by Stacey Rue

Created on: June 06, 2008

Sparring Love

"Go ahead. Punch me," Marcus said. "Do it as hard as you can." His lips curled up a quarter of an inch as he stood in the sparring stance.
I bent my knees and put up my fists. I wondered if I should hit hard to show him I am not afraid and weak or punch lightly to show that I am afraid and weak.
"Don't hesitate. I could hurt you. I'm the neighborhood jerk and I want your money." He said with a bigger smile. His eyes flickered with excitement and I hoped it was because we had been paired up to spar together. Female voiced "keeyahs" echoed through the room.

I looked at him, titled my head a bit to left, licked my lips and threw a medium punch. The black focus mitt budged a little backward.
"Okay, again but harder."
I threw a second punch harder and square on the mitt.
"Good. Harder."
My third punch was the hardest. He smiled broadly. I wondered if he looked as cute in plain clothes as he did in his blue t-shirt and training pants. His feet with short clean toe nails showed he cared about his personal appearance. I imagined his closely cropped chestnut colored hair smelled somehow manly but not overpowering. A few more punches and the next item came up. There was no partner change. I felt warm and cozy inside when the instructor yelled out that we would now be trying to down our opponent.
I stood in the ready stance with my fists straight down and my legs slightly bent and apart awaiting his move. He swung at me. I jumped to the side and pretended to elbow him then grabbed him by his shoulders and pretended to kick him where it would hurt a male assailant most. He pretended to fall down in desperate pain.
"Keeyah." I yelled. He winked at me as he stood back up. If I had not seen him winking at children earlier I might have melted into a puddle of wet noodle punches. Instead I watched his lips as he said, "Again."
I nodded my head a bit, looked intensely into his blue eyes and cracked a little bit of a smile as I got into the ready stance. He swung and I jumped. As I grabbed his shoulders my foot swung funny causing me to lose my balance. I pulled him down on top of me and we landed hard on the mat.
My cheeks flared. My stomach sank. I kept my eyes closed in hopes that I was dead.
"Well, if you can't beat them, join them." he said as his breath hit my face. I exhaled. I was still alive, mortifyingly alive. It could be worse, I thought. Somehow in someway it could be worse. It could be the first five minutes of class, but luckily it was the last five minutes. Class would be dismissed soon, not early but soon.
As I opened my eyes, Marcus rocked back onto his feet and stood up. He stuck his hand out and I grabbed it. At least this whole thing would end with me holding his hand.

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