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The next day, Miguel and Cherry were stretching together. Cherry was wearing grey joggers and a black spaghetti strap crop tank top. She had a thin jacket ontop so no one would stare at her. The two noticed Johnny walk in and approached him. "Hey sensei, we're sorry about your loss." "Thanks." "How was the funeral?" "As good as any funeral can be. So, how'd it go around here while I was gone?" "Great," Miguel answered. "I mean, sensei Kreese is tough, but uh, he knows what it takes to win."
Johnny looked at Cherry who said nothing.
Johhny went to his office and the two went back to their friends. "Everybody get your gi's on, training starts in five minutes." Everyone looked confused. "Yeah, what's wrong?" Johnny asked when everyone approached him. "Nothing's wrong, I just thought we were going to the woods for a special training today."
Johnny looked back at Kreese.
"What's happening in the woods?" "Well, I thought it was a good time to separate the men from the boys." Kreese saw Cherry's glare and quickly added, "And the girls too, I suppose." "How?" "Coyote Creek." "I'm not sure they're ready for that." "There's only one way to find out," said Kreese.
"We're ready sensei. We want to prove ourselves," Eli stated, everyone else nodded in agreement.
"It's up to sensei Lawrence. If he says it's okay, then and only then, is it okay."
Cherry narrowed her eyes at Kreese. He was pressuring Johnny into saying 'yes' because he knows Johnny doesn't want to fail his students. Johnny locked eyes with Cherry and sighed. "All right. What are you waiting for? Let's go."
"I call shotgun!" Miguel yelled.
Eli and Aisha sprinted out, heading for Cherry's car.
Cherry laughed at her friends and she and Miguel followed them.
× × × ×
"Gentlemen. Ladies. Welcome to Coyote Creek." The students were separated as they stood infront of each other, a headband was tied around their foreheads. "You've been split into two teams: red and black. The goal is to capture as many headbands as possible from the other side. Today, the people across from you are not your friends." Cherry looked at Aisha and Tory, who were on the red team. Cherry stood next to Miguel who was across from Eli, Tony on Cherry's right.
"They're not your brothers or sisters. They are the enemy. Last team standing wins." "How do we get the headbands?" Miguel asked.
"By any means possible. No rules."
"Use your judgment. This is just a training exercise," Johnny quickly added.
"Correct. But remember, this is your life. You lose it, you die."
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. Traffic on the 1-18 was a real bitch." Cherry raised an eyebrow at the man. "Put Coyote Creek into the nav, nothing came up." "What have you done to yourself?" Johnny asked and Cherry tried to not burst out laughing.
