chapter nine !
❪ and i hate the way i'm perceived ❫

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

THE TWO teens walked up to Tory, who was going through the metal detectors. Delilah smiled when Tory had her bag handed back to her and Gwen gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Welcome back," she grinned.

Tory gave the girls one of her rare but sweet smiles and the duo was about to walk her to her first period class but a certain LaRusso appeared in their view.

Delilah raised her eyebrows as Sam stomped towards them.

The Nichols girl glanced down before looking back up to meet Sam's hardening glare. "I heard you let me back in, LaRusso. So I guess I should-"

"I don't know what kind of game you two are playing," Sam interrupted, switching her gaze between Tory and Gwen. "But I'm not scared of you. You're not in control here. I am."

Gwen narrowed her eyes at her. "My parents might fall for your bullshit." The brunette growled at Tory.

"And Robby might fall for your dirty charm," Sam now looked at Gwen. "But if you two so much as look at me funny... I will kick both your asses." She spat at the Cobra's.

"I'm coming for you bitches." Sam glared at them one last time before turning around to leave.

Tory and Gwen stood there, not saying anything until they whipped their heads towards Delilah, who let out a charging yell and threw Sam and herself on the ground.

"Oh my god!" Gwen yelled.

"Delilah!" Tory's eyes widened.

The two girls tried to get the rebel teen off of the LaRusso, who was struggling under Delilah as they pulled on each other's hair.

They growled like cats and dogs on the ground while a group of people circled around them with their phones out.

"Fight!" One of the students yelled out.

"Delilah, let go!" Tory ordered, gripping onto her waist as she tried to yank her off of Sam but she wouldn't budge.

Sam let out a bunch of yelps and Gwen tried to help by pulling Sam away from Delilah's grip but the girl was just too angry to let go.

Gwen felt someone push her away from the conflict, her eyes landing on Miguel with a panicked yet confused look on his face.

"What are you doing?!" He was able to get Delilah off of his girlfriend, pushing her into Tory.

"Hey, watch it!" Tory warned.

Sam got up, her hair coming out of the half up-half down hairstyle that she had. She whined and placed a hand on her head.

"Gwen, what the hell?" Miguel inquired.

"I didn't do shit!" Gwen defended. "Your girlfriend was the one acting all high and mighty."

Miguel glared, "Just stay away from us."

"Fine by me!" Gwen yelled.

Tory stood beside her friend, glaring at the couple before they walked away.

Gwen turned her head, seeing Delilah roll her eyes as she began walking with the vice principal of the school.

ˑ༄'

"DELILAH attacked Sam?" Robby questioned. Gwen nodded in response as she watched Kenny hit the dummy body with so much anger.

Kenny told her and Robby what his bullies did to him at school earlier today. They stole his clothes from the locker room and embarrassed him.

Gwen wanted to cringe at the thought. "So, they stole all your clothes?"

"I can't take any more of their crap. I'm ready to use my training!"

"What do you think you're gonna do?" Robby inquired.

"I'll do what you do." Kenny said. "Kick their asses." He grunted while punching the body over and over.

Gwen and Robby shared a glance. "I got kicked out of school and landed in juvie. You gotta be smarter than me and your brother."

"Well, I gotta do something." Kenny growled.

"Class, fall in!" Kreese ordered. The students lined up and faced their sensei's. "Today, we have a very important lesson. Don't we, Sensei Silver?"

"Yes, we do." He responded.

"Weakness. Your opponents weakness must be exploited whenever possible." Kreese explained.

"At the tournament, you'll have to recognize that weakness." Silver added, "And make no mistake, we all have one."

"Sensei Kreese doesn't," Tory pointed out from her spot.

"Of course he does," Silver confessed. "We all do. Today, your goal is to find your opponents weakness and attack it. No points. You hit the mat, you lose. You got it?"

Everyone nodded and Silver clapped. "All right, prepare for combat." The Cobras fell out of the rows and Gwen went up to Robby.

"I'm so 'lovin these new uniforms." Gwen pointed at her snake design sports bra and showed off her leggings. "So trendy."

"Wow, so the fashion expert likes?" Robby raised his eyebrows.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "You like them too, admit it." Robby gave her a simple shrug with a grin.

"You don't look bad in them, Keene." She admitted.

Robby was surprised at her words and opened his mouth to respond but Gwen had already walked away and sat in a circle with the rest of the others.

"Okay, let's begin." Kreese announced. All of the students sat around the mat.

"Elswith," He called for Piper, who was one of the new recruits on the team.

Silver grinned. "Miss Payne."

Gwen stood up from her spot, making her way towards her sensei with the ponytail. "You've seen her fight before. What's her weakness?"

"Her left. She telegraphs her kicks."

"Great," Silver grinned. "Then you know what to do."

Gwen nodded and turned around, facing her opponent before getting into her fighting stance.

The two girls bowed. "Ais!" Piper lunged forward with a cartwheel, sending a jab to Gwen, in which she blocked.

Piper sent a kick but Gwen was quick enough to bend down, avoiding the attack and swiped her feet.

The curly head fell down with a grunt and Silver let out a low laugh.

Kreese looked away with a scoff. "Good job, Sensei Kreese," Silver taunted. "Who's next?"

Gwen bumped fists with Tory when going back to her spot, her eyes finding Robby, who was giving her a small smile.

"Mr. Keene." Kreese glared at Silver. Robby stood up and went to the center of the mat.

"Mr. Payne," Silver called. Some of the students snickered, causing Gwen to glare at them in which they immediately stopped.

Kenny stood up, looking nervous. Gwen would be lying if she said that she wasn't scared for her brother.

Robby and the boy bowed before getting into their fighting stance. "Ais!"

Robby sent all types of kicks to Kenny and he blocked but he missed one.

Kenny winced while holding his arm and Robby frowned. "Whoa, whoa. Hey, are you okay?"

"Back to your corners." Kreese ordered before Kenny could even respond back.

Gwen glanced between her brother and Robby talking to their sensei's. "Back on the mat," Silver announced.

They bowed to each other once again. "Ais!" Robby sent a punch but Kenny backed away. The Keene boy lifted his leg, meeting Kenny's arm and he groaned.

"Hey, K-Kenny. I'm... I'm sorry if-"

Kenny swept his legs and Robby landed on his back, groaning on the mat. Gwen raised her eyebrows, looking up at her brother. She was impressed.

Silver chuckled and clapped hands with the student. "There. What did we learn? The common belief is you shouldn't care what other people think about you, right? Wrong."

Silver continued to walk around, sharing glances with the students. "What your opponent is thinking is key. In war. In business. In a fight. Don't let your opponent think whatever they want. Make them think what you want to think. If they think you're weak, that's when you can surprise them with your strength."

"Good job," The sensei complimented Kenny and walked past Kreese.

ˑ༄'

THE MICROWAVED beeped, Gwen getting up from the couch while Robby had his eyes on the tv. She took out the hot bag of popcorn and made her way back to the couch.

"So hungry," Robby stared at the popcorn and stretched out his hand but Gwen slapped it away.

"It's still burning hot." She warned.

The doorbell ranged and Gwen stood up to open the door. When she opened it, Delilah and Tory stood on the other side. "What movie we're watching?" Delilah asked.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "A rom-com of course." She opened the door wider for them as they walked into her house. "13 going on 30." Gwen answered.

"Never seen that one before," Tory admitted.

"Well, today is your lucky day." The four sat on the couch and started the movie while they passed the popcorn around.

When they were half way through the movie, Gwen's phone went off. Her eyebrows furrowing as she flipped her phone over to see the contact number.

It was Kenny's school.

He was supposed to stay for after school hours so she was confused on what they were calling for. "Let me take this," She told the others and got up from the couch, walking away from them.

She accepted it. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Gwyneth Payne? Kenny's older sister?" A man's voice questioned.

Gwen's face lightly scrunched up. "Um... yes. Did something happen with him?"

"Hi, I'm calling from West Valley Middle School, the principal speaking. Your brother and a couple of other students have gotten into a fight in the library. We tried calling your parents but no call back."

"Typical," Gwen mumbled.

"You need to come in today to pick up your brother and we'll discuss his suspension."

"Suspension?"

"Yes," He answered. "See you soon."

The call ended and Gwen groaned in annoyance. Robby walked over to her with a concern face, "Whats wrong?"

"Kenny got into a fight at school." She confessed. "I have to go over there."

"I'll drop you off," Robby told her.

"Thanks," She gave him a relieved smile.

ˑ༄'

GWEN WALKED the school hallways and into the door that led to the outside of the principal's office. She was met with Kenny that was sitting next to a random teen.

"Really?" She stood in front of her brother. "A fight?"

He couldn't respond since the principal came out of the office with two parents behind him. Gwen recognized them and sighed.

Daniel and Amanda LaRusso.

The two adults had a disappointed look on their face when they looked at their son, who avoided the glares.

Kenny's bully was from the LaRusso family? Gwen thought to herself. She felt even more frustrated with Sam's family.

"Let's go, Anthony." Daniel ordered. The teen got up and walked away with his mom and dad.

"Miss Payne?" The principal called out from behind her.

Gwen turned around and walked into his office before taking one last glance at Kenny, who had a hidden smirk on his face.

━━━━━━━━

mars speaks!

authors note: the prom chapter is the next one!!! i'm so hyped to write that one 🤭

please vote for this chapter and don't be a silent reader <3