A Rivalry

  CERYS SIGHED AS SHE WALKED DOWN THE BEACH, trying to get her mind off all the negative things happening around her. If her parents took her, she'd probably feel like it was the end of the world. In reality, it probably would be seeing as they never actually cared about her or her siblings.

"So, I see your dojo likes to throw people under the bus." A voice said from in front of her, making the girl look up from her place.

"What the hell are you talking about, Diaz?" The Fitzgerald girl rolled her eyes. "Can't a girl walk around the beach without being harassed by a Cobra Kai?"

"Oh, so you are making this about our dojo when it was yours who targeted us in their commercial. Snake in the grass, really?" Miguel narrowed his eyes at the girl as she rolled her eyes and kept walking.

"It's a figure of speech, and if you paid more attention in school and got your head out of your sensei's ass, you'd probably know that there are tons of different snakes, not just cobras." Cerys shrugged. "Sorry it busted all your little egos, I don't know what to tell you."

"... and Robby Keene is related to my sensei? What is that about!?" The boy seemed confused and conflicted by it all as he kept walking alongside the shorter girl.

"Oh, looks like he's not as good of a guy as you thought he was. Life disappoints, move on from it." The Fitzgerald girl wasn't particularly in the mood to talk, even though the Diaz boy clearly wasn't understanding that.

"Can you hold on one second?" Miguel gently took the girls arm, making her stop and face him.

"What?" The girl asked through gritted teeth. "I'm going to give you five second to talk before I kick your ass."

"You think you could kick my-" the condescending tone in his voice was enough for Cerys to reach forward, grabbing the boys arm as she twisted it behind his back.

"You were saying?" The girl raised a brow as the boy squirmed, his back facing her.

"Okay, okay, okay, I give!" Miguel pretended to give up, the girls grip on him loosening before he turned around and locked her arms behind her back just like she had done to him seconds ago. "Can we talk like normal people? No Cobra Kai or Miyagi-do?"

"If you let me go, i'll give you five minutes." If Cerys was facing him in that moment, her glare probably would have killed him.

"Fine." Before she knew it, Miguel was letting go of her, a smile on his face. "Better?"

"I don't get you." The Fitzgerald girl folded her arms across her chest. "One minute you hate me, the next you don't. Make up your mind, why don't you?"

"Wouldn't that make our friendship less exciting?" The Diaz boy asked, an amused brow raised.

"This is a friendship?" Cerys was confused by the boys constant mood swings with her but, to be fair she basically did the same thing with him.

"I don't know what else to call it." Miguel shrugged his shoulders lightly. "All I wanted to ask was uh..-..do you really think the people in Cobra Kai are that bad?"

"Yes, and from what i've heard, you are probably the worst of them. Which means I should probably stay away." The Fitzgerald girls eyes softened for a moment, tapping her foot on the ground.

"You don't really want to do that, do you?" The Diaz boy asked innocently, before letting out a sigh. "Look, Sam and Robby? They don't like me and if you heard bad things about me that's why. I'm really not that bad-"

"El serpiente! What are you doing with someone from Miyagi-do?" The same boy from a few days prior asked as he walked up to them.

"Nothing." Cerys shook her head lightly before walking past the boys, not forgetting to shoulder bump Hawk on her way there.

CERYS RAN OVER IMMEDIATELY AFTER noticing that there was new students at the dojo. She was actually kind of tired of having to fight with Daniel while Sam and Robby got to have fun fighting each other. With their sensei, it was all work, work, work, work, no fun, work.

"Hey, we're looking for Miyagi-do." One of the boys said, a smile on his face.

"That's this place, this place is Miyagi-do." Cerys confirmed.

"The commercial said lessons are for free?" One of them asked as Mr. Lawrence approached, stopping next to the short girl.

"They sure are, you guys ready to get started?" Daniel asked with a smile.

"We need more people." Cerys put her hands together, pouting at both boys before they exchanged a look.

"Yeah." They both replied at the same time.

"Great, I have a couple of cans of paint out front. The fence out here could use a fresh coat.  Cerys and Robby can show you around." The Lawrence man said to them.

"You want us to paint your fence?" One of the boys asked, a shocked expression on his face.

The Fitzgerald girl let a hand rest on her face, knowing she wouldn't be getting a new karate partner anytime soon.

"Keep an open mind guys, it'll all make sense later." Robby tried to reassure them, nothing good coming out of it.

"They aren't buying it." Cerys whispered over to her friend who frowned slightly.

"In order to fully learn Miyagi-do karate, you have to unlearn your misconceptions about what constitutes training." Daniel said enthusiastically, the boys looking at him like he had eight heads.

"I knew this was bullshit." The shorter one said. "This was all a scam to kids to do your yard work, huh?"

"Oh, brother." Cerys shook her head, resting her arm on Robby's shoulder.

"No, it's a part of the process." Mr. Larusso defended.

"Yeah, the process." The taller one scoffed. "My mom was right, with a car salesman, you always gotta read the fine print."

"Listen, asshole-" Daniel stopped Cerys from continuing as he put a hand up, stepping in front of her.

"I'm not trying to sell you anything, i'm just trying to teach you karate." He defended.

"Come on, let's go check out the place with the snake." The Fitzgerald girl sighed at that comment.

Fucking Cobra Kai.

THE FITZGERALD GIRLS HEART WAS BEATING out of her chest as she got ready for her performance. Miyagi-do would be demonstrating some of their skills and she felt beyong unprepared. She was the newest student and while it had been awhile since she first got there, the girl still felt like she sucked at karate.

"Please direct your attention to the Larusso auto booth." She heard throughout the speaker, making her stomach turn. "For a presentation from, Miyagi-do karate!"

The whole crowd cheered as they got on stage, forming a line and striking a karate pose, as they had planned earlier in the day. Cerys carefully followed each and every movement she had practiced as best she could, which was actually not bad at all. Maybe she was actually good at something, that something being karate.

"Hai!" They all yelled in sync, continuing their routine as people watched them from the crowd.

The atmosphere changed as their sensei took out his bo staff, showing off his expertise. The three students moved carefully around him, knowingly catching the crowds attention. The Fitzgerald girl just hoped this would get more people to come in.

Then it was time for them to "fight", Sam was the first to run at her father, dodging the bo staff with her arm, then Robby who jumped over it with ease. As Cerys turn came, the staff came right at her, the girl quickly ducking down and landing on her hands how she was supposed to.

They all then stood up straight, facing the crows with a smile as they continued to cheer.

"Now, for the grand finale!" Daniel called out, all of them running off the stage to help him push the ice blocks out.

... then, the lights dimmed and everyone heard chanting.

As her rival dojo hopped on stage, stealing what little attention Miyagi-do was getting, Cerys Fitzgerald lost all hope that Cobra Kai would ever be "good".

CERYS WIPED A TEAR FROM HER EYES AS SHE watched the stage that her and her friend were supposed to make a difference at. It absolutely crushed the girl that no matter what she did, nothing was ever good enough. In that moment, even though she never cries, she had to. Miyagi-do had become her life in such a short time, an escape from her reality, and her reality was sad.

"Are you okay?" A familiar voice spoke up, walking towards the girl who's hands kept grazing over her own face.

"Go away." Cerys shook her head, not wanting to look behind her.

"I seen you over here, and you looked sad so-"

"If I was sad." The Fitzgerald girl let her hands fall to her sides as she turned around. "You are the last person I would want to cheer me up."

"What did I do?" Miguel furrowed his brows, not understanding the situation at hand.

"We can't have one thing, can we? Cobra Kai always has to show Miyagi-do up. It's never ending with you assholes, is it?" Cerys asked, anger bubbling up inside her.

That was more of a Fitzgerald trait, channeling sadness into anger.

"It's not our fault our dojo is better than yours." The Diaz boy shook his head with a scoff. "Just join Cobra Kai, you'd fit better with us anyways."

"I don't want to fit with you, or your friends, Miguel. You hurt people, and by the looks of it, you don't care." Cerys scoffed slightly. "Not a bad guy, huh? Whatever."

The short girl brushed passed him without another word, but in her head she knew what they were both thinking.

It's on.

AUTHORS CORNER—
Whewwwww, I see it's really getting heated here in Love Lies today lmao

Who do you think Cerys' best friend should be? I need some ideas!

Hope you enjoyed!