𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍 ⎯ 𝐂𝐨𝐛𝐫𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐢¹

𝐗𝐗. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐩𝐬

     Mara nodded and Kreese gestured to the punching bag in the corner of the room. "I want you to think of one memory that makes you sad or angry or both and punch this bag as hard as you can."

     Mara closed her eyes and the first thought that came to her head was her mother lying in her hospital bed the night before she died. Mara punched the bag with all her strength and Kreese nodded.

     "Find another memory."

     Mara thought of the moment Yasmine joined their class. That was the moment she started to lose Moon as a friend. She punched the bag again and this time harder. "Another memory."

     She thought of her dad abandoning her and neglecting her for six years.

     Punch.

     She thought of Yasmine and Kyler and everyone who bullied her, her whole life. She thought of Max, the bully that stuck gum in her hair every month.

     Punch. Punch.

     She thought of Hawk.

     Punch.

     And Moon.

     Punch. Punch.

     She thought of every bad memory she could and soon she was hitting the punching bag over and over again her face full of nothing but rage and anger. Kreese smirked as he watched the girl take out all of her frustrations on the bag in front of her.

"Ok." Mara stopped and took a deep breath. "How do you feel?"

Mara smiled. "Good. Really good."

"Channeling your emotions is better than suppressing them, Ms. Abrams. You will be unstoppable if you do that. Don't let people walk all over you anymore. Show them that you aren't one to be messed with. The world shows no mercy so you won't show it to them. You want people to respect you? You have to make them respect you."

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     Mara walked out of the dojo feeling less stressed than she had in awhile. She still felt the crave for alcohol but at least she was getting somewhere with dealing with her emotions.

     "Hey Mars. Can we talk?" Mara turned around to see Hawk standing behind her. She wanted to ignore him and leave, but she promised Sensei Kreese she wouldn't suppress her emotions and run away from them. So instead she turned around and nodded at the boy who now had a red mohawk.

He hesitantly walked over to her and she noticed the bags that were under his eyes. "Look I just want to say I'm sorry. I should never have believed that stupid rumor Yasmine spread. I should've asked you about it, but instead I was stupid and I made the wrong decision like I always do."

"I've never stopped caring about you Mara and I'm so sorry if it felt like I did." He stepped closer to her and hesitantly grabbed her hands. She didn't pull away and he let out a breath of relief. "You're my best friend whether you still think that or not and I hate that I hurt you. I can't live knowing that I hurt you and didn't do everything in my power to make it right."