𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, Robby Keene

S03:E04

•~3rd person P.O.V~•
"But Sensei Kreese, their confidence fuels their moves in a fight, I don't have any and I feel like I'm the worst fighter on that mat!" Ellie frowned, leaning back in the plush chair that was placed in front of Kreese's desk. Kreese twisted the rings on his fingers, as he pondered on what to say next.

"You need to let go of whatever is holding you back. You're smart Ms. Moskowitz, you know what you need to do to feel the confidence needed to fight. But I still know you, and I know that whatever you're holding onto isn't for you, it's for someone else." Ellie blinked, wondering what she could be hanging onto.

"I-I'm not hanging onto anything." Kreese pricked up an eyebrow, leaning closer to her.

"I know you're smart, but no one else does. Why is that?" The deals Ellie had made. She was holding onto them. She was holding onto her fantasy of her mom finally loving her once she fulfilled those deals.

But she'd been fulfilling those deals for six and a half years now and her mother still wasn't acting in the role that Ellie desired. That Ellie needed. The deals didn't help her any, they just made her feel worse if anything.

But even Ellie knew that being smart wouldn't make her confident. Her facts got her weird looks, not smiles or peaked interests. Ellie took a deep breath as she stood and left, wondering how to proceed. Could she just tell her mom she was done with the deals? There was no way, that would get her grounded until she moved out. She had to do something, anything to relieve herself from the pressure of the deals.

~

"Hey, twenty-two in a row. New record!" Eli exclaimed, gripping the soccer ball in his hands. Ellie had her legs propped up on the lunch table as she watched, counting every bump.

"You know, me and you could go twenty-two rounds in a-"

"Ew! No!" Ellie shoved the boy next to her, his awful breath brushing her cheek.

"C'mon, give me a chance." Ellie rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest.

"Have you seen yourself? I have low standards but they aren't that low." The boy smirked, leaning back in his seat. The boy was relentless, but only when Eli wasn't paying attention. He knew if Eli saw his advances if you could even call them that, that he'd beat the shit out of him. But Ellie wanted him to feel that way about Ellie.

"I like girls that play hard to get." Ellie pricked up her eyebrow.

"You just say that because you can't get any bitches." Suddenly Ellie heard a crash, her head quickly whipping around as she looked in the direction of the sound. Eli had thrown his soccer ball on Demetri's project. Did Ellie care? Not necessarily, she was still upset about the party.

"Another week, another pissing contest. I shouldn't be surprised since you love pissing so much." Demetri spat, looking Eli up and down bitterly.

"You landed one kick. You got lucky." Eli chuckled, a satisfied smirk growing across his face.

"Back off, or you won't be lucky." Sam bellowed, quickly taking her place beside Demetri. Ellie couldn't help but cringe, something that usually happened after Sam's "comebacks".

"Like you'll start anything, princess. Why don't you go sleep with someone new and break his heart?" Sam clenched her teeth, before shoving Eli into the other Cobra's behind him.

"What's going on, Miss LaRusso? You know our physical contact guidelines. Did she enter your personal bubble without verbal consent?" Counselor Blatt asked, but Ellie was quick to respond as Eli struggled for an answer.