chapter ten,
different but same

    Mackenzie and Eli sit in there regular fifth period class together, History. Kenzie draws inside of her notebook as the teacher goes on about some battle in the Civil war.

Eli sneaks up behind Mackenzie, and pokes her in side, attempting to startle her. "Ouch that hurts!" Mackenzie shouts as she spins around to see Eli's grinning face.

"Sorry, sorry" He says, still laughing. "I couldn't resist."

Mackenzie rolls her eyes, but a small smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. "You're such an ass, you know that?"

    "I know" Eli grins, plopping into the chair next to hers. "But what would you do without me?"

    Kenzie rolls her eyes again, but doesn't answer, going back to sketching in her notebook. Eli rests his chin on her shoulder, peering over at what she's drawing.

    Mackenzie feels his warm breath on her neck and shivers. "Stop breathing down my neck," She grumbles, nudging him away.

    Eli grins, but obliges, shifting his chair away. "What are you drawing anyway?"

    Mackenzie reluctantly holds up her sketch, showing off the realistic eye she drew. "Just passing the time," She says, turning her attention back to her sketch.

    Eli admires the eye, genuinely impressed. "Holy shit, that's really good. You could probably sell that."

    Mackenzie glances over at him, surprised by the compliment. "You really think so?" She asks, feeling a blush creeping up her cheeks.

    Eli rolls his eyes. "No, of course not. Who would buy that crap? I was just being nice."

    Mackenzie glares at him for a moment, about to respond, before suddenly pushing her chair back, sending Eli toppling off his chair and onto the floor.

🥋 ⋆⭒˚｡⋆

    "Come on, eat something. It'll make you feel better." Demetri insists, holding the sandwich up to Miguel's face.

    "How many times do I have to tell you, Metri. Mom's tricks will not work on other people." Mackenzie shook her head at her brother.

    In the middle of them sat Miguel with a sadden expression on his face. Aisha next to Mackenzie, hyper focused on her phone and Eli behind them sparring with Bert, a younger kid from the dojo.

    Miguel huffs, pushing the sandwich away. "I already told you, I'm not hungry." Demetri sighs but doesn't push further, instead moving to sit on the other side of Miguel.

    "I still think you're overreacting." Demetri adds, sinking down into the seat.

    "I'm not overreacting, dude." Miguel says in reply, "I know what I saw!"

    Referring to how Miguel claimed to witness Sam having dinner with a boy at her house.. with her family. And the small group was obviously tired of hearing his complaining which had gone on all day.

    "All right, so you saw her eating dinner with some chode." Eli says before swinging a kick at Bert, making him fall to the ground.

    "Eli!" Mackenzie yelps. "What? It was probably her brother or something." He shrugs off ignoring what Mackenzie was yelling at him for.

    "No, dude. Brother don't look at their sisters like that." Miguel cringes at the visual in his mind, Kenzie also makes a face of disgust.

    "Depends what part of the country you're in."

    "Demetri!" Mackenzie screams, grossed out by his comment.

"What? I'm just saying some states don't care about incest.."

    "Guys!" Miguel interrupts. "Please not another one of your weird conversations." Kenzie frowns, "Hey! I'm not weird!"

"No one said you were." Demetri smirks from his slumped position, ignoring Kenzie's glare.

"Oh, but it was heavily implied." Eli adds, enjoying how Miguel groans loudly.

"Look, I just don't want what happens to Sensei to happen to me."

    Mackenzie leans back on her hands, looking down at Miguel. "So what do you want us to do about it?" She asks, trying to tread carefully.

    "Go over to tis kid and beat his ass?" Eli smirks, enjoying the idea of hurting someone.

Demetri groans, shaking his head. "Don't listen to Eli."

"It's Hawk." He says firmly.

"Wait, so Kenzie's allowed to call you Eli, but I can't?" Demetri asks very confused. "That's different." Eli says off-handedly.

    "That little bitch!" Aisha yells, startling Kenzie. "What?" Miguel asks.

    "You know that video I posted of me breaking that board?" Aisha waits for them to responds, "Well, look what Yasmine comment."

    Aisha shows them her phone, it showing Aisha video and what Yasmine had commented; Impressive...can't believe the belt made it around ur waist.

    "Oh shit." Miguel sighed. "At least she spelt waist right.." Mackenzie says softly.

    "I gotta do something." Aisha demands, pulling her phone away from the small group.

    "How about, we kidnap her and have my boy Rico tattoo bitch on her face?" Eli smugly grins, the idea plan being made inside his head.

    Demetri slowly turns it the boy with a scrunched up face, "Calm down, Hawk."

   Eli glared at him, "All right, I hear his hours saying it and I don't like it."

    Mackenzie rolls her eyes at the banter between the boys, "No. We're not tattooing anybody." Mackenzie shoots a stern look at Eli, who grumbles in disappointment.

"Wait, wait, wait." Aisha leans forward, "I got a better idea, look!"

She shows the phone back to the group. Yasmine had planned to throw a party down at the canyon.

"So?" Miguel asked confused with what Aisha meant. "She can't have a party if we strike first."

Aisha's face was lit up with a small grin. Smirking, Mackenzie exchanged looks with the other three boys. "Hell yeah!" Eli shouts with excitement.

🥋 ⋆⭒˚｡⋆

The group was at the store. Aisha loaded Pringle containers into Bert's arms, Demetri glanced at her. "I still don't understand how we're going to buy alcohol." Demetri whispered as they headed towards the beer section where Eli quickly grabbed a few cases of beers.

"Oh please. Never underestimate the power of the Hawk."

Miguel waited outside, his face sullen as he scrolled through his phone, filled with unanswered messages to Sam. He let out a disappointed sigh and tried calling her again, only to reach her voicemail.

Mackenzie, seeing Miguel's distress, approached him. "Hey," Mackenzie said softly, her voice laced with concern."Everything okay, Miguel?"

Miguel looked at her, a mixture of frustration and worry on his face. "Just tried calling Sam again. Still no answer."

Mackenzie nodded, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "I'm sure she has her reasons. But anyway, the party is supposed to be cool, right?" She offered a smile, trying to lift his spirits.

Miguel managed a small smile, appreciating her attempt to cheer him up.

"Yeah, I guess. Just sucks that Sam might not be there."

He glanced back at his phone, the screen filled with unanswered messages.

While Eli was busy handling the situation at the counter, Mackenzie and the others waited near the back of the store. Mackenzie couldn't help but look intrigued as she watched Eli's interaction with the man behind the counter.

Eli set down the beer on the counter. "Sup. Did you catch last night's game?" He struck up a conversation of a more friendly tone with the counterman, "See Puig with the walk-off?"

"No, man, but I heard he flipped the bat to the moon." The man replied with a sigh.

"Yeah, I was at the bar last night with my buddies from work. The whole place went wild." Eli lied, successfully convincing the man.

    Mackenzie glanced over at Aisha and Demetri, who were pretending to read magazines but were clearly listening in on the conversation.

    "I wanted to go, but my girlfriend dragged me to some lame- ass play," the man said dismissively rolling his eyes.

    "Bitches will be bitches." Eli smirked, the man agreeing with his words.

    She was getting tired of waiting, so she impatiently brought herself up to the counter. Mackenzie stepped up to the counter, catching the man's attention as she looked at the alcohol on display.

   The man turned to look at Mackenzie as she approached the counter, her eyes skimming over the various types of alcohol.

    "Can I help you?" The man asked, his voice gruff and a little disinterested.

    "Yeah, I'm looking for some vodka." Mackenzie replied with a friendly smile.

    She practically cringed inside at her words, knowing that she was never the girl to underage drink but tonight was the night of living on the edge.

    Aisha and Demetri looked over at her, a little surprised that she was joining in on the alcohol shopping.

The man nodded and pointed to a selection of vodka bottles behind him. "We got plenty over there. Take your pick."

As Eli and the man's eyes followed her path the man asked, "How old is she?"

Eli turned to look at Mackenzie, considering her young face before replying to the man.

"She's old enough," he said with a shrug, a hint of a smirk on his lips. "So how much will this be?" Eli asked, bringing them back to their first conversation.

The man looked back at the beer on the counter then back at Eli. "I need to see your ID first," he said seriously.

    "I'm flattered."

    The man behind the counter just continued staring, not budging on his stance. Eli chuckled softly, his smile twisting into a slight frown. "You really think I'm underage? That's my freaking kid over there," he said with a gesture towards Bert.

    "I still need to see your ID," he repeated firmly. "It's required by law."

    Eli let out a soft sigh, still maintaining his calm demeanor. "Oh yeah. Sure, you uphold the law, I get it," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Eli smiled a little and took out an ID from his wallet, giving it to the man. Before placing the ID on the counter, he examined it. The man carefully took the ID from Eli's hand and looked it over. After a moment, he placed it down on the counter, his expression still stern.

"Whatever."

The man turned away to grab something, and Eli gave a smirk to the others as he waited. Aisha and Demetri looked at each other, clearly impressed by Eli's quick thinking.

Mackenzie, curious, walked over to stand next to Eli, waiting patiently by his side. The man returned, setting down whatever he had retrieved before. "Vodka, right?" he asked.

Eli nodded, a small smile still on his face. "Yes, eight bottles." He said firmly.

🥋 ⋆⭒˚｡⋆

    Meanwhile, Mackenzie was socializing around the party, enjoying the energy and the atmosphere. She had a red cup of some drink in her hand, taking small sips as she scanned the crowd. Her eyes caught sight of Miguel and Aisha in the distance, and she made her way over to them.

"Hey guys," Mackenzie greeted them with a friendly smile. "Having fun?" she asked, taking a sip from her cup.

"Yeah, it's a great party," Aisha replied, raising her cup. "Miguel's just a bit bummed that Sam isn't here yet."

Kenzie glanced at Miguel, noticing his disgruntled expression as he stared down at his phone. "Oh, I see. Has she not replied or anything?"

"She hasn't answered any of his calls," Aisha said, taking a sip from her cup. "He's hoping she shows up soon, though."

Mackenzie nodded in understanding. "Well, maybe she's just running late or something," she suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Miguel replied, taking another swig from his beer.

"In the meantime," Mackenzie said, trying to lighten the mood, "let's enjoy the party. There's plenty going on here."

"Good point," Aisha agreed, raising her cup again. "We should focus on having a good time."

    Mackenzie also lifted her cup, clinking it against Aisha's. "To a good time," she said with a grin. "Cheers to that," Miguel added, joining in on the clinking of cups. They all took a sip from their drinks, the tension eased slightly.

    As they continued to chat and laugh, the music suddenly got louder and the crowd around them swelled, people dancing and cheering.

    "Looks like the party's really picking up now," Mackenzie commented, looking around at the lively scene.

    "Yeah, that's what we like to see!" Aisha shouted over the music. She turned to the girl, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "We should go dance!"

"I'm down." Mackenzie said with a smile, the alcohol started to loosen her up.

"Let's do it!" Aisha exclaimed, grabbing Mackenzie's hand and leading her towards the makeshift dance floor.

Mackenzie laughed as Aisha led her through the crowd, a sense of excitement filling her. They found a spot and let themselves be carried away by the music, dancing and laughing with carefree abandon.

"Oh my god! I love this song!" Kenzie squealed as Delicate by Taylor Swift blasted through the speakers.

Aisha grinned as the familiar tune filled the air. "Hell yeah! Let's go!"

She grabbed Mackenzie's hand and spun her around, both girls laughing as they danced energetically to the beat.

Mackenzie was still dancing, enjoying the music and the atmosphere, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see Eli pressed up against Moon, their lips locked in a passionate kiss.

Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but then she couldn't help but let out a soft gasp. She watched them for a few seconds, her mind racing a mile a minute.

She looked away quickly, not wanting to intrude on the intimate moment, but she couldn't help feeling a mix of shock and heartbreak.

Mackenzie tried to shake off the sudden wave of emotions coursing through her, but the sight of Eli with someone else was like a punch to the gut. She took a deep breath and forced a smile, trying to maintain her composure.

    She knew that they weren't exclusive, not even together. Yet, it seemed to hurt her so much.

    Mackenzie tried to convince herself that it was just a spontaneous kiss, nothing serious. But despite her attempts to downplay it, the image of Eli and Moon together kept replaying in her mind, stirring up a mix of confusion and pain in her heart.

    "You okay, Kenz?" Aisha asks, noticing her friends changed demeanour.

    Mackenzie quickly composed herself, plastering a smile back on her face. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she replied, trying to sound casual.

    She appreciated Aisha's concern and didn't want her friend to worry, but she was struggling to hide the emotions churning inside her.

    Aisha studied her friend for a moment, her expression skeptical. She knew Mackenzie well enough to sense that something was off. "You sure? You look a little off."

    Mackenzie swallowed the lump in her throat. There was no point trying to deceive her friend.

    "I think the alcohol is finally catching up to me."

    Aisha raised an eyebrow, still not completely convinced but playing along. "Maybe you should take a break from the drinks then," she said, her voice laced with concern.

    Mackenzie nodded, using the excuse as a cover for her actual feelings. "Yeah, you're probably right."

    Kenzie walks away from where they were previously dancing and sat down next to her brother. Both Alexopoulos siblings wishing they had never come here.

    As Mackenzie approached her brother, he looked up and smiled faintly at her. He could sense her mood and knew she wasn't feeling her best. "Hey," he said, his voice soft. "What's wrong with you?"

    Mackenzie forced a smile, not wanting to worry him. "Nothing, I'm fine," she responded, trying to sound convincing.

Her brother gave her a sympathetic look, not believing her words. "Come on, I know you better than that," he said. "Tell me what's going on."

"No, really. I'm fine." She brushes it off.

Her brother raised an eyebrow, not quite buying her denial. He knew there was something more, but he also didn't want to push her too much.

"Alright," he said, still clearly unconvinced. "But science does say that it is better for your mental health to talk about your feelings."

"Oh, shut up."

He chuckled lightly, enjoying her snappy response. "Hey, I'm just looking out for you." He said with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. It was true that her brother could be annoying sometimes, but she appreciated his concern.

🥋 ⋆⭒˚｡⋆

    "Hey! You think it's funny crashing my party?" Yasmine raised her voice as she walked over to Aisha.

    "It's not really your party 'cause we were here first." Aisha fires back, not taking any more of Yasmine's bullying.

    Yasmine scoffs, "Yeah, well. I know you and your little karate gang think you're cool." She glances over at Mackenzie and Eli.
"But we all remember who you really are." She takes a step towards the girl, "You're just a fugly bitch and all your friends are freaks. C'mon on, Moon, let's go."

Yasmine signals to Moon for her to walk away with her, "No, I'm staying." Making Yasmine stop in her tracks, "I apologized to Aisha for what we did and you should too."

The blonde looked at her friend with disbelief and disgust, "Whatever, Moon You deserve them." She spits as if that was supposed to be an insult.

"Hey, Yasmine!" Aisha fiercely called out to the girl. Yasmine spins around immediately and walks back to Aisha, "What? Huh." She asked.

"Let me help to your car." Aisha smugly smiles before gripping Yasmine by the front of her underwear and holding her up, making her scream.

    Mackenzie was in such shock. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing. "No mercy, bitch!" Aisha yells before dropping the girl to the ground.

    "What the fuck!?" Kenzie curses out loud. "What? I showed no mercy." Aisha practically laughs it off.

"Look I hate Yasmine as much as you do but that was way too far."

Aisha rolled her eyes and laughed, "So you're allowed to fight your bullies but when I do it, it's considered taken too far. Some friend you are."

Aisha says before walking off. Mackenzie didn't understand how such a great night turned into a horrible ending.

Miguel drunkenly stumbles over to them, almost toppling into Kenzie. "Whoa, someone had a little too much to drink." Eli chuckled.

    Sam and another boy show up to the sorry, laughing and talking which makes Miguel react.

    "Hey." He says, standing up straighter leaning against Mackenzie. Miguel eyes the two up and down before talking again, "Who's this guy?"

    Miguel glared over to boy who was overly friendly towards Sam. And Sam doesn't reply to his question.

    "Wait, is this your boyfriend?" Robby asked Sam, and Mackenzie could tell if that was an actual question or insult.

    Sam smiled, "Yeah." then looks over to Miguel whose demeanour had changed quickly. "Miguel, relax. This is Robby. He works for my dad."

    Mackenzie frowns as Sam says who the mysterious boy was, "Wait, you're the jerk who stole my job?"

    While the girl had gotten so caught up with karate, she slowly began to not show up to shifts. But, in her mind, she believed she would've kept the job.

    A few weeks ago, she begged Mr Larusso to let her keep the job but he insisted on letting go because he already found someone who would be working for him instead of her. That person was Robby.

    "I didn't steal your job. You rarely showed up." Robby bragged with a slight smirk. "I had shit going on." Mackenzie says, tensing up.

Mackenzie's mind was spinning, and her emotions were all over the place. The realization that Robby was the one who had taken her job made her blood boil. She couldn't understand why he was being so arrogant about it.

Miguel, who seemed to be intoxicated, swayed slightly as he leaned against Mackenzie. His eyes were fixed on Robby, and his expression had darkened.

    "Wait have you two been drinking?" Sam asked concerned. For as long as she had known Kenzie, the girl had been against drinking and never wanted to be like that, so when Sam found her in that state, it was quite obvious that she was surprised.

    "No." She lies with a smile. "Hey! You don't get to turn this on us, okay? I texted and called you all day, and you couldn't answer me back once?" Miguel questioned getting defensive.

    "No, I literally couldn't. My mom took my phone." Sam tried to explain but Miguel kept interrupting her.

    "Oh! Oh, that's so convenient!" He laughed.

    "Okay, Miguel. It's okay–" Mackenzie places a hand on his shoulder, realising that he might've taken it too far.

    "Hey, man, just tell–" Robby tries to intervene before Miguel would do something stupid but it only made things worse.

    "You get out of here!" Miguel huffs, knocking Robby down with one forceful push.

    "Miguel!" Mackenzie shrieks, now really worried. "Miguel stop it!" Sam yelled at the boy.

    Miguel paid no attention to the voices calling out to him. He was fully focused on Robby, now feeling the need to fight.

    Robby looked up at Miguel, the anger now directed at him. "Hey, man, you wanna try that again?" he barked, standing up.

    Sam tried to hold back Miguel, trying to keep him from doing something he'd regret. "Miguel, stop it, you've had too much to drink," she pleaded, standing in front of him.

    Mackenzie stood by, watching the confrontation between Miguel and Robby unfold. Her heart raced in her chest, and she could feel her palms growing sweaty.

    She didn't want things to escalate any further, but it seemed like it was too late for that. "Guys, come on, let's just calm down," Mackenzie pleaded, trying to diffuse the tension.

    But her words only did so little.

    The whole situation immediately escalated into Miguel swinging a punch towards Robby but instead of hitting Robby, it had it Sam. She quickly fell to the ground, and everyone around them gasped.

    "Sam!" Mackenzie said, the girl knelt down to help the girl even though they weren't on the best terms. "Get off me!" Sam pushed Kenzie away.

    Mackenzie flinched and took a step back, her heart still racing in her chest. She looked at Sam with a mixture of shock and confusion, not knowing how to react.

    "God, you're such an asshole!"

    Sam stands up with Robby's help, and turns towards the two teens. "Sam, look, I'm sorry." Miguel tries to talk but Sam stops him.

    "What the hell was that? My dad was right about Cobra Kai. Good luck at the tournament. I won't be there."

    Mackenzie stood there, and in that moment, the alcohol had left her system, when she needed it the most. She couldn't believe what had just happened, and the look on Sam's face made everything even worse.

    Miguel watched as Sam and Robby ran off. The look on his face was so miserable and something she had never seen on him before.

    "I can't believe this." Mackenzie snapped, shaking her head and walking away from him as well. Leaving Miguel standing all alone.

— leila's notes !

i had so many ideas for these scenes but they were all drafted so enjoy the final product :))