The school counselor was giving a speech to them at lunch. "Cyberbullying is no laughing matter. Sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as hurtful as saying it to their face. I'm not gonna name names but the other day a mother called me up because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity."
A few kids pointed at Eli. "Such a stupid bitch." Lee mutters under her breath. She might as well have made him stand up.
"But today, our goal here is to make this school a safe place for all students." She gave an impossible goal.
"If you're sick of getting bullied, my karate dojo is looking for recruits." Miguel looks over at Eli.
"Yeah, right. You hear that, Eli? A little karate training, and you're gonna kick some major ass." He did some hand chops in the air.
"I'm serious, Demetri. My sensei's the real deal. I'm sure I could get you both discounts." He leans back in his seat.
"As enticing as that sounds, I think we'd rather spend our afternoons playing crucible control than getting hit in the face." He pointed at the three of them.
"I don't think it would hurt. I mean I just get verbal harassment, but you guys are getting pushed around by Kyler and his goons." Lee had to ice a few bruises for them.
"Fighting back would make them come down harder." Demetri shook his head.
"One last thing, while we're all looking forward to the Halloween dance, let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive. For example, instead of a sexy nurse, maybe try a gender-neutral hospital employee." The counselor said, getting a laugh from the students.
"Hey, you're good at graphic designs, right?" Miguel turns to Lee. They showed each other their schedules and he remembers seeing AP Graphic Arts.
"Yeah, with Japanese, Microeconomics, English, Pre-Calculus, and Biology." She listed her classes.
"I told you to sign up for easier classes," Demetri told her last semester when they were signing up for classes, she was biting off too much. She should have chosen an easy class like art or photography.
"Thank the gods for Study Hall or I don't think I would make it." She loved that free block that allows her to catch up with the work for all the classes. "What?" She asked when she saw Miguel freeze up at her saying that.
"Well, we both have Study Hall next, I was wondering if you would help me make a website for my Dojo, please." He put his hands in a praying motion to beg her.
"You're lucky I'm all caught up. I was going to read ahead today, but..." She shrugs.
"Thank you, you may have my pudding." He gave her the chocolate pudding cup from his tray that she had been eyeing.
"Oh, a gift when I do things for you. Take notes." She held the pudding cup up to the other boys.
"When is he coming?" Lee leaned against the glass window of the Dojo.
"I don't know. He said five." Miguel was leaning next to her.
"He's late, very Kakashi-sensei of him." She looks over at the mini-market next to them. She was getting thirsty waiting in this heat.
"Oh, there he is." He pointed at a red 1991 Pontiac Firebird that parked in front of the Dojo. Outcomes a handsome older blonde male. She definitely wouldn't mind him teaching her one-on-one if she was two years older.
"Hey, Sensei, you told me to be here at five, right?" He asks the man who was walking over to the door.
"Yeah, but today's training's canceled." He unlocked the door.
"What? Why?" Miguel whines.
"Cause I said so." He walks inside.
"Him being a dick, shouldn't make him hotter but it does." Lee whispers to Miguel. He shook his head at her and caught the door before it closed. He pulled her inside.
They followed him into his office. "Sensei, there's something I wanna show you. Bring out your laptop." He nods to Lee. She took out her Macbook and opened it.
"Look, I'm not in the mood." He opens his mini fridge to grab a beer.
"But, I think you'll like it." Miguel took the laptop and put it down on the filing cabinet to show him. "It's a Cobra Kai web page. We made it in Study Hall." He pointed at Lee.
"Who are you?" He addresses her for the first time.
"I'm Lee." She waved.
"Oh right, Sensei, this is Lee. Lee this is my Sensei, Johnny Lawrence." He introduces them.
"Lee, your friend that likes cartoons." Johnny looked confused at Miguel before looking at Lee. "Wait… you're a girl… a hot girl." He didn't understand why this girl who looked like she could be on a cover of a dirty magazine was hanging out with nerds.
"How do you describe me to people?" She glares at Miguel.
"I just said your name was Lee and you liked anime. He didn't know what anime was, I tried to explain it the best I could." He couldn't get Johnny to call it anything else but nerdy cartoons. "Can we get back to the website?" He pointed to the laptop.
"Click on the snake." She looks at Johnny as she nodded her head over to the laptop. He leaned over and did it.
"Okay, this is the sign-in page. I was thinking, we can make an app where you track your progress, get a social media campaign going, get it out to the whole school. The possibilities are endless. With Lee, here we make them look all as dope as the website. She also knows how to do paperwork and other business stuff. So, she can help you out in the office." He stood up to put a hand on Lee's shoulder.
"You would do that?" He looks between the two. The small smile that was already on his face from Miguel's enthusiasm grew. He figures the dirty blonde must have it pretty bad for his student if she was willing to do all this for him.
"Yup, all I ask for in return is your signature on the bottom of the letter of rec I'll write for you." She saw this as an opportunity to get some real-life experience. Her dad let her help with some social media campaigns but his business was already successful. To get one up from the ground floor would be fun.
Round and Round by Ratt played as Miguel's ringtone. "That my mom. I'll..call her back later." He checks his caller ID.
"Hey, was that just..." He pointed at the phone.
"Ratt? Awesome, right?" He looks up at Johnny.
"Yeah." Johnny nodded with a small smile on his face.
"I went online and looked up Gun N' Roses and ended up going on this whole 80s rock rabbit hole. That shit is dope." He clicks on another part of the website.
"Alright." He put down his beer. "Meet me at the high school at midnight. Don't be late."
"What for?" Miguel stood up.
"You wanna learn how to kick ass? First, you gotta learn how to kick." He said, making Miguel get a huge smile on his face.
Lee grabs the laptop and puts it on the desk before taking a seat. "What are you doing?" Johnny asked her.
"Site up your social media accounts, so I can link them up to the website. Then you're going to tell me a bit about yourself, so we can put it in your bio. Do you have a bank account set up, strictly for Cobra Kai?" He shook his head. "You should do it, it's more efficient. It's safer, easy for tax, and most important you can accept credit cards."
"I'll do it tomorrow….Go warms up." He orders Miguel.
"Yes, Sensei." He walks out.
"You should think about subletting the place until you get more students." Lee picked up a past-due bill. "One of my dad's girlfriend's yoga places got shut down. I could make a few calls."
"Sure thing, Miss MoneyPenny." He walks out of the office to teach Miguel.
"What?" She googles the name to see the secretary from the James Bond movies. "Not your damn secretary." She hissed, texted her dad to get the yoga teacher's number.
Lee was at the Dojo the next day filming Miguel as he kicked the board. "Harder! Come on, Princess!" Johnny tried to encourage him. Lee was going to need to put music over this, to cover up the chauvinistic talk. While she found it hot and could imagine Johnny saying those same lines to her in a different scenario, she didn't think others would feel the same. "Keep that leg up, like a man." He shouted, ruining her daydreams.
It took a few days of practice, but he was finally about to do it. "That's it." Johnny slaps his back when he breaks three boards that represent the kneecaps, stomach, and face.
"Yes, we finally got something to put on the site." Lee cheered.
Miguel sat down to put his shoes back on while Johnny grabbed a paper from the office. "I wish I could tell my mom what I did to those boards, but if she knew where I was right now, she would kill me…. What's wrong with you?" Miguel looks up at him after he groans.
Lee looks to see the past due papers in his hand. "Oh, I took care of that. I got this place sublet. Hot Yoga will cover it."
"What?" Miguel was confused as to what they were talking about.
"Nothing. Put your costume on. I'm driving you to that dance. We're gonna pick up more students." He told him. Miguel pulled out a floral bed sheet that was sewn into a jumpsuit with a mask from his backpack.
"What the hell is that?" Johnny and Lee asked.
"It's my Halloween costume. My Yaya made it. It started as Deadpool. Then I think it was Spider-man, and then it just kind of became some generic superhero." He slips his arms into the sleeves.
"You don't know enough karate to wear that." Lee shook her head. He would get beat up before he stepped into the gym. "He's going to be the face of Cobra Kai when I post this video, we can't let him go like that." She turns to Johnny.
"She's right, we have a reputation to uphold." He grimaced at how pathetic he looked in his bed sheet superhero costume.
"What do you suggest?" He asks.
"I got something." Johnny smiled, remembering the skeleton jumpsuit that was in his Cobra Kai boxes in the back room.
"Well, I'll be getting ready in the office." Lee walks into the office, closing the door behind her. She squeezed into a cosplay female Bakugo Katsuki costume she had specially made. It was a black one-piece swimsuit that had orange X going across her chest with black pants sitting low on her hip, and orange and black boots. The accessories were a long grenade hostler, silver knee pads, grenade gloves, a mask, and the metal collar that wrapped around the neck. She put on the blonde wig before putting the mask on. She went outside to see Miguel in a skeleton jumpsuit and make-up.
"You look good." She nods.
"Yeah… you look amazing." Miguel had to clear his throat after seeing her in sexy cosplay.
"Does your dad know you're dressed like that?" Johnny's eyes bug out.
"Who do you think bought it? He's the one that had the swimsuit idea. He said I'll have my choice of boys or girls at the dance." She smiled.
He looked at her like he was shocked and offended that her dad would say such a thing. "You stick to her the whole night. If I find out someone touches her, I will make sure your drills are even harder." Johnny threatens Miguel. "And if you're going to dress like that you're going to have to learn some self-defense. We can't trust these damn teenage boys to keep their hands to themselves." He threw his hands in the air. Miguel and Lee smile at each other at him getting overprotective.
Miguel and Lee walk into the gym. "It's a doctor. Come on." Lee drags Miguel when she sees Eli's scrubs.
"Oh, skeleton. Classic. Nice." Demetri nods.
"Thanks, I like your sorcerer costume." Miguel compliments him. Lee smiled in amusement knowing he would be upset by that.
"Sorcerer? Please, I'm a necromancer." He pointed at his face makeup.
"What?" Miguel asked.
"Didn't you see the amulet?" He looks at Miguel like he was alien for not seeing it.
"Move on." Lee whispers.
"So, are you a regular doctor or..." Miguel looks at Eli.
Eli had to tear his gaze from Lee who he had been staring at since he spotted her enter the gym. "Plastic surgeon. I fix lips."
"Nice." Miguel nods.
"Do you want to dance?" Lee looks at Eli. He was happy to have the surgical mask on because his cheeks were red.
"Eli said yes." Demetri pushed him forward. She grabs his hand and drags him to the dance floor.
"I do-n't know how to dance." He stood still.
"Come on, just sway with me for a few songs." She put her hands in the air and sways her hips whiling shimmy. She was trying to be goofy to get him to loosen up, but the large beam smile she had on only made his chest tighten more. He notices a few guys move in closer, as they glance between him and her. He decided to dance goofy with her. She squealed and cling to him.
After a few upbeat songs, a slow song played. She puts his hands on her hips before putting hers on his shoulders. His heartbeat fast at having his hand on her skin that the one piece and pants didn't cover.
"You've been getting close with Miguel." He whispers.
"I guess." She learned a lot about him this week. She considers him a friend.
"Every day this week, you've been hanging out with him." He was getting more depressed as the days went on and Miguel got into her Porsche Panamera Turbo to go to some supposed Dojo.
"It mostly watches him get his ass kicked by a board. But today I got some good footage of him breaking a few. It was pretty badass." She smiled at the good day they had.
"Do you l-like him?" He stutters.
"He's cool. A good..." She was going to say friend when he pulled away from her.
"I'm thirsty." He went over to the refreshment table where Demetri and Miguel were.
She sighs as she watches him leave the dance floor. "Do you want to dance?" A boy asked her.
"I'm good." She didn't even look at who it was as she walked over to her friends. "Hey guys," She filled up a cup of punch.
"Okay, are we ready? Let's ask the Dragon Queens to dance." Miguel nods to the three girls dressed as Daenerys Targaryen.
"Slow your roll. We got time." Demetri told him. A boy went over to ask a Dragon Queen to dance and she accepted.
"Shit." Miguel curse. "We just lost one to Doctor Who."
"I have to go to the bathroom," Eli announced.
"Yeah, me too. That punch is going right through me." Demetri put his cup down.
"We're going to use the bathroom. You should go see how Sensei is doing." Miguel told her.
"Alright," She glanced at Eli who wouldn't meet her gaze. She follows them out to look for Johnny. "Hey, Sensei." She got into calling him that since Miguel did all the time and she found it hot.
"What with the long face?" He looks at her frown.
"I decided to strike first tonight and ask a guy I like to dance." She told him.
"Miguel?" He smiled, happy for his student.
"What? No!" She shook her head.
"Oh, well what happened?" He moved to tape another flyer on the wall.
"It was going good, then he started asking me about Miguel." She told him the turning point.
"What kind of questions?" He tapes another poster up.
"About us hanging out all week and if I like him." She explains.
"Oh god, what did you say?" He sighs.
"I just said that he was cool and that he broke some boards today." She didn't see the harm in anything she said.
"Jesus, you don't talk about another guy breaking boards to a guy you like. Especially if this guy is a nerd, which I assume he is." He shook his head at the clueless teens in his life.
"He is." She sighs.
Demetri ran up to her with Eli. "Lee! Lee! Miguel is getting beat up in the locker room. Kyler and his boys got him."
Johnny took off running. "And you left him there." She glares at her friends before running to the locker room. She found Johnny carrying a beaten-up Miguel.
"I'll take him home to his mom. You stay, kick a guy in the balls if he tries anything." He nodded to her before carrying him off.
