─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───
"drivers licence revoked, forced to move to a new town, parole officers on my ass at all times." tabitha silver listed all of her current problems to her brother. "could my life become any worse?" the girl had her window side rolled down, allowing the summer breeze to make its way into the car.
it had only been a week since the family had moved into town, but it had been the worst week for tabitha. she was extremely bored. especially since it was summer break and nearly all of her entertainment came from school, because that's where all the people she could torment would be found.
theodore silver chuckled at her from the driver's seat of the grey ford fiesta. "drivers license revoked because of how many speeding tickets you've gotten and that one time you chased that girl from school with the car-"
"it was barely a chase." tabitha scoffed at his hyperbole.
"she was on foot, tabby." theodore reminded her, "you were in the car. that's borederline harassment... at least that's what your parole officer thought."
"yeah, and what about all the times she's harassed me?" tabitha contested. "but no one blinked an eyelid at that, huh? parole officer looks the other way."
"anyways." theo shook his head with a smile at her dramatics. one thing he loved about his sister was that she always amused him. he found her antics genuinely funny, but only when she wasn't overcome with actual dangerous rage. the two were polar opposites, but they still were very close.
"forced to move to a new town because you made so many enemies in silver lake, that mom was scared she would be beaten up just for giving birth to you. so, she thought she'd feel safer in her home town."
"oh she was so overdramatic for that." tabitha shook her head in disappointment.
"and finally, parole officers officers on your butt because by law, you are classified as a juvenile delinquent." theo finished.
see there was a line between juvenile delinquent and actual criminal that tabitha silver metaphorically stood on, waiting for the wind to blow her in either direction.
been arrested? tick. overnight stay in juvie? tick. overnight stay in a prison cell? tick. managing to piss off the judge during your court hearing? tick. and her personal favourite, being forced to wear an ankle monitor? tick.
tabitha silver should be rotting in a jail cell by now. the only thing preventing that is the fact that her mother was a lawyer. and since the judicial system was already so fucked and corrupt, tabitha was always let off easier than she should've been.
"i get that you hope to be a lawyer like mom, or a therapist, or whatever your dream job is this week... but that does not give you permission to psychoanalyse me." tabitha warned him.
"copy that, sarge."
"where are we even going?" she finally asked him, after ten minutes of being in the vehicle.
"well... i promised mom that i'd find you an outlet for your anger." theo started.
"you what?!"
"i haven't told her what i've discovered but apparently this town is famous for its karate dojos. and research has shown that training in martial arts, seems to be an effective way to lower levels of anger and aggression." theo explained as he pulled up to a studio. "this is cobra kai, is run by a man named johnny lawrence. it was quite oddly expensive but you know mom would spend millions just to support you."
tabitha slightly frowned at the end of his statement. "yeah... and i don't appreciate you and mom conspiring against you."
"it's because we love you, tabby." theo told her, honestly. "and we want to help you."
"yes, cool. but, i don't need help." she told him, forcing open the car door and stepping out. tabitha looked up at the place, just a white building with a black, white and yellow sign. 'cobra kai karate' and a yellow cobra on either side of the words.
"all valley champion trained here." theo told her, walking by her side.
"i don't even know what that means." she told him, truthfully. "what makes you think i want to start karate again?"
"you're good at it tabitha, you know that." theo reminded her. "but they don't know that. so you can pretend your bad and then show them how skilled you are. i know that'll keep you entertained."
"you're right." she nodded, her brother knew her so well. "you signing up too?"
"no, i'm already zen enough. and you know grandpa said i didn't have the winner mindset that you did." theo shook his head as he did the namaste gesture. "just want to keep an eye on you."
"you're such a loser." tabitha groaned, pushing the door of the dojo open. the bell chimed, and all eyes were immediately on her and her brother. her face formed into repugnance as she inspected the room and quickly gazed at everyone. the girl twisted around, ready to step back out. but theo drove her forward.
tabitha sighed, knowing there was no escape. "what are you all looking at?" she loudly asked the people in the room.
they quietly murmured and looked away from her with slight fear. she even caught the owner, johnny lawrence's, attention. he momentarily glimpsed away from the conversation he was having with his former sensei and began to smirk at her exclaim. the man was satisfied there was genuine cobra kai potential among the geeks and nerds who had signed up.
then, the all valley champion glanced at his two friends before strolling over to the siblings duo at the door. miguel diaz looked at tabitha up and down, taking in her appearance.
she was wearing baggy, straight-legged, khaki green, cargo pants with a loose fitted slipknot t-shirt to go with it. on her feet was a well-worn pair of black converse. her shoulder-length, deep brown hair was freshly washed and in its untouched state. a silver ring was clasped onto her right nostril and she had about three studs decorating each ear.
most importantly, she was pretty.
"hey." he started, confidence evident in his tone. "you guys here to join?"
"what the fuck else would we be doing here?" tabitha challenged him. "you think we came all this way to just stand here and watch?"
as miguel's mouth was agape at her forwardness, theo quickly positioned his hands on her shoulders and moved her to the side. he had immediately identified the latino. "i am sorry about her... you're the all valley champ, right?"
miguel smiled at that, "yeah, that's me."
"cool, cool." theo nodded.
"i too am so sorry." tabitha gasped before bowing down to him. "if i had known you were of such importance, i would not have used profanity in your presence."
missing her sarcasm, miguel shook his head. "no worries, it's all good. i'm miguel, miguel diaz."
"theodore."
"tabitha, my lord." she continued the act.
"stop it!" theo hissed.
"great to meet you guys." miguel smiled, gesturing for them to follow him. he led the two over to four other people. "these are my friends, aisha and hawk."
"that your given name?" tabitha questioned, her eyes fixated on the pale boy with a blue mohawk stemming out of his head.
"no... but it's what you're gonna call me." eli moskowitz, self nicknamed hawk, shrugged. he wasn't fazed by her demeanour.
theo bit his lip, unsure of how his sister would handle his confrontational words. but tabitha was impressed, no one back in her old town had the balls to challenge her. maybe encino would be more entertaining than she assumed. but then again, they didn't know her yet.
"i like you." she grinned, catching the boy by surprise. "i like you a lot."
"are you guys new to town?" aisha robinson spoke up.
"yeah, just moved here last week." theo spoke up. "but i should get going. will you be alright here, tabby?"
"yeah, whatever." tabitha nodded. "thanks for the ride."
"anytime." theo nodded. "see you at home."
they watched as he exited the dojo before miguel turned to the new girl.
"how come he's not staying?" miguel questioned once the door closed.
"what, you couldn't ask him yourself before you watched him leave?" tabitha questioned, her voice laced with sass, making hawk snicker.
"i-" miguel started, already growing a little frustrated with her unnecessary attitude. "i was just asking."
"let's just say he's more of a yoga guy than a martial arts guy." tabitha sighed.
"quiet!" johnny lawrence's voice echoed in the room which immediately silenced everyone. "everyone, fall in."
tabitha watched as they all moved into rows and she quickly got into line with them, taking a space in the back corner.
"class, we have a visitor." johnny explained from the front of the class, the old man by his side. "this is mr kreese. he's just an observer. pretend like he's not even here. mr diaz, warm them up."
miguel stepped over to where johnny was standing and bowed. they all reciprocated the gesture, tabitha deciding to just blindly copy whatever she saw everyone else doing.
"fighting positions!" the diaz boy ordered, "front kick. yuh."
"yuh!"
"forward strike, yuh!"
"yuh!"
"side jab, yuh!"
"yuh!"
instead of doing the actual side jab, tabitha watched as the class dabbed. the girl had to hold herself back from simply stepping out of the classroom, but she knew that her mother had unknowingly paid for her to be there.
"what the hell was that?" johnny questioned over their laughters, the only other person not delighted by their jokes.
"we were just messing around." miguel admitted, "we have eleven and a half months until the next all valley."
"yeah, besides, we already know how to kick ass." hawk agreed, a grin on his face.
they all chuckled and nodded in agreement, which made their karate sensei even more enraged.
"oh, yeah, really, huh?" johnny challenged, "so you know everything. there's nothing left to learn, huh?"
aisha began to giggle, catching johnny's attention, "what's so funny, miss robinson?" he strode over to her front and asked her.
"i'm sorry, sensei, you just wouldn't understand." she shook her head, a smile on her face.
"try me."
"it's a snake-doo." aisha stated.
"what's a 'snake-doo'?" johnny inquired, falling right into her trap.
the class began producing hissing noises while creating a serpent movement with their arms. tabitha genuinely laughed, completely taken aback at how unserious these people were. johnny looked appaled while his visitor, mr john kresse, seemed extremely unimpressed.
"quiet!" the man yelled, it was apparent he had enough. "five a.m - tomorrow morning. corner of fulton and raymer. you don't show, and you're off the team. class dismissed."
"five am?" tabitha questioned at the ridiculousness of his demand. she was following right behind him and made her way to his office.
"you got a problem with that, new girl?" johnny shouted back at her.
"i mean, i just thought this was the three pm class." tabitha shrugged.
"and i'm saying now that tomorrow is the five am class." johnny shot back. "you're telling me you came into my office to challenge my orders?"
"why's that such a surprise to you?" tabitha asked. "you that used to people blindly following you like sheep, that the slightest sign of rebellion has you trembling?"
"trembling?!"
miguel glanced over to his friends, their jaws open wide with astonishment. they had all been listening in to their conversation as their voices were elevated and the walls were thin.
"new girl's got balls." hawk muttered with an amused smirk as the two strangers continued to yell at each other.
"yeah, but i'm not sure if that's such a good thing." miguel grumbled.
⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
you know what's so crazy is that this is the THIRD time i've unknowingly picked an fc that's been in another project with one of the characters in the fanfic? first it was brianne tju and dylan sprayberry, then taylor russell and chase stokes, and now kiana maderia and jacob bertrand??!!
anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter!!