Robby sat at the opposite end of the couch, while Mr. LaRusso sat across from us. I felt like I was in couples therapy. Robby hadn't even bothered to look at me.
"Look, this is all very new to us and in order to get through it, we need to be honest with each other" Daniel said. "Robby and I sorted out our issues, now it time for you two to do the same" he added.
Robby just laughed.
Neither of us said a thing. Mr. LaRusso was starting to realize the challenge ahead of him.
"You know what, screw it. Follow me" he said as he started to walk outside. We both became curious and followed after him. His stood in front of the pool and just stared at us.
"Come on" he said as he pulled us closer to the edge.
"What are we doing out here?" Robby asked.
"I used this method whenever Sam and Anthony didn't get along. The rules are simple, I will ask each of you a question and if you refuse to answer, then you get pushed in the pool."
"Mr. LaRusso, I don't think this is a good idea, the water is freezing" I say. It was true, I couldn't believe he was expecting us to go in the pool in the middle of Fall.
"It's the best way to stay honest with each other."
Robby and I locked eyes with each other and gave in. We stood facing each other as Mr. LaRusso started asking us questions.
"Robby, how do you feel about Blair finding you?"
"I think I was better off beforehand" he replied.
His words felt like a knife to the chest.
"Blair, how do you feel about that?"
"I feel like I don't know why he's made at me"
"Robby?"
He sighed and looked back between the pool and Mr. LaRusso, contemplating wether he should answer or be pushed into the pool.
"You left me when I needed you. I wanted you to come with me so badly, but you chose dad over me!"
"We both know he would have killed himself if someone didn't stay behind. Believe me, I wanted to be with you more than anything, but I didn't have a choice!
He didn't have a response and just stared at me. Eventually he smiled.
I started to tear up at the fact that I was getting closer to getting my brother back. He opens up his arms to welcome me into a hug. I quickly wrapped my arms around him and let out a small laugh of relief. I had gotten my brother back, at least that's what I thought until he pushed me into the pool. It was freezing. As soon as my head reached the surface, I heard Mr. LaRusso yell at Robby.
"Robby!"
As I kept my head above water, Robby finally spoke up.
"You always have a choice" he said angrily as he walked back into the house.
Mr. LaRusso and I were at a loss for words. He rushed to help me out of the pool.
"Fuck, I'm so sorry, Blair. This wasn't supposed to happen"
"It's o-ok" I said, shivering.
"Here, let me go get you a towel-"
Before he could finish, Eli came running around the corner.
"Holy shit, are you ok?" Eli asked as he heals me in his arms.
"I'm f-fine"
I grabbed my phone off of the table to check the time. It was almost 5, the dojo would be opening soon.
"We need to go, my dad will kill me if I'm not at the dojo on time" I said as we started to rush out to the car. Mr. LaRusso followed behind us.
"Blair wait!"
I turned around to face him.
"Last night you mentioned 'Cobra Kai', what was that all about?"
"My dad and I reopened Cobra Kai at that mini mall not too far from here" I admitted as Eli helped me into the car.
"Oh" he replied.
"I'm sorry Mr. LaRusso, I really need to go"
"No, I'm sorry Blair" he said. "I'll try and talk to him again"
"Don't bother"
-
Eli quickly drove to the dojo only for me to realize I was still in my soaking wet clothing.
"What am I gonna do?" I panicked.
"Hold on, I'm might have a change of clothes in the back. Let me go check" he said as he got out of the car.
Even if he did have a change of clothes, I would still have to deal with my wet hair. One way or another, my dad was going to find out about Robby.
"Here, you can wear these" Eli said as he handed me sweatpants and a hoodie.
"Thank you"
I started to get changed in the car and realized that Eli was still looking, thankfully I had only taken off my shirt.
"Do you mind?" I asked with a laugh.
"Oh uh- yeah uh- Sorry" he apologized as he waited outside the car.
I got changed at a fast pace and got out of the car. I did my best to dry my hair, but it was no use.
"Just let it go, you can say you got a shower at my house"
"That's not a bad idea" I complimented.
We ran into the dojo to see that everyone was already lined up, but luckily my dad was still in his office. From the looks of it, a lot of people quit, we still had a good amount though.
Eli and I ran up to the front of the lines next to Miguel as my dad came out with his intimidating grin.
"Where is everyone?" he asked. "You know, Crater face? Nose ring? Slingshot?"
"They quit Sensei" Miguel spoke up.
"Are you serious? I-I mean good, that was a test. I wanted to see who the quitters are. Not you guys. You're in it to win it, right? You guys could be at home playing your iComputers, playing your video games, eating candy. Instead you're here, doing push-ups, learning how to fight." My dad said as he tried to cover up his shocked expression to the missing members. Sadly, he made eye contact with Eli and pointed him out.
"Lip. Look. Even Lip's tougher than those guys. He's no quitter"
I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from yelling at my dad. Instead, I grabbed Eli's hand to comfort him.
"Can you please not call me that?" Eli mumbled.
"Excuse me what?"
"I said could you please not call me that" he spoke up.
"Uh, I'll warm them up Sensei" I said to stop the conversation.
"No, Lip has something he wants to say"
Eli looked down in embarrassment.
"Sorry, speak up, Lip. Or is your tongue messed up too?" My dad added as he walked up to Eli. "Are you one of those challenged kids?"
"Um, the doctors said I could be on the spectrum"
"I don't know what that is, but get off it pronto. All right? If you don't want me to call you 'Lip', then don't have a weird lip. Can't you get surgery?" My dad was starting to really tick me off.
"I was born with a cleft lip. This is the scar from the surgery." Eli responded.
"You mean it was worse before that? Or did the doctors just screw up? Because if this is the after photo, that sucks, man. You should sue"
"Can we just please change the topic"
"You don't think I want to? It's right in front of me."
"Sensei stop" I mumbled. He obviously didn't hear me and continued to insult Eli.
"If you wanna be something other than a nerd with a scar on his lip, then you gotta flip the script. Ok? Get a face tattoo or gouge your eye out. We'll call you 'patch', all right? No, don't do that one, you'll still look like a freak-"
"Dad stop!" I yelled. I knew I wasn't supposed to call him dad in the dojo, but I couldn't help myself , he was being cruel.
He stood in shock and took notice to the fact that I was holding hands with Eli. He must have gotten the message that he was my crush and that he had screwed up majorly.
Eli had had enough and walked out of the dojo, upset. I stared my dad down and followed after Eli, running after him in the parking lot.
"Eli wait!"
I continued to call after him, but he didn't respond. He jumped into he car and drove off. I was crushed seeing him like this. It was one thing to see him bullied at school by other kids, it was another to see my dad do it.
A/n - Ik a lot of people don't read this, but for those who do.........LOOK AT HOW FUCKING FINE THIS MF LOOKS🥵