"Tener cuidado (be careful)," Abuelita says as I move towards the door, "hazlo bien en tus clases y por favor no tengas más peleas (do well in your classes and please don't have any more fights)."
"I'll try my best, Abuelita, but if someone's trying to hurt me or my friends..." I trail off. It's entirely possible... it's our first day back and with Miguel still out... tensions are higher than ever...
"Entonces pateas sus traseros (then you kick their ass)," she says. I can't help but grin. I love her.
"Will do," I say, opening the door, "I'll see you after school!"
With that, I walk down to my car, and drive to the place that I've been dreading going back to for two weeks....
—
My whole body shakes as I leave the bag check and look around the school. All I can see are the places where I fought. The trophy case where I fought Hawk, the landing where I helped Robby, the stairs where Tory cut me with her bracelet, the pillar that Miguel kicked me into, the railing he fell over...
"Hey Parker!" someone says out of nowhere. I jump, instinctually jumping into a guarding position. Oh... it's just Demetri...
"Sorry..." I mutter, then start to walk past to get to my home room. Normally I would be here early for show choir, but I've been suspended from it for an extra week... my performance in the group and behavior in the weeks to come will determine my position in the choir.... so I have to be good.
"Wait up!" he calls after me. I slow my pace a little and he catches up with me. I believe I have racked up around 13 missed calls from him since the party... I feel bad about it, but I'm not really sure what to say...
"I'm uh.. I'm really sorry about what I said at the party. I didn't mean to make you upset or anything, but I realize that when I was trying to get back at Hawk for spilling beer on my head, I kind of called you out in front of all those people... I'm sorry Parker," he says. My muscles and face relax a little bit.
"Thank you for apologizing. I'm sorry I made it so hard for you to do so. I guess I'm kinda glad I know now. Just don't go calling me out at huge parties anymore," I return. A smile starts to sweep across his face.
"Don't worry, I won't," he says, "and uh... thanks for helping me out with Hawk even after what I did."
"I'll always have my friend's backs, even if I do want to slap them sometimes," I say. His smile widens. Oh good. I don't like people thinking they can get away with wronging me, but I don't like being mad at my friends, especially if it means losing the few that I have.
"This is my class... I'll uh.. I'll see you at lunch?" I ask. I don't know who else to sit with, and I don't feel like being heckled by Cobra Kai kids.
"I'll see you at the loser table," he replies. I roll my eyes with a smile, then both of head off into our respective hells.
——
Daniel POV
I don't know where Robby could be... it's like Parker said, he's smart. He wouldn't just check into a hospital or a shelter or something like that, but I know it doesn't hurt to check. I just wish I hadn't been so hard on him the last time I saw him.. I feel awful.
"Hey Boss, Mrs Boss, I got something in my office that you should check out," Louie says, "and don't worry, it's not porno this time."
Jesus Christ. Well now I'm worried. Amanda and I exchange a glance then follow after him. I don't think I've ever been more afraid to walk into an office in my life.
"So I get here and there's this note sitting on my keyboard saying to redo inventory and I figured it was from one of you, so I did and I found something," Louie says. I know I didn't leave a note... maybe Amanda did.
"What am I looking at?"
"It's the trade-in lot," he says, "I made a spreadsheet. Those numbers.. they don't match up."
"Are you sure this is right?" Amanda asks. There's no way...
"If there's one thing I know, it's inventory," he says, then rambles on about something.
"Okay, okay, we get it, now can I see this note?" I ask. Why would Amanda leave a note instead of just telling him? He complies, sliding the note in front of him so all of us can see. I didn't write that note... and neither did Amanda. That's not her handwriting at all. If she didn't write it.. and I didn't write it.. then who did? Who would?
"I gotta admit, the trees, the little bench, the bird here on this branch? I mean you gotta appreciate the art here. You even added a little side walk and some weeds growing in the cracks," Louie points out, referring to the drawing in the bottom corner of the note. What..?
"Neither of us wrote that note.." Amanda says. I'm glad it's not just me picking up on that. Who wrote the note? Why would they make that particular drawing in the corner? I mean, he's right, it is a nice looking park, but- wait...
"Park... Parker! It was her, she wrote the note, which means it's probably a lead to-"
"Robby.." Amanda finishes for me. I nod. She's helping from afar... I haven't even talked to her since she came by to pick up her stuff... Amanda told me she left a letter saying she quit her job here the next day... I just hope she's doing alright.
"It's been gone for a couple weeks, and it looks shitty. No one would go looking for that thing," Louie says. Nice to know what he thinks about our cars. But he's right, it's not a very flattering car and Robby must've known that we wouldn't notice it was gone.
"They both know all the gate codes... Robby must've taken that car knowing we wouldn't look for it and Parker must've figured out that he would've taken a car and left the note..." I say. Of course...! It all makes sense now. Huh... I guess we really are in this together whether we like it or not...
——
Parker POV
"How was your first back?!" Abuelita asks from the stove where she stirs what smells like my favorite dish. My heart skips a beat and my body gets a little hot.
"It was..." I trail off... I got what felt like a million dirty looks, a group of girls was laughing at me, and I know because they pointed directly at me, people were talking behind my back wherever I went... "good. I'm just tired."
"I will let you know when dinner is ready, mi nieta," she says with a warm smile. I give a weak smile and a 'gracias' then head off to my room, collapsing on the bed. I'm so exhausted. I've never wanted to be swallowed by a black hole more times in one day than I did today. It was awful. Every time I saw one of the Cobra Kai kids, they would glare at me as if I was the one who kicked Miguel over the railing, and every time Hawk and I made eye contact he would either glare or smirk at me, although I don't know why the hell he would be smirking considering I beat his ass with part of a pattern. Moon was nice to me and so was Demetri, so at least I had that, but still. I didn't even see Sam... I hope she's doing okay...
I hope all of them are doing okay... I feel bad for quitting my job at the dealership, but I did what I felt I had to do... I walked into the bonsai section and I almost had a panic attack. Everything reminds me of Robby... I also feel bad for sneaking in during the middle of the night, which is trespassing and illegal, but I had an idea that could've led to a lead on Robby, and I had to get it to them. I just can't escape feeling bad...
A soft knocking comes at my door. Really? Dinner is done already?
"Come in," I say. Abuelita appears in the doorway. Strange... she would just call out that dinner is ready...
"Alguien está aquí para ti (someone is here for you)," she says. What? Who could that possibly be? Who would come to all the trouble to track me down in my new apartment to see me? Especially considering I haven't really told anyone beside Mr LaRusso who probably told Mrs LaRusso, but even then I didn't give any details.
To my great surprise, Sam walks into the room. My heart seems to stop a little. My breathing gets a little heavy and I can't help but feel extremely guilty. Robby seemed like he almost had full intention to kiss me... where does that leave him and Sam..? Where does everything leave all of us?
"Hey..." she says. This is so weird. She walks further into the room and Abuelita walks back to the kitchen, judging by her footsteps.
"Hey..." I say back. I still can't believe what happened at the school... and why it happened...
"Parker, I'm so sorry for what I said at the party... I should've listened to you..." she says, melting into it. I read her expression. She seems just as hurt and sorry as I feel. I don't say anything. I just nod and motion for her to sit and she does.
"My dad told me about everything that happened with your house... I'm sorry.. that must've been really hard. I can't imagine dealing with that on top everything that happened in the fight," she says. I nod a little. It is hard... and it's weird living here know that the Diaz family is right across and down from me and Mr Lawrence is below me and one over. I guess I should get used to it through, because I'm not going anywhere any time soon.
"Yeah... it's a lot, but it's starting to feel a little normal I guess. I don't know. Everything is weird now, especially at school... speaking of which, Demetri and I didn't see you at lunch. Is... is everything okay?" I ask. We were really worried.
"I... I just walked in and everybody was staring at me and whispering... I couldn't do it. I left early and went to the dojo and just... hung out until my dad found me while he was looking for Robby," Sam explains. She went through exactly what happened to me... except hers must be so much worse because everybody knows what happened between her and Miguel...
"People were whispering about me too.. I'm sorry.. I know it sucks.. although I can't imagine how it must be for you," I say in response. She nods. A silence befalls the two of us. Neither of us really say anything. I don't think we know what to say.
"How's the cut? I know she must've gotten you bad," Sam asks, "and thanks for jumping in front of me.. you saved me from another nasty scar."
"I'll always have your back, and it doesn't hurt too bad anymore. It's my rib that hurts more. It just aches. What about you?" I ask. The fact that there's a scar there now really irks me because I had finally worked up the courage to wear a swimsuit that didn't cover my stomach and now this? But yeah the rib hurts and though the bruises on my back are mostly healed, it still feels uncomfortable.
"Same here..." she says, "I guess they make us look kinda badass though."
I laugh a little. I guess she's right. Maybe we just own up to it.
"I guess we are kinda badass,"
"Yeah we are. If people want to talk shit, they can say it to our faces,"
"Yeah... you're right.." I say, the revelation erupting in my mind. It doesn't matter what we may have done. They don't have the right to talk behind our backs and make us feel worse about it.
"Tomorrow is gonna be better. We can't run away from what's hurting us.. we have to fight back," Sam says. Yeah! Well-
"Except maybe not with our fists this time," I say. We both laugh. Maybe everything feels like it's awful right now. Maybe I lost the person that was closest to me. Maybe my house got seized. Maybe I've hit rock bottom... but that means there's only one way to go... and it's up. And by god I'm going to make it out of this hole.. even if it means climbing out with my bare hands.
——
I clutch the straps of my backpack tightly. People start to look as I walk further into the building. In my two week suspension, I got bored and decided to fix the shirt that got ruined in the fight. Abuela is a miracle worker, or some sort of benevolent witch, because she managed to get all the blood out. I cropped the shirt where the gashes started so now it's good as new.
I wore the same outfit that I wore on the actual first day of school... on the day where everything turned upside down. This is my fresh start and I'm as ready as I can be. I take a deep breath and start walking to my first class of the day.
As I walk through the lobby, somebody gives me a dirty look. I pause, and though it makes my heart pound like a heavy drum, I look them dead in the eye, and give them a smile, then continue on my way knowing that I've just made my first reach in climbing out of the hole. That i've scored my first point in a tournament against my mind. And I'm determined to win this one.
• • •
A/N: hey besties, look who finally got a new chapter out. I hope it was good and sorry about the wait! :) stay safe and take care of yourselves