ESPECIALLY YOU; miguel diaz

04. {beach club}

"look, you're a little old. this is a class for teenagers."

"well, i can take 'em." raymond reassured him, "i'm not afraid of kids, sir."

"we're afraid." tabitha joked to hawk, making him snicker.

"and my mom, she doesn't charge me rent, so i got a lot of cash to burn." raymond concluded, pulling out some from his breast pocket.

"yeah." johnny snatched it from his grasp, "we'll consider this a trial run." he walked over to the front of the room. "i thought my last group of recruits was pathetic. but if you do what i tell you to do, you'll at least have a chance of becoming a fighter. but to do that, you gotta fight. so, which one of you has the balls to take on the champ?"

the class stayed silent. tabitha hesitated, should she expose herself, or should she continue to pretend to be a beginner?

"uh..." raymond was about to speak up.

"i'll take him on." a voice volunteered before the silver girl could.

everyone turned their heads around to see who spoke. a girl with dark brown roots and blonde tips on her hair stood at the back of the class, a menacing expression on her face.

"oh, you will, huh?" johnny tested, sauntering over to her.

"i saw your little demo at valley fest." the blonde girl said, "you guys can put on a show, but can you actually fight?"

"that sounds like a challenge." johnny voiced.

"i like a challenge." she shot back.

"mr diaz, show little miss hotshot here, what cobra kai is all about." johnny ordered.

miguel bowed to his sensei and everyone began to move back, making room for the two's spar.

"ten bucks on miguel." hawk immediately spoke to the girl beside him.

"twenty on the pretty blonde." tabitha grinned.

"deal."

"look, are you sure that you wanna do—" miguel started.

he was cut off when she charged forward and kicked him in the ribs, letting out a grunt as she did. the students gasped and miguel began to chuckle.

"all right." the diaz boy grinned, "game on."

the blonde girl ran at him once again, but miguel swiftly used his arms to block her. "close the gap." miguel advised.

she didn't hesitate to lunge forward and attempt to kick him. miguel seized her leg mid-air and used his own to pull her down to the ground. they all winced at the harsh impact the girl had on the ground. however, she seemed unbothered as she rolled back to her feet.

"you're telegraphing." miguel explained as he countered all of her moves, "don't let me see it coming."

from the ground, the girl tackled miguel and quickly sat up to her knees, "did you see that coming?" she teased.

miguel used his legs to push her back down, "maybe. my name's miguel." he introduced as he stood up, his arm out for her to take.

"pay up." hawk smirked.

"hold on." tabitha muttered, still having faith in her.

"tory." she took his extended hand and used it to roll him over onto his back, "with a y."

tabitha smirked in pride. she glanced over to hawk and cleared her throat. "you pay up, pretty boy."

"whatever." he rolled his eyes as he made his way over to his bag.