"Get up."
"No." I shoved a pillow over my head.
"Get up." There was a tug on my arm.
"Go away." I begged.
"Come on, please?" I cracked my eye open to see Miguel standing above me. Tory was sitting on my legs.
"I'm not ready to start the day" I covered my face again.
"Olivia, you haven't been ready to start the day for the past week. It's time we do something about that." Tory was actually worried about me.
"If you promise to get up, I have a surprise for you..." Miguel bribed me, so I lifted my head out from under the pillow.
"What's the surprise?" I asked softly and sweetly.
"No, promise me first that you'll get out of bed." I contemplated my choices, but was too curious to stay in bed. So I took a deep breathe and sat up.
"I promise that I'll get up." I sat Indian style and waited patiently for my surprise. Miguel walked away from my bed and grabbed something out of his backpack. He put it behind his back and came to my side.
"I saw this at the store, and I thought you would like it." He revealed a fluffy teddy bear and handed it to me. I held the bear in my arms and a feeling of joy came over me. It felt good to have people care, but I just wanted to lay back in bed.
"No. I see that look in your eye. You are going to get up now and take a shower because we have a party tonight." Tory pulled the blanket off of me and I groaned.
"You guys are sweet to care about me but I promise that I'm okay. I just don't feel like doing anything." I said to the people looking at me like I was going to break. I was upset for a few days after the break up with Hawk, but now I was just unmotivated to leave my room. I had missed karate for the first time, and Johnny called me pissed. It was apparently an important lesson. So my days had turned onto karate and sleeping. Hawk and I avoided each other in class, leaving me to cling to Tory and Miguel.
"Look, Moon invited us to a back to school party at her place tonight and I told her we would be there. It'll be good for you to see everyone before schools starts." Tory was now rubbing my arm like I was a child.
"Plus, you stink." Miguel commented. I couldn't help but laugh. I sniffed my hair and he was right. It was sour.
"Okay, but I'm taking a shower because I want to." I got out of bed and cringed as my feet touched the cold floors. "I'll be quick." I announced, but I ended up taking my time. I shaved my legs for the first time in a week and it helped to improve my mood. Once out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around myself and went into my room to find something to wear. I hadn't been to a party in forever and was going to struggle picking out an outfit. However, Tory came to the rescue with another present. She was holding a new, dark blue dress with little white stars all over it.
"I thought you would like to wear something new tonight." She handed it over to me.
"You guys are too much. Thank you." I said to both Tory and Miguel, who was laying in my bed not paying any attention to the moment. I quickly got ready, now eager to see all of my friends. I curled my clean hair, put on some white sneakers, and started picking out jewelry.
"I have to go to the bathroom and when I get out we have to head to Moon's or else we'll be late." Tory instructed me. I rolled my eyes at her pushiness and went back to finding a necklace. At the top of my jewelry box was my hawk necklace. I wore it everyday, but haven't touched it since the night at the roller rink. My hand hovered over it, debating whether or not to put it on.
"Why don't you try this." Miguel came up beside me and slid a box across to me.
"Why are you guys giving me so many presents? It's not my birthday."
"Just open it." I popped the lid off the box and inside was a silver necklace with a small crown pendent attached to it. "For the Queen of Cobra Kai. I knew you would need something to replace the hawk." He whispered. My eyes started watering at the sweet and thoughtful gift that was in my hand.
"I don't deserve you." Miguel was the only thing that was ever able to fix my broken hearts.
"Come on guy! Let's go party!!" Tory cam running out of my bathroom and jumped on top of Miguel. She was overly excited to leave. I was just glad to have the company.
~
"Are you sure I can't help you with anything?" I asked Moon who was anxiously putting snacks and drinks out.
"I guess you could help me move this stuff outside." She pointed to the food. We had gotten to the party just on time, but Moon was running behind with the set up. Even though we weren't close friends, I could tell that she didn't seem like herself.
"Are you okay? I mean if something is bothering you, you can alway talk to me about it. I know we aren't the closest of friends but I'll listen." I walked with her to the backyard.
"I guess I'm nervous for the party because..." She hesitated to say something, but after a deep breathe continued, "My girlfriend is coming." Oh, I didn't see that one coming.
"What's she like?" I asked.
"Well, her name is Piper and she's the coolest person you will ever meet. You know, I can introduce you when she gets here." She started to get excited.
"Well it sounds like you have nothing to be nervous about. Tonight's going to be a great night." I assured her. She seemed better after getting that off of her chest.
"Oh, I think I heard more people arrive!" Moon's bubbly self ran off to welcome the newcomers. I followed behind her to find Miguel and Tory, but instead I ran into Hawk, the one person I was nervous to see. He was already holding a drink and was joking with Mitch about something. Mitch saw me first, and pointed me out to Hawk. When he turned and looked at me, my heart started racing. We had been ignoring each other all week so I had no idea what to say.
"Hey..." I awkwardly, yet confidently walked over to his group of friends.
"Hey Olivia! I didn't think you would be here." Mitch stated.
"Well, there wasn't a reason not to come so..." I trailed off not sure of what to say. Hawk took another sip of his drink, obviously not planning on talking to me so I excused myself.
"I need a drink." I walked back outside and finally found Miguel and Tory. Miguel had already prepared me a drink so I grabbed it from him and chugged it.
"Woah, calm down sailor." Tory pulled the drink away from me, but I already felt the warmth of alcohol in my system.
"What was that? I want another." I handed the cup back to Miguel.
"I guess you saw Hawk?" He said while mixing Sprite and Vodka.
"Yup and it was the most awkward thing that has ever happened to me."
"Even more awkward then the time that your Gi ripped in the middle of class?" Miguel joked while handing me the refill.
"Wait, I haven't heard that story before!" Tory roared with laughter and I blushed at the reminder of a memory that I had forced out of my mind.
"I'd rather not talk about that, not one my best moments." I grabbed the drink and headed back inside the main party. Miguel and Tory followed closely behind knowing that Hawk was inside. As soon as we walked in doors, I spotted a familiar face that I was glad to see. Sam, Robby, and all the Miyagi Do students had just entered the party and they seemed shocked by the amount of Cobra Kais that were there. Sam glared over my shoulder and I felt Tory and Miguel leave the room. There was stiff, rivalry energy flowing throughout the room, but luckily Moon broke it up.
"Sam! I'm so glad you came! The kegs are out back, drinks in the kitchen, and the vegan pigs in a blanket just got out of the oven." Sam still looked upset.
"Moon, you never said anything about inviting Cobra Kai." Ouch.
"Well, I figured with summer ending and school starting back up, we could stop all the fighting and be friends again." At least Moon agreed with me that the rivalry was stupid.
"It's wishful thinking." Sam rolled her eyes.
"Get rid of all this negative energy. Clear your chakras and have some fun." Moon might have been a crazy hippy but she knew what she was talking about. Sam finally made eye contact with me so I took the chance to talk to her.
"Hey Sam, I'm glad you guys are here!" I exclaimed while hugging both her and Robby. Neither of them said anything. "Sorry about all the tension in the air. I think it's the Cobra's instincts to be cold to you guys, but maybe things will change when school starts." Sam still didn't look happy.
"I'll talk to you later." Sam said coldly and marched off with her arms crossed. Robby look apologetic about the moment, but followed behind her. I was left alone in the middle of the room feeling as awkward as I could have. That's when I spotted a new girl. She was tall and looked completely badass. She must have been Piper. I ran up to Moon who hadn't noticed her yet.
"Hey is that Piper?" I asked.
"OMG! Yes! Come with me, let me introduce you." She grabbed my hand and pulled me all the way to Piper. I was excited to meet someone, but was distracted by a new presence beside me. Hawk had joined our little group.
"Hey, Moon." He didn't even acknowledge me.
'Oh, hey Hawk." She was as confused as me.
"I was wondering if, after the party, you wanted to go do something with me? You know, one on one." He was trying to smoothly flirt with her to make me jealous, but little did he know that she no longer liked his gender.
"One on one?" I asked, grinning at how embarrassing this was about to be for him.
"I was talking to Moon." He snapped at me and continued his flirting, "So? What do you say?"
"Oh, Hawk..." Moon started to answer but Piper had spotted us. She ran over and kissed Moon in front everyone. "Hey babe." Moon said casually. "Sorry, this is Piper. Um, my..." She hesitated. Hawk looked embarrassed and even had a little but of pink on his cheeks from blushing.
"You can say it." Piper helped.
"My girlfriend." Moon finally said excitedly. "Sorry, it's new." It might have been new, but she was happy.
"Yeah, uh, that's awesome." Hawk didn't know how to respond to this news. I was still grinning at his failed attempt at making me upset. Before he could walk away, though, I stopped him.
"Were you trying to make me jealous just now by asking your ex out?" I finally had the guts to talk to him. I just had to remember that he was my friend before he was my boyfriend and we would go back to being friends over time.
"What? No...we broke up." He was stumbling over his words.
"Okay, I was just checking. I'll see you later." I walked away from the conversation feeling satisfied and ready to party. Outside, Tory had challenged people to a drinking game. I joined Miguel's side to watch her beat several people in row. After the last guy had fallen off of his stool, she looked down at me and raised her eyebrow.
"How bout it Olivia? Think you can beat me?" I smiled and Miguel helped me up onto the stool. The point of the game was to balance on one foot while drinking. Whoever dropped their foot first lost.
"I know I'm gonna lose but I want drink." Tory and I giggled. It felt good that we weren't enemies anymore. Miguel handed us both red solo cups, full with beer from the keg. I started chugging mine while balancing on one foot. It was easier than I thought, so we ended up going through several cups of beer before I got bored with the game and dropped my foot on purpose. I regretted ending the game early, though, when I saw Tory once again staring at Sam.
"Well, look who it is." She jumped off of her stool and approached Sam. I stayed back, too happy to bother with what was happening. "Maybe you'd like to play a little game? Or are tea parties more your speed, princess?" Miguel seemed frustrated with the girls fighting.
"Just give me a cup." Sam challenged Tory. Everyone automatically started chanting 'drink' while the two girls climbed up onto their stools. Tory easily finished the first round, but Sam struggled. I stood between Robby and Miguel watching my two worlds fighting. They continued for a few more rounds before Tory decided to upgrade the game to vodka shots. Robby tried to talk Sam out of it, but he should have known that she was stubborn and would never listen to him. Tory was so shocked to see Sam take the shot that she fell off her stool.
"Tory, are you okay?" Miguel and I asked at the same time.
"I'm going to clean up. Just leave me alone." She shoved us off of her and stormed off into the house. I started to follow her but Miguel stopped me.
"No, don't bother. When she gets like this, there's no helping her." Miguel told me. I turned my attention back to a tipsy Sam who was headed to the kitchen.
"Hey, Sam, are you alright?" Robby had was by her side, helping her walk carefully.
"Yeah, just a little buzzed now." She started to pour herself another drink, and I joined her. I was jealous of her tipsiness. She looked offended by me sitting with her. "Why are you hanging out with us? Shouldn't you be making out with Hawk or attacking innocent people?"
"Ouch, that's harsh." I laughed, but she wasn't joking. "I actually broke up with Hawk."
"Again? Didn't you guys just get back together?" Robby asked.
"Yeah, I guess we weren't meant to be like I thought. Plus, I broke up with him because he was attacking innocent people. I never condoned those actions. Just because Hawk is a part of Cobra Kai doesn't mean all of Cobra Kai is evil." I gulped down my drink and poured myself another.
"Well, I guess we both have things to drink for tonight." Sam grabbed the bottle from me and refilled her drink. After we chugged down several drinks, we found our selves giggling about everything. Robby excused himself to another room at some point, but I barely even noticed him leave.
"He must have been so intimidating! I would have peed myself if I saw him." Sam had asked about Kreese, so I told her about how scary he was. It was the only thing I could remember about his time at the dojo.
"No, you know who's intimidating? Robby. He's so hot! How are you so comfortable living with him? I always look like a rat in the mornings!" I giggled at the idea of living with Robby.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Robby came running out of nowhere, killing the buzz.
"Don't worry. I'm, like, totally fine." Sam and I were far from being fine but I wasn't going to point that out. Instead, I slipped away from the couple fight and went looking for Miguel. I hadn't seen him for hours. The living room seemed to be busy with people so I was headed there to look for him. However, something else ended up drawing me in. Demetri had gotten a hold of the karaoke mic and I heard him say a name I hadn't heard in forever.
"Well, he was my binary brother. You know what he is now? A real zero." The whole room burst into laughter, but I didn't find the joke funny. Did he really think brining up Hawk's past would solve his problems?
"All right, that's enough, Demetri." As soon as I head Hawk's angry voice, I walked over to him. My instinct was always to protect him, and with the alcohol clouding my judgement, that was all I wanted to do. He was confused by my presence, but seemed to lose some tension when I touched his arm.
"Demetri, get the hell down." I yelled out but he ignored me.
"Don't let that angry red hairdo fool you. He's a big softie. We watched every Harry Potter movie together. And he bawled like a baby when Dobby died." Demetri continued slamming on Hawk. I still didn't understand how any of his jokes were funny. There was nothing funny about Dobby's death.
"All right, if he doesn't shut up, I'm gonna shut him up." Hawk said to me and Mitch. I agreed with him until Mitch reminded me of my morals.
"Remember what Sensei said about showing mercy." Mitch was right, the vodka running through my system was telling me otherwise. I turned my head back to listen to what the dweeb was saying.
"In the words of Eli's hero, Steve Jobs, 'I've got one more thing.' Have any of you heard of sleep enuresis?"
"Don't" Hawk muttered, clearly bothered by what Demetri was about to say. At this point I was seeing red.
"That is the medical term, of course. In the King's English, it's good old-fashioned bed-wetting. And Eli here is a pro. My mom even had a special air mattress for sleepovers. And she called it Eli's waterbed." The entire room erupted in laughter. This time, no one could hold me back. I was rushing up to the stage, to teach Demetri a lesson.
Hawk followed my lead, screaming, "You're a corpse!" I was almost to the stage when Chris blocked my view. He was taller than I remembered. I stumbled back, not being sober enough to keep my balance.
"You're gonna have to go through me." Chris threatened.
"Stay out of it, traitor." Mitch was on my other side, also pissed.
"Hey, don't touch him." Robby came out of no where and he warned Hawk and I.
"Or what?" I yelled at him. The room grew silent and my head was pounding with rage. My hand slowly started to turn into a fist, but I nearly peed myself when loud sirens went off. The room started glowing red and blue and every kid ran for their life.
"Demetri, you got lucky! I'll see you at school!" Hawk screamed at him while grabbing my arm. I was the only kid who had no idea what to do. Was that actually the cops? If so, how was I supposed to get home. I was so drunk. "Follow me." Hawk nearly pulled my arm out of its socket while dragging me away from the scene. He was trying to get me to safety. Once we were out the front door, I spotted Miguel and Aisha.
"Oh, thank god. There you are. We have to go. Now." Miguel rushed to my side and grabbed the arm that Hawk wasn't holding onto. Hawk protested by tightening his grip. If I was sober, it would have hurt.
"I'll take her home." He argued with Miguel.
"Dude, she broke up with you. Get over it." Miguel put his other hand on my waist, pulling me away from the cops.
"No, let her choose." Hawk dropped my arm and looked at me. His face was spinning, and I could barely focus on him. I felt like I was going to be sick and all I wanted to do was go home.
"Miguel, I want to go home." I held onto my stomach and let him guide me away from the mess. I didn't even turn around to say bye to Hawk. I was too distracted by not puking. He successfully got me buckled into the passenger's side of me jeep. He must have found my keys in my purse. "Wait, where's Tory?" She normally sat shotgun.
"She must have left on her own. She wasn't answering her phone and I couldn't find her anywhere. But let's not worry about her. We need to get you home." He quickly drove away from Moon's house.
"No, I don't want to go home. It just reminds me of Hawk. I'm so tried of being upset over him." I protested.
"Um...okay. I guess I can take you back to my place but I don't know how mom will react."
"Please." I begged. He seemed hesitant but eventually gave in. After a minute, we arrived at his apartment. I quickly stumbled out of the car and ran to the bathroom to puke. I was just glad that I had made it all the way to the toilet. I heard a knock on the door and Ms. Diaz walked into the bathroom with a glass of water and some Advil.
"I'm sorry." I felt bad for being in her house.
"Don't worry about it, Mija." She kissed the top of my head before leaving me alone. This night went by so quickly and it was just now hitting me. I took the medicine and rinsed my mouth out before leaving to find Miguel. He was in his room setting a sleeping bag on his floor.
"Oh, I'm okay on the couch." I suggested.
"Are you kidding me? You can have the bed. Mom said I could stay with you in here if I sleep on the floor." He gestured to the sleeping bag. I automatically ran over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Thank you, for everything." I whispered into his hair.
"Of course. I would do anything for you." I didn't want to let go of him, but I eventually loosed my arms from around his neck. I pulled my head back and looked him directly in the eyes. I didn't know what I was thinking. I honestly wasn't thinking at all because my lips were on his before I realized what I was doing. He refused the kiss though, gently pulling me away from him. "I can't do this again tonight."
"Again?" I was more confused than hurt.
"I'll explain in the morning. I doubt you'll remember this anyways. Goodnight." He kissed my forehead and led me to his bed to go to sleep. I clocked out as soon as my head touched the pillow with thoughts of my regret from all my choices at the party.