Chapter Twenty-One: Tory Nichols

"My persuasion can build a nation. Endless power with our love we can devour. You'll do anything for me. Who run the world? Girls."

~Run the World (Girls) by Beyoncé~ 

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Revised: July 10, 2022

Warnings: abuse, domestic violence, sexual harassment/assault, language, violence, and other mature themes

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Zion's POV

Zion to Robby: Hey, I'm sorry about Valley Fest. It wasn't my call. Can you forgive me?

I text Robby when I wake up the day after Valley Fest to apologize. He seemed pretty mad after last night. I can't blame him, but he should be on his dad's team. I've heard him say awful things about his dad, but the Sensei Johnny Lawrence I know is better than that; a person can change, right?

I'm torn between these two now.

I debate if I should wear my new jewelry, but decide against it for Cobra Kai purposes; I wouldn't want them to get lost.

I walk out of my room and to the bathroom to get ready. We have Cobra Kai again today. I brush through my hair that is now a weird mix of the lavender and bleach blonde. I need to do something about this soon. I put it up and into a tight bun, ready for the day. I wash my face and brush my teeth when Hawk knocks on the doorframe. I left the door open in case somebody needed to brush their teeth, too. He's already dressed and gelled for the day.

"Morning," he says. The toothbrush is in my mouth so my response comes out as,

"Morwnin'." He laughs and I spit politely and rinse my mouth. "I meant 'morning.'"

"Yeah, I figured," Hawk says. "My dad is leaving in a few minutes. He wanted to say goodbye to you."

"Okay," I nod and follow him down to the front door where his dad waits with his luggage.

He wraps Hawk in a hug. Then, Paul holds out his hand for me to shake and surprises me by bringing me in for a hug; I'm not much of a hug person unless I know them very well, but I still accept it. After all, I'm staying here for free.

"It was very nice to meet you, Z."

"It was good to meet you, too, Paul," I smile.

"Stay out of trouble, Hawk," he teases his son who I know has never really been in trouble with anybody before; Eli certainly didn't and Hawk was only violent at the tournament. "I love you."

"Love you, too, Dad," Hawk nods.

"Have a safe trip," Mrs. Moskowitz hugs him and they kiss.

Hawk and I look away in disgust and once they're done, he gives Hawk one last fist bump and then walks out.

"So, what do you two have planned today?"

"Cobra Kai," Hawk says.

"I should have known," she smiles. "Have a good day." I see her grab her things, surely going to work again.

"You, too," I say and she nods, walking out the door after her husband.

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"You gotta understand that Mogadishu in the nineties was a hellhole," Mr. Kreese is telling us about his time in the service. It's fascinating. "Warlords controlled whole swaths of the city. My team and I were charged with cleaning the place up."

"How many warlords did you kill?" Hawk asks.

"You keep track of every ant you stomp out?" Mr. Kreese responds and I stare in surprise.

"Whoa," Aisha says.

"Badass," Hawk says; he really seems to like Kreese, which is good. I do, too.

"They were outgunned, we were outmanned. I tell you.. Rwanda was... no joke," Mr. Kreese continues. I nod, wondering if he's really telling the truth. As if on cue, Miguel stands up with a skeptical look on his face.

"Don't you mean Somalia?" Miguel asks. I share a look with Aisha and Hawk, wondering what's going on. "Mogadishu is in Somalia. Rwanda's a whole other country." I see more people joined to listen to the conversation and Mr. Kreese looks at Miguel uneasily.

"Of course, Somalia," he chuckles and Miguel shares a look with me; now I'm skeptical. "I've spent so much time in the sandbox, it all kind of bleeds together, you know?"

I nod in understanding. He's doing his best to remember, I suppose.

"Listen up!" Sensei yells. "I see we've got some new recruits." Valley Fest did bring in some new members, but I still don't see any girls. "Everybody, fall in. In neat rows and lines." I do so, taking my usual spot in the front. "Time to see what you're made of."

He walks around as we stand confidently and look forward. We killed it at Valley Fest and I'm ready to see what my next level of training will be.

"Straighten up, Ginger Twins," Sensei says. "Sorry, parents can't stay for class. It's an insurance thing." I glance back to see a man in a blue shirt.

"I'm not a dad... I... I am here to kick some ass, sir," the big man in the blue says.

Sensei and the man exchange some words that I can't hear.

"This is a class for teenagers," I hear Sensei say.

"Well, I... I can take them," the man laughs and I roll my eyes. He's kind of funny, but he's not really trying to be. "I'm not afraid of kids, sir. And my mom, she doesn't charge rent, so I just got a lot of cash to burn."

He seems harmless enough, but it's really weird to have a grown man training alongside us.

He brings out a wad of cash and Sensei takes it, "Yeah. We'll consider this a trial run. I thought my last group of recruits was pathetic. But, if you do what I tell you to do, you'll at least have a chance of becoming a fighter. But to do that, you gotta fight. So, which one of you has the balls to take on the champ?"

I share a look with Miguel, who stands proudly. Nobody speaks up and I see Hawk smirking at this. Sensei waits for someone to speak up.

"I'll take him on," a voice says. Oddly enough it sounds like a girl. I spin around to see a girl about my age with brown hair dyed blonde at the bottom. She has a pale complexion and is wearing clothes that are pretty good for karate if you don't have a gi. She stands confidently and I smile. Damn.

"Oh, you will, huh?" Sensei asks.

"I saw your little demo at Valley Fest. You guys can put on a show. Can you actually fight?" she challenges and I raise my eyebrows. Wow, she has guts. I can't decide if it's a good or bad thing.

"That sounds like a challenge," Sensei says.

"I like a challenge," she responds with a smirk. She holds her ground well and I decide it's a good thing.

"Mr. Diaz," Sensei yells, "show Little Miss Hotshot here what Cobra Kai is all about."

Miguel bows and we all go to different sides of the mat, ready for this; Miguel will easily take her down, but the good news is my position as the best girl at Cobra Kai won't be threatened.

"Look," Miguel tries to reason, "are you sure that you wanna do-"

She kicks him and I gasp as he falls back. I share a look with Hawk, ready for what's about to go down.

"All right. Game on," Miguel says and prepares to fight. They run at each other, throwing punches; immediately I notice this girl is good at offense. Miguel backs up, "Close the gap."

She runs at him, trying to kick him; he grabs her leg and throttles her to the ground. That was a predictable move. She rolls back to her feet and I smile at her perseverance. I see Hawk's face wide with reaction. She gets closer and punches him, them right in each other's faces.

"You're telegraphing." He kicks her thigh and she falls. I see Sensei smile proudly. "Don't let me see it coming."

Before I know what happens next, she charges into him from the ground and pushes his body back and down to the ground. She practically cartwheels over him and lands on her feet, "Did you see that coming?"

He flips around and catches her legs with his, her back hitting the mats. Hard. "Maybe," he says and I smile. He stands up and offers her a hand, "My name's Miguel."

"Tory," she pants, takes his hand, and moves to flip him. She holds his arm and presses his head into the mats, "With a y."

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After karate, we stay back to clean the mats. That Tory girl was a good fighter, but very cocky and I don't want my spot to be threatened; I'll need to up my game.

"Z," Sensei says and I turn to him, "go grab me something to eat." He hands me his credit card.

"What do you want?" I ask and he shrugs.

"I don't know. Nacho cheese Doritos and a Slim Jim," he decides.

"Nutritious," I mumble.

"Just go," he smiles and I smile back at him, taking the card and walking next-door. When I get there, I see Aisha and Tory talking.

"Some creepy guy at the mall tried to grab me once, but I managed to block him and give him a gift he won't ever forget," she demonstrates and I smile at how awesome that sounds; I should get a bracelet like that.

"Oh wow. You seem like you already know how to kick ass pretty well. What do you need Cobra Kai for?" Aisha asks as I look for the Slim Jims.

"I've had a couple kickboxing lessons, but I've always wanted to smash boards blindfolded," she smiles.

"Oh, you saw that?" Aisha returns the smile.

"Mhm," Tory says.

"The secret is poking little holes in the blindfold," Aisha says and Tory laughs.

"Mhm, cool. And you are?" Tory asks. I look over to see her staring at me and Aisha looks, too.

"Oh, I'm Z," I say and she smiles.

"Nice to meet you, Z. You also had a great performance at Valley Fest," Tory tells me and I smile.

"Thanks. It was a lot of hard work, but it paid off," I say.

"I'm sure. Well, it was good to meet you," Tory walks by Aisha to go pay for her drink.

"Hey, you wouldn't wanna go to the beach with me, would you? It'd be nice to have some backup," Aisha says and I realize she means both of us.

"Guess I could suffer through a day at the beach," Tory smiles.

"Yeah, that sounds cool, Aisha. I just have to finish cleaning the mats and drop Hawk off at his house. Can you text me the address?" I ask.

"Sure," Aisha nods.

"Cool," I say and walk to pay for Sensei's food.

I walk out of the minimart to see Hawk on his phone, waiting for me. I go into the dojo and give Sensei his food and card back. Miguel is grabbing his things.

I go back outside and walk over to my boyfriend to see him FaceTiming Demetri. About what? I don't know, but I really hope he isn't saying anything about me.

"Snitches get stitches," I hear Hawk say and I tense.

"I have stitches. I have several stitches," Demetri says. I see a bandage on his nose.

"Don't do anything stupid. You'll regret it," Hawk says and hangs up on Demetri. I wonder if Hawk knows. But if Hawk knows, wouldn't he turn to me and yell?

"What happened?" Miguel asks before I can.

"That pussy Demetri couldn't handle training with Mr. Kreese. He's not Cobra Kai material," Hawk says.

"I could have told you that," I say with a smirk.

"Are you ready to watch that MMA special I taped?" he asks in excitement. I see Miguel walk back into the dojo; he must have forgotten something.

"Um, I actually have an invite to Aisha's beach club,."

"Without me?" he frowns.

"It's a good bonding moment with girls. I have a bunch of time with boys, no offense. I love you, of course, but it's nice to have girl time, too. Plus, Tory is going and it'll be a chance to get to know her," I say. Hawk looks sad and I wrap my arms behind his neck, "Maybe you and Miguel can have some guy time," he grips my waist, "and when I get back we can have some time together," I whisper into his ear and he grips me tighter, his breathing heightening.

"Fine. You can go and I'll go to Miguel's or something. But you'd better make tonight a promise," he whispers in my ear in return, his hot breath coating my ear and sending chills up and down my spine.

"Promise," I say and gently press a kiss to his lips. He holds me tighter and forcefully kisses me back. His hands snake up the back of my shirt as I move closer into his body.

"Gross," Miguel says and we jump away from each other. When did he come back out? I see the door to the dojo still swinging closed and I know he didn't watch us like that creep Demetri did.

"You're just jealous," Hawk says.

"You guys are always all over each other. Get a room," Miguel jokes.

"Oh, we will," I say and they both widen their eyes. I laugh, "I'll see you after the beach!"

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"Okay, this is not the beach," Tory says when we make it to a pretty establishment with rich people eating gourmet food around a swimming pool. "Where are the homeless dudes on rollerblades and the guys shoving shitty hip-hop demos in your face?"

Aisha laughs, "No, don't worry. They'll come after they pass out the hors d'oeuvres." I laugh. "So, what should we do first?"

"Eat some food maybe?" Tory says.

"I'm going to find a bathroom and change," I say. My suit is in my bag.

"It's down past the pool over there," Aisha points to the opposite side of the club.

"Of course it is," I say at the inconvenience and Tory laughs.

"Don't worry. I don't think they'll run out of food," she assures me.

"Fair point. I'll be back soon," I say and walk towards the bathroom.

Once I'm changed, I walk out in my black bikini to find Tory and Aisha. I look around for them and instead see somebody I didn't expect.

"Keene?" I walk over to him. He turns to me and frowns. "Hey."

"Yeah, hey," he says.

"What are you doing here?" I ask. I wonder why he's so unenthusiastic to see me.

"I'm here with the LaRussos," he explains and I tense. Is he going out with Sam? "And you're here with Aisha?"

"Yeah, she brought me and my friend, Tory. How did you know?" I ask.

"I saw you together," he says. He's not in a good mood.

"What's wrong?" I ask. I sit in the chair beside him.

"What's wrong? Your dojo ruined our demo at Valley Fest," Robby says, upset.

"Oh. I texted you I was sorry about that," I say and he nods.

"I know, but a text and a sorry isn't enough, Z. That meant a lot to Sam and Mr. LaRusso. And it meant a lot to me, too," he explains.

"I am sorry, but it wasn't like it was my idea," I say.

"You stole the move I did in the All Valley," he says.

"No, I improved it," I joke and he looks at me glumly. "I really am sorry."

"Whatever," he says.

"Okay, I know I can't do anything right now, but sometime in the near future we can go to get milkshakes. It'll be on me and it will be my official apology," I say and he shrugs. "Come on. I know you can't say no to a mint chocolate chip milkshake." He slowly cracks a smile and it makes me happy.

"Fine. But nowhere can be as good as Evan's," he says skeptically.

"I'll look for the best in town," I say and he nods in approval. "I'd better go find Tory and Aisha."

I stand up to walk away and that's when a hand grabs my arm. I look back at Robby and he looks apologetic.

"It was good to see you again, Z."

"Back at you," I smile.

I walk away to find my friends as a man who works here walks by me with an angry look on his face.

I look around and see Aisha talking to Sam. I can't find Tory, though. I walk towards the table and a hand grabs my elbow. I'm about to attack when I see Tory smiling.

"Relax, it's just me," she says with a light laugh.

"Sorry. I just didn't expect you to be there," I say.

"Don't worry, I get it," Tory nods. "Who was that guy you were talking to?"

"Oh, um, a friend. Robby Keene. He's kind of from a rival dojo, so..."

"It's on the down-low," she assures me. "Seems scandalous, though. Anything going on with you and him?"

"No, no," I shake my head immediately. "I'm actually dating Hawk, the guy from the dojo with-"

"...the big mohawk. Got it," Tory smirks. "And, that Miguel guy?"

I glance at her with a small smile, "Single." 

We make it over to where Aisha is talking to Sam and Tory speaks up, "Hey, look what I got." She holds her purse to reveal a bottle of vodka.

"Where'd you get that?" Aisha asks.

"I swiped it from the bar," Tory admits with a grin.

Aisha and Sam look unsure as I find amusement in it.

"Oh, relax. All the adults are getting wasted; no one's gonna notice if we have a little fun."

"Especially if we also go for a walk on the beach. Then there are no parents at all," I add.

"I like your thinking. A drunk walk on the beach sounds cool," Tory says.

"Just don't get too close to the water," I say and Aisha smiles, too.

"You should put that back. You'll get into big trouble," Sam ruins the moment and I roll my eyes.

"And you are...?" Tory looks in confusion.

"Oh, Sam this is Tory. Tory, Sam," Aisha says.

"Oh, the Sam," Tory says. "Come on. Like anyone's gonna miss one bottle of vodka. I could swipe half the silverware in this place before anyone would notice."

"You shouldn't steal anything," Sam says. Her eyes look at me judgmentally.

"What are you? A nun?" Tory asks and I laugh. "Come on, are we gonna drink or not?" I look at Aisha with a hopeful smile.

"Okay, one drink," Aisha says and Tory wraps her arm around Aisha with a smile.

"That's my girl."

I look back at Sam and we exchange a look before I walk away. I think it's safe to say we don't like each other. I know I don't like her for what she did to Miguel, but I don't know what reason she has to hate me. Plus, this is just a little drink; we all need to live a little.

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Tory, Aisha, and I finished maybe half the bottle of vodka and are walking back through the beach club after walking on the sand a little bit outside of the club. Aisha is explaining when she gave Yasmine a front wedgie and I can't get over how funny that is to me.

"I split that bitch in two," Aisha says and we laugh, Tory's arm wrapped around both of our shoulders as we walk. Tory is really cool and I can see us being friends.

"You should have seen her scream. That bitch deserved it," I giggle.

"Hey!" a voice says and we turn around to see Sam. "My mom's missing her wallet." Sam looks between the three of us and I try to compose how drunk I am.

"Sucks for her," Tory says.

"You wouldn't know anything about that?" she looks at Tory and then her gaze drifts over to me. Does she think I did it? Or Tory?

"Wait. Wait, what are you saying?" Aisha asks.

"Just give me the wallet and I won't tell security," Sam says angrily.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Tory asks.

"Sam, she didn't steal your mom's wallet," Aisha defends.

"Right. And she didn't steal a bottle of vodka. And you wouldn't steal half of the silverware in here. And you," she looks at me, "wouldn't want some extra cash to help you out."

Is she throwing my personal problems with my mom back at me? What did Miguel tell her? How much does she know? This is why I don't trust anybody- especially high school girls. I don't want more drama; I had enough of that at my last school.

"Listen, I didn't rob your mom, bitch," Tory says.

"And you don't know what the hell you're talking about," I take a step forward with Tory.

Sam glares at us, making direct eye contact with Tory.

She turns around to walk away, "Let's get out of here."

Sam grabs her bag. I move out of the way when Tory spins around and pushes Sam backwards.

"Get off of me!" The brunette falls into the food table behind her and I gasp, but then see Sam covered in chocolate moose and end up laughing.

Tory walks away angrily and I run after her.

"Tory! Hey!" I say and she shakes her head.

"It's whatever, Z. I should just go," she says and I nod.

"I'll go, too," I say.

"No, don't go. We haven't even gone swimming yet," Aisha catches up to us.

"The mood is ruined," I say and Tory nods.

"Okay. I'll get my mom to drive us back," Aisha suggests. "Just try not to act drunk."

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A/N: Here's a little update. I have a bunch of exams tomorrow I need to focus on, but then my birthday comes Saturday and I think I have (at least part of) next week off, so I can update maybe once or twice then.

As of now, I am planning out a bit of the season 3 plot and let me just say I have what I think to be really good ideas. 

Also, what do you think of Tory and Z so far? Writing them together is so fun and I hope you enjoy reading it haha. More to come on that front for sure.

And finally, a big thank you to everyone for reading and voting. The love on this story is MASSIVE and I can't believe it. I love all of your comments so. much and I can't wait for you to see what I have in store for the rest of the book.