I FEEL SO HIGH SCHOOL . . . !
© 2024 ━━ chapter two
strike first

     TODAY BEGAN THE FIRST LESSON UNDER THE NEW COBRA KAI. in front of johnny stood his daughter and miguel, both prepared for the first lesson under the dojo. olivia was dawned in a white karate gi, while miguel was in normal gym clothes. they stood in an awkward silence waiting for someone to say something, anything.

     "so, am i gonna get the karate pajamas too?" miguel wondered since he was the only one to not have them.

     "quiet!" johnny yelled, slightly scaring the two as they both stood straight again.

     "okay," miguel responded deciding to not talk again.

     "the student only speaks when spoken to. is that understood?" johnny reprimands the boy for speaking out of turn.

     "yes," miguel answered the man's question. he gets a look from him, as if he was waiting for something else to get added. this only further confused the two.

     "yes, 'sir'?" miguel questions if that's the right wording. johnny looks expectantly at olivia.

     "yes 'teacher'?" she responds, not really getting what he wanted them to say either.

     "you both always address me as 'sensei' is that understood?" he gave the answer he was looking for to the kids.

     "yes, sensei," both teens say to their teacher.

     "these aren't pajamas. this is a gi. and you'll get one when you've earned it," johnny told miguel, which confused olivia because why did she get one if miguel didn't?

     "well then how come olivia gets one?" miguel asked the question on her mind. her father however, looked at the boy like he was crazy.

     "because she's my daughter that's why," that got both of them to shut up real quick.

     "all right, you guys ready to begin your training?" her dad continued, which gained the attention of the teens, as they focused in.

     "yeah, sensei," they both said, which was interrupted by the teacher immediately dropping miguel to the floor in a couple of moves. olivia stared in shock, which caused her dad to do the same to her, as she was distracted. both miguel, and olivia laid on the ground staring up at the sensei.

     johnny stood up with ease, while the other two groaned still in pain, "lesson one: strike first, never wait for the enemy to attack."

     "you could've gave me, like, a warning," miguel replied, standing up as he did so.

     "yeah, you know i still have whiplash from that car crash," olivia also stood, rubbing her shoulders due to the slight ache forming.

     "quiet!" johnny yelled at them once more, "we do not train to be merciful here." miguel was still groaning, before pulling out his inhaler to take a puff.

      "mercy is for the weak. here in the street, in competition, a man confronts you, he is the enemy, an enemy deserves no mercy." johnny finally stops and notices him taking puffs from his inhaler, "what is the problem, mr. diaz?"

     "there's no problem, sensei."

     "can't you see he's clearly asthmatic? he's using his inhaler," olivia smart mouthed to her dad. which clearly wasn't a good idea as he snatched the inhaler, and chucked it at the wall to the side of miguel. they both watched in horror as the inhaler broke.

     "not anymore. we do not allow weakness in this dojo. so, you can leave your asthma, your peanut allergies, even your pollen allergies, olivia, and all that other made-up bullshit outside. is that understood?" johnny spoke as if that was possible.

     "dad, that's not how that-"

     "quiet! do you understand?" johnny turned his attention back to miguel

     "yes, but as olivia was trying to say, those are real medical problems. i was...yes, sensei, understood," at that miguel and olivia thought it would be better to keep quiet.

     "cobra kai isn't just about karate. it's about a way of life. take that first lesson. striking first is the initial step towards victory. okay? like when you're at a party, and you see a hot babe. yeah, you don't wait for another guy to talk to her first, do you?" olivia scrunched her face at her dad's words, as miguel was eating them up, thirsty for more knowledge from the man.

     "okay, this is absolutely stu-"olivia didn't get to finish her thought.

     "i mean, i've never been to a party, so..." miguel trailed off, as he showed his unpopular nature off.

     "big surprise. all right, look. striking first is about being aggressive, all right? if you're not aggressive, you're being a pussy, and you don't wanna be a pussy. you wanna have balls."

     "dad, are you even hearing what your sayi-"

     "don't you think you're doing a lot of genderizing? i mean your daughter's here, and i don't think she relates to this talk much." of course both of them ignore her trying to speak. olivia was still happy though, that her new friend would be up to bat for her, even if it was just against the silly things her dad said.

     "what?" johnny was confused at the boys words.

     "oh, sorry. don't you think you're doing a lot of genderizing, sensei?" miguel asked again, this time adding 'sensei' to the end of his sentence.

     "no. what the hell are you talking about?" her dad saw no fault in his words, which made her roll her eyes at how close minded and stuck in the eighties he could be sometimes.

     "oh, uh, my guidance counselor says that certain words perpetuate the sexist world view that can trigger-"

     "quiet!" johnny cut off miguel once more, by yelling at them.

     "okay, well if either of you would've listened to me instead of cutting me off." olivia glared at the two, as they turned to look at her, "you would know that this whole conversation is idiotic. by the way dad, miguel is right, i'm sorry we both know i'm not a man, so can you please be a little more vague with descriptions, dad. i'm not looking to get, or objectify some hot babe right now."

     olivia closed her eyes, and took a deep breath as she finished her rant. before opening them again to see both guys looking at her, mouths gaping in shock. johnny quickly brushed it off before finishing his earlier point, this time being mindful of his gender terms.

"from now on, you won't listen to your guidance counselor. you're gonna listen to me. is that understood?" he turned from miguel to olivia directing his words to both of them.

"yes, sensei," both teens replied.

"good. now stop yapping, and give me fifty push-ups on your knuckles, both of you." johnny gave the students a task to complete, as both fell to the floor and began their pushups. miguel was struggling, so the teacher instructed him to do crutches instead, while he went to talk to the man who entered the doors of the dojo.

SAVANNAH SPENT HER DAY AT THE COUNTRY CLUB WITH HER PARENTS. sam didn't want to go, which bummed out savannah. so it was just her and anthony out of the three larusso kids. savannah sat and lounged in one of the poolside chairs, as she read a book. she wanted to spend the last day she could, before school started again, soaking up the sun. she knew her parents were somewhere around, probably drinking a nice martini or wine, but she couldn't be bothered, she was in her own world.

from the distance she could see her dad talking to anthony, before he walked off to the bar where her mom was. she finally decided to get up from her seat by the pool, when she saw aisha and her dad walking up to her parents. aisha spotted the girl right before she was going to walk away, and this sparked a conversation between the two.

the two girls ran off somewhere, as they hadn't seen each other in ages, while their parents sat with smiles on their faces, mainly the larusso's at the fact that one of their children was just the same as and always has been.

OLIVIA'S DAD HAD HER AND MIGUEL CLEANING MATS, after the health inspector came and gave him a list of things to do before they could run the dojo. johnny walked in with some coors light, giving them more tasks to do as he made it to his office.

"what does any of this have to do with karate, sensei?" miguel asked the question on both of their minds.

"do not question my methods. just be thankful you're not a sumo wrestler. those guys have to wipe their sensei's asses." he snaps his fingers shooting the coors cap past miguel and olivia, which causes them to turn there heads in the direction it landed.

     "i don't think that's very accurate, dad." olivia turned back to her dad as she gave the truthful answer to that, because what would her father know about sumo wrestlers. miguel notices the trophies, and walks over to them, analyzing them.

     "so, i, uh, see you were a karate champion, sensei," he notes, seeing the first place trophies in the cardboard box on the ground.

     "you don't have to call me 'sensei' every time." the older man contradicts his words from earlier, since now wasn't a time of teaching and more a time where they were all equals.

     "i'm sorry, sensei...i, um...sorry. i'm sorry." miguel corrects his sentence halfway through, as he once again used the word sensei in the casual setting. johnny nods, and shifts his attention back to the trophies causing olivia and miguel to do the same.

     "i won a couple all valley tournaments. didn't lose a single point in my junior year." he answered the earlier question.

     "that's really cool, dad!" olivia's face lit up at the words her father said.

     "all right! what happened in your senior year?" miguel asked, as he said stuff about his junior year, but stopped after, that not mentioning the year after. olivia thought that his senior year must've been the year he lost to mr. larusso.

     "this isn't twenty questions. get back to scrubbing," olivia got her answer from that. her dad never really liked to talk about that year. at that, she decided not to push more and just get back to cleaning the mat in front of her. miguel's ringtone interrupted as he got a call. he was talking about debate club or something, which led olivia to believe it was his mom, who he was probably lying to about karate.

     AS THE LARUSSO'S PULLED INTO THEIR DRIVEWAY, savannah saw an abundance of cars, and scrunched her face in confusion. after a quick thought though, she realized what her sister must've done while they were at the country club, throw a party of course. her parents quickly unbuckled their seatbelts and were out the car, savannah and anthony were quick to follow.

     in the backyard, savannah saw a site she never wanted to see again, teenage boys in her dad's swim trunks. besides that, a bunch of the popular kids, as savannah had recognized, were relaxing by the pool having the time of their lives. it was quickly brought to an end as her dad stopped the music, and told everyone to get out. sam tried to excuse it by saying she didn't know when he would be home, but that didn't make a difference, the party should've never been thrown. savannah was more hurt by the fact that her sister didn't even think to mention the party to her. yeah, she might not get along with the popular kids, but it would've been the thought that counted. their mom dragged daniel inside, leaving just the three kids by themselves.

     "how could you throw a party, and not invite me?" savannah asked her sister, who had her arms crossed against her chest in frustration.

     "i'm sorry. i just, didn't think you'd want to stay with all my friends here," she answered showing her remorse on her face.

     "it's okay, it's still the thought that would've counted," savannah got over it quickly. it wasn't in her nature to stay mad for long, especially over something so trivial, such as a party that she probably wouldn't have even come to. the girls both headed inside after, ready to continue on with their days.

     THAT NIGHT savannah was in the dojo portion of their house, relaxing in the darkness with her headphones in. she always came here when she wanted peace and quiet, as no one besides her dad really came back here. it also helped her feel more connected to karate and mr. miyagi, both things she missed in her life. her silence was interrupted by her dad coming to put the pool stuff away.

     "wish you were here to give me some of that miyagi stuff wisdom right now." he turned on the light, which caused savannah to let out a little shriek, not noticing he was there. she saw her dad place a picture frame that had fallen back on the mantle. he looked at savannah, surprised to see her as well. before summoning her to join him.

     "i didn't realize you were in here." he put an arm around her shoulder, in a comforting way. he picked up a frame, it was a picture of them and sam, "remember this day?"

     "yeah, it was the day me and sam kicked the wood boards in half, just over there." savannah pointed to where the storage shelf was at, which now occupied the space they used to learn karate at. her dad smiled at the memory, both of them missed the feeling of doing karate together. placing the picture back down, her dad led the two of them out of the dojo, and into the house for the night, as she was starting school back up in the morning.

     she made it to her room, pulling out her laptop to call olivia to discuss the next day. they needed to find outfits, catch up with demetri and eli as it had been a while, and figure out what classes they had together.

     "okay, so i'm thinking, what if i wear the denim skirt i got when we went to the mall last week?" savannah asked her friend on the other line, who thought over it for a minute.

     "oh my god, that's perfect, you'll have all the guys drooling for you if you pair it with the matching denim halter and your brown leather jacket," olivia agreed quickly putting a full outfit idea together.

     "exactly, you just understand the vision for the first day. now you, what about those jeans that make you look so good? it will make eli want you for sure." it was always a mystery to savannah, how olivia and eli weren't dating yet. they always bounced around each others obvious feelings for each other, and it baffled both demetri and savannah that the two managed to do that for the past couple of years. olivia blushed at the words savannah said, which made the girl smirk.

"yeah, like you and demetri aren't always stealing glances at each other." olivia taunted back towards the brunette.

"for the last time, me and demetri are just friends!" savannah had always had this rant with olivia, who never seemed to back down from her stance on it all.

"whatever you say. oh, right! i just got a new neighbor, he's starting school with us tomorrow. maybe we can sit with him, introduce him to the boys," olivia remembered her new neighbor, and pointed it out to the girl.

"oh, that sounds good. i can't wait to meet him." savannah was cool with the idea, it would be nice to add someone to their friend group.

"okay, cool." olivia paused, and glanced at the time, "okay, well it's getting late so i should head to bed."

"all right, see you tomorrow." and with that olivia ended the call. savannah closed her laptop, placing it on the charger, she then put it on her night stand. she went to her dresser and picked out pajamas. after putting those on, she went to her closet and picked out what her and olivia discussed her wearing. savannah was pleased now that she had everything set for school the next day, as she slipped into bed and dozed off for the night. she wouldn't know that her dad had come in to see what she was doing for the night, nor the smile that was etched upon his face as he saw her asleep.

      IT WAS OFFICIALLY LUNCH, the next day at school. olivia and savannah sat with demetri and eli, when olivia noticed miguel trying to find a spot to sit.

     "hey miguel, over here!" she called out to the boy, as savannah turned to see who it was. that's when she made eye contact with him. his chocolate brown eyes bored into hers. it was like she couldn't breathe, he was sucking all the oxygen from her lungs. she couldn't speak, her tongue turning to putty. miguel was stopped in front of her too, as they shared immense eye contact. she wanted to know this boy, and it seemed he wanted to know her too. after a few moments, which felt like years to the two, but in reality were only mere seconds, miguel finally spoke up.

     "is it cool if i sit here?" he asked, still taken aback by the beauty of the girl in front of him.

     "ooh, sorry, table's really blowing up right now. i can put you on the waitlist, but it's probably next semester at the earliest." demetri sarcastically joked, which earned him a hit to the arm from olivia. he looked at her annoyed, while miguel started to walk away.

     "no, he's kidding. sit," savannah eagerly invited the boy to sit at their table, which he obliged and took the empty seat next to her. they all introduced themselves to him, his and savannah's eyes lingering on each other a bit longer than the rest, which the other three did not fail to notice, especially demetri, who no one seemed to notice had a small frown at his face at their interaction. they didn't get to say much else, as yasmine and sam walked in and joined moon as their table. all of them looked up at the entrance, demetri scoffing at it.

     "dude, don't torture yourself. those are the rich girls." the lanky boy told the new one, although the boy had only mere glanced at them. they could see the girls greet each other, and giggle as they sat down, but savannah couldn't help rolling her eyes at her sister hanging out with the group. she knew her sister only wanted popularity, but she didn't like the way she had went about it.

     "did you ever talk to them or..." miguel asked, curious about the popular clique.

     "oh yeah! all the time. we hang out after school, make out, give each other hand jobs. eli here is the homecoming king. gets laid more than anyone. isnt that right, eli? talk to them? you realize what table you're sitting at, right? you've pretty much signed away all hopes of losing your virginity before college." and demetri brought his sarcastic voice back again, as it was clear no one at the table, save for savannah had ever talked to them. savannah gave him a look at the words, to which demetri gave her a look back.

"don't listen to all the things he's saying, that one over there is my sister, sam." savannah explained, with a light chuckle while she pointed over to her sister. miguel smiled a little at the sound of her laugh, enjoying the sound.

"oh shit, yasmine's looking at us. probably just making fun of me." eli murmered, while looking down from the blonde's gaze at the table. olivia puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, showing that she was here for him. eli smiled at the gesture.

"i don't think she's making making fun of you. i mean, just because they're hot doesn't mean they're mean," miguel tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. savannah appreciated that he thought that, even if that wasn't the case as the girls were definitely talking about eli, which sucked because he didn't deserve it. demetri rolled his eyes, as they all say and continued to observe the popular table that was parallel to theirs.

"i don't care if yasmine is the meanest girl at school. i'd kill all of you just to get her to spit in my face." demetri told the table, admiring yasmine's beauty. even if yasmine may be mean towards the group, none of them could deny her beauty.

"if you don't make a move, you'll never have a shot," savannah thought miguel had a lot to learn about this school still, as demetri wouldn't have a shot with yasmine anytime soon.

"true, but i'll also never suffer a humiliating rejection. i'm at peace with my depression. last thing i need is to be suicidal." demetri agreed with savannah's thoughts, albeit unknowingly as she hadn't spoken her mind. miguel stood up, which left the table confused, until they saw where he was walking towards. he was stopped before he even reached the table, as brucks and kyler sat with the girls. this left miguel standing in the middle of the cafeteria, savannah noticing this went and retrieved him to bring him back to the table. she rubbed his shoulder in comfort, hopefully making him feel better about the situation, as kyler waving at him with his stupid smirk probably didn't help. as they sat back down, olivia looked at savannah knowingly, which caused the latter to blush at the idea of a crush already forming in her mind.

demetri continued to be sarcastic towards miguel, while savannah was still getting silently teased by olivia. after demetri was done with his spiel, the group continued to enjoy each other's company at their lunch table, before heading to class for the rest of the day.

IT WAS ANOTHER LESSON FOR THE TWO COBRA KAI STUDENTS. the two were in front of a practice dummy, as johnny spoke to them.

     "can't strike first if you don't know how to strike. the cobra strike is composed of two parts: the lunge, which requires use of the whole body, and and the bite, which is everything that happens after you make contact. " olivia's father started to instruct the two students, while demonstrating the move slowly on the dummy.

     "all right? you don't stop here where knuckle hits the bone," her dad leaves his hand right at the mouth of the dummy. "you punch through the bone like the guy you wanna hit is standing behind this asshole, all right?" he finishes bringing his hand further back. both miguel and olivia nod at this, understanding his words.

     "hyah!" he yells as he does the punch full on. he explains the injuries that could occur from the punch, having the clarify that's for extremes only, before letting both students try the punch first themselves. both of them practice their punches, olivia being slightly better at this than miguel, while johnny takes a phone call on the other side of the dojo. olivia heard him talking about robby doing drugs, which made her lose focus for a moment. she was worried for her brother, and just hoped he wouldn't continue down this bad path. she dwells in that thought for only a moment, before landing the punch on the dummy. she then lets miguel take his turn. johnny ends the call, and sees miguel doing the punch wrong, immediately walking over to fix it.

     "step aside liv, what do you want, those kids at school to keep dumping shit on your head? he starts to miguel, "you want all the girls to think you're a wang-less dork? 'cause you can stop your training now, and you can walk outside and let the whole world know you're a loser."

     he starts to point at the ground, "or you can plant your feet, look your enemy in the eyes, and punch him in the face!"

     "picture your enemy. all right, you have a picture in your mind?" miguel nodded at johnny's words. olivia knew he was probably picturing kyler after today's lunch events.

     "what are you gonna do?" miguel finally lands the punch. johnny encourages him to do it again and again, while olivia cheers him on, proud of her friend.

IT WAS FINALLY THE DINNER SAVANNAH WAS LEAST LOOKING FORWARD TO. kyler sat at the table with the family, minus anthony, as daniel plated dinner. savannah loved hearing her dad explain the story behind the yanagi knife he had gotten on his first trip to okinawa. he handed the first plate to kyler, who was smiling the whole time up until that point.

"uh, no, thanks. i don't like sushi." he tried to politely decline the plate, which earned a look from her dad.

"uh...are you sure you just don't wanna try a little piece?" her mom tried to defuse the situation before it got worse.

"it melts in your mouth." the older man added, trying to see if that would persuade kyler to even just a bite of the food.

"no, fish kind of grosses me out." he still declined the plate, which made savannah want to laugh, because he eats fish sticks at school.

"no, you like fish. what about the fish sticks at school?" sam asked him, to which savannah nodded at.

"oh yeah, fish sticks are dope. you have fish sticks?" he looks at daniel as he asks his question. to which her dad says no, as he went to the japanese market for the fish this morning. it was awkward for savannah to watch at this point, because her dad just assumed he ate tuna, without even asking sam if would like that or not.

"you know what? what don't we see if we can find kyler something he can eat. sam, you wanna come with me to the kitchen?" the girls mom walks away with sam, leaving savannah awkwardly at the table with her dad and kyler.

"thank you for inviting me over, mr. larusso. um, you have a really great house. and i think sam is really cool too." kyler tells the girls father after he sits back down from rinsing his hands in the water bowl he had.

"well, thanks. she takes after her mother." daniel replies, which earns a nod from kyler. savannah couldn't help but want to shrink into a hole at the awkwardness. it was weird for her to see kyler act this way compared to how he was at school, and savannah just couldn't wait to leave the table when dinner was over.

daniel continues he thoughts, "and listen, i never liked sushi when i was your age either. it wasn't until i met a good friend that it began to grow on me. he was from okinawa. where are your parents from?"

"irvine...i think." kyler trails off as he looks for the answer in his brain. savannah at this point has discreetly pulled her phone out under the table to tell olivia all about her awkward dinner situation she was currently in.

"irvine? right." daniel chuckles at the response, before he goes on about bruise kyler had on his face, to which savannah sort of tuned back in for, curious about who fought the boy.

"oh, this! um...this is from wrestling. you know, i dodged the wrong way, and i caught an elbow. it's stupid." he laughs as he ends the sentence. which in general had thrown savannah off, as kyler wasn't a wrestler, but she thought nothing of it.

"is that how you hurt your hand too?" daniel continued asking the teen, before continuing, "it's ok. i was in my share of fights back in high school."

"i don't know what you're talking about." kyler tries to defend himself against her father's words. daniel continues to push at a specific answer from the boy, before not getting the one he thought he was, when kyler reveals it was a grown man who jumped him and his friends at the mini-mall.

"yeah. we were just at the store trying to get...some protein bars. and, yeah...some homeless-looking guy, he just started giving us a hard time. and the next thing we know, he busts some karate." ok now both daniel, and savannah were confused, but daniel more than his daughter. based on what he vividly remembered seeing earlier that day he had a feeling he knew the cause of this.

"karate? wait, wait, wait. wait a minute, wait a minute. what mini-mall was this?" her dad immediately questions, before getting up to leave. savannah was baffled at the whole exchange, what an interesting family dinner, was the only thought that rang in her head.

     MIGUEL AND OLIVIA had still been cleaning the dojo that night. miguel had window cleaner in his hand as he cleaned the glass on the doors and windows of the dojo, whereas olivia was on a ladder to check that all the ceiling tiles were up to date and that none of them had to be replaced immediately. johnny had been in his office doing some paperwork to get the dojo all set to function.

     "hey, sensei, is there any particular thing at you want me to wash these windows?" miguel asked the older man, which olivia chuckled at.

     "no, i don't give a shit. whatever's easiest." that was the exact response the girl expected to hear from her dad, as he continued to check the proper boxes he needed to on the page.

     "you know what? just go clean the toilet, and we'll call it a night." he finished off his tasks from miguel for the day, as the ceiling tiles had been the last for olivia to do.

     miguel let out a sigh before johnny then added more instructions, "and do that one on your hands and knees." which had made olivia laugh more than she did before.

     olivia continued her job moving the ladder around the room to look at the pushable tiles from the ceiling, while humming to herself. she was however interrupted from her thoughts by the bells from the front door ringing. this had confused the girl as no one shouldn't been at the building especially at this time of night. she found herself surprised, as didn't expect to see daniel larusso when she look down from the tiling she was inspecting. she felt herself a little speechless, she couldn't find the words to say anything to him, but she could only imagine how much worse this will get, given her dad and larusso's rivalry.

     "welcome to cobra kai." her dad exclaimed to the newcomer, as she finally turned to look at her dad who came from his office. they both paused and looked at each other for a moment.

     "some things never change." daniel poked at the man as he spoke, olivia still couldn't say a word as she watched the whole exchange from the ladder she was perched upon.

     "yeah, what are you talking about?" johnny asked the other man in the room.

     "i heard you beat up a bunch of teenagers in that parking lot out there." and olivia could only think of what kyler must've said over dinner when he was at the larusso's.

     "oh, that. no. i didn't beat up any teenagers. i kicked the shit out of a bunch of assholes who deserved it." johnny stalked towards daniel, who couldn't help but scoff.

     "wow. johnny lawrence calling someone else an asshole. that's rich, man." larusso found it amusing, but olivia did not. her dad could have his moments yes, but he was finally turning his life around, and she was proud of him.

     "what's that supposed to mean?" johnny continued asking after what daniel previously said.

     "uh, look...i'm not here to rehash the past. just stay away from my daughter's friends." olivia almost laughed at those words, as she was friends with one of his daughters, and she was definitely not staying away from savannah anytime soon.

     "your daughter's friends? yeah, that makes sense. nice company she keeps." johnny recalled the accident from the other day as he spoke to daniel.

     "what's the hell is that supposed to mean?" it was now the other man's turn to be confused.

     "it means those friends of hers were wailing on a kid half their size. yeah, maybe you don't know your daughter as well as you think you do. get your house in order, larusso." johnny retorted, and daniel stalked up closely to the man.

     "who the hell do you think you're talking to?"  they both met in the center of the mat, while just on the far side of the square, sat olivia, intently watching, hoping the two wouldn't fight out here.

     "bathroom's clean!" miguel interrupted the tense moment, as olivia's head snapped towards his direction. he continued to walk out unaware, until johnny stuck his hand out to silence him.

     "oh! i'm sorry, sensei, i..." miguel trailed off, and took his headphones out of his ears.

     "sensei? really?" daniel was shocked that he had students.

     "yeah, he's our sensei. do you have a problem with that?" olivia finally spoke for the first time since daniel had walked in.

     "nope, perfectly fine with that." he spoke, but everyone could tell he didn't really mean the words he spoke.

     "look, kids. i don't know what he's told you, but you shouldn't believe a word he says, or you're both gonna end up exactly like him." he tried to warn both kids.

     "i think we can tell the wrong sort ourselves, thank you very much." olivia spoke yet again, to defend her father, but she ignored by daniel entirely this time.

     "you and i...this...we aren't done." daniel can't find the words, before he turns to leave.

     "i'm right here, man." johnny has to get the last word in, which makes daniel scoff. he turns back, as johnny taunts him a bit more, before ultimately deciding its not worth it and turning to leave. johnny walked to where daniel previously stood, as he stared into the nothingness in front of him. olivia finally climbed down from the ladder, as she had honestly forgotten she was up there during the whole exchange.

     "i'm sorry if i interrupted anything, sensei." miguel spoke, and then offered himself up to do twenty push-ups on his own. johnny joked with the boy, knowing he couldn't do them if he tried, but his mind was still on the confrontation with daniel. the two teens walked closer to him, and noticed how he was staring at daniel's car, but all johnny could do was smile as he watched the car pull away into the night.

(i give you guys this now...but we'll see...)

word count 5835
date published november 30, 2024

━━ A SPEAKS
sorry for such a long wait on chapter two, i realized i didn't have much left in the episode so i was like let me finish this ig...anyways savannah is finally here!! and i hope to explore the dynamics + relationships soon as i didn't get much savannah and olivia or really either of their love interests. but the halloween episode is next so we have ample opportunity now!! anyways the girlies are a little beefed out with each others parents (especially olivia and daniel😬) but nothing a couple seasons from now can't fix!! also just know anthony and savannah will have some development and time together (yk they're in a tie for not being the larusso parents fav kid 🤷🏽‍♀️) but i hope you enjoyed and i'll see
you guys next time!!!