HAYDEN STIFLED A LAUGH, CUPPING HER HAND OVER MOUTH.

"What the hell did you do to your hair?" She gaped at Eli, who now had a red-dyed mohawk on his head.

"I flipped the script." Hawk smirked proudly, turning his head to the side in order to allow Hayden a full side view of his hair, "You like?"

Hayden blinked. "Not even a little."

Hawk scoffed, waving her off. "Whatever, I've already gotten two girls' numbers since I did this."

"Poor girls," She muttered, though her attention drifted off to something that caught her eye. Miguel and Sam, walking to class together hand-in-hand, laughing in a sickeningly adorable way.

She was happy for Miguel, of course. That's all she wanted for him, was to be happy. And it's not like they weren't still friends (even when Hayden heavily denied the growing friendship). They still spoke and texted every day. Nothing's changed.

Yet.

Hawk followed her gaze, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You good?" He asked quietly.

Hayden tore her gaze away, shutting her locker. "Yep," She slung her bag over her shoulder, "All good."

Hawk nodded, patting her back a couple of times. "'Atta girl," He turned her the opposite direction of where the couple stood, "Let's go to class."

Hayden nodded, drowning in her thoughts while letting Hawk guide her to class. They didn't get very far when Hayden stopped them, eyeing Hawk funny. "Why're you walking like that?"

Hawk tensed at the question, shrugging her off. "What do you mean?" He attempted to play it off, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Why are you walking like there's a stick up your ass?"

Hawk trailed his gaze to the floor, as if he were ashamed of his reasoning. He finally spoke, but his voice was so low Hayden couldn't hear him even leaning in. "What was that?"

He spoke again, this time his words slurred and mumbled together to form an uncoherent sentence. "Huh?" Hayden furrowed her brows.

"A stray dog bit me in the ass during karate practice, okay!? I had to get a damn rabies shot." He finally spoke up, drawing attention from students who shot him weird glances.

Hayden struggled to hold in a laugh, shutting her eyes tightly. "Don't laugh, it's not funny." Hawk grumbled, continuing to walk forward.

"Aw, Eli, it's okay!" She trailed after him, pouting at him even though he couldn't see it. She threw her arm around him, "You're my favorite dog-bite survivor." She didn't let up with her teasing all the way to class.

—

"Can I ask you something?"

Miguel eyed Hayden nervously, waiting for a response.

Hayden slumped down in her seat, crossing her arms and crossing one leg over the other. "Go ahead," she nodded, gesturing him to go on.

"Okay, well," He scratched the back of his neck, scrambling for the right thing to ask what he was about to ask. "I was wondering if maybe you'd come for dinner tonight?"

Hayden's brows shot up at the question, having to keep a firm grip on her pencil to keep it from escaping her grip. "What?"

"My mom, she's been bugging me about, you know, inviting you. So, I figured—" Hayden cut him off, pointing at one of the questions that confused her and looking at Miguel, who read over the question, "You forgot to add to square this." He pointed out where she went wrong.

"Ahh," She erased the equation and started over, nodding for him to continue.

"A-anyway, I thought we could maybe do it today."

"I figured your mom would've forgot about my existence. I've only been to your house like once." Saying it out loud made her eyes slightly narrow once realization dawned. She slowly looked over at Miguel, "Miguel Diaz, have you been talking to your mommy about me?" Hayden teased, a slight smile quirking at her lips. It only grew when Miguel turned pink in response.

He grew visibly flustered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've mentioned you like once or twice."

Hayden smirked, watching him squirm before answering, "I've never met anyone's parents before." She admitted with a sigh.

"My mom's the most low maintenance person you'll ever meet. I promise, I think you'll get along great."

Hayden blew raspberries, looking up at the ceiling and drawing her brows together while she thought. Miguel half expected her to shoot him down again, like she'd done the past few times he's asked to do anything not school related.

"Fuck it," She muttered, giving in. "Sure, I'm in."

Miguel let out a breath of relief and his eyes slightly widened, a wide smile spreading across his lips. "Okay, okay, cool. I'll pick you up at eight?"

"By pick me up you mean walking up a flight of stairs, knocking on my door, and then walking me down the flight of stairs?"

Miguel chuckled, "Yes, exactly. Anyways, my mom's really excited to meet you."

Hayden went back to her paper, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. "Has she met Samantha yet?" She asked while writing down another equation.

The question drew an uncomfortable silence from Miguel, "Uh, no. She hasn't."

Hayden nodded slowly, pursing her lips. She figured that was her cue to not ask any more questions about Sam (which she had no problem doing). But she didn't have to, because Miguel continued without any push. "We're sort of going through, like, a weird phase right now."

Hayden didn't want to talk about Sam. Just thinking about her made her blood boil. The kind of person she was made her want to stick her head in a woodchipper.

A part of it, if she were being honest, was jealousy. True, red, hot jealousy. Samantha had everything Hayden would literally murder to have. Wealth, popularity, status, beauty, a good relationship with her parents. Miguel.

Though Hayden had refused to admit feelings for Miguel and that he had anything to do with her hatred for Sam, the thought lingered.

She pushed those thoughts down, but the jealousy part. It was hard to shake. It made her stomach turn uneasily to the point where she swore she would throw up. But she could see the stress in Miguel's stare, the weight he was carrying on his shoulders. So, she swallowed it and spoke shakily. "What's wrong?"

"She just— It's weird. Of all the bumps in the road I thought we'd cross during our relationship, I never thought karate would be one of them."

Hayden hummed, acknowledging that she was listening, and he could continue his tangent, "Her dad and my sensei I guess have some kind of feud that's been going on since high school. Sensei Lawrence thinks Sam's family isn't trustworthy. Lately, she's been trying to get me to switch dojos. I can't do that to my sensei, though."

Hayden paused her writing, arching a brow at the boy. "Okay, first of all, a feud that's been going on since high school is just sad." This earned a laugh from Miguel, his shoulders relaxing. "Second of all, you and Sam aren't them. You don't have to involve yourselves in their unresolved issues. And third of all, if Sam can't put aside her dad's problems, that's on her."

Miguel nodded, soaking in her words. He rubbed his face, and Hayden could tell this had been on Miguel's mind for a minute already. She rubbed his back in a rare show of comfort, "It's gonna be okay, 'kay? Just... don't worry about it."

Miguel exhaled, a little tension leaving his frame. "Yeah," he murmured, "It's gonna be okay." He repeated her words but he felt the pang of guilt in his chest when the thought that crossed his mind for the millionth times by now was back: things would never be this complicated had he asked Hayden out like he really wanted to.

—

Hayden took AP Spanish freshman year because it, allegedly, would look good on her transcripts.

She was familiar with the language, and could speak it, albeit horribly, a decent amount.

So, when they held hands around the table, listening to Miguel's Yaya pray in Spanish, she was secretly proud she recognized most of the prayer.

"Amen," They all said, Johnny, who grew to liking Hayden immediately, chiming in a beat late.

"So, um, Miguel told me all about the tournament," Carmen started, cutting into her plantains. "I hope he doesn't get hurt."

Miguel looked up, growing embarrassed from how overprotective his mom was being in front of his sensei and Hayden. "Mom, I told you there's referees. You can't get hurt."

"At least not permanently." Johnny added with a grin.

Hayden raised a brow. "What tournament?"

Johnny perked up, gesturing toward Miguel. "The All-Valley tournament tomorrow. Miguel's gonna be my top fighter,"

"Hmm, I have not heard about this tournament, Miguel." She narrowed her eyes at the boy next to her, placing her elbows on the table and folding her hands under her chin.

"Uhh," Miguel looked off to the side, "Slipped my mind?" He smiled sheepishly.

"Mhm," Hayden didn't believe his excuse, and made sure Miguel knew that by shaking her head at him, knowing they'd have a conversation about it soon.

The conversation shifted and consisted of Carmen making small talk with Johnny. Miguel and Hayden would exchanged glances from next to each other, smiling at one another every once in a while.

Miguel's phone rung shortly after, and everyone seemed to know who it was as Miguel was excused from the table, leaving Hayden with the three adults.

She smiled at Carmen, attempting to seem somewhat warm and fuzzy to Miguel's mom. "So, Hayden, do you know Miguel's girlfriend?"

The question almost made her choke on her plantains. She cleared her throat, setting her fork down, She debated her answers in her head, carefully selecting her words. "Um, yeah, a little bit. She's in our chemistry class."

She took a bite of her plantains, giving herself a moment to recover from Carmen's question. She didn't want to talk about Miguel's girlfriend. She especially didn't want to talk about Miguel's girlfriend with Miguel's mom.

Carmen smiled gently at Hayden, "And what about you? Are you seeing anyone?"

"Eres una chica hermosa, debes tener miles de novios." Miguel's Yaya laughed, and Hayden laughed softly along with her, shaking her head.

"No," She laughed, both out of nervousness and out of obligation, "Dating's not really my thing." She shrugged, looking down at her plate.

Johnny leaned back in his seat, gesturing toward Hayden with his fork. "I like her. Romance is a distraction, messes things up." He spoke like it was directed at someone, even when Miguel wasn't in the room to hear. "Stick to the important stuff— like kicking ass."

Hayden let herself laugh, the irony sinking in that kicking ass also wasn't something she was supposed to be doing. "I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Lawrence."

"Mr— No, no. Johnny's fine... if you really want, you can make it Sensei Lawrence." Johnny lifted and dropped his brows at her, "There's always a spot for you in Cobra Kai."

Hayden chuckled lightly, nodding. "Maybe,"

"What's your favorite food, Hayden? Maybe we can make it the next time you come over for dinner." Carmen smiled warmly.

Hayden looked at Carmen, hers brows up and her lower lip between her teeth. Hayden was unaware there would be a next time. But the thought that Carmen was extending a future invitation gave Hayden a warm feeling inside her stomach. "I'm not picky," She responded with a quiet laugh.

Carmen nodded, "What's your family like? Do you have any siblings?"

Hayden would obviously never say it out loud, but the topic of her family made her want to shut down completely. She tried not to grow defensive, squirming in her seat as she felt her face grow hot. She swallowed like it would help her speak, "Yeah, I have an older sister." It felt like there were pins and needles in her throat.

"Oh, yeah? What's she like?"

"She's..." Hayden's mind drifted off, and suddenly, she was right back in South LA.

It was dark by the time Hayden made it home from school, her backpack weighing heavy on her shoulders, her stomach growling.

She had a migraine that pounded on the right side of her head, mountains of homework she needed to get done, and she hadn't eaten all day, looking forward to whatever Logan promised to make.

She paused outside the apartment door, taking a deep breath before unlocking it. She didn't want to have such little faith in her sister, but deep down, she already knew what to expect.

The living room was a mess. Dirty plates sat abandoned on the coffee table, surrounded by crushed soda cans and an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts. There was that faint smell of burnt plastic lingered in the air that Hayden knew all too well. It made her migraine grow by the second.

"Logan?" Hayden called out, dropping her bag by the door.

No response.

She found her sister sprawled on the couch, her face buried in a pillow, a blanket half-sliding onto the floor. Empty bottles lined the edge of the table.

Hayden felt her frustration begin to boil over, "Logan!" Hayden said, louder this time.

Logan stirred awake, groaning as she rolled onto her side. Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot, her hair tangled. "What?" She muttered, squinting against the dim light.

"You were supposed to make dinner," Hayden said, trying to keep her voice steady. "You promised."

Logan blinked, her brain slow to process the words. "Fuck," She muttered, "I—I forgot, I'm sorry kid." She slurred, sitting up and rubbing her temples.

"Again?" Hayden's features tightened in irritation. "You always forget, Logan! I'm starving, and there's nothing in that damn fridge!"

Logan flinched at the sharpness in Hayden's tone, but instead of apologizing, she just looked away. "I'll do it now," She mumbled, attempting to stand. Her legs wobbled beneath her, and she grabbed the edge of the couch for balance.

"Forget it," Hayden scoffed, "I'll figure it out myself. Like always." She stormed into the kitchen.

Logan sank back onto the couch, burying her face in her hands.

That wasn't the first nor last time Logan would let her down either...

Hayden stood outside the school, clutching her backpack straps tightly as the parking lot emptied out slowly.

Cars pulled away, one after another, until she was the only one left.

She mentally scolded herself, knowing she should've taken the ride Grayson offered her before he left.

She glanced at her phone for the tenth time, checking the time. Logan was an hour late. Going on two.

She tried calling again, her fingers trembling with anger and worry. The call went straight to voicemail. "Logan, where the hell are you? You were supposed to pick me up. Call me back," Hayden said, her voice shaking as she ended the call.

The janitor locked the school doors behind her, shooting her a sympathetic look. "Need a ride, kid?" he asked.

"No," Hayden muttered, her face burning with embarrassment. "I'll just walk."

When she finally made it home, her shoes soaked from a sudden downpour, she found Logan asleep on the couch, the TV blaring some infomercial. The smell of alcohol clung to her, and a half-empty bottle sat on the floor next to her hand.

Hayden stared at her, her teeth clenched so hard it hurt. She felt her lips tremble as she opened her mouth to speak.

She wanted to scream, to throw something, to wake Logan up and demand an explanation. But instead, she dropped her backpack and trudged to her room, slamming the door behind her.

She wondered when the day would come when Logan would clean up and finally get her act together. When the old Logan would finally come back.

Little did Hayden know, that was just the beginning of Logan's downward spiral.

Hayden snapped back into reality, meeting Carmen's concerned gaze and realizing she had yet to give an answer. "She's cool," Hayden decided on, giving a tight-lipped smile.

"She lives with you up on the second floor?"

"Um, no. She lives somewhere else." She nods, deciding she wouldn't be able to take much more questioning before she snapped.

"Sorry that took so long guys." As if he were reading her mind, Miguel slipped back into his seat, despite looking slightly stressed.

Hayden quirked a brow at him, but he shook her off, sending a reassuring smile her way.

authors note.
Hellooo what are your opinions on the rewrite so far? Also pls leave comments guys I love reading them :,)