IT HAD BEEN TWO WEEKS SINCE MARISSA HAD JOINED COBRA KAI AND SINCE THEN SHE HAD PICKED UP A LOT MORE THAN INTENDED. The basic lessons had flown by fast and now they were starting actual training. Johnny, the sensei who had doubted her, had been using her flexibility to his advantage. He had her demonstrate stretches that would help get her teammates kicks higher and help them to become more versatile.
It would seem as though the only people who could perform them properly were Marissa, Tory, and Hawk, even if he didn't want to admit it. Tory, as Marissa had found out, had a dance background. She took a couple classes when she was younger and it was nice that Marissa had someone to talk to about dance while in karate.
Miguel, Marissa, and Hawk were currently spread out in a small circle, doing the stretches Marissa had taught a few days before. Feeling the need to spark conversation, Hawk began in Miguel's direction, "I did a deep dive online and you were right. Sensei is definitely Keene's father."
"What, Robby Keene?" Marissa asked, the name sounding familiar.
"Yeah, you know him?" Miguel questioned with conviction.
"I know of him. From how he acted at he All Valley, he doesn't seem that bad." Marissa expressed, trying her best to feign ignorance. "What's your beef with him, anyway? Is this seriously still about him showing up to the kegger with Sam?"
Miguel scoffed harshly as he turned and stretched his other foot, his face now angling toward the girl, "You don't take another dude's girlfriend to a party that her boyfriend is at. You're just looking for a fight at that point." He turned to the middle pulling his legs together, "I just don't understand why he wouldn't tell us."
"I don't know," Hawk answered honestly. "But it explains why he's giving us shit for kicking Keene's ass at the tournament. Show no mercy unless it's his son."
Marissa was about to make a snide remark about Hawk's unsportsmanlike behavior but Aisha came rushing over and she lost her thought. "Have you guys seen the commercial?" At the trio's confused looks, she elaborated, "Sam's dad started his own dojo and he disses Cobra Kai."
Marissa took the phone the four-eyed girl had held out to her and pressed play. The screen embodied Daniel LaRusso donned in a white gi spewing something about free karate lessons. As it ended, one line in particular stuck out not only to her but to Miguel and Hawk as well; Don't be a snake in the grass. Marissa may have just started training but he was talking about her dojo as if it was a bad place instead of being somewhere kids come to reinvent themselves.
For the rest of the supposed lesson, which was just Johnny proving he's stuck in the wrong decade, Marissa had spaced out as she began think about how Daniel LaRusso could make such a backhanded claim about another dojo. It was disrespectful and all Marissa knew was that he should be prepared to fight his puny fire with an inferno.
✯✯✯
WHEN PRACTICE CAME TO AN END MARISSA DECIDED TO MAKE A QUICK RUN TO THE STUDIO TO GET SOME WORK IN. Time got the better of her and before she knew it 4:00 had dwindled into 6:00 and, Marissa caught a bus and hightailed it over to her house before her mother came home and saw she wasn't there. Alana Van Camp had not yet been made aware of her daughter's new hobby and it wasn't because Marissa didn't want to tell her, it was they way Marissa knew she would react. Her mother never cared for violence or danger of any kind but after everything that happened with father she was even stricter about it.
Marissa reached her apartment door and fumbled with her keys as tried vigorously to find the right one and when she found it and inserted it into the door, it was to her surprise that it was already unlocked. Puzzled, she pushed the door open and saw her eleven year old sister plopped in front of the T.V. and her so-called babysitter, Mrs. Norris from the third floor, kick backed on the couch glued to a magazine.
"Mrs. Norris, why was the door unlocked?" Marissa questioned, dropping her bookbag and dance bag on the bench near the door. She was meet with no answer and found it odd how her hand holding the magazine had gone limp. She walked over to stand in front of her and she waved a hand in front of the old woman's eyes and came to the realization that she was asleep.
"She does that a lot," Rachel spoke, moving from the television and into the small kitchen down the hallway, coming back out with half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "I told her to drink coffee but she says it rots your brain and ruins your memory." She quickly changed the channel and jumped down on the couch next to Mrs. Norris.
"Of course she would say that," Marissa muttered under her breath before turning to Rachel questionably, "Help me wake her up, will you?"
Rachel showed her enthusiastic answer as she began jumping up and down on the couch hoping the movement would spur a reaction out of the elder. Mrs. Norris began to stir and Marissa gave her sister a scolding glance as to tell her to stop jumping. "Mrs. Norris, you can leave now," the teenager began softly, noticing as the woman started to sit up.
"Oh Marissa, dear, what time is it?" Mrs. Norris first spoke as she clung to the girl for support as she was now fully standing. Marissa informed her that it was now half past six which meant that the older woman had missed her game show and the Alana would be arriving shortly. Mrs. Norris gathered her things and Marissa kindly helped her out the door and, luckily, her apartment was only a few doors down so she didn't have to walk very far.
Closing the door behind her and locking it, Marissa folded her arms in a stern demeanor aimed directly at her little sister, "Get off the couch with that." She spoke in reference to the sandwich that was currently omitting jelly from its seems. "If that drips, it'll cause a sticky mess that I won't be taking the blame for."
"I'm sorry, did a wake up in a world where you and Mom switched bodies?" Rachel spoke sarcastically, unmoving as she stuffed the last piece in her mouth.
"Funny," Marissa deadpanned. "Why didn't you lock the door?"
"I didn't even know it was unlocked and besides isn't the 'babysitter' supposed to do things like that?" Rachel was a firm believer that she didn't need anyone to watch over her while Marissa was at dance and their mother was at work.
"Mrs. Norris is one hearing aid away from being senile," Marissa quipped in response, walking down the hall and into her room continuing the conversation through shouts. "You're going to be twelve in a month and a half and you can't even lock the door when you're home alone?"
"It's not that big of a deal," Rachel yelled in reply from the living room. "Nothing ever happens in this apartment building anyway."
The sound of a key turning in the door made Marissa hurry to pull her pajama shirt down over her head and slide down the hallway on her socks and lean on the counter before her mother stepped inside the door. When Alana Van Camp did enter the first thing she did was turn and lock the door. "What is going on in here? I can hear you guys down by the elevator."
"Just your usual sisterly argument," Marissa said quickly as to cover up for herself. "Right, Rach?"
Rachel slyly rolled her eyes at her older sibling before putting on a fake smile for her mother, "Right. No biggie."
"Well, next time keep it down." Alana rounded the counter Marissa was leaning on and pulled a frozen pizza from the freezer and beginning to prepare it. As she closed the door on the oven, she turned and faced her daughter, "Did you know Robby and his mom got evicted?"
"Yeah, his mom wasn't doing too well so Mr. LaRusso took him in." Marissa answered sitting at a stool on the counter before questioning, "I thought I told you."
"It must've slipped my mind." Alana unclipped her name tag from her uniform and dropped in the small dish that held keys, "Have you talked recently? To see how he's adjusting to everything?"
Marissa slowly shook her head before speaking, "But now that mention it, maybe I should. I haven't heard from him in a while."
"Are you worried?" Alana rounded her kitchen countertop and walked over to the small broom closet down the hall. She pulled the string to switch on the light and pulled her work top over her head and put it on a hanger, leaving her in a cotton thin, gray long-sleeve.
"What would I have to be worried about? I mean, at least he doesn't have to count on us for decent meals now," Marissa responded as Alana found her way from the hall to the couch. "He's living pretty cushy with Samantha now."
"Why do you say it like that?" Her mother was untying her shoes and kicking back on the couch, pulling Rachel under her arm.
"I didn't say it like anything. It's just...I don't know," Marissa spoke lowly. "I'm gonna go soak my feet. Let me know when the pizza's ready."
1 month, 2 weeks, and 2 days
gabbys note. rereading this I realize that the last couple lines were so weird and left off in a really odd place
BUT the story is rlly developing sooo...stay tuned!
please don't be a ghost reader!