SELINE COULD RELUCTANTLY ADMIT SHE DIDN'T MIND MIGUEL'S COMPANY.

He was mostly annoying, which was nothing new; But occasionally, he'd say something stupid enough to make her crack a smile. The banter between them was never boring, which Seline appreciated. Cobra Kai had been taking up all her time at the moment, so hanging out with people that fit her social status wasn't really an option.

Maybe that's why Seline agreed when her mom asked her to pick Miguel up for practice.

Or maybe it was for some other secret reason she wasn't ready to think about yet.

Just when she was about to text Miguel to come out, the apartment door flung open.

"Seline!" Carmen greeted her in excitement. "How have you been?"

Seline shifted awkwardly on her feet. "Good morning, Ms. Diaz."

"Oh, please call me Carmen!" Carmen ushered Seline inside against her will.

Seline took a moment to observe the apartment. It was small but cozily decorated. Reseda was a questionable area; all she could hope was that she'd locked her car.

"Is Miguel ready yet? We should really get going." Seline said.

"Almost, I think," Carmen said absentmindedly. "Come with me."

Seline followed Carmen to the kitchen and was shocked when she held out a Tupperware filled with large empanadas.

"Oh, no, thank you," Seline said, but Carmen put the container in her hands anyhow.

"I know how much your mother loves them. take this to her, please." Carmen insisted.

"Ah, okay." Seline tucked it under her arm.

"You should eat some too, you're so skinny!" Carmen added.

"Mami, please leave her alone." Miguel made an appearance from his room.

"Took you long enough," Seline said. "Did you get lost in your closet?"

"Yeah, it's good to see you too, Seline." Miguel chuckled.

"You two be careful, okay?" Carmen called after them as they left.

Once they were seated in Seline's car, she put the empanadas in the back seat. They smelled crazy good, maybe she'd have one once she got home.

"Kreese said to wear clothes you don't care about," Miguel said as Seline pulled into the road.

"I know that." Seline glanced at him quickly before refocusing.

Miguel eyed Seline's outfit that was way too put together to be considered casual. She wore black flared leggings and a light blue athletic jacket he was sure cost more than any allowance he'd ever had.

"I just hope we're not crawling in cement again, that would suck," Miguel said.

"I'll skip if that's the case," Seline muttered, pulling into the parking lot.

"Hey," Miguel said before Seline could get out of the car. "We should probably talk about it."

Seline's fingers reluctantly left the door handle, but her face didn't betray any real emotion.

"It as in what?" Seline's voice was flippant, like it always was.

"As in yesterday, Seline," Miguel said in frustration. He knew she was never going to acknowledge what had happened between them, but he was still going to try.

"Like when I knocked you on your ass? You'll get over it." Seline waved him off.

"Maybe like when we nearly kissed each other." Miguel deadpanned.

Seline stared straight ahead, annoyingly calm. Miguel found himself a little bashful.

Here he was, begging Seline Grey to admit the fact that something was growing here.

Seline held no such sentiment, she gave Miguel zero response. Instead, she slipped out of the car and into the dojo.

Miguel sat there for a moment, somehow both stunned and unsurprised. It's like he completely misread the situation. Seline seemed pretty into it at the time–Maybe she was playing with him like she played with everyone else.

Breathing out roughly, Miguel exited the car, deciding to forget about the whole thing; it was probably for the best anyways.

He was still determined to get Sam back; that should be his focus, not her nemesis who was actively trying to ruin her life.

But at the very back of his mind, the moment of Seline's body over his replayed again and again.

                                 ——

COBRA KAI HAD BEEN SPLIT INTO TWO TEAMS AT COYOTE CREEK.

Miguel and Tory were on team black, while Seline, Hawk, and Aisha were red.

"Your goal is to capture as many headbands from the opposing side," Kreese explained. "The people across from you today are not your friends."

Tory looked at Seline with a fiercely determined stare, and Seline simply winked in response.

"How do we get the headbands?" Miguel asked.

"Any means necessary," Kreese smirked.

Seline, who had appeared to be mostly zoned out, raised her hand suddenly.

"So, like we can do anything, whatever we want?"

"Use your judgment, this is just a training exercise." Johnny clarified.

Unfortunately for everyone, Seline's judgment was questionable at best.

When the groups split, Seline tugged on Hawk's arm.

"I have a plan," Seline whispered into his ear, explaining.

When she pulled away, Hawk nodded with a wicked smile on his face before running off in the opposite direction.

Seline had already decided she was going to win and was uninterested in leaving anything to chance.

"Hey, Stingray." Seline jogged to the overgrown man's side. "How badly do you want to win this?"

"More than anything!" Stingray replied immediately.

"Then I need you to head that way." Seline pointed further into the woods. "Find a bunch of leaves and hide super well."

"Wait, how is hiding winning?" Stingray asked dumbly. Seline barely kept her eyes from rolling.

"Miguel is probably going to be the last person, and I'm not interested in giving him a fair chance." I'll lead him towards you and then you and I are going to jump his ass, okay?" Seline patted his shoulder.

"Ohhh," Stingray said. "On it, captain!" He gave her a goofy salute and left.

Seline began pacing herself into the woods as well, moving a bit more cautiously than her other teammates. She did her best to avoid stepping on anything that would make a lot of noise.

"Found you." One of the students said to her–Seline didn't know his name.

"Lucky you." Seline took her position.

The fight wasn't especially long. Seline mostly blocked all attacks, then used her favorite kicks to finish the job. At the end, he lay out on the ground totally slumped.

Seline huffed, looking around for a second. She could hear the far-off voices of Tory and Miguel. She wasn't so stupid to think she could take them on by herself. Tory was way too aggressive, and Miguel was...

Hoisting herself upwards, Seline scaled a nearby tree with ease. She climbed up far enough until she was satisfied that she was out of sight.

Then she waited, her large eyes sharpened as they stared below, breath minimized in concentracion.

When Tory finally walked by, Seline's eyes lit up. She pounced on Tory like a cat, knocking her over completely.

"Ow, you freak!" Tory exclaimed, attempting to wiggle herself free, but Seline locked her legs tightly with her own.

"Hi." Seline breathed out, snatching the headband off Tory in one motion. "Should've been paying more attention."

Tory stood up, brushing herself off, and Seline tucked the headband in the waist of her leggings.

"You didn't even fight me, coward." Tory scoffed, but Seline just shrugged.

"Working smarter, not harder," Seline said. "Go stand with the losers, honey."

Tory grumbled, but she went to go stand with everyone else who had watched the exchange. Seline's eyes scanned over everyone. Hawk and Aisha were out, as well as basically all of her team.

Mostly everyone, anyway.

"Last one standing. Good job, Grey." Johnny said.

Kreese was silent, but the smirk on his face told Seline he knew exactly what she was up to.

"Not for long." Miguel's voice came from behind her. Seline sighed, turning around to face him.

He was annoyed at her, Seline could tell–That wasn't her problem he took everything so seriously, though.

"You want my headband?" Seline backed up slightly, a teasing grin on her face. "Come and get it."

"I'm not chasing you, Seline," Miguel said; however, he took a step closer. With that tone of voice, she was forced to wonder if they were still talking about the challenge.

"Oh, but you will," Seline said, beginning to walk backwards. "How else are you gonna win the game?"

She was messing with him, Miguel had to have known that. That almost kiss probably meant nothing to her—Seline was way out of his league.

But the pressure from everyone else watching became almost unbearable for Miguel, so he lunged at Seline, who sprinted away almost immediately.

The others followed along, watching the match eagerly. Seline and Miguel had crossed deeper into the woods.

"She's having way too much fun," Tory muttered to Aisha.

"Seline loves to play with her food," Aisha responded. "Everyone knows that."

Miguel was being slightly more harsh than usual when fighting Seline—He didn't pull any of his punches, but Seline seemed to be handling it well, her blocks were solid.

One particularly harsh knee to the stomach made Seline tumble, and once she was on the ground, Miguel took her headband.

Despite her loss, Seline stared at him as if she was having the time of her life, a small condescending smile still present on her face.

"I win," Miguel said, staring down at her, his voice layered with too many emotions to name.

"Did you hear that?" Seline raised her voice slightly. "Miguel thinks he won."

Suddenly, Stingray emerged from the pile of leaves, putting Miguel in a tight chokehold.

"Y'know, the thing about stingrays is that they lie in wait for the right moment to strike!" Stingray said, snatching the band from Miguel's forehead.

"Finally!" Seline exclaimed in victory. "That shit took forever."

The red team surrounded them in jubilee, and Seline basked in all the attention.

"Didn't think it would work that well," Hawk admitted.

"Things have a way of working out for me," Seline said.

Miguel just watched on in irritation. Seline had just run circles around him without much effort.

                                 ——-

MIGUEL AND ROBBY JUST STARED AT EACH OTHER BLANKLY.

"What are you doing here?" Robby crossed his arms in annoyance. Miguel tried to steady himself and not pick apart the reasoning as to why Robby was so territorial over the LaRusso house.

"I came to give this back." Miguel held up the metal, and Robby scoffed.

"Did you have to knock Seline out for it?"

"She had nothing to do with that," Miguel said. "And neither did I. We're not all assholes."

Robby took the metal from him, eyeing it down for any damage.

"Just." Miguel's voice fell a little softer. "Tell Sam I said sorry."

Robby didn't respond, just closing the door on him with a harsh thud. Miguel nodded in resignation–He already knew Robby wasn't going to say anything.

Seline wasn't too far off with her words after all, Robby's feelings for Sam were written all over his face.

"Who was that?" Sam questioned after Robby locked the door. He quickly shoved the metal into his pocket before she could see it.

"Uh, nobody," Robby responded quickly. "Just someone who had the wrong house."

                                       ——-

A/N: Does Seline like Miguel or does she hate Sam more? I left her thoughts a bit vague on purpose so we can all wonder!!

If any of you like Seline I'm begging you to hold onto that and try not to hate her cuz these last few chapters...🤪