Cobra Kai || Mercy, Power, Love

Chapter 23 || Life Beyond High School, A College Fight & Aunt Freya

I was with Miguel, Johnny, Carmen, Yaya, Robby and Johnny as we sat around him for his college submission. I was indeed excited for him, I submitted myself for Stanford with Sam, there's no way in hell I was going to college all by myself without her.

"Not all of us have to learn how to walk twice in one lifetime, but we do all have to learn how to pick ourselves back up when we're down and stand firmly on our own two feet. In the end, I learned that first steps are harder the second time around, I hope my next step brings me to Stanford University," Miguel explained finishing on what he said to submit on getting into Stanford.

Carmen gasped as she looked proud, Yaya looked at her as they had tears in their eyes, Carmen put her hands on his shoulders, "I'm so proud, I'm gonna cry!"

"Esto es genial," Yaya says proudly as I smiled, "es la mejor historia desde Don Juan DeMarco. Oh, ahora yo también estoy llorando."

I chuckled as Carmen did too, I hugged Yaya and Carmen as this was sentimental for them both, Johnny leans in toward Miguel, "go more for the jugular at the end, they'll be begging you to go there."

"Okay," Miguel said nodding at him then turns to Robby, "what do you think?"

He shook his head agreeing, "it's great, even though I'm kind of the bad guy in it."

"Uh, I-I'll change your name, I—"

"No, dude. I'm-I'm kidding," he says jokingly with a little smile, "it's not like I'm applying to Stanford, or anywhere, really."

Johnny looks to him, "come on, Robby. You have great futures ahead of you, both of you guys. When we win the Sekai Taikai, doors will be flying open for all of us."

I smiled as Carmen did, then Yaya gets out of my embrace shocking me a little as she went to Miguel crying to him in Spanish as I chuckled a little, he holds her a bit, "I–Hey, it's okay."

A tear fell from her eye as it dropped on the keyboard, "hey, hey, easy with the waterworks."

Or so we thought it was Yaya but we all looked up seeing that there was a leak coming from the ceiling, all of us stood away from the table. Miguel turned Robby away, "Rob, the bowls!"

"It's the sewage pipe," Johnny says as it pours out more water, "oh it smells like shit."

I panicked a little bit but as the smell got worse from the pipe I had to cover my mouth and turn away as the boys did their thing, Miguel came up to me as he held me close to him.

"You okay baby?" He asked me assuringly.

I smiled nodding, "I am, it's just the smell is bothering me."

"It's okay, we'll figure something out," he says to me as he rubs his hands on my arm.

I smiled then look at him, "I'm so proud of you, but how are we going to afford both of us going to Stanford that we can't hardly afford?"

"Well, you got your parents helping you out, I'll figure it out on my end," he tells me, "don't worry baby, I'll find a way."

"I hope so baby," I tell him as he pulled me in for a hug.

Johnny decided to move Carmen and Yaya to his apartment with Robby, looks like Miguel is moving his old stuff into Robby's room. I was on the couch relaxing a bit, I heard Johnny on the phone talking to Sully on trying to see when they can fix the pipe situation at Carmen's.

"He said he's working on it," I hear Johnny say.

Miguel walks in grabbing a box, I then hear Carmen as well but we both do, "we have to look at the big picture, we're a family of five, almost six now we're down to two bedrooms. And Miguel wants to go to a college we don't have the money for, how are we going to make this work?"