Chapter Nine
FORGIVENESS

The next day at school there was a rumor going around that Sam had gone down on Kyler in a movie theater. She didn't think it was true. Despite the people Sam hung around with she just didn't seem like the type of girl to do that in public.

     The girl was scrolling through Instagram while she waited for the lunch bell to ring. Her entire timeline was filled with mean posts about Sam. She leaned over and showed Eli, who was starting his homework next to her.

     "I feel bad. No one deserves that." Mara nodded agreeing with the boy. He had a good heart and despite people being mean to him he never stooped to their level.

     The bell rang and Mara put her phone away and grabbed her bag. "I'm gonna go meet Aisha in the cafeteria. Are you ok to wait for Miguel and Demetri by yourself? They're right down the hall."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I have to ask Mrs. Clarence a question about the homework anyway."

"Are you sure? Because I won't go if you're not—"

"Go. I'll be fine." He gently pushed her towards the door and laughed lightly when she turned back around to wave.

Mara eventually made it to lunchroom and quickly grabbed her lunch, which was just a hotdog, Doritos, applesauce, and an apple juice, before finding Aisha and taking a seat next to her. "Hey my fellow Cobra."

"Right back at you. Sensei Lawrence is so cool. He's gonna make us so badass."

"I have to say I agree. We won't be weak kids anymore. We'll actually know how to fight back now. I'm telling you no one will be ready for us."

Someone placed a tray beside her and she looked to her right to see Sam. She was gonna tell the girl she could sit but Aisha beat her to it.

"Oh, don't even think about it."

"Come on. I need a place to sit."

"Oh. You can go sit with Kyler. I hear he doesn't mind that you suck."

Sam looked at Mara who mouthed "sorry" to her. The girl started to walk away and Mara would have assumed she was going to sit somewhere else if it wasn't for the fact that she left her tray and she was walking towards Kyler.

She saw them exchange a few words and then Brucks laugh about something, before Sam threw his food on the floor. The entire lunchroom went quiet and Kyler stared at his food before looking back up at Sam. "Hey guys." He yelled so everyone could hear him. "You know that billboard with a big-ass dick on it? I guess Sam takes after her dad."

     Behind Kyler all of his friends laughed except for Ryan who was sitting down at their table scrolling through his phone.

     "Hey Kyler!" Mara turned around to see Miguel harshly drop his tray onto their table and approach the Asian boy. "Why don't you shut the hell up and stop being such an asshole?"

"Want another beat down, Rhea?" Kyler shoved Miguel back. "I'm ready for your lame-ass karate this times." He shoved Miguel harder and Miguel collided with their table causing Aisha and Mara to stand up and back away from the fight they knew was about to happen.

"It's not lame ass karate." Kyler went throw a punch at Miguel but the boy blocked it and held his arm in an arm-lock. "It's Cobra Kai." Miguel punched Kyler straight in the nose and everyone gasped.

"Oh shit." Mara mumbled.

Kyler reached up to touch his nose and when he felt the blood trickling down he launched himself at Miguel and tackled the Hispanic boy onto the table. Kyler then dragged Miguel from that table and threw him onto another one. He dragged the boy off the table and put him in a choke hold and Mara watched as Miguel struggled to get free.

Just when she though the boy was done for he elbowed Kyler in the gut and twisted his arm around so he could send a punch to his jaw. The boy then spun and did a back kick effectively knocking Kyler headfirst into a table.

     "No mercy!" Aisha and Mara yelled at the same time. The two girls looked at each other and high-fived before moving their attention back to the fight.

     Mara saw all of Kyler's friends start to get up and charge at Miguel. Ryan got up too but what surprised Mara was how the boy backed up into the crowd and watched with a satisfied face as Miguel started to beat up Kyler's goons.

     Miguel grabbed a tray and used it to fight the boys. He saw Kyler getting up out of the corner of his eyes and jumped onto a table back kicking Kyler in the face and using the tray to send him to the ground permanently.

     The whole lunch room erupted into cheers and everyone clapped for the boy who looked surprised. People had their phones out recording the entire fight. Mara saw Sam smile up at Miguel but the boy wasn't look at her. He was looking at someone else.

     Ryan?

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     After the commotion had died down and Miguel was taken by a teacher, Mara approached her brother who was eating a pudding cup. She sat down beside him and he looked at her and raised his eyebrow.

     "What was that?"

     "I can't read minds, Mara. What was what?"

     "That look. Why was Miguel looking at you like that?"

      "We had a little conversation earlier. I told him that he should put Kyler in his place using that karate shit he did a few months ago. He told me he got better so I thought, why not?"

     "Oh. Is that all you guys talked about."

     "Y-yeah."

     If Mara noticed Ryan's stutter she didn't show it because she nodded at him and left to go find her friends. Ryan took a deep breath and thanked God that she didn't realize he was lying. If she knew what else they talked about he didn't think she would ever forgive him.

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Mara knew Ryan was lying.

He had clenched his hands into fists again. She didn't know why he wouldn't tell her what he and Miguel talked about. She respected his privacy though. If Miguel wasn't upset over it then there was no reason for her to be.

Eli was waiting for her outside of the cafeteria doors and she walked over to him and grabbed his hand so she could walk him to math. "I'm thinking of doing karate."

Mara looked at him and smiled. She could tell he thought long and hard about this decision. "I'm glad. I think you'll be really good at it."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, you're a natural badass."

"Thanks, Mars." He kissed her cheek and entered his classroom with a smile on his face. She left after she knew he was settled and went to the locker room to change for gym. She hadn't taken too long this time so hopefully, she wouldn't be the only one in there.

There were a few girls still lingering when she got there so she made sure to be quick so that she wasn't the last one. She changed quickly and was tying her shoes on one of the benches when Moon sat in front of her. Mara looked up slowly at the girl who was nervously smiling at her. "Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry. Like really sorry. If I would have know Yasmine took that video I never would have let her send it let alone still be friends with her. Even then that's not an excuse for how I treated you. I was a bitch to you and I betrayed your trust time and time again. I realize that what I did was wrong and I want a chance to try and be better. I know just an apology doesn't mean much to you but I promise I'll practice what I preach. I really miss you Mara and I plan on showing you every day that I'm truly sorry and I regret everything I did." Moon gasped for breath after finishing her rant. She hadn't stopped to take a breath wanting to say all she wanted to say and not wanting to risk being interrupted.

Mara stared at her trying to process everything she just heard. "I uh I'm. I'm glad that you regret what you did but like you said actions go a long way. I accept your apology but it's going to take me a while before I fully forgive you. I'm sure that if you show me that you want to be better we can be friends again in the future."

"I promise I'll do everything to show you I'm sorry. I won't rush you into forgiving me because I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I hope you'll find it in your heart to accept me as your friend again one day." Moon leaned forward and wrapped the girl in a hug not noticing how the girl stiffened at her touch. She pulled away abruptly and stood up before starting to make her way out to the gym. "Thank you again. Ok bye."

Mara giggled as she watched the blonde run out with a giddy expression. In truthfulness, she had already mostly forgiven Moon. She just wanted to see if the girl would actually show her that she was sorry.

     After class Moon had approached her again and asked if she could walk Mara to her next class. Mara agreed kind of creeped out by how nice Moon was being. "Are you sure Yasmine won't be upset at you for this? She's really protective over you. She told me to stay away from you when she sent that video."

"I won't let her mess with you and I don't care what she thinks anymore. She's so negative all the time."

"Well, I'm glad you're finally realizing that. She's been that way since 7th grade."

"What the hell are you doing with her?" The two looked behind them to see Yasmine storming up to them. "I thought I told you to stay away from Moon." She turned to Moon. "And I thought I told you what would happen if you talked to her. She's going to drag you down with her. I'm allowing you one chance to leave her before your life goes to shit."

     Mara looked down preparing herself for the inevitable. "No." Her head snapped up to see Moon glaring at Yasmine. "Why do you thrive off of making other people miserable. I feel sorry for you Yas. You're so insecure you need to put other people down just to feel better. Mara is my friend and if you can't handle that you can leave."

     Yasmine looked between the two before stomping her foot and storming away. Moon turned to Mara with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry I said we were friends. I know you said you weren't ready for that yet but I needed to—oh."

     Mara had wrapped her arms around Moon and pulled her into a hug. Moon hugged her back hesitantly not knowing if the girl was sure of what she was doing. "Thank you. I still have a lot of forgiving to do but I think it's safe to call you my friend again."

Moon smiled and hugged her tighter. "I promise you won't regret it."

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Ryan walked with Miguel as they left their science class. "Can you not tell Mara what we talked about?"

"Why not?" The boy asked. Miguel didn't think there was anything wrong with what Ryan told him.

"I just— I'm not ready for her to know."

"You don't think she'll accept you? I mean if I do I don't doubt your sister won't. I think the longer you don't tell her the angrier she'll be if she accidentally finds out. I mean if my sibling told my ex-best friend and my new friend before me I would be pretty hurt."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"But then again if you're not ready don't force yourself to tell her. Go at your own speed."

"Yeah, thanks, Miguel. Well, I have to get to class so, I'll text you later?"

"Yeah." Miguel watched as the boy walked back in the direction they came. He didn't know what he was feeling anymore. He had talked to Sam in chemistry and he really liked her but something was different when he talked to Ryan. He just didn't know what.

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    Pulling up to the dojo Mara was surprised to see over a dozen kids waiting outside. She parked her car and hopped out. Eli hopped out of the front seat while Aisha and Demetri came from the back. She had driven them all there from school and she kind of felt like a soccer mom.

     Miguel was standing in the middle of everyone with a smirk. He had gained more confidence since he beat up Kyler and his friends and Mara was happy for him. "Hey guys, we got a pretty good turnout if I didn't say so myself."

     "Yeah, I'm impressed." She turned to Eli and Demetri who were both looking pretty nervous. "You guys will be fine. Sensei knows how to train winners."

     Both boys nodded but they were still nervous. Mara saw Sensei's car approach and she smiled when she saw the shocked look on his face. He walked up to the doors while looking at all of the kids who had showed up. Turning to Miguel he smiled. "Looks like we're in business."

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Only five chapters left until season 2! I have so much planned and none of you are ready for it. I'm going to try and get the chapters out asap. But I'm warning y'all things only get more complicated from here.

     Now I know Mara forgave Moon really easily but that's one of her character flaws. She forgives and trusts too easily. Also I know Moon and Yasmine didn't stop being friends until the party but I changed it for the sake of this story but everything will fit together in the end.

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