Chapter 7 Way Too Easy
Kaia didn’t budge. In a flash, she snagged his wrist, twisted it like a pro, and slid her grip to his elbow.
With a quick step, she threw both fists out—smooth as butter but hard enough to send Dustin stumbling back.
Dustin staggered, eyes popping, totally thrown. The park went dead quiet, like the world hit pause.
“Holy shit! That double-push was lit!” Collin shouted, practically losing it.
Martin’s jaw dropped low enough to trip over. The other people stood frozen, jaws on the floor.
They’d all toyed with that double-push move in practice—pure show, no substance. But Kaia? She was bringing it for real.
“No way! She’s just lucky!” Samantha scoffed. A girl her age schooling Dustin? No shot. Her grandpa had picked him from a stack of badasses—the cream of the crop.
“Dustin, quit screwing around! Go get her!” she snapped.
“Got it!” Dustin shook it off, squared up, and threw a mean right hook at Kaia’s chest.
Kaia stayed cool as hell. She flicked her right arm up, swatting his punch like a fly.
In one slick move, her left fist shot out from under her elbow, slamming Dustin’s ribs.
“Ugh!” Dustin yelped, doubling over.
The crowd gasped again.
“Damn! That elbow-under strike was straight-up nasty! Respect!” one hollered, shaking his head.
Dustin, now twice burned and red-faced, roared and charged Kaia, throwing everything he had—full power, no holding back.
Didn’t matter. Kaia danced around him like he was moving in slow motion.
Finally, Kaia sidestepped, swept her leg out, and dropped Dustin to the dirt with a clean back-sweep.
He hit the ground like a brick, groaning, body aching like he’d been through a meat grinder. No chance he was getting up.
The park was silent as a ghost town.
Collin stepped up, bowing deep like Kaia was a legend. “Your name, miss?”
“Just Kaia,” she said with a shrug. “And boxing’s just my morning workout, you know?”
‘Morning workout? And she is this good?’ Collin was shook.
He shot a glare at Samantha. “Samantha, you were a jerk to Kaia. Apologize. Now.”
Samantha stood there, frozen.
Collin’s eyes narrowed. ‘Spoiled her way too much,’ he thought. ‘Doesn’t even know she dissed a big deal.’
But before he could lay into her, Samantha moved.
Dropping her head low, she said, “Please, take me as your apprentice!”
Collin blinked. ‘What the—?’
Kaia raised an eyebrow, thrown for a sec. Samantha’s snarky attitude was gone, replaced by pure fangirl vibes.
“Miss, teach me to fight like that!” Samantha begged, eyes practically sparkling.
Kaia’s fight had hit her like a sledgehammer. She’d grown up obsessed with martial arts movies, dreaming of being a badass heroine.
But in today’s world, no one had time to master that stuff—especially a girl? Kaia wiping the floor with Dustin was a game-changer.
Kaia checked her watch. Eight o’clock. ‘Crap, I’m late for school.’
“Wanna learn? Find a coach. I gotta jet,” Kaia said, already walking off.
Samantha stared after her, starstruck, then spun to Dustin, still sprawled in the dirt. “Dig up everything on her. But don’t you dare creep her out.
“And if you see her again, treat her like royalty—no, like a hundred royals!”
Kaia was totally clueless that Samantha was snooping into her life. By the time she sauntered into school, the clock was already pushing 8:15.
The math teacher, Mark Harris, caught sight of Kaia hovering in the doorway and turned beet red, practically steaming. “Late again for my first period, Kaia? What’s your deal? My class too boring for you or what?”
Some kid in the back threw up a hand. “Chill, Mr. Harris. It’s not just you. She’s late for everybody’s first period—sometimes second period too. Heck, she’ll ditch school for days straight.”
Mark choked on his comeback, clearly not loving the extra commentary.
“Kaia, seriously, you’re not a kid anymore,” he started. “Always late, always screwing around. Keep this up, and you’re not graduating high school, let alone getting into college. If I had a student like you—”
“Hi, Mr. Harris., can I sit already? I’ve been standing here for, like, forever,” Kaia cut in, eyeing her desk with a bored shrug.
Mark’s face went from red to nuclear, but he couldn’t exactly start throwing hands—school rules and all. Still, he wasn’t about to let her off easy.
“Hold it, Kaia. Don’t get too cozy. March up to the board and solve this system of linear equations,” he ordered.
The problem wasn’t rocket science, but it wasn’t a freebie either. To Mark, a slacker like Kaia didn’t have a prayer.
“Whatever,” Kaia said, snagging the chalk. Without even blinking, she jotted down the answer. “Done.
Mark’s eyes nearly bugged out. The answer was right.
‘No freaking way. Has to be dumb luck,’ he thought.
“Alright, smarty-pants. Solve the rest of ’em.” He wasn’t buying it—a dropout wannabe like Kaia actually cracking linear equations? Yeah, right.
Kaia gave the board a quick once-over, her face scrunching up.
Mark grinned, smelling blood in the water. ‘Got her.’
“What’s the matter? Can’t hack it?” he said, with a provoking smile. “Maybe if you showed up on time and actually listened, you wouldn’t be stuck!”
“Nah, it’s not that,” Kaia said, grabbing the chalk again.
Like it was no big deal, she zipped through all five problems, no pauses, no errors. Every single one nailed.
Mark was livid, his voice practically shaking. “If you’re such a genius, why the face? Why’d you just stand there like that?”
Kaia gave a lazy shrug. “They’re too easy, man. Solving this kiddie stuff is a total waste of time.”
Mark’s blood pressure was probably in the stratosphere by now. “Oh, you think my problems are easy? Fine, hotshot, let’s see you crack this one. Blow it, and you’re standing in the back till the final bell!”
He scribbled a monster of an Olympiad-level problem on the board, the kind that makes math nerds sweat.
A kid in the class gasped. “Dude, that’s an Olympiad question! I saw it at math camp—nobody could touch it.”
“No way, Mr. Harrris. is totally setting her up to crash and burn!”
“You heard what she said earlier. I’d be pissed too if I were him.”
“Kaia’s so cocky, she’s about to get wrecked!”
The room buzzed with chatter, but before they could even finish—
Mark’s jaw hit the floor. He gaped at the board, eyes wide, mouth hanging open like he’d seen a ghost.
