealing every ounce of attention from dad (because I didn't want to be part of the karate stuff). As for me. I might as well be invisible to them all - unless someone needs to place blame.

Ever since this karate stuff started, I've found myself sneaking out a lot (not that they seem to notice). Most of the time, I hang out with Miguel (or just Eagle Fang since they're the most chill in this chaos). Naturally, I ran into Johnny Lawrence and got to know him a little as time went on. So, when he turned up at my house and recognised me, both Johnny and my dad lost their shit. It was the following few days that showed me the difference between them.

My dad couldn't let it go, and every conversation got turned into some jab about it. I was being punished simply for knowing a person. Johnny got over it after a day or so. He saw my misery and realised that being a dick to me wasn't fair. I can't choose who my dad is. Johnny knows that far more than the great Daniel LaRusso. As someone who also dealt with years of suffering thanks to my father, he didn't want to make things worse. In fact, he said I could talk to him if my dad starts being a douche. I've never taken him up that offer because I don't want to annoy or inconvenience him with my baggage. But I still feel like I can talk to him more than anyone in my family.

I like Johnny. Truly, I do. Despite all the stories my dad has told me. I may not have known him back then, but I know him now. I'm my own person, and I can make my own judgements. They aren't in high school anymore, no matter how much dad seems to think so. I've always gotten along with Johnny. We have the same taste in music (I helped him educate Miguel), similar taste in movies, and the same natural sarcasm and quick wit. It's fun challenging him because we can riff off each other as if he'd met his match in me. You can't do that in my house without someone getting butt-hurt. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm actually Johnny's kid.

Tensions have been running at an all-time high in the LaRusso house as of late. I feel as if I'm walking on eggshells, bottling everything up to survive. That was working fine up until a few hours ago. I went to borrow something from the dojo, forgetting that I hadn't put it back after the last time I used it. Considering I interrupted the class, my dad lost his cool, berating me in front of everyone. The embarrassment made my blood boil and bubble over. I screamed an agonising rebuttal, but he didn't back down. I stormed out with stinging eyes, pushing back tears as everyone stared at the trainwreck.

I suppressed the mountain of emotion that threatened to rush out, not wanting to be seen in such a state. I returned to an empty house, but it wasn't until I locked myself in my room and flopped onto my bed that I let the dam burst. As time has gone on, my room has become my biggest safe space. There's only a couple more, but if my dad found out about one of them, he'd kill me where I stood.

I exhausted myself to the point I fell asleep hugging a pillow. When I woke up, I was so out of it - I didn't know where I was or what time it was. Turns out I missed dinner, I was asleep so long. Even then, I refused to so much as open my door in case someone was on the other side. Around 8 pm, my mom came to talk to me about what happened. I guess my dad was still so mad at me that he didn't want to do it himself. Our conversation was brief and through the door. It was mostly a load of crap, but at least there was some food I could reheat if I wanted it. However, my stubbornness and spite made me stay well away. Not a chance I was risking running into my dad, or Sam, for that matter.