❝ she's our dream girl. ❞

―

SENSEI LAWRENCE HAD LOST HIS MIND.

Juliana was sure of it. It was bright and early in the morning as she stood in the middle of a junkyard. Old cars and scrap metal surrounded her everywhere she turned. She stood in between Hawk and Miguel, her pink heart shaped sunglasses rested on the bridge of her nose. Juliana yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.

Sensei Lawrence stood in front of her and the rest of his students, standing atop an old van. "You've trained hard. You've gotten stronger, tougher, faster. You've done your best. You're ready for this tournament, am I right?"

"Yes, Sensei!"

He threw his can of beer at them, causing Juliana to flinch as he landed near her feet and splashed on her. She looked up from the beer can, giving him an offended look. He didn't seem to care as he kept talking.

"Wrong! Your best ain't shit! If you wanna win the All Valley Under-18 Tournament, you gotta give me better than your best. Which is why from now on, you're gonna get my worst. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sensei!"

"Are you losers?"

"No, Sensei!"

"Are you nerds?"

"No, Sensei!"

"Are you sure?"

"No, Sensei!"

Juliana's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as she looked around at the rest of the class. Juliana looked up at Sensei Lawrence, watching him cover his face with his hands.

He jumped down from the van, dirt flying out from under his feet. He instructed them to follow him, and they blindly obeyed as they trailed behind him through the junkyard. Finally, they stopped in front of two rows of tires on the dirt in front of them. Juliana stared down at the tires, already knowing what he wanted them to do.

"One after the other, run from tire to tire. Line up!"

The group of teens formed a line in front of the tires. Juliana stood behind Hawk. In front of him were Miguel and Aisha. Juliana tightened her ponytail before taking a deep breath and beginning to follow after Hawk. Juliana couldn't help but smile as managed to circle around the rows with ease, their feet jumping in and out of the tires as they ran.

They repeated the process multiple times, starting to get the hang of it. They started to pick up speed, and that was when it all came crashing down. Aisha was the first to accidentally trip and fall, causing a ricochet effect of falling. After Hawk stumbled, Juliana tripped over his foot and slammed her head against his back. One after the other, they toppled over like dominos.

Once they had time to recuperate, Sensei Lawrence told them that they would be smashing cars. He handed each of them a tool to hit the cars with. Juliana held a baseball bat in her hands.

"Your enemies are all around you, destroy them."

With a pair of safety glasses covering her eyes, Juliana didn't hesitate to raise her bat in the air and start smashing the windows of a car. She slammed her bat into the sides of the car, on the hood, and through the headlights. Juliana had always wondered what it would be like to go to a rage room, and she imagined this was practically the same thing.

For the next activity, Sensei Lawrence had the group gather around a bin full of old scrap metal and glass. He instructed them to walk across a flat beam and make it to the other side of the truck without falling.

When it was Juliana's turn, she stepped onto the beam. She stared down into the bin, her glasses started to slip from her face. Juliana took them off and held them in her hand as she put her arms out to her sides to help with her balance. She slowly walked across the beam, trying her hardest not to slip and fall.

She made it across and grinned, unable to believe that she had just done that without falling. Next, it was Hawk's turn. Juliana cheered him on from the sidelines as he walked across the beam.

"There's nothing to fear except fear itself," Sensei shouted as Hawk walked across the beam. "That, and falling into sharp metal and broken glass, so don't do that!"

Juliana's breath hitched when Hawk's foot slipped, but she was able to breathe a sigh of relief when he caught his balance.

After the last of the students had crossed the beam, they stood in a line as Sensei Lawrence passed out a piece of beef jerky to each of them.

"You wanna win?" he spoke. "You gotta be hungry. You guys hungry?"

"Yes, Sensei!"

"Good. 'Cause so are they," Sensei Lawrence replied.

He pulled a whistle out of his pocket and blew it. They all glanced around in confusion, not understanding what was happening. Juliana could hear the sound of dogs barking in the distance. She turned her head toward the sound, seeing a group of dogs charging towards them.

"Oh, shit!" Aisha exclaimed before she started running.

The rest of the group started running, jumping on the tops of various vehicles and scrap pieces of cars. Juliana stood still looking around as the dogs chased after everyone else.

"Juli!" Hawk called out to her. "Are you crazy? Run!"

Juliana ignored him and looked down to see a dog sitting in front of her. She slowly started to kneel down so that she was on the dog's level.

"Hey, aren't you cute?" Juliana asked softly and calmly.

The dog nudged her hand with it's head.

"You want the beef jerky?" Juliana asked, giving the dog a small smile.

She opened her palm and placed the beef jerky on the ground. She scooted back, giving the dog room to eat. When it had finished, Juliana stuck her hand out in front of the dog, allowing it to smell her first before she reached out to pet it.

Juliana softly pet the dog, looking around the junkyard at the terrified looks on everyone else's faces. She caught Sensei Lawrence's eyes. He had a shocked look on his face as if he had been expecting her to be afraid and run just like everyone else had. Juliana turned her attention back to the dog, continuing to pet and speak to it.

"You're just a cute baby, aren't you?" Juliana asked as she pet the dog. "Just a big hungry baby, huh?"

It wasn't until she heard a scream that she stopped petting the dog. She turned around just in time to see Hawk getting bit by one of the dogs.

Juliana cringed, turning back to the dog in front of her. "Thank you for not doing that. Who's a good doggy? You are!"

────────────

A few days later, Juliana sat in the darkness of the movie theater with Hawk, Miguel, and Aisha. She sat in the chair between Aisha and Hawk, not paying attention to the movie. She was giggling as she watched Hawk start throwing popcorn at the seats in front of them. Juliana snorted, having to cover her mouth when Hawk threw a piece of popcorn, and it bounced off the girl in front of them's forehead.

Juliana tapped him on the arm, giggling. "Okay, okay. That's enough."

But she couldn't stop laughing as he threw another piece of popcorn. This time, it landed in the girl's bucket. She turned around to look at them, giving Hawk a dirty look before she turned back around. Juliana and Hawk shared a look, trying to keep themselves from laughing.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Juliana heard Miguel ask, so she turned her head to look at him. "Sam's dad hates Cobra Kai. I'm a part of Cobra Kai. So, by the transitive property, Sam's dad is gonna hate me."

"Jesus Christ, you're such a nerd," Hawk said as he continued to throw popcorn.

Juliana kept her attention on Miguel, listening to him talk. "Sam was acting weird the other day when her dad walked by."

Aisha shook her head. "Listen, I've known Mr. LaRusso since third grade. He's a really nice guy. You just have to talk to him."

Miguel scoffed. "I haven't even been invited over yet. She's probably too afraid to introduce me."

Juliana shrugged. "I mean, I can't necessarily say that I blame her. Maybe Sam just didn't know and she's trying to figure out the best way to tell her dad the truth."

Miguel sighed. "Maybe."

"Dude, just go over there," Hawk suggested. "It's an alpha move."

Juliana rolled her eyes. "Is that what you think you are? Huh? An alpha?"

Hawk shook his head. "No...that's not what I meant. It's just...I was just..."

Juliana laughed, playfully smacking his arm. "I was just messing with you. No need to get all flustered."

Hawk laughed nervously as he continued to throw the popcorn from his bucket. Instead of it hitting the girl sitting in front of them, it hit a man a few rows ahead.

"Who the hell did that?" the man asked as he stood up and turned around.

Juliana quickly averted her gaze to the screen, pretending like she had been watching the movie the entire time. She turned her head to Hawk, seeing him do the same. When no one fessed up, the man sat back down.

Hawk turned his head, looking at Juliana. They both smiled, their hands flying up to their mouths to stifle their laughter.

After the movie ended, Hawk's mom picked him and Juliana up from the theater. Hawk was spending the night at Demetri's, and since Juliana lived next door, she offered to drive her home.

Juliana stood in her driveway, thanking Hawk's mother for taking her home. Juliana stopped on the porch to wave goodbye to Hawk, flashing him a smile before she turned around and went inside her house. Hawk smiled back at her, still waving even when she was no longer in view.

Hawk knocked on the door of the Alexopoulos house, rocking back and forth on his heels as he waited for someone to answer. Demetri appeared on the other side, and he followed Demetri upstairs to his room.

Hawk took a seat in Demetri's desk chair, pushing himself from side to side with his feet. "You know, I was thinking..."

"Deadly habit," Demetri said when Hawk trailed off.

Hawk chuckled, shaking his head. "I was thinking about maybe asking Juliana out. You know, like on an official date?"

Demetri raised his eyebrows in shock. "Are you serious? Dude, you can't do that."

Hawk stared back at him with a confused expression. "Why not?"

"B—because...she's—and you're..."

"You don't think I have it in me, do you?" Hawk asked.

Demetri shook his head. "No, that's not it. Seriously. It's just that...it's Juliana. She's our friend and it would just make things awkward if it ended badly."

Hawk stopped spinning in the chair. "Well, we won't ever know that if neither one of us tries. And if you aren't, then I will. At least I'm not a coward."

"I am not a coward!" Demetri defended himself. "I just...she's not just some girl, Eli. She's everything we've ever wanted in a girl. She's our dream girl. I just don't want that to get ruined."

"It won't get ruined," Hawk assured him. "I understand what you're saying, but you don't seriously think I'd do anything to ruin our friendship with her, do you?"

Demetri shrugged. "You know I don't. She's just one of a kind and it's bad enough that she joined Cobra Kai. She's been...different lately."

Hawk's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What do you mean? Dude, is this about the fact that she dyed her hair blonde? You're not still on that, are you?"

"No, no, that's not it," Demetri shook his head.

"Then what?" Hawk asked. "Are you afraid you're losing her or something?"

Demetri shrugged. "I guess. Maybe a little, but I mean, she's her own person. She's allowed to do whatever she wants."

"Yeah, her own person that's coincidentally a carbon copy of a girl that we created on your computer," Hawk pointed out.

"Are you seriously still convinced that she isn't real?" Demetri asked, rolling her eyes.

"No," Hawk responded. "But it's still weird that she just showed up out of nowhere."

Demetri nodded his head in agreement. "True, but I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for it."

Hawk shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not."

Demetri groaned, throwing a pillow at him. Hawk caught it in his hands before throwing it back at Demetri.

"Now, are we going to play the new game my mom bought me or what?" Demetri asked.

Hawk nodded his head, standing up and joining Demetri on his bed.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

okay this is a short chapter, but i could not for the life of me think of how to make it longer. but that's okay. honestly, it just be like that sometimes.

also juliana being nice to the dog and petting it while everyone else is freaking out is hilarious. not only is she an icon, but she's also now a dog whisperer.

hope y'all are ready for what i have in store for this fic. :)