ANTI-KARATE 《cobra kai 》

-0.4 noah peterson

chapter four!

"CYBERBULLYING IS NO LAUGHING MATTER," ranted Counselor Blatt. Miguel, Eli, Demetri and Alex sat together at their usual table, trying to ignore the loud, annoying voice of the counselor. "Sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as hurtful as saying it to their face. I'm not going to name any 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. But today, our goal is to make this school a safe space for all students."

""Not gonna name any names"," mocked Alex, rolling her eyes with a scowl. "Might as well, dumbass. Eli, you deserve better than this shit school."

"Thanks, Dash." muttered Eli, shooting the girl a small smile. Alex scoffed at the nickname, but smiled back nonetheless. Her relationship with Eli was a sweet one- that was something Miguel had noticed from the start. He seemed to talk more around the black-haired girl than he did anyone else; even joking around with her sometimes. From what Miguel heard, the two had bonded over their love of Harry Potter and Supernatural.

"If you're sick of getting bullied, my karate dojo is looking for recruits," Miguel informed him, smoothly trying to get publicity for the dojo. Alex laughed to herself- Eli might consider it, but Demetri would never do anything like that.

"Yeah, right," Demetri said, his voice filled with sarcasm, as it usually was. "You hear that, Eli? A little karate training and you're gonna kick some major ass."

"I'm serious, Demetri," Miguel retorts, leading back in his chair, giving Alex a quick look before speaking again. Alex had to resist rolling her eyes for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day, realizing that he was going to try to talk her into joining, again. "My sensei is the real deal and I'm sure I could get all of you discounts."

"As enticing as that sounds, I think we'd all rather spend our afternoons playing crucible control than getting hit in the face," Demetri paused, looking over at Alex, who was sipping on her juice box, and adding, "Except Alex, though, who I'm sure has some super heroic thing planned to do."

Miguel nodded in agreement to the Alex part, seeing as she did have the whole heroic-savior shtick down- sealed with a tragic backstory as well. If life was a movie, Alex would be one hell of a main character. Alex simply shrugged, figuring she wasn't heroic in any way- just doing what anyone would do in her circumstances.

"One more thing," the counselor added, gaining everyone's attention once again. Alex instinctively mentally rolled her eyes, preparing to hear something dumb. "While we're all looking forward to the Halloween dance, let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive. For example, instead of "Sexy Nurse", maybe try "Gender-Neutral Hospital Employee"."

Alex laughed humorlessly, leaning her head forward to rest in her hands, "As much as I love humanity, my faith in it continues to decline steadily the longer I attend this school."

Miguel laughed at this, picking as his macaroni a second before dropping his fork in slight disgust. School food is disgusting. "So what're you guys going as for Halloween?"

"Me and Eli aren't sure yet. Alex?" asked Demetri, although he figured he already knew the answer. Alex was never big on school dances- figuring they were just another social construct made for the adults to see how hormonal teenagers act together in a room with music- in other words, it's was dumb as shit. Also, she didn't have time for it. Her schedule was packed full: even with the time she carved out to hang out with Miguel.

"Not going."

The answer was short and certain, but it didn't surprise Eli or Demetri. Miguel, however, did look surprised, and immediately protested. "What? No. No way- you have to go."