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"Robby, you may not like the way our father is but he just wants you to be a better man than him," Kalina spoke out loud as she brushed her hair, she had gotten out of the shower and was on the phone with her brother, Robby. "Yeah, well, I don't want him involved in my life," Robby replied as he ignored his friends. "All right, let's stick to our deal. No parent talk... I, uh, made a new friend," Kalina smiled at her reflection as she put her brush down.

"That's good. I didn't like the way they treated you," Robby spoke instantly. "So who is the new friend? Is she hot?" Robby added with his classic smirk which made Kalina scoff. "Okay, for one... Any female friends of mine are off-limits," Kalina growled before sighing, "But it's, uh, a guy named Miguel. He's new to town and he's been an amazing friend to me." Robby stayed silent, his older brother instincts kicking in as he processed his younger sister having a male friend.

"He hasn't made any moves on you, has he?" Robby asked, Kalina smiled as she heard his protective tone. "No. We are strictly best friends, he likes my ex-friend Sam. If anything, Miguel is like another brother to me," Kalon straightened out her T-shirt as Robby clenched his jaw, jealousy burning at the fear of losing his sister. "That's... good for you. Hey, uh, I gotta go. Talk later?" Robby spoke. "Okay. Bye brother," Kalina placed her phone on the basin after Robby hung up, she didn't pick up on the jealousy.

Kalina walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her bag before walking into the living room where her father was passed out on the couch after coming home drunk with red spray paint on his hands. She let out a sigh before making her way out, locking the door behind her before making her way to the Diaz apartment though she was worried that Carmen wouldn't want her around Miguel after what had happened to him the night before.

So with an uneasy breath, she approached the door and knocked softly before crossing her arms against her chest in a hold of comfort. The door opened to reveal Carmen, the woman faltered for a moment before smiling softly at Kalina. "I'm not sure if you wanted me to stay away from Miguel but... he's my best friend and I feel terrible for what happened to him a-and..." Kalina had watery eyes as she remembered the state Miguel was in when they bought him home.

"Come in, cariño. Miguel has been hoping you'd stop by," Carmen stepped aside letting Kalina into the apartment. The young blonde looked straight to the couch where Miguel sat with an icepack against his ribcage. "Oh, Miggy..." Kalina walked over to him, placing her bag on the table before sitting on the empty seat beside him. "I'm okay, Kali. Don't worry about me," Miguel assured as he groaned slightly.

Carmen smiled as she watched the two interact, she looked to her mother with a smile, the older woman nodded slightly before walking out of the room. "I'm going to get them back, I swear. I wish I was there," Kalina looked down upset with herself for not being by his side, she was more advanced than Miguel, she could've kicked Kyler's ass. "No way! And risk them hurting you? I'd rather take a thousand beatings from them than let them lay their hands on you," Miguel lifted Kalina's face so she would look at him.

"I love you... As a friend, 'cause you got that thing for Sam," Kalina teased with a smile as Miguel went red. "Shut up! But I love you too, as a friend," Miguel replied before the two laughed, well, Miguel more so groaned due to his ribs. The two sat on the couch watching movies and eating snacks for the rest of the day. Kalina had fallen asleep with her head on Miguel's lap while he had fallen asleep sitting up, Carmen took a photo of the two; she was beyond happy that Miguel had found his person here.

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"So that's it? No more karate?" Demetri asked as the group sat down in the library for study. "I guess so," Miguel shrugged. "My dad plans to close the Dojo... And he's back to drinking and disappearing again," Kalina added before looking down to her sketchpad, she had her feet up on the chair, her knees to her chest as she drew. "It's probably for the best. It was starting to boost your confidence," Demetri spoke after sending Kalina a sympathetic smile for her comment, he felt bad that she would be dealing with her drunk father again.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Miguel asked Demetri with furrowed brows. "He has a point, 'Metri. Confidence is a good thing, so long as you don't let its power get to your head," Kalina expressed as she looked up subtly, tilting her head. "No. What has confidence ever gotten anybody except for a black eye and their backpack thrown in the trash?" Demetri explained to them. "Well, I thought it was kind of cool how you stood up to Kyler," Eli spoke softly to Miguel.

"Are you insane?" Demetri exclaimed to his best friend causing the boy to frown and look down, Kalina glared lightly at Demetri. "Let me ask you, what is the best superpower anyone could have?" Demetri asked. "Super strength," Miguel said. "Scarlet Witch. Her power allows you to be stronger than anyone," Kalina explained before looking up at Demetri. "Wrong. Invisibility," Demetri clarified while Eli agreed with Kalina's response.

"A distant second would be super speed to run away fast," Demetri added. "Run away from who?" Kyler's voice startled the four. "Whom. It's the object of a preposition. Remember English class..." Brucks rambled on as the four friends began to pack up their things. "And we were just leaving," Miguel spoke up as they began to walk out, Miguel holding Kalina's arm as the girl glared harshly at Kyler; picturing a thousand ways she'd torture him.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kyler spoke before grabbing Eli and holding his face to get a closer look at his scar. "Oh, look at this freak," Kyler spoke next, Kalina moved to step forward but Mike stood in her way. "What kind of girl would ever kiss this shit?" Kyler asked with a wide grin. "You know, I kept asking that question when it came to you, Kyler. Does Sam know you're using her to add to your list of chicks you've humped then dumped?" Kalina seethed out.

Kyler turned to look at Kalina, shoving Eli away from him and walking towards her. "You telling me that you would kiss him? We all know you've never had your first kiss. Sam told us that you're still a virgin," Kyler teased while Mike looked her up and down. "Huh, that explains Mike's desperate attempts to get me in his bed. How pathetic. Are you that bad that you gotta chase after virgins just to get lucky, that's gotta be unfortunate only dealing in a few seconds," Kalina snapped as she stepped forward.

"And yeah, Kyler, I'd kiss Eli. No hesitation, no regret and I know damn well, I'd enjoy every second of it. Why? Are you jealous?" Kalina taunted causing Kyler to step back, Mike glared harshly hearing those words; he was disgusted by her but believed he could fix that. "Now unless you want your ass kicked by a chick, I'd suggest you walk away," Kalina warned harshly. Kyler swallowed dryly before motioning for his boys to follow him, they left the library and Kalina let out a slow breath to calm her anger.

She opened her eyes and looked to her three friends who were all looking at her with impressed smiles. "I gotta admit... I have a pretty badass best friend," Miguel spoke making Kalina smile before she looked to Eli, the two locked eyes causing Kalina to blush lightly. "That was really fucking hot. Okay, confidence can be good in some cases," Demetri commented before making his way out of the library, Miguel following behind him. Kalina looked down to let out another breath to calm her nerves and anger before noticing her sketchpad was still on the table.

She turned towards the table to see Eli staring down at the almost photographic drawing of him, capturing him, scar and all. "I, uh... Should've asked you if it was okay to draw you─ I'm sorry, I just─" Kalina trailed off and looked down. "I love it," Eli replied softly as he stood in front of her. Kalina looked up at Eli as he held out the sketchpad to her. "Really?" Kalina spoke in the same soft tone, she didn't want to upset him or push any boundaries. "Yeah. You can draw me whenever. Uh, let's go catch up with the others," Eli spoke, he was in complete awe of how she captured his appearance; for a moment, he held no resentment for the scar on his lip.

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Rosemary Speaks

Okay... I'm already soft for Eli and Kalina... I'm not so keen for Hawk yet because *CENSORED*

How do you feel about the slight scene change? Badass Kalina for the win?

Thoughts on this chapter?

See you in the next chapter!