"Ready?" Miguel asked, training with Karter after class when she said Hawk refused to. She was struggling with locking her fist hard enough to punch without hurting her wrist. Karter nodded, sending a slow punch forward as it hit his palms. "Okay, again."

She did it again, slowly like he told her to. "I'm not gonna hurt anyone with slow punches."

"No, but you have to build up the habit." he corrected her, letting her do it a few more times. "Tighten your fist."

"It is." she argued. He stoped, causing her to punch him in the chest. "What?"

"Give me this." he took her wrist, tightening her hand into a fist. "It's not just about making a fist. You have to squeeze tightly."

Karter squeezed her fist, her nails digging into her palms. Miguel nodded, holding his hands up again as she sent a harder punch. "Ow. See, what'd I tell you?"

Karter grinned. "Or you just have girl hands."

He placed a hand on his heart with a fake offended look. "You know what? I'm a feminist, so, i'm not gonna take offense to that."

Karter laughed, grabbing her bag from the wall. "Are you meeting the team at that restaurant Moon was talking about?"

"Uh, no, no, i've gotta do some stuff on my computer." he shook his head quickly with a minor sigh.

"So, do it there." she gave a shrug, pulling her left shoe on. "I'm not on good terms with the rest of the team yet, I don't wanna sit alone like a loser."

"You know you can, oh, I don't know, try talking to people." Miguel suggested, getting his shoes on as she waited at the door for him. "That is kinda how you get on good terms with people."

Karter sent her foot into his shoulder, making him fall backwards from the way he had already been kneeled down. "Don't be such a smartass."

Migeul laughed as he got his shoes on again. "I'm just stating the factual facts."

"The factual facts is that you're a smartass." she crossed her arms, waiting for him to get up. "Plus, who cares? You don't like being my only friend?"

"Oh, it's a blast." he said sarcastically, rubbing his shoulder and following her out of the dojo.

"Okay, so, they weren't really feeling my fake ID. So, instead of Sex on The Beach, I had to get us a Cuddles on The Beach." Karter sat down across from Miguel with the two drinks, pushing one his way with a long exhale. "California is so much more expensive then Arizona. I should get a job."

Miguel putting a draw into the drink, his eyes flicking down at the laptop infront of him. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

It was clear he wasn't focused too much on her, Karter rose her eyebrows. "Are you working on another project?"

"No. Nothing." Miguel said back.

Karter gave a low gasp. "Are you watching porn in the middle of a restaurant?"

Miguel laughed. "No!"

"I think you are." she shook her head.

"I'm not!" he continued his laugher with hers. "I'm dead serious."

Karter circled the table to be on his side, leaning down. He shut it really quick and looked as her. "If you laugh at it-"

"You'll what, Rwanda? Fight me?" she gave a teasing grin his way. "Come on, show it to me."

Miguel sighed, opening the laptop as a red heart was shown on the screen. He hit a button, a song played in the background as a half photo of a smaller him appeared, slowly a girl forming next to him. "She's cute. Who is she?"

"Sam. My ex." he sighed slightly.

A karate chop cut the heart in half as words from the back appeared. "My heart is broken without you."

A drawn octopus showed up, mending it back together. "Sam and I have this thing for octopuses. Or octopi. It's kinda like our relationship mascot. So, what do you think?"

Karter exhaled with a nod. "Well, I think it's sweet."

Miguel nodded. "So, I should send it?"

"No." Karter shook her head, watching his face fall. "Not yet, anyways. You've been trying to win her back a lot, right?"

"Right." Miguel nodded his head.

"So, if you continued on, it's gonna look sorta creepy." she explained with a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know, not all girls are the same, but most of the time we aren't into guys that radiate stalker vibes."

"Stalker vibes?" Miguel asked in disbelief, getting a nod. "So, how do I let her know i'm still into her?"

"You wanna know what gets me really into a guy?" Karter asked, getting a quick nod. "Knowing I can't have him all to myself."

"So, jealousy?" Miguel asked, getting a confident nod. "How do I do that?"

Karter grinned. "What's her last name?"

"Sam LaRusso." he answered, watching Karter pull out her phone. "What are you gonna do?"

"Stop talking." she said back. After a second of scrolling, she flipping the phone around. "This is her?"

Miguel stared at the screen. "Yeah, that's her instagram."

Karter clicked on her recent story. "She's at the mall. You ready?"

Miguel looked in confusion as he stared up at her when she stood. "Where are we going?"

"To the mall. Keep up, nerd." she said back, walking off as Miguel hesitated, but hurried to follow.

"I still don't understand what we're doing here." Miguel sighed as Karter looked around the mall hesitantly. "You want me to talk to her?"

"No, of course not." Karter answered, pausing as he bumped into her. "Is that her?"

He followed her gaze toward Sam in the food court, with Robby Keene. "Are you kidding me? Yes, that guy is-"

"Okay, come with me." Karter pulled him by the arm, the food court was large, but Karter was bringing him toward a pretzel shop that was radiating a bright turquoise shade due to the build in LED lights on the sign. "Don't look over there, pretend you have zero clue she's even there."

Miguel nodded, laughing loudly as Karter looked over. "What are you doing?"

"Acting natural." he said back, laughing again. "I'm pretending you said something funny."

Karter pulled him toward the pretzel stand, the turquoise light shining down on them. The girl behind the bar smiled. "What can I get the two of you?"

"Could you give us just one minute to look over the options?" Karter asked with a fake smile. The girl nodded. "Could you tell me if the girl at the table closest to the shop is looking over here? She's in a pink and blue shirt, but don't make it obvious."

Miguel gave a crazy look. "Karter, you can't just ask strangers that."

The girl subtly glanced over, pretending to grab two cups. "She is."

"Perfect." Karter smiled. "We'll take two of the classic twist."

"Got it." she smiled, heading toward the back.

"Why-" Miguel started, stopping as she turned to him, grasping his wrist.

"Just trust me." she said to him, letting his wrist go to hold his face in her hands, pulling him into a kiss. Miguel eyes widened, his lips on hers, shutting them after her thumb ran across his face. After a few more seconds, Karter pulled back as he looked down at her with wide eyes. "Make her think she can't have you all to herself."

Miguel blinked. "Make her jealous."

"That's how you get the girl." she answered with a tiny smile. "By the end of summer, I promise you, Sam will be all yours again."

Miguel smiled, letting her take his hand as they laced them together, paying for their pretzels and passing Sams table to pretend they hadn't noticed her.

•

kylie speaks

it's happennnninggggg!
let's hope i can deliver with
the fake dating troupe haha