Always Been You- Eli Moskowitz

Chapter 7- Flinchers

"As a river flows
It begins to change
And that is why rivers
Never stay the same
And just like a river
My currents shift each day
And the way i am right now
Might not always remain
So if you are searching
For the girl i used to be
She washed away
All the way out to sea."

-Anonymous
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another day at the dojo and Michelle's mind was everywhere but on the lesson. A blue mohawk and a confident smirk occupied her thoughts the entire day, more out of curiosity than anything. Or at least she thought. She hadn't spoken to him the entire day, even when they sat next to each other in Chemistry. She couldn't find the words to say to him. Choosing to ignore the butterflies his presence gave her at the dojo the day prior. Besides, its not like he tried to talk to her either. Nothing had changed with them. He was too busy soaking up all of the newfound attention his makeover brought him anyway. Especially from the girls. He was the hot topic in the girls locker room that day. Everyone seemingly forgetting he was the quiet nerd they all bullied a few days ago. Why couldn't she get this guy out of her head?

"Stabilize your base hawk!" Johnny yelled. Michelle snapped out of her thoughts as she looked in the mirror. She watched as Johnny kicked Eli's right leg so that it was forward more. He was standing right next to her but she couldn't bring herself to say anything to him. She just glanced at him through the mirror occasionally. "Keep your balance. Full rotation when you strike," Johnny continued.

Johnny demonstrated the punch, Eli watching him through the mirror. He made the necessary corrections and threw a hard punch forward. Michelle couldn't help the butterflies she felt as she admired him. Not even 48 hours ago, he was her brothers nerdy and quiet best friend and now, he was her brothers confident and popular best friend with an addiction to karate and flexing in the mirror. Her mind was a jungle gym of confusion. All she knew was that he said he didn't hate her. That's all she needed. They were never friends and they never would be. That's that.

Johnny proceeded to turn and continue down the isle that he was on when a short blonde student on his left flinched when he came near him. Johnny looked down at him confused as he asked, "Did you just flinch, virgin?" The kid did not respond so Johnny resorted to staring him down as he continued to walk forward, jumping at the student right behind him, making him jump and step back. "Holy shit, we got a room full of flinchers," He said while looking around.

"Yes, Sensei!" The class responded. Michelle kept her mouth shut. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She made eye contact with Miguel in the mirror who gave her a look that clearly said 'these fucking idiots' and Michelle had to stifle her laugh as Johnny made his way back to the front of the group.

"That was not a question! Raise your hand if you've never been punched in the face," He said as he looked around the class once more. Michelle watched in the mirror as everyone except herself, Miguel and Aisha raised their hands.

"Put your hands down. All your lives, you've been avoiding fights so you don't break your nose or lose a tooth, this concussion nonsense... So, there's only one solution, and that is before you leave this dojo, each and every one of you is gonna take a punch, very hard, to the face. Miss Robinson! Miss Diaz! Line 'em up. Do the honors," Johnny said.

"Yes, Sensei," The girls replied. They gave each other a slightly worried look as they positioned themselves in front of the group. Johnny had went into his office with Miguel mumbling something to Michelle about needing to talk to him. She nodded and then turned to the students who had now formed 2 lines. One in front of her and the other in front of Aisha. Michelle scrunched up her face and winced as Aisha got straight to the point and decked one of the students in the face, causing him to fall to the floor holding his nose. Her eyes widened as she made eye contact with Aisha, the girl just shrugging her shoulders and moving on to the next victim.