Chapter Twenty-Two
LULL

Mara woke up to the feeling of arms pulling her closer. Her eyes fluttered open to see Hawk sleeping peacefully, his red hair covering his eyes. She reached up and moved the hair away and smiled at the small smile that appeared on his face.

     She snuggled into him and buried her face in the crook of his neck and she heard him let out a soft laugh. "You know I missed this."

     Mara looked up at him and saw that he was now wide awake. She smiled and giggle softly. "Me too."

     "Well, I didn't." The two jumped apart and sat up to look at Ryan who was eating a banana in the doorway. He smirked at them and used his half-eaten banana to gesture between the both of them. "I thought it would take longer to get him back in your bed, but I guess I was wrong. When were you going to tell me you were friends with Mr. Flex in Mirrors again?"

     Hawk looked between them confused. "You told him I flex in mirrors?"

     She covered her face with her hands. "I didn't think he would remember that."

"Well, he did. Don't you guys have some fight competition in the woods to be at? I mean Miguel thought it was pretty important since he left me all alone in his bed this morning." Ryan looked between them and took another bite of his banana.

     The two looked at each other with wide eyes before jumping out of the bed. Mara ran to her bathroom to brush her teeth and Hawk quickly pushed past Ryan so he could go back to his house and change.

Ryan just chuckled and walked back to his room. "I'll be at the pool all day if you need me."

    ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Mara and Hawk made it to the dojo in record time. They were inside stretching, excited for the challenge they would be doing today. It was new for all of them and the Cobras wanted to see Sensei Kreese's style of training.

The door opened and Mara saw Sensei walk in. He looked better than she thought he would considering he just lost a close friend. Miguel went up to him and Mara just continued to stretch next to Hawk.

"Hey, I was thinking of inviting people over tonight and maybe a sleepover. Would you come?"

Hawk nodded. "Considering I was planning on sleeping over tonight anyway, sure."

She shook her head at him but smiled at the fact that he was going to stay with her again tonight.

"Everybody get your gis on. Training starts in five minutes."

Hawk looked at Mara confused and she just shrugged her shoulders. Everyone approached Sensei wondering what he was talking about. "Yeah, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing's wrong." Miguel pointed at Sensei Kreese. "I just thought we were going to the woods for a special training today."

Sensei looked confused. "What's happening in the woods?"

"Well, I thought it was a good time to separate the men from the boys. And the girl's too, I suppose."

"How?"

"Coyote Creek."

Sensei sighed and turned to Sensei Kreese. "I'm not sure they're ready for that."

Kreese just smirked at him. "There's only one way to find out."

"We're ready Sensei. We wanna prove ourselves." Mara nodded agreeing with Hawk's words.

"It's up to Sensei Lawrence. If he says it's ok, then, and only then, is it ok."

Sensei looked at all of the leading faces and sighed. "All right, what are you waiting for? Let's go."

Mara smiled and all the students started to head out to the parking lot. Mara was taking Hawk, Aisha, Tory, and Miguel in her car and she knew it was going to be cramped.

     Hawk went to sit in the front seat but Aisha pushed past him and got there first. He looked at her in disbelief but she just shrugged. "I refuse to sit back there." Mara just laughed and got in the driver's seat next to the girl.

     Tory, Miguel, and Hawk all got into the backseat and Tory groaned having got the worst spot. "Do I have to sit in the middle of these two idiots?"

     Mara looked back at her and smirked. "I mean walking is always an option."

     "Haha." Tory sat back in her seat and rolled her eyes. "I call shotgun on the way back."

     Mara only nodded and pulled out of the parking lot, following Sensei's car. Aisha reached for the radio and turned it to a random channel. She didn't like anything on so she decided to play some music from her phone.

The song started playing and Mara got excited. Tory did too and started singing the lyrics. Hawk and Aisha were awkwardly listening to them sing terribly. Miguel couldn't hold it in anymore and he started to sing with them.

"I hate the beach, but I stand, in California with my toes in the sand!"

Aisha turned to look at Hawk and shook her head. "Bisexuals." Hawk chuckled at her and turned to look back at Mara. She looked happy and that's all he wanted for her.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

    
     Gia rested her head on Sam's shoulder as she fanned herself with her hand. The Miyagi-Do students were supposed to be warming up but the heat prevented them from having the energy to do anything.

     "Oh my God. It's so hot out." Demetri panted as he rested his head on Sam's other shoulder. "I'm sweating in places I didn't even know I had pores." He wiped his forehead on Sam's shoulder and she pushed him off and wiped the sweat off of her.

     "Robby how are you not hot," Gia asked the boy. "Don't you want to pull your hair up?"

     He looked back at her. "I'm fine," he said in a hard tone. She rolled her eyes at him. He was still partly angry that they had joined Miyagi-Do. Gia just wished the boy would get over it. They had bigger things to worry about.

     "All right, guys. Get out from under that tree. It's time to get to work."

     They all got up slowly. "Hey, Mr. LaRusso, it's like 100 degrees out," Robby told the man. "Can we take it easy today?"

     "Are you kidding? This heatwave is a gift. Today, you are going to experience Shochu-Geiko."

     "Like the car insurance," Chris asked him confused.

     "Shochu-Geiko is a Japanese exercise where you train during the hottest days of the year. It's about pushing yourself to your limit. The fight isn't always gonna come when it's 75 degrees and breezy."

     Sam was confused. "Aren't we supposed to avoid fighting?"

     "Sometimes you can't. Someday, the fight may come to you. And I wanna make sure you're ready. So, today, we're gonna see what Miyagi-Do is made of. Everyone fall in."

     All the students started to walk towards him, but Gia grabbed Robby's wrist and pulled him back. "Wha--"

     "No," she shushed him. "I get that you hate Cobra Kai and anyone who came from there, but you have to realize I left for a reason. We all did. I don't agree with Cobra Kai's teachings and I never did. Some of us just didn't know that another option existed. Mr. Larusso gave us that option. I feel happy here and all I'm trying to do is make friends, but it's hard when some people, like you, hold unnecessary grudges against people, like me, who did nothing wrong. Now, how about we start over." She stuck her hand out to shake. "Hi, I'm Gia."

     Robby looked at her hand for a moment before he grabbed it. "I'm Robby."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

     Mara stood in between Hawk and Aisha as they stood in their teams for the challenge. She had a red headband around her head which meant she was on Kreese's team. She wasn't a big fan of the red mainly because it contrasted with the purple side of her hair.

     "Gentlemen, ladies. Welcome to Coyote Creek. You've been split into two teams. Red and Black." Kreese pointed at Sensei who was dangling a black headband. "The goal is to capture as many headbands as possible from the other side. Today, the people across from you are not your friends. They're not your brothers. They are the enemy. The last team standing wins." Mara glared playfully at Tory and Miguel and they sent playful glares back at her.

     "How do we get the headbands," Miguel asked him curiously.

     "By any means possible. No rules."

     "Use your judgement. This is just a training exercise," Sensei added.

     "Correct, but remember, this is your life. You lose it, you die."

     "Hey, guys! Sorry I'm late." Chubs ran up to their group and stood next to Miguel. "Traffic on the 118 was a real bitch. Put Coyote Creek into the nav. Nothing came up."

     Sensei Lawrence looked the man up and down. "What have you done to yourself?"

     "Yeah, you know what, I just decided to flip the script, Hawk-style," he pointed at the boy who had a look of disgust on his face. Mara snorted and Hawk nudged her with his elbow. "Respect. Heretofore, you can refer to me...as Stingray."

     "Yeah, all right, Chubs. He's on your team."

     "Terrific," Sensei Kreese mumbled unhappily.

     The challenge started and everyone spread out. Mara was walking alone when she heard leaves rustling behind her. She looked back to see Tory coming out of the trees. She turned around towards the girl and watched as Tory approached her with a smirk. "I'll go easy on you, Abrams."

     Mara smirked at her and got into a fighting position. "I won't."

     Tory charged at her and threw a punch at her face but Mara ducked and punched her in the jaw. The girl's head snapped to the side and Tory angrily threw another punch, this time sloppy and Mara grabbed her outstretched arm and used it to flip the girl over her shoulder. Tory hit the ground hard, but she wasn't giving up yet. She got up quickly and Mara kicked her in the stomach before throwing a back kick in the same spot.

     Tory didn't realize how strong Mara's kicks were before, but now she could see why kicking was her strongest move. Mara tried to punch Tory but the girl used her arm and pulled her closer before twisting Mara around, trapping her in a chokehold. She was going to rip the girl's headband off, but Mara elbowed her in the stomach and grabbed her by the arm. She swung her around once and used the momentum to send her face-first into a tree. Tory's forehead hit the hard wood and she backed up slowly holding her head. Before Tory could turn around Mara spun and did another kick sending Tory to the ground. She walked over to the girl and took her headband off. "That was me going easy."

     Mara kept walking and looked around for anyone that wasn't on her team. She heard voices and she slowly walked towards them so she wouldn't be seen. She hid behind a tree and peeked around it to see Hawk and Miguel fighting. Hawk was flipped on the ground and Mara cringed. Miguel stood over him and ripped his headband off and then took something off of the boy's neck. She saw that it was the medal of honor and realized that Miguel was probably upset with Hawk for taking it. Understandably so.

     The Hispanic boy walked over to the rest of the group and held up Hawk's headband in victory. She saw Kreese mutter something to Miguel and the boy sent a kick to Hawk's face sending the boy onto the floor for the second time. "Team Black!"

     Mara approached the boy from behind slowly and luckily for her he didn't notice her presence. She remembered what Sensei said in there being no mercy in beating your opponent when their back was turned so Mara called out to Miguel. "I think you're forgetting someone."

     Miguel turned towards her and sighed, but she could see the small smirk playing on his lips. "Are you sure you don't want to surrender?"

     "I'm not pussy." She ran at him and the boy moved out of the way causing her to kick the tree he was standing in front of. She turned around to face him and the boy gave her a taunting smile which made her even angrier. She went to punch him but he ducked under all of her attempts. He kicked her in the stomach sending her back a few steps. She stood up seeing him start to send a kick her way but she grabbed his leg and pulled it upwards causing his standing foot to slip. She was going to finish him as soon as he hit the ground but Stingray came out of the leaves and pulled Miguel up off of the floor. The older man put the boy in a chokehold.

     "You know, the thing about stingrays is, they lie and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike!" Stingray ripped Miguel's headband off and pushed him forward. "The red team just won!" Everyone started to cheer and Mara was disappointed that she didn't get to finish the fight against Miguel. She walked over to the red team who was celebrating and Hawk grabbed her hand and pulled her closer.

     "You did good, Mars." She nodded and squeezed his hand.

     "I'm just ready for our game night. Would it be ok if I invite Moon? I just want all of my friends to be there."

     Hawk nodded. "It's your party. You can do whatever you want. I'll behave, just for you." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and started to drag her back to her car.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"So who what game should we play?" Ryan looked at the group around him. He was sitting in a circle with Miguel, Hawk, Aisha, Mara, Tory, and Moon.

     "How about never have I ever," Aisha suggested.

     Both Ryan and Tory looked at each other not so fond of the idea since it did involve drinking. Mara was doing better and they didn't want her to risk getting deeper into her addiction for a game.

     "That's fine," Hawk spoke up. "Mara told me she thinks she's allergic to alcohol so I'm going to just get her some apple juice to use instead. My mom keeps a stash for her in our house. I'll be quick."

Miguel and Aisha looked confused but Ryan, Tory, and Moon were thankful that Hawk came up with an excuse. Mara didn't want anyone else knowing about what she went through.

"I'll get the alcohol for the rest of us then. Miguel, can you help?" Miguel nodded and the two went into the kitchen to grab some glasses and a bottle.

Mara was drawing patterns on the carpet to distract her while everyone else talked to each other. There was the sound of glass shattering and everyone looked up except for Mara. She closed her eyes and she felt her breathing start to pick up.

     "You're worthless!" Crash. "Pathetic!"Crash. "Are you deaf?" Mara closed her eyes tighter and placed her hands over her ears. "Open the God damn door!"

"Mars?" Mara looked up to see Moon looking at her with a worried expression. "Are you ok?"

She looked around to see if anyone noticed, but they were all focused on the couple in the kitchen. "Sorry, that was my fault," Ryan called to them. "Probably not a good idea to make out in the kitchen."

Mara turned back to Moon who was still looking at her and nodded. Ryan and Miguel brought over the shot glasses and bottle of Vodka. They put a shot glass in front of each person and Ryan filled each of their glasses, except for Mara's. He placed the bottle beside him and sat back down. Mara looked at it but looked away remembering how it was the same thing that was used against her by her own family. She couldn't even look at the bottle without being thrown back into that moment.

     Tory noticed how the girl was avoiding the bottle and she picked it up and put it behind her back so Mara couldn't see it. Hawk came back through the front door with two cases of apple-juice and he sat down in his spot beside Mara. "I brought two so you can have a case here."

"Ok, who wants to go first," Ryan asked them.

"I will," Tory responded quickly. "Never have I ever sent nudes." Tory didn't drink but she was surprised to see both Ryan and Miguel down the liquid in their cups. "You know I expected this from Ryan, but you Miguel. Never would have guessed."

The boy looked down sheepishly and everyone laughed. "Ok, I'll go next," Aisha said since she was next to Tory. "Never have I ever kissed my friend's sibling."

Both Miguel and Moon drank and Tory looked at Moon confused. "You kissed Ryan? I thought he was gay?"

"No, I uh—"

"Holy shit. You and Mara. No way, how come you didn't tell me this Abrams."

Mara blushed and looked down. "You never asked."

"Ok ok. It's Miguel's turn."

"Um, never have I ever been asked to be in a threesome."

Mara and Ryan both drank and everyone looked at them confused. Hawk looked at them both. "Who asked you to be in a threesome."

Ryan put his hands up in surrender. "There were these two random girls at school who asked me but I shut them down. What about you Mara?"

"Oh I want to hear this," Tory smirked.

"There was this kid that used to ride our bus and one day he asked if I wanted to have a threesome with him and his friend."

Hawk's eyes widened. "You mean Max? The guys who put gum in your hair? When did this even happen?"

"It was before he started bullying me. Now that I think about it, he probably only did that because I said no."

"Was he hot," Ryan asked. Everyone glared at him and gave them all confused looks. "It's an innocent question."

"Let's play a different game," Tory complained. She wanted to make things more interesting. "How about truth or dare?"

    "That sounds good to me," Moon told the group. Everyone nodded and Tory smirked.

     "Ryan, truth or dare?"

     "Dare," the boy said confidently.

     "I dare you to imitate the sounds of both sides of your most recent romantic encounter." Ryan turned to Miguel and smirked but the boy shook his head rapidly.

     Ryan closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "Oh, Ryan yes. I love it when your lips are around me."

     Everyone laughed and Ryan continued to moan. "Miggy are you hurt in there," he asked in a high-pitched voice.

     "No mom," he grunted. "Just give me one...second." Ryan bowed his head and everyone was doubled over in laughter while Miguel just covered his face with his hands.

     "Ok, Ryan you can go." Ryan looked around the circle and stopped at his sister. "Truth or dare, Mara?"

     "Uh, truth."

     "What's the most embarrassing crush you've ever had?"

     Mara looked down and mumble, but Ryan placed his hand over his ear. "I can't hear you." She mumbled a little louder this time but he shook his head. "Speak up for me."

"Lord Voldemort!"

Hawk laughed already knowing that she had a crush on the villain for a short amount of time.

Aisha looked at Mara with wide eyes. "You mean the villain that looks like a snake and has no nose?"

"I'm sorry but when he puts on a suit it makes me feel some way."

Everyone burst out laughing and Mara rolled her eyes. "Ok ok, it's my turn. Hawk truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to go in my room and pick a random book and then read a paragraph