Match in the Gas Tank || Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz

07 Talk About It

The movie theater was mostly lit up by the action movie playing on screen, but Evie couldn't get into it. She was throwing popcorn into her mouth while Hawk, beside her, was throwing candy at the people a couple of rows ahead of them. She looked at him as he held back his laugh, grinning to himself as he'd successfully thrown a sweet treat into the popcorn bucket of some unsuspecting girls. She rolled her eyes and giggled, shaking her head.

Aisha similarly ignored Hawk's antics and turned to Miguel, who hadn't seemed like himself the whole time they'd been hanging out. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I can't stop thinking about what Sensei told me about Sam's dad," he admitted, watching the movie without an ounce of interest. He looked at his friends, having already told them the story that Sensei Lawrence had shared with him about Mr. LaRusso and how he was in high school. It was clear their past bothered him for some reason.

Aisha shrugged. "So Sensei and Sam's dad had some beef. What's that have to do with you?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Miguel asked incredulously. "Sam's dad hates Cobra Kai. I'm a part of Cobra Kai. So, by the transitive property, Sam's dad is gonna hate me."

"Jesus Christ, you're such a nerd," Hawk muttered, shaking his head. He lined up another shot, hitting someone in the back of the head.

"Stop it," Evie whispered to him before turning to Miguel. "Don't you think that's a little extreme?"

"No, I'm telling you, it's not just on my mind. Sam was acting weird the other day when her dad walked by," Miguel explained. He tried to put his focus back on the movie, but he was clearly not enjoying it.

"Listen," Aisha hummed, "I've known Mr. LaRusso since third grade. He's a really nice guy. You just have to talk to him."

"I haven't even been invited over yet." Miguel sighed, frowning. "She's probably too afraid to introduce me."

"Then talk to Sam about it. Tell her you wanna meet her parents and talk about karate," Evie suggested.

Hawk leaned over, smirking. "Or better yet, just go over there. It's an alpha move." He shrugged, then carelessly threw another candy.

Evie reached for the box in his hand, giggling, but he held it out of reach. "Stop it, please."

He looked her in the eyes and shook his head, then threw another candy. However, it hit a man way past his target. The guy stood up, not looking pleased, and began searching the audience for the culprit. Thinking fast, Evie grabbed Hawk's hand and laced their fingers together, then put her head on his shoulder. They both looked up at the movie, despite neither of them really knowing what was going on at that point, and started actually eating the candy.

Once the man sat back down, having given up, Evie didn't pull away. And Hawk didn't mind that.

~

"You sure you don't wanna come over?" Hawk asked as he walked Evie to her front door. "We could practice in the basement. I moved some stuff around to make room for kicks."

She laughed, shaking her head. She pointed to his bandaged arm. "With your arm like that? No way. Besides, I've skipped out on spring cleaning three times already. Ronnie will kill me if I don't help her."

"Alright, alright, you win this time," he said, smiling at her as they stopped just shy of her door. He smiled at her. "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah," she said, trying the door knob. It was unlocked. She waved to Hawk as he started retreating down her walkway. "Later!"

She walked into the house and dropped her bag, then kicked off her shoes. She heard rock music playing from somewhere upstairs, which told her that her aunt was in the guest room that they used mostly for storage. She made her way up, but stopped in the doorway as she witnessed her aunt bob her head to the loud beats.