"Sky, a word?" Ms. Hardinge's soft voice caught Sky when she tried to slip out of the classroom.
She stopped and turned to look. The kind smile on Ms. Hardinge's heart-shaped face didn't reveal what this was about, but Sky had a pretty good guess.
She walked to the teacher's desk and tried her best to sound normal, as if her heart wasn't in her throat, choking her. "Sure, what is it?"
Ms. Harding replied with a smile but waited silently until everyone else had left the room. The crowd of noisy kids poured out of the classroom like a stream that broke the ice dam in the spring. Rickenberger and his fellow Cobras walked out amongst the others, laughing loudly, but to Sky's great relief, none of them made further comments to her - maybe because she was standing right next to Ms. Hardinge, to whom all the students seem to show a healthy respect.
Before walking out of the room, Hawk briefly glanced at Sky but kept his mouth shut. Instead, he went after the Cobras, murder in his eyes - a sight that made Sky's stomach knit into a tight ball of anxiety.
Shit, I hope he's not going to do anything stupid! I told him to let it go–
"Sky, are you being bullied?" Ms. Hardinge's voice interrupted Sky's worried thoughts and she turned her eyes back at the teacher.
"Sorry, what?"
"I asked if you're being bullied, Sky." Ms. Hardinge repeated, her large, brown eyes serious and without a hint of the smile that usually lived in them.
Sky shrugged and turned her eyes down, heat rising to her cheeks. This was the last place on Earth she wanted to be in, the last conversation she wanted to have. The tight ball of anxiety in her gut was growing bigger, taking her breath away.
"What happened at the beginning of the class—" Ms. Hardinge paused to take a breath. "I'm sorry. I… I wanted to do more, but I felt like we should talk before I take any drastic measures."
Sky looked up and met Ms. Hardinge's eyes. They were kind and full of worry and Sky felt like shit. She didn't want Ms. Hardinge to pity her or to feel sorry for her - she wanted the teacher to think that she was bright, that she was a straight-A student, that she knew her Shakespeare back and forth. She didn't want this, this disgusting, sticky feeling of being ashamed for something that wasn't her fault at all.
"Thanks," Sky replied in a lack of better words. "I appreciate it."
"Has this bullying been going on for a long time?" Ms. Hardinge asked, and again Sy had to look away.
"It's… it's not really bullying," she replied. "I mean… It's not a big deal. I can handle it."
"I'm sure you can. But you shouldn't have to. There are things we can do, Sky. We can make it stop."
To make it stop? Ever since her fight with Yasmine and Kyler almost a year ago, she'd been called names in this school. She was so used to finding notes in her locker, calling her crazy slut, that they barely even made her flinch anymore. And yet, what had happened today had felt different - she was still so shocked about Rickenberger's comment, the way he had grabbed her arm, that she felt like she would be sick.
If it would be like this every fucking day from now on….
Sky didn't even want to think about that. It would make her fucking lose her mind.
She couldn't help the bitterness in her voice when she replied to Ms. Hardinge. "Can you? Stop bullying? Cause I'm a bit skeptical."
"Yes, we can. We can go and talk to counselor Blatt, right now. I'll come with you if you want to—"
"Counselor Blatt?" Sky grimaced. "Please, no. She'd only make some stupid announcement that would make everything a thousand times worse—"
Demetri had told her about the announcement Blatt had made about Eli's lip last year. It had happened a bit before Sky had started going to school here, but it sounded just like Blatt, and Sky sure as Hell didn't want that woman anywhere near her issues.
The look on Ms. Hardinge's face told Sky she realized Sky was right. She ran a hand through her chocolate brown hair and pulled it behind her shoulder, a frown falling on her face.
"Well, it doesn't have to be Blatt. We could talk to the principal—"
Sky made a face. She suspected the principal wouldn't be very sympathetic to her issues either - after all, the man had suspended her for a week last year, for standing up to Yasmine and Kyler when they made fun of her. No matter how much Ms. Hardinge wanted to help, Sky knew for a fact that there was no help coming for her, not from any of the teachers or the staff of this school. She needed to figure out a way to deal with this herself.
"It's okay," She said softly. "I mean… obviously it's not okay that they call me a slut and stuff… but I'm gonna be fine. I have friends, I'm not alone."
"It's good that you have friends, but Sky… they might not always be there with you. Why don't you tell me who's bullying you? Is it just Doug, or are there more people involved? I can talk to them, make them understand—"
"Please don't," Sky replied quickly. "Please don't talk to them. It's only gonna make things worse."
Ms. Hardinge let out a resigned sigh, her shoulders fell. "See, kids are always scared that's going to happen but it's not usually true. Interference can stop bullying."
Sky tilted up her chin and met Ms. Hardinge's sweet, brown eyes. She did not doubt that the teacher meant well - but the truth was that she didn't know Cobra Kai as Sky did. She didn't know what those kids were capable of, the level of cruelty and violence Kreese was nurturing in that dojo. And thus, there was nothing the school could do, there was nothing sweet Ms. Hardinge could do.
No matter how much it sucked, Sky would have to deal with the bullies herself.
"Thanks," she said, her voice not revealing her emotion. "But it's really not that serious. I'm going to be fine."
"Sky—" the teacher started, but Sky had already turned on her heels and walked out of the classroom.
When the bell rang and Ms. Hardinge dismissed the class, Hawk had only one thought in his mind.
He was going to make Rickenberger pay for what he had done.
Everything was secondary to that thought as he followed the Cobras out of the classroom. He didn't pay any attention to what the guys were talking or laughing about, their voices were drowned in the noise of the hallway as hundreds of kids were making their way toward the cafeteria.
Hawk's fists clenched tight as he glanced at Rickenberger. He was laughing and making some comments to Mitch, and Hawk's jaw went tight with the sharp, bitter taste of rage. This anger had been growing in his chest for a long, long time. That fucking Rickenberger had been talking shit about Sky ever since she had left Cobra Kai. He had been mocking her and calling her names every chance he got, and Hawk had - repeatedly - told him to shut up, but apparently, that wasn't enough.
The way Rickenberger had grabbed Sky's arm—
Hawk had to fight the urge to attack him right here in the middle of this crowded hallway. He had to wait for the right moment. If he started throwing punches here, someone would go and get that damn Blatt and he'd be in a deep shit again.
Not that he really cared about Blatt or the punishments he'd get. He was the Hawk, he didn't care about anything. But if he got suspended again, he would lose his only chance to see Sky, and right now, even after the things she had said to him in the classroom, that felt like a death sentence.
And then the chance presented itself to Hawk, and he took it without a second thought. Rickenberger walked into the boys' bathroom, followed by Edwin and Assface - and briefly glancing over his shoulder, Hawk walked in after them.
He attacked before Rickenberger could even see it coming. With force, he shoved the other boy against the door of a bathroom stall so hard the hinges rattled.
"What the fuck, man—" Rickenberger started, but Hawk pushed him again so that the back of his head hit the door and he stopped talking mid-sentence.
"You fucking asshole—" He snarled at Rickenberger's face, his face only inches from the other boy's. "I fucking told you to leave her alone—"
"Whoa, what—?"
"I told you to leave Sky alone. Which part of that you didn't understand?"
Rickenberger laughed. He fucking laughed.
"Dude, chill - why are you so fucking pissed? Cause you lost access to pussy—?"
Hawk saw red like someone had painted the world with blood. His fist connected with Rickenberger's face and cut his sentence in half.
Rickenberger tried to strike back, but the attempt was weak and easily blocked. Hawk threw another punch at his face, and the other boy groaned as blood poured from his nose. The thick smell of iron filled his senses as Hawk grabbed Rickenberger by the front of his shirt and threw him to the floor.
Hearing the bathroom door opening, he glanced up - only to notice a couple of nerdy-looking freshman kids staring at them with wide eyes.
"Beat it," Hawk snapped at them, and he didn't have to tell them twice. The kids retreated into the hallway, and Hawk brought his full attention back to Rickenberger, who was on the floor, trying to crawl away from him on his back.
"Hawk—" blood poured out of Rickenberger's mouth when he tried to speak, but it only fueled Hawk's anger. He was on him in a heartbeat, punching the other boy's face with his clenched fist, muscles trembling with rage and adrenaline.
That asshole would die for what he had done. It was his fucking fault that Sky was crying, that everyone laughed at her. If Rickenberger had just kept his fucking mouth shut, that rumor never would have spread anywhere. It was his fault that Sky had dumped Hawk, his fucking fault, his and Demetri's, and Hawk was going to get his revenge on both of them—
They would fucking die.
Blood splattered when he hammered Rickenberger's face again and again. He didn't even hear the wolfish, barely human growls that were falling off his lips, or the sickening sounds his fist made when it connected with flesh, bone, blood. The boy in his grip had gone limp, he had stopped resisting, but Hawk wasn't done with him. The anger was still burning in his chest, it was an ongoing explosion, it was a fucking a-bomb that would annihilate this whole world, and he didn't even want it to go off.
Blood was on his knuckles now, on his yellow hoodie, and he was spitting venom on Rickenberger's face even if the boy couldn't hear him anymore. He would fucking kill that little bitch, he would make sure he'd never talk shit about Sky again—
"Dude stop it—!" Someone grabbed his arms from behind and pulled him back. Hawk resisted, he kicked and writhed in the grip of his holders, his chest was heaving, the frantic heartbeat in his ears drowned the voices of the people who were trying to stop him.
More hands were on him, pulling him back. Edwin's, Assface's, Mikey's. "Enough Hawk! He's had enough—"
They pulled him back and let go of him only after he stopped resisting. His chest heaving with fast, deep breaths Hawk stayed on the floor, looking at the groaning boy who stiffly rolled to his side and spat blood on the floor tiles.
There was a pit in Hawk's stomach. A black pit of hate and rage and violence and shame and fear and it threatened to choke him. He had wanted to kill Rickenberger. He would have, had no one stopped him.
That thought made him want to throw up. He tasted bile in the back of his throat as he breathed through the adrenaline rush and forced himself to slowly stand up.
Every muscle of his body was still tense and stiff, as he walked to Rickenberger, and pushed him with the tip of his sneaker so that he rolled onto his back. The pale green of the floor tiles made a striking contrast with the splatters of blood around the halo of Rickenberger's dark hair. Hawk stared down at his bloodied, bruised face - the left eye was already swollen shut, there was blood dripping down his chin. Hawk's jaw clenched tight, he swallowed hard.
He couldn't believe he had done this.
He couldn't believe how fucking good it felt. How little he cared if Rickenberger lived or died.
"You ever talk shit about Sky again, I'll fucking kill you—" he groaned, his voice raspy and dry. "You understand? I'll hunt your ass and I'll kill you."
Rickenberger made a muffled groan that could have meant anything, but Hawk decided to take that as a yes.
He turned around slowly, rolled his shoulders, and flexed his bloodied fingers as he took a look at the other Cobras who were standing in a half circle around them. Edwin's face was unreadable, but Assface and Mikey looked plain terrified. They were looking at Hawk as if they didn't see him, but someone else, someone barely human at all, a lion, a wolf, a cobra.
"The same goes for all of you," Hawk growled, staring them down. "I hear you disrespecting Sky again, it's gonna be you next time."
No one argued. Assface was nodding so hard Hawk thought his head would soon roll off his shoulders, and that sight made him let out a low chuckle.
They were afraid of him, afraid of the man he had become, and Hawk let that realization grow in the air between them.
They wouldn't cross him again, he was sure of that.
Hell, he should have done this a long time ago. He should have done this after the car wash event when Rickenberger and Assface had first started bad-mouthing Sky. He should have beaten them both into a bloody pulp that day so that they never would have dared to open their stupid mouths about her again.
"Good." He glanced at Rickenberger who was still whimpering on the floor, blood and spit dripping from his swollen lips to the floor tiles. "Take that loser away from here."
Again, he didn't have to say it twice. The boys were around Rickenberger in a heartbeat, lifting him up and helping him towards the door. Assface grabbed some tissue paper and pressed it on Rickenberger's face to stop the bleeding.
"And no one talks," Hawk added and the guys turned to look. "You got it?"
"Yeah, we got it," Mikey replied hastily. "We're not gonna talk."
Hawk watched silently as the guys dragged Rickenberger out of the door. He didn't know how they were going to get him out of the school and quite frankly, he didn't care. He didn't give a shit if that asshole died.
But the pit in his stomach was still there when he walked to the sink and turned on the tap. It was making him nauseous, his head was spinning. The water was cold on his scraped, bloodied hands and he let out a hiss as started cleaning them. The water soon turned pink, red streams of Rickenberger's blood swirled down the sink and the bile was rising in Hawk's throat.
He clenched his jaw, swallowed down the burning, bitter contents of his stomach, swallowed down the sickening mess of emotion that was choking his windpipe and making him want to cry.
Fuck it, fuck all of it! He was the Hawk and he would burn down the fucking world until there was no one left to hurt him or the one he loved.
Rickenberger had gotten what was coming for him.
And next, it would be Demetri's turn.
Thanks for reading and for reviewing!