I FEEL SO HIGH SCHOOL . . . !
© 2024 ━━ chapter three
esqueleto

     MIGUEL AND OLIVIA were at practice again, this time they were both practicing their punches on dummies at the corner of the mat. it was silent between the two and they could both hear the frustration of johnny behind them as he went through even more paperwork.

     "hey, you don't happen to have any friends who wanna learn karate, do you?" he came out of his office to ask the two. olivia stopped what she was doing, and thought of savannah, but olivia knew she would never join due to her father and the history him and johnny shared, so she quickly shook her head no at her dad. johnny took a look to miguel, who continued to punch at the dummy.

"aw, what am i saying? you don't have any friends. sorry." he said before even getting a response out of the kid, who finally gave one last punch to the dummy before ultimately stopping.

"hey, sensei, when am i gonna learn to do some kicking?" that was the question he chose to ask, he didn't even seem bothered at the previous comment made by the older man, which left a confused question on olivia's face.

"did you not hear what my dad said? or were you just choosing to ignore it?" she had to ask after that confusing interaction she witnessed.

"the second part, anyways, i saw a youtube video of this guy breaking boards, and it looked badass." he answered olivia's question, before going back to his own question.

"yeah, no shit. kicking is badass. but you're not ready. besides, if i don't get more students in here, i won't be able to teach either of you guys anything." johnny shut down the idea quickly.

"you've thought about advertising, right?" miguel gave the man an idea on how to get students in the building.

"pfft, my dad? advertising? i don't think he could advertise this place even if he wanted to." olivia chuckled at the idea of her dad trying to get more students. he would struggle too much to actually recruit someone, with the way he runs his mouth. it was funny, yes, but would it recruit students? definitely not.

"yeah, duh. of course." the older one replied, but it was extremely obvious he had no clue what he was talking about. olivia playfully rolled her eyes, and went back to punching her dummy in front of her.

     IT WAS OFFICIALLY LUNCH all the students sat at their respective tables as the guidance counselor was giving an assembly of sorts to the students. olivia, savannah, eli, demetri, and miguel all sat at their usual table in the cafeteria. they were listening, but they could tell most others were not.

     "cyberbullying is no laughing matter. sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as hurtful as saying it to their face. i'm not gonna name names, but the other day a mother called me up because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity." the table felt sympathy for eli, as even though the counselor thought she was being discreet, she really wasn't.

     "it's the kid right there."

     "it's the kid with the weird lip."

     "ok how about you both stop talking." olivia shot the kids who made the comments nasty looks, before giving her attention back to eli, who was clearly embarrassed.

     "but today, our goal here is to make this school a safe space for all students." the counselor said one thing, but they knew change was never gonna come.

     "if you're sick of getting bullied, my karate dojo's looking for recruits." miguel tried to lighten the mood at the table, which got a smile from olivia as this could be a great group bonding experience for the table. but the moment was ruined by the scoff demetri let out.

     "yeah, right. you hear that, eli? a little karate training, and you're gonna kick some major add." he exaggerated the claim by making baby karate arms, which savannah quickly pushed back down onto the table.

     "he's serious, demetri. i swear a week ago, he couldn't even land a punch." olivia defended her new friend, as she saw his improvements already, just in the short time that they knew each other for.

     "hey, that was uncalled for. but seriously, our sensei's the real deal. i'm sure we could get you three discounts." miguel took offense to olivia's comment, but got over it knowing her joking manner.

     "as enticing as that sounds, i think we'd rather spend out afternoons playing crucible control than getting hit in the face." demetri tried to speak for the rest of the group again, which was a habit of his, with how soft spoken eli and savannah both tended to be compared to olivia.

     "i don't know...it sounds interesting, but i quit karate a long time ago, i think i'll have to pass on this one." savannah smiled at her best friend, and miguel, who both nodded understanding where she was coming from. what savannah didn't tell them was that, she loved karate, and would always be up to do it again. but it just wasn't the same now that sam had no interest, and her dad no longer wanted to teach her because of sam losing interest. the group ended the conversation there and tuned the counselor back in.

     "oh, and one last thing. while we're all looking forward to the halloween dance, let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive. for example, instead of "sexy nurse," maybe try "gender-neutral hospital employee." this got a laugh out of students as she continued to go on naming different costumes to do instead. savannah turned to olivia instead, tuning out the counselor once again.

     "are we still planning on matching tonight?" savannah excitedly asked the girl.

     "of course, who do you think i am to ditch you in our matching costumes?" olivia told the girl. they had been planning a costume out for weeks, ultimately landing on one of their favorite movies, ferris bueller's day off. savannah was going as ferris bueller himself, whereas olivia was going as his best friend in the movie, cameron frye.

     "are you coming to mine to get ready beforehand?" savannah asked, wanting to know if she should get snacks or something for the girl. olivia hesitated on an answer thinking back to the encounter she had with the girls dad a few days prior.

     "i should be able to!" olivia ultimately made up her mind, she wasn't going to give up her best friend over a stupid karate rivalry between their dads. the girls continued talking til the end of lunch, before heading to class together.

IT WAS DINNER IN THE LARUSSO HOUSE the family sat at the table as they ate their meals, and talked about their days.

"i mean, i feel bad for aisha, but at the same time, i don't wanna dress up as a molecular compound." sam ranted, after she had a conversation with aisha over halloween costumes, that didn't go well.

"i totally get it, but just because you guys aren't wearing the same costume doesn't mean you can't hang out at the dance together." their mom tried to reason with sam, which was the truth because true friends would just hang out with each other no matter what they wore to a stupid halloween party. savannah didn't understand the drama behind it anyways, ten years down the line they would never think of that moment they didn't match at a halloween dance during their sophomore year of high school.

"speaking of the dance, i got an email from the school. they're looking for chaperones. they seem pretty desperate." their dad shifted the conversation, but savannah could tell he was getting at something else.

"yeah, no kidding. who wants to spend their friday night in a sweaty gym?" amanda replied to her husband, as he took a sip of his water.

"you're off the hook. i said i'd do it." the bite of food savannah took was abandoned, as she choked on it from the shock of what her dad just said. he was never interested in chaperoning school events before this one so what changed his mind. she quickly grabbed her water to ease her cough, as sam dropped her fork onto her plate. she gave their dad a look, which he retuned back. anthony of course was enjoying the drama from his seat at the table.

"what? come on. counselor blatt and i go way back. i couldn't leave her hanging." daniel said looking towards both girls.

their mom attempted to be the voice of reason here, "uh...come on, daniel. would you want one of your parents at your high school dance?"

"my mom drove me on dates, ok?" he shot back.

"yeah? and how'd that go?" savannah smiled at her moms words. she knew it wouldn't be too bad, as she wasn't in sam's shoes with the whole boyfriend and school dance with her father there type of thing. if anything she was just more shocked than annoyed at the news. daniel and amanda shared a teasing look with each other, as sam slumped back into her chair with her arms crossed.

"this is so not fair." this got daniel to turn his head towards her.

"you won't notice me. i'll be a ghost." he tried to reassure his daughters, but it was more towards sam than savannah.

"ghosts are lame." with his mouth full, which made savannah make a face, anthony looked up from his plate to their dad to talk.

"oh he wasn't being literal, he's saying he'll be invisible like a ghost, so we won't even notice he's at our dance." savannah teased her little brother, and daniel gave her an appreciative look for explaining his point.

"just promise me you won't embarrass me." sam pleaded with their dad, to which he did promise to her, before they went back to their meal.

     THE HIGH SCHOOL DANCE WAS OFFICIALLY THAT NIGHT. savannah and olivia sat in her room as they put together their costumes finally. olivia was sitting on the girls bed, putting her converse on, as both girls deemed converse more comfortable than the oxford shoes both guys wore in the movie. savannah sat at her vanity doing her makeup for the night.

     "so what are your thoughts on miguel?" olivia couldn't help but ask, since their glances they've shared since the first day were eating her alive. savanah couldn't help but blush at the mention of the boy.

     "nothings going on. at least, i don't think anything is gonna happen from it. they're just glances. plus, you saw him try to walk to my sister's table that day." savannah tried to not get her hopes up on the boy.

     "that boy is in love with you though. yeah he walked up to their table, but he was proving a point to demetri and eli. he's been giving you lovesick eyes since the first day of school, you just haven't noticed them." this got savannah to stop working on her makeup for a second, and think. sure miguel is cute, and she could see a future with him, but she only just met the boy she can't be certain of anything yet.

     "whatever, maybe i have a little crush on him, but that's all. i swear you better not talk to him about this conversation." this was all olivia was probably get from savannah for now, but she would talk it.

     "i knew it!" olivia flopped back onto savannah's bed in joy over the words that came from the brunette.

      "ok but speaking of boys, when are you gonna make a move on eli? we've all seen how much you guys like each other, it's sickening." savannah had gone back to her makeup, now putting on some eyeliner, as she was nearly done.

     "what are you talking about?" olivia shot up so quick, she made herself a little dizzy.

     "oh look who wants to act confused now." savannah told her in a matter of fact tone, as she finished her eyeliner, and went to grab her sunglasses.

     "oh whatever, let's not think about boys tonight, and just have fun at the halloween party." olivia stood up, with a slight grumble in her voice not wanting to continue talking about her very obvious crush on eli. she didn't travel far though as savannah was putting on her converse now so that they could leave.

     "ok, whatever you say. let's listen to the ferris bueller soundtrack on the way, it fits the vibe of our costumes." the girls giggled as they left their room, not noticing the smile on amanda's face as they left the house.

     THE DANCE WAS IN FULL SWING, the girls saw sam and her friends in their laker girls costumes, which they may have rolled their eyes at a bit. but that didn't last long, as they spotted demetri and eli and went up to them. that chatted for a bit, but were quickly interrupted by miguel's entrance in a skeleton costume. he quickly made his way to the group as well.

"oh, skeleton. classic. nice." demetri already started, before miguel could even finish walking up to them, which got him a hit to the arm from savannah. he gave her a look as he rubbed his arm from the gesture.

"thanks. i like the sorcerer costume." miguel told him back, which got a rise from the boy, as that was not what his costume was.

"sorcerer? please. i'm a necromancer" he corrected the boy, which only made him more confused. olivia chuckled at the interaction, which got savannah to hit her too.

"what?" was the only word miguel could say in response to demetri.

"didn't you see the amulet?" demetri gave more context on his costume to miguel, who just ignored him.

"so, are you a regular doctor or-" the boy turned to eli, now asking about his costume.

"plastic surgeon. i fix lips." he cut miguel off. miguel nodded at him, and olivia couldn't help but smile at eli's response, liking his costume.

"and you two are?" he asked the girls, which gave them their moment to shine.

"we're only two characters from one of the best movies of all time." savannah started off for the two.

"ferris bueller and cameron frye from ferris bueller's day off!" olivia finished as they posed for the boy, who laughed at the duos antics. savannah faltered for a moment, seeing her dad scanning the dance floor, but didn't let it stop her as she continued talking to her friends and enjoying herself.

eventually savannah excused herself to go talk to aisha, who she noticed was alone. walking up to the girl, she was immediately noticed by her. aisha was glad to finally talk to someone at the dance, as sam was a bust, spending the whole night with kyler, yasmine, and moon.

"hey, how have you been?" savannah had a cheerful tone in her voice.

"i could be better, i wish me and sam's costumes worked out but, she went as a laker girl with moon and yasmine." this got savannah to look back over at her sister for a second, before looking back at aisha.

"honestly i think you're rocking this sodium costume, so keep your head up because if she's a true friend she'll come to you and everything will end up ok. i'm sorry you haven't been able to hang out with her much recently, but at least you still have me! feel free to drop by the house anytime i'm home i always love a good time with you." she hugged the girl, who appreciated the sentiment of her words.

"thank you, that's what i needed to hear." aisha got slightly teary eyed. savannah noticed her sister coming up to the pair.

"i'll leave you two to it, i should probably get back to my friends." she excused herself and made her way back to the group, content that she may have helped her friend and her sister rekindle their friendship.

SAVANNAH AND OLIVIA were dancing on the dance floor, while the guys lingered by the punch. it was a dance after all, they had to do some dancing. they were having some fun, until savannah noticed something off. her sister was missing, but even in her disappearance her dad was probably dealing with that, with the way he was being very unghostly during the dance, and watching the girls like hawks. that wasn't what bothered her, what did was the way moon and yasmine were laughing and talking with their friends.

"do you think moon and yasmine are up to something over there?" savannah asked curiously to olivia who had also stopped what she was doing at this point.

"when are they not doing something?" she responded, as she noticed yasmine typing away on her phone, then sam walked up, and everyone's phones vibrated in their pockets. the two girls looked down at olivia's phone horrified at the picture yasmine sent.

it was of aisha, at the snack table. but that wasn't the worst thing about it, no, it was what was written on it. the buffet table is under attack!!!!! and the put a pig nose on the girl.

savannah felt sick to her stomach at the picture. why would yasmine do such a sick thing. she didn't like that the girl was mean sure, but she especially hated when she took things too far, like with eli, and now aisha. everyone was laughing at aisha's misery. she tried to look to sam for comfort, but nothing, sam did nothing but stare. she ran off as someone chanted cheeto pig at her.

savannah could now feel anger rising in her, and she was worried that what she was about to do was something she was gonna regret. she walked away from olivia, who had a look of confusion on her face at her friends action, but all savannah could see was red. she charged up to yasmine and stood right in front of her. it wasn't very like her to get into confrontation, but maybe all of yasmine's terror was finally catching up to savannah kind heart.

     "why the hell would you post that video of aisha?" she wasn't very happy by the tone of her voice, and you could tell.

     "don't tell me you're defending that pig?" yasmine laughed in savannah's face, which rose her anger more.

     "that pig, which she's not by the way, is my friend. and maybe some people would be better off defending their friends, than sticking with bullies like you." she directed half of her sentence at her sister, who shrunk in her spot at the words, embarrassed for not sticking up for her friend. by now a small crowd had formed around the two girls, as people were intrigued by the drama folding out in front of them.

     "oh please, that's a joke to say she has any friends besides you." yasmine, tipped the pot of anger boiling inside of the larusso girl. and the girl wound her hand back, before she smacked the blonde right in the face. the bully turned her head to side and clutched her cheek where the bruise was bound to form. and the crowd gasped at the event. olivia felt like a proud mom, for her best friend finally taking a stand, but soon snapped out of it as she pulled the brunette away from the scene and to the hallway to calm down.

     BY THE END OF THE NIGHT, savannah and olivia were both ready to go home. they walked the halls to let savannah get a moment to breathe after the altercation in the gym, when they ran into olivia's dad with posters in his hand.

     "what are you doing here dad?" she spoke to her father first, knowing that savannah wasn't in the mood to talk.

     "just trying to bring some advertisement for the dojo, you know like miguel said. we've been working on it for the past couple days when you've been at home." he replied, before noticing savannah next to her. she looked familiar but he couldn't put his mind on why she did.

     "oh that's nice, me and savannah were about to head out but we can stay for a couple seconds longer to help finish up if you'd like. right savannah?" she also turned to her best friend, but before they could get a reply they heard the door next to them open, it was kyler and his goons.

     "that was brutal, baby." kyler spoke as he came out the door.

     "ky, you broke 'rhea off." his friend brucks added, as the group laughed with their exit and cheered him on. the group. the three that were already outside the door quickly rushed in, the girls not even caring that it was the boys locker room. they saw the boy they all were starting to like on the floor wheezing. kyler had to have beat him down, and those three sure weren't happy about whatever happened.

word count 3530
date published december 1, 2024

━━ A SPEAKS
this is a shorter chapter, because i skipped a lot of the episode, and even some of the karate stuff, because i was a little tired of writing chapters that were 90% karate, this episode also focused a lot on johnny and daniel/sam so🤷🏽‍♀️. i wasn't expecting to write the savannah and yasmine beef, then i was watching the episode and someone needed to put her in her place so i wrote it...i did what i did and it was deserved!! anways until next time bye!!!!