Hawk looked over at his newly established girlfriend in the crowd and smirked.
Damn. Moon was everything that the teen wanted in middle school.
Sexy.
Rich.
Good lay.
Sexy.
So, why was he still looking around for another girl in the crowd?
Hawk couldn't describe the happiness he had felt when Olivia acknowledged his change and the talk in the car was exactly what the teen needed. He needed his friend to accept him, to acknowledge the changes that he had control over.
He also wanted his friend to acknowledge her own scars.
The absence of his friend left Hawk mildly upset and he could see Miguel making the same small glances throughout the crowd.
"Next up, Hawk versus Keene!"
He didn't have time to worry further.
...
Olivia slid in the back just as Hawk was starting his next match. Her dad was outside on the phone, talking to whoever didn't have a life about work stuff.
The smell of sweaty feet and latex wasn't a stranger, it was almost too familiar. Her first few competitions were in a gym, similar to this one.
Except there were no mats. And after Olivia fell on her elbow so hard you could see it, the council decided on investing in mats.
The brunette unconsciously rubbed her elbow in memory.
Looking around she noticed Demitri sitting with Moon and she felt her mood dampen. He didn't tell her she was going to be there.
It made sense, him supporting El-
Hawk.
But why wasn't she invited?
...
"Illegal contact! You're disqualified!"
Olivia looked at the fight with wide eyes. All she could hear was blood rushing and her heartbeat, the surrounding gasps and murmurs drowned out by invisible hands over her ears. All she could focus on was the body of Eli Moscowitz, her friend of two years, yelling in anger after he kicked his opponent.
Robby wasn't looking.
Robby wasn't looking.
Hawk kicked him.
Hawk kicked Robby while he wasn't looking.
Deep breath in, deep breath out.
"Olivia?" Edward put his hand on his daughters shoulder, noticing the sign of a panic attack. "In and out, sweetheart. That's it. Count the colors, name the... Name the colors, count the chairs."
'One...Two...three...in...out...in...out...in...'
"I-I'm alright, dad," Olivia replied shakily, trembling slightly. "J-just, the fighting has me..." She trailed off, unable to put a name to the emotion. Edward allowed her to have control of the situation and slowly sat down next to her, handing her a bottle of water from the concession.
Calming down, Olivia saw Miguel looking around and waved her hand up in the air to grab his attention. Making eye contact, the two grinned at each other and waved. Olivia gave her friend two thumbs up and made a heart with her hands. Miguel chuckled at her and gave a playful one back.
However playful it was, Hawk saw the interaction and got even angrier than before. He liked Miguel, he was a brother from Cobra Kai. But...there was a strange feeling in his stomach that he felt from looking at the heart exchange.
The blue-headed boy instead made eye contact with Moon, his girlfriend, and blew her a kiss. Immediately, the smiley girl launched her hand up, almost smacking Demitri with her elbow, so she could catch it. Smirking over to her he only could hope someone was watching.
...
Olivia was not watching. She was instead looking over at all the competition and having memories play in her head.
"We have Olivia Reynolds and Jack Stalkap for the semifinals."
"Winner, Olivia Reynolds!"
"Someone get the medic, he isn't waking up!"
"Will it be Miguel Diaz from Cobra Kai Karate?"
"Will it be Olivia Reynolds from Master Studios?"
"Will it be Robby Keene..."
"Will it be Justin Arrow from Art of the Crane Karate?"
"And Fight!
"Fight."
'God, I am so dramatic,' groaned Olivia in her head as she rubbed her eyes. The fight was rough to watch, Miguel's opponent was obviously injured after... Hawk kicked him illegally. If she was more cynical, she could say the boy basically ensured the win for Miguel.
And she was right.
...
The crowd's roars were insane, but all Olivia could do was feel regret at attending the tournament. Olivia and her dad left their seats during the uproar.
The drive home felt different.
...
Olivia sat on her bean bag chair and fiddled with the game controller. The TV wasn't on and she couldn't bring herself to turn it on, much less play anything.
Tree: hey, runescape?
Olivia looked down at the message and debated it. Her body felt like lead was sewn into her skin and her brain felt like it was stuck in mercury. The thought of moving was overwhelming, but the idea of getting online and playing her favorite game with her best friend was...
Hobbit: Ye, ye, join voice in a sec
The brunette forced herself out of the comfy chair and into the computer chair, logging on completely. After loading up, she hopped on voice chat where Demetri was waiting.
"Took you long enough," huffed Demetri. "I was getting worried that your house burnt down."
"Sometimes it gives me a headache just trying to think down to your level, Everest," commented Olivia as her eyes flickered to different points on the screen. "I still have yet to reach 99 smithing. Did you have anything in mind?"
"Was thinking about finding a goblin raid and doing a timed, but it'd be kind of difficult," the teen on the other end remarked. His character did a small flip on screen. Olivia responded with a surfing emote.
"Why? We could beat our record. You take the bottom, I do the center, and E-" cutting herself off, the brunette realized why the raid would be so difficult for time. Without their third, it was near impossible to clean out their best time. "Should we talk about that at all?"
"What's there to talk about? Our best friend going psychotic and almost breaking a kid's back? Or what about his weird angsty moments yelling at you," Demitri continued sarcastically, "or what about his new girlfriend?"
Olivia blinking in shock, "girlfriend?" Her character did the shock emote. "Since when, who, how?"
"Only a few days," he grumbled with a mouthful of popcorn. "Sometime after the party Eli and Moon hooked up. Pretty weird if you ask me."
"Why's that?"
"Hard to say. Moon just doesn't seem like his type."
Olivia nodded slowly, "sure, it's kind of weird he's dating a bully."
Demetri and Olivia walked their characters to the bank, continuing their conversation about their friend. Over time, it went from Eli to hair color choices to the best Star Trek series and finally ended on summer vacation.
Olivia looked at the clock and let out a curse.
"It's almost 2 am, Demi! The LA Cyber Patriot competition is tomorrow and I have to be there at 7 am."
"Well, whose fault is that, Liv? Log off and get some sleep," Her black eyed friend responded as he finished killing his last dragon. "I'll try to make it if I can?"
The brunette smiled, even though he couldn't see her, "of course! These things aren't really all that fun to watch, though. You don't have to be there, it's just a team of us sitting at a computer."
"And I also know you well enough that you'll hold it over my head until the day I die if you don't get to see my amazing face," Demetri responded sarcastically. "Honestly, I'm thinking of joining the team next year. Since Karate was a crap out, maybe fighting back digitally would be cool to learn."
Chuckling lightly, Olivia responded brightly, "Ooooh goodie, I'd love to kick your virtual ass."
With that the two friends logged off and went to sleep.
...
The LA Cyber Patriot competition was nowhere near as popular as the All Valley Karate tournament. Not when it was just a bunch of kids staring at a screen and talking huddled together in a game of virtual capture the flag. But last year, West Valley high took third place, something Olivia was hellbound to change this year.
Demetri came around noon for the lunch break and stayed to hear the results. He sat with Mr. Reynolds while Olivia sat with the other West Valley High Cyber team.
"Thank you to all teams who participated! Results will be posted on the website in seven to eight business days; please watch out for your respective scores. Awards will be mailed out once posted and..."
Olivia met up with her dad and Demetri outside the building "Like I said, boring."
The two exchanged fist bumps, and Demetri shrugged. "Not like I had anything else to do now that Eli is off sucking faces with a celestial body 24/7." Olivia's stomach dropped a little but snorted at the joke.
"Hey man, when Yasmine comes back from her bitch trip, maybe you too can learn Karate and bring the big bad bully to the light."
The taller of the two snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and I'll be making out with her in between classes senior year. Get real."
"Alright, you two, I'm thinkin' ice cream. Two-, no! Three scoops!" Edward came back and clapped both teens on the back, wincing and cringing away from the adult.
The three left the building and got ice cream, each of them getting different flavors and passing sarcastic remarks. The air was perfect.
Well, almost perfect.
They were short one.
...
A/N: I posted gifs of the game emotes because they're funny
Again, thank you so much for interacting with this story. I know it's not the best, but I hope it can provide a little entertainment 3