Cochlear | A Cobra Kai Fanfiction

6

Jesse made sure to charge her implant and bring an extra set of batteries with her to the festival. The closer she got the more anxiety she felt invade her body. The teen consistently thought about turning back multiple times.

But when she drove into the parking lot she saw a familiar teen looking at his phone and sitting on one of the wooden posts. She drove up next to the teen and honked, scaring Demetri so bad he fell off.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Jesse chuckled out, conveying her mouth to hide her laughs. She showed her pointer finger to ask for a second as she turned on her hearing.

Demetri scowled as he brushed his self off and walked towards the window. "That's the worse apology I've ever heard."

Jesse only chuckled harder. Once she calmed down and realized there were people behind her, she looked back at Demetri. "Want to get in?"

The boy pretended to be upset as he sat in the car with a sniff, refusing to look at the girl after his own mortification.

"Y-you're not actually upset are you?" Jesse asked, hoping that she hadn't offended the boy. "I am sorry, I just thought it was funny."

"No, I'm not." Demetri let out a sigh. "More embarrassed with the scream that came out of my mouth."

"It was more like a squeak." Jesse corrected with a smirk, enjoying the small groan from her friend. She pulled into a parking spot and checked her bag to ensure everything was there.The two friends walked up to where the performance were just in time to watch a small musical number.

"So, Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pibb?" Demetri asked as he took a sip of his drink. "And be warned, I will judge you for your answer."

"Wow, way to add some pressure." Jesse said sarcastically. She thought for a moment. "You know, I don't think I've ever had Mr. Pibb."

"Seriously?"

Jesse thought some before nodding. "No, yeah. I haven't."

"Perfect." Demetri said with a nod. "You are the perfect specimen to test if they taste the same or not." Jesse chuckled. "Really! One day we will have to test it."

The girl rolled her eyes and looked back towards the stage. Somehow they had gotten into the middle of things and Jesse was starting to fidget at the noise. She kept asking Demetri to repeat himself and it got to the point where he just texted her.

Their attention was drawn away from the main stage to the side one and the two stayed near the main one to get away from the noise. "Is this the karate people with your friend Eli?"

Demetri snorted. "No. This is actually-"

Jesse flinched at the sudden screaming and grabbed at her ear, unable to make out what just happened. Demetri saw the crowd rushing back over and quickly pull his friend in front of him so they wouldn't be separated.

Unable to take the noise and screaming, Jesse turned her sound all the way off and sighed with relief. She looked up at Demetri and tapped her ear then made a cutting motion towards her neck.

The two were now pushed towards the front of the stage and Jesse found a colorful mohawk. Tapping Demetri on the shoulder she used her hands to signify big hair and pointed at Eli.

Demetri nodded confirming that the crazy haired kid was indeed Eli. Jesse snorted and pulled her friend down towards her to talk in his ear. "That color is not pretty." Demetri's face went red and he rubbed the back of his neck with a chuckled.

Their attention went back to the stage and Demetri tried not to think about the girl next to him, arm to arm. She didn't want to get separated.

Eventually, Demetri's friend came over to them and looked at his friend expectantly. Jesse couldn't make out what was being said, but frowned at her friend shaking his head.

But Hawk seemed to not care and grabbed the teen by the neck of the shirt and pulled him on stage. Hawk didn't forget to wink at Jesse with a smirk who only frowned through furrowed eyebrows.

The fear of being alone and unable to communicate started to set in as she watched Demetri on stage. Jesse couldn't figure out what would happen next and was slowly getting her space invaded by strangers. Her panic started to really set in the moment Demetri was forced to return to the crowd from the side wings and Jesse immediately headed to wards that direction.

Demetri tried calling out for Jesse untill realizing that was a dumb idea. Quickly he pulled out his phone and text the girl to meet him at the back of the crowd. A minute later, the two teens let out a sigh of relief as they saw each other.

'Can we move now that's it's over?'

Demetri nodded and the two moved to a quieter location where Jade turned her volume on with a content sigh.

"Sometimes I like the quiet, but I can't handle it too long." Jesse admitted with a sheepish smile. "But, uh, great job holding that board!"

"I had no idea that was going to happen." Confessed the teen who scowled. "I lost my drink too!"

"We can get you a new one." Jesse chuckled starting to head to a nearby concession stand. "Plus, I want cotton candy."

Demetri stepped in next to the girl. "You'll get cavities by the time the nights over."

"At least I'll have lived a happy life."

The teen's stayed for a while longer enjoying a few games. Demetri was able to show off his intelligence at a few games, proving to the girl that most of the games were rigged.

"Now you see. Most games that claim a certain physical capability aren't what they say they are. For example this one-" Just as Demetri was gesturing to the game behind him, Jesse stumbled a little. Demetri out a steady hand on the girl. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sometimes my balance is weird. It's hard to explain, but something with ear fluid and balance. I don't know." Jesse shrugged and sent the girl a smile. "Continue."

Demetri's eyes lit up as he was given permission to showcase further. "So watch this. I bet you I can win this game with one band."

Jesse raised an eyebrow, not believing her friend but shrugged. "I don't know how but okay."

With confidence, Demetri gave the attendant a five and after 10 seconds, Jesse and the attendant looked at the lanky boy in shock.

"How's you do that?!" Jesse exclaimed as the boy was handed a Pokémon plushie. Demetri smirked.

"Physics and math."

Jesse nodded thoroughly impressed. "Okay, how do I do it!?"

After three tries, Jesse finally understood what Demetri was saying and won a plushie as well. She didn't know anything about Pokémon, so she just chose the one that matched her outfit.

Demetri snorted, recalling that the girl never played video games. "Did you pick that one because it was yellow?"

Jesse let out a sheepish smile. "That obvious?"

"A little bit, but that's okay. We can play Pokémon together one day." And both teens felt their hearts pick up a little at the prospect of hanging out more. "I-I mean if that's cool with you? O-or we could play something else there's lots of games to catch you up on like-"

"We can start at Pokémon." Jesse interjected with a chuckle while squeezing the weird yellow animal. "You can tell me what this dog is for."

"It's more of rodent." Demetri corrected. "But uh yeah. I can explain the lore and history."

"I'd like that."