Chapter Five
SO SORRY LOVER

     "She's an absolute bitch!"

     Tory watched as Mara paced in front of her bed. The two were supposed to be hanging out today, but when Tory got there the girl had started to go on a full-on rant.

     "She makes me want to take a knife and gauge her eyes out, cut off her mouth, cut her hands off, and then gauge my own eyes out."

"Woah there." Tory stood up and pushed the girl down so she was sitting on her bed. "Let's calm down a little bit. Did you even talk to Hawk about it?"

"Well yeah. We promised we would communicate more."

"Ok and what did he say?"

Mara looked down and tried to hide her smile. "He said he didn't even notice she was touching him because he was talking about me." Mara laid back on her bed with a dreamy smile.

     Tory sat down beside her and furrowed her eyebrows. "That doesn't sound right at all. Are you sure he was telling the truth?"

     "Of course he was. He said she asked about Cobra Kai and he went on this whole rant about how we're the top students and how I'm so badass." Mara sat up and smiled at her best friend. "I'm so in love."

     Tory cringed. "Yeah in love and very cringe-worthy."

     Mara pushed her shoulder. "The best couples are cringe-worthy." Mara got up and walked over to her radio. Flipping through different channels she sighed as she didn't hear any songs she liked. "I'm so bored." She whipped her head around and Tory flinched. "Let's have a sleepover."

     Tory didn't like that idea all that much. She wanted to have a sleepover with Mara but she didn't think she could leave her family home alone all night.

     "Shit. Never mind. You should probably go home and make sure your mom and brother are ok." Mara grabbed a book from her bookshelf and laid down on her stomach. "We can just hang out for a while longer and I'll take you home."

     Tory bit her lip and looked at the older girl. "I'm in."

     Mara turned to her. "Are you sure? I don't want you to spend too long away from your mom."

     Tory shook her head. "It's just one night. You can bring me home tomorrow morning."

     Mara smiled and grabbed Tory's hands to pull her up. "Great. Now let's have a dance party."

  
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     "We're doing what," Ryan asked his sister over the phone.

     "We're having dinner with granddad."

     "Mara I barely even know him."

     "Which is why this is the perfect opportunity to get to know him. Dinner's at 6:30. Be there." Mara hung up and Ryan groaned. At least this would give him a chance to analyze the man.

     Ryan put his phone back in his pocket and walked down the hall. His hands were shaking nervously as he got closer and closer to the room. He could do this. He took a deep breath before walking in.

     Miguel's head immediately shot up and he tried to sit up to the best of his ability. "Ryan. Y-you're here."

     Ryan nodded and slowly walked further into the room. He didn't get too close to Miguel instead opting to stand close to the door. "How are you?"

Miguel looked down at his legs and sighed. "Currently paralyzed, but I just had surgery so hopefully I'm able to walk again."

"Oh my God. Miguel, I'm so sorry."

The boy just shrugged. "It is what it is. Nothing I can do to change it now." He looked up at Ryan and smiled. "It feels like I haven't seen you in so long."

Ryan nodded and looked down. "Yeah. I uh visited while you were in a coma."

"I know, my mom told me. It feels nice to have my boyfriend here with me now."

Ryan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was the exact conversation he was afraid of having. "Miguel we're not together anymore."

Miguel looked confused. "What? Why? Is that why you didn't answer any of my calls and texts after Moon's party?"

Ryan nodded. "I saw you with Sam. I saw you two kiss."

"Ryan she came on to me. I was just out there to see if she was ok. She was drunk and by the pool and I didn't want her to drown or something. I pushed her away as soon as it happened. I promise you I don't have feelings for her."

     "Miguel I honestly don't know what to believe. I saw her in here the other day giving you a card with a giant heart on it. I don't wanna jump to conclusions, but—" Ryan closed his eyes and looked down. "I just think we need a break."

     Miguel shook his head and Ryan tried not to be bothered by the tears forming in the boy's eyes. "Ryan, please. We can work this out."

     Ryan moved closer to the boy's bed and grabbed his hand. "I know we can, but later. Right now we should worry about you and getting you back on your feet."

Miguel nodded and held Ryan's hand tighter. "How's Mara?"

"Physically. She's great. Mentally. I have no idea."

"What do you mean?"

"She found out Kreese is our grandfather. And that you and your Sensei knew about it."

Miguel closed his eyes and mentally cursed himself. "I wanted to tell her I did, but—"

Ryan placed a hand on Miguel's cheek. "I know. You were sworn to secrecy. None of this is your fault, Miguel. She's just been really angry and different lately."

"It's probably Kreese. I've always sensed there was something off about him and when Sensei kicked him out I knew he was bad news."

"Your Sensei kicked him out? So how is he in charge of Cobra Kai now?"

Miguel shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I've been hibernating the whole time."

Ryan shook his head at the boy. "I'm glad you're ok, Diaz."

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Gia walked into the Miyagi-Do dojo behind Sam.

"You sure about this," Chris asked the LaRusso girl.

"Cobra Kais never stop training. We have to catch up. If that means me taking the reins, then so be it."

Demetri looked at them with a smile. "I, for one, am ready to add a few new moves to my repertoire."

Nathaniel who was wearing sunglasses looked at Sam confused. "Hold on a sec. What if your dad finds out?"

"He won't. He's out of town."

Gia stepped up beside Sam and looked at everyone. "We have to be ready to defend ourselves against Cobra Kai. We can't let the bullies win. Sam has been training with her dad since she was eight. She'll help us get stronger without him."

Sam nodded at Gia gratefully. "Let's get started."

     Practice went as well as it could and Gia came home. She typed in the number of the detention center and waited for someone to answer. "Sylmar Juvenile Corrections Center. How may I help you?"

     "Hi. Could I please speak to Robby Keene?"

     "Hold one second." Gia tapped her foot as she waited and soon another voice came on the line. "Hello?"

     "Robby, Hi. It's Gia."

     "Hey G."

     "Are you doing ok? I can send you something if you'd like? I've been really worried ever since I visited you last time."

     Gia could hear the smile in his voice as he answered her. "I'm fine, G. Thank you though. How is everything out there?"

     "Well, Sam started Miyagi-Do back up behind her dad's back. I wasn't sure at first, but I know we need to be able to defend ourselves against anything."

     "That's good. I'm not sure if I'll be coming back after I get out."

     "That's ok, Robby. Do what you're comfortable with. I'm running out of time, but I'll visit you soon."

     "Bye, G."

     "Bye, Robby."

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       Mara carefully pulled the food out of the oven. Kreese would be here soon and Ryan was currently setting the table. With an attitude of course. She carried the food over to the table and set it in the middle.

Ryan's eyes immediately found the dish and he stopped everything he was doing. "Is that Chicken Parmesan?" He went to reach for it and Mara slapped his hand away.

"Can't you be patient?"

     Ryan pulled his hand away and glared at her. He continued to set the table and the doorbell rang. Mara ran to the door and opened it revealing their grandfather. "Hi. Dinner's ready."

     She opened the door for him to come in and closed it behind him. Ryan eyed the man warily as he walked further into the house and looked around. "Very nice home you both have here."

Ryan nodded and pointed to the seat at the end of the table. Mara and Ryan sat down on either side of him and Mara had a wide smile on her face. This was one of the rare times the girl was happy in front of him so he wouldn't do anything to ruin that.

"Yeah. I went with mom to get the decorations. She always said my taste was way better than Ryan's."

Ryan looked at her offended as he took some of the pasta and put it on his plate. "I have amazing taste thank you for asking."

"Yeah. Liars and cheaters." Ryan choked on his food and looked up at her, but she just continued talking. "Tell Ryan about Cobra Kai. He doesn't understand how great it is." She took a bite of her food and looked at her brother.

"Well, at Cobra Kai our main goal is to prepare our students for the real world. Mara here is top of the class."

"Most of your students are bullies now," Ryan told the man. He refused to call him his grandfather.

"I can assure you that all of my students know what it feels like to be bullied and are just standing up for themselves like they should. Have you ever been bullied, Ryan?"

"Um, no."

"Thought so." Ryan awkwardly looked down and stabbed his pasta with his fork.

Dinner went by slowly and eventually, Kreese left and Mara and Ryan were cleaning up. "I don't like him, Mara. I can tell he's bad news."

     Mara put one of the dishes away and didn't turn to look at him as she answered. "He's fine. He's a good person, Ryan. He actually cares about me and my well-being."

     Ryan turned to look at her. "I care about you and your well-being. He's manipulating you! He doesn't care about you, Mara. I do."

     Mara turned to him and glared. "Oh really? Is that why you let me get bullied for years? Is that why you never apologized for that and then dumped all of your relationship problems on me? Is that why you promised to be there for me with my drinking problem but you hung up on me every-time I needed you? Grandad has always been there and he shows that he cares about me! He taught me how to stand up for myself and that's what I'm doing and what I'm going to continue to do! If you can't accept that then you're the enemy. And trust me." She stepped up closer to him and for the first time Ryan was truly terrified of his sister. "You don't want to be my enemy."

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So Mara is starting to get angrier at people. I'm not trying to make her a complete bitch, but I really want to show how she's feeling inside. If you go back in the story you would notice how Ryan never apologized to her and she kind of just took him back after helping him with his problems.

Any predictions for the rest of the season? I promise you all are not expecting what's going to come next.

As always if you liked this chapter make sure to vote and leave a comment!