Cochlear | A Cobra Kai Fanfiction

48

Friday meant ice cream would be for sale at lunch in the middle school for all grades to purchase. Jesse had happily purchased a banana twin pop for her and her twin to share as usual, but Kyler had already bought a cherry one to share with Yasmine. Her nose scrunched up at the thought of it being cherry and sharing it with her best friend.

Lame.

So she had decided to sneak out of the cafeteria and hang out in the back of the building that was usually off limits unless you could slip under the radar.

She thought she'd be alone as the door shut behind her, but there sat against the wall in an ugly sweater was a familiar form with shaky shoulders.

"What the hell are you crying about?" Jessica asked rudely, frowning down at the boy with a packaged popsicle in hand. Eli's eyes widened and he quickly tried to wipe his eyes on the sleeve of his sweater. The girl snorted and kicked the sitting boy lightly with her foot. "Too late to hide now, dork. Not like I haven't seen it before."

Eli sniffled under his sleeve, leaning against the wall and drawing up his legs so that his face pressed into knees. It was pathetic and Jessica couldn't help but to examine him.

"Oí, loser." Jesse once again hit her foot against Eli's, ignoring the flinch. "God, did Kyler get to you before me or something?"

"N-n-no."

"Then why are you all..." Jesse waved her hand dramatically with an eye roll towards the cowering boy. "Bleh."

"M-my p-parents..." Jesse was surprised the boy even spoke to her and perhaps he was too or it was just the mental drain of the trauma insinuated with just those two words, but Jesse couldn't keep her head from tilting to the side and listening. "...t-they, uh... my d-dad he..."

Jesse couldn't stand the crying in front of her and she had to swallow the words forcefully to keep from spewing out the angry ball that had once been shoved onto her. Instead she sighed dramatically and Eli flinched at the noise, gripping his legs tighter as a violent rustling noise above him before a small silence and he hoped she was gone.

"Hey, look at me, loser." Jesse snapped out, bonking her hand on Eli's a little harsher than she had wanted. The boy cringed into himself but carefully looked up in fear, pausing as Jesse held out half of her popsicle with a scowl. It was slightly melted, a few drips on her hands while she huffed out. "Take it before I shove the thing down your throat."

Quickly Eli grabbed the popsicle, ignoring the hand that grazed his own from the pass and stared wide eyed at the sugary treat in his hands. His bully let out another sigh before slumping down onto the ground a foot away, licking her popsicle as if the boy next to her were just a normal person and not the classmate she had tripped just days before.

"Kyler prefers cherry, but I hate cherry." Jesse thought about it for a second, a few more licks of her popsicle. "He's kind of an idiot, can't manage to get above a B- in any class he's in so I don't really care what flavor he likes."

"O-oh."

"One time in kindergarten he was making a sandbox with some friends and they wanted to make a sandcastle, so he peed on some sand so that it'd stick." Jesse didn't even look over at the snort, pretending like nothing was over there. Her popsicle was half way done. "And did you know Kyler pissed himself during his first wrestling competition?"

"W-what—?!"

"Kyler's an idiot." Jesse interrupted the question, staring out at the tree line in front of them with only a bite left of her treat. "Which is why I don't let him pick the food that I eat or much of anything."