╔.𖥸. .════════════════╗

𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬

chapter thirty-five
should've gone to the
beach

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THE BEACH WOULD'VE been better in Alyssa's opinion.

However, she settled for the waterpark. She guessed she would be happy lounging underneath the sun on a warm day by any body of water, but she wished that the concrete was sand. Whatever.

Clad in a matching white bikini with pink stars on it — to match her hair, of course — she was sprawled out on a lounge chair underneath the shining sun with Sam, Moon, and Yasmine. The sounds of children's laughter and water splashing echoed from all around her, but she tried her best to ignore that.

"Ew, Anthony, can you not stare at my friends?" Sam complained.

Alyssa opened her eyes. Sure enough, standing there with his eyes wide, was none other than Anthony. Now, her and Anthony weren't close or anything, but considering Alyssa was over Sam's house a lot, they at least had a bond. One that could resemble brother and sister.

"No, no, no, I wasn't, um, uh, staring," Anthony stammered.

He then awkwardly smiled and walked off.

"Yeah, sure, kid," Alyssa called after him.

"Shut up, Ally," Anthony responded, making her laugh.

"He's starting high school in the fall, right?" Yasmine asked. "Let's torture him. Tell him later I asked if he's been working out."

"Ew," Sam said, looking up from her book. "You guys are so gross, and I want no part of this."

"So, Sam, how's the whole Eat, Pray, Love journey going?" Moon questioned.

"It's actually been better than I expected," Sam answered. It was true — Alyssa had noticed was Sam more content than she had ever seen her. "It's been kind of nice to just focus on myself without all the karate or relationship drama."

"Lys!"

Alyssa felt a smile creep onto her face. Ah, there he was. Her boy.

She sat up, but her eyes widened in panic once she noticed who was walking next to Eli, and she frantically turned to Sam. "Fuck. I'm so sorry, Sammy, I forgot to tell you they were coming."

"It's fine," Sam reassured her. "Really."

"You sure? 'Cause I can tell him that he's being annoying and to leave me alone for a couple of hours. Usually works like a charm."

"No, Ally, seriously. I mean, this is gonna happen, and it's all right. I mean, Miguel and I are still friends. And don't say that to Hawk, you know he'll get that sad look on his face like someone just kicked his puppy."

"Hey, you," Eli stated, now close enough and going to the empty chair between Alyssa and Yasmine.

Alyssa grinned up at him. "Hey, baby."

Eli sat down on the chair. He immediately leaned over and greeted her with a kiss. Alyssa indulged in it for a long moment before pulling back, feeling like she was fucking flying — as she always did with Eli.

"Um . . ." Miguel began, and Alyssa broke out of her lavender haze to see Miguel standing awkwardly by Sam since the only open seat was next to her. "Uh, hey, how you doing, Sam?"

"Hey," Sam replied. "I'm, uh, yeah. I mean, I'm . . . I'm good. Good. And how about you?"

"I'm cool. I'm good. Yeah."

Alyssa winced and shared a pained look with Eli. This was an absolute wreck.

Miguel pointed to the empty chair. "Uh, is anyone . . ."

"Yeah," Sam let out. "I mean — I mean, no, but . . . I — yeah, you can . . . you can go ahead."

"All right."

"Sure, it's . . ." Sam trailed off as Miguel sat in the chair rather stiffly.

"Am I alive?" Yasmine inquired. "Or did I die of embarrassment and this is my hell?"

Watching the two of them act like this physically hurt. Deciding to leave the atmosphere silent so none of that had to happen anymore, Alyssa pulled out her earbuds from her bag. She plugged them into her phone and put them in her ears, instantly shuffling her summer playlist but keeping the volume low enough. Alyssa then felt a poke on the bare skin of her stomach, and she squirmed a bit to the side, only to see Eli laughing at her. She rolled her eyes — fondly — and turned to him.

"What?" she voiced.

"What're you listening to?" Eli asked.

"Only the classics."

She took out her right earbud and offered it to him. Eli took it and put it in his ear, instantly groaning when he heard the familiar song issuing from her phone.

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together is not a classic," Eli protested.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say that," Alyssa said. "You wanna shut up and listen or are you going to keep complaining?"

That did the trick. Alyssa shut her eyes, and Eli did too. Neither of them said anything, just listening to the songs on Alyssa's playlist through the shared earbuds.

Suddenly, after a couple songs, there came the sound of commotion — a familiar voice yelling at them to let him go, and a bunch of laughter. Alyssa opened her eyes back up, only to feel a surge of annoyance go through her.

"Oh, God damn it," Eli commented.

Kyler, Kenny, and some others from Cobra Kai had stacked a bunch of tubes on top of Anthony. Kenny then swung his leg out and kicked Anthony right into the pool. Immediately, the stack of tubes flew off of him, and he was left floating in one.

Eli looked over at Alyssa.

She sighed. "Sure, I'll go with you."

Alyssa pulled the earbuds out of both of their ears and left them in a heap on her chair. She trailed behind Eli, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked at Kenny, who was giving a bro-hug to Kyler (ew.) However, a sense of understanding came to her as she looked at him. A nice kid turning into a bully because of the venom of Cobra Kai. Where had she seen that one before?"

"What the hell was that?" Eli demanded.

"Aye, that's none of your business," Kyler responded, pushing on Eli's chest gently.

Eli slapped his hand away. "I'm making it my business."

"Oh, hey, Kyler, Kyler," Kenny interjected. "Maybe he needs another haircut to remember who he's talking to."

"You wanna take on the champ, kid?"

"Dude, you're only the champ because Diaz got hurt. Robby won as many fights as you did."

"Yeah, but one of those was against you," Eli insisted. "And that wasn't much of a fight, now was it?"

Alyssa recognized the fire in Kenny's eyes, the way his face contorted in a scowl. She had seen it from her boyfriend a multitude of times.

"Aw, come on, now," Kyler said. "You really gonna take that from him? From Lip?"

"Okay, enough," Alyssa interrupted swiftly, stepping in between Eli and Kenny and pushing them away from each other. "Kyler, how many times do I have to tell you to fuck off before it actually sticks? Kenny—"

"Back off, Bubblegum," Tory announced, stepping in between her and Kenny.

Alyssa crossed her arms, her shoulder blade pressing into Eli's side, just like it did that night at Sam's house. "Oh, I see you're still stuck on that clever nickname. But I was actually stopping the argument, so maybe you should tell your friends who kicked Anthony into the pool to back off."

"Hey, stay out of this," Eli agreed.

"Oh, what's the matter?" Kenny taunted. "You scared I'm right? Champ."

Kenny then looked right at Alyssa, and oh, get this — he fucking winked at her. Alyssa recognized the anger in her veins, and how she felt it seep into the warmth on her skin. It was the same one she got whenever she would see Hawk and his stupid red mohawk. Kenny was being manipulated, just as Eli had been.

"Hey, enough," Tory told him. "Unless you wanna get your ass kicked, I suggest you stay on your side of the park. Away from us."

"Hey, yo, champ!" a younger voice then called.

Alyssa looked over. It was a little kid, smiling brightly and staring right at Eli. He then flexed his arms, showing off his muscles. She grinned a little at it and turned back to Eli, watching as his face softened.

"All right," Eli said. "You guys stay on your side, we don't have a problem. We have better rides on our side anyway."

He then put his arm around Alyssa's shoulders, and the two of them walked away. Alyssa couldn't stop her mind from spinning, though. Eli had been Kenny. He knew the ins and outs of Cobra Kai.

"I want him to leave," Alyssa admitted. "Cobra Kai . . . Silver's doing a number on him, E. He's reminding me of you when you were insufferable."

Eli pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Maybe he'll find a way out. He might have an anchor, like what you are to me."

She let out a deep breath. "I just want one day, one day, where Cobra Kai doesn't ruin everything. Like, how are we at the same waterpark on the same day? Is this a cruel way of the fates? What could possibly make this better?"

Eli smirked at her. "We could kiss."

Alyssa gave him a look. "Yeah. Let's make out. That'll definitely solve all of our karate issues. Great idea, E."

"Are you saying that it isn't a great idea?"

"You've reached your limit on talking for today." Alyssa settled back on her chair and put one earbud in her ear, offering the other to Eli. "You still want to listen, or no?"

Eli took the earbud from her. They laid back down and shut their eyes, listening to Sue Me. It was after a couple of songs, when they were on Girlfriend, where Alyssa started to notice that Eli's eyes were on her.

Alyssa kept her eyes closed. "I can feel you staring at me, you know."

Eli chuckled from next to her. "And what about it?"

Alyssa opened one eye to see him smirking slightly at her, and she rolled over on her side, properly looking at him. "Now how am I supposed to concentrate with you doing that?"

"I think that's the entire point, Lys."

She giggled a little. "I see." Alyssa leaned over and kissed his nose quickly, which was getting a little red under the sun. "I like your bathing suit, by the way."

"I like yours, too," Eli replied. "It matches your hair."

Her smile widened. "That was exactly the look I was looking for. Thank you for noticing."

He shrugged. "I notice a lot with you."

That was incredibly endearing. She wanted nothing more than to kiss him for that, but there suddenly came the sounds of shouting. Alyssa looked up, only to see in the same spot where they had encountered Cobra Kai not too long ago, members of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang were arguing with Cobra Kai. It started to get heated with shoving and shit. She rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time today and removed her earbuds from her and Eli.

Alyssa wished she was at the beach.

"Are you kidding me with this bullshit again?" Eli complained. "And there's Keene." He looked over at Miguel. "I thought you said he wasn't in Cobra Kai anymore."

"It's what Sensei told me," Miguel insisted.

Eli stared at the argument for a moment. "Come on."

Alyssa sighed, allowing Eli to take her hand to pull her up. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Her and Eli went up to the fight, Miguel trailing behind them. Alyssa walked right into Tory's line of vision, and she felt a sense of dread go through her. These hair jokes and getting called Bubblegum was getting old. Just because she dyed her hair didn't mean she was any weaker than before.

The lifeguard then blew his whistle. "Stop it. All of you. Or you're all getting kicked out."

"Okay, clearly we can't coexist in peace, so let's find a solution," Miguel stated.

"Well, we can't fight, we'll get kicked out," Mitch responded. "So what are we supposed to do?"

Robby looked at Tory. "We need to go."

"No," Tory protested.

"How about a race?" Bert suggested.

Instantly, all of them looked up. Above them were the two blue racing slides.

Alyssa's eyes widened and she patted Bert's shoulder. "I knew you were my kid. What a good idea."

"Yeah, I'll go," Eli offered.

Tory stepped up. "So will I."

"All right, champ versus champ," Kyler announced.

"Whoever wins gets the park," Tory added.

Eli glanced back at Alyssa, their hands still intertwined. "Deal. But you won't win." He gripped onto Alyssa's hand a little tighter, tugging her in the direction of the stairs to the slide. "Cheer me on, will you?"

"Obviously," Alyssa said. She stopped by the pool where the slides emptied out onto, Miguel falling into place with her. "You got it, E." She rapped her knuckles over her chest, right where her heart was — just like they did back at the All Valley. "Have fun."

Eli took her face in her hands and pressed his lips onto hers. Alyssa kissed him back, and they both pulled away at the same time. Eli let her go and walked in the direction of the stairs with Tory and Kenny, who was there for whatever reason.

"Y'all ready for this?" Kyler shouted, standing on the little path of concrete in the middle of the pool. "This is to decide the champion of all champions."

Alyssa stared up at the top of the water slide, her eyes squinting through the sun. "I don't really have a good feeling about this if I'm being honest, Miguel."

"It'll be fine, Als," Miguel reassured her.

She wished she believed him.

"Three, two, one," Kyler counted down. "Let's go!"

The next few seconds felt like an absolute eternity. Alyssa kept her eyes trained on the slides, her heart racing against her chest. It wasn't until Tory came out first, raising her arms up in victory, that she deflated.

Well, fuck.

Eli then exited a couple seconds later, but something was clearly wrong. His tube looked completely deflated, unlike Tory's full one.

"What the hell?" Eli demanded. "You guys cheated. There was a hole in my tube! Cheaters!"

At once, all of the Miyagi-Do's and Eagle Fang's, besides Miguel and Alyssa, started to point at the Cobra Kai side and shout cheaters at them over and over again.

"Oh, shit, here we go," Alyssa muttered.

Eli got out of the pool and tossed his deflated tube down, staring right at Kenny. "Dipshit. I know this was you."

"What are you gonna do about it?" Kenny questioned.

Eli scoffed, a smirk on his face. "I'm not gonna strike first if that's what you think. You don't have the balls to anyway."

Kenny then turned back for a second, seemingly walking away, before he swung back around and threw a punch at Eli, who easily dodged it.

"Oh, fuck," Alyssa let out.

She instantly started to run to the other side of the pool, Miguel right behind her.

"Is that all you got?" Eli taunted, which was definitely not helping anything.

Alyssa did her best not to slip and fall as she ran around the pool. The fight was getting worse — Eli had blocked all of Kenny's advancements until he punched him in the face. Kenny had lifted up his leg to kick, but Eli caught it and sent his hand right down at the back of Kenny's kneecap just as Alyssa reached him. Alyssa put her hand on Eli's shoulder.

"Eli, stop!" Alyssa exclaimed. "Just leave it, they're not worth—"

She was suddenly cut off by two hands being placed on her shoulders and pushing her backwards. Alyssa let out a small shriek as her feet left the concrete and she fell backwards into the pool, her arms flailing a little. The slightly cold water shocked her once it hit her skin, and her entire body became submerged, her pink hair floating around her.

Alyssa planted her feet on the bottom of the pool and pushed herself to the surface, taking a deep breath of air once she emerged. She looked back up, only to see that Eli had shoved Robby backwards.

"You pushed my girlfriend into the pool?" Eli demanded. "She had nothing to do with this!"

"But it got you to let Kenny go, didn't it?" Robby countered. He looked down at Alyssa in the pool, who was holding onto the edge of the concrete so the water stream from the slide wouldn't push her away. "Sorry, Ally."

Eli got dangerously close to Robby's face. "If you ever lay a hand on her again, God so help me—"

Miguel then appeared, pushing Robby backwards and taking Eli's old position of being right in Robby's face. "Hey! Watch yourself."

Robby stared up at Miguel. "You wanna go?"

The lifeguard then sprinted up, blowing his whistle. "Hey!" He got in between Miguel and Robby. "Everybody get out and leave the park immediately. I mean it, everybody out now!"

Eli looked down at Alyssa and extended her his hand. "You okay?"

Alyssa took it and used it to pull herself out of the pool, pushing her hand against the concrete as well. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Eli let go of her hand and put his arm around her waist instead, holding her close to him as he sent a look of hatred to Robby. Alyssa sighed and started to wring out her hair of the chlorinated water as they walked back to their chairs. She glanced back at Robby, who had an apologetic look on his face, but she didn't care right now.

Moon frowned up at her dripping wet figure once they got closer. "Oh, sweetheart."

"It's been a day," Alyssa replied. "We should've gone to the beach."

She wrapped her towel around herself and grabbed her bag. Her, Eli, Miguel, Moon, and Yasmine all started to walk in the direction of Alyssa's car — Eli and Miguel had gotten a ride from Ms. Diaz earlier, but Alyssa was more than happy to drive them back. Sam, however, wasn't with them. Apparently, she had gone home already with Anthony.

"Hey, do you guys know where Sam went?" Miguel inquired.

"Oh, she split on her own," Moon answered. "She didn't want anything to do with all this drama."

"Yeah, neither did I." His eyes then focused on something, and Alyssa followed his gaze to see him staring at Robby. "Uh, go ahead. I'll catch up."

"I'm giving you five minutes or I'm leaving you here," Alyssa told him — joking, obviously. "Make smart decisions, Miguel."

He started to walk away. "My decisions are always smart."

"You and I both know that's not true, considering you fled to Mexico without telling anyone." She let out a deep breath before shaking her head, walking in the direction of where her car was parked. "He definitely had some nerve saying that."

"Hey, Ally, you wanna come with us to the mall tomorrow?" Moon asked. "Sam said she might be busy, but I need new crystals and Yasmine needs a dress."

"Oh, sure," Alyssa answered. "I need some new leggings, anyway."

Eli gasped excitedly. "Really?" He then smiled wide. "Yes."

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "You're such a boy."

"It's not my fault you look incredibly hot in leggings."

"Please be quiet."

•─•°•❀•°•─•

I still have not moved on from saturday. seeing taylor swift live was literally life changing and I will never recover