"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Demetri sighed as he looked to Eli and Alexa by his side. "This goes against everything I stand for. It's like extra gym class for no reason."

"Let's just give it a chance." Eli rocked on his heels slightly. "You saw the fight. Miguel kicked ass."

"Major ass." Alexa agreed with him.

Demetri went to say something before his shoulder was bumped into. The boy laughed. "Watch it, freak."

"I wasn't even moving." Demetri shook his head.

"What'd you say?" the boy asked, getting close to him with a glare. Demetri was silent, looking away. "That's what I thought, pussy."

Alexa didn't know why, why now, why all of a sudden. Maybe she was angry at Mr.Bryant after yesterday, or maybe she just was her fathers daughter. Alexas hand grabbed the boy, shoving his face into the mirror as he winced. "Don't you talk to him like that."

Eli and Demetri look in disbelief, their jaws on the floor.

"Get the hell off of me!" the boy tried to break free, Alexa pushed him harder into the mirror as a little crack formed on the glass. "Okay! Okay! Jesus!"

"Yes!" a new voice called, making Alexa let the boy go and turn toward the front. Sensei Lawrence pointed a finger at her. "What's your name, kid?"

Alexa looked nervous, pulling on her shirt slightly. "Alexa."

"You all see that?" Johnny looked around the room. "That's Cobra Kai material!"

Alexa never felt so validated in her entire life.

"Fall in, Alexa. Show the rest of these students what a real Cobra looks like." he nodded confidently. Alexa blinked, staring at him. "Sorry, Hello?"

"Fall- fall in where?" she asked, looking around slightly, expecting to see a hole possibly.

"That means line up." he nodded, making the class do so. Alexa found Demetri and Eli again, ignoring their gapping looks as they all started to get in a single fill line. "No, not-not line up in a line. Lines! Get in limes!"

Demetri rose his eyebrows. "You mean like rows?"

"Hiya!" Johnny called as they all were encouraged to throw a punch. "Hiya!"

Alexa tightened her fist, swinging forward, put it kept going to the side. Sensei Lawrence grasped her fist, holding it straight. "Forward."

He backed up, watching her do it again, nailing it. "Better, Alexa."

She liked how he used her name when everyone else had a hurtful one.

He continued on a few times, correcting the students before making his way to the front. "Hey, Lip!"

Eli looked over with a gentle stare. "Yeah, you. The one with the freaky lip. Who do you think i'm talking to?"

"Excuse me, uh, Mr.Lawrence." Demetri cut in, pulling on his pull over slightly.

"Sensei Lawrence!" Aisha corrected him from the front.

"Okay." Demetri gave a minor chuckle. "You really shouldn't make fun of someone physical appearance."

"Oh, is that so?" Johnny nodded his head. "So, i'm not suppose to mention his lip at all?"

Alexa looked over to Demetri, giving Eli a little encouraging nod. "Well, yeah."

"Maybe that's what they teach you in school, but in the real world, you can't expect people to do what they're suppose to do." Sensei Lawrence answered with a serious look, talking to everyone now. "You hear that, Lip? If you can't handle someone making fun of you, how are you gonna handle an elbow to the teeth?"

"By calling the police." Demetri mocked with a stupid look, Alexa sighed, slowly shutting her eyes.

"Dude. Knock it off." Miguel looked his way.

"What? He does realize the Nazis lost the war, right?" Demetri went on in annoyance. "Why should I be scared of him? Because he's got a snake on his wall? It's not like he's a teacher who can give us a bad grade. We're paying him. He works for us. It's not like he can actually hurt us."

Alexa held her breath as Johnny walked closer to Demetri, nodding his head. "Are you done?"

The group backed up slightly, Miguel encouraged Alexa and Eli to do so too. Demetri looked weary. "What?"

"Hit me." Johnny encouraged. Alexa linked her arm with Eli's, watching in panic. "Go ahead, hit me. Strike me right here."

Demetri sighed, holding his fist out as he swung it forward. Johnny knocked it out of the way with ease. "Harder."

Demetri adjusted his stance, pulling his shirt slightly as he swung again. Johnny slapped his wrist once again, getting a wince. "Is that all you've got, Princess?"

Alexa looked to Miguel hopefully as he gave her a guilt look in return. Demetri tried one final time, Johnny catching his arm and flipping him over on his mat. Alexa winced with the rest of the class as Demetri grunted in pain on the mat. Johnny looked around with a knowing point. "Let that be a lesson to all of you."

"Yeah, but, Meat, come on." Alexa tried as the three sat in Eli's basement, Demetri claiming his hip was out of place and his spine had broke. "Don't you want to learn to defend yourself?"

"You think that's defending myself?" he laid on her leg, an ice pack on his back. "I'm good, Lex."

Alexa sighed. "Demetri, I really need to do this. You do too."

"You wanna get beat up too?" he asked in disbelief, getting a huff. "That is not up my alley way. Hardest pass in the history of passes."

Alexa sighed, rubbing his head as she threw her head back. Eli looked hesitant. "I'll go with you again, Lex."

"Are you crazy? So both of you get killed and i'm left all alone?" Demetri looked in disbelief.

Alexa met his eye hopefully. "Really, Eli?"

"Well, I don't want you to go by yourself." he reddened slightly, messing with his thumbs. "Just one more day, right?"

Her face lit up, grinning. "Okay, yay!"

Her hands came back down, hitting Demetri in the back as her cried out. "Oh! Oh my god! So, so, so sorry, love."

"Okay, everyone, fall in." Johnny walked from his office, looking around at the small class. "Where is everyone? Crater face? Nose ring? Slingshot? Alexa?"

She cleared her throat, leaning to the side as he gave a point. "There you are. Can't see you over the bull infront of you."

"The rest quit, Sensei." Migeul swayed on his feet slightly.

"Are you serious?" he looked in disbelief, blinking when he realized everyone was staring. "I mean, good. That was a test. I wanted to see who the quitters are. Not you guys. You're in it to win it, right? You could be home playing your iComputers, playing your video games, eating candy. Instead, you're here, doing push-ups, learning how to fight."

He looked over the crowd before his eyes fell to Eli next to Alexa. "Lip. Look. Even Lip's tougher then those guys. He's no quitter."

"Could you please not call me that?" Eli spoke up his way.

Johnny looked over in disbelief. "Excuse me, what?"

"Could you please not call me that." Eli repeated himself, a little louder. Alexa cracked a minor grin, nodding her head.

"Um, I'll warm 'em up, Sensei." Miguel tried to cut in.

"No, Lip has something he wants to say." Johnny waved him off, walking into the mat. "Sorry, speak up, Lip. Or is your tongue messed up too? Are you one of those challenged kids?"

He hesitated. "Um, the doctor said I could be on the spectrum."

"I don't know what that is, but get off it pronto. All right? If you don't want me to call you 'Lip', don't have a weird lip. Can't you get surgery?"

"I was born with a clef lip. This is the scar from the surgery." he said honestly, Alexa could see his eyelashes from the few feet away, fluttering as if they were going to help him fly away.

"You mean it was worse before that? Or did the doctor just screw up?" Jonny asked, keeping his eyes locked on the scar. Alexa looked to Miguel in disbelief. "Because if this is the after photo, that sucks, man. You should sue."

"Can we just please change the topic?" Eli asked in a begging manor.

"You don't think I want to? It's right in front of me." Johnny argued, as if Eli had been in the wrong here. "You wanna be something other than a nerd with a scar on his lip, you gotta flip the script. Get a face tattoo or gouge your eye out. We'll call you 'patch', all right? No, don't do that one. You'll still look like a freak."

Eli's eyes watered, storming off the mat and toward the back. Alexa watched him go in worry, wanting to follow, but was frozen. Johnny looked in disbelief. "Oh, great, really? Another quitter?"

He turned to Alexa, yanking her glasses off her face. "Hey! I have bad vision."

Johnny crushed her rims in his hand. "Good. You think you're gonna be able to see when someone throws something in your eye, mid fight? Your little nerd glasses go flying off? You need to learn to get through life without them."

•

kylie speaks

*sigh* rip sweet baby
gentle nerdy alexa.