DESPITE WANTING to go home for six hours, Isabella had somehow managed to survive the school day which was probably due to her secret meet ups with Tory. It was hard pretending to be friends with Tory, especially after they had kissed, but they wanted to tell their friends when they were both ready.

The two girls didn't want any negative reactions and, with Tory's sick mom, she didn't want to add any more possible negativity to her plate. Isabella understood, of course; they hated each other a few months ago and now they were secretly dating. Their friends definitely wouldn't have guessed; Isabella didn't know if they'd be okay with it.

Isabella sat in the backseats of Johnny's car with her black headphones over her head, blasting music into her ears because she wasn't in control of the songs that came onto the radio.

Robby tapped her arm from beside her, causing the girl to pause her song and take off her headphones so they rested around her neck. Isabella replied, "Yeah?"

"I was asking how your day at school went," Johnny exclaimed, looking at her through the rear-view mirror. He added, "Any cute chicks?"

"No," Isabella replied, "School was okay, I guess. The teacher's wouldn't stop going on about college, though."

Miguel turned to look at her from the passenger seat, curiously, "Have you thought about a college you wanna go to?"

"I don't even know what I wanna do when I'm older." Isabella shrugged, "And, it's hard to get in anywhere when I spent months on probation."

Robby changed the subject, "Hey, uh, Miguel and I are going to the arcade tonight if you wanna join us."

"We invited Sam and Tory, too." Miguel added, "Maybe you three can sort things out."

Isabella rolled her eyes, "Sam hasn't spoken to me since what happened at our house party. It's been months and I'm still waiting for that apology."

Johnny asked, suddenly interested in the drama, "What did Sam do, again?"

"Punched me," The girl reminded.

"Accidentally." Miguel defended.

"That's bitchy." Johnny shook his head.

Miguel sighed, "Sam wants to be friends with you again, Belle. She was just angry because Tory knew about Silver cheating—"

"Tory was just telling the truth." Isabella interrupted too quickly.

Her brother glanced back at Robby in confusion. Miguel replied, "I just don't understand why you're okay with Tory, who's your enemy, but not Sam, who's your friend."

Robby looked at Isabella as she tried to find words to reply. Robby asked curiously, "When did you and Tory make up?"

They kissed after the fight.
It was a secret, for now.
But, did Robby and Miguel already know? Did someone see them?

"What's with all the questions?" Isabella blurted out irritatedly, "I thought you wanted Tory and I to solve our problems?"

"Let's all just relax," Johnny said from the drivers seat, causing Miguel to turn around and stare into the road ahead of him.

Isabella turned on her phone and opened her messages to message Tory:

TORY<3
hey are you coming to the arcade tonight?

  ISSY<3
hi :)
i will if you will

TORY<3
oh yeah?
i'll see you there

ISSY<3
i really want to tell them about us tonight but im scared how they'll react

TORY<3
they won't mind issy i promise!
ill follow your lead :)
whatever happens

Isabella's phone buzzed, as a message notification appeared at the top of her phone screen. It was from Robby, who was sat beside her:

ROBBY
are you okay?

Isabella looked at him, considering whether to text him 'I'm dating your ex-girlfriend'; she didn't think that Robby would want to be her stepbrother after that. Isabella didn't want to ruin the fresh start she had created with her family.

Isabella nodded to him.
She couldn't lose her best friend again.

***

The arcade trip was fun, despite having to pretend to be friends with her girlfriend and ignore her friend who had accidentally punched her in the face. Her and Sam resorted to small talk, which killed Isabella because she hated having forced conversations.

She didn't know why it was so awkward; maybe it was because Isabella was dating Tory now, so felt obligated to ignore Sam for everything she had ever done to Tory. But, that felt wrong. Having to pretend to be friends with her girlfriend was probably the strongest factor in this situation.

"I'll be right back," Robby said, because he noticed Kenny in the distance, leaving the four in silence around a table.

Miguel took a spoonful of ice cream, before giving Isabella a look. Her brother had never been very good in awkward situations, he tended to overshare or create small talk; he could usually depend on Isabella for support, however she wasn't talking either.

Miguel cleared his throat, "So, I mean, it's our senior year, right? College right around the corner. Kinda crazy."

"Yeah, I mean, it does feel like yesterday that we were dissecting fetal pigs," Sam nodded, "But, now we're planning our figures between training everyday. There's just so many good schools to choose from. It's very overwhelming." She looked at Miguel, "It will be easier for you once you hear back from Stanford."

"Fingers crossed." Miguel replied with an awkward smile. He looked at Isabella again, his eyes flashing her with a help me look. The boy looked at Tory instead, "What about you?"

"It's kinda hard to get in anywhere when you spent almost a year on probation." Tory said dryly.

Miguel paused, "Right. Um..." He looked at his sister, "Belle, what—"

Isabella's eyes stared into the distance, looking at Robby and Kenny and... Shawn? She remembered juvie and all the times where Shawn made her life a living hell. 'Angel' his voice still engraved in her mind. What was he doing here?

Isabella slid her chair out from the table, ignoring the calls from her friends, and walked towards Robby.

"Hey." The girl frowned, as she approached the three, "What's going on?"

"Isabella." Shawn said in greeting, "I was just telling Robby to keep my brother out of your karate cult." His voice deepened in warning, looking at Robby, "You're gonna leave him be. Otherwise, me and you are gonna have a problem. Got it?"

Robby glared at him in reply, as Shawn towered over them both. Isabella scoffed, "How about you take a walk?"

Shawn looked at her, before guiding Kenny away from them. Robby exhaled, "This is gonna be harder than I thought."

"Kenny doesn't wanna join back karate," Isabella replied, "Maybe it's for the best. He was an asshole."

"He was brainwashed by Cobra Kai." Robby corrected, "Like we were."

Miguel, Tory, and Sam had caught up to the two. Her brother frowning in confusion, "Do you two know that guy?"

"It's Kenny's brother. Met in juvie." Robby replied, "He told me to leave Kenny alone."

Tory questioned, "You're not gonna listen to him, right?"

"Do whatever you need to do," Sam agreed, "We'll have your back."

They found Kenny in the batting cages with his brother, Shawn. Despite being warned to stay away, Robby walked inside their cage; he wanted to save Kenny because he was once Kenny. Cobra Kai was dangerous, especially when the student already had issues with their anger.

The group watched from outside of the cage as Robby spoke to Shawn and Kenny. Attempted to speak to them, because Shawn was getting frustrated. The tall boy shoved Robby back, causing Isabella to stand up straighter and attempt to storm into the cage, too.

"Belle, wait." Miguel insisted, holding onto her wrist, "Just think. Think before you act, remember?"

"I think that if we don't help Robby, Shawn and Kenny are gonna kick the shit out of him. It's two against one!" Isabella shot back, "Miggy, let go—"

"He's right." Tory interrupted softly, "If you go storming in there, it will only make things worse. Okay?"

Isabella took a deep breath; calming down. She looked at her brother and Sam, who were exchanging looks of confusion over this interaction. Isabella muttered, "Okay. Okay, sorry."

The four continued to watch Robby inside the cage; the group all reacted when Shawn attempted to punch the boy. Isabella reacted first, sprinting inside of the cage, followed by her friends.

Isabella slid on the concrete, cutting the skin on her leg, to sweep Shawn's feet and trip him over. Miguel arrived a moment later, with Sam and Tory, as her brother started fighting Kenny.

"You okay?" Tory asked, lifting Isabella to her feet; the girl winced slightly at the bloody grazes on the side of her leg, but had no choice but to keep fighting.

Isabella helped Miguel fight Kenny, who attempted to kick and punch them both, however the twins fought well together; they knew each other's moves just by looking at each other, which was probably an effect of always wrestling each other when they were younger.

Kenny kicked Isabella's cut leg, she really shouldn't have slid on concrete, causing her to stumble back. Miguel managed to get Kenny onto the floor, before turning back to check on Isabella. The blood made her leg look worse; it was only a few scratches, but the crimson liquid smudged down her leg.

Kenny attempted to grab the bat beside him, however Tory stepped on the equipment before he could pick it up. Tory scoffed, "Really?"

"Get out of my way, Nichols." Kenny warned, "I don't wanna hit a girl."

Isabella could only watch as Tory and Sam fought Kenny, the stinging sensation from her leg had grown as the adrenaline pumped out of her body. Luckily, security were making their way towards the batting cages causing Shawn to stop fighting, realising he was still on probation, and guide Kenny away.

Miguel, Tory, Robby, and Sam all walked over to Isabella, who had now sat on the floor and started examining the cuts on her leg. She looked up at her friends, who's eyes were all wide with fear.

"It's fine," Isabella panted, "The bleeding makes it look worse. It's just a scratch."

Tory removed her checkered jacket, before bending down to wrap it around the Isabella's shin. The girl winced slightly, as Tory tied it tightly around her skin, before apologising, "Sorry."

"You're jacket will be ruined," Isabella replied, "The blood will stain it."

"The jacket isn't what I'm worried about," Tory reassured, looking at her with that smile. Tory glanced back at the three standing in confusion behind them, "Can one of you help?"

"Of course." Sam nodded eagerly, before walking towards the two. Isabella wrapped her arms around Tory and Sam's shoulder, as they helped her stand to her feet.

Isabella removed her hand from around Sam's shoulders, as the two girls smiled at each other slightly; this declared that they were friends again.

The girl kept her arm around Tory's shoulder, and Tory kept her arm wrapped around Isabella's waist for support. Robby and Miguel shared a look with each other, before looking at the two girls again.

Isabella blurted out sarcastically, "Well, that went well."