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𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬

chapter eight
alyssa liu is NOT boring

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ONE OF ALYSSA'S favorite things about living in California was the beach.

The sand, the sun, the ocean — she honestly loved everything about it. So when a beach trip was made, Alyssa didn't hesitate to say yes.

She stood on one of the volleyball courts in the sand, clad in a white bikini top with purple flowers, the matching bottoms covered by the jean shorts she was wearing. Alyssa was next to Eli on one side of the court while Moon, Demetri, and Bert were on the other side.

Her hands were placed on her hips with her head tilted in thought, watching from the other side of the court as Demetri held out a red Cobra Kai volleyball in front of him. He hit the heel of his palm of his other hand against it, but instead of going over, his serve went straight into the net. Alyssa let out a small laugh but quickly covered the sound with her hand.

"Uh . . ." Demetri trailed off.

Alyssa gave him a nod with a teasing smile. "You're doing amazing, sweetie."

He waved to the two on the other side of the court. "Mulligan, send it back."

"There's no mulligans in volleyball," Eli replied.

Demetri scoffed. "Says you." He then walked up to the side of the net. "Water break."

Eli blinked at Alyssa. "I thought you explained the rules of volleyball to him before we started playing."

Alyssa raised her hands in surrender, shaking her head a little. "Hey, I can only do so much."

"Cobra Kai?" a girl's voice then asked, and Alyssa looked to see two girls standing by Demetri, who had started to wipe his face with his Cobra Kai towel — wipe his face from what, Alyssa didn't know. "You guys won that karate tournament, right?"

Demetri slowly lowered the towel from his face, looking at the girls in shock. "Um . . . the All Valley? The Rumble in Reseda? Yes, uh . . ." he slung the towel over his shoulder and leaned against the post of the volleyball net, and Alyssa raised an eyebrow. "We, uh — we certainly did."

"Cool. We're gonna go for a swim, but maybe play with you later?"

"Pffft . . . most def. Uh, that means most definitely."

The girl giggled at him and waved before walking off with her friend.

Alyssa brushed past Eli, crossing her arms across her chest. "Never say most def again."

Moon laughed. "Look at you, player."

"It'd be nice if you earned the Cobra Kai cred you're so happy to take," Eli voiced. "When are you ever gonna sign up?"

"I — I don't know," Demetri answered. "I'm kind of enjoying the gain without the pain."

Eli looked from Demetri back to Alyssa. "And you?"

Alyssa shrugged casually. "When I feel like it."

She really didn't want to tell him that she didn't like Cobra Kai. That would definitely not go over well.

Her eyes then slid to the figure approaching them, and she smiled widely. "Well, hey, look who finally showed up." She then noticed the look on his face. "Honey, you've got to stop looking so sad every time I see you."

Miguel offered her the tiniest grin. "Hey, Als."

"Lys is right, no more of this," Eli cut in. "Look, it's a beautiful day out, the beach is packed with babes, no more sulking about Sam."

"I'm not sulking about Sam," Miguel revealed. "It's about Sensei."

"Is this about his rap sheet? My parents read it online. I think it makes him more badass."

Alyssa's eyebrows raised. "Rap sheet?"

Miguel ignored her. "It's about him and Robby Keene."

"Ally!" Moon called before Miguel could say anything else, making Alyssa turn to look at the girl. "I brought you M&M's, do you want some?"

Alyssa totally forgot about what Miguel had just said and bounded up to Moon, her eyes alight with excitement. "Moon, I actually love you, like, so much." She took the M&M's from Moon. "Seriously."

"I love you too, babes." Moon sat down on her towel. "Is Miguel still upset about Sam?"

"Probably." Alyssa sat down on her towel, which was next to Moon's, and opened up her package of M&M's. "But that wasn't why he looked so sad. Something about Sensei Lawrence and Robby Keene."

Demetri then walked back over, sighing as he sat down on his towel, reaching over and stealing an M&M from Alyssa. "He's his son."

Alyssa swatted his hand away. "Bitch, don't take my chocolate." The words then settled in her head, and her head whipped over to him, her eyes wide. "Wait a second, what?"

"Yeah, apparently Robby's Sensei's son," Miguel added, coming up to them with Eli in tow. He took the towel off of his shoulder and let it fall into a heap in the sand. "That's why he was acting so weird at the All Valley."

"Huh." Alyssa ate another M&M. "Talk about a plot twist."

"I mean, we don't know if Keene is for sure Sensei's son," Eli insisted. "I can do some research later for confirmation."

Miguel slumped down on his towel, which was still in a pile. "This is the worst."

"Okay, enough of this," Moon cut in. "We came to the beach to have fun. I'm feeling too much negative energy right now."

Alyssa scoffed. "Yeah, tell me about it. Everyone keeps stealing my fucking M&M's." She saw Eli's hand reach for her package, and she tucked it closer to her chest. "Take any and I'll bury your face so far into the sand that you won't know which way is up anymore."

Eli fell back onto his elbows. "You're no fun."

"I'm actually lots of fun, you just don't want to admit it."

"Okay, prove it right now."

Alyssa's eyes narrowed at him. "Fine."

She put her package of M&M's down. Alyssa pressed her palms against her towel on the sand, pushing herself up to stand. She then reached down and unbuttoned her jean shorts. Alyssa pulled them off, revealing the matching bottoms to her bathing suit.

"What are you doing?" Eli asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Alyssa replied. "I'm proving how fun I can be by going to jump in the ocean. What are you doing? Being boring?"

"I am not boring."

"Sure. But you probably won't come in because it'll ruin your hair, right?" Alyssa threw her bottoms onto her towel and placed her hands on her hips, pointedly ignoring the glare he sent her way. "Anybody else coming?"

"Ooh, me!" Moon exclaimed, standing up and pulling her shorts off too.

"I know Demetri isn't, he hates salt water," Alyssa continued. "Miguel? Wanna come?"

Miguel shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."

Alyssa shrugged. "Suit yourself." She looked at Moon. "Ready—"

She was cut off by Moon grabbing onto her hand and running off, forcing Alyssa to come with her. Alyssa laughed loudly as her feet stumbled through the sand, but she regained her balance and caught up with Moon. There was nothing but laughter as they ran through the sand and fought through the waves, disappearing underwater for a moment.

Miguel squinted through the sun as he watched the two of them giggle and swim around in the ocean. "Als doesn't seem boring to me, Hawk."

Eli sighed and fell on his back against his towel, staring up at the sky. "Yeah, I know she's not."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

THE VALLEY FEST was a huge festival in Reseda. It was basically just one giant carnival, sponsored by some major brands in the Valley. There were rides, fair food, live performances, basically everything.

Alyssa had made plans to go with Eli, Moon, Miguel, and Demetri. However, for pretty much the whole day, it had just been Alyssa, Moon, and Demetri. Alyssa had absolutely no clue where Eli and Miguel were, but Miguel had texted them saying they would be there later. (There was absolutely no communication from Eli, which kind of made Alyssa's heart sink a little bit, but she ignored it.)

So, Alyssa, Moon, and Demetri made the most of their day, running around the fair and acting like stupid teenagers. Well, it was mostly Moon grabbing onto Alyssa's hand and dragging her around to look at everything while Demetri pretty much having to chase them, but it was fun. Alyssa had even gotten a little flower crown, where the middle of the blue flowers lit up. Moon had the same one but in pink, claiming that they had to match.

Has Alyssa ever said how much she loved Moon? Because she absolutely adored her.

They had just finished watching a performance of a guy with an acoustic guitar. Alyssa smiled and clapped for him, along with the rest of the crowd.

"All right!" the announcer exclaimed, walking back up to the microphone while clapping her hands. "All right, all right, all right!" The cheers died down. "Coming up next, do I have a treat for you. Please direct your attention to the LaRusso Auto booth for a presentation from Miyagi-Do Karate."

At once, the crowd started to shift to the booth, which was right next to the main stage. Moon instantly linked her arm through Alyssa's as they settled in their place. Alyssa glanced over at her for a moment, her smile widening when Moon scrunched up her nose a bit and grinned at her. She responded by linking their arms together a little tighter.

Alyssa focused back on the booth. The only light was the main backdrop, which was orange and had a white Bonsai tree on it. There were three people on the stage, who Alyssa recognized as Robby, Mr. LaRusso, and Sam. She tilted her head in curiosity as the three of them bowed before getting in fighting positions. The three of them started to perform arm movements, and Sam and Robby were in sync while Mr. LaRusso picked up the pace.

They all landed in the same pose at the end. Alyssa tapped her free hand against the side of her hip for her applause since her other hand was by Moon's arm. Robby, Mr. LaRusso, and Sam bowed again.

"Is there gonna be any fighting?" Moon questioned, looking over at Alyssa and Demetri.

"I think so?" Demetri replied, sounding very confused.

Alyssa shrugged. "It's kind of cool, actually."

Mr. LaRusso then got a bo staff. Him, Robby, and Sam bowed once more. Mr. LaRusso then started to twirl the bo around while Sam and Robby performed different movements off to the side. Suddenly, Sam and Robby started to circle around Mr. LaRusso. Mr. LaRusso swung the bo at Sam, but she blocked it with her arms. He then brought it down close to Robby's legs, and Robby jumped over it, rolling forwards.

They landed again, and the crowd applauded for them as they bowed. Alyssa couldn't help the smile on her face as she watched the whole thing. Maybe previously she had wanted to learn how to kick like Miguel — okay, she still wanted to know how to kick like Miguel — but now she wanted to learn how to twirl a bo staff around like that. It was really cool.

"Now time for the grand finale," Mr. LaRusso announced.

He put the bo away and instead rolled out a table that had six blocks of ice on it. However, as it did so, all the lights dimmed, and the music that had been playing stopped. Alyssa's eyebrows knit in confusion and she shared a weirded-out glance with Demetri.

"Cobra Kai!" multiple people then shouted.

She sighed. How she didn't predict this, Alyssa didn't know. She turned and saw all the members of the Cobra Kai dojo, wearing their gis that they had on at the All Valley, running towards the main stage. Eli and Miguel, of course, were at the front. Oh. So that's where they were.

Instantly, as the members of Cobra Kai went up onto the main stage, the crowd lost interest in Miyagi-Do and started to shift back. Alyssa let Moon drag her along over to the main stage. However, she snuck a glance back at the LaRusso auto booth. Sam, Robby, and Mr. LaRusso all looked completely crestfallen. Alyssa hadn't interacted with Robby or Mr. LaRusso at all, but she had interacted with Sam.

They had only talked a little bit since the night Alyssa showed up at her house, but she honestly felt really bad that Cobra Kai had ruined their demonstration. It seemed like Daniel LaRusso and johnny Lawrence were still trying to one-up each other after decades.

A Cobra Kai banner then dropped and lights started to strobe, making Alyssa's head snap back over to the main stage. The students all landed in formation on the stage, and even though her sad feelings about Miyagi-Do's ruined demonstration were still there, she couldn't help but grin at Eli and Miguel up there.

They performed multiple jab punches and kicks, and sparks flew up from the cannons on stage. Miguel and Eli then started to fight against other members of the dojo, and in the end, the two of them won. Alyssa let out a loud cheer for them. Afterwards, it was just Miguel fighting — obviously he had to be a main point for their own demonstration because he was the All Valley champion. Of course he won, too.

"Yeah, Miguel!" Alyssa yelled.

Miguel let out a small laugh of amazement from all the people cheering for him. Somehow, he managed to catch Alyssa's eyes in the audience. Miguel gave her a tiny wave, and Alyssa gave him a thumbs-up in response.

Aisha went next, and while blindfolded, she broke multiple wooden boards that her teammates were holding with punches and kicks. At the end, she pulled off her blindfold, smiling into the crowd.

And then it was Eli. He pointed at Demetri and gestured for him to come up to the stage. Demetri glanced down at Alyssa questioningly, but she merely pushed his shoulder, urging him forwards. Eli grabbed onto the back of Demetri's shirt and pulled him up onto the stage. He said nothing and shoved a wooden board into Demetri's stomach.

Demetri held it up, closing his eyes in anticipation. Alyssa held onto Moon's arm a little tighter as she watched Eli do a running head start. He placed his foot onto a basket another Cobra Kai member made with his hands and launched himself into the air. Eli spun himself around and kicked, breaking the board cleanly in half.

Alyssa's mouth fell open in shock. "Oh my God, he flew."

"They don't call him Hawk for nothing," Moon responded. She focused her attention up onto the stage, where Eli was grinning brightly under the stage lights. "Go Hawk!"

"Yeah." Alyssa's smile faltered for a moment. "I guess they don't."

Demetri returned to the crowd after staring at the broken board in amazement. The rest of the members of Cobra Kai then came up onto the stage, throwing t-shirts and towels with the Cobra Kai logo into the crowd. They went away, and all that was left on the stage was Sensei Lawrence himself and multiple slabs of concrete.

"Cobras, light it up," Sensei Lawrence ordered.

One Cobra Kai member poured some gasoline on the concrete while another used a small blowtorch to make it light up into flames. Sensei Lawrence stared down at the growing fire for a moment before winding his hand above his head and punching it down into the burning concrete. Alyssa gasped as the concrete broke apart from his punch, laying in a burning heap at the ground.

The crowd started their own chant of Cobra Kai while the members of the dojo joined Sensei Lawrence on stage. Alyssa should've been focusing on that demonstration like she had been for the past few minutes, but she couldn't help but sneak a glance over to the LaRusso auto booth that had been forgotten and still glowing orange.

She couldn't get herself to move past the Miyagi-Do presentation. Something about it seemed so . . . calm. It didn't scream strike first, strike hard, or no mercy. And for some reason, it seemed so her.

•─•°•❀•°•─•

eli moskowitz also known as hawk is the definition of this is me trying. in this essay I will

ANYWAYS

not me self projecting on ally by saying she loves the beach when I love the beach