chapter nine,
molting

It was the next day. The day after Eli had confessed his feelings for Kenzie and then it moved onto a kiss.

Mackenzie woke up with a clear memory of last nights occurrence and she couldn't help but smile. She sat up in her bed, her bed hair sticking out like crazy.

"Morning baby." Faith crept the door open, it squeaking as she did, "So why did you come home late last night?"

It wasn't ever usual for Mackenzie to come home late. The latest she'd stay out for was fifteen minutes before dinner.

"Oh.." She furrowed her brows. It didn't occur to her that she'd have to confess for what happened. Especially when she'd have to tell her brother.

"So?" A smile widened on her mother's lips.

Faith moved further into the room, perching herself on the edge of Kenzie's bed. She tilted her head to the side and observed the girl's flushed face.

"You were with a boy, weren't you?" She teased.

Kenzie let out a nervous laugh, trying to hide the fact that she was being totally called out. "What? No." She tried playing it off cool, but it was clear as day that she was lying.

Faith raised a brow, clearly not buying any of what her daughter was saying. After all, they'd been through together — she knew her too well.

"Are you trying to lie to me, Mackenzie Alexopoulos?" She smiled mischievously. "So... care to tell me who this boy was?"

With her heart still pounding from the events of the previous night, Kenzie paused for a brief second. Through a gentle exhale, she realised she couldn't hide this from her mother any longer.

"It was Eli." In a low voice, she admitted.

Faith's eyes sprang wide with shock the moment Mackenzie said the name. The quiet shy boy that the twins had known since forever.

"Eli.. as in— as in Demetri's best friend, Eli?" She just needed to confirm if she had heard correctly, and Kenzie nods shyly.

    "That's great!" Faith beamed. Mackenzie found her mother's reaction surprisingly. She thought she would've been angry or upset with it but she wasn't.

She was truly happy for her daughter.

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"You've trained hard." Johnny says in a bright tone standing on top of a broken down car, "You've gotten stronger, tougher, faster. You've done your best."

    "You're ready for this tournament, am I right?" Johnny asks firmly. And they all agree in unison, "Yes, Sensei." They shout.

"Wrong! Your best ain't shit! If you want to win the All-Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament, you gotta give me better than your best. Which is why from now on, you're gonna get my worst."

    Even though Mackenzie was tired of him talking, she knew it was only his way of helping them become better students. Give motivation.

    "Are you losers?" He demands. The question catching her off guard, making her scrunch up her face. But they all yell together, "No, Sensei."

"Are you nerds?"

"No, Sensei!"

"Are you sure?"

"No, Sensei!" Mackenzie throws a palm to her forehead of disappointment at the fact that the kids didn't really pay attention to his choice of words and it seemed Johnny had the same expression as her.

     "Move those feet, go, go, go!" He hurries the kids as they try to run through tries that were impossible not to trip going past.

Johnny says, as the kids run off with bats. "Your enemies are all around you. Destroy them!"

Mackenzie takes in a deep breath. "You're not gonna pussy out are y—" Eli smugly asks.

He's stopped by Mackenzie smashing her bar into the car windshield, glass breaking. "Holy shit!" Eli laughs, in shock and disbelief.

    Mackenzie heavily breathed, with a grin spread across her lips, "That was sick!" She jumps up and down.

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Mackenzie, Eli, Aisha and Miguel all sat in the movie theatre. Mackenzie actually invested in whatever Miguel had chosen to watch, Eli throwing popcorn at the girls who sat ahead of them and Miguel and Aisha bantering.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Aisha asked Miguel with a frown."I can't stop thinking about what Sensei told me about Sam's dad." Miguel responds.

    Mackenzie watched Eli tease the girls in the row ahead of them, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Though she paid more attention to the movie on the screen, she couldn't help overhearing the conversation between the other three.

    Miguel seemed more concerned about Mr Larusso than Mackenzie liked. She'd known him for as long as she had known Sam and worked for his dealership, so she understood the guy better.

    "So Sensei and Sam's dad had some beef. What's that have to do with you?"

Miguel slowly turns his head over to Aisha with a disbelieved expression, "Do I have to spell it out for you? Sam's dad hates Cobra Kai. I'm apart of Cobra Kai."

    "Jesus, you really are such a nerd." A smirk slowly forms into a small smile on Eli's face, continuing to throw popcorn while he listened to the conversation.

    "I'm telling you, it's not just on my mind." Miguel spoke before pausing, looking over at the screen, "Sam was acting weird the other day when her dad walked by."

    Kenzie sighed, "Look, I've known Mr Larusso since second grade. He's a really chill guy. Maybe you just need to talk to him."

"But I haven't even been invited over to her house yet," Miguel stated in a somewhat frustrated tone,"She's probably too afraid to introduce me."

Kenzie couldn't help but roll her eyes, after many attempts of trying to help Miguel find his way through dating Samantha Larusso. She just didn't want to try any more.

     "Dude, just be alpha. Go over there and introduce yourself," Eli had thrown more popcorn at this point.

This time, he caught the attention of a muscular man. The man stood up, looking back at them with a serious expression, "Who the hell did that?!"

Eli's eyes widened as he faced forward, completely oblivious to the idea that he was the one in the wrong. He was innocent in his own mind.

Mackenzie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, watching the scene unfold. She knew the type, the ones who play the victim.

"Who threw this popcorn?" The man repeated, looking at Miguel, Eli, and Kenzie.

"Not us," The three of them said in unison. They all look completely innocent, despite the fact that the man could see the popcorn lying on the floor.

— leila's notes !

i seriously hate filler chapter but it's all we have. Super excited for the next season which will be most definitely come out much later than expected because of how late it's has taken for me to finish writing at least season one.. much love, leila ❤️