Descending Darkness(25)

“Of course, she knows what a spring floor is,” Emma mutters. I bump my shoulder into Emma; she laughs and winks at me. She finds it hilarious how similar Natalie and I are. To me, Natalie definitely doesn’t look like a gymnast. She’s pretty tall to be one.

Natalie turns toward me. “Can you do a double tuck back salto?”

“I think so. I used to be able to at least.” She smiles at me, and I instantly know what she is asking. I nod and walk to the edge of the spring floor. She follows me out and stops a couple feet beside me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see everyone else take a step back. In sync, we take a deep breath and start running forward. Leaping at the same time, we both lean forward and start the back handsprings that will lead into the double tuck back salto. Gaining momentum, I finish the last back handspring and jump high. When I am high enough, I pull my knees in and tuck my body under. After spinning twice in the air, I unfold my legs and prepare for the landing. My feet hit the ground, and I bounce a little but manage to keep my balance. Natalie manages to land it as well.

Colton is smiling at me when I walk over to him. Liam keeps glancing between the two of us. “Man, I trained in the wrong sport,” Emma says.

“Quite impressive, ladies,” says Tom. “Now, we need to get serious. Natalie have you ever been trained?”

“Not to fight, no.”

“That’s fine. That’s how Ryanne was at first. Colton and Liam can start training with you today.” Tom turns toward me and continues, “Ryanne you can work with Bragden and Conner. I think you are getting too used to Colton and Liam anyway.” I giggle at the sad look on Colton’s face. What Tom said is correct. I am getting too used to how both Liam and Colton fight. I need to switch it up—challenge myself a little.

An hour later, I am lying flat on my back on the mat with Bragden standing over me.

“Hey, now!” Colton yells over to us.

“Train with Natalie!” Bragden retorts. Returning his attention to me, he says, “Your opponents are going to be stronger than you, Ryanne. They’re going to be bigger. You have to find their weaknesses and utilize that.”

“Kick them in the balls. Got it,” I say as I push myself off the ground. I nod at Colton, telling him that I’m fine before returning my attention to Bragden.

“If that works, but I mean that you have to look for weaknesses in their fighting. Do they use one side more than the other? Do they favor a certain move? Find it and use it against them.”

Conner is standing back a little, watching. Occasionally he will yell something out or help reposition me when I do something wrong. He tells me what I should have done in that situation. I get back into a defensive stance and wait for Bragden to attack again. Bragden is more aggressive than Colton and Liam. They calculate their moves and strike when you least expect it. Bragden doesn’t wait for a surprise—he just attacks. He knows that he is bigger and stronger, and he uses that to his advantage.

He comes toward me, and I jump to the side. I swing around and kick my leg up, trying to hit him in the head. He sees my move ahead of time and grabs onto my leg. With a firm grasp on the heel of my shoe, he walks toward me. I hop on my left leg, trying to keep my balance. He’s lucky I’m flexible because, otherwise this would really hurt. My leg is almost extended into a hundred and eighty degree standing split. “When someone has their back to you, aim low. Hit the back of their legs. Knock them off balance. It gives you the upper hand,” he instructs. Oh, he thinks he won this one.

I bend backward into a walkover and kick him in the chest with my left leg. He releases my right leg. Standing up, I say, “There’s multiple ways to get the upper hand, Bragden.” Conner bends over laughing. That attracts the attention of the others in the gym.

“She got you there, Bragden.”

“Colton, can we trade?” Bragden yells. While he is looking toward Colton, I swing around and kick him just below the back of his knees. He falls to his knees on the mat. I walk behind him and lean down. “Your weakness is that you underestimate a little girl,” I whisper in his ear. Conner doubles over laughing again and puts a hand out for a high-five. I hit his hand as I skip away.

I stop right next to Tom, who is watching over Colton and Liam. Natalie seems like she is getting the hang of it. Colton turns toward me. “What did you do to him?”

“Let’s just say the trainee became the trainer.”

Bragden walks over a couple seconds later. “I don’t like training with her.”

“What are you talking about? I’m a delightful person to train with. I never speak out of line. I would never do something when you weren’t paying attention, and I’m an excellent listener.” I emphasize the excellent. However, even I can’t keep a straight face when I am saying it. I start laughing. Bragden just stares at me, which makes me laugh harder. “Aww, he’s speechless.” I turn to Tom, Colton, and Liam. “I have that affect on people.”