𝘛𝘙𝘖𝘜𝘉𝘓𝘌. Eli Moskowitz

thirty one

HONESTLY, Violet wasn't too upset when Johnny announced that Kreese would no longer be a part of the dojo. Something about him just didn't sit right with her, especially when he pushed the 'no mercy' rule back on them after Johnny already expressed that he was against being completely merciless.

She paired up with Aisha for head-butting, which both girls got down rather quickly.

Once Violet saw Miguel leave the back room, she slipped in.

"Oh, hey, Huang," Johnny greeted once he noticed her. "How have you been? You know, with the, uh . . ."

"I'm fine," Violet laughed fakely. That was a lie; She still hurt when she looked at photos of him. "But how are you? I heard Ms. Diaz got a boyfriend."

"So?" Johnny asked, pretending not to care. "What's that got to do with me?"

Violet stared at him, unimpressed.

"Miguel might be oblivious, but I'm not. I've read a lot of romance, you know. I can tell."

Johnny sighed, "Fine. You caught me— but don't go mentioning this to Miguel, alright? I don't want to mess things up."

"Yeah, yeah," Violet rolled her eyes.

"Seriously though," Johnny said, giving her a rare look of concern. "Are you okay? And don't give me that 'I'm fine' bullshit, I've been through breakups, too. You can talk to me."

Violet bit her lip and looked downwards; She hadn't really talked to anyone about the breakup yet. Well, besides telling her mom about what happened. After that, she never brought it up again. Whenever someone asked, she just laughed it off and changed the subject.

"I'm doing better, I guess," Violet lied.

"Alright," Johnny said slowly, not really believing her. "Well, the offer still stands; I can beat his ass."

"No, that's not necessary," Violet denied quickly. "It was kind of mutual. I think."

"Okay, well . . . If you ever change your mind, the offer still stands."

"Yeah, I'll think about it," Violet said sarcastically as she left the room.

But what Violet didn't see, was the longing pair of bright blue eyes staring after her as she returned to her head-butting partner.

Demetri invited Violet over for a movie-night.

Despite being in opposing dojos, the pair remained good friends. Violet thought the dojo rivalry was stupid, and Demetri liked having Violet as a friend. She was the only one who still talked to him regularly.

Demetri put on one of the Star Wars movies— which one, Violet wasn't sure. She only watched a couple of them with Eli.

. . . Eli.

Shit.

Like a cracked dam, every moment she spent with the boy came rushing back in.

Watching Prisoner of Azkaban. Cuddling with him. Their first kiss. The forehead kisses. Him putting up with her rambling. Him telling her she was the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. Their first time. Meeting his parents. Him getting the tattoo for her.

Violet unconsciously teared up.

The breakup.

Violet held back a sob.

"Well, maybe we shouldn't have dated at all!"

By now, tears were flowing freely down Violet's face. She tried to hide her face in her blanket, but Demetri looked over when she started shuffling around and caught sight of her tears

"Crap— uh, what's wrong? Nothing sad's happened yet?" he stated confusedly. Violet might've laughed, had she not been mid-sob.

"I miss him," she whimpered. "I miss Eli."

Demetri's face dropped.

"Damn it, why couldn't I be better at this," he muttered to himself as Violet cried into her blanket. "Look, I miss him, too. I'm sure that he'll come back some day . . . At least, I hope he will."

Demetri cringed at what just came out of his mouth.

"Uh, forget I said that. Just give it some time, he'll come around. He's just going through a big jerk phase right now. He'll realize how badly he messed up some day."

Violet sniffled, now staring at Demetri.

"You think so?"

"Of course," Demetri patted her back.

"Thanks, Demetri," Violet said, drying her tears. "I think that's what I needed to hear."

"Pfft, it's not a big deal," Demetri brushed off; Violet shook her head.

"No, really. It helped."

Demetri smiled softly at his friend.

"Well, we've gotta stick together, right?"