MIGUEL'S MOM, CARMEN, had taken Dylan home after that day of concrete mixing. Of course, Carmen didn't exactly know that that's what they'd been doing. As much as Dylan thought it would be a funny idea to tell her and see how she would react to her son nearly being killed inside of a truck, Miguel wasn't as ecstatic about that idea.

Carmen was still a really lovely lady, and it made Dylan miss her own mom. Dylan declined staying over for dinner, not exactly comfortable with the idea. Call it trust issues if you want.

Miguel did however, invite her to come to the beach with them the next day. Apparently it was supposed to be a get together and Demetri was already invited. That was all it took to convince her to go.

That's how she ended up laughing at her friend's poor attempt at hitting the ball over the net.

"Uh . . . mulligan, send it back!"

"Demetri you can't just call that out every time you make a mistake," She laughed as he stood there awkwardly. "That's not really how it works."

"There's no mulligans in volleyball," Hawk called to them.

"Says you. Water break," Demetri called a time out. Dylan and Hawk made eye contact and her friend's face was priceless. She walked over to him with Moon.

"You look you're trying to calculate the easiest way you can kick his ass," She joked to him. He gave her a sly grin at the mention and he gave her a fist bump. They watched as a couple of girls came over to talk to Demetri. Hawk looked especially interested in the conversation.

"Cobra Kai? You guys won that karate tournament, right?" The girl in the orange top asked Demetri, impressed. He was starstruck as he pulled Hawk's towel down his face.

"The All Valley? The rumble in Reseda?" He looked back at his friends briefly as he stumbled over his words. "Yes, uh . . . We, uh, we certainly did!"

Hawk gave him a confused and irritated look. Dylan noticed it but shrugged it off.

"Cool. We're gonna go for a swim but, maybe play with you later?"

"There's no way this is happening right? Demetri? Pulling girls?" Dylan almost felt a bit impressed considering no girl besides her had ever had anything nice to say to him before. She looked at Hawk. "Good for him, I guess."

"No, not good for him. He's not even on the team, Dylan," He fired back. She frowned. "You don't do this to guys when they ask about the dojo," He tried to explain.

"They don't ask about the dojo, though. And besides, I don't like people," She deadpanned with a blank face.

"But still . . . " Hawk looked unsure.

"Just, let him have his fun," She pleaded with him. Moon came up to Demetri smiling at him.

"Look at you, player!" The girl laughed.

"It'd be nice if you actually earned the Cobra Kai cred you're so happy to take. When are you ever gonna sign up?" Apparently her pleading went in one ear and out the other.

"I don't know. I'm kind of enjoying the gain without the pain," He defended, proud of himself. Miguel came back before any of them could respond.

"Hawk." He and Hawk shook hands.

Dylan pulled her phone out of her pocket, scrolling through her missed messages from Aisha when Hawk tried to convince Miguel that there were other fish in the sea besides Sam. Honestly it was total bullshit but Dylan wouldn't complain if he finally moved on.

"—Is this about his rap sheet? My parents read it online. I think it makes him more badass." She tuned in again when he said that, looking up at the two baffled. Miguel looked over when he saw how flabbergasted she looked.

"A rap sheet? No fucking way. I wonder if it's also about child abuse," She spoke earnestly. Miguel rolled his eyes at that statement. Looking between them seriously.

"No, it's about him and Robby Keene." He said it like she was supposed to know who that was.

"Who?"

"He was the guy that fought Miguel. Keene lost," He looked at her like she was crazy. "But you missed basically the whole thing so," He trailed off sourly.

"What does Dora the Explorer have to do with Johnny Lawrence of all people?" She addressed Miguel, ignoring Hawk.

"That's the thing. Sensei's his dad."

"I guess that's why he didn't want you beating the shit out of that guy then," Hawk finalized with a menacing look. Dylan didn't have to be a pro to realize that Robby was the kid who Hawk had said insulted his hair, leading up to his disqualification — not like there was anyone to blame besides himself for that one.

"Or maybe your Sensei just has a personal life?" They looked at her carefully. "Come on, everyone has secrets about their family. It took me like, two years to tell Hawk and Demetri why my mom's in jail."

"Why is your mom in jail?" Miguel asked her seriously. She gave his face a calculated once over before replying.

"We're not there yet, Diaz. Give me three years and then we'll talk." The taller boy shook his head at the girl who stood there next to Hawk. "But anyways, give the guy a break. He sucks but maybe he has his reasons."

"Whatever. I still say we should go and kick that asshole in the face," Hawk tried once again.

"Literally the worst idea I've ever heard."

"I'm gonna agree with Dylan on that one. Besides, I'll just confront Sensei about it and hope he doesn't get mad," Miguel finished with a shrug. "I don't know . . . maybe he does have his reasons."

       DYLAN SPENT THE rest of the afternoon playing Mario-Kart with Demetri and getting in some service hours she was promised by helping out with that fair that Miguel and Hawk were going on about. Something about Sam being there, and something about Mr. LaRusso. It was all a bunch of crap, really.

The worst part of the day was walking in and overhearing Johnny Lawrence's sob story when she was just trying to get a hamburger.

"—One of the best things, has been teaching you. And I want you to know, no matter what happens, I promise I'll always be on your side. And I'll always have your best interests at heart."

"Thank you," She heard Miguel say quietly. Dylan turned around in her seat, making intense eye contact with Miguel who had to blink to see if she was actually there.

"That was some story, you know."

Johnny spun around, the moment ruined, looking at the girl behind him with a glare.

"How are you always around?" His head tilted to the side in annoyance.

"I don't have friends. I'm everywhere."

"I can confirm both statements are true," Miguel replied to his Sensei. Dylan opened her mouth to confront him.

"Listen—"

"Can it!" The blond's eyes narrowed as he looked between the two of them. Johnny put his hands over his face, slowly dragging them down. He looked back over at Dylan Oakes, tired. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Just about . . . all of it," She mumbled out awkwardly.

"What—And you didn't say anything until now?"

"Well, what did you want me to do? I was sitting here eating my food minding my own business but you were talking kind of loud," She defended uncomfortably. "At least I'm not judging you for anything. That's honestly not the worst thing I've heard about dead-beat dads."

"That makes me feel so much better, kid," Johnny bit back sarcastically.

"Anything I can do, oh almighty Sensei Lawrence."

Miguel's phone buzzed on the table and he apologized.

"Sorry. It's from Aisha." Johnny looked away from Dylan and focused on Miguel. Against her better judgment, she stood up from her table and walked over to sit next to Miguel Diaz, looking over his shoulder to see the text. He put his phone in between them.

"What is it?" Johnny asked.

"She said that Miyagi-Do is doing some kind of demo at Valley Fest," He explained in confusion. Dylan's brows furrowed. She'd only recently seen that Mr. LaRusso was opening up a dojo and this was definitely the first she'd heard of a demo at the Fest.

"I didn't know that. I was there earlier setting up and I had no idea. They don't tell me jack," She said under her breath.

Johnny got that look on his face again of determination. Dylan and Miguel looked over at each other, already knowing where this was going.

"Oh they are, huh?" Johnny nodded looking past both of them, scheming.

"Please tell me he isn't planning his own demo for Cobra Kai."

"He's definitely planning his own demo for Cobra Kai. You should know better than to expect anything less, Dylan," Miguel said in fake disappointment in her. She put her forehead down on the table.

"Let me guess, something about this is gonna involve me, isn't it?"

"Oh absolutely," Miguel answered for her.

"You owe me after eavesdropping on my private conversation." Johnny put emphasis on the word private.

"Your heart to heart needed some spice, alright?" Dylan lifted her face, not bothering to push her hair out of her face. Johnny stared at her, planning something. She wasn't liking it one bit.

"Yeah? You can add some spice to my demo by holding up some wood boards." He gave her the same smile she gave him when she was about to make his mornings worse than they already were.

Payback was a bitch and Johnny was giving Dylan hers.

authors note —

I'm so ready for next chapter because of the demo. And I also get to introduce other characters from the show into the book. I hope you guys like this chapter? Personally idk how I feel, I think I'm better at writing for fantasy shows than teen dramas and modern tv stuff. As much as I LIVE for cobra kai I'm not used to writing like this.