Heartbreak Weather, Eli Mosko...

XXII.                                           Heartbreak Weather

      Johnny gave Odessa a ride to the dojo the next day. She expressed how sorry she was to hear that his friend had passed away. There was a weird silence. He was never good at starting conversations. "So, how are you and Hawk?" He asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Odessa shrugged. "I haven't talked to him since what happened at the mall. I blocked him." She stated.

He winced, feeling guilty that he brought it up. "That sucks. I liked you two together. You made him less of a loser,"

She chuckled. "Yeah, well, I don't tolerate bullying, especially from someone who's been bullied before."

It went silent again and before they knew it, they arrived at the dojo. They got out of the car and walked in to see everyone already there. "Hey Sensei, i'm sorry about your loss." Miguel said to Johnny.

"Thanks. . ." The man responded. "So, how'd it go around here while I was gone?"

"It was eventful." Odessa answered, leaving out some details.

Miguel nodded. "Sensei Kreese is tough but, uh, he knows what it takes to win."

Johnny walked into his office. Odessa saw Eli staring at her from across the dojo. She forced herself to look away.

Miguel noticed. "You still haven't talked to him?" He gently asked.

"What am I supposed to say? I love you but you're an asshole who's terrorizing all your friends?" She questioned. "I'm not going to tolerate that, Mig."

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I know. It's his loss. You're pretty great."

She smiled and laid her head against his arm. As they days passed by, the stronger their friendship became. Miguel was like a brother to her, much like Oliver.

Soon, Johnny came out of his office with Kreese. "Get your gi's on. Training starts in five minutes." He instructed his students. They stood there confused, looking at each other. "Yeah, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing, Sensei. We just thought we were going into the woods for a special training today." Miguel explained to him.

"What's happening in the woods?"

Kreese stepped forward. "Well, I just thought it was time to separate the men from the boys—"

The four girls have him a pointed look.

"And the girls too, I suppose."

"How?" Johnny asked.

"Coyote Creek."

The man looked at his students and back at him. "I'm not sure they're ready for that yet." he muttered.

"There's only one way to find out," Kreese declared with confidence.

Eli stepped forward. "We're ready, Sensei. We're ready to prove ourselves."

"As if you haven't proved anything already." Odessa muttered to herself.

Eli opened his mouth to say something but Miguel quickly elbowed him, shaking his head no.

The students of Cobra Kai trudged through the woods. Hailey was swatting insects away from her and complaining about how hot it was. "Hailey, if I hear you complain one more time, i'm going to feed you to an actual coyote." Johnny threatened the girl.

She glared. "You'll be answering to my parents then. Along with mama Thalia."

He went quiet for a second and looked down at Odessa. "She's joking, right?"

The girl hesitated. ". . . No."

When they reached the middle of the woods, Kreese separated them into two teams. Odessa stood in line between Hailey and Tory and across from her was Eli. They all had red and black headbands on their heads. "Gentlemen, and ladies, welcome to Coyote Creek,"  Kreese announced. "You've been split into two teams. Red and Black. The goal is to capture as many headbands as possible from the other side." He explained. 

On her team was Tory, Miguel, Hailey, Mitch, and a few others she didn't know the names of. On the red team stood Grayson, Eli, Aisha, and a few others.

"Today, the people across from you are not your friends. They're not your brothers."

The boys smirked at each other.

"Not your sisters."

The girls glanced at one another and smiled.

"They're not your lovers,"

Odessa felt small under Eli's gaze.

"They are the enemy." Kreese finished and eyed each of them with a stern look. "Last team standing wins."

"How do we get the headbands?" Asked Miguel.

"By any means possible."

"So that means I can I can break someone's bones?" Hailey asked with excited eyes.

"Whatever your heart desires,  Miss Cooper. There are no rules." Kreese answered with an approved smirk.

She looked across from her and winked at Grayson, who shared a fearful look with all the other guys.

"Use your judgment. This is just a training exercise." Johnny spoke, giving Miguel a better answer.

"Correct. But remember, this is your life." Kreese held up a headband. "You loose this, you die."

Odessa got the chills. And not in a good way.

"Hey, guys! Sorry i'm late!" Raymond announced and he hurried over toward the adults and teenagers. He was wearing a motorcycle jacket and and sunglasses. The end of his beard was tied in a small braid. "Traffic on the 118 was a real bitch. Put Coyote Creek into the nav. Nothing came up."

They gave him odd looks. "What have you done to yourself?" Johnny asked while looking him up and down.

"Yeah, you know what, I just decided to flip the script; Hawk-style." Raymond stated, pulling his glasses off.

Eli gave him a weird look.

"Oh, please, shoot me." Odessa sneered under her breath.

"Think I might try for Grayson style next. I'm really loving the tall, dark, and handsome façade."

Grayson looked perplexed. Hailey put her fist over her mouth to conceal her laughter.

"Heretofore, you can refer to me as Stingray."  Raymond said while stroking his beard.

"All right, Chubs. He's on your team." Johnny dismissed, looking at Kreese.

"Terrific." Kreese grumbled. 

It turns out that the game was easy than she thought it would be. Odessa and Hailey walked through the woods with a handful of red hand bands. "Have you talked to Oliver?"  Hailey asked.

"He said he's happier at Miyagi-Do. He's less angry." Odessa replied. "Y'know, I tried talking to Asher and he barely had anything to say. It was weird."

"He's kind of weird."

"Hailey."

She shrugged. "What? I'm not wrong." She sighed. "It just sucks that he left us like that."

Odessa nodded. "I understand though. What Eli did was unforgivable. And to hurt Demetri like he did, Oliver would try and kill him if they had to be around each other any longer."

"He talks about you all the time when you're not around.  It makes me want to cut my ears off."

She quickly looked over at her. "He does?"

Hailey nodded. She twirled the headbands around her hand. "Of course he does. He loves you. He might be under some kind of asshole spell but he does love you."

Odessa looked ahead of her again, not knowing what to think. "I love him,  too. But I can't be with him. Not after what happened. What kind of person and friend would I be to Demetri if I stayed with him?" 

Hailey smiled at her and nudged her with her shoulder. As they continued walking through the woods, she smirked. "Oliver told Gray and I about Robby Keene coming to your rescue."

Odessa suddenly laughed. "No, it's not like that." She denied with a light smile

"Bullshit. I know that look. You like him, don't you?" Hailey teased and nudged her again.

"I'm not sure I should even be interested in another guy. I mean, Eli and I just broke up. What kind of person would I be?" She asked rhetorically. She grew another smile. "But I don't know. I like being around him. He's a great guy."

"So what's stopping you? Eli? Don't let me keep you from being happy."

She shrugged again.  "It's not that. I don't think i'm ready to move on,  just yet."

Hailey bit her lip and nodded. "Well,  i'm sure when you are Robby will bowing down at your feet." She said with a cheeky smile.

Odessa shoved her again. They heard a crunching sound behind them turned around to see two boys on the red team appear behind the trees. Nodding at each other, the girls separated and charged at them. Odessa recognized one of them as one of Hawk's rookies and she felt angry. 

She let out a battle cry and kicked her leg out as he came running towards her, hitting him in the chest.  He started throwing punches at her face and she was quick to dodge them until he leg sweeper her. Odessa fell to the hard ground with a groan. The boy lunged forward and she quickly threw her leg up, kicking him in the stomach. When he stumbled back,  she shot up again and threw a punch at his face.  He let out a let yell in pain and she grabbed his arm, throwing him over her. 

Hailey was in the middle of behind the other guy's arm behind his back. He yelled in pain and she reached her foot up, kicking him square in the back. When he turned around,  Hailey swung up leg and kicked him straight across the face, knocking him unconscious. 

The two girls smirked in victory,  swiping the headbands from their heads. "We are so badass." Hailey boasted.

"Mom will be proud." Odessa agreed breathlessly.

"My adrenaline's pumping down." She bounced up and down. "I'm going to go find Grayson. Maybe I can seduce him into giving me his headband." She said with a smirk.

Odessa giggled. "Have fun with that."

Hailey went off in search for Grayson and Odessa took off walking alone. Her searched all around for sight of a red headband. The sound of crunching leaves sent a chill down her spine. Somebody was around. They were getting closer. She paused. She spun around and threw out her fist.

Eli caught it swiftly and smirked. "Hey, beautiful." He almost taunted.

She ripped her wrist out of his grasp. "You scared me." Her eyes spotted the headband wrapped around his head. Immediately, her hand shot forward but Eli was faster. He grabbed her wrist again and spun her around so that her back was against him. Odessa sucked in a breath. "Let go of me!" She demanded.

"No can do, Butterfly. You know how competitive I am."

"What are you gonna do huh? Try to fight me like you did Demetri and Oliver?"

Eli swiftly spun her around so that she was facing him and he grasped her arms, making her eyes go wide. "I would never hurt you. Ever." He stated while staring into her eyes, his face completely serious.

She knew he was right. Eli would never hurt her, at least not intentionally. But this wasn't Eli she was talking to. Not her Eli. This was Hawk. "I'm not so sure about that."

When he looked vulnerable, Odessa kicked his ankle he let go of her. She grabbed his shoulders and kicked him in the stomach. Then, she went to throw a punch but he dodged it and reached his leg up to kick her. Hawk ended up kicking her in the side and she fell to the ground.

When Eli kicked his out, Odessa grabbed his ankle and pulled him forward so that he fly over her and landed on the ground. Quickly, she straddled him and grabbed his wrists, holding them in front of his chest so he couldn't move. "Give up yet?" She breathed out tiredly.

"You're getting stronger. Been practicing with Keene?"  He sneered.

Odessa glared at him and her eyes caught something around his neck that was hiding in his shirt. Before he could say anything, she reached forward and and took out the chain, revealing Mr.  Larusso's Medal of Honor. She looked at him with a gaping mouth.  "You're such a liar."

Eli grabbed her wrist before she got his headband and he pulled her forward, making her flip over his head and land on her back. He mimicked her and straddled her waist. "It's true, isn't it?" He asked, completely changing the subject.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" She said through her teeth and struggled in his hold.

"I heard you and Hailey!" He nearly shouted while getting close to her face. "Don't act like I didn't see him come to the rescue at the mall."

She head butted him and made him cry out in pain. When he was distracted, Odessa pushed him off of her and scrambled to her feet. "What? Are you jealous?" She taunted and brushed the hair out of her face.

Hawk stood up and scowled. "Of him? Yeah right."

"You don't know him." She sneered and ran toward him with her fist raised.

He dodged it and attempted to leg sweep her but Odessa jumped in the air and missed his legs. She did a spin kick and kicked him in the face. Hawk fell again and groaned in pain. She bend down and took his headband. "I win." She declared.

Before she could stand up, Eli grabbed her wrist and pulled her down so that she fell on top of him. He quickly grabbed the headband off her head. "No, I win."

"You can't do that. I already took yours."

"And I have yours. What's your point?" He pressed on.

Odessa groaned and shoved his face to the side, getting up. "You're so fucking annoying." She spat and straightened her clothes.

"You love me, though." He said and the tone of his voice changed, making the atmosphere suddenly change.

"That's questionable."

"No, it's not," he snapped and quickly stood up from the ground. She started to walk off but he grabbed her arm and spun her around so that she was facing him again. "You love me." He repeated like he needed to say it so that she would say it, too.

Odessa stood in front of him, her stomach in knots, but she stood her ground. "I don't know what I feel anymore." Her voice raised in anger.

His face darkened to a glare. "So that's it? You meet someone knew and forget all about me?" He released a bitter laugh. "I guess what everyone says about you is true."

She froze. Her throat started to burn and she furrowed her brows. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked and her voice became shaky.

Almost like he was having a word vomit, Eli stepped closer to her. "You can't help but fall to your feet at the first guy that gives you attention. Is that why you broke up with me? Cause you have feelings for him?"

She shook her head firmly. "That's not true." she said sharply. Her eyes started to gloss over.

"Isn't it?" He taunted her again. "Just face the facts,  Dess. You can't help but throw yourself at every guy you start to have feelings for. I bet you've already fucked him,  haven't you?" He threw over her head, his words cutting into her life a knife

Her heart shattered. The anger that was taking over him sizzled out when he saw her broken state but Eli couldn't help himself. He was too far gone. Hawk had taken over. "God, crying again? You should've left with Oliver that day. You're not Cobra Kai material. You're weak." He continued to hurt her.

It was silent. The boy stood in front of her waiting for her to retaliate and instead grew confused when she slipped out a heartbroken laugh. She stepped closer to him. "you know," Odessa uttered and cupped his face, feeling him tense up. "I hate this." She pointed to his mohawk, missing his once soft brown hair. "And I hate these." She pointed to his dark clothes, missing the sweaters he once wore. She looked at him with glossy eyes. "But I love this." She pointed to his heart.

Hawk's heart was a caged lion. It clawed at his rib cage and begged to come out. He was bleeding from the inside. Breaking. Crumbling.

"And I love this." She brushed the scar on his lip. It made him who he was. She met him with that scar and would forever be in love with that scar. Tears fell down her cheeks and she looked up at him to see that his dark eyes were now deeply sad. "I love you." She let out with a heartbreaking crack in her voice.

Hawk felt his knees starting to buckle and his heart thumping faster in his chest. 

She shook her head. "But I don't like you."

That made his heart break in two.

"I don't know who you are anymore."  She whispered. She shoved the headband into his chest. "Keep your headband. This isn't worth it anymore."

Eli watched her walk away with a broken expression. When he was alone, he let the tears fall. They were oblivious to Miguel who stood by and listened to their conversation. He stepped out from behind the tree and his brown eyes stared darkly at Eli.

Hailey was the first to see the crying blonde appear out of the trees. She stepped away from Grayson. "Odessa?  What happened?" She quickly spoke. It grabbed everyone's attention.

Johnny kicked himself off a tree and walked up to her. "What happened?" He almost demanded.

Without thinking, Odessa wrapped her arms around Johnny's torso. He stepped back, feeling shocked. She cried to him like she used to cry to her father. Perhaps that's who she was thinking about: her father. But he wasn't there and Johnny was, in more ways that one.

Johnny didn't know what to do. His hands were raised and he had a crying teenage girl hugging him. But this wasn't just any teenage girl. This was his student, Thalia's daughter, and someone he had grown close with. He lowered his hands and wrapped them around her shoulders. "Tell me what happened?" He asked again like a father. Only he was a father.

Because of her crying state, she couldn't manage to get any words out other than a shaky, "Hawk."

His first emotion was shock. Odessa never called Eli Hawk, ever. She though it was a stupid nickname. His next emotion was anger. "I'm going to kill that kid." He muttered to himself.

The one person Hawk thought would never turn on him was Miguel. They were best friends. Almost brothers. But things were different now. He was different and one thing about Miguel was that he was loyal. Odessa was his closest friend. Miguel stood above Eli and glared down at him. "You don't deserve her and you never will." He spat. Hawk glared back at him but his heart was sinking into his stomach.

Miguel turned around to see Sensei Lawrence and his teammates standing behind him. His eyes found Odessa's and he held the headband up on victory.

"Finish him." Kreese ordered.

Miguel spun around and kicked Hawk in the face.  Odessa looked away. "Team black!"  He shouted.

Kreese looked at him, proudly. The other students ran forward and crowded around him to cheer him on.  Odessa stood back and watched, not feeling like celebrating. Hawk walked away in embarrassment and stood by a nearby tree. He glanced at his ex-girlfriend who had her arms wrapped around her waist and she didn't dare look at him.

All of a sudden, Stingray appeared from under a pile of leaves and grabbed Miguel from behind into a chokehold. "You know the thing about stingrays is they lie and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike!" He shouted. He ripped the headband off Miguel's head.  "The red team just won!"

All the kids from the red team started cheering in excitement and Kreese looked at Johnny with a victory smile. 

"What was that?" Johnny said to Miguel. "That's not how I taught you to fight."

"It's what Sensei Kreese taught us," he responded. "This isn't a tournament. This is real life."

The man just stared at him.

"You didn't hear the things he said to Odessa. I did.  She's one of my best friends. I'm not going to let someone disrespect her like that." Miguel finished and walked away from him. 

Odessa stood before him and her mouth quirked up. "For what it's worth, you're one of the greatest friends i've ever had."

Miguel smiled his adorable smile and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his side.