chapter fifteen,
the moment of truth

    Family had always been put first in Alexopoulos family. And when someone messed with Mackenzie's family, you knew you were in trouble.

    "What the fuck!" Kenzie cursed as she slammed the dojo doors open, disrupting a conversation between Eli, Aisha and Kreese.

    Earlier, the girl had found out that Kreese punched her brother in the face.

    "Kenzie, what's wrong." Eli asked, trying to grab ahold her and calm her down.

    Mackenzie pounced upon the sensei, "Do you get off at hitting kids, huh?"

Kreese stood his ground as Mackenzie lunged at him, the fiery temper of the young girl not fazing him. Eli grabbed Kenzie's arm, trying to prevent her from escalating the situation even further.

Kreese chuckled, his voice laced with calmness. "That was you're brother? Are you sure because he's not asian or did you just end up with the bad genes."

Kreese's comment threw Kenzie over the edge. Eli tightened his grip on her arm, trying to hold her back and keep her from losing control.

    He could sense the rage building inside her, and he knew he needed to intervene before things go too far. Kenzie's eyes narrowed as she tried to resist Eli's grasp, her hands curling into fists at her sides.

Eli leaned close, whispering in her ear in an attempt to calm her down.

"Kenzie, just breathe. I know he's horrible but you need to be in control of the situation."

Meanwhile, Kreese observed the scene with a cold indifference, seemingly amused by the girl's emotional outburst.

Kenzie let out a frustrated breath, her anger still bubbling just beneath the surface. But Eli's calm voice and presence seemed to have a soothing effect on her.

She clenched her jaw, forcing herself to take a step back. Yet, her eyes remained fixed on Kreese, her glare sharp and full of resentment.

Eli continued to stand protectively by her side, prepared to intervene if needed.

Kreese crossed his arms, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth as he took in the scene before him.

"So much anger. If only you could put that much emotion into your karate." He taunted.

Eli shot him a warning look, silently signaling him to back off. But Kenzie's anger flared, her breath coming out in shallow gasps as she fought to control her emotions.

   Mackenzie ran outside to catch her breath and calm down. Controlling her temper.

    "What was that?" Eli chased after her, frowning at his best friend who had changed.

    Mackenzie started to laugh, making Eli feel a slight uncomfortable. "Kenz.."

    Her laughter turning into tears, the more and more she begin choke. "I'm so done." She says, putting her hands up to the back of her head.

    "Wh- what do you mean?" He shook his head, confused.

    "I mean, all of this. Everyone. They are all so much and I can't handle it anymore."

    Eli stood there, watching his best friend unraveling right in front of him. Seeing her laugh turn into tears shook him to the core.

    He stepped closer, his hands reaching out to touch her arms in a gesture of reassurance and support. Eli's frown deepened as he tried to grasp the gravity of her words.

    "Kenzie, take a deep breath. You gotta talk to me," he urged, his voice soft and soothing.

    He hated seeing her like this, so overwhelmed and distressed. But he couldn't understand what was going on inside her head unless she opened up. Mackenzie took a shaky breath, her voice wavering as she tried to explain her emotions.

    "Eli, I just... I can't do this anymore. The feud between the dojos, the pressure from Cobra Kai.. It's all too much."

    She ran her fingers through her hair, looking more exhausted than he had ever seen her before.

"And us, I mean what are we?"

Eli's eyes widened in surprise at the mention of their un-named relationship. "Us? Kenzie, I thought we were fine."

He was caught off guard by her comment. He had no idea she had been struggling with more than just the karate drama.

Mackenzie looked up at him, her eyes filled with a mixture of exhaustion and frustration.

"That's the thing, Eli. It was fine. But now, I don't know."

She stepped back slightly, creating a small gap between them, her emotions running even higher. Eli could feel the distance between them growing, and it scared him.

"Kenzie, wait. Let's talk about this."

He took a step towards her, desperately wanting to understand what was going through her mind. He had never seen her unravel like this before, and it was worrying him.

Mackenzie shook her head, clearly overwhelmed.

"Eli, I just need some space... I can't think right now."

Without giving him a chance to respond, she turned and walked away from him. Leaving him standing there, feeling helpless and confused.

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    Self-care. Something that Mackenzie forgot to do most of the time. So, when she took a self-care day it felt unusual.

    Mackenzie found herself curled up on the couch, onto the fifth season of the office after spending hours binging watching the series.

    After finally getting the energy hop off the couch and grab her phone she realised what time it was.

    "Shit." she cursed as she rushed into her room, getting ready for practice.

    The girl soon arrived at the dojo not long after. She was late and she knew it. As she walked into the dojo, she quickly noticed the group had already gathered and were in the middle of the mat.

As soon as Sensei Lawrence saw her, he shot her a disapproving glare. She could practically already hear all the horrible things he would have to say to her.

    Once Mackenzie stopped in her tracks next to Miguel. As her feet stopped moving, the bell on the door of the dojo rang — meaning someone had walked in.

    The students all turned to see who was inside and there was an unfamiliar girl standing in front of the group. The girl was pretty. Effortlessly pretty.

    Mackenzie could tell she wasn't the type of girl to be focused on looks and how presentable to be. She guessed that she was the type of girl to be chill.

    "I'll take him on." She says casually. Kenzie had an unsure expression on her face, trying to figure out the girl.

    "Oh you will, huh?" Johnny asked, a slight questionable tone to his voice. Which was unusual because Johnny was always sure.

    Always confident in his responses.

    She nods, "I saw your little demo at Valley Fest. You guys can put on a show. Can you actual fight?"

    Mackenzie scoffs out loud which was supposed to be an inside expression, the girl looked around to make sure no one had heard her — only Eli did who gave her a weird smile.

    "That sounds like a challenge." Johnny stops walking, right in front of the nameless girl.

    "I like a challenge." She spoke earning a grin from Aisha who admired her confidence. Johnny turned around and began to walk where he originally stood.

    "Mr Diaz." He strongly voiced, "show Little Miss Hotshot here what Cobra Kai is all about."

    Miguel nodded in approval and bowed to Sensei Lawrence. The students move out of the way and form a circle in the middle for the pair.

    Miguel takes a second before speaking, "Look, are you sure that you wanna do–"

    Without any hesitation the girl kicks Miguel's torso causing him to stumble back a little — also getting a reaction from the audience.

    "All right." Miguel laughed then struck ready, "Game on."

    As Mackenzie stood back watching the two spar, Kenzie instantly knew that she was the type of girl whose ego was higher than the room. She couldn't tell if she admired that or disliked it.

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    Mackenzie and Aisha walk into the small convenience store, "He's giving off these mixed signals. I just can't tell anymore."

    Mackenzie tells her friends as she holds onto the straps of her red bag on her back.

    "Just talk to him. And let's be real – It's Hawk so he's probably not even realising how much of an idiot he's being." Aisha reassured her.

    She reached for her phone in her pocket and groaned. "Let me guess. Dick pic?" A voice spoke upon the two. They look up to see who was talking, it was the girl from karate.

    "No," Aisha replied, "My mom wants me to go to the beach club with her."

    Mackenzie wanted to speak up but the words couldn't escape her mouth. She wanted to tell her that she was also going to the beach club but overall knew it wouldn't matter to Aisha.

    "Oh my god, that sounds so miserable." The girl sarcastically said.

    Aisha groaned, "No. It's just.. This girl Sam's probably gonna be there, and she and I are not on good terms."

    The girl intently listened to Aisha. "Whatever. I'm Aisha, by the way. And this is Kenzie." Aisha nodded her head to the left.

    "Tory." she replied.

    "Hey, that's a cool bracelet!" Aisha points out the spiked black and white bracelet.

     Tory looks down at her wrist, "Oh  this? It's not just for show. Some creepy guy at the mall, tried to grab me once, but I managed to block him AND give him a gift he'll never forget."

    As Tory told the two girls, Mackenzie wanted to laugh at her story. She didn't believe her for one second.

    "Oh, wow." Aisha said in awe. "You seem like you already know how to kick ass pretty well. What do you need Cobra Kai for?"

    Tory chuckled at the compliment, "I've had a couple kickboxing lessons, but I've always been wanted to smash boards blindfolded."

    As Aisha and Tory continued to talk together, Mackenzie took it as a hint for her to leave.

    She wanted to say goodbye but she knew the both of them would get annoyed. So, she just left.

    As Mackenzie exited the store, she looked around in the parking lot. Most people had already left while she was in the store.

    She looked back near the dojo where Eli stood. As she looked over at him, he looked up at her as well.

    The two shared a glance with each other. She wanted to look away but she couldn't.

    But, she took the initiative to leave first.

— leila's notes !

haven't posted a chapter in awhile so wanted to leave yall with this. btw we all know that tory and kenzie aren't enemies.. they're secretly lovers

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