chapter three, isobel vera's personal hell

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          "No, okay. Okay. It's fine. It's just dinner, right?"

    Izzy should've known that them posing as a couple would reach their families, because Miguel's mom was now wanting Izzy to come over for dinner. She was currently hovering over Nina's shoulder as the two girls wandered through the American Eagle store they were in at the mall. Izzy couldn't even imagine how Kayla was going to react to the news that Izzy has a boyfriend, especially after what happened with Ethan.

     A little bit after Cobra Kai practice, Izzy was confused as to why Miguel was texting her, but when she opened her phone to see the reason — she didn't know what to do.

     "Right. It's just dinner. What could go wrong? Miguel actually learns something about you? It won't interfere with anything." Nina spoke like she was trying her best to convince Izzy, because she was.

     Izzy followed her best friend as Nina continued walking, watching her best friend pick items off of the racks. The Vera girl was trying her best to not come off as a nervous wreck, because having dinner with parents terrified her, especially when she has bad luck with them. Also the fact that she's not actually dating Miguel, so it was going to be awkward.

     "Yeah, it'll be okay." Izzy sighed to herself, deciding to shrug the situation off.

Nina finally turned around to show Izzy the choices of wardrobe she had picked out. "Which ones do you think I should get?" Nina asked the other.

A huff breath came from Izzy as she looked at the shirts that she was holding up, pointing to every single one. "All of them." Izzy then told Nina who grew a smile on her face at what Izzy had said.

"I love your mind." Nina said in a happy sigh, turning to go towards the checkout lane.

Izzy strayed behind, pulling out her phone to unlock it and go to her messages where the unanswered text from Miguel was left.

Miguel
Sooo Johnny told my mom I had a girlfriend after I told
him not to and now she wants you to come over for dinner... what do we do?

A breath left Izzy's mouth as she looked at the screen of her phone. Fuck. She was really about to agree to have dinner with Miguel and his mom, and Johnny for all Izzy knows. If you asked Izzy, this was her personal hell. It must've been her karma for something, that's all she could tell herself. But, she's always been on the dramatic side.

Izzy
that's totally fine. is this dinner supposed to be tonight?

She stood in the middle of the store as other people passed by her, nervously chewing on her bottom lip as she stared at the phone. Izzy watched as the bubble message popped up saying that he was typing a response.

Miguel
Yeah :/ Trust me, I don't want to do it either, but it's just dinner, right?

Miguel
Anyway, you can come over in like an hour. I'll send the address in a little bit.

Izzy let out a deep breath that she had been subconsciously holding in, she shut off her phone and looked up just as Nina was walking towards her. She had a large bag in each hand as her eyebrows knitted together at the facial expression on Izzy's face.

"Wow, you look like you just got told your dog died." Nina slightly frowned, but then had a look like a realization had hit her. "Was it Miguel?" She asked more curiously.

     "I'm having dinner with him and his mom in an hour." Izzy told her with a sigh, pressing her lips afterward as she looked at her friend.

     Nina copied her face and motioned her for them to leave the store, the two of them walking toward the exit. "I'm sure it won't be that bad." Nina said reassuringly, but she could sense that there was some underlying reason why Izzy seemed put off by this dinner.

     "Are you sure you're okay with this?" Nina asked worryingly as the two walked through the exit and into the parking lot to Izzy's car.

     The Vera girl nodded, "Yeah! Yeah, I'm okay with this. I'm just.. not good with parents, you know? I don't have the best of luck with —"

     Nina cut her off before she could go any further. "Hey, you're amazing with parents. Mine love you." She raised her eyebrows like she had just made a valid point.

"Yeah," Izzy breathed out, "I just remember Ethan's parents and how they treated me and my situation with my parents —"

Nina cut her off again. "Ethan's parents are like the worst parents to listen to, let alone be in the same room with." She explained as they made it to Izzy's car.

Izzy stayed on the driver's side as Nina went around to the passenger door. "Bottom of the line: you are amazing at everything you do, especially talking to parents. Remember, you're not actually dating Miguel." Nina reminded her before pulling the door open and getting in.

     "I know," Izzy huffed, getting into the car as well.

     All she could do was hope that this dinner would be quick and meaningless. It was just for a month, it was on repeat in her head.

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The moment Izzy parked her car outside of the apartment complex that Miguel supposedly lived at, she was starting to regret agreeing that she could easily breeze through this dinner. After a few minutes, Izzy got out of her car and walked to the door that had a '1' on it.

     She knocked on the door and waited anxiously until she could hear someone approaching on the other side and the door finally opened. Miguel stood on the other side, letting out a relieved sigh to see that Izzy actually went through with it.

     "Hi," Izzy grinned.

     Miguel returned the small smile. "Hey," He greeted her, "Thanks for doing this, by the way. It should only last like.. an hour." He tried to reassure her.

The girl just nodded, staying quiet as she stared up at Miguel who then stepped out of the doorway to let Izzy in. Izzy walked in, seeing the table with other people to her right. She slightly turned to see who she assumed was Miguel's mother and grandmother, and then there was Johnny.

     "Uh, this is Isobel. Izzy." Miguel corrected himself for what felt like the hundredth time. "She's my.. girlfriend." He awkwardly spoke, both he and Izzy sharing a look.

     "Izzy, this is my mom. My Yaya, and.. Johnny." He gestured to each of them and Izzy forced a smile onto her face.

     The two teenagers took a seat next to each other as the table was prepared with food. Carmen Diaz smiled at the girl as she prepared Izzy's plate for her, "It's lovely to meet you. I didn't know Miguel had another girlfriend after what happened with Sam." Carmen explained.

     "Mom —"

     "Um, yeah, we actually just started dating." Izzy told the woman, taking the plate back with a smile and nod as a way to say thank you. She was nervous about saying the wrong thing like she always does with parents, and one could tell if they looked at her hands and saw how they were shaking.

     Miguel saw at least, how she seemed to be more nervous than he thought she would be. He didn't say anything, but he did try and ease her mind by speaking up. He might not tolerate her at times, but he wasn't an asshole.

     "She thinks she's better than me at karate." He joked, a light laugh at the end of his words.

     That was what made Izzy feel just a little bit better. It was like she found comfort in the rivalry banter.

     "I know I am." Izzy said back slyly, making a face at Miguel as if he was talking crazy, but he made the same face back.

     "So," Johnny finally spoke up, "Heard you're in Cobra Kai." He took a bite of the food while keeping his eyes on Izzy.

     Carmen tilted her head at the girl, like hearing this was new information that she hadn't known. Izzy just nodded, "Yeah, I am. It's pretty nice over there." She glanced over at Johnny who was the one to nod this time.

     Miguel gave the man a look, because he had Johnny promise him that he wouldn't try and start anything just because she was a part of Cobra Kai.

     "So, Izzy, what do you want to do with your future?" Carmen asked, trying to stir the subject to something that wouldn't create a hostile environment.

     All eyes seemed to be on Izzy as she took a bite of the food and quickly swallowed it before speaking, "Oh. I–I'm looking at UCLA. My dad and my sister went there, so it's always been my top choice." Izzy explained, the mention of her dad making her skin grow hot as she tried to fight her emotions.

     "Oh, wow, that's a really amazing school. What do your father and sister do now?" The question made Izzy blank, like every thought in her head had faded away collectively.

    Should she lie? Should she just awkwardly tell them that her dad is dead and confess her current family situation? Izzy let out a sigh as she looked at Ms. Diaz and smiled lightly as she spoke.

     "Interesting story, actually." Izzy awkwardly laughed, "My sister basically dropped out her last year and became a bartender to look after me because my dad.. died. My mom isn't in the picture." Izzy rambled on, lying about the last part so she didn't try and open any other wounds that were always wide open.

     Carmen had a look of sadness on her face. "I am so, so sorry, Izzy. I can't imagine what that must've been like." Carmen told the girl.

Miguel kept his eyes on Izzy. He knew she told him she lived with her sister, but he didn't know that her dad had passed away, or that her mom wasn't in the picture. As Izzy changed the subject and continued talking about something else, he must have zoned out.

His eyes were fixated on Izzy, though. He sort of felt bad for all of the rivalry stuff they have gone through and how much of a nuisance he could be at times. That was when he saw Izzy laugh and he suddenly began to notice something —— She looked pretty.

That was when he quickly realized what he was thinking and finally tuned back into the conversation, everyone at the table sharing laughs that made Miguel feel left out. He still cracked a smile to seem like he was listening the entire time.

"Holy shit," Johnny sounded impressed, "That's impressive. Maybe you should ditch Cobra Kai and join Eagle Fang." Johnny nodded towards Izzy, taking a sip of the beer in his hand.

Miguel's eyebrows furrowed at the words, then at the other faces and he observed how they all seemed to enjoy Izzy. He could tolerate her, but they seemed like they didn't want her to leave at all.

"Nah, I'm good." Izzy rejected Johnny's suggestion, letting out a laugh. "Thanks for the offer, though. I'm sure Miguel and Sam would love to have me there." Izzy spoke sarcastically, glancing at the boy.

Miguel scoffed, but it came out more as a laugh. "Yeah, that would be fun." He shook his head.

     The rest of the dinner went by fairly okay, to both Miguel and Izzy's surprise. Johnny didn't mind that she was Cobra Kai as much as he thought, in fact, he thought she was cool. His Yaya insisted she was a keeper, and his mom loved her. Not just liked – loved.

     It was weird for Izzy, because she didn't expect this dinner to go that well. She went head first thinking she was going to royally fuck this up, but she did the complete opposite.

     It was weird to Miguel, because how was he supposed to react when his mother said that she loved his girlfriend (that she doesn't even know is fake) and wanted her to come by more? He had no clue what to say besides a nod and smile.

     But, he had to seem like a good real boyfriend and walk his girlfriend to her car in front of everyone after Izzy said goodbye.

     Miguel closed the front door to the apartment, the sun had finally set and the only light available was the dim porch lights in the open complex. Izzy was parked near Johnny's car and he walked by her quietly until they made it to her vehicle.

     "So," Izzy sighed, turning to face Miguel, "That was.. surprisingly not awkward. Just a little bit." Izzy hesitantly laughed, crossing her arms over her chest.

     "Yeah, I had to convince my Yaya not to make dessert for you and your sister." Miguel admitted to her, holding in a laugh as Izzy gasped.

    "She was going to make me dessert? I don't know, Miguel. I might just have to use you to get your family's food." The girl shrugged, a smile on her lips, staring up at the boy as he stood a little bit away from her.

     He shook his head, "You're messed up, Izzy." He told her jokingly, the obvious grin he was fighting to hide was enough evidence for Izzy to realize he was playing along.

     Just a laugh left Izzy's lips at his words, a somewhat comfortable yet awkward silence fill the air, like they were avoiding a certain topic that was brought up. It didn't take Miguel but a few seconds until he decided to say what was going through his head.

     "When you said you lived with your sister, I had no idea it was because.." Miguel trailed off, not wanting to repeat out of fear it was sensitive.

     Izzy took a deep breath in, then breathed out. "Yeah, it happened a few years ago, but I mean.. it's the truth. Now you learned something about me, and I learned that your family loves me." She said proudly, like she had won some kind of award, tilting her head while keeping her eyes on Miguel.

     A 'tch' sound came from Miguel before he smiled and shook his head. "Don't get used to it. Until the tournament, remember?" Miguel recited her own words back to her.

     Her eyes rolled as she pulled her car keys out to finally unlock her car. "Yeah, yeah, until the tournament. Whatever. At least I'll sleep peacefully tonight knowing I'm better than you and your family loves me." The playful banter made Miguel smile as he watched Izzy open her car door, but she stopped before getting in.

    "You keep saying you're better than me when I'm clearly going to beat you at the All Valley in our fight. Everyone knows it." Miguel explained casually as he moved to rest his arms on the top of her open car door, peering down at Izzy.

     Izzy tilted her head up at him, "I'm going to be the one to beat you." She spoke confidently and surely.

     Miguel looked like he had a bright idea come to his head. "You wanna test that theory?" He asked, pushing his arms off of the car door and moved to lean against the car.

     "You're willingly asking me to kick your ass?" Izzy deadpanned, her arms crossed over her chest.

     He just shrugged. "A one-on-one fight." Miguel hesitantly told her.

     A confused look fell upon Izzy's face. "That totally breaks our 'no one-on-one things' rule. Actually, this dinner broke that rule. So, we'd be breaking it again." Izzy rambled on, a certain quickness to her voice.

     Before Miguel could say anything besides the small smirk on his face, Izzy seemed to have quickly made up her mind about what she wanted to do.

     "But fine." Izzy stood straight, looking at Miguel. "Only because I want to see you lose." She shrugged, seeing the boy push himself off of her car.

    "In your dreams." He brushed her words off, "Meet me in the park tomorrow at one." Miguel told her.

     Izzy's eyebrows furrowed. "The park?"

     "Yeah," the Diaz boy nodded. "There's a high chance someone from school will be there and if they see us, they'll talk about us. That's what we want, right?" He had a look on his face like he made a good point.

     Izzy couldn't help but sigh, because he did make a good point. "All right, tomorrow at one. I'll have fun kicking your ass publicly." She smiled at the boy.

    "I'm sure you will." Miguel nodded like he believed her, but his face said otherwise.

     The smile on Izzy's face didn't disappear as she let out a sigh, knowing it was time for her to finally go. "Tell your family thank you again for having me. See you tomorrow, I guess." Izzy spoke, going to get into her car.

     "Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow." Miguel told her just as she closed her car door and a deep breath left his lips.

     Miguel turned and began walking back to his apartment, looking back once to see Izzy's car pulling away and disappearing behind the complex building, and Miguel finally went inside to back to his life.

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authors note.
was this a filler chapter? yes, but there was some miguel and izzy progress <3 the timeline of this book is a little off from the show and y'all are gonna have to deal with it because i did not feel like starting it season 2 SHSBDHDH

anyway, what do you guys think happened between ethan and izzy?