THREE.
( my, my, my, my kind of woman. )

"Mom? Dad?"

Jennifer frowned as she stood on the bottom of the stairs, not seeing her father brewing his normal cup of coffee in the kitchen or her mother helping him straighten out his tie. The house was quiet. So quiet that you could hear the AC running in the vents. 

"Mom?" she called again, stepping onto the floor and turning to her left to the living room. She could see that no one was on the gray couches and the TV wasn't on. 

Her frown deepened as she hiked her backpack higher up onto her shoulder. Her mom always hated how she would wear her backpack on her front rather than her back, but she always said that she preferred to feel the sun on her back. 

Jennifer let out a small huff as she dragged her feet to the kitchen counter, immediately spotting a bright green post-it note stuck onto it. She ripped it off of the table, bringing it up to her face. 

Got called away to Maryland with your mom! The usual "putting criminals away." We'll make sure to send lots of pictures! 
          ─ Dad ☼

She gave a small and adoring chuckle at her father's usual note send-offs. He would say that she was as bright as the sun and always lit up his day. 

As Jennifer smiled to herself while reading the note over and over again, a realization dawned on her. 

Her parents had just left her without a ride to karate.

A loud and dramatic groan echoed throughout the house, and she leaned her head back in dread. This was karma for delaying getting her license. And she couldn't think of anyone else in Cobra Kai who had their license. Miguel practically got a ride from Johnny every single day and the man hated her neighborhood, Aisha had her driver and he terrified Jennifer, and Eli ─ 

Her head suddenly snapped up straight as she finally remembered that Eli had gotten his license not too long ago. 

She rushed over to her front door and swung it open, rushing down the pavement so that she could get a better view of his house. Her eyes searched the driveway, and there, she saw that awful car with a blue stripe. And, God, she was happy to see that awful car with a blue stripe.

Jennifer was filled with instant relief, and her feet carried her over to the Moskowitz's front door. Her fist pounded on the door with no shame, and she bit down on her bottom lip in anticipation. 

The door flung open in a manner that resembled her frantic one, and Mrs. Moskowitz stood on the other side with wide eyes. "Jennifer? Is something wrong?"

"Hi, Mrs. Moskowitz," the girl breathlessly said. "Um, my parents went on another business trip this morning and now I don't have a ride to karate, so, I was wondering if Eli could give me one?"

"Oh!" the woman's eyes lit up and she opened the door further. "I'm sure he would be delighted to. Come in and I'll go get him."

Jennifer gave a grateful smile and stepped into the house. "Thank you."

"No problem," the woman gave a kind one back. "I made some muffins in the kitchen if you would like to help yourself to one."

"I'm not a breakfast person," Jennifer waved her off. "But thank you."

Mrs. Moskowitz nodded before heading upstairs, leaving Jennifer downstairs by herself. She took the time to look around, taking in the surroundings she had only seen a few times. The Jungs and Moskowitzs were all good friends and were often the location for neighborhood barbecues or parties. 

Not much had changed in the house, other than a few family pictures that have been put up with more up-to-date photos of Eli. Well, he still had his short brown hair in the pictures. 

Jennifer curiously approached them, eyeing the boy she had lived next to since she was 5. For being the same person, they could not be any more different. His demeanor just projected insecurity and an introverted nature. But now? All he was was a cocky bastard who didn't have a filter. 

She almost wanted to scoff at how much he reinvented himself. How could the sweetest boy who complimented her shoes in kindergarten become that overnight? Jennifer was never close with Eli, but, she wanted to know. 

She tore her eyes away from the wall of frames when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and she watched as Mrs. Moskowitz and Hawk appeared from upstairs. 

The teenage boy huffed in irritation as he lifted his bag onto his shoulder and walked up to her. "You seriously need a ride?"

Jennifer raised her eyebrows with a tight-lipped smile. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"Fine," he sighed before turning to his mother. "Bye, Mom."

"Bye, sweetie," she smiled warmly before turning to Jennifer. "Bye, Jennifer."

"Have a good day, Mrs. Moskowitz," she politely smiled before she and Hawk walked out of the house and he shut the door behind him. "Are you a fast driver or a slow driver?"

"Why does it matter?" he made a face. 

"Slow drivers give me anxiety," she defended herself. 

"I'll drive fast then," he said in a sarcastic tone before walking over to his car and climbing into the driver's side.

Jennifer mocked his tone under her breath as she climbed into the passenger seat, placing her backpack onto her lap now that she was sitting down. 

"Why do you even need a ride anyway?" he asked, turning the car on and beginning to back out of his driveway. He placed a hand on the back of Jennifer's seat and looked behind him. 

"My parents went to Maryland for some business trip," she explained. "And I don't have my license."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Seriously? I thought Miguel was kidding."

"He told you?" her eyes widened. "God! That kid can not keep his damn mouth shut."

"Yeah, we all learned that pretty early on," Hawk chuckled. 

Jennifer turned to him with a sarcastic smile. "Thanks for that. How long have you guys been friends?"

"Since he first came to The Valley, I guess," he shrugged. "He's the one that got me into Cobra Kai."

He heard Jennifer let out a noise of realization, and he glanced at her with knitted eyebrows. "What?"

"To be brutally honest," she began, turning in her seat to face him. "I never really got how you had the balls to take up karate, but, Miguel being the reason makes so much more sense."

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "Why are you making me sound like a scared loser?"

"Really?" she looked at him like he was kidding. "Eli, I've known you since kindergarten. You used to cry when Mrs. Williams didn't give you a golden star sticker."

She watched as his face turned pink, and she smiled in victory. "I was 5!"

"You and your little friend were voted most likely to be single forever all three years of middle school," Jennifer laughed. "God, those yearbook photos were so good. Where is your little friend now? Demetri, was it?"

"What about him?" Hawk grumbled. 

"Remember when you two were voted most likely to get married in seventh grade after your "Binary Bros" video?" Jennifer kept on going, enjoying the building annoyance on his face. "I swear I saw that video on every platform imaginable."

"Would you quit it?" he snapped, glancing at her. 

"Okay," she gave him a weird look. "I guess being a sour pus comes with the mohawk. What happened? You used to love joking around with me. We even went on a treasure hunt together!"

"That was for a field trip," he shrugged. 

"Oh, please," she held up a hand. "Don't forget that you were the one who wanted to be my partner."

"We were 12!"

"So?"

"Look," he let out a frustrated sigh. "I agreed to drive you to karate. I didn't agree to you talking my ear off with shit I don't wanna hear. So, can you just sit there and shut the fuck up?"

Jennifer slightly reeled back from his sudden outburst. "Fine. Whatever."

She wrapped her arms around her black backpack, eyes now darting to the window, watching the trees fly by. The car was now filled with silence, and Jennifer could feel Hawk taking glances at her whenever he could. 

They were about five minutes away from the dojo when Hawk suddenly turned into a popular plaza that teenagers often went to. Her eyebrows furrowed as he parked in front of a small breakfast place. "What are we doing here?"

"I get a breakfast burrito from here every morning before training," he explained, climbing out of the car. He hesitated as his hand gripped the top of the door. "Do you want anything?"

Jennifer looked at him in surprise. "Uh, no thanks. I'm not a breakfast person."

"All right," he awkwardly responded and went to shut the door but he opened it again. "I'll be back."

She gave him a tight-lipped smile. "I figured."

He gave a nod before shutting the door, leaving her alone. Jennifer let out a sigh, fiddling with the zipper on her bag. She knew that she could be a bit overbearing sometimes. Her teachers used to write that on her report cards. 

A bright student, but can be disruptive. 

It was also why she couldn't hold down a solid friend group and why Tory was her only friend. She couldn't hold her tongue and would end up blurting out things that didn't need to be blurted out. They all called her a nuisance or a pest that they couldn't shake off. 

Her parents would try to cheer her up and say that she was just someone who had a lot to say, but, Jennifer knew better than that. She annoyed people. That much she knew. 

The driver-side door opening made her turn, and she watched as Hawk climbed into the driver's seat with a foil-wrapped burrito and a yellow drink. He placed that burrito on his lap before turning to her, and held out the yellow drink. "Here."

Her eyebrows flew up and her eyes darted to the drink. "What?"

Hawk rolled his eyes and shoved the drink into her hand. "Take it."

Jennifer looked down at the cold drink. "What is it?"

"It's a mango smoothie."

"How did you know I liked mangos?"

"I've known you since I was 5 too," he shrugged. "You used to eat mangos every day during snack time."

"Wow," she looked up at him with a soft smile. "Thank you, Eli. You didn't have to get me anything."

"Eh, training on an empty stomach doesn't help anyone. And..." he scratched the back of his ear. "I wanted to apologize for snapping at you earlier."

"Apologize?" she said in a questioning tone. 

"Yeah," he pressed his lips tightly together. "I know you didn't mean to piss me off."

"All right," she playfully rolled her eyes while he chuckled. "I'm sorry too. You probably aren't too fond of your past and I shouldn't have pushed it."

"I accept your apology," he stated, breaking into a smile. 

Jennifer couldn't help but smile back at him, taking a sip of her mango smoothie.

"We cool?" he then asked. 

The girl nodded. "We're cool."

✸

"Is that JJ and Hawk?"

Miguel snapped his head towards the door, face falling in shock at the sight of a smiling Hawk and Jennifer walking side by side towards the dojo. 

"They're...laughing," he said, not truly believing it. 

Then they watched as Hawk opened the door, letting Jennifer walk in first before he followed after her. She held a halfway-done smoothie in her hands and kicked off her shoes. 

"Hey, guys," she greeted, taking a rather loud slurp of her drink. 

"Did you..." Aisha pointed at her and Hawk. "Did you guys get here at the same time?"

"Huh? No. I gave her a ride," Hawk casually said, taking his gi out of his bag. "I'm gonna go get changed."

He then walked past them and into the small locker room in the back, leaving them with Jennifer. 

"Why are you guys acting so weird?" she bluntly asked them, catching weird energy when they walked in. "Did Sensei make you scrub the toilets again?"

Miguel grabbed her shoulders. "Don't say that so loud! But, no."

"Then what?"

"Seriously?" Aisha raised her eyebrows. "You and Hawk walked in here all smiley like you weren't trying to kill him the other day."

"I just didn't have a ride," Jennifer defended herself. "And he lives right next door, in case you forgot."

Miguel then pointed at her smoothie. "Did he get you that?"

Jennifer pursed her lips before slowly bringing the straw up to her lips. "Maybe."

There were immediate shouts from Aisha and Miguel but Jennifer rushed to quiet them down. "Why does it even matter? I thought you guys wanted us to be friends."

"We do. It's just... weird actually seeing it," Aisha admitted. 

"A heads up next time would be nice," Miguel shrugged. 

"A heads up? Like what? "Oh, Miguel! By the way, Hawk and I decided not to be petty towards each other anymore!" Are you hearing yourself?" Jennifer flicked him on the forehead. 

"Just go get changed," he waved her off. 

"God, you guys are such weirdos," Jennifer shook her head before heading to the locker room. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

finally got to writing this!! and I am so excited you guys cause come s5-6... oh those are jj's seasons