Three, Assasination of Character

“I’m confused.” Veda mused slowly.

Noel sighed, drawing her arm back. “I figured you’d
be.” Her older sister flinched at the sound of impact as
she struck at the same time that this was mused out. It
sounded too intense for karate—infiltrating Eagle Fang
just to throw Miguel Diaz off. Pretending to be
someone she wasn’t.

“I mean,” Veda started, setting her phone down in her
lap as she watched her sister strike the dummy. “I just
feel like this is a little excessive? It’s just karate.”

That made Noel strike the dummy harder. There were
a handful of them stashed away in her closet for when
she abused one too thoroughly. She insisted on keeping
one in the living room rather than just in her room. It
was an arguable matter, but Veda didn’t argue. When
her younger sister set her mind to something, it had a
way of happening—resistance had devolved into
simply prolonging the inevitable.

That’s why she wasn’t even going to attempt to skew
her sister’s perspective on this. Veda was working a
full-time job, starting classes online; battling with the
shifts of the pendulum in her life while Noel battled
with the shifts at Cobra Kai. Before the eyes of the girl,
things were changing, and not for the best. Sensei
Silver was an addition that she didn’t understand, but
he was vicious, and she respected that someone in the
dojo didn’t reduce themselves to singing the praises of
someone she wasn’t going to waste her energy naming.

“It’s not just karate, V. Sensei Kreese wants Johnny Jr to
represent the male fighters for us. That means that the
pressure is on.” Noel mused this out as she jabbed the
point of her elbow into the face of the dummy, then
she drew it back and turned on her heel in the time
that it took to blink. She let out a grunt as she kicked a
hole into the chest of the dummy, the force sending the
weighted dummy onto its back. Veda narrowed her
eyes but simply picked her phone up again.

“Right. Why do you hate Robby so much?” Veda asked
with feigned interest.

“Other than the fact that he brags about putting Miguel
in a wheelchair? He’s just smug.” Noel responded to
her sister as she leaned over, standing the dummy
back up.

Even though Noel was committed to Cobra Kai and
knew that anyone in Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang were
enemies, she didn’t find anything euphoric in knowing
Robby had put Miguel into a coma. She hadn’t come to
that ridiculous house fight because she wasn’t going to
be an adolescent juvenile. Not when her grades gave
her a chance to amount to something beyond the best
fighter the Valley would ever live to see. She loved her
dojo, but that didn’t mean that she had to conform to
every action—to every intrinsic breach of integrity
they made—Noel didn’t have to prove herself that
way.

Sure, she was lying to everyone, but that was
circumstantial. It was a means to an end and her end
was the All-Valley. “You’re lying to Miguel,” Veda added
noncommittally, reminding Noel that she wasn’t a
saint.

“At least he can walk,” Noel murmured back.

Noel continued to execute various strikes, kicks, and
forward jabs. Combinations that pulsed through her
veins and made her feel alive. She put her anger into
every strike. Her anger at the world and at herself. If
she’d been strong enough from the beginning, Robby
wouldn’t have been able to come in and claim Sensei
Kreese’s attention to begin with. It was her job to be
beyond strong, to be beyond formidable. Noel had to
be the best and she couldn’t do that if she was asking
herself why it felt wrong to be lying to Miguel, and she
couldn’t afford to feed into her impulsive urge to hit
Robby Keene with a bus. She had to prove that she
could do this and that meant silencing every nagging
thought in her head telling her that she was doing the
wrong thing.

Why should she have given a shit that she was lying to
Miguel, anyway? It wasn’t like he was her friend. They
weren’t actually teammates and they never would be.

Noel’s phone ringing halted her assault on the dummy
ahead of her. Spice Girls’ Wannabe traveled to her ears
and she narrowed her eyes when Veda snickered. Her
older sister raised a hand in mock surrender when she
felt the glare being sent her way. “I’m sorry! It’s just..
really, really funny that you like the Spice Girls.”

“What, I’m not allowed to like something other than
the souls of the innocent?” Noel sighed wryly.

“You said it.” Veda mused back.

Noel ignored that comment, shifting her gaze to the
coffee table, where her phone continued to ring. She’d
worked herself up to a decent sweat, but the All-Valley
was more than a light jog. The inborn assay to push
herself clung to her skin and pierced it the same way
needles would—she didn’t want to entertain any
distractions, she didn’t have time to waste on them.
So, whoever this was, they needed to make this quick.
The light layer of sweat sheathing her twinkled as she
moved to grab her phone and she answered it, raising
the device to her ear.

“Hello?” Noel huffed out.

“Um. Hey. Hey, Noel? It’s Miguel.” Miguel spoke into
her ear.

The girl rolled her eyes. “Who gave you my number?”

“.. He asked me not to tell you,” Miguel responded.

“So, Eli?” Noel deadpanned.

“Yeah. Yeah, it was Eli.” Miguel confirmed with a sigh.

Of course, it was Eli. She had more than enough words
for that traitor and had made a point of avoiding him
because he’d abandoned Cobra Kai when they needed
him the most. He’d been a part of Cobra Kai longer
than any of them—before she knew the dojo by name
and if you’d asked Noel, she’d tell you that she always
envisioned that he’d be the one carrying the trophy at
the All-Valley by her side. Then he turned his back on
her. He turned his back on Sensei Kreese who built
him up, and all for the pseudo-sensei Daniel LaRusso
was convinced that he was.

“Right.” Noel breathed in deeply. “So, what do you
want?”

“Well, you know how you want to join Eagle Fang?”
Miguel sounded shifty.

With creased brows, Noel shrugged. “Sure?”

“Right. Well, Sensei wants us to fight. To see if you’re
Eagle Fang material.” He murmured.

A smile brighter than every star in the sky entwined in
one etched across the visage of the girl. “And what did
you tell him?”

“I mean, I told him I was okay with it? But, hey, I don’t
want to hurt you—” Miguel started.

She cut him off with a bark of laughter. “It’s cute that
you think you could, Diaz. Time and place?”

It was silent for a moment, but then Miguel chuckled
from the other end of the line. “Tommorow at 6 PM.
At Coyote Creek.”

“It’s a date.” Noel chirped.

She was totally going to kick his ass.

━━━━━━━

Noel bit back an endeared grin at her sister’s millionth
text begging for her to be safe.

For as much as she complained about Veda’s doting, it
was refreshing to know that she could trust her older
sister with the reality of what she was doing—it was
good to have someone in her corner when Sensei
Kreese wasn’t anymore. She knew that he only meant
to motivate her and light a fire underneath her, but it
was hard to be doing this instead of training with her
true team at the dojo that she put her entirety into.
Then again, she was grateful she didn’t have to listen
to Kyler bitch his way through the Saturday training.

She had no idea how either of her Senseis put up with
that imbecile, but tonight, that wouldn’t be her issue.

Tonight, Noel’s issue would be beating Miguel.

Her black sneakers crunched down on brittle leaves as
the sun recessed from where it was in the sky, hiding
behind a veil of darkness, and seeking solace behind
the brewing storm clouds. The greenery that she had to
push through was uniform to her cargo pants, acting
as a sort of armor as she stepped deeper into the dark
woods, and braced herself for whatever Johnny was
leading her into. She followed the man, hands behind
her back as Miguel trekked a couple of steps ahead of
her to her left.

When the man wagered that they’d gotten far enough
into the broad expanse of the woods, Johnny stopped,
and Miguel shot Noel a look as they stopped alongside
him. Both Miguel and Johnny had been ominously
vague about what they were bringing her here for—
something that roused healthy skepticism on her end
of things—however; Noel trusted Miguel. For the most
part, at least, she wasn’t deterred by the setting.

Whatever Johnny threw at her, she would be ready
for it.

Her shoulders rolled as Johnny began to speak. Other
than the fact that he talked like his brain decided not to
develop past eighteen, the stipulations were simple. It
would go to three points with whoever scored those
three first being the winner, with the milieu of Coyote
Creek being solely for the dramatization of what was
a no-brainer in actuality. Noel knew that they needed
her and she knew that she could beat Miguel, but she
was going to play along, and she was going to prove
that she was Eagle Fang material. Or whatever.

Miguel was focused. His friendly eyes narrowed into
slits as he turned to face Noel. She looked at him as his
eyes shifted to Johnny. “Sensei, is it too late to talk you
out of—”

“Quiet!” Johnny intercepted him.

Noel didn’t flinch at the sudden spike of his tenor. She
rolled her eyes, adjusting her zip-up. “Come on, Diaz.
Don’t be a pussy.”

He inhaled sharply as Johnny raised his brows subtly.
“Fighting positions.” He bellowed out next and Miguel
nodded, giving Noel a slightly dangerous smile before
assuming his stance.

In return, Noel chuckled, doing the same. There was a
glint in her eyes punctuated by the judgmental glower
of the sky, her glossed lips pulled into an anticipative
smile. Johnny signalled for them to begin and Miguel
raised his balled fists; however, he didn’t strike first.

“Ladies first.” Miguel mused.

“So chivalrous, Diaz.” Noel swooned before closing the
gap between them. She baited him with a forward jab
and when he stepped back, she kicked her leg out and
initiated contact with ease. Miguel grunted, digging his
heels down into the mildew as the force of the kick
evoked a stumble.

“Point, Palmer!” Johnny exclaimed.

“Okay.” Miguel sighed. He tilted his head as he closed
in this time, managing to catch her off guard. He threw
a jab her way that she caught, shoving his fist away. He
went down for a sweep that she stepped back from,
but he turned and caught her with his other foot. Noel
went back from the force, pinching out a breath as he
got back onto his feet. He gave her a mock sympathetic
look, causing her to roll her eyes.

“Point, Diaz. 1-1.” Johnny stated.

Noel circled him this time, feeling him out. Her irises
roved over his face appraisingly. She’d never fought
him before, but she knew that this was the All-Valley
champion. She knew that Miguel was the best at Cobra
Kai before her and there was no doubt in her mind
that he was the best at Eagle Fang. That respect was
mutual. Miguel was surprised that Noel had landed
an easy hit on him that way, but he intended to correct
this by not holding back on her. Noel was a big girl. He
knew that she could handle a hit or two, so he squinted
as she stalked him, examining her body language.

He anticipated the kick that Noel sent his way, taking
her leg. Noel was suddenly knocked onto her back, but
she caught his fist before he could land the strike. She
clasped his balled fist in her hands, staring up at him,
and flashing him a smile. Fighting was what she did—
fighting was what made her happy. She could respect
that Miguel was giving his all to her now, that he
wasn’t pulling his punches.

“Nice to see your balls grew back, Diaz. Did you miss
them?” Noel raised her other leg, pushing upward to
launch him over her. Leaves entwined themselves in
her braids as she stood to her feet, cascading down her
shoulders as Miguel jumped up onto his feet. The pair
continued since that wasn’t a proper hit and he let out
a grunt as he lunged forward with an array of punches
and kicks. Noel ducked under one punch, then raised
her knee to her chest, trapping his forearm there. She
kneed his arm away and then swiveled, kicking him
right in the face.

“Point, Palmer!” Johnny announced.

Miguel winced. He knew that Noel was good, but she
was really, really good. He couldn’t just let her win;
however, some part of his brain was urging him to.
It wasn’t a crime for him to admit that he didn’t feel
right about hitting a girl—still, she’d be offended if he
didn’t give this his all. So, with hardened resolve, he
recovered from the kick. He found his balance and
charged her with a kick of his own, but Noel managed
to step out of the way, and it was then that Miguel hit
her with a jab to the shoulder.

“Point, Diaz. 2-2. Next point wins!” Johnny cut in.

Noel’s chest heaved. She rolled her shoulder as Miguel
bounced back, but she didn’t miss the lilt of concern to
his stare. It made her heart pound, or maybe that was
because of the adrenaline.

“That was a good kick.” Noel complimented him.

Miguel laughed breathlessly. “Yours too.”

“You’re a little predictable though, to be Queen Cobra.”
Miguel panted out, lunging forward in a high knee. She
rolled out of the way, chucking out an exerted laugh at
the telegraphed execution of the move.

“Yeah? You’re too hesitant to hit a girl, to be an All-
Valley champ.” She charged Miguel, turning suddenly
to thrust herself upward in a kick that he wasn’t fast
enough to catch. Miguel went back with a grunt as she
landed on the foamy soles of her sneakers, and with
her final point landed, Noel had just earned her spot
at Eagle Fang. Her chest filled with pride as he hit a
bed of leaves, but she bit back a smile at the sight.

It was easy for her to forget that this was all one step
in her process, but she couldn’t afford to get too lax in
the presence of Miguel or Johnny. Her goal was to try
and throw them off of their game, and now that she’d
fought her way into Eagle Fang, she was going to get
the chance to do it.

“Winner, Palmer!” Johnny exclaimed.

Despite herself, Noel approached Miguel with her hand
extended. The heaving boy took it, clasping her fingers
with his. She helped him back up onto his feet, holding
his gaze. Miguel licked his lips, thoroughly impressed
at the fact that she’d managed to beat him clean. Even
though he knew Cobra Kai had gotten into her head, he
didn’t see that Noel right now. He saw someone that he
could trust. Someone who beat him in a fair fight. He
didn’t even realize their hands were still touching until
Noel lowered hers, causing him to mimic the action.

“Welcome to Eagle Fang, kid.” Johnny spoke.

She shifted her attention off of Miguel as the older man
approached her. She smiled at him as he patted her
shoulder.

“I don’t want you to think I’m going to take it easy on
you because you’re a girl, alright? This is an.. an? Diaz,
what’s the word?” Johnny looked at Miguel.

“Inclusive, Sensei.” Miguel supplied.

“Inclusive! This is an inclusive space. I treat all of my
students as equals, so I kick your asses equally.” The
man finished his sentence, causing Noel to squint her
eyes a bit. She couldn’t believe that this was what her
Senseis were intimidated of. She just nodded a little bit,
feigning as much excitement as she could.

“Right. Well, if we’re done talking about the asses of
minors, I have a curfew.” Noel murmured and Johnny
seemed to snap to attention at that. He let go of her
without another word uttered but was vaguely
amused at her impassive disposition. He turned his
attention to Miguel, who was grinning at her side.

“Diaz, let’s roll.” Johnny started, but Miguel seemed
pensive, even as he nodded firmly.

“Noel, I’ll walk you to your car? If you want?” He
offered. His words were meant to be spoken coolly,
but the casualty he was going for was undercut by
his struggle to hold her gaze as he made the offer.
For some reason too stupid for him to press for, it
was hard not to be intimidated by Noel. Even though
he’d need to get used to having her around, some part
of Miguel was too awed by her being this friendly. He
had no idea she could be friendly to anyone, ever.

The sudden inquisition made the girl bristle to the
point that she looked to Johnny, who only shrugged.

“You’re not stealing him from me.” The man clicked
his tongue, drinking from his water bottle.

Noel reminded herself to be natural, shrugging after a
moment. “Sure, Diaz. How would I possibly find my
way back to my car without the help of a man?”

“Was that a joke or should I apologize? I didn’t—”
Miguel began to apologize. This prompted an eye roll
from Noel and she gave him a haphazard shove, her
nonverbal cue of telling him to shut up.

“God, was Sam your fake girlfriend, or some shit? It’s
like you’ve never talked to a girl in your life.” Noel
grimaced, heading off in the direction of her car.

Miguel glared at the back of her head and then at his
Sensei who was snickering, before treading out after
her.

“I’ve talked to girls. I’ve just never talked to you.” He
retorted once he was at her side. Noel focused on the
buzz of the cicadas, pulling some leaves from her hair.
“What’s so different about me? Other than the fact that
I kicked your ass with minimal effort?” Noel mused as
she looked from her sneakers to him. Miguel rolled his
eyes. “Okay, first of all, we were tied.” He reminded her
of this fact as his shoulder brushed her own in a bump
of his own as payback for the one she’d given him.

“But second of all, you were Cobra Kai. Fully. I thought
you were unshakable.” He said with an air of caution.

Noel sighed. “Like I said, I want to be different. Cobra
Kai is out of control. Someone needed to take a stand.”
She lied, but it was too easy for her now—she needed
to get used to spinning this story so the more practice,
the better. It was especially easy to lie to Miguel. For
some reason, he had faith in her. Noel had to remind
herself that this was what she’d banked on and that it
was a blessing that he was making this so easy for her.

“You know that you might’ve had a point? About Eagle
Fang needing you at the All-Valley?” Miguel offered as
he and Noel approached her car. She crossed her arms
and clicked her tongue, grinning smugly as either of
her shoulders went up in a coy gesture.

“I know, but please, keep feeding my ego,” Noel said
this, prompting him to continue.

He laughed stiffly, but couldn’t help but give her an
amused smile. Miguel had no clue that she was this
fun to talk to—he had no idea Noel had it in her to be
the way that she was right now. Her guard was down
and she was treating him like a friend. For as much as
he’d never believed it was possible, he was happy that
she wanted to fight with Eagle Fang, and with him.

Even if he’d never seen it coming, he felt good about
Eagle Fang’s chances with Noel on their side.

He cleared his throat, shaking his head at her hubris.
“No, I think I’m good.”

Noel chuckled, but she didn’t have to fake it. Her arms
tightened over her chest as she stopped short of where
her car was parked, a few feet away in the lot that was
surrounded by all of the greenery. She turned to face
him fully and Miguel mimicked her action, his eyes
finding hers as they stood chest to chest.

“This is me.” Noel hummed.

“Right. Goodnight, Noel.” Miguel spoke.

“Night, Diaz.” She murmured back, restrained.

Vaguely, Noel’s heart pulled. A gnarly feeling stirred in
her suddenly that she was doing something wrong, but
she tabled the doubt. Doubt would lose her the All-
Valley and if she kept questioning herself, she would
lose sight of what mattered. What mattered was being
able to leave the All-Valley with a trophy and even if
she was spinning a silken web of lies, even if she was
thrusting herself into a repetition of hell from her
making, it would be worth the reward. She swallowed
thickly as Miguel nodded, his eyes lingering on her as
he headed off in the opposing direction.

Noel was in—that was what mattered.

━━━━━━━

During training, Sensei Kreese and Sensei Silver round
everyone up with no preamble.

“It’s important for all of you to know that Noel will
be absent for some of our usual training hours in the
future. She’s successfully joined Eagle Fang.” Kreese began. Noel kept her chin upturned as she stood in line
with the other members of the dojo, with Tory at her
left, and Robby at her right.

“Right.” Silver cut in. “Noel’s going to do more than just
teach us what their moves are going to be. She’s going
to distract them through any means necessary. By the
time the All-Valley comes, Eagle Fang will be in
disarray, and so will Miyagi-Do.”

Noel nodded firmly when Silver met her eyes. She had
been up all night thinking of how to approach this and
quickly deduced that the only way to pull this off was
to find an excuse to be around both Johnny and
Daniel. She needed to find a way to listen in on all of
their plans, she needed to dip her hand into whatever
arrangement of peace they’d settle on, and dissuade
them from believing that they could ever pull it off. If
she couldn’t do that, the least that she could do was
distract one of their biggest prospects.

She wasn’t really sure where things stood between her
and Miguel. He seemed to be warming up to her and
what happened at Coyote Creek seemed like a step in
the right direction. Still, she didn’t know him as well as
she knew Eli. There had to be some way to get him off
of his axis that would be easier than slowly trying to
wear down Miguel. She needed to take things at a
more gradual pace with him—he’d nearly sniffed her
out when she came to Daniel for comfort and that
meant that he was smarter than she gave him
credit for.

Noel was so occupied with this gi that when they were
all dismissed from their line formation, she stalled into
finding a dummy to take her frustrations out on.

In the process, Robby stepped in her way.

“How’s it feel to be the favorite? You get to slack off.”
He joked.

If looks could kill, the Keene boy would be crumpled
on the mat that he stood on. Her eyes roved over him
with borderline hostility. “You’re the only one slacking,
Johnny Jr. Let’s hope you don’t choke at the All-Valley.”
She stepped around him, leaving Robby with the look
of discontent that flashed across his face from her
words.

“Did I do something to you?” Robby questioned. Noel
zeroed in her dummy, beginning to punch it.

“No, you didn’t. I just don’t like you.” She deadpanned.

Noel imagined that he wasn’t overjoyed by her being
around his dad more than him, but that was his choice,
not hers. Being a part of an opposing dojo was hardly
an excuse for him to not talk to his dad, and it wasn’t
stopping him from trying to bury whatever disdain for
the man he held onto, but here he was—sticking his
hand into what she earned. Noel fought to be here
unlike Robby. He hadn’t even wanted to join and
had been more concerned with squatting in the dojo
because of his criminal record. He’d been using them
and now he was going to be the face of their male
fighters. It was ridiculous.

Before Robby could even speak up, Noel struck the
dummy in front of her particularly hard.

“Look, Keene. I know you feel entitled to everything
because you hate your dad and I know you feel like
you fit in here, but you don’t. This is just a fad until
you decide you’re too good for us.” Noel breathed
out. Whatever comments Robby seemed to be
containing came from him with no abandon at
that.

“And you think you’re too good for everyone. You don’t
know anything about me.” Robby fired back. She only
scoffed, swiveling on her heel, and nearly knocking
the dummy over when she kicked it.

“I know I’m better than you. I just need a chance to
prove it.” Noel retorted.

“This is about the All-Valley? We’re on the same team,
Noel, there’s no reason for us to fight—” Robby began.
Noel cut him off with a groan. She had too much on
her mind to worry about Robby Keene. He seemed to
bristle at her glare, but he backed off, and changed the
subject.

“Whatever. You’ll be at the movies, right? Just not with
us?” Robby asked.

She sighed. “I’ve gotta convince them that I’m on their
side, Keene. I’ll try not to hit you too hard if another
rumble gets started, okay?” Noel turned her attention
back to the dummy and that was all that Robby needed
to get the hint that this conversation wasn’t going to go
anywhere, so he walked away from the girl.

Honestly, Noel had no intentions of showing up at the
movies at all, and she was definitely going to ditch it.
She couldn’t pretend to beat up anyone from Cobra
Kai, not even Robby. She was too loyal to her dojo to do
that sort of thing to them and she had no intention of
being in the same place as everyone from every dojo.
It was a disaster waiting to happen; a storm looming
overhead. She knew nothing good was going to come
from it which was just going to make it a waste of
time.

Going home was all that Noel had on her mind. Even
when training ended, she was still mulling over the
best way to do things—maybe she could accidentally
drop a cement block on Eli’s hand. Miyagi-Do was full
of bullies, so in a lot of ways, it made a lot of sense that
he’d ended up there. It made sense that he’d get what
was coming to him eventually, the same way everyone in that dojo had it coming; however, all of that had to
wait until the All-Valley.

As Noel got ready to leave the dojo, her phone buzzed
at the bottom of her bag. She sighed, sifting through
her folded clothes. Once she pulled the device out, she
tapped the screen, viewing the notifications. A couple
of missed texts from Veda that she had no intention of
answering and a text from Miguel. He was asking her
to come to the movies with him. As in, in her car.

Shit.

━━━━━━━

“For the last time, this isn’t a date, V! A lot of people
are going to be there. Sam’s going to be there.” Noel
huffed out as she approached the address that Miguel
had sent her. She lived on the outskirts of Reseda and
she wasn’t judging him for where he lived; however,
she would be lying if she said that it was a display of
good faith on his end that he’d even invited her out.

Things were going better than she realized, obliviously.
She steered with one hand while her sister rambled in
her ear from the other end of the line, talking her ear
off about how this was Miguel trying to make a pass
at her. She’d let Veda use her as a dress-up doll in
contradiction of her claims that this was casual. The
girl had gotten ahead of herself. Noel was the feminal
type as it stood, but Veda was so obnoxious about it.

Noel had on an efflorescent top and denim shorts—
she’d even let her sister get away with putting her in
the stupid white bow that complimented the array of
pinks, blues, and purples of her shirt. She didn’t hate
looking pretty but she didn’t want Miguel to get some
impression of her that she cared what he thought. She
didn’t. That seemed to oppose what the rest of her
body was signalling because as she hurriedly told her
older sister that she had to go, she felt her heartbeat
quicken a little bit. She didn’t really hang out with
people since moving to Reseda, so it was hard. It was
especially hard to let her guard down around someone
who was meant to be her enemy.

Miguel was her enemy.

She cleared her throat and parked her car. Noel knew
she had no reason to be nervous. This was the opening
that she was praying for. This was her chance to see if
Miguel had any weaknesses that she could exploit. She
could get into his head about whether or not he was
ready to fight—she had nothing but an oriel of glaring
opportunity, but it was still hard for her to approach
the door to his apartment.

She crossed her arms after knocking twice. Secretly,
she hoped that he forgot, or was hazing her, but Miguel
ended up opening the door. Or, his mother did.

“Um, hi. I’m Noel.” The girl beamed to the woman. She
lowered her arms into her back pockets as the woman
smiled back. She nodded.

“Miggy told me you were coming. Miguel!” Noel stood
there as his mother called for him and after about four
seconds, he headed out from what Noel presumed was
his room. She wasn’t going out of her way to peer in,
if she was being honest. Miguel seemed to stall when
he saw her. He swallowed thickly.

“Uh, thanks. Thanks, we’re good.” He seemed to hurry,
not even letting his mom finish her sentence before he
was stepping out and shutting the door behind him. An
incredulous look etched across Noel’s face as he gave
her a sympathetic look.

“Sorry. I just didn’t want her to think this was a date.
She’s been waiting for..” Miguel trailed off.

“For you to move on from Sam? Poor lady.” Noel
mused.

“I’ve moved on. Can we not talk about Sam? I’m pretty
sure she’s going to be there tonight. Everyone’s going
to be there.” Miguel murmured, trying to deflect.

“Right. So, we’re both willingly walking into a night
that has the potential to be super awkward?” Noel
quirked an eyebrow as she walked next to him.

Miguel winced playfully. “Yeah, I guess.”

Noel’s eyes remained on his face as he looked from his
shoes to her. He seemed reluctant when he smiled and
when he finally did smile, Noel had to look away. She
needed to make a decision. She was either going to
find a way to throw Miguel off or waste her time being
awkward around him, or whatever this was. She was
the impulsive sort, so Noel did what had been on her
mind all day. Since training, at least.

“What if we ditched it?” Noel asked suddenly.

Miguel stopped walking. She couldn’t take it back, so
she decided to be undaunted—being intrepid was all
that she could do. “Like, went to my happy place?”

He gave her a look. “You have a happy place?”

Noel rolled her eyes. “I’m not a gargoyle, Diaz, I can
enjoy things.”

He laughed a little bit. Miguel wasn’t sure how he felt
about blowing off his friends and Sam, but he knew
that he wasn’t going to get over her if all that he did
was go wherever she went, and feel whatever she felt.
Sam didn’t want Noel in Eagle Fang around and there
was no way that things wouldn’t be weird if Miguel
showed up with her, and if he was being honest, he
didn’t want to sit through that.

Slowly, Miguel shrugged. “Sure, yeah. Lead the way.”

Noel gave him a smile.

━━━━━━━

She couldn’t believe that she’d actually brought him
here, but at least Sensei Kreese would never be able to
question her loyalty to Cobra Kai again.

Bringing Miguel to her actual happy place had been
an awful idea and she’d known that since the moment
that she proposed it, but Miguel had agreed, so here
they were. The energy in the car was stiff—reticent. It
was hard to start a conversation with Miguel under the
guise of becoming cordial with him and he must’ve felt
the same way, because of every single time he opened
his mouth like he was going to speak, he cleared his
throat instead.

Eventually, Noel took the plunge. “I’m taking you to go
bowling.”

Miguel gave her a skeptical look. “Your happy place is a
bowling alley?” He questioned.

Noel gave him a quick glare before focusing back on
the road. “Is that allowed, Diaz?”

His hands shot up in surrender. “Yeah. Yeah. It’s cool,
actually.”

“Thanks, Miguel. I forgot I live for your validation.”
Noel mused to him, causing him to sigh.

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just.. it’s not like you’re
the nicest person, Noel. I thought you hated me.” He
supplied with an air of apology.

Miguel wasn’t sure what else he was meant to think.
Noel was the face of Cobra Kai. All that he heard while
he walked the halls in school was that the fact that she
left meant that Cobra Kai was screwed at the All-Valley
and he imagined that the murmurings he heard would
only get louder once people caught wind of her being
in Eagle Fang now. He rubbed his hands against his
knees, not sure why he’d even agreed to come with
her when he wasn’t trying to have fun, at least.

“You’re right.” Noel conceded. It hurt her to do, but he
was onto something. Her and Miguel not fighting did
little to nothing when it came to whether or not Noel
was nice or not—she wasn’t. She always had her fists
balled and she was always ready for a fight. Miguel’s
skepticism was more justified than he realized, but it
wasn’t like Noel could let him see that. She had to quiet
the voice nagging him that she was trouble or that this
had all come out of nowhere. He was too smart for his
good and hers, honestly.

“I miss doing stuff, Miguel. I miss when I thought about
something other than karate. I miss having fun. And..
and you’ve been really nice to me. I guess I just owe it
to you, you know? To let you see the real me?” Noel
slowed the car to a stop, but Miguel was too busy
staring at her to register that they’d made it to the
bowling alley.

It was hard not to focus on how beautiful she was. He
didn’t mean to, but it was impossible to bypass. Noel’s
words were softer than he’d ever heard her speak
before and he stalled on how to respond. Then Noel
was looking at him and she was elbowing him in the
side from the driver’s seat.

“What, you don’t want me to kick your ass in bowling
too?” Noel humored him.

Miguel chuckled, shaking off his momentary insanity.

“Hey, I’m not going to pull my punches if we’re just
bowling.” Miguel warned her.

Noel wasn’t sure why she didn’t feel good about this,
but she didn’t. She unfastened her seatbelt, biting back
an amused smile at his empty threat. She needed to be
talking to him about karate—not about what she liked
other than karate—she wasn’t going to feel out Miguel
by making him laugh. Noel atttempted to segue into
the point that she hadn’t gotten the chance to make.

“Well, you can’t always be a gentleman. Especially not
at the All-Valley.” Noel hummed in response.

“I feel like I need to keep reminding you I’ve already
won the All-Valley?” Miguel boasted.

Noel stepped out of her car at the same time that he
did and she didn’t realize that she’d already failed at
not smiling at him and his vibrato. She shut the door
on her side and gave him a skeptical rove of her eyes
as she stepped around her car. She gave him a nudge.

“I feel like you have an ego.” Noel mused back. Miguel
gave her a coy shrug, allowing himself to relax around
her a little bit. He didn’t even realize that it was taking
place, but his body seemed keen on not letting her get
too many steps ahead of him.

“I do, but only because I’m about to dominate you? You
should be thinking about what you’re going to buy me
when you lose.” Miguel joked, speeding up, and then
taking off.

“Oh, you fucking wish!” Noel bursted out into laughter,
rushing after Miguel instinctively. She’d have all night
to get something out of him, but getting to kick his ass
in bowling was just going to be a pleasant addition to
her night.

She was going to kick his ass. Again.

Author’s Note: Was this chapter filler? A little! But we
got some Noel and Miguel development and they’re
already everything to me? I can’t wait to make them
suffer (: Ignore any errors because editing and trying
to save the edited version of this chapter was pretty
much impossible because of Wattpad? I’m not really
sure why I’m surprised about this app being broken at
this point, but anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed! The
chapters from this point forward are going to be pretty
long? Especially next chapter because a lot of shit is
happening in it, but until then, love you guys. Happy
reading!