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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
"third offense"
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(the right path)

SCHOOL WAS THE LAST place Jules ever wanted to be. 

The past few weeks, she felt like she was choking every time she turned a new corner and saw someone staring at her. She had painted a coarse expression on her face, her eyes angled like the serrated blade of a knife, so that no one would dare try to mess with her. But now, she couldn't even keep the facade up one hundred percent. It was tiring being intimidating - and now she had Miguel. 

 "Mr. O'Connell keeps trying to get me to give him play-by-plays of your condition," she spoke into the phone, her bag loosely hanging from one of her shoulders as she fiddled with the combination on her locker. "He told me you were his favorite student." 

 "That's a lie," her boyfriend spoke into her ear, and she didn't need to see his face to picture the smile on his face. "I always spent his class drawing on the side of Demetri's notes. O'Connell was always mad at me because of how insanely smart and talented I am." 

 "Oh, I'm sure," Jules snorted, meticulously grabbing her history binder so that all of her other ones wouldn't fall over and disrupt the messy organization of her locker. "Now you can come back and steal his job." 

 "I will, and then I can ask you for play-by-plays of his life." 

 Jules laughed, leaning her head back. It was lunch period, so the halls were busy - and she got some odd looks from her laughter that she chose to ignore. "Why would I ever keep in touch with him? I swear he's older than my grandpa." 

  "Because he cares so much about your education!" 

 "Well, Diaz, I- ben-zona!" Jules slammed the door of her locker shut and jumped, placing a hand on her chest as a completely random boy stared up at her. He looked as if he couldn't be older than fifteen, and he had bruises and small cuts littering his face. Jules wondered if he was some nerd cosplaying a zombie, and rose an eyebrow. "Hello, there."

 The kid huffed as if he was angry. "I need to talk to you." 

 "Is this like a new, weird, Girl-Guides type thing? Because I don't want your cookies."   

 "What?" The kid's eyebrows furrowed as he gestured to himself. "Jules, it's me! We were in Miyagi-Do together." 

 "Oh! Oh-" she grimaced, adjusting her grip on her binder. "Jesus, okay one second child-" she turned her attention back to her phone. "I have to go, Mig. Some weird kid needs my help or whatever." 

 "And Jewish Black Widow returns! I'll see you after school, superhero."

 "Bye Diaz."

 "Love you!" 

 Jules's cheeks turned pink, a soft smile dusting her lips. "Love you too." 

 She tucked her phone into her pocket, the kid in front of her sending her an odd look. "Who was that?" 

 "None of your business," she snapped, smoothing her features back into her default scowl. "What even are you, the result of Sam's training session gone wrong?"

He seemed offended, "no! I was on my way home from the charity fundraiser we did for Miguel-" 

 Jules winced. She probably should have attended that. But hanging out with the actual Miguel seemed like a much better offer. 

 "-when Hawk and Mitch and their Cobra Kai dickwads jumped me!" He gestured sharply to his face. "They stole the money and used my face as a practice dummy!" 

 Jules felt her gaze sharpen, the familiar bout of anger returning to the pit of her stomach. She may have (hopefully) gotten a message to Tory via Kreese, but Cobra Kai was still at large. And Hawk was still an unbelievably huge dickface. In fact, Jules couldn't even think of a curse word vulgar enough to describe the boy, and that was saying something. 

 The question is, what could she do? She couldn't start a fight without getting in trouble with the school, and she didn't need any more authority figures thinking that she was mentally deranged. But if she confronted Cobra Kai after school hours, all she would do was get ambushed. And they had been training every day since she took them down in the mall. Adding on the weight of her hurt shoulder, it wouldn't be as easy of a win. 

 But it could still be a win. 

 Not right now, though. Right now, she had a different idea.

 "Alright little boy-" 

 "My name is Nathaniel!" 

 She waved a hand. "Whatever. You just need to stay the fuck away from Cobra Kai, got it? And tell Sensei Sam to do the same. You don't need to be getting hurt for no reason. Poking a snake will get you..." she paused, "-um... poisoned." 

 Nathaniel squinted at her, "is that a real analogy?" 

 "Shut up." Jules patted the boy's shoulder, brushing past him. She was bee-lining for the cafeteria, and Nathaniel seemed to sense this, as he followed close behind and spoke at break-neck speed. 

 "Are you gonna fight them? I just told you because you're like, the only one who can stand up to them. Also, I don't really want to be here when you talk to Hawk, since he'd probably just hurt me again-" 

 "No one's gonna hurt you again unless you start the fight, it's a brawl, or it's training." Jules assured him, not fully realizing just how not-assuring her words were. "And I'm not gonna fight them. I'll fight them with my superior intellect." 

 "... what?" 

 "God, just go away, I got this."

The boy peeled away, probably to fill in his other Miyagi-Do buddies on the situation. Jules cracked her knuckles as she stepped into the cafeteria, her senses immediately invaded by the loud bustle of students reuniting with their friends. She spotted Demetri showing off some sort of complex lego set to Yasmine and Moon, and shook her head with a small grin. She never thought she'd live to see the day where Yasmine doesn't look at her best friend like he's something she found on the bottom of her shoe, but right now she looked... almost amused. And not even in a mean way. 

 Her smile fell when she spotted Hawk. 

 He was near the middle of the room, juggling a soccer ball with his feet as he conversed with his fellow Cobra Kai assholes. Jules recognized three from the fight at the mall, as well as Mitch and some other nameless losers who Jules had probably beaten in combat at one point. She pursed her lips, running a hand through her hair as she approached the group. 

 Some redhead was videoing Hawk as he laser-focused on the soccer ball, so Jules broke his concentration by sticking her foot out to swipe it from his vision, flicking it into her hands with a small smirk. "Hi."

 The group seemed to freeze. Some of the boys seemed rather angry to have Jules in their presence, while others stiffened and shot each other looks that made Jules's grin widen. The redhead lowered the camera as Hawk clenched his jaw, his tough-boy facade seeming to make his entire body tense as he shot Jules a glare. "What the hell, Monroe?" 

 "I was always better at this than you," she mused, observing the ball as if it was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen. "Remember when we used to kick it around in front of my house? I don't think I've ever seen you more scared than when you sent it through the door and hit my mom's ankle."

 Hawk rolled his eyes, glancing to the side. "I don't even know what the hell you're talking about." 

 "Remember the Halloween dance? When you dressed up as a -" 

 Hawk stalked over to her until they were face to face, practically touching. He leaned down, lowering his voice to a hiss. "What the hell do you want, Monroe?" 

 "For you to lay off of beating the shit out of freshmen." She rolled her eyes, scoffing and pushing his chest back a step. "Seriously, it's pathetic. Steal money that they raised for Miguel?" 

 "They were using him as a charity case-" 

 "They were raising money for his surgery you insufferable fuck-trumpet!" Jules snapped, momentarily proud of herself for that new and creative curse word. She jabbed a finger into his chest, narrowing her eyes as she did so. "You don't even care about Miguel. All you care about is keeping up your ridiculous-" she gestured the boy up and down, "-and idiotic image. You know what? All of your friends can hear this-" she took a step back, raising her voice to capture the attention of the Cobra Kai onlookers. "Listen up, jackasses! If you have a problem with anyone in Miyagi-Do, why don't you come to me if you're looking for a fight? Instead of grabbing the easiest target you see like a bunch of pussies."

  She let her gaze drift over the group, some of the boys rolling their eyes, others trying to avoid eye contact without looking like they were scared. She inhaled, squaring her shoulders and turning back to Hawk. "That's what I thought." 

 She shoved the ball into the boy's stomach, shooting him a patronizing smile. "I'd be happy to kick your ass anytime, Eli. All I need is a time and place." 

 "Big talker, Monroe. Bet you wouldn't fight me here." 

 "I bet you wouldn't want that either."

 The boy chuckled, taking a step back. He paused, looking at the ball in a similar manner to what Jules did a few moments before. Then, in one fluid moment, he turned and chucked it across the room. 

 Jules jumped at the loud crash that ensued when it collided with Demetri's large and intricate lego structure. Smoke seemed to rise from the shattered remains, which Jules didn't even pretend to understand. Her gaze locked on the raven haired boy, who turned to look at Hawk. His face had fallen, a hurt look crossing his face as if he couldn't believe who he was looking at.  

 The rage returned, and Jules didn't even fully realize what she was doing until she had grabbed Hawk's arm and pinned it harshly behind his back. "You son of a bitch!" 

  Demetri stalked over, and Jules thought that he was going to try and restrain her for a moment. Instead, he just gestured widely with his arms. "Another week, another pissing contest!" He snapped, uncharacteristic anger shadowing his eyes. "I'm not surprised, considering how much you love pissing." 

 Jules pulled a face, her muscles tight as she increased her grip on Hawk's arm, the other pushing into his back with her elbow. "What?" 

 "Don't worry about it."

 "It's not smart to start something here, Monroe." Hawk mused, looking as if it was taking all of his willpower to not wince. 

 Jules scoffed, tightening her grip, earning a pained hiss from the boy. Another voice cut in, courtesy of Sam - who crossed her arms and stared the boy down. "You try anything and you won't be lucky." 

 Jules leaned over, "why don't I show all of your buddies here who the real fighter is, huh, Eli?" 

 "Excuse me!" 

 Jules' head whipped up, her gaze subconsciously loosening as Counselor Blatt approached the group. Eyes narrowed and focused on Jules, she shot the girl a scolding look. "You of all people should know our policies against physical contact, Miss Monroe."

Jules scoffed, rolling her eyes; tilting her head with the action. "Yeah, I know them. I was just hanging out with my close personal friend, Eli Debra Moskowitz." 

 The boy scowled, "that's not my middle name!" 

 Counselor Blatt glared at Jules, but the action was far less intimidating than others Jules had seen. She turned to Eli, softening her voice. "Did she enter your bubble without your personal consent?" 

 The boy paused, his entire face seeming to soften as he brought out a voice that she had once been oh-so familiar with. "Yeah, she definitely triggered me in my safe space." 

 "For the love of-" Jules brought her elbow back, bringing it down onto Hawk's back with enough force to make him fall to his knees with a shout of pain that may or may not have been faked. Nearly instantly, Counselor Blatt had lunged forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her away. 

 "Juliana!" She shouted, her face turning red as Jules continued to glower at Hawk. "My office, now." 

 Jules turned to her, glancing down at the grip on her arm. "You're triggering me in my personal bubble. I recently dislocated my shoulder, and-" 

  She didn't get to finish, as she was already being dragged off. At the last second, Jules turned around to face the group. She stuck up her middle, waited long enough to make sure Hawk had seen, and then turned and allowed herself to be dragged away.

 ***

"COUNTING THE FIGHT THAT occured last year with mister Diaz, the incident on the first day of school, and now this. This is Juliana's third offense."

 Jules could feel Shira's withering glare on the side of her face, but crossed her arms and stared pointedly forward. She didn't even know how to react to this whole situation... being sent to the principal's office just seemed so... trivial. Fatuous, especially with everything going on in her life right now. So she tried to convey as much anger as she possibly could without saying anything that could potentially get her expelled. She settled with gritting her teeth and glaring at a small chip in the wooden desk; trying to ignore just how furious her mother would be. 

 "Which would usually mean a week's suspension-" Principal Davies said, shuffling some papers in her hands. Jules's head whipped up, a complaint on the tip of her tongue. She didn't get the chance to voice it, as the dark-skinned woman shot her a stern look. "However. Considering that the fight at the beginning of the year was not technically Juliana's fault, and the previous one happened last year, I am willing to let it pass." 

 Good on you, Mrs. Davies, I always liked you. 

 "This being said," the woman folded her hands, her gaze drifting between Jules and Shira. "Some restrictions will be put in place. A week's detention, as well as your last warning for any fighting that may occur." The woman softened her voice, leaning forward in Jules' direction. "I know you've been through a lot lately, Miss. Monroe. But I don't think you're a bad kid. I trust that you can turn things around. I wouldn't want to get the authorities involved." 

 "Authorities-" Jules began, but Shira pinched her arm to shut her up; shooting the principal a grateful smile. 

 "Thank you so much, ma'am. I assure you that nothing like this will ever happen again." 

"Why don't you two go home? I'll see you tomorrow, Juliana." 

 Jules didn't want to say anything, but Mrs. Davies did her a solid. So she smiled at the woman as she rose to her feet. "Thank you." 

 No other words were shared as the two Monroe women walked through the halls of the school. Thankfully, class had started by then - so there was no one to witness this absolutely uneeded (and frankly, embarrassing) scene. Jules could already tell that Shira was going to hand her ass to her on a plate, as her cheeks were red and her teeth were clamped together so tightly Jules could see the muscles in her jaw. 

 The sun warmed her face as they exited the school, Jules having to jog to keep up with the woman's long strides. Finally, she ducked into the passenger seat of the car and exhaled. "Mom, look, Hawk was-" 

 "I don't care about Hawk!" Shira snapped, turning to her daughter with fury in her eyes. "I actually cannot believe that you have gotten into another fight, Jules! What the hell were you thinking? You know what -" she gestured sharply with her hands. "Don't even answer that. This isn't the only thing I've noticed about you lately." 

 Jules was tempted to raise her hands in mock surrender, but refrained. Instead, she crossed her arms and lifted her foot to rest on her seat. "Well my life hasn't exactly been picture-perfect the last two weeks." 

 "And I know that! And you have no idea how sorry I am, Ahava," Shira sighed deeply, gripping the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles turned white. "But you can't keep getting into fights. It's not safe, it's not healthy, and it won't end well for anyone involved. You need to learn to control your temper." 

 Jules gritted her teeth. She knew her mother was doing the best to help her, but she didn't know how difficult it was to just control her temper. She got it from her father - they both knew that. And they both knew that Jules's anger was like a fire before. Watching Miguel lay in that hospital bed and facing all of the events leading up to it was like dousing her in gasoline. And now, watching everything uncoil made it feel like someone had struck a match just above her head. 

 She didn't know how she could control that. 

 "It's so weird, because I think that karate helped you before." Shira sighed deeply, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe what she was saying. "Like Johnny Lawrence was a... good influence - or at least a vessel - for controlling your anger." 

 "He taught me how to fight." 

 "I know! But for a while you were happy, and I wish I knew how to get back to that." 

 Happy. Jules almost scoffed. She knew exactly the period of time her mother was referencing. The first few months of doing karate, when it was only her and Miguel. When she got to know him, when he showed her that she didn't always have to be on edge. 

 Perhaps that was it. She had gotten so used to having a safe space around that all of her shields had been put back up. And losing that safety that Cobra Kai once was was a punch to the gut. And losing the dojo, and Aisha, and Eli ... 

 It was pouring alcohol on a wound. 

 "Miguel is getting better, okay?" She said, putting her fingers to her temples to try and massage her oncoming headache away. "I swear I'll get better. And I'm sorry. It's just... I mean, it's Eli, you know? I shouldn't be having to tell him to stop hurting people-" she felt her throat constrict. "I shouldn't have to hurt him." 

 She turned to Shira, her eyes burning as the realization knocked the wind out of her. "Mom, he was like, one of my best friends."

 Shira reached over and grabbed Jules's hand, squeezing it tightly and providing a dose of assurance that opened her airways. "You have to do what you know is right. Not what Cobra Kai, or Johnny Lawrence, or even Miguel thinks is right." 

 Jules couldn't even begin to grasp the concept of what is right and wrong. It was like those lines had been blurred from all of her time at Cobra Kai. Her protectiveness weighed her down, suffocating her and painting her eyelids with images of more ruin following in her wake. Like all she wanted to do was protect her friends, but all she did was keep getting them involved. Involved and hurt.

 She nodded blindly, wiping at her eyes. Shira nodded, pressing a kiss to her hand. "I love you, Jules, and I know how strong you are. You get it from me."

 Jules chuckled, smiling at her mother as Shira patted the dashboard. "Thanks, Ma." 

 "I do still have to punish you, though." The woman mused, pausing for a moment as if in deep thought. Then, she reached over and unclipped her seatbelt, opening her door and gesturing for Jules to do the same. 

 "You can start by driving us home."