Serendipity & the Serpent

Cracking Skulls

You were in a complete daze the next day at school. Whenever the cobras were around, you couldn't help but let your mind wander to the occurrences of last night.

You were filled with an indescribable anger. This so called sensei of theirs, had been your uncle this entire time. He had been teaching his no mercy rules to them, creating monsters to do his will. They had no idea who they were following.

And it hurt you to see them all the same. To some, Kreese was the only sense of family they had. You knew that about Johnny first hand. You wanted to tell them all to run away, to never return to his dojo. But you couldn't.

You couldn't tell them the truth.

No matter how much it ate away at you, this had to remain a secret. How would they treat you if they found out? How would they react? You didn't want to find out.

"Did you hear me?"

Snapping out of your daze, you regained awareness of your surroundings. You were sitting in English class. Johnny was seated next to you, trying to get your attention.

"Sure."

He scoffed. "Liar."

"Okay so maybe I didn't hear you, my apologies." Sarcasm dripped from your voice. For a minute, you were fearful of how he would react to your attitude. You hadn't meant to snap at him the way you did, but you barely got a wink of sleep last night, letting your thoughts overwhelm you.

Luckily, Johnny took it extremely well.

"You're taking Rule #4 pretty seriously."

"Rule #4..." You pressed your lips into a thin line as you tried to remember your own rules, "our game must continue."

He fidgeted with his pencil, his eyes looking you over. "The attitude is certainly there. I've never seen that before."

"You have a lovely sense of humor."

"It's one of my best qualities."

As you turned to face forward, he fidgeted again. He leaned in, and immediately leaned back out, almost as if he were trying to ask a question. But he almost seemed afraid to cross a boundary. When he gained the confidence, he leaned over to your shoulder.

"But seriously... you didn't hear what I said."

"Not a word."

"Well hear me out this time, will ya?"

You rolled you eyes. "Spit it out, Lawrence."

He swallowed, his eyes darting off in every direction. It took him a moment before he made sure his gaze was steady on yours.

"You've seemed... distant today. Was the date too much?"

"No."

"Then what did I do?"

You looked at him and sighed. "You didn't do anything, Johnny."

"Then what's bothering you?"

You couldn't answer that question truthfully. Instead, you let out an exasperated sigh to fill the void.

"Fine," he scoffed, "be that way. I don't care."

This made you laugh. "Wow, Lawrence. You're really taking Rule #3 to heart. Stop being so dramatic."