╔.𖥸. .════════════════╗

𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬

chapter thirteen
hot n cold

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ALYSSA SAT ON Sam's bed next to Moon, watching as Sam drank a smoothie that Moon had brought. It wasn't strange to see Alyssa in Sam's bedroom — they had been hanging out a lot more recently, and it was rare that somebody would see one without the other.

Moon, however, was the one who had actually called the two and asked to hang out. Alyssa was more than happy to accept — she loved Moon, and she hadn't seen her since that night at the strip mall when everything crumbled into a million pieces.

"It's . . . it's good," Sam admitted.

"It has fresh açaí, organic kale, and free-trade hemp oil," Moon explained.

"Hemp oil? I mean, this isn't gonna get me high, is it?"

Moon laughed. "I don't think so. It's supposed to balance your kinetic energy."

"I'm — I'm really glad you called," Sam told Moon, walking closer to her bed. "I missed hanging out with you."

"Same," Alyssa said. "It's nice just us being friends without a stupid fucking mohawk getting in the way." She took the smoothie from Sam and took a sip, but winced at the taste. "Oh, God. Sorry, Moon, but no."

Moon rubbed her back. "It's not for everyone."

Sam then gestured to the two workout tank tops that she had on her bed. "So, which one do you like better? I've been wearing the white top a lot."

"Well, why does it matter?" Moon asked. "You're just gonna get all sweaty."

Alyssa placed a hand on Moon's shoulder. "Oh, my darling Moon. It's because Sam here has a crush."

Sam hadn't explicitly told Alyssa about her crush on Robby, but, come on, it was pretty obvious.

"I — I don't have a crush," Sam insisted.

"Is it Robby?" Moon questioned. Sam didn't respond and glanced at her open door before walking over to close it. "Oh my God. How long have you guys been . . . ?"

Sam sat down on her bed. "We haven't." She paused for a moment. "We almost."

Alyssa's eyes widened and her jaw fell open in shock, reaching forward to smack Sam's shoulder. "Dude, you didn't tell me that."

Moon gave her a knowing look. "Does Miguel know?"

Miguel. Alyssa felt her heart sink a little at the mention of her name. She hadn't talked to him in a while, at least not since she joined Miyagi-Do. And, truth be told, she really missed him. They always had a close relationship ever since he came to the school. And she knew Miguel still cared about Sam a lot.

"There's nothing to know," Sam stated.

Alyssa sighed. "Samantha."

"It's crazy. After last year, I got back into karate to get away from all the drama."

"Well, my mom's therapist always says, you can't hide from your heart," Moon said.

Alyssa looked away from Moon, settling her eyes on one of the decorations on Sam's walls. The words seemed to echo throughout her mind. Her heart had been extremely guarded for a while, maybe even since that one failed movie night. She knew what she was hiding it from, but she couldn't let that go. Alyssa was healing, slowly but surely.

Moon picked up the blue tank top from the bed. "I think you should wear the blue one. It goes with your eyes."

Sam nodded. "All right. Now, shoes."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

IT WAS POSSIBLY the hottest day of the summer, which was rough, considering their dojo was outside. All of the members gathered underneath one of the trees, trying to stay in the shade from the hot sun. Alyssa's hair had been messily tied into a bun on the top of her head, not really having the strength to do anything else. She leaned her head against the tree, wondering what she deserved to endure this heat.

"Oh, God," Demetri complained, his head falling against Alyssa's shoulder. "It's so hot out. I'm sweating in places I didn't even know I had pores."

He then moved his forehead against her shoulder, wiping all of her sweat on her skin.

Alyssa scrunched her nose up. "You're disgusting." She wiped her shoulder against his shirt, getting all of his sweat off of her. "Get your sweat off of me."

"Why couldn't we have trained by my pool today?" Sam questioned to no one in particular. "Or maybe in it?"

Alyssa nodded in agreement. "I'm seriously debating sticking my head in that pond over there and not coming back up."

"All right, guys," Sensei LaRusso announced, walking up to them. "Get out from under that tree. It's time to get to work."

All of them begrudgingly got up. Alyssa sighed and pushed herself up off the ground, all of her movements feeling sluggish.

"Hey, Mr. LaRusso, it's, like, a hundred degrees out," Robby said. "Can't we take it easy today?"

"Are you kidding?" Sensei LaRusso replied. "This heat wave is a gift. Today, you are going to experience Shochu-Geiko."

"Like the car insurance?" Chris inquired, and Alyssa didn't even find the strength in her to laugh.

"Shochu-Geiko is a Japanese exercise where you train during the hottest days of the year. It's about pushing yourself to your limit. The fight isn't always gonna come when it's seventy-five degrees and breezy."

"Aren't we supposed to avoid fighting?" Sam reminded him.

"Sometimes you can't," Sensei LaRusso responded, making Alyssa tilt her head in thought. "Someday, the fight may come to you. And I wanna make sure you're ready. So, today, we're gonna see what Miyagi-Do is made of."

Sensei LaRusso took them out front, where he told them they would be doing the wheel technique. One person would stand in the center of the circle while everyone else was given a number. When their number was called out, they would fight the person in the center.

Alyssa was number six. She stood, watching Robby carefully in the center of the circle. Sweat dripped down basically all over her and she could feel her mind getting foggy from all the heat. They had been training for what felt like an eternity, and it was awful.

"Two!" Sensei LaRusso called.

Jason, another newbie, advanced on Robby. Robby quickly turned around and blocked his punch, punching him in the stomach. He then grabbed Jason's arm and used his other hand to push Jason all the way down onto the dirt. He helped Jason stand up before getting back in his fighting position.

"Five!"

Sam moved forwards. She blocked Robby's kick and spun herself around, kicking him straight in the chest. Robby moved his hair out of his face and grinned slightly at Sam. Alyssa couldn't believe she couldn't tell that something almost happened between them. The tension was practically written all over their faces.

"Got you," Sam said.

"All right, Demetri's turn," Sensei LaRusso voiced. "Come on. Demetri, get in there."

Demetri walked into the circle, not looking too happy about the arrangement. Robby patted his shoulder and took Demetri's old spot right next to Alyssa.

"Set," Sensei LaRusso instructed, and Demetri got into his fighting stance. "Three!"

Chris ran straight at Demetri. Demetri did nothing, and Chris punched him right in the stomach. He groaned in pain and doubled over.

"Sorry, Meat," Chris told him. Meat was Demetri's new nickname to almost everyone in Miyagi-Do — well, besides Alyssa. She would not be calling him that. "You gotta block that."

"Six!" Sensei LaRusso voiced.

Alyssa straightened up at the call of her number. She could see Demetri start to turn to her, but she maneuvered herself into a side-kick, her foot meeting his back. Demetri did nothing to block it and just let it happen. The impact of his kick sent him down to the ground with a grunt.

She sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Sorry, Dem."

"Ah, I hate this!" Demetri exclaimed.

"All right, come on, get up," Sensei LaRusso ordered, and Demetri pushed himself up.

"Can we please take a break?" Sam asked. "This heat is brutal."

Sensei LaRusso thought about it for a moment. "You guys wanna cool off? All right. I think I can accommodate that."

When Sensei LaRusso said cool off, Alyssa didn't thought he meant literally.

He had taken them to a large walk-in freezer that was obviously very cold. Alyssa had her arms crossed across her chest, goosebumps rising onto her skin. She had dressed for heat today, not for cold. The fabric of her t-shirt and shorts were only doing so much.

"So, you couldn't take the heat of Shochu-Geiko, perhaps you'll find Kangeiko more to your liking," Sensei LaRusso began.

"Are there no geikos that takes place in a spa?" Sam complained.

"It's not about the heat or the cold. It's about adapting to the environment around you and using that to your advantage. Look around, what do you see?"

"Frozen London Broil," Chris answered, looking at all the boxes of frozen meat around them.

"No, not the meat," Sensei LaRusso replied. "Look past that. I see the exhalation of breath." He pointed at how Alyssa's breath fogged up in the air. "The twitch of a muscle." He pointed to Robby's arm. "The shift of a stance." He pointed to Demetri's feet. "If you lean into the cold, it will heighten your senses. And then you'll anticipate the moment before your opponent strikes, and you'll always be ready." His phone rang, and he pulled it out, but he didn't answer it. "All right, circle up."

They all got into their circle formation again. Sam was up first, standing at the very center. She slowly looked around the circle, her fists raised, ready to anticipate an attack.

"Seven!" Sensei LaRusso called.

Chris went to punch at Sam, but she blocked it and grabbed his arm, chopping his elbow and kicking him right in the stomach. He stumbled back from the force of her attack. Alyssa nodded in impressment.

"That's what I'm talking about." He paused for a second. "Five."

Robby kicked at Sam, who swiftly blocked it. He spun himself around and blocked Sam's punch. Robby advanced on her, blocking all of the punches that Sam threw his way. They continued to move back and forth, blocking each other's jabs. Sam finally ended it by ducking underneath Robby's punch and kicking him in the stomach. Robby lifted up his leg and kicked, which Sam ducked. She blocked another punch and grabbed his arm, holding it tightly against her. Robby went to punch with his other hand, but she grabbed that, too.

They stood there for a moment, the two of them just holding onto each other. Alyssa slightly smirked to herself. Oh, they were not subtle at all.

"All right, let's get Demetri in there," Sensei LaRusso instructed. "Good job."

Sam took Demetri's old spot, which was right next to Alyssa. She didn't look at Sam, but she did reach over, elbowing her lightly in the side. Sam rolled her eyes and elbowed her back, glaring playfully at the smirk on Alyssa's face.

"All right, here goes nothing," Demetri said. "Literally."

"Set," Sensei LaRusso stated, and Demetri got back into his fighting position. "Six!"

Alyssa advanced forwards, spinning herself around and lifting her leg up in a kick. Her foot hit Demetri's stomach since he didn't block it. He grunted in pain and doubled over, holding onto his stomach.

She winced. "Sorry. Again."

"Come on, Demetri," Sensei LaRusso urged. "Look for the signs. Anticipate. You can do this, all right? Focus. Come on, Demetri."

"Oh, you come on!" Demetri protested. "Just give me a second." He then shook his head, and Alyssa frowned. "I can't do it Mr. LaRusso. Between the cold and the shouting and the hole in my sock . . . I'm not sure when that happened, but it's real uncomfortable."

"Demetri, you are the most neurotic person that I know."

Alyssa nodded in agreement. True.

"You always expect the worse," Sensei LaRusso continued. "But you could use that to your advantage. It means you anticipate. Think of it like a spidey-sense."

"Actually, in the comics, they call it Spider-Sense," Demetri corrected, and Alyssa rolled her eyes fondly, shaking her head."

"Look, Demetri, this isn't about who's fastest and who's strongest. This is about instincts. It's about using what's in here." He pointed to Demetri's head. "You think you could do that?" Demetri nodded, and Sensei LaRusso backed away. "All right. Let's try it again. Remember, anticipate."

Demetri started to look around the circle, his fists raised. Their eyes caught for a moment, and Alyssa gave him a subtle nod of encouragement. He could do this.

"Two!"

Chris went to Demetri, who turned his head. He grabbed Demetri's right arm, but Demetri ripped it out of his grasp and blocked Chris' punch with his left. Demetri blocked another of Chris' punches by pushing his arm away and then punched Chris right in the stomach. Alyssa gasped proudly, her face brightening with a smile.

"Whoo!" Demetri exclaimed, obviously excited by his triumph. "I did it!"

"Five!" Sensei LaRusso shouted.

Demetri, however, was still reeling from his victory. Jason lifted up his leg and kicked Demetri right in the stomach. Once again, he grunted in pain and doubled over.

"Okay, that's okay. Baby steps. Baby steps, right?"

"Mmm-hmm," Demetri hummed in agreement.

Alyssa walked up to Demetri and put a hand on his back, rubbing it softly. "That was incredible, Dem."

They all gathered around Demetri, congratulating him. Demetri stood back up straight, and Alyssa grinned up at him, keeping her hand on his back.

"That's all for today, guys," Sensei LaRusso told them on his way out of the freezer. "Great job!"

"I think my body's confused," Alyssa admitted, walking in between Sam and Demetri as they left the freezer. "Like, I don't know if I should be taking a hot shower or a cold shower now."

"How about neither, and you just come over for a swim?" Sam suggested. "You can borrow one of my bathing suits."

She smiled at her, throwing an arm around Sam's shoulders. "I'm in."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

ALYSSA DIDN'T REALLY expect to see Miguel Diaz sitting on the porch of her house when she pulled into her driveway.

Her and Sam had swam for a little while, and she had eaten dinner with her and Robby before heading home when the sun dipped below the horizon. She parked her car before her eyes settled on his figure underneath her porch light. Alyssa's eyebrows knit in confusion and she grabbed her bag, getting out of her car and locking it behind her.

"Miguel," Alyssa began, walking up to her porch. "Hi."

He looked up, giving her a small smile. "Hey, Als." His eyes then focused in on her hair, which was still wet and tied up into a bun again. "Why is your hair wet?"

"Oh, I went swimming after karate practice today because it was so hot." She then paused for a moment. "But then I also went in a freezer. Something about geickos, I don't really know."

Miguel blinked. "Like the car insurance?"

"Unless you count going from a hundred degrees to about thirty degrees as car insurance, sure," Alyssa replied. She then dropped her backpack on the ground and sat next to him on the steps. "What about you? No offense, but you look a little . . . beat up."

Miguel scoffed. "Tell me about it. I was outside all day at some place called Coyote Creek that Sensei Kreese took us to. There were headbands involved. We all had to fight each other unless we were on the same team."

"Sounds thrilling," Alyssa commented. "Um, not that I don't want you here, but . . . why are you sitting on my front porch? I thought Miyagi-Do's and Cobra Kai's weren't allowed to talk to one another."

He shrugged. "I'll admit, I felt weird about you joining Miyagi-Do at first, but I got over it." He looked over at her. "Sorry I didn't reach out to you earlier. Today made me realize some things."

"It's not just your fault. I could've reached out, but I just didn't know how you were going to react."

"Well, at least we're talking now," Miguel stated. "I've really missed you, Als. I mean, you were the one who actually let me stay at that table at lunch at the beginning of the year. I'm not going to throw a friend like you away because of a dojo."

Alyssa took a deep breath, letting out a small laugh that had absolutely no humor to it. "Yeah, well, you would be one of the first."

Miguel frowned. "I'm really sorry. About Hawk."

She shook her head. "It's okay, you don't have to apologize. It's not your fault."

"Maybe, but the things that he does represents our entire dojo." He hesitated for a moment. "He was the one—"

"Who trashed Miyagi-Do?" Alyssa finished, raising an eyebrow at how Miguel looked over at him in shock. "Yeah, I know."

"H-How did—"

"I assume you heard about how Eli and Cobra Kai chased Demetri and I down at the mall." Alyssa went on when Miguel nodded. "Well, after Sam and Robby won that fight, that same night, Eli and I had a huge fight outside of Cobra Kai, the one that made us fall out. And the morning after, lo and behold, my dojo was trashed. It wasn't hard to figure out. I just put two and two together."

"He shouldn't have done it," Miguel said. "That's completely not okay. So, again, I'm sorry."

Alyssa absentmindedly twisted the bracelet around her wrist. "You know, when the dojo got trashed, I just felt . . . so guilty. Like I was to blame for this happening. I thought that maybe if Eli and I hadn't gotten in that argument, he wouldn't have done it. I still think that, but not as much as I did before." She nudged his side. "Sensei LaRusso told me that I shouldn't blame myself for other people's actions. And you shouldn't either."

"Good advice."

"I know, right?"

"Hey, remember what I said earlier about headbands?" Miguel questioned, and Alyssa nodded. "I beat Hawk for his headband . . . and for the Medal of Honor."

Alyssa straightened up, looking at Miguel with wide eyes. "You got the Medal of Honor back?"

Miguel slightly laughed at how excited she seemed. "Yeah. He was wearing around his neck like some kind of trophy and deserved to wear it. But I just returned it to Robby."

She smiled at him. "Miguel, oh my God, you have no idea how much that means. Sensei LaRusso was really heartbroken about that." Alyssa reached over and placed her left hand on his knee. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Miguel then looked down at her wrist, and his eyes caught on the bracelet she was wearing. He tapped his finger against the moon charm on it. "What's this? I haven't seen you wear it before."

"Oh." She lifted up her wrist a little bit so they could both look at it closer. "It's a friendship bracelet. Sam has the matching one, it just has a white cord and a sun. She got it for me for my birthday."

Miguel's head snapped over to her, and Alyssa blinked in shock at how hurt and regret flashed across his face. "I missed your birthday?"

"It was only a few days ago," Alyssa reassured him. "It's okay—"

"No. Alyssa, I missed your birthday."

"Miguel, don't sweat it, seriously," Alyssa insisted. "We weren't talking, and you had no way of knowing. It's fine."

"No, it's not," Miguel protested, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

Alyssa gave him a look. "You say sorry too much, honey. Chill out."

"I'll make it up to you."

She gave him a small grin, patting his knee. "You're already making it up to me right now."

Miguel smiled back at her. He then reached over, putting an arm around her shoulders. Alyssa leaned her head against his shoulder, sighing in content as Miguel ran a hand up and down her arm.

And when Demetri just so happened to find the Medal of Honor the next day and Robby said it must've been there the whole time, Alyssa did nothing but send him a suspicious glance.

•─•°•❀•°•─•

ally and miguel are such siblings I can't