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Odessa rode with her mom to Daniel's house. She insisted that if him and Johnny were going to fight then she needed to be there to call an ambulance if one of them got injured. The majority of the Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do students were there. Seeing them, Grayson jogged their way. "Hey, pretty ladies." He greeted with his usual goofy smile.
"Hey, sweetheart." Thalia smiled back. She patted him on the back. "Where's Johnny and Daniel?"
He pointed behind him to the men standing on the sparring deck. Thalia went to talk to them and Grayson wrapped an arm around his friend. "Where's Eli, Dess?"
"I'm not sure. I haven't talked to him since school this morning." She responded. "He's not here?"
He shook his head. "Nope. We have a bet going on with Oliver so he better show up. Our money's on Johnny."
It was time for the fight to start and Johnny and Daniel stood in front of each other on the deck. Odessa took her phone out of her locker and opened her text messages with Eli. Her fingers hovered above the keyboard, hesitating. She texted him.
Dess where are you? are you coming to watch the fight?
He texted back a quick minute later.
Eli :) I'm at the tattoo shop gettin the hue changed don't worry, I'll be there :)
"Remember, if you hear anything break, call an ambulance." Her mom reminded her.
Odessa put her phone away. "You got it, boss." She replied with a smile.
". . . Okay, maybe there's a better way." They heard Johnny say.
Thalia threw her hands up. "You say that now?" She dramatically said.
"There is. You just won't admit it." Daniel said back.
"Don't you think you ever might be wrong about anything?"
"What are we doing here? You want to rehash your baseless argument from last night in front of these kids?"
"No. I want what's best for them," said Johnny.
Daniel shook his head. "What's best for them is Miyagi-Do. If fighting you is the only way I can get there, then let's just get this done."
"Is this how you guys feel when Eli and I fight?" Odessa asked her friends.
"Yes." All of them answered.
Sam and Miguel were the referees for the fight. Thalia stood with the kids. Johnny and Daniel waited for them to say fight and Thalia was suddenly taken back to the All Valley tournament in the 80s, watching Christian from the stands.
