Cupid's chokehold — Gym class heroes

  CYNTHIA'S HANDS WERE FOLDED BEHIND her back as she took in Johnny's words. She had a long night the night before, spending her time hanging out with Hawk but, karate was important to her and she'd stay focused. There was no way that she'd loose her train of thought now, not when this was so important to her, not with the tournament fast approaching.

"You've trained hard." Johnny said loudly after taking a long sip of his Coors Banquet. "You've gotten stronger, tougher, faster. You've done your best. You're ready for this tournament, am I right?"

"Yes, sensei!" Everyone responded, especially Cyn who was feeling pumped up from little pep talk she was getting.

"Wrong." The Lawrence man threw his beer at them, the liquid spilling onto the girls shoes.

"He's such a bitch." The girl mumbled, stepping back as she scrunched up her face angrily.

"Your best ain't shit! If you wanna win the all valley under - 18 karate tournament, you gotta give me better than your best. Which is why from now on, you're going to get my worst." The man yelled loudly, Hawk's hand finding his way to Cyn's, the girl taking it into her own as their sensei continued to talk. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, sensei!" They all replied, some already losing their voices from the amount of yelling they had done.

"Are you losers?" The blonde man asked, walking back and forth.

"No, sensei!" Their voices all went up yet again, everyone just getting louder and louder.

"Are you nerds?" He questioned, his eyes narrowed in on the group of teens before him.

"No, sensei!"

"Are you sure?" This was a question that tripped a few people up, Cynthia nodding her head.

"No, sensei!" Everyone around her yelled.

"Oh, god." The girl sighed slightly, shaking her head as Johnny placed a hand over his face.

There was obviously still a lot of work to be done.

CYNTHIA LAUGHED AS SHE RAISED HER arms up before letting her sledge hammer hit the window in front of her. This was definitely a different type of training day but so far it had been her favorite. Breaking stuff was honestly just really therapeutic for her.

"I could do this all day." The Sari girl commented as she shook the sledge hammer away from the glass it had connected with.

"I'm actually having fun, you know, since sensei is too far away to yell at us." Eli laughed as he looked at his glass covered shoes. "I had fun last night."

"Me too." Cynthia nodded her head slightly, looking towards her.... boyfriend? She didn't really know what he was. "Is everything okay?"

"Just thinking." The Moskowitz boy shrugged his shoulders.

The Sari girl sighed as she sat down on a hood of one of the cars, patting the place next to her.

"Tell me about it." She smiled slightly as Hawk walked over to her, taking the seat near her. He rested his head on her shoulder as the girl wrapped an arm around his and rubbed his arm for comfort.

"What are we? I don't mean to sound girly or anything but we've been on a lot of dates already, and i've met Bianca, and I just want to know since... I feel like we are kind of behind? Sam and Miguel—"

"Why do you need to compare us to them? We are completely different." Cynthia sighed as she looked at the ceiling.

"Fine, I won't talk about them." There was a faint sigh that came from Eli's lips as he looked down.

"If you want a label, you are going to have to ask." The Sari girl shrugged lightly, trying her best to keep a straight face as Hawk looked up at her.

"Will you uh, I—..uh.. be my girlfriend?" He finally stuttered out nervously.

"Duh." Cynthia rolled her eyes jokingly, pulling Eli's face closer as she pressed a quick kiss on his lips. "You do realize we are just going to go back to doing the exact same things we already do, right?"

"I don't want anything to change anyways." The hawked boy shrugged his shoulders slightly as Johnny came into the area, scowling at them both.

"What did I tell you about breaks? Get your asses up and destroy things!" He yelled, making the two teens get up immediately. "That's better come on!"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it!" Cynthia waved her hand and before anyone knew it, she was smashing more glass. "Better!"

"Almost impressive." Cyn knew that was the best she would get from Johnny as he walked away

...and she was fine with that.

  DINNER AT THE DIAZ'S WITH JOHNNY THERE was even weirder for Miguel and Cynthia than expected. Bianca was there, and of course the two of them were subtly insulting each other as the night went along. Not to mention the Sari girl really hadn't been talking to her best friend since she started dating her literal worst enemy.

Currently, they were all praying before dinner, something they did every night they ate at Miguel's house. Cynthia was holding hands with the Diaz boy on one side and Bianca on the other. One hand was getting clamier than the other and she couldn't help but think how weird it was to be holding hands with Miguel.

"Amen." They all said as Yaya finished, Cyn immediately dropping her best friends hand.

"Amen, that one I know." Johnny spoke up awkwardly.

"Idiot." Bianca mumbled with a sneeze, her nice automatically kicking her under the table.

"Alright.. let's eat." Carmen smiled slightly, not knowing how to deal with the pettiness that involved the two adults.

Everyone digged in, some more uncomfortable than others.

"So, Miguel was telling me about the tournament, I hope he doesn't get hurt." Carmen said sternly, looking at Johnny.

"If either of them get hurt, i'm going to kick your ass." Bianca smiled smugly at him, poking at her food.

"I told you both already there is referees, you can't get hurt." Miguel was doing his best to reassure both women, not that it was doing any good.

"At least not permanently." Johnny added in.

"That doesn't make it better." Cynthia sighed at the comment, rolling her eyes.

"They'll both be fine." The Lawrence man quickly corrected himself, leaving absolutely nobody relieved.

"So, have always lived in Reseda?" Carmen asked, trying to change the subject before it got any worse.

"No, I grew up in Encino." Johnny smiled proudly at that, taking a bite of his food.

"A.k.a, he was rich as hell." Bianca rolled her eyes, which she seemingly did every time the blonde man spoke.

"Yeah, there is a lot of nice houses there." Carmen narrowed her eyes slightly, studying the man across from her.

"I lived in Encino too, it's not that nice." Cynthia frowned slightly, looking back to the memories of her parents that she would rather forget.

"Just because you have a nice house doesn't mean there is nice things going on inside." Johnny smiled slightly over at the young Sari girl, both of them feeling like they understood each other in a way.

"Truest thing i've heard all day." She commented before going back to her plate, an awkward silence filling the air for a moment.

"I really like these bananas." Johnny finally said, making everyone around him laugh.

"They're called plantains." Carmen corrected.

"I thought everyone knew tha—" Bianca let out a little yelp as Cynthia kicked her once again.

"Well, in English we call them bananas." Johnny said with a smile, making everyone laugh at him yet again. "What's so funny?"

"Sensei, they are two different thing—" Cynthia was stopped mid sentence by Miguel's phone ringing.

"Oh god, i'm sorry." He apologized as he took out his phone.

"It's fine, mijo. Answer it, but don't take too long your food will get cold." Carmen was barely finished before he ran out of the room, leaving his best friend with the adults. "He has a girlfriend"

Yaya looked at Cynthia with a raised brow, and all she could do was shrug.

AUTHORS NOTE—
Omg we are literally so close to the end of season one it's unreal ahhhhh

How well do you think Cynthia will do in the tournament?

Hope you enjoyed!