•~3rd person P.O.V~•
"But Sensei Kreese, their confidence fuels their moves in a fight, I don't have any and I feel like I'm the worst fighter on that mat!" Ellie frowned, leaning back in the plush chair that was placed in front of Kreese's desk. Kreese twisted the rings on his fingers, as he pondered on what to say next.
"You need to let go of whatever is holding you back. You're smart Ms. Moskowitz, you know what you need to do to feel the confidence needed to fight. But I still know you, and I know that whatever you're holding onto isn't for you, it's for someone else." Ellie blinked, wondering what she could be hanging onto.
"I-I'm not hanging onto anything." Kreese pricked up an eyebrow, leaning closer to her.
"I know you're smart, but no one else does. Why is that?" The deals Ellie had made. She was holding onto them. She was holding onto her fantasy of her mom finally loving her once she fulfilled those deals.
But she'd been fulfilling those deals for six and a half years now and her mother still wasn't acting in the role that Ellie desired. That Ellie needed. The deals didn't help her any, they just made her feel worse if anything.
But even Ellie knew that being smart wouldn't make her confident. Her facts got her weird looks, not smiles or peaked interests. Ellie took a deep breath as she stood and left, wondering how to proceed. Could she just tell her mom she was done with the deals? There was no way, that would get her grounded until she moved out. She had to do something, anything to relieve herself from the pressure of the deals.
~
"Hey, twenty-two in a row. New record!" Eli exclaimed, gripping the soccer ball in his hands. Ellie had her legs propped up on the lunch table as she watched, counting every bump.
"You know, me and you could go twenty-two rounds in a-"
"Ew! No!" Ellie shoved the boy next to her, his awful breath brushing her cheek.
"C'mon, give me a chance." Ellie rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest.
"Have you seen yourself? I have low standards but they aren't that low." The boy smirked, leaning back in his seat. The boy was relentless, but only when Eli wasn't paying attention. He knew if Eli saw his advances if you could even call them that, that he'd beat the shit out of him. But Ellie wanted him to feel that way about Ellie.
"I like girls that play hard to get." Ellie pricked up her eyebrow.
"You just say that because you can't get any bitches." Suddenly Ellie heard a crash, her head quickly whipping around as she looked in the direction of the sound. Eli had thrown his soccer ball on Demetri's project. Did Ellie care? Not necessarily, she was still upset about the party.
"Another week, another pissing contest. I shouldn't be surprised since you love pissing so much." Demetri spat, looking Eli up and down bitterly.
"You landed one kick. You got lucky." Eli chuckled, a satisfied smirk growing across his face.
"Back off, or you won't be lucky." Sam bellowed, quickly taking her place beside Demetri. Ellie couldn't help but cringe, something that usually happened after Sam's "comebacks".
"Like you'll start anything, princess. Why don't you go sleep with someone new and break his heart?" Sam clenched her teeth, before shoving Eli into the other Cobra's behind him.
"What's going on, Miss LaRusso? You know our physical contact guidelines. Did she enter your personal bubble without verbal consent?" Counselor Blatt asked, but Ellie was quick to respond as Eli struggled for an answer.
"She definitely triggered Eli into his safe space." Eli nodded, a faux frown and innocence covering his pleasure in seeing Sam in trouble.
"What? He started by destroying my science project." Demetri blurted, Counselor Blatt raised an eyebrow, waiting for Eli's answer.
"That was an accident!" Eli replied quickly.
"You probably shouldn't bring toys to school," Ellie added a fake concern lacing its way into her voice.
"I don't want excuses. I just want you to respect each other." Counselor Blatt pleaded, her shoulders falling in desperation.
"She's right guys. We should stop the aggression. Micro and macro." Ellie falsely admitted, earning an approving nod from Counselor Blatt.
"Oh, give me a break," Sam muttered under her breath.
"Hey! Consider this a warning, Miss LaRusso. Pick up these Legos, someone could get hurt." As soon as Counselor Blatt turned her back, Eli and Ellie smiled.
"For you pansies, no space is safe." Eli laughed, along with Ellie and the other Cobra's, as they turned and left. "Thanks for saving my ass back there." Eli smiled, shoving Ellie slightly.
"I'm a quick thinker, unlike you." Ellie smiled, causing Eli to roll his eyes playfully.
Ellie, nor Eli, knew where her newfound confidence came from but they were both glad she finally wasn't letting people use her like a doormat. Ellie was ready to show many more people that she couldn't be used, that she wouldn't do whatever they wanted.
Her confidence seemed to be known by everyone now. Girls were asking for her snap and asking to hang out, walking with her to classes. When they weren't following her around, she was being trailed by the rest of the Cobra's with her brother by her side. That was what was happening as they walked onto the soccer field.
"I fucking hate soccer, it's so stupid." Ellie spat bitterly, folding her arms across her chest.
"We literally played on a soccer team before, you should be fine." Ellie rolled her eyes. Just because they'd played before didn't mean Ellie hated it any less.
"We played on a little league soccer team, it doesn't count." Eli shrugged, they both were good at soccer and often played it in their backyard. Ellie didn't necessarily hate the game, but playing it with others that weren't Eli.
The gym coach blew her whistle, telling everyone that they were to start playing the game. But as they played, Ellie realized that the Miyagi Do's were using karate moves. Kicking, punching, and shoving Cobra's the entire time. At one point, Demetri had swept Eli's feet out from beneath him.
"You okay?" Ellie asked as her brother lifted himself from the ground. He nodded, fury boiling in his eyes as he clenched his teeth. "I can take care of him, he wouldn't expect me." Ellie offered Eli, giving her a look of shock. "They know I do karate but they wouldn't expect me to use it on anyone, I can use the eliminate of surprise to my advantage." Eli slowly began to nod, glancing at Demetri as he high-fived Sam.
"Okay, go ahead." Ellie gave him an affirming nod. She knew her brother wasn't always in the right, but that didn't mean she wasn't defensive when it came to him. She knew that Eli destroying Demetri's project wasn't right, but starting a random fight would lead to a much bigger one in the future.
Ellie swept people's feet from beneath them, kicked people in the stomach with her spiky cleats, punched people, and kicked people in the face. All while scoring a couple of points. Then, all of a sudden, a whistle sounded.
"You know what? That's it! Everyone to the principal's office now!" Ellie sighed, trudging behind Eli. However, Ellie knew just what to do when she was called into Counselor Blatt's office. Ellie knew just how to tug on Counselor Blatt's heartstrings and make her believe the other party was in the wrong.
"I was just defending myself and Eli. I know it was wrong to get physical, I should've told an adult, but I knew they would've just attacked me and Eli more. I'm sorry, I'll apologize to them if you'd like me to Counselor Blatt. I really do regret my actions."
Ellie had recited it since the gym teacher yelled for them to go. And it worked. Counselor Blatt gave her a sorry look and sent her out of the room to stand with the Cobra's.
"Caldwell, Johnson, Rickenberger, Ellie, the four of you, and Eli are free to go." Ellie smiled, her eyes immediately going to the Miyagi Do's.
"Unbelievable," Demetri muttered.
"You're kidding!" Sam squealed, her eyes latching on Ellie's. Ellie smiled and gave her a teasing wave as she walked away with the other Cobra's.
"I'm not sure where this new Ellie came from, but I like her. She's cool." Eli whispered, gaining a smile from Ellie. She was glad he liked the new Ellie because she liked the new Ellie too.
~
"Do you know how bad it is in here?" Robby asked rhetorically, as Ellie gave him a sorry look.
"I'm sorry." She frowned, her eyes scouring his face. "You got into a fight." Robby's hand flew up to the side of his eye, where a bright red and purple bruise shined.
"Yeah." Robby saw a flash of fear on Ellie's face that he quickly wanted to wash away. "But it's fine, I'm fine." Ellie reached her hand across the table, her fingers lightly touching his knuckles.
"I know I can send you stuff, do you need anything? Like food o-or something to entertain yourself with?" Robby felt his heart warm, he knew Ellie loved him and he loved that he felt loved. "I don't care to send you stuff. I could send you snacks or soda or books or puzzles. Whatever you want." Robby chuckled, placing a kiss on the back of Ellie's hand. A dark scarlet blush peppered her cheeks, Robby loved how flustered he always made her.
"All I need is to be out there with you." Her cheeks grew even more red as a small smile joined with it.
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A/n: idk why Ellie and Robby were so cute at the end but I'm living for it😭
Word Count:1,668