Chapter Eleven
KISS KISS BANG BANG

     "Fighting positions!"

     The Cobra Kai dojo was packed with students today, each one now sporting their own white gi. Sensei wove his way through the students to check their stance. He passed Hawk and kicked his front foot forward. "Stabilize your base, Hawk. Keep your balance, full rotation when you strike." The boy nodded and aggressively striker forward showing that he listened to the correction. Sensei kept walking and passed Mara who was waiting for him to give her a correction. Sensei passed her and turned to Virgin who flinched. "Did you just flinch, Virgin?" He kept walking and faked a punch at another student who also flinched. "Holy shit. We got a room full of flinchers. 

     "Yes, Sensei!," The class answered him.

     "That was not a question! Raise your hand if you've never been punched in the face." Everyone except for Miguel and Aisha raised their hands. "Put your hands down. All your lives you've been avoiding fights, so you don't break your nose or lose a tooth. This concussion nonsense. So, there's only one solution, and that is before your leave this dojo, each and every one of you is gonna take a punch, very hard, to the face. Ms. Robinson, line 'em up. Unflinch this group."

      "Yes, Sensei." Aisha watched as Sensei went back to his office and then she slowly moved so she was in front of Virgin. She cracked her knuckles and Virgin had a terrified look on his face that soon changed to pain when Aisha punched him straight in the nose, sending him to the ground.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

  
     "Hey, Sensei, I need to ask you something."

      Johnny looked up from his magazine to see Miguel standing in front of his desk. "First aids under the counter. We got a bleeder?"

     "No. Well, yeah, we do. There's a lot of blood, but this is about something else."

     Johnny put down his beer. "What is it?"

     "Well, there's a girl at school—"

     "Is she hot?"

     "—and she's super smart."

     "Hot?"

     "Funny and cool."

     "Hot?"

     Miguel sighed and smiled slightly. "Yes, she's hot. Super-hot."

     Sensei smiled proudly at Miguel. "Nice."

     "I think you'd really like her. She likes karate, and I wanna ask her out, but I just don't know."

     "Don't know? What's there to think about? She's hot, and all those other things."

     "There's uh someone else too. I like this girl but I also like the other person. I don't know what I should do."

     "Just go on a date with both of them and whoever you like better, you pick." Sensei shrugged. He didn't know why Miguel was so confused.

     "I can't ask both of them out Sensei! That's rude. Plus it's not that easy."

     "Why wouldn't it be that easy? You're a Cobra Kai! On the girls wanna date a Cobra Kai."

Miguel looked down. "I'm pretty sure they hate me."

     Ryan smirked. "So, where we goin?"

Miguel cleared his throat. "Um, I live here in Reseda. I'll just type in the address." Ryan handed the boy his phone and watched him type with shaky hands. He chuckled and put his car in drive and pulled out of the strip-mall parking lot.

"Don't act so nervous, Diaz. I don't bite." Ryan turned looked at him out of the corner of his eye and watched as the boy looked anywhere but at him. "Unless you ask me to."

Miguel took a deep breath and adjusted himself in his seat. He didn't know what he felt around Ryan but he knew he had never felt it with anyone else before. And that made him nervous. "So um when are you going to tell Mara," Miguel asked hoping to change the subject.

"Soon. I think I'm ready." In all honesty, Ryan wasn't ready, but he thought Mara deserved to know. He was trying to make their relationship better and that meant not keeping important secrets from each other. Ryan wanted Mara to know this important part of him.

"T-that's good. She'll be happy for you. I know she will."

"Yeah, she's happy about everything."

     "I guess. She doesn't like the topic of parents. I don't know why."

     Ryan looked at the boy for a second and took a deep breath. "Um, our mom passed away when we were 10. It hit Mara the hardest since she was closer to Mom than she was to dad. After that, she started closing herself off from people. Everyone except for two of her friends and...well me."

Miguel nodded understanding that people grieved in different ways."Were you not close to your mom?"

"Not really. She never really paid attention to me as much as Mara. The only time she had a full conversation with me was to scold me about something. Mostly it was schoolwork and how sports wasn't good for me. That's why I was closer to dad. He always tried to make me feel better about not getting good grades. He always said I just needed extra help and that was ok."

"Is that why Mara isn't close with your dad? Because your mom paid more attention to her and your dad paid more attention to you?"

"Something like that." Ryan didn't know if he should be telling Miguel all of this. If he knew what happened over all of those years he would probably think Ryan was a terrible person. In a way he technically was.

As if reading Ryan's thoughts, Miguel placed his hand over Ryan's that was resting on the middle console. "I won't judge you, Ryan. We've all made mistakes in the past, but it's what we do now that matters."

Ryan smiled at him and looked down at their hands. Miguel quickly pulled away and cleared his throat. "Well about two years after Mom died, I met Kyler and Brucks. I started spending more time around them and less time around Mara. They just made me feel important I guess. Eventually, I spent so much time with them that I barely saw her anymore. The only family she had around was dad who barely acknowledged her existence. I always noticed how he came up with any excuse under the sun to not be there for her. I just didn't care because I was finally getting the attention and dad was always there for me. I had nothing to worry about."
Ryan hit the steering wheel and cursed. "Damn it. I'm a terrible brother."

    
Miguel placed his hand on top of Ryan's."You're not a bad brother Ryan. At least not anymore."

     Ryan didn't believe him. He hadn't even apologized to his sister yet. He was a hypocrite. He gave Moon all of that advice on how to fix her and Mara's friendship but he should've been the one taking his own advice.

"Um, this is me right here." Ryan turned into the small apartment complex and let Miguel tell him where to park. The Hispanic boy thanked him and Ryan got out to walk him to his door. Miguel stopped and turned around when they were close enough to his front door. "Thanks for the ride."

     "It was no problem."

     They stood in an awkward silence and Ryan found himself rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. His hands were shoved in his pockets as he looked at Miguel. The Hispanic boy met his gaze and his eyes slowly flickered down from his eyes to his lips and back up again. The action didn't go unnoticed by Ryan who took a step closer to the boy.

     Miguel's heart sped up in his chest as the older-boy stepped closer to him. He didn't protest but instead focused on how the boy's head tilted as he started to lean in and their lips connected. The kiss was slow at first and Miguel kept his hands awkwardly at his side, the feeling of Ryan's soft lips distracting him from doing anything else.

     Ryan's hands found Miguel's arms and he gently pulled the boy closer. His right hand found a place on Miguel's face, his thumb rubbing up and down his cheek while the other wrapped itself around Miguel's waist. Miguel didn't know exactly what he was feeling at that moment, only that he didn't completely hate it.

They both slowly pulled away keeping their foreheads together. Ryan had a smile on his face and when he parted his lips to speak he felt himself being shoved back.

     Miguel stepped back in panic. "Ryan, I- I don't. I'm not gay. Why the hell would you do that? What is wrong with you?"

     "But you kissed me back." Ryan was confused. It felt like Miguel liked it.

     "I just didn't want to hurt your feelings. I'm not gay and I never will be. Just go home." Miguel opened his door and slipped in not sparing the boy a second glance.

     Ryan stood alone outside the small apartment in Reseda with swollen lips, teary eyes, and a broken heart. He was stupid to think Miguel actually liked him back. He was just being a supportive friend and Ryan ruined it like he always did. He finally had a good friend and it took him less than a year to ruin it. At least he lasted a couple of months this time. Ryan took one last look at the front door before he walked back to his car and drove away.

     Miguel watched the car drive away through his window. Why did he say that? He could have said anything else but that. He backed up from the window and turned around to face his mom who was still looking at him with a judgemental expression. She had been looking at him that way ever since she caught them through the window.

     "I don't want you speaking to that boy ever again Miggy. I will not have you kissing another boy in this house. Go and get ready for bed."

     Miguel nodded and walked to his room and shut his door. He sat down on his bed and buried his face in his hands. Why was the world like this?  He was stupid and he pushed away the one person, he wanted. The one person he needed.

     The one person he could never have.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Mara held onto Hawk's hand as he laid down to get his tattoo. He wanted to get a Hawk on his back to fit with his new persona. They had been there for almost 14 hours and Mara's eyes had fallen into the pattern of dropping every 30 seconds.

"You know if you're tired you can go lay down on the couch over there. I've pretty much gotten used to the feeling of the needle anyway."

Mara nodded and released his hand so she could go and rest on the black couch in the front of the shop. She sprawled out on her stomach and closed her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep. She got about 30 minutes of rest before Hawk was done and shaking her awake. Mara rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked up at the boy who was towering over her shirtless. "You should get your hair dyed. You would look badass."

Mara picked up a strand of her hair and contemplated the idea. It would be cool and it would get Sensei off her back about "flipping the script". "Sure. What color?"

     "I don't know. I think purple would look good on you."

    "Ok," Mara said nervously. She trusted his opinion. "Just know if I end up looking like an idiot it's your fault."

Hawk smirked and led her by the hand over to the side of the shop that was a hair salon. He sat her down in one of the chairs and went to get an employee. One of the stylists came over. She was young and had half of her head shaved. She a floral design tattoo that ran down her arm and her eyes were covered in black eyeshadow. "What are you getting done today, cutie?"

      The tone of the lady's voice sounded like she was mocking her but Mara just shrugged it off. Mara just told her she wanted the under-layer of her hair dyed purple. Nothing too much right now but something that would be noticeable.

It only took about 30 minutes for Mara to be done and the stylist let her look in the mirror. Mara couldn't believe how good she looked. She turned to Hawk and his mouth dropped open.

"Damn." He looked her up and down shamelessly, slowly raking his eyes up her body. He paid the stylist and wrapped his arm around Mara's shoulders leading her out of the parlor.

     The next day at school Miguel stood in front of Sam's locker looking around when he locked eyes with Ryan. Flashes of the previous night went through his mind and he found himself staring at the boy. Ryan just looked at him and walked away, not wanting to relive the heartbreak he felt last night.

     Miguel watched him go, not having the courage to chase after him. He continued to look around and noticed Sam walking towards her locker. So he took a deep breath and tried to forget about the boy he had feelings for. "Hey, Sam."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

     "I need somewhere romantic, but not too romantic."

     Aisha rolled her eyes at Miguel's words. Mara just chuckled and lightly hit her shoulder. "Hey, it's just a date. I didn't even know you liked Sam, Miguel."

     "Uh, yeah it was an unexpected thing."

     "You could take her to get tattoos," Hawk said. They all looked at him and laughed.

     "What?" Aisha didn't know why anyone would go and get tattoos on a date.

     Hawk stood up with a smirk and untied his Gi. He turned around and showed the trio his new Hawk tattoo. "I know a guy, just hooked me up with this bad boy."

     "Oh shit," Miguel said his mouth dropped wide open.

     "That is badass." Aisha complemented.

     Mara leaned over to them. "Fourteen hours in the chair." Hawk nodded and turned to flex in the mirror. Mara gave him a weird look and turned back to Aisha.

"Wait. Are your parents ok with that?" Mara and Miguel turned to the boy also wanting to know the answer to Aisha's question.

"Oh, they have no idea. Definitely gonna gave to wear a T-shirt until college. Probably longer." Hawk put his Gi back on and sat back down. "Please don't tell them."

     "Uh...any other suggestions?"

     "Don't look at me. Sam and I used to be friends. We're not anymore."

"Ok, but I need your help."

"Fine. I know she likes chocolates and astronomy."

Miguel nodded. "I could work with that."

"Banned?," Sensei yelled from inside his office. Everyone looked towards where Sensei usually spent his time and Miguel jumped up to go see if he was ok.

Mara turned back to Aisha while Hawk continued to stretch. "Sam didn't try and talk to you?"

Aisha shook her head. "No. Well I mean I did see her start to walk over to me but I just walked away. I can't deal with her."

"I think the next time she approaches you, you should let her talk. I talked to her and she really is sorry about everything. She told me that she planned on apologizing."

Aisha glared at Mara. "Why would you talk to Sam? You know I hate her."

"Look I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I wanted to make my own opinion on her. I'm not saying what she did was ok but maybe you should just give her a chance. You can't seriously tell me that if you weren't given the chance to be popular you wouldn't take it."

Aisha looked down. "I mean, I guess in the beginning I wanted to."

     "Exactly. I know it's not my place to intrude in your business with Sam but please just give her a chance to at least try and do the right thing."

     Aisha nodded and Mara turned to Hawk. "Hey, I was thinking you could come over and we could go swimming or something?"

     Hawk nodded at her. "Yeah, sure. Gives me an excuse to show of my abs."

Aisha and Mara both snorted at him. "You mean the ones you barely have."

Hawk rolled his eyes at them. "Yeah yeah, laugh now but in the future, you're gonna want all of this and I'll remember this exact moment."

  
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Mara entered her house to see all of the lights off. Weird, she swore she saw Ryan's car in the driveway. She set her keys down on the kitchen table and made her way to Ryan's room. If he was home early they might as well do something.

She knocked on his door and wasn't surprised to not receive an answer. "Hey Ry? Are you ok?"
No response. "I was wondering if you wanted to watch tv together for a little while." Still no response. Mara sat down and sat with her back against his door."Look Ry, I know you hate me or whatever but I honestly just want us to get along again. I miss you."

The door slowly creaked open and Mara caught herself before she fell backward. She stood up and looked at her brother but her face dropped when she saw his appearance. His eyes were bloodshot, his nose was red, and he had dry tears staining his cheeks. "I don't hate you, Mars. The only person I hate is myself."

Mara pulled her brother out of his room and pulled him down so they could both sit on the floor and talk. "What happened Ry?"

"I have to tell you something and you might hate me afterward."

"I could never hate you, Ryan."

He took a deep breath and looked down so he wouldn't have to see her disgusted face. "I'm uh. I'm gay." When there was no response, Ryan knew he had done it. He ruined another relationship. He slowly looked up to see his sister with a goofy smile on her face.

"Bold of you to assume I didn't know already."

"Wait what? You knew?"

"Well yeah. I mean you never looked in a girl's direction despite the tons of them who throw themselves at you daily. And don't get me started on the way you looked at Miguel the moment he came to school. Plus I know a fellow gay when I see one."

"You're gay? But you've never had a girlfriend and you're always all over that lip kid." Mara gave him a look. "Eli."

"Well, I'm bisexual. And I don't need to have a girlfriend to know I'm attracted to them. Have you seen Megan Fox? A literal goddess."

Ryan laughed at his sister's words. She did always know how to make him feel better, didn't she?

"There's that smile. Now, what happened? I know you weren't crying just because you're gay. Gays are superior."

"I um made a mistake."

"Elaborate."

"Well, I know you've seen Miguel and I hanging around each other a lot. We've been friends for a few months now. I really liked him and yesterday I kissed him and—"

     "How is that a mistake?"

     "Let me finish! So we kissed for a few seconds and then he pushed me off and started yelling at me and telling me he wasn't gay and that I shouldn't have kissed him and now I'm pretty sure he hates me and never wants to see me again. I just thought he liked me too you know? I mean he held my hand and he kissed me back. Like full-on make-out session."

     "So what you're telling me is he led you on, kissed you, insulted you, and then turned around and asked someone else on a date? Oh, I'm going to bury that little piece of shit alive." She went