Olivia jumped down from the trunk bed, and her boots crunched over the leaves.
"What is this place, dad?" asked the brunette as she pulled on her backpack. "Have you been here before?" Edward shook his head.
"Nah, Johnny said he used to come out here with his friends. Locals call it Coyote Creek or something like that." Ed walked around the truck, a small map in his hands, and showed his daughter the plan. "Alright, so here's the stench, kid. We're going to walk together until we reach this divide, then we'll split at this fork and spend an hour on our own with nature."
This was her mother's creation. Every summer, the three would go to a national park or forest or wherever tons of trees and take a hike. Sarah was always big on nature and staying in the woods, demanding camping trips in all types of weather. For half of the time, they'd stick together and joke around. But when Olivia hit 8, she introduced the "Hour with God."
They'd each get a walkie-talkie and take off in opposite directions, taking time to enjoy nature and being alone. Olivia would never know, but mom never let her be by herself until 11 years old. The mom was always following her little girl silently but far enough to allow her space.
But this time, Olivia would be truly alone with nature.
Edward Reynolds had decided that they could do with an old tradition with all of the stress that was on him and his daughter. So, he took a week off work and turned off his work cell. No distractions, just him and his daughter and the memories of the late Sarah Reynolds.
Olivia nodded as she took the walkie-talkie and small map handed to her. "Make sure you're on channel eight and leave the volume on the lowest setting, just in case I need you to come to save me."
The young girl chuckled slightly and nudged her dad with her shoulder, "Alright, old man, you got your water bottle?" Edward showed his Nalgene to his daughter, "yes, daughter."
They began through the trail, "isn't it kind of weird that we call parents by their titles, but they don't call their kids 'daughter' or 'son'?" Olivia kicked a rock to her dad.
"Hey, you know what's really been messing me up since we watched that Cars movie?" asked Edward, kicking the rock back. "Why are there sidewalks?"
Olivia's eyes widened, "Oh my God."
"Right?" Cried out the older Reynolds, shifting his small backpack. "So, I did some research cause, y'know," he pushed the bridge of his glasses up on his nose and pointed at himself, "nerd and all." Olivia snorted. "But there's this thing called The Pixar Theory!"
Olivia and her dad spent the next 90 minutes talking about Pixar and Game of Thrones. They got distracted once or twice by random animals walking past. Eventually, the two got to the fork in the path, and Olivia felt a knot forming in her chest.
She didn't want to be alone in the woods.
Not after...
Shaking her head, she returned her dad's smile and showed him the channel she was on. After a small hug, the two split off into different directions. Olivia was confident that she'd be fine in her compass and map skills. Still, as she continued to walk deeper into the forest, she couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Olivia tried to relax, listening to the birds and the creatures stirring about. She focussed on the sound of her breathing, then on the crunch of leaves her boots made as she walked forward. Then Olivia concentrated on the second-.
The brunette turned around sharply as she heard the extra footsteps behind her. Her heart sank.
"Hey there, princess."
...
As the group of kids got into their cars and rides to leave, Hawk noticed the familiar truck now parked. Smirking, he remembered the Reynolds' little tradition and decided to take advantage of it.
He told his two minions the plan, and the three walked together into the forest, hunting for their prey.
...
"Hey there, princess," Hawk sneered as he walked closer, his two buddies close behind. The three made up a triangle formation.
"Hey there, girls."
"What's going on?"
"What's going on?"
The spiky-haired boy thrust his hands in his pockets and smirked her way. Olivia's hand clenched the strap by her heart, next to where the walkie-talkie was clipped.
"Leave me alone, pigeon brain," bit Olivia as she cautiously took in her surroundings. She was far enough from her dad that she wasn't sure if she'd be able to outrun the three teens. Maybe the brunette should join a gym and start working on her endurance again. "I'm about to meet my dad in a few meters."
Hawk rolled his eyes and took a step closer, "What's the rush, Reynolds? We just want to...talk to you." Olivia's heartbeat picked up as the memory of three years ago picked up full force
"What's the rush, ladies? We just wanted to talk to you..."
Olivia took a step back and looked ahead with fear in her eyes. Hawk relished in the fear and barked out a laugh. "Look at that, boys. Bitches bark is worse than her bite." Cracking his neck, he took another step forward. She took a step back.
He took a few more steps forward and stopped. The gang leader looked around the forest and made eye contact once again. "Why don't you show us what those pretty legs can do, huh?"
With another step forward, he let out a nasty smirk as he leaned close to her, "run." He whispered.
And Olivia bolted.
She shoved her legs forward to run as fast as they could through the trees, listening to the cries of laughter and the crunch of leaves behind her.
"Nowhere to hide, nerd!"
Olivia kept her breathing controlled, imagining the run for her life as just a typical run in her neighborhood back home. There was no mohawk maniac running after her.
Eli Moscowitz was back home, waiting for her and Demitri to log on Discord.
Eli Moscowitz was not behind her; he was playing Castle Crushers with Demitri.
Eli Moscowitz was not behind her; he did not know Karate.
Eli Moscowitz was not behind her.
But Hawk was.
The red and black teen caught up to the girl and shoved the brunette to her knees. With a short yell, Hawk ripped the bag off of her back through it into a small pond nearby, the walkie-talkie going with it.
Just as Olivia got back to her feet and prepared to run, one of the other boys grabbed her around the midsection. Bending at the waist, Olivia grabbed her attacker's foot and yanked up. The teen yelped as he fell backward, and the female kicked him in the jaw. Hawk was standing in front of her on guard with his other minion beside him.
"Where ya goin' now, Reynolds?! Nowhere to hide," the old friend sneered. The two circled Olivia as she maintained a half-moon stance and kept her guard up. She focused on her heavy breathing and the slight movements in her enemies' muscles. When the girl didn't answer, Hawk let out a growl of frustration.
Minion number two ran at the brunette with a battle cry, and Hawk attempted to come from behind. Olivia grabbed the punch of the unknown boy and used her other hand to palm his ribcage. Using his own forward momentum against him, she bent her knees and forced the guy to flip over her. Seeing Hawk out of the corner of her eye, she sent a sloppy kick to his face.
She let the minion fall to the ground, but the gang leader held her foot in his hands and twirled her around to face him. Meeting his punches with block, she eventually got a punch to the jaw and stumbled back.
"That all you got, Reynolds?" growled Hawk as he sent a jab her way. Olivia took a step back and dodged the hits. She tripped on a root and stumbled back, trying to regain her balance.
"Still shit on your balance, I see."
Hawk sent the small girl to the ground with a spinning back kick, and Olivia let out a small cry of pain as she hit the ground. "Fuck!"
Clenching his fists as he watched his old friend grab her stomach in pain, Hawk faltered a little bit and felt his heart squeeze. What was he doing?
"Strike first."
He did that.
"Strike hard."
He did that.
"No mercy."
He has none.
So why was he feeling like the biggest pussy on the planet?!
"Why did you join Miyagi-Do?" Hawk asked intensely. "All that time, I asked you to join me, and you kept saying the same bullshit excuse. Why were you too pussy to join Cobra Kai?" Olivia sat up a little bit and cringed at the pain in her abdomen.
"I didn't join Miyagi-"
"Bullshit!" Interrupted the spiky-haired teen. "There's no way you got this advance after two weeks of training with Dumb Tree and those nerds." He exhaled a sharp breath through his noses. Why wouldn't she just tell him the truth!? "Why don't you just admit that you like De-"
Just as Hawk was stepping closer and about to finish his next question, Olivia let out a battle cry of her own and tackled her former friend to the ground. She gave an elbow to the chest, knocked the air out of her friend, and booked it towards the pond.
Olivia ran over to the pond and grabbed her wet bag before booking it away from the three teens trying to recover. Panting, she kept running and dodging trees and roots and-
She ran into a chest and hands grabbed her arms firmly. Panicking, the girl grabbed the right hand, stomped on foot in front of her, and shoved him to the ground. Just as she was about to punch the boys face she-
"Ooof! Shit, what the hell, Olivia?!" Her dad lay in front of her with wide eyes and hands up. Her fist was an inch from Edward's face.
"O-oh fuck, I'm so sorry, dad!" Olivia scrambled away from her dad, trying to catch her breath. Edward Reynolds groaned in pain as he carefully got up and stretched his back.
Cracking his neck, he eyed the panting girl and the wet bag, "What were you running from?" The mustached man looked behind his daughter, trying to search the trees for whatever beast made her this way. "Did someone bother you?"
Olivia closed her eyes, and she attempted to calm her racing heart, "N-no." She winced.
Tell him the truth!
Tell him you're being bullied!
Tell him that your old friend just tried to assault you two days in a row!
"The ambulance and police were too late; she died on the way to the hospital."
"Y-you mean she w-was alive that whole time?!"
The brunette shook her head, 'no...they never help.'
Opening her eyes, she stuttered out, "N-no, dad. I-I, uh, was stopping at a pond, and I saw a crocodile. I dropped m-my bag in shock and uh started running after g-grabbing it." Olivia looked at her dad with a weak smile, "s-scary shit."
Edward Reynolds was not a dumbass. He was not an idiot. He might not have been as good as his wife at reading their daughter, but he knew a lie when he saw one. Through narrowed eyes, Ed stared at his daughter. What had her so shaken up?
He decided to let it go.
"Alright, Pumpkin. Let's head back to the trail and take it home, alright?"
Olivia let out a breath of relief, a new resolve finding its way into her heart.
Maybe it was time.
...
At home, Olivia had to deal with the onslaught of Discord messages calling her out for not being at Cyber Team practice.
Patrick-Star: Reynolds, where are you?
Patrick-Star: I know girls are supposed to b 'fashionably l8' but wtf
Fred-boy: u picked a wrd day to start acting like a girl, Reynolds
Reynolds: Sorry guys, dad and I went on a hike. He's not home a lot lately so we made plans
Fred-boy: thats fine, but plz let us know so we aren't wondering wher if ur ok.
Olivia sent a salute and another few apologies to the chat before promising to bring apology brownies next week. The brunette finally sighed her stress out of her. She gently tossed the phone onto the bed a plopped down like an eagle.
Staring at the glow-in-the-dark celestial bodies on her ceiling, she recalled the memory of putting them up with a smile.
...
"Hey! My mom sent me these glow-in-the-dark stars for my birthday! Can y'all help me put them on my ceiling?" Olivia asked the two boys as she held up a few packets. The three sat in the living room, and Star Wars: A New Hope had just finished. Eli was the first to respond as he nodded with a small smile.
Demitri groaned first, "I knew it. You just wanted us to come over so you could abuse our heights." Even though he complained, he still got up. He snatched one of the packets, "y'know, if the company wanted to be accurate, they would have made the stars circular. The celestial bodies are mass of gasses-"
Olivia rolled her eyes as the two boys followed her to her bedroom. She was still decorating it, and she didn't really have an eye for anything. Many people didn't know that Eli Moscowitz had a fantastic eye for design. Behind the 70's sweaters and shyness were a brilliant mind to match. Olivia relied on his advice for room setup and sometimes fashion.
He was the only one of the three who could tell different shades of black apart.
Olivia stood on her bed, trying to reach the ceiling above her with a plastic star. She decided to try a little jump but only succeeded in losing her balance. With a slight yell of surprise, the girl circled her arms and tried to maintain balance.
Luckily, Eli was a few steps away from his friend and quickly stepped behind her. The quiet boy grabbed the girl in his arms, and they both fell to the ground.
Olivia gave Eli a grateful smile and a hug, which Eli returned with a blushing face. The mouse-like boy made eye contact with his best friend, who used the dolls beside him to 'make out.' Eli rolled his eyes and helped Olivia up.
...
The brunette looked over at her phone as it made a ding with a sigh. Reaching for it and trying not to move, she only succeeded in barely touching it with the tips of her fingers.
'Well, whatever it is. It can wait.'
The teen closed her eyes and attempted to sleep, but the phone dinged again.
And again.
And...again.
Then it started buzzing with FaceTime.
Forcing her eyes open, she let out a groan of frustration and violently grabbed the phone. It was Demitri; she snapped, "What is it?"
"I know it looks bad, but it's going to be fine," Demitri shot out quickly, reassuring her with a worried face. "I-I promise, it's not that bad."
Sitting up quickly, she asked her friend, confused, "what do you mean?" Her friend's eyes widen in disbelief.
"You haven't seen it?"
Olivia felt her heart skip a beat, "seen what?"
A message came in from Sam LaRusso, and her eyes flickered to it.
Sam: Are you okay?!
Hazel-eyes looked at Demitri in fear, "w-what's going on?!" She demanded.
The black-haired boy shook his head frantically, "whatever you do, don't go on social media, Liv. Don't do it."
Olivia jumped from the bed and ran over to her computer. Demitri tried to yell at his friend to stop and ignore it, but he failed. As her fingers typed across the keyboard with the speed of a Cyber Team champion, she looked at the notifications.
An anonymous account tagged her in an album labeled "Nerd Slut."
When she clicked on the notification, her mouth dropped, and her eyes welled up with tears. As the sobs started pouring out, she could barely hear Demitri.
"God... Damn it, Olivia! I told you not to look! Fuck... Just stop looking at it. Turn off the computer, walk away!" her best friend pleaded with her. She hung up the phone.
Olivia leaped away from the keyboard. She grabbed her phone, wallet, and keys and ran out the front door. Everything felt tight and it was hard to breathe. Everything from the past three days crashed around her as she tried to make a conscious thought on where to go, what to do, who to..
As she looked to of her mirror, the brunette let out a scream as she saw a face.
...
A/N: Uh oh, anyone know what the photos were? Make ur guess before moving forward
Who was at the window, make your guess here!
Super unrealistic fighting but Cobra Kai is filled with super unrealistic...everything. *shrug* I still like it
Thanks for existing :-)