Chapter Twenty-Three
GLORY OF LOVE

     "Ok, what about Friday," Mara asked Tory.

     The girl shook her head and continued to stretch. "Can't. I'm working at the roller rink."

     "We have to find a way to hang out sometime. Our pool needs a break from Ryan. He's going to turn into a fish soon."

     Miguel laughed. "How about we all go to the roller rink?"

     Mara looked at the boy and shook her head. "You do realize half of our friend group is dating. I don't think Tory wants to spend her Friday around a bunch of couples."

     "But think about the free hot dogs and chicken nugs. Ryan loves chicken nugs."

     Tory look at him confused but she still kept her playful grin. "Free? Not for you. You gotta pay up."

     Miguel shrugged his shoulders. "I'll splurge."

     Tory laughed at him. "All right, you guys can come on your little double date. I'll be busy working most of the time anyway so I won't be bothered. You guys gotta wear costumes though. It's 80s night."

"I call dibs on Kelly Kapowski!"

Miguel looked at her confused not knowing who that was. "Who is that?"

Mara and Tory both looked at each other with wide eyes before looking at Miguel. "You're telling me you've never seen Saved By The Bell?"

The boy shook his head. "I love the 80s but I've never seen that. Oh, I call dibs on Anthony Michael Hall in Weird Science."

Tory snorted. "I don't think you have to call dibs on that."

Mara laughed and went back to stretching. She saw Hawk come into the dojo and Miguel left them to go talk to him. The two did their handshake and went separate ways. "What was that all about," she asked Miguel.

     "Just making sure we're ok after the challenge yesterday."

     "Why didn't you just ask him at the sleepover?"

     "I was uh busy."

      Mara was confused for a second before she scrunched up her face. "Do you guys ever stop?"

      "I mean he's hot. What do you expect me to do? Just look at him?"

     "Everybody fall in!" The three looked up to see Sensei standing at the front of the room. They all stood up and walked to their spots and Mara took hers in the front. "Today, we'll be learning one of the most important lessons a Cobra Kai could ever know."

     "Where's Sensei Kreese," Hawk interrupted.

     "Yeah. Shouldn't we wait for the Sensei emeritus before we get going?"

     Mara wanted to know where he was too. He always got here before her and she was surprised to not see him already in the dojo.

     "Mr. Kreese will no longer be joining us. I made a promise when I became your Sensei. To always look out for your best interests. Despite how hard this may be for all of us, he didn't have our best interests at heart."

     That was bullshit. Mara knew Kreese was training them to be stronger, better. He had everyone's best interests at heart, including hers. He was preparing them for the real world. For life.

     "John Kreese may have founded Cobra Kai, but he no longer represents what this dojo stands for. His Cobra Kai was old and outdated. He refused to move forward. What happens when we do that, Mr. Diaz?"

     "You get stuck like cement."

     "Exactly. To be a great fighter, you gotta learn to adapt. This creed on the wall, follow it to the letter, it'll make you strong. It'll make you formidable. It will also make you an asshole. Cause that's just black paint on a white wall. But life's not black and white. More often than not, it's gray. And it's in those gray areas where Johnny Lawrence's Cobra Kai sometimes shows mercy. Doesn't mean you can't be badass. It's still a requirement. But you have to learn to think, not just with your gut or your fists, but to really use this." Sensei pointed to his head. "Which leads me to today's lesson." Sensei grabbed a board and broke it in half with his head. "Headbutting. Grab a partner."

     Mara looked over at Hawk who was already looking at her. She stood beside him and everyone waited for Sensei to teach them. "Now this is simple. You tuck in your chin and you need to aim for the nose with the crown of your head." He demonstrated. "Now practice with your partners."

     Sensei walked off and Hawk turned to Mara. "I'll let you go first. You'll probably need more time to get it down."

     Mara rose her eyebrow at him and head-butted him causing him to fall back and hold his nose. "Sensei Kreese already taught me. You might want to fix that ego of yours."

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        Mara grabbed her phone from her bed and looked in the mirror at her outfit one last time. She was wearing a red lace bralette with a black button-down shirt over it. She had tied the shirt in the front, making it cropped, and unbuttoned a few of the buttons so the top of her bra could be seen. Mara then rolled the sleeves up so they were bunched at her elbows. She just wore black jean shorts with it and black combat boots. She adjusted the belt on her shorts which was also red and left her room.

Ryan was standing by the door wearing black jeans and a plain white shirt with a leather jacket hanging over his shoulder. He had sunglasses on and pulled them down when he saw her. "Yeah, that's not happening. Go back and change."

"You're not the boss of me." She grabbed her keys and walked out of the house. "See you there!"

Ryan rolled his eyes and walked out of the house after her. He watched as Mara got in her car and drove off and he got in his and left to pick up Miguel.

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Ryan held onto Miguel's hand as they skated around the rink. Both of the boys already knew how to skate so they didn't need to hold hands but they liked to be touching each other at all times.

"Man I really want some fries right now," Ryan told him.

"I'll go ask Tory when she goes on break. So they can be extra crispy just for you."

Ryan smile at him and pecked his lips. "Where would I be without you."

"Probably the pool." Miguel laughed at Ryan's face as he skated off to find Tory. He found her talking to two customers. "Hey what time do you go on break? I wanted to time it out so the fries are extra crispy." Miguel noticed Tory slightly tilt her head and he looked to the side to see Sam and Robby. "Hey, I didn't recognize you. I dig the costumes."

"Thanks," Sam muttered uncomfortably. She didn't know her ex would be here.

"Uh, Tory, this is Sam and Robby."

"Yeah, we met already. Sam and I had a little run-in at the beach club."

"So, how do you two know each other, " Sam asked Miguel making sure to avoid eye contact with Tory.

"Tory's in Cobra Kai."

Sam nodded. "Figures."

"What was that," Tory asked her.

"Nothing."

Ryan came skating over to the group. "Hey, T-money. When are they restocking the nuggets?" Ryan not realizing what he just walked into still had a goofy smile on his face. "You know a date is not a date without chicken nugs." Ryan then noticed Sam and his smile turned into a smug smirk and he looked at Tory. "Damn T, now your 7th wheeling."

Tory laughed and pushed his shoulder. She looked at Sam and a smirk came on her face. "Sam you know Ryan right? Miguel's boyfriend."

     Sam looked between the two. "Boyfriend? Ryan, you never told me you were gay or that you guys were dating."

    Ryan looked at her confused. "Did I have to?"

     "Well, no but—"

     "All right," Tory cut her off. "I gotta get back to work. Ryan, I'll get you some chicken nuggets."

     "Sweet! Literally the best, best friend ever. I might even let you call me your gay best friend." Ryan froze and looked at them all. "Don't tell Moon I said that." Ryan kissed Miguel's cheek before skating off after Tory.

     Robby turned Sam around and walked her away so they could get skates. Sam looked down upset. First, she lost Mara and Aisha and now she lost Ryan. How many people was this girl going to take from her?

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Mara held onto Moon's hand tightly as she tried to keep her balance. She didn't think skating would be this hard. "Mars are you sure you don't want to take a break?"

Mara shook her head. "No. I'll get it soon." On cue Mara's feet slipped from under her and she fell on her butt bringing Moon down with her. "Shit, I'm sorry babe."

     Moon shook her head and giggled at her girlfriend's panicked face. "It's fine. Come on." She stood up and grabbed Mara's hand to help her. "Ok follow me. You just have to put one foot in front of the other, just like you're running. Try putting a little rhythm with it too."

     Mara did what she said and started to skate forward. She went slow at first and then started to move faster putting a rhythm to her glides. A smile appeared on her face and she looked back at Moon who was smiling at her. "I'm doing it!" Moon's face turned from happy to panicked and Mara was confused for a second until she felt herself collide with a wall. She fell onto her back and groaned. "Damn it."

     Moon rushed over to her and helped her up. She grabbed the girl's face between her hands. "Are you ok? Did you hit your head? Is anything hurt?"

     Mara shook her head. "Just my dignity." Moon shook her head and laughed at her. She pressed a kiss to both of Mara's cheeks and then her forehead and finally her lips.

     "Let's go get you some water ok? It's probably time to take a break."

     Mara nodded and held onto Moon as they skated off of the rink. When they got out there they saw Sam trip Tory causing the girl to fall backward and drop her tray of food.

"What the hell, Sam," Mara heard Miguel yell. The boy skated over to Tory and started to help her up.

"All right, you're done," one of the security men told Sam and Robby. "You're out!"

"She's the one who started it," Robby tried to reason with the man.

Mara glared at them. "What's gotten into you, Sam? Tory's done nothing to you and you keep attacking her. Can't you just back off already?"

She let go of Moon's hand and used the wall to move over to Tory and Miguel. Moon looked back at Ryan who was standing at the edge of the rink watching the interaction. He nodded at her, understanding what she was thinking. Miguel and Mara were definitely acting different and they were finally seeing it.

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Ok but Mara is so hot. Really thinking about giving her this look soon. Bangs are the move.

Like how can you not be attracted to this?

Anyways this was just a filler chapter. The real fun begins next chapter ;)
As always if you liked this chapter don't forget to vote and leave a comment.