"So, what do you do here?" Kreese sat down across the desk from Lee.
"The paperwork, answering the phone, keeping up the website, stuff like that." She didn't take her eyes off the laptop. She was doing English homework at the moment.
"That makes sense, Johnny was never good with books. He is a hands-on type of guy." He looks over the organized office. "But I'm sure you know that."
His suggestive tone made her lookup. "If you mean how he can build things and can fight but doesn't know any modern events then yes I noticed."
He hummed to let her know he heard. "Anything going on that I could help with."
"Well… the gross landlord keeps raising the rent with each student we get because Johnny didn't do a paper contract we can't stop it." Lee thought of something he could help with.
"Good to know. I better get out there, class is about to start." She watches as the older man walks out of the office. She was on the fence about him. His war stories were obviously fake with wrong facts and action movie exaggeration. The way Hawk ate it up was concerning but he did seem to know how to pump the kids up to make them eager to learn.
Lee stayed in the office for this practice to work on homework. She learned to ignore the noises coming from the next room. So, she was surprised when Johnny came in with a girl her age and an overweight middle-aged man. "Moneypenny, We got two new recruits. You can handle her, I'll get this one." Johnny wasn't about to have her alone with the older stranger. He grabs the paperwork and shoves it into his chest. "Have this filled out the next time you come?"
"Yes, sensei." He nods before running out of the room. Johnny sighs as he follows him out not trusting him alone with a bunch of teens.
"Moneypenny?" The blonde raised an eyebrow as she sat down in the chair across from her.
"It's actually Lee. You'll find that Sensei likes to give people nicknames." She introduced herself.
"I figured that out when he called some kid Virgin. I'm Tory by the way." She nods.
"Hi Tory, you have to bring these forms filled out to your next practice." She passed her the paper. She took it and put it in her backpack.
"Hey babe, me and Miguel are going to head out with the guys. Are you coming?" Hawk leaned against the door frame.
"Aisha and I are going to hang out." She told her boyfriend before looking at Tory. "You should come. If you are going to be joining Cobra Kai, you'll be seeing a lot of us."
"Sure, why not?" She nods.
Hawk looked between the two girls that were smiling at each other. Lee didn't have many female friends while Tory just joined, so they were both excited to be making friends. His insecurity wouldn't let him see that. "I'll see you later, then." He walks over to put a hand on her chin to tilt her head up and gives her a passionate kiss. He pulled away slowly so Tory could see the spit connecting them before he walked out.
"Well, that was passionate. Is he always like that?" She let out an awkward chuckle.
"I'm bisexual, so he always feels the need to mark his territory. I want to be a good feminist and say that wrong but I find it very hot." The girls took a moment before they giggled together.
Aisha, Lee, and Tory were looking around the market when Aisha's phone beeped. "Let me guess. Dick pic?" Tony teased as she walked over to the fridge holding the drinks.
"No, my mom wants me to go to the beach club with her." Aisha sighes.
"Oh my god, that sounds so miserable." She did a sarcastic pout as she grabbed a red Gatorade.
"No, it's just…. This girl Sam is probably going to be there. She and I are not on good terms. It's whatever." She hoped that Sam wouldn't confront her there. "Cool bracelet by the way." She nodded to the white bracelet with black spikes on them.
"Oh, this?" She held up the arm that had it. "It's not just for show. Some creepy guy at the mall tried to grab me once, but I managed to block him and give him a gift he won't ever forget." She shows the motion she did that let her scar his face.
"Oh… so badass." Lee gasps, staring at Tony in awes.
"You seem like you already know how to kick ass. What do you need Cobra Kai for?" Aisha asked.
"That's not welcoming, Aisha." Lee turned to her friend with a look of betrayal that she was scaring the talented girl away.
"It's not like that. I'm glad to have another girl on the team, I'm just curious." She didn't want anything to get it twisted.
"I've had a couple of kickboxing lessons but I've always wanted to smash boards blindfolded." She referred to the show they put on at the Valley Fest.
"Oh, you saw that." Aisha giggled, proud to be recognized for her solo performance. Tory hummed as she nodded. "The secret is poking little holes in the blindfold." She jokes getting a small chuckle from the girls.
"Oh cool." She went to pay for her drink.
"Hey, do you guys want to go to the beach with me? It'd be nice to have some backup." She invited them.
Tory turned back to face them. "I guess I could suffer through a day at the beach."
She called Hawk and put him on speaker while she got ready to go to the beach club. "Hi, babe." He paused the video game he was playing to answer her call.
"Why the hell did I get a call from Demetri that Kresse broke his nose and you told him snitches get stitches." She skipped the greeting to get to what was upsetting her.
"What the hell? Does this guy have to cry to you about everything?" He scoffs.
"He tried to talk to you but you brushed him off." She throws sunblock into her tote bag.
"The guys were never Cobra Kai material." He didn't see the point of this conversation.
"What does that have to do with anything? I'm not Cobra Kai material, does that mean that I'm not worth anything." She put on her bikini as she rolled her eyes.
"Don't make this into a bigger issue than it is?" He shook his head. Miguel, who was sitting next to him on the couch, was shaking his head too but for a different reason.
"His nose is broken. He could press charges if he wanted to." She stretched out the word charges.
"He better not or he knows what will happen." He growls.
"Shut up. He is not going to. I talked him out of it by being calm and rational, unlike some feral animal I know." She yelled.
"If you solve it then why are you bugging me about it. I was in the middle of kicking Miguel's ass in Mario kart." He sneers.
"I'm unpausing." Miguel did that, making Hawk curse and hang up the call to grab the controller.
Tory was amazed as they walked through the beach club. "This is not the beach. Where are the homeless dudes on rollerblades and the guys shoving shitty hip-hop demos in your face?" She looks off the balcony at the pool.
"No, don't worry, they'll come after they pass out the hors d'oeuvres." She teased.
The girls split up. Aisha went to get some food. Tory was looking around the place more. Lee was going to look for a spot to lay out and relax in the sun. She was surprised by who she saw. "Well, well, well… I thought security would be tighter around here." She took a seat on the lounge chair next to him.
"Is it just you or did you bring your flying monkeys with you?" Robby looks around for the mohawk and Sam's ex.
"Calm down, I'm here with Aisha and Tory. Besides, we wouldn't hurt Sensei's son." She smirked when she saw his jaw tense. "So, why are the Larussos letting you stay with them? Is it to piss off Sensei or are you giving your dick out? Who are you fucking, the wife, the daughter, or maybe… the father."
"Don't be disgusting." He sneers.
"So, it's clearly for spite. That's a shame because Johnny wants to make things right. He's making a great father figure to Miguel, the champ." She sings the last part.
"He is a crooked champ." He snaps.
She laughed. "Is that what you tell yourself to not feel like a loser. Miguel didn't have anything to do with what Hawk did."
"He still went after my hurt shoulder." His hand went subconsciously to it.
"So… the tournament is also about stamina. If your body can make it through the matches. It's why it's done in one day and not months apart." She shrugs. "Look, I just want to let you know don't get too comfortable."
"What do you mean?" He felt on edge being in a place where the manager knew him for being a thief.
"My dad's a competitor of Larusso's in the business world. I know a thing or two about the way they work. Daniel Larusso thinks he's holier than thou. He got a bad martyr complex. He sees everything in black and white. He is never to blame for anything. His daughter is the same way. Don't think you're going to be the exception to that for either of them." She left Robby with those dark thoughts.
She walks over to Tory who was sneaking a bottle of vodka into her purse. "What do you think you're doing?" She whispers into the girl's ear from behind. She had to jump back to avoid her fist.
"My god Lee, don't do that. I almost got you." Tory let out a shaky breath.
"Sorry, let's show Aisha the fun time you got." She nods to their friend to see her talking to Sam. "That's Sam. Maybe we should wait until she leaves to bring out the booze."
"Nah, it seems like they made up." She pulls Lee over to them. "Look what I got." She sings as she shows them the inside of her purse.
"Where'd you get that?" Aisha stared at it in amazement.
"I swiped it from the bar." She smiled. Aisha and Sam shared a worried look because their parents were there. "Relax, all the adults are getting wasted. No one is going to notice if we have a little fun."
"You should put that back. You'll get in big trouble." Sam looks at the bottle.
"Jesus, Sam. You don't have to join in but don't ruin the fun. I'm going to get a glass of orange juice to mix it with. What does everyone want?" She looks at Tory and Aisha.
"I'll have a coke." Tory nods.
Aisha looked over at Sam before turning to Lee and Tory. "A coke for me too."
"Let's go, my girls." Tory throws an arm around each of them as they walk over to a waiter.
Aisha told Tory the story of giving Yasmine a front wedgie. "You really lifted her off her feet." Tory laughed.
"I split that bitch in two." She smiled proudly.
Lee giggled. "If someone overheard this they might take it the wrong way." The teens giggled harder at that thought.
"Hey!" They look over to see an upset Sam standing in front of them. "My mom is missing her wallet."
"And what do you want us to do about it?" Lee scoffs.
"Hey, it sucks for her." Tory nods.
"You don't know anything about that would you?" She glares at Tory.
"What the hell are you saying, Sam?" Aisha looked between the two girls.
"Just give me the wallet and I won't call security." She threatens.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Tory narrowed her eyes.
"Sam, she didn't steal your mom's wallet." She couldn't believe she was accusing her of that.
"Right, and she didn't steal a bottle of vodka and wouldn't steal half the silverware in here." She rolled her eyes.
"That was a joke. Stealing a bottle from a rich beach club that charges people a few grand a month to be a part of is different from stealing from a person." Lee shook her head.
"Look, I'm not going back and forth with you. I didn't steal from your mom, bitch." She steps forward to glare into Sam's eyes. "Let's get out of here, guys." She nods to her new friends.
They were about to follow her when Sam reached out to grab Tory's bag to pull her back. "Get off me." She shoves Sam making her fall into the table of desserts. She had pudding and cake all over her.
"I'll be by the car." Tory walks off.
"Are you okay?" Aisha looked down at her friend.
"Real nice friend you got." She glares up at them.
"You shouldn't have accused her of something like that." Aisha shook her head at her stubborn friend. It wasn't until then that she realized that Sam never owned up to any of her wrongdoing. She was done with her childhood friend. She went to join Tory.
"I hope your mom finds her wallet, so you can realize how much an arrogant ass you are." She went to meet her friends.
Lee's dad was out on a business trip to make a deal on getting more cars from Italy being that his specialty was European exports. She invited Cobra Kai over. Hawk used his fake ID to bring more alcohol. The party was mainly by the pool. Most of the guys were trying to get with Tory. Aisha was even getting her flirt on with a few of them. Lee was happy that there wouldn't be any drama tonight.
"Come on." Hawk pulled her away from the party and into her room. "I made a collage of you to put on the front of my binder."
"Aw, that's sweet." She smiled.
"I think the centerpiece could be your lipstick stain with your signature over it." He passed her a tube of red lipstick while he got out a piece of paper. She put on a thick layer of it before kissing the paper making sure to get the full imprint of her lips on it. "Good, when it dries you can sign it with a thin sharpie."
"My full name or Lee?" She asked.
"Presley." He only needs her first considering her last name might change later.
