After fourth period, Lilith left her class and headed for the room where Demetri, Jake, and Miguel were doing their PSATs. Her and Hawk were scheduled to do theirs the next day. As soon as Lilith saw Miguel leave the room, a smile grew on her face and the girls whole mood brightened.

"Hey." She said, making the three boys turn to her. Miguel smiled at Lilith, leaving Jake and Demetri's side to walk towards her.

"Hey." He muttered, leaning down to meet Lilith's lips in the middle for a quick kiss. Jake and Demetri awkwardly looked away from Miguel and Lilith and turned to each other. After a silent conversation, Demetri turned back to Lilith and Miguel and pointed down the hallway behind him with his thumb.

"We'll meet you." He said, making Lilith and Miguel turn around to face him. The two of them nodded, Miguel guiltily wanting the boys gone as fast as possible so he could be with Lilith alone. "Yeah, yeah. Okay." He said, semi-waving them off.

When Miguel turned back to her, Lilith frowned at the glum expression on his face. Her hands went up to cup his cheeks. "What's with the doom and gloom?" She asked before she dropped her hands and playfully nudged his arm. "Come on, I'm sure you did amazing, again."

Miguel didn't smile, his face still stuck in his frown as he shrugged. "Yeah, I was just a little distracted." He muttered and Lilith's eyebrows creased.

Lilith knew he had been distracted. Every FaceTime, Miguel would hardly listen to her, muttering "yeah" and "mhm...wow" every now and then. Any date they planned—ones where Lilith hoped Miguel who finally ask her to be his girlfriend—Miguel would cancel last minute.

She didn't know what was up with him, but after timing it out, Lilith started to realize that Miguel started acting distant from her ever since Johnny took Cobra Kai to the junkyard. The same day she unleashed absolute hell on one of the abandoned cars.

Lilith was dumb, she knew her whole team saw. Hawk even came up to her afterwards, saying it was "totally badass" and he even got a little scared of her.

Lilith hated hearing that.

She didn't want her friends to be scared of her. Her anger was something she worked so hard on and one mishap at karate brought it all back.

If that was when Miguel started acting distant, was it because he was scared of her too? That thought clouded Lilith every night. It kept her up like a taunting voice echoing in her mind.

She gently reached for Miguel's hand once she realized they were standing in the middle of the hallway and pulled him off to the side so they were standing by the lockers. "Why?" She asked.

"The tournament. It's coming up and I think it's just stressing me out." Miguel said, the bridge of his nose scrunching. Lilith frowned; she was stressed about the All Valley as well, but she knew Miguel was working himself a lot harder than the rest of their friends.

Lilith pulled her lips into a soft smile and grabbed Miguel's hand, squeezing it as their conjoined hands started to swing. "Well... how about you come over tonight? We can spar in my backyard and then you can stay for dinner. Finally meet my folks." Lilith offered.

It seemed as if Miguel's whole demeanor changed. He looked as if he had just won the lottery. He was practically bouncing as he looked down at Lilith when he asked. "Wait, really?" His voice was higher than normal and filled with excitement.

Lilith was shocked. She didn't know Miguel was so eager to meet her parents but she smiled and squeezed Miguel's hand tighter. "Yeah! They've been super stressed and busy but they're finally in a good mood and I want you to meet them." Lilith said, not just her cheeks but her whole face going red.

Miguel blinked a couple times, almost worried that Lilith's words were a dream. After a couple seconds, he started to nod his head so fast, Lilith was surprised he didn't get a headache. "O-Okay! Yeah!" He said and Lilith moved into her toes and kissed Miguel.

When she pulled away, Miguel's lips chased hers for a couple seconds before he opened his eyes.

She started to walk down the hall and since their hands were conjoined, she ultimately ended up pulling Miguel down the hall with her. "Great! I'm normally Jake and Hawk's ride home but if it's okay with your mom you can just ride with us and after I drop them off we'll just go straight to my place."

...

When lunch rolled around, Lilith spent her time at her usual table with Miguel, Jake, Demetri, Hawk, and Aisha and five minutes before lunch ended till she left the table and headed to her locker.

Yes, she told Miguel he could come over but she had to ask her mom first and that was terrifying. She nervously gripped her phone as she called her mom and when she picked up, Lilith's breath hitched.

"Hi, Mom." She began, forcing a casual tone. Just as she was about to ask her mom, her mother's voice came out of the phone, her tone harsh.

"Why are you calling me during school, Lilith?" Addison, Lilith's mom asked, not a single ounce of concern in her voice. Lilith licked her lips and looked around the hallway. Luckily, no one was around. "Um, it's lunch."

"Okay. Well, why do you want?" She asked.

Lilith took a deep breath, her heart suddenly pounding against her chest so hard, Lilith was shocked it hadn't shot out of her chest.

"Um—" "Stop saying 'um,' Lilith." Addison interrupted.

Lilith skidded to a stop. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she started blinking frantically.

"I was wondering if I could have a friend over for dinner tonight?" Lilith asked.

It was silent for a few seconds before Addison spoke again.

"Who?"

Lilith hesitated. Her mother hated the idea of a talking stage. She would either have to invite Miguel as a boyfriend or a friend; no in between. "Just my friend Miguel."

"Well, why didn't you just say 'your friend, Miguel'? When Jake or Moon come over, you just say, 'Can Jake and Moon come over?' What's so different about Miguel? Is he your boyfriend?" Addison spoke so fast, Lilith almost could hear her.

Lilith felt her chest tighten and she gulped. "No... No, he's not my boyfriend." Lilith clarified and she felt a sudden humility saying it out loud, like the whole world heard her and started to point and laugh.

"I've just been talking to him for a while and—" Lilith didn't catch herself in time and she felt her heart in her throat when her mother interrupted her again. "Talking to?" Addison's voice instantly grew in volume. "You know how I feel about that, Lilith. No. Absolutely not."

Lilith's chest tightened, her pulse quickening. She finally started to walk towards her locker again. She was so distracted in her phone call, she didn't even realize she was speed walking across the hall. "But, Mom, it's just—"

"No, Lilith. I don't want to hear it."

The sharp tone of her mother's words made Lilith's hands clench into fists. She could feel the anger building in her chest, a familiar surge of heat bubbling up inside her, threatening to take over.

Her grip tightened around her phone, knuckles white. She wanted to snap, to scream, to let her mother hear every bit of her frustration.

But she couldn't—not here, not now, and definitely not to her mom. One snap and she's back to boarding school.

Don't lose it.

Don't lose it.

Her jaw was clenched so hard it hurt as she forced the anger down, trying to breathe through the storm inside her.

"You are not bringing some boy you hardly know over. It's pathetic and embarrassing. This conversation is over."

That was it. Lilith's nails dug into her palms as she tried to hold back, her whole body tense with the effort.

"Fine." She finally spat out, voice shaking with the weight of everything she wasn't saying. She needed this phone call over.

"Don't you dare use that tone with me." Her mother seethed before the call ended abruptly, the empty line buzzing in her ear.

Lilith stood frozen, standing directly in front of her locker. Her whole body was trembling with the effort of holding herself together. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breathing was shallow as she tried to calm down.

She wanted to throw her phone, to scream, to punch her locker. But she didn't—she couldn't.

She shoved her phone into her pocket and started to turn her combination aggressively.

Just as she opened her locker—tempted to slam it open and let the door ricochet off of the locker next to her, she stopped when she saw Miguel's bright smile as he came towards her.

"Hey, Lilith! Guess what? My mom said I can come over tonight! I'm really excited to meet your parents."

His excitement was like a punch to the gut. Lilith's heart sank further, but now the anger was mingling with fresh hurt. She gripped her locker so tightly it rattled. She couldn't look him in the eyes

"You can't come over anymore." She muttered, trying to keep her voice steady as she grabbed the books she'd need for her last two classes.

Miguel blinked, his smile faltering. "Wait, what? Why not?"

Lilith felt the burn behind her eyes. Her whole body was shaking now, not from anger but from the effort to keep the tears and fury at bay. "It's just... it's not a good time." She could barely get the words out.

Her voice cracked and Miguel frowned, confused. "But I thought—"

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, but all Lilith could think about was getting away before she lost control. She couldn't snap in front of Miguel.

She could have him be scared of her.

She shut her locker and whispered, "I'm sorry," before rushing off, leaving Miguel standing there, completely stunned and hurt as she disappeared into the crowd.

When Lilith got into her classroom, she was grateful she sat in the back of the class. She slid into her seat beside Jake and wiped her eyes. Jake sat up straighter in his seat, noticing her shaking hands and the distant look in his eyes.

Lilith kept her eyes on the teacher at the front of the class as she pulled out everything she needed out of her bag. She wiped her eyes again, making sure she didn't miss any tear or mess up her makeup.

She sniffled. "Can I spend the night at your place?" Lilith asked and Jake just stared at her. His mouth opened and closed for a second, wanting to check on her but knowing now probably wasn't the best time.

He figured it was her mom. It normally was. Jake nodded, finally looking away from Lilith so she didn't feel too bad. "Yeah, of course. You're always welcome."

emily speaks...
short chapter and it took me WAY too long to write BUT WE DID IT

lilith and miguel both overthinking their relationship is hurting meeee💔

i also would kill for jake and lilith