CHAPTER 35:
Zelena POV
After sincerely repeating the true claim that my uncle had not placed his hands on me about half a dozen times, Principal Lopez hesitantly releases me back into the wild of sixth period hallways. I ignore the muttering of my peers of all ages, squishing myself between bodies to get to my last class of the day quicker than usual for more than one reason. Two hands seize each of my elbows and I swing my weight around, prepared to lift my leg for a kick when my eyes land upon Demetri and Mitch. "What the hell you two?! I nearly roundhouse kicked you." Mitch flinches back at the sight of my facial wounds up close while Demetri lifts the left side of his lips in a wince and hiss of breath. Chris releases a low whistle, wandering up from behind the initial pair and I raise my left eyebrow in question. "Can someone explain why seizing my arms was necessary?"
"You were walking fast. And you need to talk to Miguel." Demetri directly answers though I don't particularly like his response nor the tone of it.
My hands lift up once more to either side of my face in surrender. "I don't need to do anything aside from getting to sixth period." My left hand hovers over my face, doing a circular motion in gesture to the entirety of its current state when I note they aren't moving out of my way. "This is also his responsibility."
"Eli already talked to him." Demetri inputs. My eyebrows furrow and I tilt my head at the audacity of his insinuation.
"Okay and? He doesn't speak for me." I attempt to sound as nice as possible through the wearing of my patience.
Demetri shifts his weight to his right leg, standing hipshot. "Aren't you guys dating?" His inquiry sounds more like a statement and ends in an unappreciated scoff like he knows everything as usual.
Mitch inserts himself directly into the line of my staredown with Demetri before I can even respond to the insinuations I want to nip in the bud."You two are dating?"
"We went on one date." It's snippy and short, bitterness lingering on my tongue like I'd said somethign I had regretted. Although I really only regret the delivery of it. My arms cross over my chest defensively when Demetri rolls his eyes.
Chris interrupts this time with complete shock all across his features. "You went on a date?"
My eyes move away from Demetri to look at Chris and Mitch. "It's a new thing. Not labelled. It's complicated." I sigh, tightening the squeeze of my arms around my chest before giving in. The anger leaves bad chills running through me and I release all of it, dropping my arms back to my sides. My eyes return to Demetri, this time just looking at him instead of glaring. "Regardless of if we were, he still doesn't speak for me. I am very much capable of expressing myself and knowing what I need to thrive and heal."
"Not always." Demetri pipes up.
There's a pang in my heart at his words that I find some truth in. The minute bell rings overhead, causing the remaining kids in the hallway to scurry every which direction to get to their classrooms. I nod affirmatively and step to the left, moving forward wordlessly. Demetri calls out my name, but I quite literally jog to my class down the hall and to the right to avoid his long legs and being late.
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"Oh for fudge sake's." I grumble to myself the second my eyes find Miguel standing in the only exit out of my classroom. My hands reach for every remainder of my personal supplies scattered about my desk and shove them recklessly into the biggest zipper of my backpack. I could sort them out and reorganize later. My teacher briefly greets Miguel as he passes through the door, but I continue to look busy ignoring him.
My hands slide the paperwork from Principal Lopez over the edge of my desk accidentally in my rush. An aggravated groan leaves my lips and I crouch down to pick up all three documents. "Zelena," Miguel begins.
"I don't want to do this right now, Miguel. I've had a long day." I technically wasn't lying. Between the PTSD from Tory's fists and the school fight at the beginning of the year to Kyler being an ass per usual to the entire school finding out about my busted face and getting interrogated by our principal on suspicion of domestic abuse in my household- I needed a week off of school. Maybe even the rest of the year.
The sound of footsteps echoing louder than before causes me to draw my eyes upward. Miguel inches into the room slowly and cautiously stops by the teacher's desk instead of completely approaching me. "I'm sorry about what happened with Tory. I can't believe she did that to you."
My eyes genuinely examine him and his entire face while my brain processes the tone of his words- the words he chooses. "Are you two talking again?" I abruptly interrupt instead of feeding into his apologetic sentences.
"I am happy with Sam. Why would I do that?" He deflects the topic of the conversation.
I lift myself back to my full height, stepping slowly towards him, shaking my head. "I didn't ask if you were happy in your relationship with Sam or about it in general. I asked if you were talking to Tory again. Now answer it." His eyes shift away from my face to the wall in the distance behind me. I try to move into his line of vision again, but he simply looks elsewhere, turning his head to avoid me. "Talking to Tory again doesn't mean you're cheating on Sam, Miguel. I just don't understand why you wouldn't have at least told me. And I don't understand how you knew what was going to happen- obviously-"
"I didn't." He interjects, returning his eyes to my face. "I want to get along with her- be civil at least. I saw the way she looked at you after fighting Sam. I saw the glimpse of guilt and the good in her. I saw what you saw. And I had Mitch send me her contact card from your phone when you went to refill the glasses during the movie. I invited her to Yaya's party." He inhales only to exhale with a heavy sigh, gripping the edges of the teacher's desk pretty tightly. "I saw her leaving. And her and I got into an argument about her seeing me dance with you. She thought Sam and I broke up again and that you and I got together."
"And that's why you called?"
"She mentioned going out. She didn't say where or anything. But we know how it turned out for Sam the last few times Tory was near her." He swallows hard. "I needed to check."
I huff out a breath, leaning against the empty spot beside him on my teacher's desk with my backpack at my side and the papers still clutched in my hand. "Why wouldn't you just tell me that Tory saw us? It isn't like we are a thing or have ever been. And you hiding it seems as shady as Sam did when she was talking to you and hiding it from her dad."
Tears roll down his cheeks and he sniffles, glancing back upward to me. "I genuinely didn't think she was going to- I thought she would trust you more than any of us. I mean, her and I talked multiple times about your feelings for Hawk."
"Our minds play tricks on us sometimes. Like it did when you thought Sam was cheating on you with Robby. Like it did to me today when Mitch went to greet Eli." I explain, following the words with silence so we could both process the shared information between us. My hand lightly taps his knee, nodding toward the door. "Does Sam know?"
He swallows again, nodding his head slowly. "She's mad at me too. She was there when Hawk pretty much forced it out of me." He smiles softly at me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to pull me into a hug. I wrap my right arm around his back and feel him shake a little. "I really am so sorry."
I pull him closer to my side in our half hug, but don't bother to look down at him. "Me too."
Loud clapping echoes from the hallway so after sharing a look, Miguel and I turn our heads toward the doorway, finding our whole Miyagi Fang group standing there with grins on their faces. Eli pushes through them, smirking like he won something. "Should I even ask?" He shrugs, walking toward us before extending his hands out to me, palm up.
I place one of my hands in each of his very slowly, narrowing my eyes playfully at him as I await some kind of trick. He wraps his fingers around the sides of my hands equally as slow as I eye him, until he suddenly jerks his hands back. Still being attached, I fall forward and he cheekily catches me with his chest while he steadies me with his arms around my back. I tilt my head back to look up at him. He smirks down at me, slowly leaning in. I internally grin to myself, staying still as he continues to lower himself down. Our lips nearly touch when a small yelp of surprise leaves his lips.
The arms around me, flail to slap away whoever had poked his side while I step back with a satisfied grin on my lips. Chris raises his hand which I smack mine against, Mitch muttering 'brutal' beneath his breath beside us. Everyone else giggles watching as Eli tries to recover from the initial confusion of the entire incident. His eyes narrow and he lifts his left hand, his index and middle fingers pointing to his eyes then toward mine in a silent, playful warning.
My hands grip my straps of my backpack and I turn in the direction of the exit, booking it past everyone to avoid whatever retribution is floating around in Eli's head. "Third date. It's always been her rule." Demetri chuckles from behind me. I slow my walking and glance behind me in a search for Sam. Instead my eyes drink in the sight of Demetri with his arm slung around the top of Eli's shoulders, his hand patting the side of his arm in a jokingly consoling manner.
I do a 180 turn and continue walking slowly, by backwards this time to fully face all my friends. Eli's eyes lift from the floor and make contact with mine. Coyly, a small smile creeps across my lips. "I'll make an exception since he was so sweet following the unplanned visit." His playfully dimmed face brightens and a glimmer of hope shines in his irises. "Second date. Tomorrow night. My house at 6." Just to tease, I wink at him with my left eye. He beams and the guys make various noises of approval of the situation.
A pair of hands grab my left arm, so my head tilts that direction to get a peek of the 'intruder'. The brunette I'd been looking for stands there, smiling at me. I can see the hurt in her eyes, contrasting the smile she's sporting for my situation. "Girl's night?" I murmur to her, turning back around to actually watch where I'm going before my luck runs out and I actually end up smacking into something. She nods her head quietly.
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THIRD PERSON POV
"You sure your uncle doesn't mind?" Samantha inquires again, busying herself by fixing the way her backpack has been hung on the back of her desk chair.
Zelena chuckles in her own nerve riddled way, picturing the way Samantha's parents would react when they found out about the physical altercation at the beach. "You heard him. He's fine with it, Sam. As long as we don't go out without parental supervision."
"So he knows about the," The karate legend's daughter turns, gesturing to her friend's face when the words die on her tongue. Technically her current, old flame had a role in the beaten complexion she is staring back at.
The guest of the house, though she knows she is always welcome here, nods her head. "Yeah. I was going to hide it, but I knew either way he'd find out. He was upset I didn't fight back." Her hands run over one another in a comfort method she'd acquired over the years from therapy she was thinking she needed to return to.
Both can sense the elephant in the room, yet neither speak upon it in fear of bringing up the wrong topic. Tired of the continuous heaviness on her chest from leaving things unspoken, a sigh echoes in the room to mark the beginning of a new conversation. "We need to talk about it. It's okay to ask questions, Sammy."
Samantha's lips part, now feeling secure enough to say something until her eyes actually look into Zelena's. It seems useless to actively inquire why she didn't fight back when she had made it crystal clear at their first practice that she couldn't and wouldn't fight Hawk. After all he'd done, she refused to return the pain he placed upon her. But Sam understood, vaguely, that Hawk had wanted to change as shown by his commitment to returning to the dojo for every practice- Tory didn't. Tory had even cornered Zelena before, bringing along Kreese and some other guy her father seemed furious about. Sam didn't even know where to begin- not to mention the bombshell Miguel had brought to the table when he admitted to getting back in contact with the blonde. "I don't get it. I mean, I do for Hawk and I get that being the intial reason for not fighting back when Tory attacked you. But that was the second time she had gotten vicious with you." She settles herself on the edge of her bed, beside the brunette who's trying to process her friend's genuine concern as is instead of morphing it into an accusation. "I want to understand. But right now, all I see is exactly what I see. I don't see your perception."
Zelena nods, "I just physically couldn't. I-When I talked to Moon today, she told me that knowing Tory will change and hoping she will are two completely different things. She also reminded me that while I'm not a bad person for walking away and letting go." She squeezes her hands together, averting her eyes to the intertwined limbs. There's a sting in her chest and she can feel her lower lip tremble. "I don't know how to just walk away. I know she can be so sweet and there is good in her. What if her realization of what she did changed her and she wants to be like Eli, but I brush her off and Kreese swallows her whole? I-"
Samantha wraps her arms around her friend's body, noting the small quakes in her hands and the way her foot begins to tap against the edge of her bed. "Zelena-"
"When do you know? How do you know to walk away from someone?"
The other brunette teen shakes her head, "It's just a feeling."
"But I don't feel that. I see it around me- saw it Demetri's face and was beginning to see it in Miguel's face when Eli changed. I-You all have that sense. But I don't. It's like," Zelena trails off with a huff of breath.
She catches sight of her friend smiling half-heartedly at her, bobbing her head just barely to some thought floating across her conscience.
The two time champ's daughter recalls her father's words. Words he'd used to describe exactly who Zelena's mother was after she'd overheard the pair of them arguing about it in front of the LaRusso household. "It's in your blood, Zel." Lost in life and further confused by the finishing of her sentence for her, Zelena tilts her head toward Sam. "I-" She releases a small, breathless chuckle at the lost puppy glaze in her friend's eyes. "My dad told me about your mom. And what she was like. From what I gathered, you are almost exactly like her. Trying to bring peace to everyone."
Zelena smiles to herself at the knowledge until a flash of her mother falling backward from the force of a shove she endured by the hands of her father bitters it. "And it got her killed." She shrugs Sam's arms off her body as the iciness settles beneath her skin once more, freezing over all the warmth and blood circulating her systems. Her body rises from the seated position and steps toward the desk like everywhere else is lava that has burned her. "She didn't have boundaries. She-she, she was admirably selfless and she let in the wrong people. She trusted my father and he killed her. What if I end up exactly like her?"
This thought had never occurred to her before in previous talks with her uncle about who her mother was. Who her mother aspired to be. At least not at the very forefront of her head where the fear seeped into every neuron of her brain. "I care too much and I let myself be beaten to a near pulp because of it." Zelena's arms wrap around her torso and Sam internally panics. She sees the signs and knows by more than her body language that Zelena is shutting down.
Sam remains on her bed, fearful of waking the rather timid version of Zelena. "Zel, your heart is big and sure it gets you in trouble, but what happened to your mother wasn't her fault. What happened to you- the fights, the fall, the being cornered- it isn't your fault. It's their fault."
Zelena could see what Sam was saying, but deep down part of her knew she was at fault too. "Being cornered is my fault Sam. I let her do it to me twice. I let Robby do it. If I cared less and only gave out two chances instead of hoping for the better, I wouldn't be in this predicament with T-"
"What predic-" Amanda LaRusso's voice when her eyes drink in the blue, green, and purplish patches splattered on Zelena's face.
Daniel LaRusso stands behind his wife, seeing the same thing she does but through very different eyes. He had been Zelena once. Had been the teen all bruised up. It didn't matter as the familiar fear rose in his chest, ignited with the additional side of anger. "Zel-"
She hated the pity- the constant concern everyone had for her all the time. She put herself in these situations that got her hurt. She needed to deal with the consequences on her own. Own up to her mistakes and choices that laid her into these positions. "I was attacked by Tory and I let her. I didn't fight back, so now I look like this." For the first time in a while, the stinging of her eyes didn't exist and there certainly was no water lining under her eyes. "I'm fine."
"No you aren't." Sam argues, turning to capture her parents' attention from her friend. When Amanda glances over at her daughter, she sees the plea. "She freaked out at school like I did when I got back. Mitch went to shake Hawk's hand and Zelena practically flew back."
Amanda smiles sadly at Zelena, "It's okay."
"I don't need pity." The brunette snaps. Her arms slam to her sides before her hands shove themselves into the pockets of her jeans to give them something to do. Otherwise they threatened to curl into fists. Into a symbol of violence that she didn't want to resort to. "I just," She sighs heavily, blowing a long breath out through clenched teeth.
It scared Daniel to be frank. More than Kreese had or the army of Cobras that attacked his daughters in their house. He could see the anger in her body language. He could hear the exhaustion- the giving up- in her tone. It was deafening and only meant the Cobras and Kreese were getting to her core, to her heart. His eyes watch her intently as her legs carry her around the room.
She walks on the side of Sam's bed opposing the pair of women she'd been around her whole life. Letting her eyes close, she releases all duty of weight distribution on her feet and feels herself fall backward, letting the mattress behind her catch her body. "I'm done with being pitied and sympathized with. I am done crying over these things I can't control and letting tears and sadness dictate my life. I am done with being afraid, with constantly feeling afraid and seeing the past- the dark things I have overcome- rule over me."
Sam smiles down at her for a moment, recalling the same exhaustion of frustration she'd carried with her following her own fight with Tory. All that weight of uncontrollable things and the things she had set in motion via her clouded vision. Her eyes draw back up to her father for further advice.
His features soften while examining the teen girl sprawled beside his biological daughter. Aside from the darkness painted physically by the splotches marking her skin, the lines of her features had eliminated all of it. Anguish lightly dusts her absent-minded expression but it is clear she has relinquished that part of her and her entire heart to have full clarity. He understood fighting the darkest parts of yourself. He understood the sympathy from outsiders' eyes. Yet the most important part of her inner agony he didn't empathize with- but he knows someone who does. "Let me make a quick call. In the meantime, if you're up for it, you can get changed into more comfortable clothes and Sam can teach you that fishing trick."
Curious stricken by the vague allusion to his illusive tactics, Zelena opens one eye to peer at him. She notes the three pairs of eyes intently watching her right back but she focuses solely on the one who she was awaiting an anecdote from. Instead he seems solely concentrated on her, while also being torn in a different and unspoken direction. She nods in acceptance.
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Author's Notes
Who's Daniel gonna call? (GHOSTBUSTERS) (JK not actually.)
Also Zelena and Hawk flying to you in Chapter 36😏😉😉😉😉