Ring, ring, ring. The table vibrated as her phone shook with fury. Sam just rolled over, burying her head in her pillows.

How, how did we lose the All-Valley tournament? I thought if I mixed my dad's training and Johnny's then we'd win.

She stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity.

You mean, how could you lose?

Knock, knock, knock sounded a gentle tap against the door.

"Come in," Sam responded automatically, still caught in her train of thought.

Her mother, Amanda, stepped through the doorway, her high heels' loud clicking muffled by the soft carpeting floors. Her face seemed to hold a gentle yet forceful expression.

"It's time to get up, sweetie," nudged Amanda, patting the blanket covering Sam's feet.

"Could I just skip school today?" asked Sam hopefully, her eyes meeting her mom's.

Amanda raised an eyebrow, skeptically.

"You've already skipped school the last two days," she explained.

And before Sam could cut her off, she said, "And I know how important that karate competition was to you and your dad but, you can't just stop living your lives because you lost," she finished.

That would be too lucky.

"Okay," Sam sighed, having to admit defeat for the second time this week.

Amanda smiled before leaving the room to fix up breakfast.

Reluctantly, Sam clicked off her alarm clock and got dressed. Normally, she would have had her outfit picked out the night before (most likely a brightly colored sweater and a short skirt) but with all the chaos of the dojos being shut down, she hadn't picked anything out and didn't really have the patience to do so now so, she just threw on a pair of worn jeans and a white tank-top with a pink denim jacket.

As she walked into the kitchen, she noticed one person missing, Daniel.

"Where's dad?" she asked as she grabbed a plate of waffles and sat down next to her brother, Anthony.

He had a black eye that matched his shoulder length hair from a fight that had broken out during the tournament with his middle school enemy, Kenny Payne.

"He had to go check on something at the dojo," answered Amanda, laying Anthony's plate out in front of him.

Even though she was trying to hide it, Sam could tell that she was disappointed too.

And for the rest of the meal, nobody really talked.

"I'm going to drive to school today," stated Sam as she placed her dish in their kitchen sink.

"Okay, have a good day," called Amanda as Sam was grabbing her backpack and rushing out the door.

The feel of the hot LA Sun practically plastered her tank-top to her chest as she got into the driver's seat of her red convertible. She breathed a sigh of relief as she started the car's engine.

Losing in the Valley was hard for any student, let alone the daughter of a two-time champion.

Anyone who knew Daniel LaRusso knew he wasn't the type to scold his daughter over their loss but still, deep down, Sam knew that it was her fault.

She pulled up to the school's curb, parking the car halfway between two empty spots without even noticing.

I have to face this, them, now.

She got out of her car and walked inside, rushing past the crowds of teenagers whispering and booing things like, "Hey, loser, guess you didn't learn much from your dad," or "If only she wouldn't have lost to Tory, maybe Miyagi-Do would have won."

"Ignore them," she advised herself, though her encouragement had no effect on the way she actually felt.

Luckily, her friend, Demetri saw her and flagged her over to his locker. Sam hadn't known Demetri for that long (less than a year) but he basically had worn the same thing every time that she saw him. Regular jeans, white and red sneakers and a striped polo with the occasional graphic tee shirt. His appearance just screamed nerdy but honestly, she found it kinda refreshing compared to her old friends' attitudes.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Nothing much, although I did get a really painful bruise from when Kyler shoved me in gym class," answered Demetri as he reached down to pull his books out of his locker, his lanky knees bumping into each other.

"I thought Kyler had learned by now to stop picking on you?" asked Sam, angrily.

"Turns out that you kinda lose your stance of power when the whole school joins a stronger karate club than yours, no offense," Demetri rambled, finally finding his AP algebra textbook and stuffing it into his already overflowing backpack.

They both suddenly became aware of the crowd of staring eyes behind them.

Do they seriously have nothing better to do?

Sam just rolled her eyes and gestured for Demetri to follow her to the algebra classroom.

I never thought I'd be so glad to go to class.