THE WAY WE BREAK || cobra kai

Johnny stepped into the living room, the hiss of a freshly cracked beer still lingering in the air as he made his way inside, ready to unwind after a long day. But instead of peace and quiet—or the ability to scroll through facebook again—he found Tessa curled up at his computer, eyes glued to the screen.

He stopped, one brow arching in disbelief.
"Kid, you've been on my computer for like two hours. What's so important that you can't take a break?"

Tessa didn't even glance back at him. Her face was bathed in the soft glow of the screen, features focused and still. The image on the monitor showed a mother eagle nestled in her nest, gently adjusting a pair of ivory-colored eggs with her beak. "Shh! They could hatch any minute now." Tessa scolded.

Johnny folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, well, I haven't had my computer to myself all day. C'mon, you've been at it for hours!"

"I'm almost done," she said, still not looking up. "Just five more minutes."

"Five more minutes?" he muttered, taking a sip of his beer. "You said that two hours ago."

Tessa finally looked up, her eyes softening as she gave him a small, pleading pout. "Please?" she asked quietly.

Johnny sighed, rolling his eyes but giving in. "Fine," he muttered, slumping down in the chair next to her. "But I'm sitting here. With a beer."

At first, Johnny tried to ignore the screen, but the quiet calls of the eagle drew his attention. He glanced at the screen again, the eagle moving delicately around her nest, and a reluctant curiosity sparked inside him.

"So, uh..." Johnny began, taking another swig of his beer. "How long are we doing this? Just watching the bird sit there?"

"I'm not sure." Tessa shrugged, eyes still locked on the screen. "Did you know that they take turns sitting on the eggs? But the mom stays with the eggs most of the time."

Johnny leaned back in the chair, his interest growing a little despite himself. "And how do you know all of this?"

Tessa turned to him with a small smile. "We're learning about it in school."

He took another sip of his beer, then leaned forward a little, still watching the eagle. "So, what happens when they hatch?"

Tessa's eyes lit up. "They'll break out of the eggs and the mom feeds them. It's really cool, but it can take a while."

Johnny nodded slowly, leaning back in his seat. "Guess I'm in for the long haul then."

Tessa eventually drifted off to sleep at the table, her head resting against her arms. Johnny watched her for a moment, his heart aching at the sight. Gently, he decided it would be best to move her to the couch for the night. As he adjusted her carefully, he pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head, lingering for a moment before he stepped back, watching her sleep peacefully.

The next day at school, Tessa kept her head down in class, focusing on her work, trying to ignore the way people turned away when she walked by. The whispers had quieted for the most part, but the cold distance between her and the rest of the students still lingered.

Tessa hated lunch the most.

It wasn't the food—even though it was terrible—or the noise, or even the fluorescent lights that made everything look ten times worse than it actually was. It was the sitting alone part. Every day, same table, same cold spot near the far corner of the cafeteria, tucked away like some forgotten object no one wanted to deal with.

She peeled at the corner of her milk carton, folding it in on itself again and again, just to keep her hands busy. Just to pretend she was doing something, anything, other than sitting there in the silence.