ESPECIALLY YOU; miguel diaz

02. {stuck like cement}

"no, sensei!"

"good." johnny nodded, "then climb up, get inside, and make it spin."

their faces dropped. they all looked at the man in disbelief. there was no way he would make them go inside of a cement truck, right? but the smirk on the old man's face confirmed to tabitha that johnny lawrence was not joking.

"what?"

aisha decided to speak up, for them all. "sensei, we're sorry for messing around."

"we learned our lesson." hawk added. however, johnny didn't want any apologies, he wanted them to prove themselves. the man harshly pulled the metal ladder down and pointed, "get in!"

miguel was very concerned. he had been the man's first student but he was still hesitant. "sensei, this seems kind of dangerous. i mean, the fumes alone—"

"quiet!" john kresse, who hadn't said a word to any of them since his appearance the day before, moved away from the truck and stepped over to them. "this man led you to the mountain top, and you question him? look at you. look at all of you. i can't believe this pathetic pack of pussies competed in the all valley, and let alone won."

tabitha raised her eyebrow, crossing her arms at this old man's words. she was not a pussy.

"it's an absolute miracle. and who's responsible for that miracle?" he quizzed, "johnny lawrence. the best student in the history of cobra kai... my student."

"you were sensei's sensei?" hawk inquired.

"you better believe it, kid." kresse smirked, "and i tell you i've never trained a tougher student in my whole life. so, if you know what's good for you, you better listen to every goddamn word he says."

"i'll do it, sensei." miguel stepped forward and made his way to the ladder.

tabitha was right behind him, nudging him out of the way so she could enter first. "i'm not doing this because his emotional speech moved me. i'm doing this because i will not tolerate being called a pussy."

johnny nodded with approval and watched as they climbed up the ladder, hawk and chris following behind. "holy shit." miguel gasped as tabitha slid into the hole.

she was so glad she had chosen to wear a homely outfit and run-down shoes that day. the girl began to slip as she moved deeper inside, miguel quickly noticed and placed his arm around her waist. tabitha gained her balance and shrugged him off. "don't."

"just trying to stop you from slipping and possibly eating cement." miguel raised his hands in defeat.

"and what if i wanted to, huh?" she challenged.

"then next time you slip, i'll let you." miguel shrugged. "this is so weird."

"for sure." hawk agreed.

"don't just stand there." johnny hollered out from the outside. "you wanna get stuck? move!"

"okay, okay!" tabitha shouted back. the five of them moved over to the edge and began to push, they slipped a couple of times but eventually, they managed to get the barrel to budge.

"let's go, guys! move it!" johnny called to them.

"come on!"

"push, guys. we've got this!"

"diaz, get the hell off of me."

"all right. there we go! there we go!" johnny encouraged once it began slowly moving around, "a little bit faster, "there you go, there you go!"

"keep pushing!"

"all together!"

after a few moments, the group of four began hastily pushing the barrel around. everyone outside began cheering and applauding for them.