ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ 𓏲˖ 𑁍 ࣪ ִ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗
࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ  ✩◿𝓒𝓑◸ 🂱 ࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ
CHAPTER EIGHTY NINE—
a rose quartez healing game.

"I never thought of it that way." Sam admitted as Alaska laid on her shoulder. They were in her living room after Alaska hurried over and told Sam everything, resulting in San telling her what happened. "I guess I just thought that sexual assault meant a lot worse then what happened."

"I know." Alaska agreed as she kept her head still. "I feel worse now."

"Yeah." Sam exhaled, she was letting it sink in. "It's not fair that we think that way. Why didn't we realize?"

"I know." Alaska agreed with her. "No one acted like it was a big deal. It was just-"

"Pushed aside." Sam cut her off with a nod. "That's what happens."

"I hate it." Alaska shut her eyes as Sam leaned her head on her head. "Do you think more people feel this way?"

"Probably. They probably don't even know." Sam pointed out. "I hope Kyler gets what he deserves."

"Do you think he did it to other girls?" Alaska looked up. "I don't remember him every saying anything about other girls except me and you."

"Yeah, and one girl from Saint Mary's." Sam nodded her head. "But, that's it."

"I hope she is okay." Alaska shut her eyes. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Sam. I'm sorry I just let it go too, I should have asked."

"No, that's not your fault." she promised her. "I'm sorry I dated him after he said all that stuff about you."

"It's okay." she exhaled quietly. "Someone needs to let people know that sexual assault comes in so many forms, so they don't push their stories to the side and get treated like they aren't a big deal."

"Yeah." Sam agreed with her. "But, how would we tell anyone? I don't want anyone to know what happened, it's not anyones business."

"Me too." Alaska agreed. It wasn't anyones business, and they already knew more of her business then she wished. "Do you know that sobriety group I go to? NA and sometimes AA?"

"Yeah, they meet at the hospital." Sam nodded as Alaska came off her shoulder. "Why?"

"We have this hotline for people that aren't ready to come to group yet. They'll call and a sponsor will talk to them and not invalidate anything. No matter how little it is." Alaska nodded her head. "What if we set one of those up? We can make flyers, so people can call in about their experiences and we can help them understand that what they went through isn't something to ever be pushed under the rug."

"You really think we could do that?" Sam asked as Alaska nodded. "Okay, but the Valley is a big place. The two of us aren't the only people that can answer calls all summer, we're still teenagers."

Alaska nodded. "What if we set up one night every week. You and I will stay up really late, and it'll be a whole period between letting people call. I can talk to a few other people, that have gone through what we have, and see if they want to help."

"Okay. Yeah, I think we could make that work." Sam nodded as Alaska smiled at her. "I missed that."

"Missed what?" she gave a questionable look.

"That's smile." Sam said back with a raise of her eyebrows, like it was the most obvious thing. "Think i'll see it again anytime soon?"

Alaska grinned as she inhaled deeply. "I think I know what I need to do."

"Hey." Eli smiled as he walked into the weight room at Alaskas house, Miguel and Demetri behind him. He kissed her on the cheek. "What is this all about?"

"Welcome to the healing room. Decorated via Moon and filled with essential oils, via me." Alaska motioned around to the candle lit room, the smell of lavender in every corner. There were crochet pillows in a circle. "Take your crochet seat."

"This feels like an orgy." Demetri whispered to Miguel.

"Al, as much as I love your essential oil events, think you can tell us what's going on?" Eli gave his girlfriend a hopeful look.

"Shh. Lover, be quiet." she put a finger to her lips, holding up a large crystal rose quartz. "The rose quartz. Used for self love, and fostering loving relationships with others. Unless you have the rose quartz, you aren't to speak. When you do have it, you have to remain calm when expressing what makes you the most angry about the person around the room. We'll use this as a way to heal in a non....punching way."

The boys all have each other questioning looks as Alaska shut her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Hummmm. Hummmmm. Humminummmm."

"Ala-" Demetri began.

"You didn't have the rose quartez." Eli argued with him.

"I'm just wondering what she's doing right now." Demetri gave a frightened expression. "I feel like i'm about to get sacrificed."

"I'm warming up my senses and preparing to speak, considering i'm the one who has the rose quartez." Alaska opened her eyes and focused them on Miguel. "Migeul, you seem to be the only good boy here that hasn't spoken without the token. For that, you go first."

Miguel caught the crystal when she tossed it his way, holding it in his hands. "Um....something that makes me angry at each other you?"

She nodded her head as Miguel looked to Demetri. "I guess, something that makes me angry about you is that when we first joined Cobra Kai, even though you were right about it all, you weren't very supportive of our passions."

Demetri went to say something before Alaska snapped her fingers a few times and put a finger to her lips, warning him that he didn't have the rose quartez. Miguel turned to Eli next. "Hawk, something that makes me mad, even though we've made up, is what an asshole you were to all of us after Kreese took over Cobra Kai."

Eli nodded his head, but he knew the rules now. Miguel looked at Alaska next. "I've never been mad at you before except for yesterday."

She waved her hand to encourage him to go on. Miguel shrugged his shoulders. "It makes me mad that you don't understand my side of things. You see the bad, yeah, but there's also things that I needed to do in Mexico. Things I wanted to talk to you about before we starting fighting."

Now, he held the quartez. "Do I pass it to someone?"

Alaska nodded her head as Miguel passed it to Demetri. The couple in the room sighed as Demetri took it with a knowing look. "Oh, I have a lot to say on this one. But, first, the reason I never supported the Cobra Kai-"

Alaska clapped her hands together and shook her head at him, encouraging him to toss the quartez her way. As she caught it, she began to speak. "We don't react to what the others said about us until the very end, after everyone's had their chance with the quartez."

Demetri rose his hands in surrender and caught it when she tossed it back. "Okay. Miguel, you make me angry because if you'd never brought up Cobra Kai, i'd never have had to see the two most important people in my life change."

Eli and Alaska both felt guilty as he shifted his gaze to Alaska. "You make me mad for all the times Eli was a massive dick to me, and while you still tried with our friendship, you still chose to let it slide when you guys got together after the party."

Alaska nodded her head in understanding before he looked to the final person in the room. "And you, I guess what makes me the most angry about you is the way I care about our friendship so much that I was willing to forgive you so fast. You broke my arm, you beat me up multiple times, you treated me like shit, but you make me care about you so much that I forgave you so fast. All of you, actually."

Eli caught the quartez, but it was clear he was having trouble not talking about what Demetri just said. Alaska put a hand on his knee with a knowing nod, bringing him back. He messed with it in his hands. "Miguel....you make me angry because I know I was a major dick to everyone, but after your surgery I targetted Miyagi-Do for what happened to you. It was wrong, but that's why it got so bad, and you didn't see that."

Demetri rose an eyebrow as he looked his way. "I guess I kinda think like Miguel does. When I first became Hawk, even when he was a asshole, you hated it from the beginning. You had a right to but I felt confident about myself for the first time ever, and I wanted to share that with my best friend."

He looked to Alaska and frowned his eyebrows. "I can't think of any time i've been mad at you."

She gave him a look of disbelief, holding her middle fingers up. It made the other two boys in the rom laugh. Eli gave her a look of disbelief. "Really?"

She continued to hold them up before dropping her wrapped up wrist. He exhaled, thinking about it hard. "You make me mad because of Robby Keene. He was my number one enemy and I know that you almost kissed him back in December. If makes me mad that you didn't tell me about it either, even though we were broken up and weren't talking at all. You didn't owe me anything, but Robby was a low blow."

He threw the quartez her way, but she was in shock a moment. She had no clue how he knew, she hadn't told anyone about how she almost kissed Robby in December. The only logical explanation is he'd had to have seen it somehow, but that meant he was coming to her house, and he was far from welcomed their back in December.

Alaska looked at Miguel. "You make me mad because you don't understand why i'm angry at you. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, but I was worried about you. The All Valley was a really low point for me and I really needed you, but then I just had to be even more worried thinking something bad had happened to you on your way to Mexico."

She looked at Demetri. "You make me mad because you choose to date Yasmine after all she'd done to me my whole life. She hurt me on multiple occasions, Eli and yourself too, but you still chose her. Even if we all were fighting at the time, it still sucks and it makes me upset."

She looked at Eli, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to say it. Miguel was right, they'd fought so much in the past over things that make each other angry, what was one more that she never even brought up going to do. But, this was Alaskas game, this was her way of healing her relationship with the three most important people in her life. She had to be honest, she couldn't be hypocritical like everyone made her think she was. "Eli, you make me mad because you knew that Kyler sexually assaulted me freshman year and then spread a rumor that wasn't true, but you still choose to let him into your friend group. Even if you two weren't best friends, you were still considered allys, and that really sucks."

Alaska looked at Miguel. "Now, we get the quartez for the second time, we say in return to what the others said made them angry. We'll react, but we can't raise our voices or throw these candles at each other. My Dad loves his weight room."

Miguel caught it as he looked to Eli. "I was so mad at you for what you'd done that I didn't realize the root of it was that you were carrying about me. I appreciate that, because I care about you too."

Miguel then looked to Demetri. "And, Demetri, I know that Cobra Kai really messed with all of us. I wasn't thinking when I got Alaska and Eli involved, and i'm sorry that you had to be left behind because of what the dojo taught them."

"And Al." he shifted his gaze to her. "I'm sorry I didn't understand your side of things better. I was so caught up in this self pity and wanting you to comfort me that I didn't see the amount of pain you were in. What happened at the All Valley was insane, you deserved that trophy more then anyone else, and i'd wish i'd been there to comfort you the way I wanted you to do me."

She gave him a sad look before Demetri had the crystal with a clear of his throat. "Well, that's a hard one to beat. Miguel, Eli, I guess I should address you as one considering your reasonings are about the same. I'm not sorry for not supporting gang violence, but I am sorry that I didn't try to talk to you guys about it and see how Cobra Kai was helping you instead of just dogging it from the beginning. Not cool....learning for the mistakes by keeping my mouth shut about your choice of shoes."

Alaska hid a laugh as both of the boys looked to their feet in offense. He looked to Alaska finally. "Yasmine was the worst mistake ever. I let her legs and her mouth distract me from what a horrible person she'd been to you. You mean more to me then she ever did, and I just wish i'd taken a second to think about how horrible she was to my best friend before dating her. Uncool....if Wyatt ever turns into an asshole, i'll dump him."

He threw the rose quartez to Eli as he exhaled. "Miguel, Demetri, I expected what you said. I was a dick and no matter how many times I apologize, it's not gonna change anything I did. Especially to you Demetri, you didn't have to forgive me but you did because even after all I did, you still cared about me. I'm sorry guys, both of you. Again."

Miguel punched his knee gently. Eli then looked at Alaska with a deep inhale. "I don't even know what I can say to you. I never was friends with Kyler, I always hated him, but you're right, I still let him co-exist in my group and we still all hung out together. Nothing could ever make that okay, not after what he did to you. I am sorry, I really am. But, I don't think that's enough."

He threw the quartez at her as she sat there a second. "Miguel, you have ever right to have been mad at me. I should have comforted you first and understood why you left instead of immediately taking my anger out on you. I truly am sorry for that, you're my guy and I never want us to fight again. You have bony fist anyways."

He smiled as Alaska looked over at Demetri. "I keep trying to put myself in your shoes, and there's no excuse for my actions. I did the same thing I'm mad at you for, I started dating your bully and was blinded by great legs. For that, I am sorry."

Eli rose an eyebrow at the nice legs part when she looked his way. "And, for you, Eli, about Robby. I know he was pretty much everyone's enemy at the time, and it was a low blow on multiple accounts to almost kiss him. I'm not sorry for doing what I want, because like you said, I didn't owe you anything after what happened. But, I am sorry that I didn't have the decency to tell you once we got back together and were doing really good together."

She then placed the rose quartez in the middle. "Now we can all talk."

The four were all quiet though, not sure what they could say. Eli moved over and wrapped his arm around Alaskas shoulders as she dropping her head into his, doing the same with Demetri as he managed to get his arm around the both to then. Miguel crawled over and laid his head in Alaskas lap. She exhaled after a few minutes together. "Anyone up for some guac and wings?"

"Ugh, I am." Miguel announced. "Breakup food."

"Yeah, Sam and Miguel broke up." Demetri broke the news. "We had to sale part of my bike to pay for the necklace."

"Y'all broke up?" she seemed taken off guard. "What? When?"

"After I got this." Eli stood
up and pulled his shirt off, pointing to the A on his chest that was covered in a lotus flower. "For Miyagi-Do, and for you."

A smile spread across her face, looking to Demetri. "Okay, what news have I missed out on from you?"

He rose his eyebrows. "Well.....Wyatt asked me to be in a play he's writing."

"A play?" Miguel gave a questionable look as Eli sad down and was granted a kiss to the cheek by Alaska. "Wyatt writes plays?"

"He won't tell me what it's about, but yeah." he shrugged his shoulders. "I also said no. I'm not sure if he's hoisting auditions, but I know that Kody is playing five characters so far."

•

kylie speaks

yay, we got our Cry Baby
vibe back finally after a
few depressing chapters <3