❝ is your old age causing you to lose your hearing or something? ❞

―

NATHALIE LEANED BACK IN HER CHAIR.

She had her arms folded across the chest and her feet propped up in the empty seat next to her. She stared up at the cafeteria ceiling as the school counselor gave a speech about bullying. Nathalie was trying to tune her out, but her voice still entered her ears, keeping her from truly being able to zone out.

Nathalie groaned as she adjusted her posture and looked at Flora. "I swear, she has got to be the most insufferable school counselor to ever exist."

Flora tried to stifle a laugh. "She's not that bad. I mean, yeah, she's annoying and kind of sucks at her job, but she's actually pretty nice."

Nathalie laughed. "Saying she sucks at her job is an understatement. That woman doesn't know the first thing about counseling. I know she had our best interest at heart, but my god, she's awful. And I think we have vastly different definitions of nice."

Aisha shrugged. "I don't know. I guess she can be kind of nice, but she's not exactly the best when it comes to helping with problems."

Natalie held her hand out, gesturing to Aisha, palm facing the ceiling. "I rest my case."

Flora shook her head and chuckled before taking a sip of her drink. She turned her head back around, facing Counselor Blatt as she spoke.

"Cyberbullying is no laughing matter. Sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as hurtful as saying it to their face."

Nathalie sighed. She knew firsthand just how hurtful it was to be cyberbullied. People from school loved to spread rumors about her and most of them started online. Nathalie tried to avoid social media as much as possible. She already heard the rumors and cruel remarks at school. The last thing she wanted was to have to read them online too.

"Now, I'm not gonna name names," Counselor Blatt continued, "but the other day a mother called me up because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity."

Nathalie's eyebrows furrowed together. She blinked her eyes in disbelief. "Did she just..."

Flora nodded her head. "She did. Everyone knows who she's talking about. They're staring."

Nathalie blew air through her nose, biting her tongue. She might have hated Eli with a burning passion, but she didn't tolerate bullying. She didn't care who it was, she was furious every single time.

"Careful there, Nattie," Flora leaned in, whispering in her ear. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you cared about him."

Natalie glared at her. "I don't care about him. I just can't stand it when people get bullied. You know that."

"But today, our goal here is to make this school a safe space for all students," Counselor Blatt continued on.

She seemed to drone on forever to the point where Nathalie wanted to walk up to her and snatch the microphone out of her hand. She resisted the urge, not wanting to risk having the school call Marisol while she was at work.

"Oh, and one last thing, while we're all looking to the Halloween dance, let's make sure are culturally sensitive," Counselor Blatt said. "For example, instead of 'sexy nurse,' maybe try 'gender neutral hospital employee.'"

Aisha scooted her chair closer to the table next to them where her friend, Sam sat. "Hey! I've got a great idea for our costumes this year."

"Um.." Sam said in response.

Nathalie turned her head, listening in on the conversation. She wasn't exactly too keen on Samantha LaRusso. All she knew was that Sam had been pushing Aisha to the side to hang out with her new popular friends—the same popular friends who liked to give her dirty looks in the hallway. She also knew that her father owned LaRusso Auto where Marisol was employed part time as a receptionist.

"I was thinking I go as sodium and you go as chloride and when people ask what we are, we do this," Aisha said to Sam, grabbing the salt off the table and shaking some into the ground.

Sam laughed.

Yasmine scoffed. "What is that, some dumb inside joke you have?"

"I mean, it's not really "inside." Sodium chloride is table salt," Aisha explained to her.

"Yeah, I was kidding," Yasmine replied.

Nathalie raised an eyebrow. "Were you?"

Yasmine made a face at her. Nathalie looked back at her with the same expression, causing Yasmine to roll her eyes.

"We actually decided to go as Laker Girls," Sam told Aisha. "But maybe we could order another."

"They're on size-fits-all," Yasmine leaned forward, looking straight at Aisha, "which suddenly seems like false advertising."

Yasmine snickered as the rest of the girls at the table giggled at her comment. Nathalie turned to look at Flora, the expression on her face asking if she could give Yasmine a piece of her mind. Flora shook her head at her. Nathalie curled her lip upward and clicked her tongue as she turned her head back towards the popular girls.

Aisha's head fell as she scooted back to the table. Nathalie sent a glare Yasmine's way. She's lucky that Flora is a pacifist and kept Nathalie in check. Otherwise, Nathalie's fist would have introduced itself to Yasmine's pretty face.

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The day of the Halloween dance came. Nathalie stood in front of her bedroom mirror, adding the finishing touches to her costume. She turned around, gesturing to her outfit as she looked at Flora.

"What do you think?" she asked before crossing her arms. "The name's Bond. James Bond. Or should I say Torres. Natalie Torres."

Flora smiled. "You look perfect! What do you think of my costume?"

She wore a green dress that was long and flow-y with a halter top. Her strawberry blonde hair was curled and hid down to her shoulders. Around her waist were green vines that looped up around her shoulders.

"Absolutely beautiful," Nathalie complimented her. "But you do realize that people are just going to think you're Poison Ivy, right?"

"Yeah, probably," Flora shrugged before smiling brightly. "But at least we'll know that I'm Layla from Sky High."

Nathalie nodded her head before linking her arm with Flora's. "Are we ready?"

"For a school dance with loud music, a bunch of people all crowded in the smelly gym?" Flora questioned. "No."

Nathalie laughed as they started to walk out of her room. They didn't even have the chance to enter the living room before the front door swung open and Sebastian and Oliver came running into the apartment. They were both out of breath. Sebastian held out a piece of paper in front of the two girls.

"You'll never believe that happened!" Sebastian breathed out. "You know the drunk guy that lives across from us?"

"Johnny?" Nathalie asked.

Sebastian nodded, handing Nathalie the paper. "We were at the skatepark, and he asked us to join his karate dojo!"

"What?" Nathalie's eyes widened and she snatched the paper from her brother's hand.

Her eyes scanned the paper as Flora read it over her shoulder.

"So, can we join?" Sebastian asked excitedly.

"Are you crazy?" Nathalie asked, looking up at him. "Absolutely not!"

Sebastian pouted. "Why not? We wanna learn how to defend ourselves! You're always telling me to stick up for myself, and this is the perfect opportunity."

"Plus, it'll give us the chance to explore more hobbies," Oliver chimed in. "You're both always saying that all we do is skateboard."

"Oli, you cried when our baby cousin punched you in the face," Flora told him. "Do you really think you can handle doing karate?"

"Hey!" Oliver exclaimed. "That baby punched me really hard, okay? She made my nose bleed!"

"Exactly," Flora responded. "You're fragile."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I'm not a glass doll. I'll be fine! You can even join with me. It'd be fun!"

"I'm a pacifist!" Flora reminded him. "I don't believe in violence of any kind, and that includes karate. Nattie, back me up here."

Flora turned to her best friend, only to see she was no longer standing next to her. "Nattie?" She turned to their brothers. "Where'd she go?"

Sebastian and Oliver glanced at each other before turning back to Flora and shrugging.

"Johnny Lawrence, open the door!"

Flora pushed past Sebastian and Oliver and walked towards the door. She looked outside, seeing Nathalie pounding her fist against the door to Johnny's apartment. Flora couldn't help but let out a laugh as she walked towards her.

"Nattie, what are you doing?" Flora asked her.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" Nathalie asked, tilting her head toward her. "I'm going to tell this guy that my little brother is not joining his stupid dojo."

"I'm all for it, but I don't think he's home," Flora told her.

Nathalie continued hitting the door with her fist. "How do you know?"

"Well, for one he's not answering," Flora pointed out. "And two, his car isn't here."

Nathalie stopped knocking and glanced over to where his car was usually parked. Sure enough, it wasn't there. Nathalie lowered her fist and sighed.

"I hope you know that the next time I see him, he's going to get an earful," Nathalie crossed her arms.

Flora nodded and laughed. "Oh, I'm sure he'll be so terrified of a five foot tall girl straining her neck to look up at him."

Nathalie narrowed her eyes at her. "Hey, I can be very threatening."

Flora laughed before grabbing Nathalie by the hand and pulling her back towards the Torres' apartment. They stopped in front of the door.

"We'll talk about this later after the dance and after Marisol's home," Nathalie pointed at Sebastian. "Don't do anything stupid while we're gone, understand?"

"You too," Flora said to Oliver.

Both the boys nodded their heads. Nathalie gave them one last stern look before she followed Flora out the door and shut it behind her.

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Nathalie and Flora walked into the school gym; arms linked together. Nathalie instantly regretted coming and tried to let go of Flora's arm to turn and leave, but she pulled her back.

"You've been here five seconds," Flora told her. "Stay just a little bit longer. You'll live, I promise."

Nathalie shook her head. "I will not. I'm going to die and it's going to be all your fault. On my death record they'll list my cause of death as 'Forced to stay at school dance by best friend' and everyone will know that the best friend in question is you."

Flora chuckled. "You're so dramatic."

Nathalie didn't respond. She just looked around the gym. She flinched when Flora's arm shot out right in front of her face. "Look there's Aisha!"

Nathalie didn't even have the chance to see where Flora was pointing before she was being dragged through the gym. Flora continued to hold onto Nathalie's arm as if she was worried that she would run off like a little kid when she wasn't looking.

"Hi, Aisha!" Flora greeted her happily as they stopped in front of the snack table.

Flora nudged Nathalie with her elbow. She was confused before she realized that she wanted her to greet Aisha. "Hey."

Nathalie glanced around the room as Flora and Aisha engaged in conversation. She rolled her eyes when she saw Yasmine, Sam, and Moon dressed in matching Laker Girls costumes.

Nathalie stared down at her shoes, rocking back and forth on her heels.

She glanced up, looking at Flora. "I have to go to the bathroom. I won't leave, I promise."

Flora nodded her head, letting go of her best friend's arm. Nathalie made her way out of the gym, breathing a sigh of relief when she was in the hallway. She walked towards the bathroom, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw Cobra Kai flyers taped to multiple walls and lockers.

She pulled one of the flyers off a locker and stared down at it before crumbling it up in her hand. She tossed it in a nearby trash can before continuing to walk towards the bathroom. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Johnny walking down the hallway. Her fist clenched at her side as she marched up to him.

"Hey, asshole!" Nathalie shouted, causing him to turn and look at her. "Did you seriously poach my little brother to join your stupid karate dojo? Are you insane? He's thirteen!"

Johnny stared at her with a confused expression. "I don't know who your brother is..."

"I didn't ask if you know who he is," Nathalie placed her hands on her hips. "I asked if you tried to convince him to join your dojo. Is your old age causing you to lose your hearing or something? Do you need your ears cleaned out?"

"Listen, runt," Johnny responded. "I don't know who you are or why you're—"

"I live across from you, dumbass!" Nathalie shouted at him. "I've lived across from you since I was eleven. Are you seriously that dumb or are you just so drunk off your ass ninety-nine percent of the time that you can't tell your left from your right?"

Before Johnny had the chance to respond, Kyler and his friends came out of the locker room, laughing their heads off. Nathalie looked over her shoulder, following them with her eyes as they walked down the hallway. She turned back around, watching as Johnny stepped into the locker room.

"Hey!" Nathalie called after him, following him into the locker room. "I'm not done talking to—Miguel?"

Nathalie stood next to Johnny, staring down at the ground at a bloody and bruised Miguel who was whimpering in pain. She started to walk up to him but was pushed to the side by Johnny when he scooped Miguel up and carried him out of the locker room.

Nathalie stood in the locker room for a few seconds before leaving, looking around the hallway for where Johnny had gone. When she spotted him, she called out to him, but he didn't stop. He just continued walking, carrying Miguel. Nathalie was about to take off after him, but paused when she heard a scream coming from the direction of the gym.

She furrowed her eyebrows and made her way back to the gym. She pushed her way through the large crowd that had congregated, phones in their hands as they recorded whatever was happening.

Nathalie's eyes widened when she reached the front of the crowd. "Flora?"

Flora turned her head as Nathalie looked at the sight in front of her. On the floor of the gym was Yasmine, clutching her nose. Blood was starting to drip down from her nose and onto her Laker Girl costume. Flora stood over her, her hand clenched into a fist at her side.

"I—I—I don't..." Flora stammered. "She—Aisha—and I..."

Her eyes started to gloss over as they swelled up with tears.

Nathalie stepped closer to her and placed her hand on her back, rubbing soft circles. Flora started to cry; her breath staggered.

"Hey, shhh, it's okay," Nathalie reassured her. "You're okay. Let's go, okay?"

Flora nodded her lead and let Nathalie lead her out of the gym. Flora cried all the way to the car. She cried all the way to Nathalie's apartment.

When they opened the door and walked in, Sebastian and Oliver's heads turned to look at them.

"Florie?" Oliver asked softly when he noticed that his sister was crying.

Nathalie led Flora to the chair. "Seb, get her some water?"

Sebastian jumped up and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a cup from the cabinet, and turning on the faucet. He held the cup out to Nathalie. She grabbed it and handed it to Flora. Flora's hand reached out, shaking as she took the cup. She took a few sips, before handing the cup back to Nathalie.

"Florie, what happened?" Oliver asked calmly, kneeling down on the floor in front of her as he held her hand.

"I hit Yasmine," Flora whispered softly. Her eyes widened, and she spoke louder, "I hit Yasmine."

"What?" Oliver's voice cracked.

"Holy shit, you hit someone?" Sebastian asked.

Nathalie glared at him as she hit his arm with the back of her hand. Sebastian quickly apologized.

"You...hit someone?" Oliver asked, unable to believe it. "My pacifist sister who cried when she accidentally stepped on an ant hit someone?"

Flora nodded her head.

"Why? What happened?" Oliver asked.

Flora gulped. "She sent out this picture of Aisha eating at the snack table and called her a pig. I was going to just walk away and go after Aisha but I—I asked myself 'What would Nathalie do?' and I just..."

Nathalie found herself smiling. "I'm actually proud of you."

Oliver beamed up at his sister. "You're a badass."

Flora cracked a smile and chuckled. "Hey, watch the language."

Oliver laughed softly as he stood up. Flora wiped her tears and inhaled a deep breath. Nathalie handed Sebastian the cup to water. As he walked into the kitchen, the front door opened.

Marisol stood in the doorway; her eyebrows knitted together as she stared at the four teenagers in confusion. "What's going on? Flora are you okay?"

Flora nodded her head.

"She hit a girl at the school dance," Sebastian told his oldest sister.

Marisol's eyes widened. "You did what?"

Nathalie nodded. "It's true. I'm sad that I wasn't there to see it."

"Where were you?" Marisol asked as she took off her shoes and placed them on the shoe rack by the door.

"I was yelling at Johnny Lawrence," Nathalie replied.

"You were what?" Marisol, Flora, Sebastian, and Oliver questioned in unison.

Nathalie glanced between them, a disgusted look on her face. "That was creepy."

"Why were you yelling at Johnny?" Marisol asked. "Didn't I tell you to leave that man alone?"

Nathalie turned to her brother. "Go on, Sebastian, tell her why I was telling at Johnny."

Sebastian sighed. "He approached me and Oli at the skatepark and asked us to join his karate dojo."

"Absolutely not," Marisol replied quickly without missing a beat.

"That's what I said," Nathalie told her.

Sebastian sat down on the couch. "Why not? I really want to join, and I think it'll be fun. Why don't you want me to learn how to defend myself?"

Marisol sighed. "Look, I don't have a problem with you learning how to defend yourself. I just don't think it's a good idea to take lessons from Johnny. He's not exactly a reliable or respectable guy."

"And if you really want to do karate, I'm sure there's other dojos you can go to," Nathalie suggested.

"Can we at least try?" Sebastian asked. "If it doesn't work out, then I'll leave. Please?"

Oliver nodded his head, looking at Flora. "Yeah. Please? I promise we'll be fine. If you don't want us going alone then you can come with us."

Nathalie, Flora, and Marisol exchanged a look with each other.

"What if I told you we'll think about it?" Marisol asked.

"At least it's not a no," Sebastian said with a smile as he gave Oliver a high five.

Nathalie sighed as she took a seat on the couch. She leaned back when suddenly, her eyes widened as she remembered Miguel.

"What's wrong?" Flora asked.

"Miguel," Nathalie responded. "He got beat up by Kyler and his friends..."

"Wait, what?" Flora asked as Nathalie jumped up from the couch.

Nathalie opened the door, walking towards Miguel's apartment. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. She glanced down at the ground, looking up just in time to see Miguel's mom standing in the doorway.

"How is he?" Nathalie asked.

Carmen opened the door wider, allowing Nathalie to step inside.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

bet you thought i would make nathalie dress up as wednesday. like yeah, i used a gif from wednesday but no she's a badass and dressed up as james bond.

also i absolutely love flora. and sebastian and oliver's friendship is so cute (for now...)

not really any nathalie/eli interaction this chapter but we'll get more into their relationship soon. plus some flora & moon :)

sorry it took so long to get another chapter out. but i hope you enjoyed!