chapter six, ego crush is so severe

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          The next few days went by smoothly, there wasn't much to tell besides that Miguel seemed to be falling for Izzy by the hour. It was unbelievable to him – of all people, it happened to be Isobel Vera. The girl who was supposed to be his competition.

     Any time he got to school, the first person he'd search the halls for is Izzy. Whenever he did see her, it was like someone let butterflies loose in his stomach. He didn't want to make it awkward, because as far as he knows, Izzy doesn't feel the same way. Well, at least for Miguel, everything will be actually believable now, because he seriously liked Izzy.

Izzy, on the other hand, found herself standing in the Cobra Kai dojo, zoned out while standing in a small circle of the few people she hung out with in the dojo. The few memories she had of her night with Miguel at the party playing in her mind on repeat.

She didn't even realize she was thinking about that until Tory snapping her fingers in front of Izzy's face brought her back to reality, and that was when Izzy didn't understand why she was even thinking about Miguel.

"You okay?" Tory asked her friend who stared at the faces staring at her.

Izzy just nodded, she noticed they were stretching and Izzy began doing it as well to seem like she wasn't just zoned out for the past few minutes. The sound of Kyler's voice caused Izzy to glance over as he approached the group.

     "Yo, my boy Rory got some free tickets to the drive-in tonight. They're going old school with it, something called 'Bloodsport'?" Kyler spoke, taking his spot in the small circle.

     "I know that movie," Robby said, standing up straight from the position he was in to stretch his arms, "My dad left an old VHS at our place. It was the only evidence I had that he existed." Robby admitted to the group.

     Izzy moved to stretch her other arm as she stared at Robby. If you asked Izzy, she couldn't really tell you why she didn't like Robby. It wasn't like she hated his guts, but ever since he became an official member of Cobra Kai, he's been like the sibling that your parents prefer over you. That's how it felt for Izzy, it felt like Kreese preferred Robby over her.

     "Well, I heard it's pretty dope. So, if you guys are in, let's do this." Kyler offered to the group, raising his eyebrows as he waited for answers.

     "I'm in." Ethan nodded, smiling a bit then glanced over at Izzy. "What about you, Iz? Or were you already going with your boyfriend?" He said it teasingly and both he and Kyler laughed at the question that neither of the other three found funny.

     Sometimes Izzy hated that he was a part of Cobra Kai too. Although she managed to move on from him breaking her heart, seeing his face in and outside of school was too much for her liking. It was like a constant reminder that she would never be good enough.

"Uh, I think I'm going with Miguel." She was lying, but Izzy didn't want to spend the night dealing with them.

"Man, whatever. What about you, Tory?" Kyler gestured to the other girl.

Tory shrugged. "It depends on how late I have to work tonight. My new boss put me on the schedule for today." She paused for a moment, "Guy's a total creep." She then muttered.

Izzy's eyebrows furrowed, looking over at the girl. "Excuse me?" She whispered to her, but Tory gave her a look that she didn't want to talk too much about it.

"You got a new job? Where?" Robby had his eyes on Tory as he spoke.

The Vera girl observed Tory grow hostile just by the question, "None of your business." She snapped at the boy.

     Robby let out a quiet 'okay' in response, but was distracted when Kenny entered the dojo and walked up to the group of older teens. "Look who made it," Robby acknowledged him.

     Izzy was quick to notice the boy's look on his face, he looked sad almost. "Are you okay?" She asked the boy who looked over at the girl.

     A sigh left Kenny's mouth when he saw everyone looking at him. "I was at the high school yesterday, and these older kids started messing with me. One guy told me I should quit Cobra Kai." Kenny explained, looking over to Robby.

     "Who was he?" Robby questioned.

     Kenny shrugged, "I don't know. He had this spiky red hair." Kenny described him and Izzy tensed up at the descriptions of Hawk.

    A laugh left Kyler's mouth as Tory looked over at him. "We still owe that Judas some payback." She announced, earning a 'hell yeah' from Kyler.

     Izzy wasn't able to think too much about what they were going to try and do before Kreese called out for everyone to fall in. Izzy and Tory shared a look, turning to make their way to the front line and stood next to each other.

"As you know, our enemies are working together." As Kreese spoke, his eyes shifted to Izzy like it was about her, but he looked away as he continued talking. "They are combing their styles to beat us, but they are destined to fail. There is only one way and what is that way?" He questioned the students.

"The Way of the Fist, sir!"

"Exactly." Kreese nodded, "However, that doesn't mean that we can't double down. Class, meet Sensei Terry Silver." The older man gestured to the side and another man walked in from the back room, his gray hair put back into a low ponytail.

Izzy's eyes stayed on him as he walked to stand beside Sensei Kreese. "Co-founder of Cobra Kai and one of the most ferocious fighters in the history of the sport. Together, we built Cobra Kai from the ground up, and now he is here to help you prepare for the All Valley." Kreese explained.

Izzy felt herself zone out again as Sensei Kreese and Silver went on to explain how with two senseis, it would be twice the work. She must've zoned out too much for her own good, because while Sensei Silver started class, Kreese wanted to talk to Izzy in the office.

The girl followed him back there and stood on the opposite side of the desk where Kreese sat. She was quiet as Kreese spoke up after a few seconds, "Do you know why I pulled you back here?" The man question, it almost felt like a trick question.

"Um.." Izzy sighed, "To acknowledge how well I've been doing in class?" She thought out loud, but Kreese let out an obviously fake laugh at her words.

"Your relationship with Miguel Diaz. It seems to be distracting you. I'm afraid with Sensei Silver here, he won't allow any slackers." Kreese told the girl and she felt her heart drop at his words.

     Izzy shook her head, "I'm not slacking. Miguel, he.. he's nothing serious. Plus, we're going to fight at the tournament. Everyone is coming to see us." She was pleading, feeling like she was slowly slipping out of the throne she desperately clung onto in the dojo.

     "You're going to fight at the tournament?" He asked it like it was new information. Izzy was almost surprised when he didn't know the reason why Miguel and Izzy 'dating' was such a big deal beyond the fact that they were rivals.

     Izzy nodded. Kreese pointed to her, "You are going to win that fight. If you don't.." Kreese spoke coldly and it made Izzy's stomach feel sick, "I don't know if Cobra Kai is the right fit for you anymore." Those words felt like they had ripped Izzy's heart out of her chest.

     Were her worst fears finally true? Was she not good enough like everyone in the past said she was? Did Kreese finally give up on her? It sounded like he did and it made Izzy want to punch him straight in the nose. She could do it, she had a clear shot, but she didn't. She felt more angry at herself than Kreese anyway.

     Maybe she just needs to try harder. Maybe if Kreese sees she still wants it just as bad as before, he'll recognize that she's capable of being the best like she always swears she is. Trying a little bit harder wouldn't hurt, right? She just needed to make Kreese see that she was good enough, and now she has another Sensei to prove it to as well.

"You are good, Isobel," Kreese then reassured her, "But you need to be better." She couldn't tell if he was saying it because he cared about her or because she genuinely wasn't as good as she, and everyone else, thought she was.

Izzy just nodded, keeping her thoughts to herself so that she wouldn't say something to herself into trouble. "Yes, Sensei." That was all she muttered.

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     Izzy had spent the remainder of the afternoon laying in bed and staring at her ceiling, the song 'this is me trying' by Taylor Swift was playing from her speaker across her room. All she could think about what was Kreese told her, that Cobra Kai wasn't where she belonged if she lost to Miguel.

She felt like if she lost to him, she would have nothing to fight for anymore. She would have no dojo, no Sensei, no second home. It felt like it was too much pressure for Izzy to handle. There was an awful burning on her chest that left a bad taste in Izzy's mouth. She wanted to cry, but couldn't. She wanted to punch a hole in the wall, but couldn't.

Part of Izzy felt like this was her fault. You should've been giving it your all and more, that's what she kept telling her.

Izzy was starting to doubt herself. Sure, she's done it before, but Izzy always bounced back. This time, it felt like she had nowhere to go but down, it felt like she was fighting to keep her place in Cobra Kai when just weeks ago she was at the top and showed no signs of teetering off of the top spot.

     She couldn't even hear the sound of someone knocking on her door over her own thoughts and Taylor Swift in the background, but hearing her door swing open finally caught Izzy's attention. The girl sat up, watching Kayla walk over to tap on the speaker to turn the music off, then she faced her sister.

"That is the fifth sad Taylor Swift I've heard you play in the past hour." Kayla looked at her sister, "What happened? Who did what? Was it Ethan again? Was it Miguel?" The questions spewed from the older girl's lips, not giving Izzy enough time to answer any of them.

"I'm fine. I'm just.. thinking. Taylor Swift helps me think." Izzy shrugged, moving to get off of her bed. "And I don't want to talk about it, so please don't ask." She told her sister as she went to her closet to take out a jacket she put on over her outfit.

"Alright. Well, I'm here if you do want to talk about it." Kayla said reassuringly. Her eyebrows then furrowed when she saw Izzy putting her shoes on, "Where are you going?" She asked yet another question.

     A sigh left Izzy's mouth as she stood up to look at her sister, "The drive-in. If you wouldn't have walked in, I would've forgotten all about it. I'm supposed to pick Nina up and then meet Miguel there." Izzy explained, her eyes catching a glimpse of the alarm clock on her dresser.

"Oh," Kayla dragged out the word with a smile on her lips, "The boyfriend?" She joked.

Izzy tried to hide the smile that was tugging at her lips as her eyes rolled, "Yes, the boyfriend." She muttered.

The older Vera sister was quiet for a second before letting out a sigh, "Alright, well, have fun. I'm leaving for work. Text me when you get home tonight, okay? I mean it." Kayla was always the overprotective one, but she had to be, they were all the other had.

Izzy smiled reassuringly at her sister. "I will, I promise." She told the other who said goodbye and left the room to leave the apartment.

It took a few more minutes until Izzy finally left as well, driving her car to pick Nina up and then go to the drive-in. All Izzy could do was hope that tonight went smoothly, because what Kreese told her at the end of practice has been messing with her head, and her entire being. Izzy was spiraling and she had no idea how to stop, all because the person she thought believed in her, didn't after all.

When she got to the drive-in, her initial goal was to avoid any and all other Cobra Kai students, but Izzy didn't know how well that would work out. The only other problem was that while Miguel was here, so must the others from their duel dojo. So, either way, something was bound to happen to really set Izzy off.

She finally parked her car in a spot and Nina let out a heavy sigh from the passengers seat. The movie seemed to already be a good portion in, because Izzy did take her time getting there, mostly because there were several things she was trying to avoid.

Nina could sense that Izzy was upset, but Izzy also hasn't said a word the entire car word, so whatever was bothering her must have been hitting her hard.

Izzy rolled the windows down, then turned her car off, and finally turned to look at Nina. "I'm going to go get some snacks. You want anything?" Izzy asked her friend.

"Uh," Nina huffed, a look on her face as if she had to think about it, "Some nachos would be cool." Nina told the other girl who nodded and got out of the car.

She kept her eyes open for any familiar faces on her way to the concession stands, but the familiar face she recognized first made her stop. Izzy watched Kenny carry snacks on top of snacks from the concession stand, only to be purposefully run into by Hawk, making all of the snacks and drinks to fall onto the ground.

Although Izzy was trying to avoid Cobra Kai, she wasn't going to stand by and watch this go down. She began walking over to where Kenny stood surrounded by Hawk and others that she assumed were associated with him.

"Hey," Izzy called out when she got close enough, "What do you think you're doing?" She looked confused yet visible anger could be seen in her eyes.

"I was just letting the kid know to watch where he's going." Hawk simply explained, a slight smirk on his lips.

"After you pushed him?" Izzy furrowed her eyebrows, asking like she expected an answer, but Hawk didn't say a word.

"What's going on?" A voice approached from behind Izzy and she turned to see Robby walking up, and it just made her eyes roll. Great.

Once Robby stood next to Izzy, Kenny used it as his chance to hurry away from Hawk and behind the two teenagers from his fellow dojo. "Look who it is," Hawk spoke up, staring at Robby.

A kid Izzy didn't recognize much stood next to Hawk, "You betrayed Miyagi-Do. Traitor." He said to Robby.

"Oh, there's a traitor here, for sure." The sound of Tory's voice caused Izzy to look back at the girl, as well as the rest of Cobra Kai, approaching them. "He's gonna get what he deserves." Tory announced, her eyes on Hawk who glanced over at her.

"I don't think so." Izzy recognized that as Sam's voice and she watched the LaRusso girl stand next to Hawk, crossing her arms over her chest.

That was when Izzy's eyes shifted over to see Miguel there as well and if she thought enduring dinner with Miguel's family was her personal hell, she stood corrected. This was her personal hell.

"Not if I have anything to say about it.. Princess." Sam then said, eyeing Tory and while Tory didn't say anything, Izzy did.

Although this was Sam and Tory's battle and Izzy didn't know much besides the fact they both dated Miguel, Izzy was still going to defend her friend.

     "No one asked you to even say anything." Izzy told Sam who stayed quiet at her retaliation.

The tension was interrupted by Demetri approaching the two groups, "Can you guys believe they have Mr. Pibb and Dr. Pepper?" The boy asked but when everyone glared at him, Demetri realized what was going on.

"Oh shit. Not another rumble." Demetri muttered.

Izzy could feel eyes on her and she looked over at Miguel to see if he was looking at her and he was. She didn't keep eye contact for long, because her eyes shifted to Tory when she started talking.

"Careful, LaRusso, your mommy isn't here to play peacemaker." Tory finally spoke up to Sam who just furrowed her eyebrows.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Miguel let out a sigh, "Guys, stop. We can't do this." He looked at the others from his dojo and then Miguel turned to look at the Cobra Kai kids in front of him. His eyes were on Izzy as he spoke, "We'll beat them on the mat." Miguel announced.

His words made Izzy snicker, "You'll beat us? That's cute." Izzy replied in a playful tone, but even the rivalry banter couldn't keep the smirk from forming on Miguel's face at what she had said.

"Plus, you do remember what happened the last time we fought, right?" Robby questioned Miguel, but that seemed to piss Miguel off more than expected.

Izzy looked over at Robby like the comment was unnecessary, but the Keene boy just glanced at her with a calm expression. He didn't seem bothered by this situation at all. Izzy looked back over at the group in front of her, specifically Miguel who spoke up.

"Okay, meet us at the baseball diamond in thirty minutes," Miguel told the Cobra Kai students and his eyes moved to Tory, "And no weapons."

"Yeah, we won't need 'em." Tory shrugged it off.

Ethan was the first to suggest they finally leave, "Can we go now? This was boring." He asked and the rest of Cobra Kai followed his lead when Ethan began walking off.

Izzy watched as the students from her dojo walked away without her. She should've been walking with them, she should've been leading them, but she wasn't. It was like watching yourself from above, or watching something slip from out of your reach. It just confirmed what Izzy thought all along – she was spiraling and she didn't know how much longer she could hold herself together and keep her emotions bottled inside.

When Izzy turned to see if any of the Miyagi-Do or Eagle Fang kids had stayed, she wasn't too surprised when she saw just Miguel standing there. Izzy also thought he wouldn't stay behind for her either, but he did.

"So, what's going on at the baseball field in thirty minutes?" Izzy questioned, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared up at Miguel.

Miguel was hesitant on answering. He wanted to tell her the plan, he wanted to be honest because it was just him and Izzy, but right now – she was more his rival than anything. The boy just shook his head as his eyes met with Izzy's.

"Don't worry about it. Just stay here." Miguel told her, but his words just made her eyebrows knit together.

"Well, when you say it like that, I feel like I should be worrying." Izzy admitted, a confused expression on her, like all she wanted to know was the truth.

A sigh left Miguel's lips, "Please just stay here." That was all he told her, but Izzy just stared up at him. He didn't want her involved in the plan he had to mess with the Cobra Kai kids.

"Fine," Izzy muttered, her arms falling to her sides as she stared past Miguel to see Sam in the distance, but then Izzy looked back at Miguel.

It was weird. It was like seeing Sam with Miguel made her.. jealous. Why was she jealous? Izzy didn't see Sam as much of a threat, but seeing Miguel and her spend so much time together outside of school or the dojos.. it made Izzy want to scream.

It was also an uncomfortable feeling for Izzy, because she had never felt jealousy like this, but Izzy brushed it off. She didn't want to worry about this right now, so she just chose to ignore it.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Izzy then asked.

Miguel smiled softly, nodding his head at the girl who was looking up at him with hopeful eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow." He confirmed, watching a small smile form on Izzy's face, but it quickly disappeared.

She said a quiet 'bye' to her fake boyfriend and turned, making her way back towards the concession stands where she was supposed to be ten minutes ago.

Izzy looked back, in hopes that Miguel was looking back too, but he wasn't. She watched him approach a car where his friends were, so Izzy just turned to focus on what was in front of her. If only she knew that Miguel had turned to look back at her moments before she had.

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authors note.
i can't wait to see miguel solo everyone in a few days

anyway as you can tell this very much "he falls first, she falls harder" vibe. there's so many tropes that could fit miguel and izzy it's crazy LMFAOOSHSB