XLVII.                                          Heartbreak Weather

       Everybody noticed the difference in Odessa's attitude the next day at the dojo. She was almost glowing. She had more pep in her step. She was more cheerful than she usually was. "Odessa, why do you look so happy?" Hailey questioned.

"I'm just having a good day." Odessa replied with a large smile. She stood with her hands behind her back.

Grayson gasped. "Did you stay up all night watching Teen Wolf season 3 again? I know how you are when Void Stiles shows up."

She shook her head. "No. . . Well, yes, but that's not why i'm in a good mood." She told them.

"Then why are you in a good mood?" Asked Miguel.

Her cheery grin slowly began to drop. "Can I not be in a good mood?" She asked like she was offended

"No, no, no! I love when you're in a good mood!  You're just in an extra good mood today." he quickly implied.

"I'm feeling very attacked right now."

"QUIET!" Johnny shouted and they all stopped talking. "God, y'all give me a headache. Listen up, todays going to be a world of pain." He announced to them all.

The doors of the warehouse opened and a girl came in wearing an Eagle Fang T shirt.

"Everyone fall in! We have a new member joining us today." He motioned to the girl. "Guys, this is Devon Lee. Our new female student."

"Hi. My pronouns are she/her." Devon greeted.

"The only pronouns we accept in the dojo are Sensei and student." Johnny stated cluelessly.

Hailey snorted a laugh. "Just how many of those articles did you actually read?"

"And those are nouns." Odessa pointed out.

Johnny waved his hand at her. "Go back to your bubble of glitter and rainbows, blondie. I think what I meant to say is QUIET!"

Devon flinched and her eyes widened slightly. She quickly went to stand at the end of the lineup.

"Today's lesson is about cheating. At Eagle Fang karate, we don't believe in fighting dirty. Cobra Kai doesn't follow the same rules. So we have to be ready for any dirty trick they throw at us."

"Like when Chong Li threw dirt into Van Damme's eyes in Bloodsport." Devon brought up.

The man looked impressed. "Exactly. Looks like some did their prep work." He praised.

Hailey scoffed to herself. "Oh gosh, she's like a female Demetri."

"And I saw the sequels, too. Not to mention Delta Force, Billy Jack, The Octagon, and Last Dragon. Cynthia Rothrock is a beast."

"She sure is." Johnny agreed.

"I saw Last Dragon—"

"Shut the hell up, Penis Breath!"

Mitch quickly shut his mouth.

"Alright everyone, get ready. Cause we're going to put you through the wringer." He continued. He pointed at Miguel. "Except you, Diaz. You're up here with me."

They all looked at Miguel and he furrowed his brows. "What?" Miguel questioned.

"Tournaments right around the corner. I can't afford you getting hurt." Johnny explained further. Besides, you are know this stuff."

"Yeah, no favorites, my ass." Hailey almost sneered but kept quiet.

"Okay everybody, get ready. Let's begin!"

They stood to the side and watched Johnny tie Devon and Bert together with rope and tape. "Cobra Kai pops out your shoulder, you gotta be ready to fight with one arm," he explained the lesson.

Almost instantly, Devon threw a side kick at Bert but he quickly backed away with ease.

"Whoa, that's too far back and you're overextending your kick. Try it a—"

But she ignored him and kicked Bert again in the shoulder, making him fall this time. Everyone else jumped back.

Johnny hummed. "Not bad."

"I pride myself on never making the same mistake twice." She stated confidently.

Odessa helped Bert off the ground. "I-I can do this, Sensei." She heard Miguel say to Johnny.

"I know you can, but you're way above this beginner stuff. Don't worry, you can help with the next lesson."

She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. She won the All Valley. She worked hard. She brought them to victory. The fact that he couldn't see that made her mad.

Next to fight was Mitch and another boy on the team. I'm the middle of his punches, Johnny threw dirt at his face. "Shit, I can't see!" Mitch exclaimed and started to stumble.

"Use your other senses!"

He threw his arm at the body in front of him, but the boy quickly moved, causing him end up throwing his body into the metal pole. Odessa flinched and her hand automatically went to Hailey's arm.

"Not bad, Penis Breath. You'll get 'em next time." Johnny applauded him.

He then had Devon and Hailey stand before all of them in the straight line. "No trick is too dirty and no blow is too low for them. We have to be ready for it."

He nodded at the two girls and stood by Miguel. Devon and Hailey stood in front of the first two boys snd threw kicks at their ankles. They moved down the line until Devon stood in front of Grayson. Hailey quickly objected. "Touch him and i'll break your leg."

Her eyes went wide and she moved to the next one. Hailey stepped in front of Grayson and smirked. "Sorry, baby." She quickly caught him off guard a kicked his knee. Grayson doubled over in pain and she bent down to kiss the top of his head.

Odessa stood beside Mitch and watched Devon kick Bert in the balls. She gasped. "Hey, too far!" She objected and fell to the ground to help him.

"Odessa, you gotta stop babying him. He's not your real kid." Said Johnny.

"Tell that to the birth certificate I made with both of our signatures on it." She fired back. "Right, Bert?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah."

Odessa iced her sore shoulders. When the training was over, everyone took an ice pack and either sat down to rest or left already. It was clear that they were all angry at Miguel for getting to sit out. Hailey was furious as she helped Grayson keep his now bruised knee elevated. "Good job today. Everyone ice up. We're back at it tomorrow." Johnny announced to them. He walked by Miguel and Odessa. "Hey Dess, your mom called me and said she was planning a big dinner tonight. She invited Carmen. So you guys don't be late." He told them.

They only stayed quiet. Odessa saw the flashes of anger appear on Miguel's face. She walked by him and patted his shoulder.

Mitch and Bert got up from their seats. "Must be nice being the teachers's favorite." Mitch said in anger. He slapped his ice pack in Miguel's chest and walked away.

"Yeah, is he going to tuck you in?"  Bert added and shoved his ice pack in his hand.

"Come on, guys. Don't be like that!" Grayson called out but he was ignored.

Miguel looked at his friends. "You guys aren't mad at me, are you?" He asked desperately.

"Of course not, man. They're just mad they got their asses kicked."

Hailey wasn't as nice as her boyfriend. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at Johnny. He's playing favorites and it's not fair." She bluntly stated. "Odessa's the All Valley champion and yet he still made her do everything today."

He looked at Odessa who was staying quiet. She switched the ice pack to her other sore shoulder. She was avoiding eye contact. "Odessa?"

They watched her stand up and leave the warehouse to wait for her mom outside.

Odessa sat at the large kitchen table with the adults. They were waiting for Miguel to show up. Her mom had cooked up a storm. Carmen checked her watch for the tenth time and sighed. "I don't understand why he isn't here yet."

"Dess, do you know where he is?" Thalia asked her daughter.

She only shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"I'm sure it's fine." Said Johnny.

"I'm going to kill him when he gets here. Thalia made an amazing dinner and he's being disrespectful." Carmen said out of embarrassment.

Thalia smiled at her from across the table. "It's fine. Carmen. He's probably on his way right now. My house is kind of hard to find." She gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Odessa knew Miguel was probably hanging out with Sam. After what happened early, he was angry. They were all angry. She was finding it hard to even be around Johnny because she was so annoyed with him. They heard the front door open and Miguel came walking into the kitchen. "I'm sorry I'm late, Ms. Reid." He quickly said to the woman.

Carmen stood from her chair. "Where have you been? I specifically told you when to be here."

The boy froze. "Uh, sorry. I lost track of time. It won't happen again." He excused. He took his seat at the table.

"He lost track of time. See? It's all good." Johnny stood up for him. He saw the look on Carmen's face. "Which is very irresponsible and you can't worry your mom like that."

"I was just hanging out with Sam." Miguel stated like it was no big deal.

"That's okay, honey. I'm just glad you could come." Thalia said with a sweet smile. "We just want you to be safe is all. You and Odessa."

"Right, we want you to be safe. Always wear protection."

Odessa grimaced. "Oh, my god."

The two women looked at Johnny like he was crazy. "What? No." Carmen objected.

"No? No, don't wear protection." Johnny backtracked.

"Johnny, that's not your place." Said Thalia and she cringed a little.

"Uh,  you let the girl decide that." 

"Oh, god. Please stop talking." Odessa grimaced again.

"Just stop it!" Miguel finally snapped.

They went quiet. "You said nothing was going to change. You said you'd treat me like everyone else after my injury but you're not. Everything's changed. Now it's weird in class." He said to Johnny out of anger and hurt. He looked at Odessa for a second. "Odessa won the All Valley. She's better than all of us and yet you go the hardest on her. She deserves to get to step back every once in a while but you're just doing it to me because you're playing favorites."

"Miguel—"

"No, Odessa! You know it's true." He interrupted her. Things got silent after that. He stood from the table. "I'm sorry, Thalia. I really am." He said to the woman and quickly fled the house.

"Miguel!" Carmen shouted after him. When he closed the front door, she looked embarrassed. "Im so sorry, Thalia. He's never acted out like that before."

Thalia smiled but it was obvious that she was disappointed. "He's a teenager, Carmen. I get it."

Carmen left and then there were three. Johnny looked at Odessa. "Dess? Is there something you want to say?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"It does."

"Maybe we should—"

"Okay, you want to hear what I have to say?" She said out loud, interrupting her mom. She almost glared. "I've worked so hard. And you don't even appreciate it. I won. I made us champions and yet you still overlook me as if I didn't deserve it."

"Odessa, that's not true. You know I'm proud of you." He tried to say.

"Then why don't you act like it?" She bursted out and her face went red. She didn't wait for his answer. She pushed her chair back and stood up.

"Odessa, sit down." Her mom said.

"I don't even know why I came back to karate."

"You came back because it's where you belong." Johnny expressed loudly. He stood up from his own chair. "Because you're not a quitter. It's in your blood, Odessa. You were meant to be in karate."

At his words, Odessa scoffed. Angry tears filled her eyes. The adults just stared at her. "You always say that. You always tell me that I'm like my father but news flash, Johnny, he's gone and he's not coming back!" Her voice raised painfully. She watched his face fall. "You think I haven't prayed these last few years that he'll come back? I spent every single day expecting him to be here when I came home from school or that he'd pick up the phone when I called him. I'm nothing like him. I don't want to be anything like him because he abandoned me. He abandoned her!" She pointed to her mother who had covered her mouth. Her eyes were glossy as well. "So stop with this stupid fantasy that I'll be like him one day and start treating me like I'm my own person."

She stormed off to her room and left the adults there in silence. Thalia sucked in a deep breath and exhaled shakily. Johnny's eyes closed for a brief second and his shoulders slumped over. "Johnny, I'm sorry—"

"It's fine, Thalia. She's right." He interrupted. "I keep holding her to a certain level because I see Christian in her. But he's gone."

She frowned deeply.

He left their home and sat in his car, completely silent. Not turning on the engine. All he could think about was how much he screwed up.