𐙚˙ ༘ ⋆｡ ˚( DECODE ! )
❛ NEW FRIEND ❜
CHAPTER TWO !

"HERE YOU GO." Sam said with a warm smile as she handed Charlie a carton of apple juice. Charlie thanked her and placed it on her plate before the three girls strolled towards their table.

As they made their way, Charlie caught onto the glances directed at them. At least this time, it wasn't because of something she had done. Her gaze then fell upon Eli, who returned her smile. There was another unfamiliar boy sat with them, but Charlie decided to address that later.

Finally reaching their table, Moon greeted them with a bright smile. She handed Charlie her slice of apple pie, knowing it was her favorite.

"Oh my god, you guys. You see that guy over there who looks like he went down on a lawnmower? He's literally wearing the ugliest sweater I've ever seen." Yasmin chuckled, while Moon joined in, but Charlie just sighed. Moon wasn't usually one to comment in such a way.

"That's so wrong." Sam giggled, causing Charlie to glance at Eli. His face was now lowered and he was using his hand to cover his scar. Charlie's heart sank, realizing that he probably knew exactly what the girls were talking about.

"I actually think it's quite nice," Charlie spoke up, surprising her friends who gave her odd looks. Yasmin scoffed, "Oh, right. I forgot you come from that sort of friend group."

Charlie blinked away the sting of Yasmin's words. It frustrated her how easily Yasmin could affect her mood with just a few cutting remarks.

"Speaking of wrong, check out 'fug-lisha'. She looks like she ate a picnic table," Yasmin continued, prompting the girls to turn and observe. Charlie sighed once more. It was like Yasmin fed on insulting others to boost her own self-esteem.

Charlie glanced over at Sam and noticed her exchanging smiles with Alisha before Yasmin spoke again.

"So, I was thinking of going out after school. Maybe catch a movie, but the theaters will probably be packed. Maybe an outdoor cinema? You can come, if you want Charlie," Yasmin's tone changed, trying to provoke a reaction. She knew exactly how to push Charlie's buttons, and it was one of her favorite things to do. "Or maybe even a pool?"

"Sorry, I would love to, but I have dinner plans with my family," Sam interjected, causing Yasmin to give her a weird look —  it didn't seem like a valid reason to decline their invitation until Sam added, "And Kyler is joining us."

The three girls looked at Sam in shock, while Charlie asked, "How do you think that will go?"

Sam tilted her head to the side and clenched her teeth, "I'm hoping it goes smoothly, but you know how my dad is with boys." Charlie nodded in understanding, but her attention shifted as she noticed the boy she had seen earlier making his way towards their table.

She admired his confidence, considering the reactions people got when they tried to come over. It was as if their table had the plague but in a good way.

Charlie followed his gaze and it landed right on Sam, watching as the two silently stared at each other. Observing was one of her favourite things to do. 

But unfortunately, her 'friends' had a talent for ruining things.

Brucks plopped down on a chair, while Kyler and Ryan took their seats opposite. "What's up, ladies? Moon, I saw you cheering earlier."

"Hey Sam, looking beautiful," Kyler smiled, casually draping his arm over Sam's shoulder.

Ryan scooted his chair closer to Charlie, causing her to turn her gaze. She felt his hand on her shoulder and turned to see a smug smirk on his lips. Internally, she felt a wave of disgust, but she refrained from causing a scene. Instead, she shifted her attention to Miguel, who was walking away after Kyler laughed and sarcastically waved him off, "See you later, 'Rhea."

"Rhea?" Charlie perked up, curious about the name, "is that his name?"

Brucks shook his head with a chuckle, "Nah, we just call him that because he was buying it, and he got us caught."

"Yeah, and then we confronted him because whats this dudes problem, right?" Kyler chimed in, looking at Charlie as he explained the story. "But then some bum attacked us."

Charlie nodded, silently judging Kyler. She knew he wasn't telling the whole story. "What did this 'bum' look like?"

Ryan answered this time, staring into the distance as he tried to recall the details. "Blonde, scruffy. He was eating his pizza at the shop like some weirdo."

Charlie turned away, she knew it was Johnny. She's noticed his car wasn't there when she'd got home and the explanation matched him perfectly. Ryan noticed her though.

"What do you know him?" He asked.

She quickly sat up and instantly shook her head, trying to look clueless, "no, no. Just making sure who to avoid, that's all."

The boy looked at her funny but moved on. She let out a quiet breath and tried to ignore all the things going on in her head.

【☆】★【☆】

CHARLIE LOOKED DOWN AT THE LEAFLET JOHNNY HAD GIVEN HER, her eyes scanning the words carefully. She took a moment to confirm that she had arrived at the correct location, her attention then drawn to the Cobra Kai sign on one of the nearby shops. After a brief hesitation, she parked her bike and made her way towards it.

"You want all the girls to think you're a wang-less dork?" was all she heard as she entered the building, the ringing bell catching the attention of the two inside.

"I am, in fact, wang-less," she replied with a chuckle, her gaze falling upon the boy who had been sitting at her friend's table earlier. "It's you."

It was clear that he recognised her too because it was written all over his face. He began to walk over and extended his hand. "I'm Miguel."

"Charlie," she responded, a smile gracing her lips. Johnny quickly joined them, his excitement evident in his tone. "You came."

Charlie shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I didn't have anything better to do, and it beats being stuck at home."

Miguel stood there, puzzled, his gaze shifting between Johnny and Charlie. "Wait, you two know each other?"

"She's my daughter," Johnny proudly declared, crossing his arms. However, Miguel's confusion only deepened. "Daughter? You never mentioned having a daughter."

Charlie's eyebrows shot up, observing the silent exchange between Johnny and Miguel. He didn't want anything else jeopardizing his chances of reconnecting with his daughter. "It's not like that. We just hadn't gotten to that yet; it didn't come up."

But that wasn't what bothered her; it was Miguel. Now that he knew who she actually was, who her father was, he might blab about it at school and ruin her reputation.

"It's fine, now that you know. Let's just start, yeah?" she urged, eager to move past it. Johnny nodded in agreement and headed towards his practice dummy.

Miguel attempted to follow, but Charlie gently grabbed his arm, causing him to look down at her with confusion. "Look, nobody knows about my family, and I'd prefer to keep it that way, okay? I can't have anyone knowing that I live in Reseda."

She expected him to scoff or mock her, but instead, he quickly nodded, understanding her situation. "Of course," he replied, mimicking the action of zipping his lips. "I know nothing."

Charlie smiled gratefully at him before Johnny's voice interrupted their moment, "Are you two pansies just going to sit there and chat all day, or are we going to start some karate?"

Both teenagers rolled their eyes in unison before joining him. Throughout the day, they learned new skills and practiced on the dummy, occasionally sparring with each other. Charlie's previous training from her father gave her an advantage, and she defeated Miguel multiple times. However, there was no denying Miguel's talent, considering the short time he had spent learning.

【☆】★【☆】

"AND DO THAT ONE ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES." Charlie heard through her headphones as Miguel opened the door. The boy sighed as he bent down.

"'on your hands and knees'?" Charlie questioned, her gaze fixed on the mirror as she wiped it down, giving Miguel a puzzled look.

Miguel sighed, placing his cleaning supplies beside him. "He wants me to clean the toilet," he explained.

The girl gagged, inspecting the mirror in front of her more carefully to ensure there were no smudges left. "You know, when I thought he wanted us to learn karate, I didn't imagine cleaning toilets at night," Miguel grumbled, pinching his nose to stop the smell from clouding his nose. Charlie chuckled and nodded in agreement. "You and me both."

She smiled down at Miguel, but there was a burning question that was on her mind since arriving at the dojo. She hesitated before asking, "Did Eli or Demetri say anything about me earlier? I saw you sitting with them."

Miguel paused his cleaning and sat in a comfortable position. "Yeah, well, they mentioned your friends and how they weren't the nicest bunch, but they told me that you guys were close."

Charlie nodded, leaning against the sink. But something caught Miguel's attention, and he squinted at her. "You don't seem too happy about that."

"It's not that," she began, looking up at the ceiling as she searched for the right words. "I just can't stand being around them. Not Moon and Sam, they're... okay. But Yasmin and those dickheads—excuse my French—they're just awful."

Miguel laughed at her discomfort with swearing, she was nothing like Johnny in that regard. But he agreed, those boys were jerks. "Yeah, why do you hang out with them? They beat me up the other day."

Charlie looked at him in shock, raising her eyebrows. "Wait, they beat you up? I thought you just got them caught and Johnny assaulted them."

"No, I didn't know they were trying to buy alcohol, and they beat me up for it. They poured my yaya's pepto all over me, and Johnny beat them up for that," Miguel explained, before sighing, "And for touching his car and pushing him"

Charlie covered her face with her hands, groaning in frustration. Miguel looked at her sympathetically, understanding her distress. "I don't blame you for hanging out with them, and I don't think Eli or Demetri do either," he reassured her. "I think anyone would rather be liked than be bullied."

She nodded, trying to take in his words, but the guilt still lingered in the back of her mind. Before she could respond, the sound of the bell ringing interrupted their conversation.

Charlie and Miguel exchanged confused glances until Charlie recognized Daniel LaRusso's voice. "Oh, no."

Miguel moved to stand up, but Charlie stopped him. "Wait, wait. He can't know I'm here," she whispered urgently. Miguel nodded, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before leaving the bathroom.

Charlie listened as Daniel tried warning Miguel about what Johnny was like, then heard the bell ring once more. She left the bathroom, making her way back to the dojo.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, sensei. Should I do twenty push-ups on my knuckles?" Miguel asked, his voice directed at Johnny, who had his back turned, watching Daniel drive off. "Right, like you could."

Charlie shook her head at her father's remark, then patted Miguel's back. "I'm sure you could," she said, offering him a smile as they gathered their things to leave.

As Charlie glanced back at Johnny, who was still watching Daniel leave, she wondered how he would react if he knew she had been spending time with his daughter and at his house — there's another thing she had to stress over.

✧ • • 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 • • ✧ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

a long one!! i hate this but it'll have to do because i already wrote the whole thing then accidentally deleted it and had to rewrite it so this will be fine until i rewrite it properly.

i enjoy trying to add my readers thoughts into my fics so if there's anything you think will fit this story i would love to hear it and try add it in

please comment and vote!