𝘛𝘙𝘖𝘜𝘉𝘓𝘌. Eli Moskowitz

twenty

"JUST try your best, alright hon?" Judy told her daughter, who was fidgeting nervously.

Judy took the day off to watch her daughter compete in the All Valley tournament. Violet was sure she was ready until the building came into view.

What if I mess up? What if I forget everything and freeze? What if I lose? Her mind played these thoughts over and over like a broken record.

"Violet. Violet. You'll be fine," Judy soothed. "You've been practicing for months, and Johnny told me he has faith in you. Don't tell him I told you that, though."

Violet nodded, feeling more at ease. "You're right, mom."

"Of course I am. Now get over there. That boyfriend of yours is staring at you." Violet looked over her mom's shoulder, and sure enough, Hawk was staring in their direction.

Violet blushed, giving her mom a hug. "Okay. Bye, mom."

"Mhm. Oh, and tell Eli 'good luck'!"

"I will!"

Hawk smiled widely when Violet finally arrived and gave him a hug.

"My mom says good luck," she mumbled into his torso.

Hawk laughed, "Your mom is too nice."

"Yeah, but when she is mad it's scary," Violet shuddered.

When Violet pulled away, she noticed Miguel aggressively punching the air and shot Aisha a questioning look.

"The breakup," she mouthed. Violet Ooh'd.

The night before, Sam came to the party hand-in-hand with another boy. Miguel got angry (rightfully so), and long story short, hit Sam instead of the boy.

"Shouldn't Sensei be here by now? The tournament's gonna start soon," Hawk pointed out.

"He'll be here," Aisha assured.

"I don't know about that," Bert spoke up gravely.

"What do you mean?" Violet asked.

"I saw him last night at the mini mall. I was buying . . . a carton of milk, when I heard him in the parking lot, yelling. He was super drunk and, uh, peed on his car. I think he said something like 'We're all gonna die!'"

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Aisha asked urgently. Hawk and Violet looked appalled.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just so used to seeing him drunk, it didn't seem like that big a deal!"

"Well, we're here, and he's not. So it's officially a big deal," Hawk spat. Violet rubbed his arm, telling him to calm down.

"What if something happened to him?" Violet worried.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Like he drove his car off a cliff, or he bought a gun and blew his brains out," Hawk said.

"No, Sensei wouldn't do that," Violet said, shaking her head. "Not before a tournament. He doesn't like losing."

"Okay. I mean, we're here. We're gonna have to do it without him."