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𝐆𝐖𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐃 convinced her to come to the All-Valley tournament. All around, it sounded pretty miserable. She could either watch a bunch of boys beat the shit out of each other or watch her best friend ogle over the boy that Gwen still had feelings for. Those were her choices and they were... depressing. But Moon was lucky enough to have those puppy dog eyes of hers, their effect potent enough to have Gwen saunter willingly into her own worst nightmare.

She was late, but she had to protest in her own passive-aggressive way somehow.

In fact, she would have been even later if her dad hadn't offered to drive her; he was one of the event's sponsors and thus, felt obligated to show up. It's not like his John Hancock was on the banner or anything—just the name of some steakhouse he bought several years ago. But he had insisted, of course, and that's how the two of them ended up walking into a karate tournament together, looking like a rather formidable duo themselves.

Once they were indoors, Gwen slid her dark, boxy shades down the bridge of her upturned nose. She glanced around warily, eyeing the swarms of dorky kids in their boring PJ sets and their overly excited parents. She subconsciously tightened her grip against her tiny black purse as she slipped her sunglasses inside.

"I guess I'm gonna go find Moon..." she sighed, doing her best to smooth her curled upper lip.

"Hey, how about you at least try to have some fun while you're here, 'kay?" he grinned, amused by her rather public display of revulsion. When her scowl didn't soften, he reached across and gave a sneaky, playful pinch to the end of her nose, barking out a laugh of his own when her jaw dropped dramatically. "Love you, girly!" he called out as he turned his back on her and strolled off.

Although her eyes rolled, she couldn't suppress the smile of endearment that had lifted the corners of her lips. "Love you!" she shouted back to him around a chuckle.

Gwen was still smirking to herself as she walked into the arena, but any humor quickly faded from her face the moment she saw the scene in front of her. The sheer size of the event was staggering, more than she ever would have expected for some karate tournament. She couldn't have imagined more than a couple of people actually giving a shit about something like this, but she was beyond wrong.

She actually had trouble finding Moon in the crowds that had packed into the bleachers, but thankfully, her own mini skirt and beret combo must have been noticeable enough for Moon to spot her wandering amongst the karate dweebs. "Gwennie! Over here!" she shouted, leaping to her feet and waving her hand around wildly.

Gwen's boots thudded against the metal steps as she hurried up the bleachers to meet her friend, eagerly throwing her arms around Moon's shoulders once she was within reach. "The crazy shit I do for you..." she muttered teasingly, her cheek still pressed to Moon's. There was no heat behind her words, of course, but the sincerity behind them wasn't hidden far below the surface. Moon just tilted her head back and giggled, completely oblivious.

"Gwen, this is Demetri. He's friends with Hawk," she said, motioning to the dark-haired, bug-eyed boy sitting behind them on the bleachers. And even though she thought he might have looked kind of familiar, she had absolutely no idea who "Hawk" was. Her eyebrows shot up as she glanced between the two of them, trying to make some sense of the connection.

"Am I supposed to know who–"

"Eli. I'm friends with Eli," Demetri explained with a tight-lipped smile.