Miguel and Dylan walked to the dojo on a sunny afternoon, both still excitedly talking about the fight that they were in a few days prior. They still couldn't believe all the skills they managed to use against him with only a few weeks of training. When they got closer to the dojo, they were surprised to see a long line of kids their age and some a little younger waiting for them. When they got closer to the line, a few kids looked at them and whispered to each other, talking about the fight at school. The sounds of whispers were interrupted by the parking space being filled by Johnny's car in front of them, who was now wearing the same surprised expression that the two teenagers once had as he saw the massive line. He smiled at the two proudly, walking up to the door and unlocking it with his key.
"Look's like we're in business." The man replied, excited for the new students. Johnny went to his office in the back of the dojo, while Dylan and Miguel opened the doors for students to come in. Dylan looked at the group, before two familiar faces appeared in front of her.
"D? Eli? What are you guys doing here?"
"Karate?" Demetri said, rolling his eyes at his cousin before walking inside. She rolled her eyes at him, knowing he was just getting defensive, and closing the door and walking to the back to change into her gi. Once she was done, she was met with Miguel and Aisha, who walked to the back to change too. She looked at her sensei through the windows of his office, seeing the nervous look on his face, and walked in. His eyes met hers, and he gave her a small smile.
"Hey sensei, you ok?"
"I'm fine. Great actually, just can't wait to see what these kids can do." He said, more to himself than to the girl in front of him. She nodded, before going back out front to meet the crowd. She went over to her cousin who was talking with his shorter friend, both nervous about the practice ahead of them.
"Why did I let you talk me into this? This goes against everything I stand for." Demetri said to his blonde friend next to him. They both stopped continued talking when Dylan walked towards them. Eli looked at the girl and gave her a small smile, before turning back to his friend, who was eyeing him.
"I can't believe your here, D. I must say I'm pretty surprised." She said smiling at her cousin. He rolled his eyes at her, continuing his conversation with Eli.
"It's like extra gym class for no reason."
"Let's just give it a chance, you saw the fight. Dylan and Miguel kicked ass." Eli said, making Dylan smile to herself.
"Okay, today we begin.." Johnny started to say, but stopped when he realized no one was paying attention.
"Quiet!" The man shouted, causing every kid in the room to turn to him. Dylan quickly walked to the front with the other two, who were now facing front at Johnny's command. He narrowed his eyes, looking at the kids in the room. Dylan followed his steps, and he continued to walk, now towards her cousin and his friend.
"Nice shirt." He said to Demetri, who gave the man a small smile.
"Thanks."
"I'm joking, it sucks." He replied, causing Dylan who quietly snorted, which caused Johnny to turn around and eye her, before he continued walking around the kids. He stopped at a guy who was smiling at him.
"Word of advice, if you got shit for teeth, don't smile." He said, making the kid frown as he walked away from him.
"God, makes me feel like a virgin just looking at you." Johnny said to another kid, before walking away and slowly heading to the front.
"When I look around this dojo. I don't see Cobra Kai material. I see losers, I see nerds, I see a fat kid with a funny hat with his tits popping out." He said, making the kid hang his head in shame.
"But in my short time as a sensei, I've also seen some miracles." He said, eyeing Miguel.
"Not me, I was already a badass." Dylan quickly whispered to Miguel before sensei could notice, earning an eye roll from Miguel.
"So, maybe there's some hope for you yet. But first, I need to see where you're at. So everybody, fall in!" Everyone looked around confused, not understanding the man's instructions as he waited, watching the group of teenagers in front of him.
"That means line up." The teenagers now understanding what he meant, got into a single file lines behind Aisha, Dylan, and Miguel. Dylan shook her head.
"No, not... not line up in a line, lines!"
"You mean like "rows"?" Demetri finally said, causing sensei to groan in frustration. When everyone finally got into line, he started them off on a few warm ups.
"Fighting positions." Johnny said, the kids watching the man get into the correct position, and copying his moves.
"Jab punch. Nope, wait 'till I say go." He said, and the kids kept practicing their moves. After a while, the new kids became comfortable with what they were doing, punching in unison as Johnny walked around the room. After a while he got to the front of the room, his eyes focused on Eli.
"Hey, Lip." Lawrence said, causing Dylan to look back at him and towards her sensei, worry spreading through her. Eli looked confused, hoping that the man in front of him wasn't going to bring attention to him.
"Yeah you. The one with the freaky lip. Who do you think I'm talking to?" The man said sarcastically, causing Dylan to roll her eyes.
"Excuse me, Mr. Lawrence?" Demetri said, to which Aisha corrected him making sure to pronounce sensei like she was jabbing it into him.
"Okay," Demetri paused, looking at Johnny upfront, "you really shouldn't make fun of someone's physical appearance."
"Oh, is that so?" The sense said, challenging him, "so I'm not supposed to mention his lip at all?"
"Well, yeah." Dylan turned to her cousin, her eyes widening as she tried to signal him to stop, knowing the two of them would inevitably get hurt.
"Maybe that's what they teach you in school, but in the real world, you can't expect people to do what they're supposed to do." Lawrence said, watching as the kid in front of him looked around, "you hear that Lip? If you can't handle someone making fun of you, how are you gonna handle an elbow to the teeth?" He said, Eli feeling as he was shrinking into himself more and more every second.
"By calling the police?" Demetri said sarcastically.
"Dude, knock it off." Miguel finally said to his friend, trying to make him get the hint to shut up.
"What? He does realize the Nazis lost the war, right? Why should I be scared of him? Because he's got a snake on his wall? It's not like he'a a teacher who can give us a bad grade. We're paying him. He works for us. It's not like he can actually hurt us." Demetri said, causing Dylan's eyes to basically fall out of their eye sockets. She watched as Johnny walked closer to her cousin, hearing Miguel mutter an 'oh shit' from beside her. Johnny stood in front of the lanky boy and looked him in the eyes and Demetri gulped in response.
"Are you done?"Johnny paused, getting into the correct position, "hit me." Demetri looked at the man confused before he tried his best to hit him, but Johnny easily dodged it, causing Demetri to look away embarrassed. Dylan looked at her cousin and her sensei, trying her hardest not to interject their argument. Demetri hit him again, but Johnny dodged it again.
"Is that all you got, princess?" Demetri was embarrassed, she could tell. Especially when he went to hit him again, resulting in him hitting the mats back first. He grunted, before getting up.
"Let that be a lesson to all of you."
✦
"No way. We are not watching this movie." Demetri said, staring at the tv at his house after practice. He looked between Mean Girls up on the screen, and his cousin, who was smiling widely.
"C'mon Demi, you've never even seen it!" She said, pleading to her cousin. He sighed dramatically, looking at his best friend sitting beside him.
"Well, it is her turn to pick the movie." Eli quietly said. Demetri elbowed him, causing Eli's eyes to roll.
"Please? We can watch whatever movie you want your next pick, no arguments." Dylan said, begging her cousin. Eli looked between the two cousins, laughing at Demetri's face slowly turning into a smile.
"...Fine. But we're watching whatever I want. Even a DC movie." He said. She shrugged, plopping down onto the couch, her face filled with a smile. Playing the movie, she watched as the screen was filled with Cady's parents, before the camera raises, showing she was actually in high school.
"This is so dumb. I can't believe I was forced into watching this." Demetri said.
"Shut up, it's only been like two minutes." Dylan said, hitting her cousin with a pillow, before looking back at the screen.
As the movie progressed, Dylan decided on making the three of them popcorn, going into the kitchen grabbing the bags of popcorn, putting them one-by-one in the microwave. When she turned back around to watch the movie, she saw her cousin and Eli laughing at the screen, indicating they did in fact like it.
"I knew it." Dylan said to herself, chuckling as she grabbed the bags and carried them into the living room, dropping two for the guys before curling back up on her spot.
"Thanks." Eli said to her. She looked at him, smiling and nodding turning back to the tv, watching as Regina invited Cady to sit with them.
"Wait, so why did they invite her to sit with them again?" Demetri said, cramming some popcorn into his mouth in the process.
"Because, she wanted to know more about her, I don't really know." Dylan said, watching the screen as she talked.
"This is still a really dumb movie, I'm just wondering so I can make fun of it more." Demetri said.
"Mhm, sure." Dylan said, smiling as she grabbed another handful of popcorn.
✦
hello! i know that this is a shooort chapter, but i just wanted to get this out. i know it's been almost a year since i've last posted this story, but i've had a lot going on in my life. last school year was hell, and i was constantly busy in the summer. i am back though, and expect to see more from Dylan and Eli soon, the next one is a big one!
love you!