Page 19 of Allure

“I’m not the new girl here on campus.”

“Everything’s a competition to you, isn’t it? You always have to be right.” He rolls his eyes. “I know your type. You think you can get away with anything and everything so long as you smile and bat your eyes.”

“I never bat my eyes,” I say.

“No? Never tried to use your body—”

“No, never. Believe what you want, but you don’t know me, Declan. Do you even know my name yet?”

“Sure do, Brooke Adams. I listen when Sensei talks.”

“But not when I do.”

“No. Or maybe. Sometimes. Doesn’t seem like you listen to me half as much as I do you, though.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

The professor's already inside, but the class hasn't started yet, thankfully. Most of the seats are taken, but I claim the only one that has no seats around it. I swear Declan laughs at that.

After class, I return to my room. Dawn’s not there, and I skim over the syllabi until she comes back.

“How were your classes?” I ask her.

“Boring,” she says with a groan. “I figured we wouldn’t do much the first day, but still. One more class to go. Want to get lunch together?”

“Sure.”

The food isn’t that bad at all. In fact, I can easily see why people talk about the freshmen fifteen. If only you could pick and choose where the weight ends up on your body. Not that I want to give Declan any credit, but he’s right. My ass is pretty damn flat.

* * *

Declan's constant comments about my looks have me staring at myself in the mirror in the women's locker room at the dojo. It's not that I'm thin, not like he's talking about. I think he's more referring to my muscles. I'm not as strong as I should be, especially if I want to be serious about learning self-defense. Knowing the moves is one thing, but I can't be a weakling. As it is, any potential foe out in the real world is most likely going to have both size and strength on me. I can't do anything about a height discrepancy, but I can try to make sure that I'm not a total weakling. I can try to make things a lot harder for the bastards. Of course, I hope to never have to use these lessons for self-defense, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?

Somehow, karate has already started to become a part of my routine, and I don’t find myself questioning whether or not to go to class tonight. I’m going. End of story.

Okay, so maybe some of that is because of Declan and my wanting to prove him wrong. I’ve always been as stubborn as a mule.

The class is one of the later times, and I arrive earlier than normal. Jackie isn’t here, and I fumble around with my belt until I hope it’s passable before heading toward the waiting/watching area. As I pass the office, Sensei calls out, “Brooke Adams! A word if you don’t mind.”

“Sure thing.”

I enter to find him grimacing.

“Sure thing…” he says, eyeing me.

“Sure thing, Sensei.”

“Much better.” He appraises me. “How do you like the training so far?”

I hesitate and glance over toward the mat. I can’t see it, of course, because of the office walls, but I do happen to see the bully out of the corner of my eye. Of course Declan’s here. He lives here. Well, I mean, he does train and work here, so it would make sense for him to be here all the time. I just wish I didn’t have to put up with him, but flipping the script and turning him into my source of motivation can only be a good thing for me, right?

“I like it well enough,” I slowly say.

“But… I sense a but.”

“But I don’t feel like I’m being pushed,” I admit. “I signed up for training to learn about self-defense, and I feel like I haven’t learned anything to help with that.”

“Brooke Adams, this is your third class, yes?”

---