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"You doing okay?" Alexa asked Hawk the next day in class, keeping an eye on Tory as she approached him near the mirror.
"Yeah." he shrugged.
Alexa hesitated. "He's okay, if you wanted to know. I stayed at the hospital until after surgery."
Hawk looked down, not saying anything. Alexa poked his arm. "Don't clam up on me. You're the only one i've got left."
"What about Tory?" he gave a questionable look.
"Love her to death. Would do anything for her." Alexa nodded. "But, it's different. We've been here since the beginning. No more Miguel, no Demetri, no Aisha. It's just the two of us now. We have to stick together."
Hawk gave a little smile. "Got it."
"Hey." Tory walked toward the pair. "What's going on?"
"Trigonometry." Alexa pursed her lips. "You?"
Tory gave an odd look. "You don't even take trigonometry."
"Preparing for the future, woman." she held her hands up defensively. "I'm trying to get into good colleges."
Tory gave her a little grin. "Did you hear about the new recruits?"
"We're getting new recruits?" Hawk sat up some.
"After all the cuts that got made." Tory nodded her head. "Sensei Kreese said you helped him, Lex."
"Me?" she looked oddly. "No, I didn't even know he was looking for anyone."
Tory shrugged. "Maybe he got it confused."
"You know how old people get." Alexa whispered, cracking a grin as the duo did the same. The bell on the door going off caught her attention, looking up. Alexa's entire heart fell in the pit of her stomach.
Kyler.
As a habit, her hands went to reach for her glasses. They hadn't been there, she dropped her hands in embarrassment. All the glasses she had because he'd break them, all the times he'd grab her face and mock her. She managed to avoid him at all cost, that was ruined now as he walked in. Tory shrugged. "They seem good enough."
She noticed the pairs silence, giving an odd look. "The two of you silent? Shocker."
"Nothing." she cleared her throat slightly. "We should warm up, yeah?"
"I'm gonna call you guys...Chodenose and Taintbreath." Mitch walked forward as he looked at Brucks and Kyler.
"What the hell did you just say?" Kyler stepped forward as his words.
"Oh, uh, nothing. It's just this thing we do around here sometimes." he laughed slightly, looking around the dojo. Kyler jumped his way slightly, Mitch jumped back. Alexa avoided his look, keeping her gaze far away.
