A/N: I own nothing you recognize. Just having fun.
A/U: Johnny and Shannon have two children. Robby and Laura.
A/N: Special thanks to Gryfindor20 for the chapter idea! I hope i did your idea justice!
Hawk looked at his phone for probably the thousandth time that day. He wasn't sure why. He didn't really expect Laura to answer his text but that didn't keep him from hoping that she would. He scrolled up through their texts. Pictures, jokes, good mornings, good nights, their entire relationship in reverse. He stopped on one picture. His favorite. Taken in Accounting, she was looking over at him and smiling. It was that smile, the one that saw through all the Cobra Kai, Hawk, bravado bullshit and was still happy to see him. She saw him. And he'd ruined it. That smile wasn't his anymore.
He shoved his phone in his pocket and tapped the table nervously. He still had a final left, or he'd leave. He'd let his grades slip the last few weeks and he had to ace his finals, or he was going to lose his dual-enrollment spot at UCLA for the summer or he'd blow them off regardless.
Mac saw Hawk checking his phone again and smiled sympathetically. "It's okay, Hawk. Robby texted me earlier that everything had gone well, and my mom texted me that she was awake and talking. I'm sure she'll text when she's more awake. Robby has her phone, so she doesn't accidentally loopy dial someone."
He nodded. Robby. Well, that explained it. Her brother hated him, with good reason, but that didn't make it any easier to swallow. If Ryan was right, Robby hating him would lead to Laura hating him.
He messed up. He knew that. Laura didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve anything that had been going on in her life. How had he missed something so big? How had they all? Maybe he'd go see her after class. Maybe if he talked to Sensei, he'd let him come in to see her like he had for everyone the morning after she'd woken up. It was a long shot. So far, other than that one time, only Mac and Ryan had been allowed to see her in ICU. Mac's mother was her doctor and Ryan is family.
He had to see her, to see for himself that she was doing better. Maybe Mac was right, and she just couldn't text, but he still needed to see her. He had to.
He shoved his tray away and started to stand up when Counselor Blatt called for everyone's attention. Great. Another 'be nice to everyone this summer' lecture. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his tray, hoping to slip out before she got started.
Unfortunately, one of the side effects of his flipping the script was that he was no longer invisible, which was great unless you were trying to sneak out of a lecture.
"Please have a seat, Mr. Moskowitz," Counselor Blatt called out. "This won't take but a minute."
He dropped his tray and sat back down, folding his arms across his chest.
"Yeah, sit down, Mr. Moskowitz," Kyler mimicked from the table behind them. He shut up and looked down when both Hawk and Miguel turned around in their seats to glare at him.
"Pussy," Hawk muttered.
"Ignore them," Miguel replied.
"Now, students, we just wanted to make sure that you all know that even though this is your last day of classes, there will be teachers and counselors available for the next two weeks, here at the school, if anyone needs someone to talk to," Counselor Blatt said.
"Oh, God," Yasmin groaned, rolling her eyes. "This is about the little Reseda slut again. It's not our fault she got herself in a mess. We shouldn't all have to listen to this. How do we know she's even that hurt? I bet she's faking to get out of class."
"Chill. Who cares what they think?" Miguel asked putting a hand over Hawk's clenched fist. "Yasmin's just still sore over the party at the canyon."
"Yeah," he agreed reluctantly.
"Besides, how do we know she's even telling the truth about what happened to her? I heard that her brother is some kind of white trash drug dealer. She probably got herself in trouble with that," Yasmin continued.
"He is," Kyler supplied. "He sells Molly up in North Hills. You know him. You flirt with him enough. The dude with the long brown hair. Looks like some nineties kid reject."
"Oh, that guy is her brother?
"Yeah," Kyler nodded. "I've seen them together. Her Dad is that loser who runs that dumbass karate dojo on Venture."
"You mean my dojo?" Miguel said, looking over his shoulder.
Kyler quickly shut up and looked down.
"That's what I thought," Miguel muttered.
"Whatever," Rory scoffed. "Those North Hills kids are just trash. They're worse than the Reseda kids."
"Shut up!" Hawk spun around and kicked Rory's chair.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Moskowitz?" Counselor Blatt stopped her lecture to ask.
"Yeah," he snapped, getting to his feet. "You suck! That's the problem!"
Counselor Blatt looked as though she'd been slapped. She opened her mouth to speak but Hawk plowed on.
"You give these big speeches about some anonymous kid who is being bullied and how we should be kind and inclusive, then you go back to your office and pat yourself on the back, thinking you've done a great thing when really you've just made that person's life worse."
"All my examples are anonymous."
"Really?!" Hawk exploded again. "Because when you talk about bullying and say a student was crying because 'he' was being teased about 'his' facial deformities, everyone knows that I am the only 'he' in the whole school with facial deformities when Kyler was spreading rumors about Sam, you gave a talk about not slut-shaming and included sex acts in a movie theatre. When all you had to do was tell Kyler to quit spreading rumors and being a dick. Cyberbullying, you called out Aisha and Andy for weight issues. With safe sex, you practically told everyone that Savannah is pregnant, but you didn't call out Brucks for knocking her up. Just do everyone a favor and shut up. You don't need to tell everyone what happened to make the point that you'll be here to 'talk'. It's not like anyone is going to talk to you anyway. You're still too busy trying to be a popular kid to be a good counselor. You're in…, you're like the old, weird guy who hangs out at teenage parties, who thinks he's so cool but doesn't realize everyone is using him and laughing at him so just STOP!"
The cafeteria was silent, and Hawk was suddenly aware of everyone staring at him. Great. He'd made himself the Freak. Again.
He grabbed his backpack, "I'm out of here," he muttered to Miguel.
"Damn, Spaz. That was harsh," Rory laughed, breaking the silence. "Especially for some Reseda slut."
Hawk reacted before he had time to think, punching Rory in the mouth. "You can shut up too."
"Eli!" Counselor Blatt had found her voice. "Go to the Principal's office. NOW!"
"Before he could argue, he felt a hand on his arm.
"Come on, Eli," Mr. Branch, his accounting teacher, was trying to lead him between the tables.
"Come on, that's it," Mr. Branch mumbled, trying to deescalate the situation. "Kyler, take your friend to the nurse."
Hawk let himself be pulled into the hallway before he pulled away.
"Let me go," he snapped.
"Do you want to go to the office and be expelled?" Mr. Branch asked. "I mean, you've got two hours left in your junior year. I think you can make it if you stop with the attitude and hear me out. Do you want to make it?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Is that a question?" Mr. Branch asked.
"No, sir. I don't want to be expelled. I really, really don't want that," he replied. "But she's completely deluded if she thinks anything that she says helps anyone. If she wants to help, then why not tell Kyler and his moron crew to shut up about things that they don't know shit about?"
"For what it's worth, I agree. Making them shut it would be more effective overall than telling you to shut up. But we both know she isn't going to do that, so we have to work with what we get," Branch shrugged as they walked toward his classroom. Once inside, he shut the door behind them. "How is Laura?"
"I don't know. Only family is allowed to see her. Mac said her brother text her saying Laura is okay. I just…," he shook his head.
"Why don't you go see her?" Mr. Branch suggested. "At least go to the hospital and talk to her dad. He's your karate teacher, right?"
"Yeah, but I still have my English final."
"You also have detention. Go see her for yourself. I'll talk to your teacher and get her to allow me to give your test in detention," Mr. Branch replied. "I can make it seem like a better idea for you not to spend the next hour in a room with Kyler.
"Why would you do that?" Hawk asked suspiciously.
"You need to cool down before you blow up and you won't do that here. It's easier to stop the fight before it starts than try to jump in the middle. And you aren't the first outcast to get some popularity and let it go to their head. Now get out of here before I change my mind," Mr. Branch replied. "Be back at three for detention or you'll regret it."
"Yes, sir." Hawk didn't have to be told twice.