"Bye bye, Danielle."
Later that night, Scarlet could be found rummaging around her closet. The girl hardly owned any decent clothes, and for some reason, she really wanted to make a good first impression on Miguel's family.
After finally deciding on an outfit, and successfully avoiding her father, the young teen hurried across the complex to Miguel's door.
Scarlet knocked as she waited nervously for the someone to open up. Based on past experiences, parents were usually not fond of her.
The door quickly opened to reveal a gorgeous woman. "Oh! You must be Scarlet!" She cheerfully spoke as she eyed the girl in awe, "You are just beautiful!"
Scarlet smiled widely about to speak before a familiar voice beat her to it, "Mom, please. Leave her alone." Miguel spoke looking embarrassed. An older woman soon joined the two at the door, peering out at Scarlet.
"The boy wasn't lying when he said she was pretty." The older woman muttered looking at Miguel's mother.
The woman merely nodded, as Miguel's face turned a shade of red.
"Excuse them. Come in!" The boy insisted, embarrassed.
"Thank you." Scarlet smiled politely, as the two women stepped aside, the girl realized she didn't know either of their names.
"I'm Carmen, and this is my mother, Rose-" The woman spoke, as if she had read her mind, before being abruptly cut off. "Nonsense. Just call me Yaya." The older woman spoke.
"Please, make yourself at home dear. Dinner should be ready in about an hour." Carmen continued sending a look to Yaya.
"Want to go to my room?" Miguel asked, before either of his family members could steal the girl away.
Scarlet smiled, ignoring the suggestive looks shot at the two before following him to his room.
"Your family is beautiful." The girl commented, remembering the motherly look Carmen had immediately given her.
Miguel gave her a wide smile, the two sitting on the bed, "So you know what my family's like, tell me about yours." He insisted.
Scarlet froze, she wasn't ready to tell the boy about her dad, they had just met.
"Theres not much to tell. My mom passed away during birth and I live with my dad." She stated as she regained her composure.
Miguel could instantly see that she was hiding something, and he was determined to figure out what, but he decided to leave it alone for now, not wanting to push the girl.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Miguel frowned.
"No it's okay, really." She smiled before hesitating. "What happened to your dad? If you don't mind me asking."
Miguel's face relaxed, "I never met him. My mom said that he was dangerous, and that he lives in Mexico." He muttered cluelessly.
"Do you think you'll ever want to meet him?" The girl asked in interest.
"I've thought about it. But to be honest, I wouldn't even know where to start." He stated before changing the subject.
"Since we're friends now, I'm determined to get you to go to school at least 4 days a week." Miguel smirked mischievously.
"Yeah good luck Diaz."
• • • •
The group of four were gathered around the table conversing whilst eating their dinner. Carmen and Yaya wanted to know more about the girl their son was so friendly with.
"So Scarlet, what do you like to do on your free time?" Carmen questioned with a smile.
Scarlets eyes widened her mouth agape. She remembered Miguel mentioning how his mother did not agree with violence, which was a big part of Scarlet's habits.
"Uh-" She paused, throwing a panicked look at the boy next to her, "I hang out with my friend Madi a lot. We like to watch movies and go for car rides around the city." Technically, it wasn't a lie.
"I also hang out with this kid named Eli, we've been friends our whole lives." She commented.
Carmen smiled at that as Yaya looked at her suspiciously.
"So, what ahout you and Miguel? What do you guys do when you hang out?" The elderly woman questioned, raising her eyebrows suggestively.
Scarlet cleared her throat, sending an incredulous look to the boy.
"Yaya!" Miguel snapped in embarrassment.
"Mama." Carmen sent her a look.
"What? I'm just trying to see how much they really like each other, daughter." The older woman smirked.
Scarlet sat there awkwardly, not being able to understand, but as she looked at Miguel's face, she knew it was mad.
Her own cheeks started to heat up. As she awkwardly laughed with the women.
"I am only teasing sweetheart." Yaya chuckled as Carmen shook her head.
Scarlet smiled, changing the subject as everyone finished eating, "I'll wash the dishes." She spoke kindly, doing everything she could not to seem like a burden.
"No."
"Nonsense child"
"Absolutely not!" Instant disagreements clashed at the same time.
"You and Miguel just go off and have fun." Carmen insisted, sending the two on their way.
"Are you sure? I can-"
"Go." Yaya said strictly.
Scarlet nodded with a smile as Miguel tugged her away.
The boy laughed as they made it to his room, "We invite you to dinner and you want to do our dishes?" He asked in disbelief.
Scarlet couldn't help but laugh with him, "Well I didn't want to seem like an inconvenience!" She giggled defending herself.
Miguel paused, becoming serious as he stared into her eyes.
"You could never be an inconvenience Scarlet." He mumbled to her.
Scarlets heart fluttered at his tone. The girl cleared her throat, not approving of the sudden feelings that were arising these past few days.
"Well, I should get going.." She stated, breaking the tense atmosphere.
"Yeah- Of course! I'll walk you out." He insisted, as the made their way to the door.
On the way out, Scarlet made sure to say her goodbyes to the two women.
"Good bye Yaya, Carmen. Thank you so much for having me! The food was amazing." The girl smiled.
"Oh hush. You're welcome here anytime, you're basically part of the family now!" Yaya assured pulling the girl into a warm hug before she was replaced by Carmen.
Miguel walked her outside, shutting the door.
"I'm glad you came." He murmured softly.
"Me too. I had fun." She smiled.
"You can come over anytime, really, just walk in." The Diaz boy insisted.
"Okay." Scarlet laughed, "Bye Mig." She softly spoke, walking away.
"Goodbye." The boy muttered with admiration in his eyes.
"He likes her." Yaya stated looking to Carmen from their spot in the window.
• • • •
Scarlet scrolled through her phone at the lunch table. Sitting across from her was Eli, her life long friend, Demetri, a weird boy she didn't care much for, and her best friend, Madi.
"So you finally decided to show up to school?" Demetri asked the girl sassily, "It's been like a week."
Scarlett rolled her eyes, scoffing, "What's it to you?"
The boy merely raised his hands defensively.
"Is it cool if I sit here?" A voice suddenly cut through the air, Scarlet glanced up biting back her smile when she recognized Miguel.
"Sorry, tables really blowing up right now." Demetri states glancing around at the empty seats, "I can put you on the waitlist, but it's probably next semester at the earliest."
"Okay." Miguel frowned. The boy glanced at Scarlet before turning to walk away.
"Miguel." She spoke exasperated. He quickly spun around, "Sit the fuck down." The Winston girl instructed.
"Yeah, I was kidding." Demetri hurriedly said as Miguel sat next to Scarlet.
"Miguel." He muttered introducing himself.
"Demetri." The boy replied before giving a look to Scarlet as if to say that it was her turn
The girl shook her head at his antics, "That's Eli, he doesn't talk a lot," She spoke sending a small nod to the timid boy, "and that's Madi." She finished.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Madi's stare directed towards her. Scarlet turned, catching her eye.
As if communicating telepathically, Madi raised her eyebrows with a smirk before glancing at Miguel and back to Scarlet.
The girl merely shook her head before rolling her eyes.
"Hey." Miguel said politely to the two.
Everyone paused as the rich girls walked past. Scarlet sent Demetri a dirty look as she watched his eyes trail behind them.
"I'd kill all 4 of you just to get Yasmin to spit in my face." Demetri sighed. Madi looked at him, disgusted.
"Wow, D. Thanks." The Davis girl muttered.
Miguel turned to the boy confused. "Have you ever even tried talking to them? Or.." Scarlett laughed at that.
"Oh yeah! All the time. We hang out after school, make out, give each other hand jobs." Demetri stated sarcastically. "Eli here is homecoming king. Gets laid more than anyone. Isn't that right Eli?" He asked dramatically.
"Talked to them? You realize what table you're sitting at right?"
"You've pretty much signed away all hopes of loosing your virginity before college." Madi cut in. "Shit, Yasmin's looking at us." She muttered before looking down at her feet.
"She's probably making fun of me." Eli finally spoke quietly.
Scarlet slowly turned to glare at Yasmin, watching as her face instantly dropped. Beside the Winston girl, Miguel was staring in awe.
"Almost every one at school is afraid of Scarlet after she broke Kyler's nose back in 9th grade." Demetri explained when he noticed the boy's expression. "They still mess with us though since she doesn't show up most days." He stated sending her a look with his final words.
Scarlet merely rolled her eyes, waving him off. However Miguel didn't seem to want to let it go.
"Why do you skip school?" He asked, voice laced with disappointment, the boy had hoped to see her around. "You know, you need good grades to go to college."
Scarlet smiled slightly at the Diaz boy, "I appreciate the pep talk but I pretty much screwed up the chances of me going to college years ago." She laughed as muttered agreements could be heard around the table.
Miguel turned back to Demetri, "You know, if you don't make a move on Yasmine, you'll never have a shot with her."
"True." The boy pointed at him, "but I'll also never suffer a humiliating rejection." He stated matter of factly. "Im at peace with my depression. Last thing I need is to be suicidal."
Miguel rolled his eyes looking back to the table as he watched Kyler and his friends happily take a seat.
"Theres also that." Madi spoke.
• • • •
"Can't strike first if you don't know how to strike."
Johnny circled the two teens. They were now on the second day of training at Cobra Kai.
"The cobra strike is composed of two parts:" The man stated. "The lung, which requires the use of the whole body; and the bite, which is everything that happens after you make contact." He said, demonstrating on the dummy positioned in front of him.
"All right? You don't stop here where knuckle hits the bone. You punch through the bone, like the guy you really wanna hit is standing behind this asshole." He continued before demonstrating once again.
Johnny turned to the kids as they nodded their heads seemingly understanding what he was saying.
"Strike here, you bloody his nose; strike here, you break his teeth; strike here, you could severely damage his trachea." The blonde continued. "Obviously that's only for extreme situations." He mentioned throwing a quick glance at Scarlet.
"All right, Scar, you first." He announced, pointing to the spot in front of the dummy.
"Focus. Imagine the dummy is the person you hate most."
As the girl lined up in position, her mind immediately being drawn to her father. Scarlet's face hardened as she sent a solid punch through the dummy. The thought of what happened just the other day when she went home, and all the other times before that. The fading bruises being a constant reminder. She punched the dummy repeatedly, growing more aggressive with every blow.
"Okay kid that's enough." Johnnys voice broke through her heavy thoughts. Scarlet turned to him breathlessly as she was met with both the boys concerned faces.
"So how'd I do?" She asked. There was a beat of silence, as the man continued to stare at her with a worried look.
The blonde cleared his throat before nodding proudly.
"Good- that was good." He decided, looking to Miguel, "Okay you're up Diaz, I want you to practice." Johnny spoke as he walked off to take a phone call.
Scarlet watched as the boy threw a weak punch at the dummy's head. "Remember, punch through it Mig." She muttered supportively.
The Diaz boy smiled at the nickname, yet continued to throw horrible punches at the object.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." Johnny muttered in disappointment. "You're doing it all wrong!" He voiced harshly before looking to Scarlet who merely shrugged.
The man sighed, "What do you want, those kids at school to keep dumping shit on your head?" He questioned in disbelief.
"You want all the girls to think you're a wang-less dork?" He accused, "'Cause you could stop your training right now and you could walk outside and let the whole world know you're a loser."
"Or you could plant your feet, look your enemy in the eyes, and punch him in the face!" Johnny ordered harshly at the boy who still looked hesitant.
"Miguel, just picture Kyler. He's the enemy. And he's standing right behind this stupid fuck." Scarlet encouraged aggressively.
"Do you have the picture of his ugly ass face in your mind?" Scarlet questioned energetically, egging him on. She could see the anger in his eyes.
Miguel nodded, eyebrows furrowed. "Then what the hell are you gonna do about it?" Scarlet pushed, smirking. The girl was excited to see a different side to him.
Miguel grunted punching the dummy with force.
"Hyah!"
"Again!" Johnny ordered.
"Hyah!"
"Are you a loser?" The blonde accused.
"No Sensei!" Miguel shouted, punching harder.
"Again!"
The Diaz boy let out all of his anger, showering the dummy in aggressive blows relentlessly.
Scarlet watched in awe, seeing the boy in a new light.
Finally, out of breath, Miguel took a step back and looked at the two, noticing the slight shade of red that dusted the girls cheeks.
"Nice Diaz!" Johnny complimented, as Scarlet sent him a thumbs up accompanied by a proud smile.
• • • •
It was late that night that the two teenagers could be seen cleaning the dojo once again. Whilst Miguel was cleaning the toilet on his 'hands and knees', per Johnny's request, Scarlet worked on cleaning the window of the man's office as he filled out paperwork.
"Hey Johnny?" Scarlet muttered hesitantly.
The man instantly stopped what he was doing snapping his head up.
"What's up kid?" He inquired, giving her his undivided attention.
The girl walked around the window, into his office.
"Could I stay at your place for the rest of the week?" She asked quietly, looking over her shoulder to make sure Miguel couldn't hear, "My dad has been a real asshole lately- it's okay to say no. I just-"
Johnny quickly interrupted her. "Of course you can honey. You know you don't have to ask." He said softly.
The girl looked down sheepishly, "Yeah- but I- it just feels wrong not too. I don't wanna be in the way." She finally stated with a frown.
The man looked at her, heart breaking for the girl. He stood up and slowly brought the girl into a fatherly hug.
"Listen to me." He said sternly, yet softly. "You are not a burden, and you will never be in my way. I love you Scar."
Scarlet tensed up. She had never been told those words before.
"I love you too Lawrence."
Suddenly, their moment was ruined by the sound of the bell ringing, signaling somebody had just come in the dojo.
Johnny walked out of the office, Scarlet in tow.
"Welcome to Cobra Kai." The man said confidently, before faltering as his gaze landed on a certain Larusso.
"Some things never change." Daniel shrugged.
"Yeah. What are you talking about?"
"I heard the both of you beat up a bunch of teenagers in that parking lot out there." Daniel stated glancing between the duo and pointing outside.
Scarlet thought she would let Johnny handle this.
"Oh. That." Johnny remembered. "No. We didn't beat up any teenagers."
"We kicked the shit out of a bunch of assholes who deserved it." He spoke smugly, as he started towards the man.
Daniel scoffed, "Wow, Johnny Lawrence calling someone else an asshole. Thats rich man."
Johnnys furrowed his brows in defense. "Hey what's that supposed to mean?"
The Winston girl only observed from next to the man, ready to defend him, though, she knew he didn't need it.
"Uh- look. I'm not here to rehash the past." He muttered in annoyance, "Just stay away from my daughter's friends." The man stated, looking to the both of them. Scarlet scoffed at this. If only Daniel knew the type of people his daughter was really hanging around.
"Your daughter's friends?" Johnny questioned in disbelief, "Yeah that makes sense." He smirked.
"Nice company she keeps." Scarlet muttered, rolling her eyes.
Daniel threw a look at her before glancing between the two, "What the hells that supposed to mean?"
"Means those friends of hers were wailing on a kid half their size. And a girl- well trying to." The man teased, glancing to Scarlet, proudly.
"Maybe you don't know your daughter as well as you think you do." The blonde suggested.
"Sounds like you should get your house in order, Lapusso." Scarlet chuckled mockingly. Johnny snorted at that.
"Hey. Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" The man snapped marching forward with a glare. Johnny stepped in front of the girl with a hostile look of his own, eyes filled to the brim with anger.
"Bathrooms clean!" Miguel's voice shouted, breaking through the thick tension that clouded the room.
Scarlet turned shaking her head at the boy to stop talking. Miguel glanced to her, and then to the Larusso man in shock.
"I- I'm sorry Sensei. I-" Miguel cut himself off, coming to stand by Scarlet.
"Sensei?" Daniel's face morphed into that of disbelief. "Really?"
"Oh my God you guys, I don't know what he's told you but you shouldn't believe a word this guy says or else you're going to end up exactly like him." The man stated matter of factly before glaring at Scarlet. "Well, seems like someone already has." The girl merely rolled her eyes.
"You and I- this," Daniel motioned to the dojo, glaring at Johnny. "We aren't done." He threatened, walking out.
"I'm right here man." Johnny remarked cockily.
"Bye bye Danielle." The girl sung mockingly with a smirk.
Daniel merely scoffed with a shake of his head before finally leaving.
Johnny turned to Scarlet snickering as the two high-fived.
"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything Sensei." Miguel hesitated, "Should I do 20 pushups on my knuckles?" The boy cringed.
"Right. Like you could." The man laughed in his face, making Scarlet snort.
Miguel rolled his eyes muttering a 'yeah, yeah', "So, who was that guy Sensei? I mean besides the fact that he's on like- every billboard ever." The teen asked. Johnny looked at the boy with determination.
"We need to talk."
AUTHORS NOTE
Is this character development on Scarlets part? Orrrr is it just a growing soft spot for Miguel?
Also, something about the whole Danielle joke is absolutely hilarious to me. Its genius.
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