Tory found Alexa at practice the next day, nodding at her. "Hey, can we talk?"

Alexa kicked her shoes off, bowing at the mat, before walking on it. "What's up?"

"About yesterday, I shouldn't have said all that to you." Tory shook her head slightly as Alexa scanned her face over. "We good?"

"My fault." Alexa shook her head. "We argued for one day. Cobra Kai for life."

Tory grinning, throwing an arm around her as Kreese spoke up. "Class, fall in."

Alexa looked around at the amount of new people they had, the class doubled in size. She found Kreeses eye when he started to talk. "Today we have a very important lesson, don't we, Sensei Silver?"

"Yes, we do." the taller man spoke confidently. "Weakness."

And Alexa felt warm when both the senseis looked at her.

"Your opponent's weakness must be exploited whenever possible." Kreese went on.

"At the tournament, you'll have to recognize that weakness. And make no mistake, we all have one." and when Silver said it, he really did look at Alexa. Robby snuck his hand out to touch her back, reassuring her it was okay.

"Sensei Kreese doesn't." Tory spoke up.

"Of course he does. We all do." Terry corrected her. "Today, your goal is to find your opponent's weakness and attack it. No points. You hit the mat, you lose. You got it? All right, prepare for combat."

"Castillo, my office." Kreese spoke up, walking toward the office.

Alexa took a breath, Robby bumped her side with a grin. "Hold your ground, stay focused."

"Got it." she nodded, walking off to join Kreese in the office.

"Have a seat." he encouraged her.

Alexa sat down and felt obligated to talk first. "I'm really sorry for leaving yesterday, Sensei Kreese."

"Don't apologize, just don't make the mistake again." Kreese looked her way seriously. "We all have a weakness. The problem is, yours is the enemies."

Alexa looked down slightly, her heart was thumping.

"You and I share that trait." Kreese brought her back, and she pulled a confused look. "You weaken around the skinny boy, Diaz, Hawk, the same way I do for Johnny Lawrence."

"For Johnny?" Alexa blinked. "But he's-"

"The enemy?" Kreese stopped her, and Alexa was silent. "A weakness can be used against you, or you can use it against yourself."

"Myself?" Alexa bit the inside of her mouth. "How?"

"You'll feel yourself weaken up, like you did yesterday. So, instead of using that on yourself, use it on your component." Kreese explained to her as Alexa scanned his face over. "Whenever you feel like you're about to get weak, let that weakness unleash in a nasty way. Fight against it. Your component isn't your component, they're your weakness that you need to get down before you get over it."

Alexa found that advice the best she'd heard, because it made everything feel so much better. Alexa nodded. "Yes, Sensei."

"Dismissed." he encouraged her.

Alexa turned. "Thank you, Sensei Kreese."

He gave her a hum, a single nod, as she walked from the office.

"How'd it go?" Robby asked as Alexa passed him and Tory.

"Pretty good, got some good advice." she said in return, pausing to talk for a second.

"How come you haven't mentioned prom any?" Robby asked her, because he figured it would have came up with them living together.

Alexa shrugged. "I gotta work that night so i'm not gonna go."

"Castillo, find your partner." Silver encounter, making Alexa break away from the two as she found Kyler near the left side of the mat.

Alexa thought Piper was annoying. The way she flipped around was gymnastics, not karate, and it was clear that's all she was gonna bring to the table. Alexa was shoulder to shoulder with Robby as she watched Tory and Piper, the Nichols girl clearly sharing her same thoughts. "You just gonna dance around or you gonna throw something?"

"Why not both?" Piper said back, kicking toward Tory, grasping her shoulders tightly as they spun in a circle. Piper kneed Tory, getting a much harder one back before being flipped on the mat. Alexa gave a knowing look toward Robby as he rolled his eyes, letting her flick him in the ear for winning the bet.

"We should do that again sometime." Piper looked up at Tory.

"Don't get your hopes up." Tory said in return, backing up.

"Good one, Sensei Kreese. Who's next?" Silver spoke his way.

"Castillo." Kreese spoke up, finding Alexa in the crowd. "I've realized Sensei Silver hasn't seen you fight yet."

"Was starting to think you couldn't." Silver said in return. Alexa rose to her feet with a determined look across her face, licking her teeth. "Mr.Park."

Alexa realized he paired her with a boy because their weren't any more girls left. Alexa and Kyler bowed to each other, doing as they were told before taking their own positions. Kreese announced for them to fight, and Alexa blocked the kick Kyler threw her way. She punched him in the arm, his free one grasping her left shoulder to try and flip her, but Alexa bent down and punched him in the stomach.

Kyler grunted slightly, turning on his foot in an attempt to round house kick her. Alexa ducked down, his leg flying above her head. She watched, timing it perfectly before she latched onto Kylers leg, tackling him to the ground while the leg that was mid air, now kneed himself in the chest.

"Yes." Robby grinned for her.

"Good work, miss Castillo." Kreese spoke as Alexa stood up.

"Thank you, Sensei." she said back, joining Robby, who was grinning at her in pride.

"Another one for me." Kreese spoke up Silvers way.

"Double or nothing?" he suggested in return.

Kreese rose his eyebrows. "Okay. Mr.Keene."

Alexa looked toward Robby, giving him a wink as he stood up, leaving her in their matching, new, Cobra Kai attire.

"Payne." Silver brought Kenny up, and their was a chuckle across the room. Alexa wondered what he was getting at with this one, what the underlining joke was gonna be. Kenny slowly got to his feet, bowing before Robby.

Tory looked at Alexa oddly when she saw she'd been stared at Robby. "Do you like what you see?"

"I'm starting to understand dress code now." Alexa whispered back with an arrogant, boyish smirk across her face. "Sleeveless shirts really are distracting me."

Tory gave a snort, shoving her arm. They brought their eyes back to the pair, Kenny jumping in fear, ducking as Robby kicked his way, giving a whimper when he got him in the arm good. "Whoa, whoa. Hey, are you okay?"

Kenny nodded, holding his shoulder.

"Back to your corners." Kreese spoke up, Kenny walking toward Silver while Kreese engaged in a conversation with Robby.

"Back on the mat." Silver spoke a moment later, bringing the two back with another bow.

"Aits!" Kreese yelled out. Kenny jumped in fear, Robby kicking him good again as Kenny yelled in pain.

It clearly bothered Robby, standing infront of him. "Hey, K-Kenny. I'm..I'm sorry if-"

His moment of weakness had Kenny sweeping his legs out from under him. Alexa's mouth dropped. "Oh shit."

Silver and Kenny high-fived as the taller sensei gave an arrogant grin in Kreeses direction. "There. What did we learn? The common belief is you shouldn't care what other people think about you, right? Wrong. What your opponent is thinking is key. In war. In business. In a fight. Don't let your opponent think whatever they want. Make them think what you want them to think. If they think you're weak, that's when you can surprise them with your strength."

As the class spread out, Alexa fist pumped Kenny. "Nice going, little man."

"Thanks, Lex ." Kenny grinned at her.

Alexa rose her eyebrows as she stood infront of Robby. "Nice going, little man."

"Hilarious." Robby said back unamused, but Alexa found it entertaining. "You really aren't gonna go to prom?"

"Why? Do you want to?" Alexa snorted slightly.

"Kinda." Robby shrugged in return. "Maybe get a rise out of the others."

Alexa grabbed her bag. "As much as that sounds like fun, I gotta pay for that heater bill. Can't have you crawling in bed with me again."

"Why's that?" Robby asked with a teasing grin her way, a minor nod. "I do remember you being the one telling me to."

"You remember wrong." Alexa said back, throwing him back a similar teasing, and seriously flirty, look. "Coke on, I need to pass my Algebra quiz."

•

kylie speaks

spoiler...alexa shows
up for prom.