
Bᴇsᴛ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Bᴇsᴛ
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Jamie shuts her bedroom door behind her before walking down the hallway. She looks up as she enters the living room. Amber was standing by the couch as she dug through her purse.
"Hey, mom." Jamie says. The two hadn't spoken much since the dinner with her dad and his wife.
Amber looks up, "Hey, sweetie."
"Um, I'm going to practice. I should be home before it gets too late."
"Okay." Amber nods as she picks up her purse and heads for the door
"Mom." Jamie calls out. Amber turns to her, "Are you mad at me?"
Amber looks down, "No, but I don't think that what happened with your dad was very mature of you."
Jamie furrows her brows, "What?"
"You could've put your differences aside for a second to have dinner with them."
"Mom, I was lied to for years about where dad was." Jamie says stepping closer, "I was in the same city as him for every other summer and he made no effort to come and see me. One dinner with him isn't going to fix that."
"It didn't have to Jamie, but it could've been a start."
"A start I wasn't ready for." Jamie scoffs, "Why does it all of a sudden not matter how I feel whenever it comes to dad?"
"Because you're becoming an adult and there are times when you need to forgive and let go. It's for the better."
Jamie mouth goes slack as she looks back at her mom. She looks down at her feet and clenches her jaw, "I thought you were on my side about this."
"I am-"
"Apparently not." Jamie interjects. The girl walks past her mom and opens the door, "I'll see you later."
"Jamie-" Amber tries, but the door shuts behind Jamie cutting her off
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"I heard Aisha got into UC Santa Cruz." Sam says, "You heard anything from Stanford?"
Miguel shakes his head as the teens stretch, "No. I've been checking my emails, like, every day, but nothing. What about you, Jamie?"
The girl looks up, "No."
Miguel's brows furrow a little as he watches her look back down, Hawk shrugs, "Don't stress. It'll come. I mean, Demetri hasn't heard from MIT yet, so..."
"Yeah, I did." He says as the teens look over, "I got in."
"What?" Miguel and Hawk exclaim
"Well, yeah. Why are you all so surprised? I worked my ass off and earned that spot. That would be like LeBron James getting turned down by the Lakers." He says faking a shot
"Congratulations, Demetri." Sam says
"Yeah, it's a really hard school to get into." Jamie nods
"Yeah, it certainly is. Especially when you don't apply. Right, Eli?" He snaps looking to his friend
"Real subtle." Hawk mumbles
"Hey, man, I'm just saying you miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
As the conversation dies out, Miguel looks towards Jamie. The girl hadn't said much since she showed up to practice and it worried him. He looks up again and the three teens nod to him before stepping away.
He looks back over to Jamie, "Hey."
Jamie looks up and her brows furrow as she notices it was just her and Miguel. She turns back to the boy with raised brows, "Yeah?"
"You okay? You're quiet."
"I'm fine." She mumbles with a shrug
Unfortunately for her, he didnt believe that, "I can tell something is bothering you. You can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?"
"Yeah."
"So, talk to me." He says softly
Jamie sighs as she continues stretching, "My mom is pissed off at me because of how the dinner went with my dad. She thinks I could've been more mature about it."
Miguel frowns, "Are you serious?"
"Yeah." She mumbles, "I thought she was on my side about it, but I guess not."
"I don't get it."
"Me either. I'm just so sick of being told how I should feel about situations that affect no one else but me." She says, "Why do I have to act like I'm over it to make a grown man feel better about leaving his daughter and starting a new family?"
"You shouldn't." Miguel shakes his head, "You're not wrong in this, Jamie. No matter what they say."
Jamie nods as the doors of Miyagi-Do open revealing Daniel, "All right. Circle up."
The teens step down and line up in front of the dojo. Jamie, Miguel, Tory, and Robby standing in front, "The Sekai Taikai needs our final roster in three days. And now that we know who's going, it's time for us to name our male and female captains. The captains are not just the leaders of the team. They're the ones that will be fighting in the finals if we can make it that far."
"Plus, they get to fight on live TV." Johnny says, "Who knows what comes after that? Wheaties boxes, chop-socky flicks, ZZ Top videos. Sky's the limit."
"You'll all get the glory if we win, but, yes, the captains will be in the spotlight. They need to represent the best that Miyagi-Do has to offer. And Sensei Lawrence and I want to assure you that the decision will be completely unbiased."
"That's right. In two days, Jamie will face Tory for the female captain spot, Robby and Miguel will fight for male captain."
"We all know you fought plenty of times before, but now that we're on the same side, this is still the best way for us to see who's progressed the most."
"All right, enough talking. It's time to train. You four, get inside. I'm gonna whip your butts into shape."
Jamie steps up first with Miguel right behind her. Robby and Tory follow them in while Johnny and Daniel step aside.
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"Big circle." Johnny says as the teens follow him, "Big circle. Breathe in. Breathe out."
The teens exhale as Daniel watches them from the side, "Elbow to the face. Punch to the throat. Lift his ass up. And dump him."
•••
"The key to Miyagi-Do is balance. You gotta stay on your feet no matter what life throws at you." Johnny says as Miguel stands on the board in the pond. He takes the last swig of his beer before setting it in the machine sending it flying towards Miguel.
The boy just barely dodges it before another flies at him.
•••
"Mr. Miyagi fought for America. You're gonna have to do the same." Johnny says before standing the dummy up and drawing a mustache on it, "Foreign kids don't speak English. But they do speak karate."
Jamie steps up and kicks the dummy in its side. She kicks it again and sends it to the ground. Johnny nods as she steps away.
"Gonna have to kick higher. And harder... than ever before." He explains as Robby sends a kick to the dummy
"Johnny." Daniel says, "The Soviet Union doesn't even exist any..."
"Quiet!"
•••
Jamie stands up on the board as Johnny puts another bottle in the machine. Jamie dodges it before another bottle flies at her. She ducks down as Johnny nods.
"Good job, Jackson." He says before sending another bottle
•••
The teens were now sat in the dojo with Johnny.
"Breathe and clear your minds. Focus. Open your eyes. Watch closely. Watch closely. Here comes the good part right here. Right here." He says turning to the TV, "Hell yeah. Alex Grady is the character he's playing. Lost his shoulder in the first movie. In the second movie, it's miraculously healed. If you believe in yourselves, you could be like Eric Roberts too."
•••
Tory yells out as she sends a kick to the dummy. It tumbles back into the gate and sends it to the ground.
"Yes, Nichols!" Johnny yells out as Daniel groans
•••
Jamie ducked down as a bottle flew towards her. As soon as she stood up, another bottle flies at her. She steps aside avoiding it.
"Jackson, keep your feet. Balance, balance!" Johnny yells, "Come on!"
Jamie takes another step to the side before tripping over her feet and falling into the pond.
Miguel jumps up, "Jamie!"
The girl gasps as she sits up. Hurriedly moving her hair out of her face as Miguel reached in for her.
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