Lost in Hollywood

Time for Shakespeare

"Hey, wait up—" Eli took a couple of running steps to catch Sky at the doors of the cafeteria.

She turned around to face him, her glance sweeping from his face to the tray he was still holding in his hands. Her expressive brows formed two high, amused arcs on her forehead.

"If you're taking that with you to English class, I'm changing seats."

Eli's cheeks heated. The limp, disgusting fries loomed on his plate like a pile of dead worms. Hastily, he tossed his tray to a nearby table before following Sky out of the cafeteria. He didn't turn to look to see if anyone noticed that he left his mess behind like that, hoping no one would. At least nobody was yelling at him to go back as he walked away, matching his longer strides with Sky's shorter ones.

"Sorry about Demetri," he said, giving Sky a sideways glance. "He was being an ass."

Sky shrugged as if she didn't care, but her fingers gripped the straps of her pink backpack a bit tighter. "It's fine. He was just being honest."

"Still. He shouldn't have said that shit."

"Truly, Eli, after all the things you've said to me, or about me, in the past, you really aren't one to talk," Sky said, her words more than a bit sharp. "Just let it go. He didn't mean it like that."

Eli opened his mouth to say something - to argue, or to apologize, he wasn't sure - then thought better of it, and let his mouth close. If Sky's words hurt him, it was only fair. Now she was the one being honest. A couple of seconds of awkward silence followed, as they walked through the hall, which was already crowded with kids waiting for the lunch break to end and the next class to begin. For the two of them, it would be English - Eli's favorite. Not because he loved literature, but because it was the only class he shared with Sky.

"So, what do you think about it?"

"About what?" Eli frowned.

"You know, about getting Johnny and Mr. LaRusso back on the same side," She glanced at him, looking nervous. "You think it's shit, don't you?"

"No," Eli replied, almost too quickly. "I don't. I want it to work, I just don't know how it could. They fucking hate each other."

"Yeah, but— think about it. It's not just about the All Valley and beating Cobra Kai. If the dojos joined, we could train together too. Wouldn't— wouldn't that be great?"

Eli's heart skipped at least a dozen beats. His knees were suddenly wobbly, and the noise of the crowded hallway disappeared under a high ringing in his ears. He had a hard time believing he had heard Sky right. She wanted to train karate together with him again? Holy shit— that was fucking huge! Yeah, they had made out in the party, and yeah, Sky had come to his place yesterday, telling him she'd do all in her power to keep him out of the jail, and yeah, she had taken his hand this morning at the front doors, but still— he had no fucking idea where they stood, or if this thing was going anywhere. He just knew he loved her so much it hurt.

To hear her say that she wanted to do karate with him again—

It was a thousand memories, all too sweet and heavy to fit inside his chest.

They had fallen in love at the dojo. That's what it would always come back to. Without her, karate had never been the same.

"Yeah," he rasped, that one, simple word getting caught in his throat. "That would be amazing."

"Right? And together, our dojos could easily beat Cobra Kai. We have to make it happen, and I— I have a plan," she said, not noticing the sudden emotion that was still squeezing the air out of his lungs. "But I need Sam's help. And who knows what she's gonna think about it. Why the fuck did they have to fight with Miggy? That sucks. As if there wasn't enough drama already, even without this happening—"