❝ no one will ever call you a freak again. ❞

―

JULIANA GLANCED BETWEEN HER PARENTS.

The school called her parents, informing them of the fight in the cafeteria. She sat on the couch in the living room, tapping her foot on the floor as they took turns scolding her. At least it had started with them scolding her. After a couple of minutes, it seemed like all they were doing was arguing with each other.

Her mother walked away, storming up the stairs as her father followed after her. Juliana turned around, watching as they disappeared up the stairs. She stood up and made her way up the stairs, leaning against the wall and leaning her head closer to their bedroom door that was cracked open.

"I can't believe you let her join Cobra Kai!" she heard her mother voice say.

"Silvia, it's not that big of a deal. I know I've had trouble with Cobra Kai in the past, but I can assure you that she'll be fine," her father responded.

Juliana's eyebrows furrowed together. That explained why her father had been acting so strangely at the mere sight of Cobra Kai. Her parents had some sort of history with Cobra Kai, but what?

"Not a big deal?" Silvia scoffed. "Are you insane, Nicolás? After everything that the boys from that dojo put you through? After how they treated you?"

Juliana's eyebrows furrowed together. Slowly, it was starting to make more sense. When she had come home crying after her old friends told her they felt sorry for her, her father had sympathized with her by saying that he too had been bullied. He never specified who it was or why they bullied him.

"That wasn't their fault. They were brainwashed by their sensei," he replied. "That holier than thou mentality was forced on them by a madman."

Juliana's blinked a few times, even more confused than ever. Who was this madman that he was talking about?

"But his reign of terror is over now," her father spoke again. "I looked into it and Johnny Lawrence teaches it now."

Her mother chuckled. "Johnny Lawrence? The ringleader of the karate gang that made your life a living hell all because you wanted to be like them?"

Juliana's jaw dropped slightly. She shook her head, unable to believe it. Sensei Lawrence was the one who had bullied her dad? It didn't really seem to far-fetched that Johnny Lawrence used to be a bully but what were the odds that she decided to join the one dojo that her father had a history with? Not to mention that the guy who bullied him was the owner.

"Silvia, I've told you that he apologized," her father said. "It's behind us now. Johnny and I made amends a long time ago. And aren't you the one saying that we should encourage Juli to do more activities?"

"You're seriously using my own words against me?" Juliana heard her mother sigh. "Fine. She can stay in Cobra Kai, but if something bad happens...she's out of there."

"Okay. I promise she'll be fine. But okay."

Juliana heard the sound of feet shuffling. She quietly walked to her room as fast as she could. She took a seat on her bed and started looking down at her phone, pretending to scroll.

"Juliana?" she heard from downstairs.

"I'm in my room!" Juliana called out.

She placed her phone down on her nightstand as she heard a knock on the door. Her dad's head peered in the doorway. He walked in, her mother following behind him. Juliana looked back and forth between them, pretending that she hadn't just been listening to their conversation.

"You can stay in Cobra Kai," her father told her. "But we both agree that if anything happens, you won't be going there anymore."

Juliana nodded her head. "Okay."

Her parents exchanged a look with each other before turning back to her.

"Okay?" her mother asked.

"Yeah," Juliana nodded. "You're the ones who have to pay for lessons, it's only right that you decide if I go or not."

Juliana gave her parents a smile, trying not to let on that she knew more than she was saying. But on the inside, her head was reeling.

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Juliana sat at the lunch table, explaining what she had learned to Demetri, Eli, and Miguel.

"Wait a minute," Demetri put his hands up, waving them in the air. "You joined Cobra Kai?"

Juliana rolled her eyes. "That's not the point, Demetri. Were you even listening to anything I said beyond that I joined Cobra Kai?"

"I heard everything you said," Demetri responded. "I swear."

Juliana rolled her eyes at him again.

"So, Sensei really bullied your dad?" Miguel asked.

Juliana nodded. "Apparently. It doesn't really seem too far-fetched. I mean, back then if Cobra Kai really was the coolest thing in the Valley like Sensei said and my dad was a nerd who wanted to be one of them..."

Miguel sighed, nodding his head. "Yeah. You're right and as much as I respect him, it doesn't surprise me."

"But my parents are letting me stay," Juliana told him. "As long as nothing bad happens."

"As long as nothing bad happens?" Demetri questioned. "You helped Miguel beat a bunch of guys in a fight. Don't get me wrong, that was incredible, but is that not already bad enough? What exactly are they counting as something bad?"

Juliana shrugged. "No idea."

"I—I think we should join," Eli spoke up.

Demetri quickly turned his head. "Have you lost your mind? You see one little fight and all of a sudden you're all giddy up let's go?"

Juliana furrowed her eyebrows at his word choice, turning to Miguel who shrugged.

"Come on, can you at least give it a chance?" Eli asked.

He leaned in closer to Demetri's ear, whispering, "Juliana wants you to. If not for me, then do it for her." Juliana and Miguel exchanged a look of confusion when he whispered to him. When Juliana turned her head, she was met with Demetri's eyes staring back at her.

"I guess I can give it a try," Demetri said.

A smile spread across Eli's face. Juliana turned to look at him.

"What'd you say to him?" Juliana asked.

Eli shook his head. "It's a secret."

"Well," Miguel said, looking at Demetri and Eli. "I guess we'll see you at the dojo."

"It's going to be great!" Juliana beamed at them.

"Yeah," Demetri sighed, speaking sarcastically. "Great."

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When she arrived at the dojo, Juliana was not expecting to see so many people. She looked around, confused as the teens standing outside the dojo whispered about her and pointed at her. Juliana walked up to Miguel, holding on tight to her backpack straps.

"What's going on?" Juliana asked him, continuing to glance around.

"Someone posted the video of the fight online and it went viral," Miguel explained to her.

"All these people wanna join?" Juliana asked. "Because of one fight?"

Miguel nodded. "If they can learn to fight and stand up to their bullies, then why not?"

Juliana just nodded in response, continuing to look at all the potential new students. A smile tugged at her lips as she spotted Demetri and Eli. With a big, bright smile, she waved at them before she started to run up to them.

"Hey!" Juliana greeted them. "You made it."

Demetri sighed. "Yeah. Unfortunately, it's cutting in my designated time slot to play Crucible Control..."

Juliana laughed. "I'm sure you'll be okay."

Sensei Lawrence arrived, unlocking the door to the dojo. She walked inside with Demetri and Eli, unable to stop smiling as she watched Eli glance around in wonder. Juliana announced that she was leaving to change into her gi.

When she walked back out into the dojo, she stood with Miguel and Aisha. The three of them took turns sparring with each mother as they waited for practice to begin.

"Quiet!"

Juliana jumped at the sudden sound of Sensei Lawrence's voice. The overlapping chatter that filled the dojo ended abruptly.

"Face front."

Juliana turned around, standing next to Aisha. She stood up straight as Sensei Lawrence began to move around the dojo, scanning the potential karate students.

"Nice shirt," Juliana heard him say.

She looked over her shoulder, noticing that he was talking to Demetri.

"I'm joking, it sucks."

Demetri's smile fell.

"Word of advice," Sensei Lawrence said to another boy, "If you got shit for teeth, don't smile."

Juliana's eyebrows moved together. She gulped and turned around, facing the front.

"When I look around this dojo, I don't see Cobra Kai material," Sensei Lawrence announced. "I see losers, I see nerds. I see a fat kid with a funny hat with his tits popping out. But in my short time as a sensei, I've also seen some miracles. So, maybe there's some hope for you yet. But first, I need to see where you're at. So everybody, fall in!"

Juliana turned her head when she heard the sound of confused voices.

"That means line up," Sensei Lawrence announced.

"No, not...not line up in a line. Lines! Get in lines."

Juliana looked over her shoulder, seeing a line forming behind her.

"You mean like rows?" Demetri asked.

Sensei Lawrence sighed, covering his face with his hands. "Yes, fine. Rows. Get in rows."

The sound of feet shuffling around filled the silent room as they reorganized themselves and formed rows instead of lines.

"Fighting positions," Sensei said.

Juliana assumed fighting position, waiting for the next instruction. Instead, she was met with even more overlapping confused voices. After realizing that he had to go back to square one, Sensei Lawrence taught them all what a fighting position was before proceeding to go over basic punches.

"Jab punch," Sensei said after he had Miguel demonstrate to them how to do a jab punch. "Nope, wait till I say go. Hiyah!"

Juliana was focused as she punched the air, staring straight ahead of her as Sensei Lawrence moved around the room.

"Hey, Lip," Sensei Lawrence said, causing Juliana to stop and turn around. "Yeah, you. The one with the freaky lip. Who do you think I'm talking to?"

Juliana's breath hitched when she saw the look on Eli's face. He avoided making eye contact, staring down at the mat as he nervously fiddled with his fingers.

"Excuse me, uh, Mr. Lawrence," Demetri began.

"Sensei Lawrence," Aisha interjected.

"Okay," Demetri said with a chuckle. "You really shouldn't make fun of someone's physical appearance."

"Oh, is that so?" Sensei Lawrence asked. "So, I'm not supposed to mention his lip at all?"

"Well, yeah," Demetri responded.

"Maybe that's what they teach you in school, but in the real world, you can't expect people to do what they're supposed to do," Sensei Lawrence replied. "You hear that Lip! If you can't handle someone making fun of you, how are you gonna handle an elbow to the teeth?"

"By calling the police," Demetri responded.

"Dude...knock it off," Miguel told him, shaking his head.

"What?" Demetri asked. "He does realize the Nazis lost the war, right? Why should I be scared of him? Because he's got a snake on his wall? It's not like he's a teacher who can give us a bad grade. We're paying him. He works for us. It's not like he can actually hurt us."

Sensei Lawrence walked towards him, standing directly in front of him. "Are you done?"

"What?" Demetri asked in confusion.

"I've got one mouthy brat already. I don't need another one," Sensei Lawrence told him, nodding his head towards Juliana.

She gave him an offended look, but he ignored her.

"Hit me," Sensei said to Demetri. "Go ahead, hit me. Strike me right here."

Demetri sighed and got into a fighting position. He tried to punch Sensei Lawrence, but he blocked it by smacking his hand. "Harder."

Demetri made another attempt, but Sensei smacked his hand even harder than before. Demetri winced as his hand was hit. Juliana sighed and turned her body around.

"Is that all you got, princess?" Sensei Lawrence asked.

Demetri tried for the third time. He raised his fist and tried to punch him again, but he Sensei his wrist and flipped him over on his back. Juliana shook her head at the ground when Demetri hit the mat.

"Don't you think that was a little extreme?" Juliana asked. "Sure, he's a mouthy brat, but you can't just—"

"Quiet!" Sensei Lawrence shouted in her face.

Juliana flinched, moving her head back and turning around. She stared at the ground and sighed.

Sensei Lawrence pointed around the room. "Let that be a lesson to all of you."

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Juliana walked down the hallway with Demetri and Miguel. She held onto her backpack straps as she looked up at Demetri, listening to him talk about how he was going to quit Cobra Kai.

"Yeah, but you can't quit," Miguel told him.

"I got yelled at, got my ass kicked, and then gave him my money," Demetri responded. "You know who lives like that? Hookers."

"Yeah, but he's not that bad of a guy. You gotta give him a chance," Miguel tried to reason with him. "You don't know him like I do."

Demetri scoffed. "That's hooker talk. Besides, I don't need to learn karate when I have you and Juliana."

Juliana sighed. "Look, I know he's intense and he shouldn't have made fun of Eli or flipped you onto the mat, but he's just...too abrasive for his own good. He's a good sensei once you get past the whole say whatever cruel thing is on his mind thing."

Demetri turned to look at her and sighed. "I'm glad it's working out for you, but I can't go back."

Juliana sighed as they began walking again, only to stop when they saw Kyler approaching. Juliana nodded her head towards him. Kyler took one look at Miguel and Juliana before turning and going the other way.

"See? No one's gonna mess with you," Demetri spoke.

Juliana watched as Kyler walked away, disappearing down the hallway. She hated to admit it, but Demetri was right. After the fight in the cafeteria, Kyler didn't dare to even come near them.

They continued to walk to class, stepping into the biology classroom. Juliana and Demetri took a seat at their table. Juliana turned her head as the bell rang, watching Miguel as he took a seat at the table next to them. His partner was nowhere to be found.

Juliana's mouth dropped slightly agape when she saw Sam walk into the classroom, a Blow Pop sticking to her sweater.

"Thanks for the Blow Pop, guys," Sam pulled it off and glanced around the room. "Really never gets old."

Juliana rolled her eyes. It never ceases to amaze her just how cruel other high schoolers could be. They were so quick to believe any rumor that got thrown around without giving it a second thought.

"It's 'cause she gives blow jobs," Demetri tapped Juliana's arm. "Get it? Blow Pop. Blow...job."

Juliana stared at him as she scoffed in disgust. "Yes, Demetri. I get it. You shouldn't say things like that. It's just a stupid rumor. Don't feed into it."

Demetri glanced down, his face faltering. "You're right. Sorry."

"Hey, everybody," Mr. Palmer spoke, causing them to turn to the front of the room. "Who let the pigs out? I did, because I ordered the fetal pigs. But seriously, get in your groups."

Juliana reached into her backpack and pulled out a pencil. She zipped up her backpack and placed it on the floor, waiting for Mr. Palmer to pass out the pigs.

"Who wants to take Samantha in?" Mr. Palmer asked. "This little piggy needs a group."

Juliana looked around the room. Miguel was the only one who didn't have a group.

Miguel's hand shot up in the air. "I'll be her partner. Mine is absent."

Sam smiled as she approached the table. She brushed past Demetri, bumping into his shoulder. Juliana rolled her eyes when Demetri sniffed his shirt.

Mr. Palmer placed a pig in a tray down on the table followed by plastic gloves and lab coats. After putting them on, Juliana and Demetri got to work answering the questions on their lab sheet.

"So, what about sex?" Juliana asked.

"Um...I...uh..." Demetri stammered, his eyes blinking rapidly.

Juliana gave him a confused look before pointing to the pig. "Because in males, the urogenital opening is posterior to the umbilical cord. So, if we look at the pig, I think it'd be male."

Demetri started to nod his head rapidly. "The pig. Right. Yes. I agree with you. That's...yes."

"Are you okay?" Juliana asked.

Demetri nodded his head, but the look on his face was telling Juliana otherwise.

────────────

Juliana stood in the dojo, looking around the room. There weren't nearly as many students as there had been the previous day. A huge smile appeared on Juliana's face when she saw Eli walking through the door.

"Eli!" Juliana ran up to him. "You came back."

Eli nodded his head. "Yeah."

"I thought you'd quit like Demetri," Juliana responded. "I'm so happy that you're here."

Eli just nodded, looking down at the floor.

"Okay, everybody. Fall in."

Sensei Lawrence looked around the room, wondering where everyone had gone. "Where is everyone? Crater-face? Nose ring? Slingshot?"

"They quit, Sensei," Miguel replied.

"Are you serious?" he asked him.

Sensei Lawrence paused for a split second before speaking, "I mean, good. That was a test. I wanted to see who the quitters are. Not you guys. You're in it to win it, right?"

Nice save, Juliana thought to herself.

"You could be at home playing your iComputers, playing your video games, eating candy," Sensei Lawrence continued. "Instead, you're here, doing pushups, learning how to fight. Lip. Look. Even Lip's tougher than those guys. He's no quitter."

"Can you please not call me that?" Eli spoke up.

"Excuse me, what?" Sensei Lawrence asked.

"I said could you please not call me that," Eli repeated himself.

"Um, I'll warm 'em up, Sensei," Miguel stepped in.

"No, no, no, Lip has something he wants to say," Sensei Lawrence walked towards him. "Sorry, speak up, Lip. Or is your tongue messed up too? Are you one of those challenged kids?"

"Um, the doctor said I could be on the spectrum," Eli responded, avoiding eye contact with him.

"I don't know what that is but get off it pronto. All right?" Sensei Lawrence replied.

"The Autism Spectrum," Juliana told him. "It's not something you can just get off of."

"Quiet, Morales!" Sensei Lawrence shouted as he turned to her, then directed his attention back Eli. "If you don't want me to call you Lip, then don't have a weird lip. Can't you get surgery for that?"

"I was born with a cleft lip," Eli explained. "This is the scar from the surgery."

"You mean it was worse before that? Or did the doctor just screw up?" Sensei Lawrence questioned. "Because if this is the after photo, then that sucks, man. You should sue."

"Can we just please change the topic?" Eli asked.

"You don't think I want to?" Sensei Lawrence asked. "It's tough when it's right in front of me. You wanna be something other than a nerd with a scar on his lip, then you gotta flip the script. Okay? Get a face tattoo or gouge your eye out. We'll call you Patch, all right? No, don't do that one. You'll still look like a freak."

Tears started to form in Eli's eyes. He walked off the mat, sniffling as he tried not to cry.

"Oh, great, really? Another quitter?" Sensei asked.

Juliana clenched her jaw. She walked off the mat and followed him, ignoring Sensei Lawrence's voice as he called out to her.

When Eli saw her enter the room, he turned his head. He looked down at the ground, trying to hide his face. Juliana slowly walked closer to him. She reached up and put her hand on his cheek, causing him to look up.

Juliana wiped a tear with her thumb. "You're okay. Don't listen to what Sensei said. You're not a freak."

Eli sniffled, turning his head away from her. "Yes, I am. I have this stupid scar on my lip. Everyone just makes fun of me."

"Listen to me right now," Juliana told him, tilting his head back towards her. "Eli Moskowitz, you are not a freak. Do you hear me? I never want to hear you say that again."

Eli nodded his head.

"I need to hear you say it," Juliana replied.

"I'm not a freak," Eli said quietly, barely audible.

"I couldn't hear you," Juliana told him. "Say it like you mean it."

"I am not a freak!" Eli repeated louder.

"There you go!" Juliana smiled at him. "Now, what do you say we get out of here?"

Eli raised an eyebrow at her. "Wh—you mean like leave the dojo?"

Juliana nodded her head. "Yeah. I have an idea."

"What is it?" Eli asked.

A smile spread across her face. "You'll see. Trust me, afterwards, no one will ever call you a freak again."

────────────

Juliana turned her head, looking up at Eli. "Are you ready?"

Eli nodded his head. "Let's do this."

Juliana grabbed the door handle, pulling it open. The bell on the door jingled above their heads. She let Hawk enter first, following him inside. The door closed behind her. They both held their heads up high, glancing around the room.

"Welcome to Cobra Kai."

All eyes turned to look at them. Juliana looked around round the room. She was met with wide eyes and dropped jaws. With Eli's hair spiked up in a dyed blue mohawk and Juliana's brunette hair now golden blonde, it was the exact reaction they were hoping for.

"Eli? Juliana?" Miguel asked. "What happened?"

"I'm flipping the script," Eli responded.

"And so am I," Juliana added. "You know what they say, blondes have more fun."

"Wait, are you the kid with the lip?" Sensei Lawrence asked, pointing to Eli. "Nice cut, bro. You see that?"

He walked across the mat, talking to the other students. "Doesn't matter if you're a loser or a nerd or a freak. All that matters is that you become badass."

Sensei Lawrence turned to look at Juliana and Eli. "Hawk. Fall in. You too, Morales."

Juliana turned to Eli and smiled. "I told you, Hawk."

She slipped off her shoes and stepped onto the mat. With her head held higher than ever, and her hands behind her back, Juliana had never felt more confident in her entire life.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

blonde juliana is HEEEERRRREEEE!!! which you probably guessed would happen from the gif lol

juliana trying to get eli to say he's not a freak was giving me major "that's my purse" vibes. someone please know what i'm talking about.

oh and i'm sure you figured it out, but there's official confirmation that juliana's dad has a history with cobra kai.

i also added faceclaims for silvia and nicolás (juliana's parents) to the cast list in the intro chapter!!

also i know miguel & sam have a similar conversation about the pig but i though it was funny & sense miguel isn't the main focus of this story...

anyway... goodbye for now