╔.𖥸. .════════════════╗

𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬

chapter five
fire nation katara finally
meets clark kent

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ALYSSA STOOD BY her friends at the park, her hip leaning against the bench with her arms crossed comfortably against her chest. They had come during lunch, along with most of the school, to just hang out. Demetri, Miguel, and Aisha were sitting on the bench while Eli was in the open field, sparring with Bert — well, more so Bert was just letting Eli practice on him.

Aisha apparently couldn't be bothered with the conversation at hand, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone. Alyssa and Demetri, however, were trying to cheer up Miguel, who was upset after seeing some boy have dinner with Sam's family. Miguel still hadn't met Sam's parents and was clearly not dealing with it well.

"Come on, eat something," Demetri urged. "It'll make you feel better."

"I told you I'm not hungry, man," Miguel replied, holding his uneaten sandwich.

"You sure?" Alyssa asked. "I can take you to get some ice cream. Chocolate milkshakes always help."

Miguel shook his head, giving her a small smile. "No thanks, Als."

"I still think you're overreacting," Demetri admitted.

"I'm not overreacting, dude," Miguel insisted. "I know what I saw."

"All right, so you saw her eating dinner with some chode," Eli cut in.

He then lifted up his leg, kicking Bert straight in the face. Bert fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. Alyssa winced, looking over to stare at his small body.

"You okay, Bert?" Alyssa called.

"Yeah," Bert answered, groaning just a little.

Alyssa gave Eli a look as he walked up to the bench. "Must you beat up a child?"

Eli placed his elbows on the back of the bench to lean on it. "You heard him, Bert's fine. And it's probably just her brother or something."

"No, dude, brothers don't look at their sisters like that," Miguel stated.

"Depends on what part of the country you're in," Demetri commented.

Alyssa blinked at him. "Demetri, what the fuck?"

Miguel moved on from that. "Look, I just don't want what happened to Sensei to happen to me."

"All right, so you go over to this kid and beat his ass so he doesn't have the chance," Eli suggested.

Alyssa slowly looked at him. "Dude, seriously?"

Demetri shook his head. "Don't listen to Eli."

"It's Hawk," Eli corrected with a glare, making Alyssa frown a little.

"Yeah, whatever." He then looked at Eli accusingly. "Why aren't you saying the same thing to Ally? She doesn't call you that."

Eli shrugged. "So?"

She gave Demetri a knowing smile. "It's 'cause he likes me better than you."

Demetri sighed and focused back on Miguel. "The fact is, Sam's given you no reason not to trust her."

Alyssa nodded in agreement. "And I might not know Sam that well, but she doesn't seem like the kind of girl to do that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Miguel said.

"Of course I am. I'm never wrong."

Demetri scoffed. "I would beg to differ."

"Oh!" Aisha suddenly exclaimed. "That little bitch."

"What?" Miguel inquired, clearly confused by her outburst.

"You know that video I posted of me breaking that board?"

"Yeah."

Aisha held her phone out. "Look what Yasmine commented."

Alyssa peered over to see her phone. Sure enough, there was a comment from Yasmine that read Impressive...can't believe the belt made it around ur waist. She instantly rolled her eyes in annoyance. Alyssa seriously never knew what made Yasmine such a fucking bitch.

"Think if I punch her hard enough it'll set her straight?" Alyssa asked bitterly.

"I gotta do something," Aisha voiced.

"All right, how about we kidnap her and have my boy Rico tattoo bitch on her face?" Eli questioned.

Alyssa nodded, giving him a sarcastic smile. "Wow, E. That was such a great example of what we shouldn't do."

"You just said you would punch her!"

"Punching her is one thing. Giving her a forced tattoo is another."

"Calm down, Hawk," Demetri protested.

Eli stared at him. "All right, I hear how you're saying it, and I don't like it."

"Wait, wait, wait," Aisha interjected. "I've got a better idea. Look."

Aisha displayed her phone to them again. This time, it was a selfie of Yasmine on her story with little stickers of party things like champagne. It read PARTY, BITCHES!!! 5pm @ the Canyon VIP ONLY!!!

Miguel stared at the screen. "Yasmine's throwing a birthday party at the Canyon later?"

"Not if we strike first," Aisha responded.

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. She glanced over, meeting Eli's eyes. His were alight with excitement and there was a smirk on his face. She really was not going to get used to that. However, she couldn't help but notice her heart started to beat against her chest when he did it.

Woah, what?"

"Hell yeah," Eli said. "Lys, can you drive?"

She sighed. "Who am I without being your chauffer?" Alyssa glanced at the boy still on the ground. "Bert, let me know if we need to make a stop at the hospital."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

AFTER LEAVING THE park — which did not include making a stop at the hospital for Bert — Alyssa drove their group over to the convenience store in the same strip mall that the Cobra Kai dojo was in. They were looking around, buying a bunch of stuff for their party — well, except Miguel, who was outside trying to reach Sam but she wasn't answering.

Alyssa stood by the freezers, looking at the various pints of ice cream. Was it practical to have ice cream at a party like this? Probably not.

"All right, be sure to stock up good," Aisha announced, dumping chips and candy into Bert's arms. "I'm inviting everyone. VIP only my ass."

"I still don't understand how we're gonna buy alcohol," Demetri stated in a low voice.

Eli scoffed, placing a hand on Alyssa's hip to move past her to go towards the fridges with alcohol in them. "Oh, please. Never underestimate the power of the Hawk. Lys, c'mere."

She then felt a finger hook into one of the belt loops of her jeans and pull her towards them. Alyssa blinked up in surprise, heat filling her face, because what was that? Eli didn't seem phased by it at all. Alyssa stared at him for a moment. He would've never done that before, especially not to her.

Alyssa stared at him curiously as he opened up the fridge and grabbed a case of beer. Eli then placed his hand on the small of Alyssa's back and gently pushed her forwards. Alyssa glanced back, only to share a confused look with Demetri. She had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Eli placed the case of beer on the counter. "'Sup?" He nodded to the cashier's shirt, which read LOS ANGELES DODGERS. "Oh, did you catch the game last night? See Puig with the walk-off?"

"Nah, man, but I heard he flipped the bat to the moon," the cashier replied.

"Yeah, I was at the bar last night with my buddies from work. Whole place went wild."

"I wanted to go, but my girlfriend dragged me to some lame-ass play."

"Bitches will be bitches," Eli commented.

Alyssa raised her eyebrows at him. Woah, okay.

"Yeah," the cashier agreed.

"So, uh, how much it gonna cost?" Eli inquired.

"Gotta check your ID first."

Eli chuckled. "I'm flattered." The cashier merely stared at him. "Do you really think I'm underage?" He patted Alyssa's back. "This is my wife—" he gestured to Bert with his thumb "—and that's our frickin' kid right there."

Alyssa froze in shock momentarily. She had become a wife and a mother in the matter of seconds.

She glanced back at Bert, who was casually reading a magazine, before looking back at the cashier and giving him an innocent smile. "We adopted."

The cashier's eyes flickered from Eli, to Alyssa, to Bert. "Yeah, I still need to see it. It's required by law."

"Oh, yeah, for sure," Eli voiced. "Just upholding the law. It's all good."

He brought out his wallet and pulled an ID from it. Alyssa's eyes widened a little and she looked up at Eli in something matching disbelief. When did he get a fake ID? And how did he get a fake ID?

The cashier glanced from the ID to Eli for a moment before throwing the ID on the counter. "Whatever."

Eli turned back to the others, holding up the rock 'n' roll hand sign while sticking his tongue out. Alyssa let out a small laugh of amazement and shook her head. This new Eli was certainly something.

"Uh, how about eight bottles of that vodka right there?" Eli asked to the cashier as he came back up.

And for some reason, Alyssa's skin burned at the small of her back where Eli had his hand.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

THE PARTY WAS officially started. Music issued from many speakers placed around the canyon. All the people Aisha invited were scattered around the small beach, dancing along to the music, drinking, playing beer pong, or tossing around a volleyball. Alyssa stood next to Eli by the campfire, a red solo cup filled with water in her hand.

"You sure you don't want a drink?" Eli urged as she took another sip of her water.

"I've told you a million times already, I'm driving," Alyssa responded. "I would rather not get in a car crash and die, thank you very much."

She was ready for a sarcastic remark. However, she didn't get one. Alyssa looked over at him, only to see him staring up at something. She followed his gaze, only to see him looking at Moon at the top of the hill, one of Yasmine's friends. Moon had a shy smile on her face as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear. Alyssa slowly looked back at Eli, who was smirking a little back at Moon.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach. She couldn't quite place what it was, but something about this made her feel a little sick. Alyssa knew it shouldn't — Moon was a sweet girl, even if she did have her moments because of Yasmine. She glanced down at the ground, clearing her throat a little.

"You gonna talk to her?" Alyssa questioned.

Eli tore his eyes away from Moon and looked at Alyssa. "Hm?"

"Moon, you idiot. You should." Alyssa glanced up to see Moon approaching them, and she patted Eli's shoulder. "And that's my cue. Have fun."

Alyssa walked away from him, the strange feeling not leaving her. She pushed through the crowd of people and walked past Miguel, who was currently in the process of chugging a beer next to a laughing Aisha. Alyssa knew she could just probably go hang around Demetri, but she didn't really want to be bothered right now. Her mind was kind of spinning, and after that she wanted to go home, but she had driven them a lot of them here.

She found an empty log that thankfully wasn't taken by anyone and sat down. Alyssa sighed, resting her elbows against her knees and staring down into her water cup. This whole thing was so stupid. Her feelings were just dumb. She couldn't even figure out what her feelings were, and why she was feeling this way, which was even dumber.

When the sun went down not too long later, Alyssa was still on that damn log, drinking her water that she had refilled. Somewhere across the way, she could see Eli and Moon making out on a log, which made the grip on her cup tighten.

"If you grip that cup any tighter, you're probably going to crush it and spill your drink everywhere."

Alyssa's head snapped up in surprise, only to see a boy standing above her. His hair was gelled up into a quiff, and he had the prettiest green eyes that she had ever seen, even in the dark. He had a bright smile on his face, one that was positively radiant, and he was holding a cup, too. Something about him seemed really familiar for some reason.

"You're probably right," Alyssa responded.

The boy sat next to her on the log, and Alyssa's head followed his movements. "Anything in particular that's bothering you so much that you're death-gripping your cup?"

She shrugged. "Just . . . thinking. Don't worry about it."

He then held her hand out for her to shake. "Well, Death-Grip, my name's Cameron. But you can call me Cam."

Alyssa shook his hand, a small smile on her face. "I'm Alyssa. You can call me Ally, and not Death-Grip, thank you very much."

Cam laughed a little at that, and Alyssa suddenly felt her heart soar just the tiniest bit from the sound. "Well, Ally, why are you sitting all by yourself?"

"Not really a party girl," Alyssa admitted.

He nodded, and she saw his cheeks flush a light shade of pink, even in the dark. "I should've assumed. I saw you standing off of the dance floor at the Halloween dance."

"You saw me at the Halloween dance?"

"Yeah. You were Fire Nation Katara. Sick costume, by the way." Cam chuckled and looked down at his hands for a moment. "I was Clark Kent."

Alyssa's eyes widened in realization — so that's why he looked so familiar. "Oh my God, the one staring at me from across the room?"

Cam winced a little. "Was it really that obvious?"

A scream suddenly sounded. Alyssa's head whipped over, only to gasp in surprise. Aisha had grabbed the front of Yasmine's underwear and yanked it up, so hard that Yasmine's feet were coming off the ground. She then threw Yasmine carelessly to the ground on the hill. The crowds of people instantly started to laugh at Yasmine.

"Holy shit," Cam commented. "That's gotta hurt."

"Yeah," Alyssa agreed, kind of breathlessly because her mouth was still open in shock. She looked back at Cam. "Karma's a bitch, huh?"

Cam lifted up his cup. "I'll cheers to that." They clinked their cups together. Cam glanced around for a moment, maybe a little nervously, before clearing his throat. "Do you — uh, do you want to dance?"

Alyssa let out a small laugh. "I'm not really that good at dancing."

"Neither am I." Cam put down his cup on the sand and stood up, offering his hand out to her. "Why don't we go make fools of ourselves together?"

She stared at his hand for a moment before grinning, taking his hand. Alyssa used it to pull herself up and allowed Cam to drag her to a more empty spot of the Canyon. Once they found a spot, he turned back to her.

"All right, come on," Cam voiced, lifting their held hands up above her head. "Show me what you got."

Alyssa let out a small giggle and twirled herself around.

"Okay, there you go, there you go. Here, we can do this—" Cam used their held hands to spin her into him, holding her against his chest for a moment "—and then we can do that—" he spun her back out. "And you said you can't dance."

"I can't," Alyssa said, laughing more, making her laugh with him. "That was just twirling. It's basic steps."

Cam gasped and placed his free hand on his chest. "Are you calling me basic, Ally?"

"And what if I am?"

"Alyssa."

She suddenly turned. Eli was standing next to her, staring Cam down. His jaw was slightly clenched and his hands were balled into tight fists at his side. Moon was there, too, and she gave Alyssa a small smile in greeting. Alyssa gave her one back, but she soon frowned at Eli, wondering what was up with this stance. She glanced at Cam for a moment, who slowly let go of her hand.

"Hey, E," Alyssa replied. "Hi, Moon."

"Hey," Moon replied. "Alyssa, right?"

"It's Ally, you don't have to call me Alyssa."

Eli ignored them. "Who's this?"

"Oh, Eli, this is Cam," Alyssa answered. "Cam, this is Eli, one of my best friends."

Eli gave her a look. "It's Hawk."

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Or Hawk. Whatever."

Cam held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, man."

Eli didn't take his hand to shake. Cam lowered his hand awkwardly back to his side. Alyssa opened her mouth, ready to demand why the fuck he didn't, before she heard the sound of an argument. She glanced over, only to see Sam standing in front of a very drunk Miguel with a boy she had never seen before by her side. Miguel went to hit the boy, but instead, he missed and hit Sam. Sam fell onto the ground, making Alyssa's eyes widen in shock.

"Miguel!" Alyssa exclaimed, leaving their little group behind and rushing up to Miguel. "Miguel, what the fuck—"

"God, you asshole!" Sam shouted, scrambling up from the sand. "What the hell was that? My dad was right about Cobra Kai. Good luck at the tournament. I won't be there." Her eyes then trailed over to Alyssa, and the anger slightly faded from them. "I'll see you around, Ally."

Sam turned back around and started to climb back up the hill, holding onto her arm. The boy she was with called after her, trying to keep up.

"Oh my God," Alyssa said. She placed a hand on Miguel's arm. "No way, Miguel, that's enough. I'm taking you home."

"No—" Miguel began, his words slightly slurred.

"Yes. You're way too drunk, and you just hit Sam." She glanced back for a moment at the ones she had left behind. "I'll be right back, just stay here."

"Everything okay?" Cam questioned when she returned.

Alyssa sighed. "Not really. I'm sorry, he's had way too much to drink, so I'm taking him home. It was really nice to meet you, Cam."

"You too." He gently punched her shoulder. "But I'll — uh, see you around?"

She smiled. "I would really like that."

Cam grinned back at her before walking off again, presumably to find his friends. Alyssa watched after him for a moment. She was sure there was a dazed sort-of look on her face, but she snapped out of it remembering the drunk boy by her. Alyssa glanced around for her other friend and found him standing by the fire.

"Demetri," Alyssa called, and he looked up at her. "I'm taking Miguel home if you want to come."

He nodded and started to walk in her direction.

She glanced at Eli. "E, you coming?" She then turned to Moon with a small smile. "I can give you a ride too, if you want."

Moon grinned back at her. "That would be—"

"We're good," Eli voiced.

Alyssa looked at him, her smile dropping at the slight anger etched onto his features. "You sure? It's no—"

"I said we're good, Alyssa."

She blinked in shock. "Okay, okay, I got it." Alyssa let out a small, weirded-out laugh. "Just double-checking."

"Yeah, well, maybe you should've got it the first time," Eli argued.

Alyssa scoffed. "I'm sorry?"

"Guys," Moon interjected, making the two stop, but they still held their glares. "Alyssa, thank you for the offer, but I think we're going to be okay."

She pulled out her car keys and gripped onto them tightly. "No problem, Moon." Her eyes narrowed at Eli. "At least she was nice about it, unlike you. When you decide to stop acting like a dick, especially to me, let me know."

Alyssa turned around and walked in the direction of the hill, Demetri trailing after her. She took Miguel's arm in her hand, who was still in the same spot that she left him in, and started to drag him with them.

And as much as she wanted to, Alyssa didn't look back.

•─•°•❀•°•─•

well no more of them being sweet until the end of season three sorry not sorry lol

also BERT MY CHILD