"Is there anyone who actually does what they say!" thought Tory as she roughly scrubbed a worn out sponge against a dirty plate. The floors were littered with wrappers and crumbs and the air constantly wrecked of grease and burnt fries. Despite all this, it still had better working conditions than most of the jobs she'd had to work at in the past.
It can't get worse than the kids' birthday party.

"Nichols, I'm heading out an hour early so, you'll have to close up," instructed her boss as he dropped the keys on the laminate countertop carelessly.

"Sure, whatever," answered Tory, agitatedly.

It's not like you were asking, anyway.

Nothing angered her more than having to deal with entitled jerks who always assumed they'd get what they wanted. It was one of the main reasons she disliked Samantha LaRusso so much.

She's a daddy's girl if I've ever seen one.

But there were some exceptions, some decent human beings amongst the privileged. Amanda LaRusso had shown her that. In fact, Amanda was the reason she'd gotten this job in the first place.

She felt a flush of relief flood over her as she finally locked the doors behind her.

At least, I'm done with that for the day.

Her high-heeled combat boots clicked against the ground sharply as she moved through the parking lot towards a silver convertible. She slammed open the car door and sat down on the black leather covered driver's seat.

Is Sensei Silver ever going to ask for this back? Nevermind, he probably just has more lying around anyway.

On top of everything else, she'd decided to go back to school to try and finish the last semester so, she'd at least have a chance at getting a decent job somewhere. She was just pulling out her history notes on the Civil Rights' Act when her phone started buzzing angrily.

What now?

The Caller ID Read: Amanda LaRusso.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Tory, sighing.

"Sam's at one of her friends' houses and I just thought you might wanna come over for dinner tonight," offered Amanda.

Her voice sounded caring, but not caring in the concerned for your situation kinda way.

"Sure, I just have to finish some homework up first," responded Tory.

Woah, even just saying that sentence aloud makes me sound like a nerd.

"Sounds good and don't worry, this isn't a handout because we're just going to be eating leftover lasagna from last night's dinner," assured Amanda, jokingly.

"Okay, thanks, Mrs. LaRusso," said Tory, honestly before hanging up the phone.

She showed up at the LaRusso house around 7:30. The house was larger than anything Tory had ever seen. She'd been to the house once before when all the Cobra Kai students had rallied an attack against the Miyagi-Dos and Eagle Fangs, but she hadn't looked that closely at the house's exterior. Its walls were painted a fine white. The roof was an exact triangle, every tan tile in its rightful space. Even from the front, she could tell there was a pool due to the smell of chlorine drifting from the backyard. The place seemed picturesque, almost too much so for Tory's liking.

They probably have someone to maintain all this stuff for them.

She was considering turning around and heading home when Amanda opened the front door.

"Perfect timing, just pulled the lasagna out of the microwave," said Amanda, gesturing for her to follow her inside.

Fine, I'll stay for dinner, but that's it.

As she stepped inside, a sense of serenity passed over her. Light shone brightly through the glass-sliding doors' screen on the left side of the room. In the middle of the room sat a white, comfy-looking sofa and a coffee table covered with LaRusso Autocompany paperwork (or at least, that's what Tory assumed). The right side of the room seemed to be devoted to family photographs. She suddenly felt exposed standing in the middle of what was a seemingly perfect household.

If this is the type of place Sam lives then, what does she have to complain about?

She was led into a large kitchen where she saw the dining room table lined with lasagna, rolls, and a salad.

"Well, go ahead and dig in," urged Amanda as both women took their seats and plated dinner.

"This is probably the closest thing I've ever had to a homemade dinner," commented Tory as she stabbed the lasagna with her fork.

"Well, you're welcome here, anytime," stated Amanda.

Tory nodded.

The room was silent for the next few minutes while they ate and Tory had to admit, it tasted pretty good, for a LaRusso meal that is.

"I just wanna tell you that I believe you didn't mean to hurt Sam at the tournament," explained Amanda, honestly.

Relief flushed over Tory as she stared back at Amanda, expressionlessly.

"You're probably the only one then," scoffed Tory as she returned her gaze to the food.

But out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amanda's sympathetic look.

Why is she always so nice to me? It's not like I gave her any reason to be.

They finished dinner around an hour later and Tory texted a few friends while Amanda did the dishes.

"Hey, thanks," said Tory, shrugging as she headed towards the door.

"You're welcome," smiled Amanda, generously.

As Tory got back into her car, she felt an odd feeling.

Does she actually care about me? And is it possible that I care about her?