─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

the next morning, at 5 am sharp, the dojo was gathered in the local cement ground. johnny had given them orders: carry the dry cement bags, add water or mix the cement.

"don't add too much water." johnny told mitch, "you wanna make it nice and thick."

"sensei, why are we mixing cement?" miguel panted from exhaustion, he had been stirring the thick, grey substance.

johnny shook his head, "no questions. all right. keep stirring." he demanded before moving over to kresse.

"i signed up for karate, not to be doing free labour for some lazy builders." tabitha groaned as she stirred her wagon of cement. "hell, i didn't even sign up for karate."

"you know you could've just... not come?" miguel muttered from the wagon beside her, his eyes on his task. tabitha glared at him. "first of all, i wasn't even speaking to you."

"then who were you speaking to?" miguel asked. "because i'm the only person who replied."

"i was speaking to mohawk, actually." tabitha pointed to the boy beside her, who had been slowly pouring the powder into her wagon.

"it's just hawk." he reminded her for the third time that day.

"whatever."

a deafening honk was heard, making them all pause in what they were doing and glance up. the teenagers looked puzzled as a cement truck had driven over and stopped right in front of them. a man climbed out and began speaking with johnny. the conversation was relatively short, and the man walked away after.

"what is this?" hawk mouthed to the two, silently referring to the truck. miguel shrugged, as confused as hawk was while tabitha seemed more intrigued, wanting to know now what they would be getting up to.

"all right." johnny finally yelled, after half an hour of quiet stirring and pouring. "fall in!"

the group moved together, facing their sensei. tabitha stood in the middle of hawk and aisha, them two being the only people she could tolerate in the place. that miguel diaz was very full of himself.

the guy won a karate championship, sure. but tabitha didn't care about that title he held. in fact, the girl had multiple trophies and medals up in her room, but she didn't act like she was better than everyone.

"you think winning the all valley gives you the right to goof off?" johnny asked them, "well, i got news for you. winning one championship don't mean squat. a true champion never stops training."

kresse stood leaning against the truck, looking at the kids with a smug expression on his face.

"you gotta keep moving forward, or else you could get stuck exactly where you are. it's like the cement in this truck." the blond man pointed to the vehicle behind him, "if that drum doesn't start turning, the cement inside will harden and get stuck. is that what you want to happen to you?"

"no, sensei!"

"good." johnny nodded, "then climb up, get inside, and make it spin."

their faces dropped. they all looked at the man in disbelief. there was no way he would make them go inside of a cement truck, right? but the smirk on the old man's face confirmed to tabitha that johnny lawrence was not joking.

"what?"

aisha decided to speak up, for them all. "sensei, we're sorry for messing around."

"we learned our lesson." hawk added. however, johnny didn't want any apologies, he wanted them to prove themselves. the man harshly pulled the metal ladder down and pointed, "get in!"

miguel was very concerned. he had been the man's first student but he was still hesitant. "sensei, this seems kind of dangerous. i mean, the fumes alone—"

"quiet!" john kresse, who hadn't said a word to any of them since his appearance the day before, moved away from the truck and stepped over to them. "this man led you to the mountain top, and you question him? look at you. look at all of you. i can't believe this pathetic pack of pussies competed in the all valley, and let alone won."

tabitha raised her eyebrow, crossing her arms at this old man's words. she was not a pussy.

"it's an absolute miracle. and who's responsible for that miracle?" he quizzed, "johnny lawrence. the best student in the history of cobra kai... my student."

"you were sensei's sensei?" hawk inquired.

"you better believe it, kid." kresse smirked, "and i tell you i've never trained a tougher student in my whole life. so, if you know what's good for you, you better listen to every goddamn word he says."

"i'll do it, sensei." miguel stepped forward and made his way to the ladder.

tabitha was right behind him, nudging him out of the way so she could enter first. "i'm not doing this because his emotional speech moved me. i'm doing this because i will not tolerate being called a pussy."

johnny nodded with approval and watched as they climbed up the ladder, hawk and chris following behind. "holy shit." miguel gasped as tabitha slid into the hole.

she was so glad she had chosen to wear a homely outfit and run-down shoes that day. the girl began to slip as she moved deeper inside, miguel quickly noticed and placed his arm around her waist. tabitha gained her balance and shrugged him off. "don't."

"just trying to stop you from slipping and possibly eating cement." miguel raised his hands in defeat.

"and what if i wanted to, huh?" she challenged.

"then next time you slip, i'll let you." miguel shrugged. "this is so weird."

"for sure." hawk agreed.

"don't just stand there." johnny hollered out from the outside. "you wanna get stuck? move!"

"okay, okay!" tabitha shouted back. the five of them moved over to the edge and began to push, they slipped a couple of times but eventually, they managed to get the barrel to budge.

"let's go, guys! move it!" johnny called to them.

"come on!"

"push, guys. we've got this!"

"diaz, get the hell off of me."

"all right. there we go! there we go!" johnny encouraged once it began slowly moving around, "a little bit faster, "there you go, there you go!"

"keep pushing!"

"all together!"

after a few moments, the group of four began hastily pushing the barrel around. everyone outside began cheering and applauding for them.

in groups of four, everyone then had a turn in entering the tunnel and pushing the barrel till it spun. as time went on, they had all completed the task and were all covered in liquid cement.

"you should all be proud of yourselves. i know i'm proud." johnny lectured them as he sprayed them all with the hose. "your parents would be proud, too, if you told them what we did here today, which we won't."

"that felt like being a hamster in a wheel." tabitha groaned, picking out the dried pieces from her hair.

they all laughed as johnny gave her a small smile, "you pushed forward like champions. never stopping. never being satisfied. never giving up. and if you keep pushing and keep moving forward, you're gonna go to places you never even dreamed of. now, go off."

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

tabitha knocked on the apartment door for a third time, growing restless. she continuously looked over her shoulder, not wanting to be seen by anyone. she had gone home and had a long shower before throwing on black attire. she waited at home for a while, wanting it to grow darker before she went to the supposed dealer's house.

finally, the door opened and a boy with light tan skin stood in the frame. he had long brown hair and piercing green eyes. when he saw who was at his door, his face morphed into a look of confusion. "can i help you?"

she slowly pulled her hood down, revealing her messy curls and her face. still, he had no idea who she was. "i heard you supply." tabitha explained.

robby keene quickly looked behind her to make sure there was no one around and pulled her into the apartment. he closed and locked the door, making her grow suspicious.

"i don't supply anymore." robby explained, moving further into the dark room and rummaging through some boxes.

"so why did you pull me in here and lock the door?" tabitha questioned. "you gonna kill me?"

"no." he shook his head. "i don't supply anymore, but i have some things i want to get rid of."

"perfect." tabitha grinned, she made her way over to a light switch and pressed down on it. when nothing happened, she shrugged and moved away.

"sorry about that, it's just—" robby started.

"i do not need to hear whatever you're going to say." tabitha cut him off. "i've got thirty five, if that's enough."

"you're lucky, it's all reduced to clear." robby joked.

"my lucky day." tabitha grinned, digging into her coat pocket for her crumpled cash. "what you got?"

robby pulled out a tiny ziplock bag that held a single white pill, and then a small tin box. "is molly and a few joints okay?"

"more than okay." tabitha smiled. "a shame you're closing down, gonna be quite hard to find a dealer as cute as you."

robby couldn't help but smile. "i wish i could say the same about you but it's so dark in here i can barely see you. hold on." the boy placed the items in her hands and quickly rushed off into another room.

tabitha reached into her coat pocket again, pulling out a lighter this time. she made her way over to the couch and sat on it. the girl had a habit of making herself overly comfortable in places she's never been. the boy entered the front room, a collection of candles in his arms.

"you are quite the romantic." tabitha grinned, throwing her boots onto the table.

"shut up." he rolled his eyes, pushing her feet off the coffee table and placing the candles on it.

the girl slapped the cash onto the table and used her lighter to ignite each of the wax candles. the room gradually began to grow brighter, and robby could see her face clearer. he watched as she opened the metal tin, her hands weirdly trembling.

"you're not like... addicted, are you?" robby frowned.

"no, no." tabitha shook her head, placing the pre-rolled spliff into her lips. "i've just got naturally shaky hands... my mom nearly cried when she realised it meant i could never be a surgeon."

robby chuckled at that, taking a seat beside her on the couch. "you never told me your name."

"tabitha brooks." she introduced herself. the girl took the joint out of her mouth and slowly brought the rolled end close to the lighter, making sure there was a good distance. she began to rotate it around, letting the heat take its time to light it.

"robby keene." the boy spoke. "you seem to know what you're doing."

"i am a professional." tabitha grinned.

"do you always come into the houses of your drug suppliers?"

"i mean they don't usually throw me in and lock the door." she shrugged. "finally." she put the lighter on the table and placed the spliff back onto her lips.

robby observed as she took a deep inhale, removed the reefer and unexpectedly blew the air into his face. he began to cough and fan the smoke away from his eyes as she laughed.

"didn't expect that?" tabitha cheesed, placing the joint in between his fingers.

"no." he shook his head, coughing. once it subsided, he repeated her actions. the two continued to inhale and pass it to one another, initiating in small talk as they did and silently growing comfortable with one another. "got any family?" tabitha questioned.

"my mom's in mexico with her boyfriend." he grumbled.

"shit." tabitha winced. "that why you on your own here? got no electricity and shit."

"yeah." robby nodded.

"that sucks."

"it's cool." he shrugged. "what about you? family?"

"a stupid twin brother and a mom." she told him.

"you're a twin?" he sat up in surprise.

"why's that got you so baffled?" tabitha chuckled. "we aren't identical or anything like that. just born on the same day."

"that's still cool." robby shrugged. "i wish i had a sibling."

"i don't." tabitha shook her head before taking another drag. "we should like switch lives... like that freaky friday shit."

robby laughed. "good idea, we've got to close our eyes and say we wish we were each other."

"this is so cringe." she shook her head.

"it was your idea so you've got to do it." robby told her.

"fine, fine." she sat up. "on three... three, two—"

"you said on three, idiot." robby interrupted her. "you're supposed to end with three, not start with it."

"don't call me an idiot!" tabitha exclaimed as she shoved him. "one, two, three!"

"i wish i was tabby!"

"i wish i was robby!"

the two opened their eyes to see they were still themselves and sighed.

"don't call me tabby." she warned him, inhaling again. this time, she leant over closer and robby knew what she was going to do. he let his lips hang open slightly as she blew the smoke directly into his mouth. "it's not fun when you know what's gonna happen."

"sucks." robby nodded.

"you got a girlfriend?" tabitha questioned.

"i mean... i—not right now." robby shook his head, shaking the image of samantha larusso he temporarily saw in his mind.

"cool." tabitha nodded, leaning in closer to him. robby placed his hand on her cheek, noticing how cold it was. the two didn't hesitate as they brought their faces closer and began to kiss.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!

and then her eyes shot open and it was all just a dream </3

just kidding!! tabitha silver only you would hook up with the boy who supplied her drugs, after spending a week in a new town :(