the other girl

Chapter 3

Courtney's POV

We walked left out of the parking lot and down the street. "So where is this place at? Is it some huge crazy tall building? Or a mansion? Or maybe a penthouse where you can look out over the big city?" 

"Nope. It's right here." I looked next to us and raised an eyebrow. "It's a shack." I mumbled. 

He nodded. "But it holds a lot of memories. It's also really nice out back." 

I shrugged my shoulders and walked in giving it a chance.

"Hey, Mr. Miyagi." Daniel said. "We've got a visitor today." Daniel said motioning to me. 

The person named 'Mr. Miyagi' didn't say anything. He just looked at me. "Hi." I said. He didn't look at me. Alright then. 

"Daniel-san, we are going to work on balance." Mr. Miyagi said. 

He walked out to the front of the small building and got in one of the cars. There were a bunch of nice cars lines up but Mr. Miyagi went to the old looking one on the opposite side of them. 

"Come." Mr. Miyagi said to Daniel. I came along too even though I got the vibe he didn't like me too much. 

"I can't drive yet, y'know." Daniel said as Mr. Miyagi handed him the keys. 

"Neither can I." Daniel grinned as Mr. Miyagi laughed. 

Instead of getting in the front with Daniel and Mr. Miyagi, I got in the back and just sat in between them. "So where are we going?" 

"I think the beach." Daniel said. 

"No." Mr. Miyagi said. "We're going to the lake." 

"The lake?" Daniel asked. "Where is that?"

"You'll see." 

Mr. Miyagi gave Daniel the directions he needed and we pulled up to this really large open field with a lake far into the distance. "Where are we?" Daniel asked. 

"Come." Mr. Miyagi said. 

He walked in front of Daniel and I and I looked at Daniel. "He doesn't seem to like me very much." 

"Really? I think he does." 

I rasied an eyebrow. "He has an odd way of showing it." I said looking back out at the lake. 

"He doesn't talk much. But he'll warm up to you. I don't think he could hate anyone." 

"Well, I might just be the first." I said with a laugh. He rolled his eyes playfully and we continued over to the lake. 

There was a small canoe by the edge of the water. "Is this your lake?" I asked. He ignored me. I rolled my eyes. 

"Get in." Mr. Miyagi said. We all got into the canoe and he rowed us out to the middle of the lake. 

"What are we doing?" Daniel asked. 

"You need to learn balance." Mr. Miyagi said. He explained to Daniel what he was gonna do and it seemed odd. I thought they were supposed to be learning karate. 

"Practice, Daniel-san. Balance is key." 

"I thought this was karate class. Not yoga." I mumbled. 

"If you're gonna be here, you're gonna learn." He said. 

"I already know karate." 

"Not real karate."

"It is real karate." 

"You from Cobra Kai?" He asked. 

I raised an eyebrow. "Y-yeah. How did you know?" He just laughed. I sighed. "Look, I know how to fight. And I don't see the point of this yoga lesson." 

"You've been brainwashed. We need to start from scratch. There are only two rules of karate."

He waited for me to answer. "Strike first?" I asked. He shook his head. "Strike hard?" I continued. 

"Think deeper." He said. Daniel laughed at my answers. 

"No mercy?" 

Mr. Miyagi gave me a look. But it wasn't disappointment. It was blank. It looked like his other facial expressions but this one was different. I couldn't get a read on it. "Rule number one is that karate is for defense only." 

"And the second rule?" I asked. He looked at me asking for another answer. "If it's not strike first, strike hard, or no mercy, I'm not gonna get it." 

Mr. Miyagi was going to answer the question but Daniel fell into the water. He stood up because we were at the shallow part of the lake. "This is freezing!" He yelled. I laughed. 

Mr. Miyagi looked back at me. "Rule number two, learn rule number one." He said laughing. 

"I don't understand." I mumbled. 

"Switch." He said motioning to Daniel. 

I got up and stood on the edge of the canoe. I put one of my legs up and put my arms out. "This is pretty easy."

"You're just balancing-" Mr. Miyagi cut him off. 

"She has to learn before she can do." I had no idea what he was talking about. Daniel seemed to catch on. 

"Look, I thought I was gonna learn karate. I don't wanna do this." I said. 

"To learn karate, you must learn balance." 

This guy really has a way with words. It's almost like some kind of code. "I am balancing. What else do you want?" 

"Can you truly balance?" 

I looked down at him. "Huh?" He started shaking the canoe. "Wait, stop!" I said in a panic before I fell. I let out a squeal before I hit the water. My hand hit the bottom of the shallow lake and I bolted up. I let out a gasp for air. "What the hell!" I yelled. 

Daniel and Mr. Miyagi were laughing. "We've got lot of work to do." He said. I got back in the boat and grabbed a towel from the bottom of it. 

"Now, what was that for?" I asked. 

"I thought you said that you could balance." He said. 

"Well, most people balance on a stable surface." I groaned. 

We got to the edge of the lake and I got out of the canoe before he finished rowing. This isn't karate. This old guy seems like he should be teaching a knitting class for old ladies. 

We got in his car and Daniel drove us back to the small house that he considered a dojo. They had their conversations on the way home and I just slouched in the back. By the time we got back, I was practically dried off. I got out of the car before they could and I walked around the corner back to wherever I was staying for the night. 

"Courtney, where ya going?" Daniel asked. 

"Fuck you." Was all I managed to say.