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"so we've re-printed all the reading materials that you'll need for your classes. they're in a selection of different colours." guidance counsellor blatt spoke to the girl sitting in front of her.

miguel and sam.

"and we've made sure that you're in at least three of the same classes as your brother." she continued, her gaze on a spreadsheet rather than the student in front of her.

miguel and sam.

"and we were wondering if you preferred to be referred to with the double barrel surename, one one or the other?"

miguel and sam.

"tabitha? tabitha?"

her head shot up. the whites around her brown irises were red, the skin around them was puffy, and the look on her face was emotionless. "yeah?" she groaned.

"are you okay?" counsellor blatt asked. tabitha nodded her head. "yeah."

"about the name?" she questioned.

"um, tabitha brooks." tabby informed her. the woman began to quickly type down her words into the computer. "great, thank you."

"can i go now?" tabitha asked. counsellor blatt glanced up at her. "yes, of course. this is your schedule, your first lesson is biology with miss santos in room b24."

she snatched the piece of paper off of the desk and slung her backpack over her shoulder. tabitha stood to her feet and moved out of her office. she spent a couple of minutes looking around, trying to find her classroom.

"good morning, students and faculty, welcome to a brand-new year at west valley high." the lady in the announcements spoke out, "i hope you all had a wonderful summer and are ready to dive back into the school year."

she currently had no one. her boyfriend kissed his ex-girlfriend and so when she got home that night, she threw her phone at the wall with outrage. now, she had no way to contact her friends over the weekend. to make matters worse, theo was at home extremely ill, so she didn't even have him.

finally she found room b24. tabitha glanced in to see miguel and hawk sitting beside each other at a table. she scoffed, pivoting on her feet and stepping away from the door.

"dude, you kissed sam?" hawk asked his best friend from inside the classroom.

miguel sighed with self-disappointment. "yeah. and i know i shouldn't have done that to tabby." miguel sighed.

"look, i'm completely against limiting yourself to one chick." hawk explained. "i mean, i'm planning on having a full rotation by the time we get to midterms... but you have no idea how lucky you are to have her. you've screwed up, big time."

"i know." miguel groaned, resting his head on the table.

"how did she take it?" hawk questioned. miguel glanced over to him. "i uh, haven't told her yet. i mean, i tried! but none of my calls or texts were going through."

"she's probably been busy with theo, i heard he's been really sick." hawk suggested.

"did they come in today? aisha said that she hasn't seen theo's car in the car park." miguel stated. hawk just shrugged, "no idea. haven't seen them."

"hey, man." a boy trailed over to them, his books clutched in his hands. "just wanted to say, i wet the bed till i was 13... there's nothing to be ashamed of." miguel looked baffled at his words while hawk grew visibly angry.

he smacked the books out of the boy's hands, "get the hell out of my face!" hawk yelled.

"what's that guy's problem?" miguel asked as they watched him scramble to get his books and then walk away.

"i don't know." hawk scoffed.

"you can also purchase tickets for the fall musical, which will be a production of the global hit grease."

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tabitha spent her first period sitting on a closed toilet seat, her vape pen in hand. she was angry. and if seeing miguel brought this much rage in her, she couldn't imagine how she would act if she saw samantha.

"and finally as we embark upon another academic year, it's important to remember to be tolerant and accepting of all of our peers, regardless of-" the door of the announcement room opened loudly and the microphone's feedback was heard. "hey, you're not supposed to be in here."

"i don't care, move!"

"give that back! ow!"

tabitha glanced up from the ground, suddenly interested in what was going on. she allowed the last bit of smoke to escape from her lips before stuffing the vape into her jeans pocket. tabby got to her feet and pulled open the toilet door.

"you're not allowed to-"

"samantha larusso." tory announced. "i know what you did to tabby. and now you're gonna pay for it. i'm coming for you, bitch!"

the school bell rang just as tabitha's jaw fell. the girl quickly seized her backpack and rushed out of the bathroom. everyone around her was chattering as they walked out of their next class. she chose to follow two girls, who led her to the hallway intersection where everyone was gathered.

she was forced to stand right at the back, where she could barely see the two girls circling each other. "i saw what you did at the party." tory revealed to her. "you kissed miguel. and since tabitha was too hesitant, i'll make sure i take matters into my own hands."

"ooh!"

"i... i..." sam stuttered, tory didn't wait for her to finish her sentence as she swung her fist to her face. sam managed to dodge it and a few of the other next punches. as the brunette attempted to get away, tory grabbed her bag and drew her back. she then tossed the backpack aside and kicked sam in the stomach.

tabitha shoved her way through the crowd, just as sam stumbled back, into hawk and herself. "get back in there!" hawk ordered as he forced sam forward, a part of him eager for her to get revenge for what she did to tabitha.

tory ruthlessly punched and kicked at the girl, and all sam could do was obstruct and dodge them. she simply took the hits even the hard ones, even when tory threw her into the lockers. tired of being a bystander, tabitha forced her way into the middle of the two, barely dodging a punch tory was trying to send sam.

"what the hell are you doing?" tory questioned. "she kissed your boyfriend."

tabitha thought for a second, tory was right. what better way to get vengeance than to fight it out? she placed her hands on samantha's shoulders and kneed her in the stomach before slamming her body back onto the lockers.

"yeah, get her!"

"was robby not enough for you, princess?" tabby questioned. "you just had to have miguel again, didn't you?" when samantha failed to reply, tabitha threw a punch to her head. sam quickly blocked it but tabitha struck again, slamming her fist against the side of her cheek.

robby had run over and decided to step in, dragging tabby away from the larusso girl. "you okay?" he asked his girlfriend.

"she cheated on you, you realise that right?" tabitha asked him, tauntingly. but the boy pivoted around and pressed her against the lockers. she just grinned at him, blowing the loose piece of hair away from her face. finally, miguel arrived at the scene.

"stop! let her go!"

"hey!" miguel roared, he charged over and tackled robby onto the ground. now that she was unrestrained, tabitha was free to attack sam again. she and tory shared a nod before they both raised their legs and kicked her on each of her sides.

"oh, it is on!" hawk roared, grabbing bert and nate by their heads and pushing them back into opposite lockers.

"wait-"

tabby and tory practically tag-teamed brawling sam while robby and miguel were simultaneously battling it out behind them. sam managed to front-kick tory in the stomach, momentarily pushing her back. as a result of this, tabitha struck her in the gut before elbowing her in her jaw.

sam panted out with exhaustion. "two against one?" she asked once she booted tabby in the shoulder. "you never fight fair, do you?"

tabitha stepped to the side, pivoted around and back kicked sam in the ribs, knocking her off her feet before she glimpsed back at miguel. "she's all yours." tabby told tory, before using her foot to boot the larusso girl on her thigh. while tory yanked sam off of the ground, tabitha ran over and utilised a flying side-kick to push robby off of miguel.

just as she had hoped, the boy was quickly occupied with fighting other members of cobra kai. tabitha clutched miguel by the hem of his long-sleeved, red shirt and shoved him back onto the lockers. "i thought you liked me."

"tabitha. i do—"

"so why did you kiss her?!" she screamed into his face.

"she kissed me! i promise you. she kissed me and i just froze— i didn't kiss her back." miguel shook his head. "i wouldn't do that to you. i like you too much."

she slammed her fist against the locker by his head before pushing him away with frustration. her head was racing. she didn't know what to do. believe miguel, or believe what she saw.

but then again, she was pretty wasted at the party.

she didn't have enough time to decide because she was grasped by some boy she didn't know and hurled onto the ground. her back collided with the ground, her head following after. miguel watched as she groaned out in despair, but robby swung at him before he could help her.

tabitha thrust her left foot into his stomach and used her right one to sweep him off of his feet and beside her on the ground. tabitha rolled over and positioned herself on top of his body before sending vicious punches into his face.

"this is out of control!" the principal yelled into his walkie-talkie. "get me security in the main corridor, right away!"

tabby drove herself to her feet, striving to locate tory and sam. but her journey to them wasn't as simple as she expected. constantly, people were throwing themselves at her, which delayed her from finding them. eventually, she staggered over to the main building, sweating with fresh blood dripping under her nose and a bruise forming underneath her right eye.

she could now clearly see tory and sam fighting on the second story. she dashed up the stairs, moving past robby as he took down two other boys on her team. "she's mine!" tabitha hollered while tory pitched sam onto the floor.

tory smirked, stepping out of her way, "gladly."

tabby gripped sam's hair, ignoring as she shrieked out in agony. she lugged her body down one of the staircases before lowering her body down to the ground. tabby sank onto her knees beside her.

"finish her!" tory shouted from behind.

tabitha's grasp on samantha's hair weakened for a split second as she raised her other hand into a fist. "no mercy." she seethed. she knew this was exactly how her grandfather would have wanted her to act. he was the advocate of a merciless lifestyle.

"tabitha..." sam croaked out. "bitta, please." she panted with utter fear.

bitta.

that's what samantha would call her when they were younger, as she struggled to say her full name. tabby's heart stopped for a second, tears prickling up in her eyes. this girl kissed her boyfriend, she had a right to be mad—she was justified in striking her square in the face.

but this girl was her childhood best friend. samantha larusso. they would have sleepovers together, swim in the pool together, they would make up dance routines and force their families to watch them. tabitha was angry, she was furious. her face felt red hot and her heart was pacing.

but she slumped her fist and released samantha's hair. the girl descended back onto the floor in fatigue. but tory wasn't satisfied, she propelled tabitha aside and decided to finish the fight herself. she yanked down her bracelet full of spikes as tabitha sat on the ground, defeated and vulnerable.

someone drew her up from behind and kicked her down the mini-staircase onto the ground floor. she grunted, pushing herself to her feet to protect herself. but the boy wasn't giving up. for someone who trained in defence, they seemed to focus more on attacking tabby.

for the first time in her life, tabitha silver didn't fight back. instead, she took the attacks, she took the following punches and kicks. she did nothing. even when her body slammed back onto a trophy case and the glass shattered behind her, falling onto her body and slicing her skin.

"get the hell off of her, man." a voice yelled, dragging the boy back and launching a punch into their face. tabby's eyes fluttered open to see who had just helped her, her head was throbbing and her ears were ringing. "hey, you okay?" hawk questioned, brushing her hair out of her face to see her properly.

the girl just nodded and allowed him to help her up. "thanks, mohawk." she took a good look at him to see that he too had been brutally beaten. "who's responsible for that?" she asked.

"he got lucky." hawk seethed. "come on."

"miguel!" tory's voice bellowed. tabby and hawk quickly turned around to see what had happened. miguel was declining from the second-floor balcony, his arms reaching out helplessly.

before anyone could move to do anything, miguel's body slammed against the railing, his back cracking as everyone gasped. tabitha yelled out as he lay there, unconscious. she rushed over to his side, crying out his name. he looked completely inanimate and the sight made her stomach churn.

"help! someone help him!" she cried out, "please!" her voice was cracking and strained, her eyes glassed over.

"out of the way, out of the way!" an officer ordered, "we need an ambulance at west valley high."

"robby, what did you do?" sam proclaimed, her eyes fixated on him.

with one hand in miguel's, tabitha glanced up to see robby staring right at her. the second they made eye contact, he sprinted away. hawk was quickly by her side, kneeling beside his friends. "someone, please! do something!" she continued to shout. the security officer pushed her to the side so he could check his pulse.

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"mom, i am so sorry." tabitha cried as her mother entered her hospital room. they had finished extracting the shards of glass from her body and stitching the wounds up. "i didn't—i didn't mean for it to be like this." she observed as her mom took a seat in the chair beside the bed. "miguel, is he—"

"tabitha, you know i love you more than life itself. but this—this is too much." esther shook her head. "they're talking about juvenile prison, baby. and i won't be able to —" when she lifted her head, she saw the girl was now lying down, her body violently twitching.

esther's eyes widened as she got to her feet. "tabitha? tabby?! baby, what's—what's wrong?!" she began to cry as her daughter's body continued to jerk and foam began to form in her mouth. "doctor! someone come quick! i think she's having a seizure!"

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
not a lot of fighting in this chapter but it took me ages to write??
AND THAT'S A WRAP OF THE BOOK. unfortunately, tabitha is dead!

so.... who's excited for season 6?!