Page 11 of Another Love, Another Time
“We both like Auggie, and she is jealous when I’m around because she knows Auggie likes me more. She guilts him into spending time with her since she doesn’t live around here.”
“Yeah, he would definitely hang out with you more if she wasn’t here.”
Am I holding Auggie back? Do Auggie and Melissa usually hang out more? Do I guilt him into spending time with me? I shake my head. I am done letting Melissa get to me.
I get up to go to the bathroom and notice they have stopped talking. I roll my eyes. What a couple of losers.
When I get back from the bathroom, I notice someone is in my spot. I lean down to get a closer look and notice that it’s Melissa.
“Melissa, get up!” I hiss.
She pretends to sleep. I wasn’t in the bathroom that long. I shake her and repeat myself, “Move, Melissa. You know I was sleeping here.” She rolls over and continues to act like she is sleeping. I roll my eyes. “Get up, Melissa, or I’m going upstairs to tell my mom.”
Her eyes widen before they change to slits. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Was that a dare? You know I don’t back down from one. You know I just got up. Go back to your blankets.”
“While you were up, Auggie asked if I’d move into your spot.” She looks at him.
“Let’s ask Auggie,” I say. “I’m pretty sure there was a reason why he had his mom make my blankets next to his.”
“He must have said it in his sleep, then. He must be dreaming about me.”
“Melissa, I’m tired. Get up.”
“Fine. I’ll get up. You don’t have to be so mean about it.”
“I’m tired. I went to the bathroom and came back to find you stole my spot. How else would you like me to act?”
“You could have said ‘please.’”
“Ask you to ‘please get out of my sleeping spot’? Not likely.”
Now, she’s back in her spot next to Meredith, who has been quiet the whole time. I sit back down and pull the blankets over my shoulders. I don’t have any more nice left in me. I roll over and close my eyes, hoping that when I wake up, I won’t have to deal with Melissa. I really wish we were not related.
Chapter 4
River, Age 12, Wrestling
This year, I decided to try out for wrestling at our local youth wrestling club. My mom showed me a picture from the one year she wrestled, and she said she loved it. My brother didn’t think I would do it. He started wrestling when he was five. I’ve gone to a lot of his practices and tournaments, and we wrestle at home, so I know a lot of the moves. How hard can it be, right?
Tonight is my first night of practice. My mom said female singlets have come a long way since she wrestled. She’s pretty excited about me wrestling. She went out and bought me new wrestling shoes, headgear, and a singlet. We don’t have to practice in a singlet, but I have spandex shorts and a leotard on, so it’s similar.
We start warmups. Duck walks, wall sits, suicide sprints, pushups, and shot drills. The coach then instructs us that we are going to do a couple of laps around the wrestling room. There are a bunch of groans when the coach yells, “You all know the drill. Let’s go!”
“Well, okay then,” I think to myself. After everyone gets their laps in, the coaches start pairing all the wrestlers off in twos with people around the same weight to start on drills. I know a lot of these drills since I’ve practiced with Brock in the past.
We start with the takedown drills. The coach grabs someone and runs through the technique he would like us to work on a few times. Then, he cuts us loose to practice the move. We’re supposed to take turns practicing the drills. I’ve been paired with a new kid. I let him go first, and when he takes me down, wereset. It should be my turn, but he surprises me and takes me down again.
“Okay, so this is how we are going to play this.” He doesn’t know me. “Hey, I think we are supposed to be taking turns,” I tell him.
“No. I’m going to need more practice. It’s not like you’re going to win, anyway.”
I scoff. “Well, I’m definitely not going to win if I don’t get to practice.”
“Whatever.” He sneers and then gets back in his stance to start the drill again. So do I. He tries to take me down, but this time, I’m ready. I maneuver back so he can’t grab my legs. I look him in the eyes to let him know that I’m not backing down. How dare he? I know he’s doing this because I’m a girl. In my head, I’m thinking, “Let’s get ready to rumble!”
He goes for another takedown, but again, I move away too quickly. Before he can recover, I’m on him. I grab his head with my right arm and squeeze it into my armpit while my left hand grabs his right arm. I then drop to my knees and drag him down with me. I’ve caught him off guard, which gives me time to rotate behind him and pin him down. I get him in a half nelson and flip him over. I think the poor kid is still in shock.
