Near the back of the class room, Miguel and Demetri sat side by side as they did their PSATs.

Miguel leaned back in his seat, staring off into space, while Demetri frantically filled in the blanks on his answer sheet, a focused frown etched on his face.

In front of them, Frankie sat alone, her back straight, her eyes scanning over the last of her answers. Unlike the others, she seemed completely at ease, her test already finished and pushed aside, arms crossed as she patiently waited for the bell to ring.

Demetri, caught up in his own world of bubbling answers, looked over at Miguel and did a double take when he saw Miguel was doing nothing. "Why'd you stop? The test's almost over." He hissed, his voice low so no one would hear him.

Miguel twirled his pencil between his fingers, unfazed. "It's just a practice test. Relax."

Demetri scoffed, shaking his head. "Easy for you to say. You've got a girlfriend."

Miguel blinked, turning to him in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Demetri sighed, holding back to urge to roll his eyes. "I've gotta do well on these practice tests so I can ace the real thing. Then, I get into a good college, which leads to a solid internship, then a high-paying job, and after a couple of promotions, I'll finally have the confidence to get a super-hot girlfriend." He waved his pencil toward Miguel. "You've got the karate thing. I've got the long game."

Miguel chuckled, looking Demetri up and down with wide eyes before he shook his head. "You're really overthinking this, man."

Demetri ignored the comment and sighed. "I could wait for my perfect, smart dream girl to walk into my life and we'd happily be nerds together, but those girls don't exactly fall from the sky."

Just then, completely unaware of their conversation, Frankie stretched in her seat, her back arching with a small, satisfied crack. She leaned back just far enough for her head to tilt over the chair, her eyes momentarily meeting theirs upside down. Miguel raised an eyebrow, amused by the coincidental timing.

"What's up with you?" Miguel asked with a small chuckle.

Frankie turned her head slightly, her lips curling into a sly smile. "Oh, I finished twenty minutes ago." She said casually, her voice laced with a subtle hint of pride.

Demetri stared at her, slack-jawed, a mixture of frustration and awe bubbling up inside him. He glanced at his own unfinished test, then back at Frankie, who looked completely unbothered.

Suddenly, the bell rang and students hurriedly turned in their tests, and leave the classroom. Miguel, Demetri, and Frankie made their way to the door, where Sam was waiting with a bright smile.

"Hey," Sam greeted Miguel, her eyes lighting up at the sight of him. Miguel smiled and stepped forward, giving her a quick kiss, while Demetri and Frankie stayed awkwardly behind.

Feeling like she was intruding, Frankie cleared her throat and pointed down the hall. "We'll just...meet you over there." She mumbled, stepping back.

Miguel nodded without missing a beat. "Yeah, yeah. See you in a bit."

Demetri watched Frankie, absolutely bewildered. "We?" He asked, making Frankie turn to him as he continued. "Since when are we a 'we'?"

Frankie rolled her eyes, grabbing Demetri's arm and pulling him away from the couple. "Relax, Just let the couple be alone."

They walked down the hall, and the two were immediately caught in an awkward silence. Frankie shot a sideways glance at Demetri, memories of their old friendship flickering in her mind. But Demetri just kept his eyes ahead, his expression unreadable, as if he were deep in his own thoughts.

They walked with silence hanging between them until Frankie finally broke it, a small smile on her face as she glanced up so the boy. "So...how do you think you did on the test?" She asked, holding the books to her chest a little tighter.

Demetri glanced at her, caught off guard by her attempt to break the ice. He shrugged, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "I think I did alright. Not as good as you, obviously." For the first time, his words weren't laced with sarcasm or bitterness. They were genuine. He even nudged her lightly with his elbow playfully that took them both by surprise.

Frankie's eyes widened, her smile growing as her whole face lit up. "Thanks. I'm sure you did amazing too." She said softly, her voice filled with surprise and happiness. When Demetri looked down at her, Frankie felt butterflies she thought died in the eighth grade flutter again in her stomach.

Nervous, Frankie continued talking. "Maybe a good...98%?" She asked and immediately, Frankie's head dropped and her eyes shut tight. She ruined the moment. She was finally starting to get on Demetri's good side and she messed it up.

Demetri noticed, and quickly shook his head. "I don't know about that. You might have quite the opponent for acing the SATs." He teased, a small laugh leaving with his words.

Frankie head shot up, looking at Demetri with wide eyes. After a couple seconds of staring, Frankie realized she was in the clear and Demetri was actually being civil.

She let out a small laugh, one that made Demetri feel a small flutter in his stomach for the first time. His eyebrows furrowed at the new feeling but he continued to stare at Frankie. It was like he couldn't look away.

They kept walking, the space between them closing just a little bit more, neither willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, things weren't as broken as they'd seemed.

...

After school, Frankie drove Aisha, Hawk, Bert, Miguel, and Demetri to the nearby park. While Hawk sparred with Bert, Frankie, Demetri, Miguel, and Aisha sat on a bench near them.

Miguel hadn't eaten all day, a nervous feeling in his gut that Sam is with another guy. Demetri groaned from the other side of Miguel as he watched him just stare at the sandwich in his hand. "Come on, eat something. I'll make you feel better."

Miguel sighed, shaking his head as he passed the sandwich to Demetri. "Told you I'm not hungry, man." Miguel muttered and Frankie huffed. She turned to face the boy and she raised her eyebrows from beside him. "I still think you're overreacting."

"I'm not overreacting, Frankie. I know what I saw." Miguel groaned, starting to feel like everyone was ganging up on him.

From behind them, Hawk shrugged, still fighting Bert. "All right, so you saw her eating dinner with some chode. It's probably just her brother or something." He suggested and Miguel immediately shook his head.

"No, dude, brothers don't look at their sisters like that." Miguel said and Demetri hummed, falling back onto the bench. "Depends on what part of the country you're in." He said and Frankie's face scrunched and she frowned.

"Ew..." She muttered.

Miguel rolled his eyes, nd tiredly rested his head on the back of the bench. "Look, I just don't want what happened to Sensei to happen to me." Miguel explained. Frankie's eyebrows furrowed; she didn't know what happened to their sensei.

She looked to Aisha on the other side of her, and the girl just shrugged, as out of the loop as her. Frankie turned around to face Hawk just as he kicked Bert in the face.

Frankie cringed at the sighed as Hawk smirked at his point. "All right, so you go over to this kid and beat his ass so he doesn't have the chance." He said as Frankie kept her eyes on Bert.

"Bert!" She yelled and when the boy looked up at Frankie, she rose her hand and gestured for him to come over with his finger. As Bert and Hawk started to walk over, Demetri turned to Miguel.

"Don't listen to Eli." He said as Hawk reached the back of the bench, resting his elbows in between Miguel and Frankie so he was hovering over them while Bert moved to walk in front of Frankie.

"It's Hawk." He corrected as Frankie moved the hair out of his face to check for any injuries. While Demetri scoffed at Hawks words, Frankie cringed when she saw Bert's eye was starting to turn red, meaning a black eye could appear.

"The fact is, Sam's given you no reason not to trust her." Demetri said and Miguel sighed in defeat, knowing deep down that Demetri wasn't wrong.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Miguel muttered and Frankie leaned forward so she could see Demetri past Miguel and gave him a small smile, silently telling him nice job.

Frankie didn't get to see the smile that started to grow on Demetri's face and the fact that he started to blush from what she did because Aisha suddenly gasped, sitting up straighter as she glared down at her phone.

"Oh, that little bitch!" She yelled, making everyone turn to her. A small frown grew on Frankie's face at Aisha's anger and she tried to look over the girls shoulder to see what upset her so much. "What?" She asked quietly and Aisha tilted the phone for Frankie to read as she turned to the boys.

"You know that video I posted of me breaking that board?" Aisha asked and Frankie's jaw clenched and her nostrils flared in anger reading Yasmine's comment on Aisha's instagram post.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Frankie snapped as the four boys nodded at Aisha's question, getting a little nervous about what Aisha was going to say next considering how angry she and now Frankie were. "Yeah..." Miguel muttered and Aisha turned the phone around for the boys to see now.

"Look what Yasmine commented."

All the boys cringed at the comment and Aisha shook her head, shoving her phone into her pocket. "I gotta do something." She muttered and slowly, Hawk started to smirk. He turned to look at Aisha and leaned over Frankie to nudge the girls shoulder.

"All right, how about we kidnap her and have my boy Rico tattoo 'bitch' on her face?" Hawk asked and Frankie snickered, part of her anger washing away a little at Hawks idea.

"Calm down, Hawk." Demetri sassed and slowly, Hawk turned his head to look at Demetri. Hawk clenched his jaw and frowned at the boy. "All right, I hear how you're saying it, and I don't like it."

As Frankie tried to think of a way to get back at Yasmine without anyone getting arrested, her eyes slowly widened as she thought back on Yasmine's instagram story for skimmed past earlier in the day.

"Wait, wait, wait! I've got a better idea!" Frankie squeaked out, scrambling to grab her phone out of her pocket and find the story she was thinking of as everyone crowded around her. Once she found the post she was looking for, Frankie pulled the phone away from her so everyone could read it. "Look."

"Yasmine's throwing a birthday party at the canyon later?" Miguel asked, reading Yasmine's main story post about her VIP birthday party. Frankie smirked, turning to Aisha on the other side of her.

"Not if we strike first." Frankie hummed cockily. A big smile grew on Aisha face as she turned to face Frankie. Aisha laughed, shaking her head as she wrapped her arms around Frankie. "That's my girl!"

...

As soon as everyone decided crashing Yasmine's birthday was the way to go, everyone piled into Frankie's car and she drove them to the liquor store in the same strip mall as Cobra Kai. Everyone crammed inside the store, grabbing all of the snacks and drinks they wanted while Miguel waited outside, still trying to get ahold of Sam.

"All right, be sure to stock up good. We're inviting everyone. VIP only my ass." Aisha said as Frankie started to pile chip bag upon chip bag on top of Bert. Demetri watched the sight with wide eyes, a little nervous for Bert since his eyes were covers from all the chips he was carrying.

Demetri turned to look at Aisha and scrunched his face in confusion. "I still don't understand how we're gonna buy alcohol." He said just as Hawk walked into the aisle the four were standing in. He grabbed a case of beer from the fridge beside them and chuckled. "Oh, please, never underestimate the power of the Hawk."

As Hawk walked up to the counter, Demetri leaned towards Frankie, his eyes staying on Hawk. "Do you think this'll work?" He whispered and Frankie snorted.

"I think he has a better chance shoplifting the bottle than doing whatever he's about to do." Frankie muttered back, looking up to Demetri for a second before she turned back to Hawk, not wanting to miss whatever plan he was about to pull.

Just as Frankie looked away from Demetri, he turned to face her. He squinted at her. Something was different from the last time they were friends but he couldn't pinpoint what. There was something now that made it hard for him to look away; something that kept him up at night, always thinking about her.

Demetri stared at Frankie, trying to figure out what was different for a solid ten seconds before he turned back to Hawk and the cashier.

They watched as Hawk gave the man a fake ID and after studying it for a few seconds, the man handed the ID back to Hawk. As he scanned the case of beers, Hawk turned around to face his friends and stuck his tongue out wildly.

Frankie snickered, turning to hide her smile into Demetri's shoulder so they wouldn't get caught. Demetri looked down to the girl beside him with wide eyes. There was that same, new fluttering feeling in his chest that made him nervous.

"And how about eight bottles of that vodka right there?" Hawk asked the cashier, shaking Demetri out of his thought.

...

By the time the six of them got to canyons, there was already at least thirty people there and once they put out the drinks, the guests doubled in size.

Since Frankie was driving, she didn't drink, which she was a little bummed about. She sipped her Mr. Pibb and danced with a drunk Aisha and Hawk while also checking on all of her friends, ready to cut them off on their drinks if she needed to.

From across the canyon, Frankie saw Miguel staring at his phone with an angry look on his face before he stomped towards the coolers to grab a drink. She slowly left dancing with Aisha and Hawk to walk towards the boy.

"Still nothing?" She asked once she got close enough. Miguel grumbled something under his breath as he grabbed a beer from the cooler. He left the lid open for Frankie to grab any drink she wanted so she bent down and grabbed another Mr. Pibb.

When she stood back up, Frankie sighed and tilted her head. "Maybe her phone died." She muttered and Miguel scoffed, rolling his eyes as he grabbed the bottle opener on top of the cooler. "Whatever." He grumbled.

Frankie twisted her lips into a lopsided smile and playfully shoved Miguel's shoulder. "Hey, stop worrying about it for the night." Frankie said, making Miguel turn to her as he opened his bottle. Frankie looked back at Hawk and Aisha, still dancing before she turned back to Miguel.

"All your friends are here and they want to hang out with you. So let's go." Frankie said, using her thumb to point at the two behind her. Miguel looked past her and chuckled at Hawk and Aisha.

"Yeah..." He muttered, but Frankie hid her excitement, not knowing if Miguel was completely down mopping. He turned back to her, his smile growing on his face and he started to nod in excitement. "Yeah, you're right." He said and Frankie let out a small cheer, grabbing Miguel's wrist and tugging him to Hawk and Aisha.

...

Frankie actually got Miguel to stoop worrying about Sam for a bit. Sure, she'd catch him check his phone every now and then but overall, he was a lot happier now.

She lost Hawk in the crowd once the party got bigger and Yasmine showed up with Moon. Her drunken friends started to tire her out. Since she didn't have any alcohol, it was harder for her to keep up with their energy.

Frankie walked out of the dancing area, leaving Aisha and Miguel to themselves. She walked towards the coolers and bent down to search for a water when she felt someone come up to her.

"You're seeing this, right?" Demetri asked. Frankie looked up at Demetri and noticed he was staring off at something behind her with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. As she found a water, Frankie closed the cooler lid and looked back to see what Demetri was talking about.

She had to hold back a shocked laugh when she saw Hawk and Moon making out on a log. Frankie turned back to Demetri and stood up. She didn't see the problem with the two of them and shrugged.

"What about it?" Frankie asked, and Demetri whipped his head to look at her, his eyes wide as if Frankie had said the most insane thing.

"Are you blind, Frankie? Look at them!" Demetri shrieked, using both his hands to point at the two teens. Frankie turned back to Hawk and Moon, trying to see if there was something she was missing but all she saw was the two of them making out. Frankie turned back to Demetri, her eyebrows furrowed as she shrugged.

"They're making out, who cares?" Frankie asked and Demetri looked back and forth between Frankie, and the two making out. His mouth opened and closed, shocked that Frankie was as freaked out as him.

"She is one of the most popular girls in school and Eli is making out with her! This would've never happened at the beginning of the year!" He complained and Frankie slowly started to realize Demetri was only mad about Eli becoming Hawk and getting all this confidence that he doesn't have.

Frankie's eyes rolled and she let out a small scoff. "God, I never realized how jealous you were!" She spat. Demetri looked at Frankie with wide eyes, visibly taken aback by her words.

His once wide eyes and raised eyebrows squinted and furrowed as he stared at Frankie. "What are you talking about?" He asked and Frankie's eyes shut in annoyance. She raised her hands up to her face as if she was gonna grab the sides of her head but stopped just before she touched her skin.

"You are so jealous of everyone around you, Demetri! And all it does it hurt other people and make you tear yourself down!" Frankie yelled, dropping her hands and throwing her arm out to gesture to the boy.

Demetri looked down at himself before turning back to Frankie. "I am not jealous of everyone around me!" He defend and it took everything in Frankie not to laugh in his face.

"Oh, really?" Frankie asked with an annoyed laugh. She shook her head and licked her teeth as she took a step towards Demetri, making Demetri immediately take a step back.

"You yelled at me because you hated the idea of being second, you make snarky comments to Miguel and Hawk all the time about karate..." Frankie listed, counting her fingers with every reason she brought up.

Frankie raised her hand and pointed behind her two Hawk and Moon, who were still making out. "And now you're judging Hawk for having the confidence, that you don't have, to go talk to a girl he's been interested in since we were 11!" Frankie yelled and Demetri struggled to look at her.

He blinked rapidly as he looked everywhere but her. Frankie's jaw clenched, angry that Demetri didn't even have the nerve to look at her. He got to let it all of his anger in the eighth grade, and he wouldn't let her do it now?

Her eyes started to water but she didn't even care. She started to shake her head frantically and she let out a small sniffle. Demetri's head whipped up to Frankie at the noise. His eyes were wide but soft in guilt.

"I have been so nice to you after you have been an asshole to me time and time again because you, Demetri Alexopoulos, are a jealous human being." Frankie spat, her voice was shaky to control herself from crying as she pointed at Demetri.

As she finished her yell, Frankie felt a weight lift off her shoulders and a cold breeze hit her. The air felt lighter. It was like she could breathe again.

Her back straightened as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

Demetri eyes stayed focused on Frankie. He blinked rapidly to contain his shock. He wanted to somethign but he didn't know what to say. Does he defend himself? Does he apologize? Does he say Frankie was right?

His mind was moving about a mile a second. They were just starting to do well again and then night was ruined. They were ruined again.

Demetri took a step forward, wanting to just say something to fix what had just been glued back together. He was frantic, like grasping straws but as he opened his mouth, a voice from behind Frankie made the girl spin around.

"Hey!" Yasmine yelled, stomping up to Aisha, Moon, and Hawk. Demetri's shoulders slumped and a frown formed on his face when Frankie walked away from him and towards the four.

"You think it's funny crashing my party?" Yasmine spat, getting right up in Aisha's face as Frankie walked up to them. Quickly, Frankie side stepped and put herself in between Aisha and Yasmine. Her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the blonde.

"It's not really your party 'cause we were here first." Frankie spat and Yasmine looked the girl up and down as if she were a piece of trash. She glared at Frankie before she scoffed, turning to Aisha. "Yeah, well, I know you and your little..." Yasmine turned to Frankie and pointed to the girl, her freshly painted nails pointing up and down Frankie's body. "Karate gang think you're cool. But we all remember who you really are."

She took a step forward, making sure to shove Frankie back so she could walk towards Aisha. "You're just a fugly bitch, and your friends are all freaks." Yasmine seethed, glaring at Frankie and Hawk, who gently grabbed Frankie's wrist and pulled her back to stand with him and Moon.

Yasmine noticed that and finally saw Moon standing with Aisha, Hawk and Frankie. "Come on, Moon. Let's go." She said as she grabbed the girls hand and started to walk up the hill.

Moon tugged her hand out of Yasmine's grasp. "No, I'm staying. I apologized to Aisha for what we did, and you should too." Moon said and Frankie turned to Aisha with wide eyes. When the two girls locked eyes, Frankie's jumped back and forth between Moon and Aisha, silently asking if that was true and Aisha nodded.

Frankie's turned back to Moon, Yasmine, and Hawk just as Yasmine scoffed, shaking her head in anger. "Whatever. You deserve them, Moon."

Yasmine turned to walk up the hill alone. As she passed Frankie, she bashed her shoulder into hers hard. So hard that Frankie would've fallen down if Hawk wasn't standing next to her to catch her,

Maybe it was all the alcohol. Maybe it was the fact that it was Frankie who got shoved. Or maybe it was the Yasmine of it all but Aisha saw red. She chased after the blonde, her jaw clenched and her nostrils glared.

"Hey, Yasmine!" Her voice boomed throughout the canyon, making everyone turn to her. Yasmine turned around, thinking Aisha's anger was harmless. She walked right up to Aisha's face, their noses practically touching. "Huh? What?"

Aisha's glare started cold and she tilted her head condescendingly to the blonde. "Let me help you to your car."

Frankie's eyes widened and she gasped when Aisha reached her hand into Yasmine's pants and after grabbing a handful of the blondes underwear, she yanked it up.

Yasmine screamed in pain as Frankie stared, it was like she couldn't look away. Hawk cackled beside her, holding onto her shoulder to keep himself up.

"No mercy, bitch!" Aisha yelled before throwing Yasmine into the ground. The blonde fell backwards on her hands and butt. She looked up at Aisha with a terrified look, but Aisha didn't back down.

"Don't fuck with my best friend." Aisha spat and Yasmine looked around the canyon, realizing everyone was looking at her, she screamed, shooting off the ground and stomping to her car.

As Yasmine ran away, Frankie slowly walked up to Aisha until they were shoulder to shoulder. They watched as the blonde climbed into her car and sped away. Once she was gone, Aisha sighed. She turned to face Frankie but she kept her head down, almost in disappointment. "I'm sorry, Frankie. I–"

Aisha was cut off by Frankie practically throwing herself into Aisha's arms. Aisha froze at the hug and when Frankie nuzzled her face into the crook of Aisha's neck, Aisha finally hugged back.

"Thank you." Frankie murmured but Aisha was able to hear her from how close the girls mouth was to her ears. Aisha smiled, squeezing a little tighter. "What are best friends for?" Aisha hummed.

For the rest of the night, Frankie stuck with Aisha, the two girls dancing and playing games until the party came to an end. Frankie drove everyone she took to the party home, making sure to drop Demetri off first even though it would've been easier dropping him off last. She didn't want to talk to him. Not after their fight.

Once Frankie got home, she tiredly walked towards her room, took off her makeup, put on pajamas and collapsed into bed. The next morning was the All Valley and Frankie needed to win.

emily speaks...
they were doing so well💔💔 i need them to be happy😣

NEXT CHAPTER IS THE ALL VALLEY AND THEN WE ARE ONTO SEASON TWOOOOOO
i love this fic sm and i love you all even more🫶 SEE YOU GUYS SOON