Falling

'Fuck! It's cold out here!' I thought as I hit the door leading outside. A 4a.m. call to get to my high school and then ride a bus two hours to what was probably going to amount to a very boring wrestling tournament... There was no upside here... well other than the fact that this would be my very last wrestling tournament as a minor! My 18^th birthday was tomorrow! I stopped and pulled my bag on and wrapped the blanket I always carried with me on a tournament around myself; dashing to the front of the house where Joe, my best friend, was parked. I stripped off my bag and blanket and threw them in the back seat. I jumped in the seat next to Joe and smiled at him.

"Gabby!" Okay, so I know it's an embarrassing name, it's really Gabriel, but when you're on a sports team guys tend to come up with nicknames for each other, mine settled on Gabby and that was sort of where it stuck. I minded it for the longest time and then one day it sort of made sense. I know it's a girl's name, but something about it made me unique! "Didn't think you were coming for a second there..." He laughed as he pulled away from the curb.

"Thanks for coming all the way across town at this ungodly hour man..." I apologized to him. Days like today sucked. I had no car. I had no cell phone. Technically I lived on my own, even at 17. My dad had taken me away from my mom when I was nine and we had a pretty tough relationship as I got older. Finally things came to a head about three months ago and he had decided to toss me a beating. I decided that I had the choice to leave his house or duke it out with him if I didn't want him beating on me anymore. I couldn't bring myself to take a swing at him and I had walked out of his house that night...

My feet carried me to my mom's house. She was the type of parent that really got into the idea of being a parent, but was not the best when it came to the practice of actually being a parent. I asked her if I could stay with her and she thought it was a great opportunity to put one over on my dad and show him how parenting was done and let me stay. It was a weird arrangement for me. It meant that I had to live all the way across town from my high school, and being a senior I didn't want to change schools during my last year...

That meant without a car... I rode the bus a whole lot. Early mornings where I got to school super early, and many a winter morning walking to the nearest bus depot to catch the very first bus of the morning and riding it all the way across town.

About a month into my stay my mom got tired of being a mom. She moved in with her boyfriend, probably the best man I had ever seen her with... he was older, but seemed to treat her pretty well. He was a hard drinker like her and while I didn't approve of how much time they spent in the bar he seemed to be able to afford to keep my mom in liquor and happy. She seemed happy and that was nice to see for a change. At the time she moved in I thought I was screwed. I really didn't want to live with my mom and the guy she was shacked up with, but her guy, George, suggested that maybe I could just take over my mom's old apartment. She rented it from this old lady who liked her and who only charged her $200 dollars rent. I was surprised when my mom went for it... it must have seemed like a good compromise between getting away from the responsibility of being a parent and continuing to stick it to my dad!

I worked odd jobs for my landlord and she, in return, cut the rent down to $100 dollars per month. It was a great situation for me as the stuff I usually had to do, mow the lawn, shovel snow, housesit her place when she traveled, was all stuff I would have done anyway just to be nice! I drew on savings that I had put aside from working all summer at a rental company to make up the difference. Money was tight for me, but I was able to come and go as I pleased and I had my own place!

I couldn't catch a bus this early, as they didn't run and I knew that I was costing Joe probably close to an hour of sleep so he could come get me. I always felt bad about that kind of stuff. Joe was a good friend to me and I was always having to sponge off of him.

"Don't sweat it man," Joe said with a smile. "Have fun last night?" Another knowing grin from him.

I smiled back at him, "The date with Jacky was a bust..." Jacky was this girl I had met on the bus and at first we had hit it off. I was attracted to her but she was three years younger than me... I didn't really know if the difference in ages was going to work.

He hit me in the arm, "No details? Come on! Was she good? Did you go all the way with her?"

It was a tough spot. On one hand I owed Joe a lot. It felt weird to be talking about this with him. But I also felt like I owed him something of a debt. Finally I decided on a course of action, "You know, my dad is an asshole, but one bit of advice he told me that seemed to make a lot of sense. When and what you do with a lady is between you, and her. Or at least it is if you want her to still be a lady!"

Joe just laughed again. "Good point. Fucking cold this morning isn't it!?"

I was relieved. I hoped he wouldn't be mad at me, and it didn't look like he was.

We passed the rest of the morning making small talk. When we arrived at the school I saw that there was a full size bus, instead of the short ones that we usually take for Varsity only tourneys like this one.

I asked coach what was up and he told me that the bus company had decided the full size was safer in this weather, especially considering that we were going over a mountain pass. That seemed to make sense to me, and it would also be nice as the bus would be nearly empty, so there would be lots of room to spread out and get some rest both before and after the tourney. It was a two hour trip in good weather, so in this weather it would be closer to three; it would be nice to get some sleep.

I looked over at the Stat Girls as they huddled together by the door to the bus. The Stat Girls were a bunch of girls who helped the team out, they sat by and recorded scores for the wrestlers during matches and provided recaps for the matches.

Karly... wow, Karly was smoking hot. She was a senior, like me. I had had eyes for her since I was a freshman. We both were in all the AP classes so like half my day was spent with her. That meant that I spent a good portion of my day trying hard not to stare at her. She was tall, maybe 5 foot 10. Heavy in an athletic sort of way. Large shoulders, large hips, big tits. She played soccer and was pretty good at it from what I heard. She wasn't the type of girl who showed a lot of skin but once, she had stretched like a she-wolf in class and I saw her shirt come up around her mid-riff and her abs had been toned and firm. She had fluffy brunette hair with lighter, almost blonde tints that she usually let fall down around her face. Green eyes. Wow, I love those green eyes.

She had an infectious smile too! She flashed one at me as she caught me checking her out. I smiled back at her and felt a little guilty for checking her out. I had some guilty thoughts about Jacky. 'I'm only human' I thought. 'There is no harm in looking, just no touching!' even then the snow covered ground at my feet started to look a lot more interesting.

We all filed onto the bus and I found a quiet spot to lay down, wrap myself up in my blanket and get to sleep.

Chapter 2:

The tournament went well. The first kid they put me against was a loser. I tore him up in under 30 seconds, recording a pin. The second kid lasted a little longer but again, a pin. The third kid I faced was somehow worse than the first two, and I wondered how had he made it this far into the tournament? I was facing off against him really just screwing around, shooting in and scoring takedowns and then letting him back up when he did something unexpected. He swept in and grabbed me in a single leg takedown.

He didn't bring me to the ground but managed to get my foot up into the air. I was embarrassed, but I got a weird idea, a move that I had seen in a book. I jumped, putting all of the weight on the foot he held while closing with him. I grabbed the back of his neck with my left hand and twisted my hips. My right foot swept up and knocked his feet out from beneath him and we both sprawled to our asses. I was in a shitty position to attempt to do anything about him being sprawled on the ground, our legs tangled up together, so I decided against it.

I simply rolled back over my head and to my feet. The crowd was going wild. I doubt many had ever seen that move before, and I have to admit, it mostly looked flashy. I was pissed now though. I shot down, making it look like I was going for a takedown. The instant my knee hit the ground I saw him bite. He thought I was going for a double leg and was surprised when I shot back up and grabbed him in a deep bearhug. My head buried deep in his chest as I tightened my grip on him. This was a trick I had picked up from one of the other guys on the team. It was a brutal hold. The air being crushed from your body while the head buried in your chest dug in painfully enough that you could barely move or think.

Suddenly I snapped my hips into his and lifted him bodily off the ground. This precipitated me slamming him back to the ground the instant my knee touched the ground keeping the hold legal but just by the slimmest of margins. My head in his chest knocked the wind out of him. He couldn't move. I moved to my feet with my head still buried in his chest. He was done. I heard the slam of hand on mat that signaled a pin. I twisted my body and rolled away smoothly. We shook hands and I went over to meet my coach. He looked me in the eye and with a wry smile said, "What was that flashy bullshit?"

"Something I saw in a book, figured I'd give it a try." I felt cocky as all get out and my blood was still up from the match.

"You know what the percentage on a move like that is right?" I could see he was worried about me trying to hotdog against someone that I couldn't afford to.

"That guy was a loser," I replied. "I wouldn't have tried it against someone that I couldn't get away with it on."

Coach looked at me carefully, "He wasn't such a loser that he didn't get a pretty textbook single leg on you." I felt a flush of shame at that. He was right. I let my confidence get the better of me. Stupid mistake.

"You're right, I should have been more careful." I felt a rush of shame. I was too cocky.

I turned away from coach, and there was Karly. Beautiful, smiling Karly. She had all of my clothes in her arms. The thought occurred to me that she seemed to always be the Stat Girl I had when I wrestled... "That was awesome!" She gushed at me. I felt a rush of pride and squashed it instantly. That was what had gotten me into this.

I smiled at her, "It was lucky." She pulled up short at my tone. I was too short with her. She had a funny look on her face. "Sorry, I just got lucky. He was a loser, and I pulled a trick out of my ass. I shouldn't have done that. I should have taken the takedown and worked my way out of it. I took a shortcut and if the guy had any class he would have beat me because of it."

She put her hand against my chest, "Well," her hand traced up, "still looked pretty impressive" she looked up and down my body and I realized with a certain amount of shock that I had done the very same thing with girls more than a few times in the past. Her eyes settled for a second on my crotch... the singlet didn't do much to cover or leave much to the imagination, "that singlet looks pretty impressive too," With that she dropped my clothes in my arms and walked away. It seemed like her hips had a little suggestive sway to them as she walked away and I had to take a moment and appreciate her ass. Wow the rush of hormones mixed with adrenaline shot through my body. Fuck, I wanted so badly to tackle her to the floor and just pull her clothes off!

I took a deep breath and started pulling my warm ups back on. Wouldn't do well to have someone see the impact of all that Karly on my body! 'Man, it really seemed like she was seriously checking me out!' I had to be imagining things! There was no way Karly was into me, and what about Jacky?!

I went back to the bleachers and found my stuff. I dug into my bag and found the lunch I had made for myself that morning. Sandwiches, ham and processed cheese with plenty of Miracle Whip, three of them. A half-eaten bag of chips. A couple Pop Tarts. I wolfed it all down with plenty of water, thankful for the fact that even with the busted date with Jacky had had time to run to the store and pick up some basic staples. It was excellent and just what I needed to keep my energy up.

The last match was the toughest of the day. The guy had at least some talent. He put up a good fight for about three minutes. I was stronger though, and better. I ripped him apart. No showing off, I just broke him piece by piece. I finished him with a hard cross face that was just this side of legal and pinned him before the second round ended.

At the medal ceremony the Stat Girls from the teams took turns presenting medals to the guys who had won them. I noticed Karly jostling with some of the other girls and trading. Not unusual. Most of the girls liked to present the medals to the guys they liked or thought attractive. I was surprised when Karly was the one to present to me. She wrapped the medal around my neck and smiled at me. I stepped back from her and she put her arms out wide, "Come on big guy! How about a hug!"

I really wanted that hug, and besides I didn't want to embarrass her in front of everyone! I pulled her close into me and felt the feminine figure pressed against me. She was taller than Jacky, fuller. Her body felt stronger, her bones thicker and more substantial, Jacky felt slight compared to this lovely creature. With Karly I didn't feel like I was going to break her as I held her in my arms. I won't lie, she felt great. Soft and smooth, yet strong and confident. Her hair was pressed close to me and a scent something like vanilla pressed itself to me. I squeezed her tight to me hard and firm, far harder than I would have dared to press Jacky to me. She just squeezed me tighter too! It was awesome! I lifted her off the ground, laughing and smiling the whole way. Karly stepped back and held her hand to my face. "Excellent!" She beamed. The light caught her green eyes and lit them up. I was lost in them. I almost kissed her...

'Danger! Back to front and center!' my brain screamed out to me. I pulled myself back into the moment and turned away from her...

The rest of the tourney was short and sweet. We packed up and got back on the bus. I was exhausted after the match and went into the very back of the bus and wrapped myself into my blanket. I wedged myself into a seat next to a window and drifted off. I woke briefly when the bus started and got on the road but managed to drift off into darkness once again without too much trouble. On some level I guess I registered that we got out of town and back on the dark highway home.

I snapped awake when someone plopped down in the seat next to me!

Some of the guys like to 'rumble' during the bus rides home, fight and wrestle with each other during the ride. It was a way that they let off steam and a practice I rarely participated in. I usually preferred to read or sleep on the road and I made my displeasure apparent anytime someone took a shot at me. Once I picked a guy up and threw him two seats forward, it bent a seat, and I was lucky he didn't get hurt. I felt bad afterward, he was a nice guy and he was just trying to play...

This was not one of the guys though. It was Karly. I could smell her vanilla scent, so good... I was still half awake, groggily I thought, 'Coach keeps the Stat Girls up front, where he can keep an eye on them'.

"Not this time he didn't." Karly's voice, a whisper, surprised me. I must have been speaking out loud and not realized it! "Coach said we could run around the bus if we wanted, hang out with some of the guys! He must be really happy with how you did!"

I tried to shake the sleep from my mind. 'Why is she here?' I thought. I blinked stupidly, "What's up?"

She looked at me, or at least I thought she did, it was hard to tell in the darkness. "What? I can't come and hang out with you?" She sounded a little defensive.

My brain was still foggy from sleep, I didn't do well with short naps. "No, of course you can. Sorry. Something specific you want to talk about?"

She leaned into me and I felt the warmth of her even through the blanket covering me. I couldn't help but lean back into her. She just felt so right! "I don't know, maybe you could ask me something... interesting?" It felt like there was a little coyness in her voice.

I fumbled for something to say. I knew what I wanted to ask her but I couldn't... there was no way that she liked me, no way that a girl this magnificent was interested in me... "How did you feel about the Calc test yesterday?" I finally managed to stumble out.

She snorted out a laugh, "God! You are so stupid!"

Now it was my turn to feel defensive. The Calc teacher did this thing where he wrote equations on the board turn by turn and had the students compete against each other to solve it quickest, I beat Karly every time. Hell, I beat everyone but Brian, who was one of the others guys on the team, nearly every time. I went for the throat on that one! "I beat you each and every time in the equations competitions!"

She laughed again and said with a smirk, "And what grade are you getting in that class again? 'Cause I'm getting an A!"

I felt terrible but I had started this... "I'm getting a C." I was ashamed of that. I was struggling in almost all of my classes; sports and my hectic life problems weren't helping me but mostly it was the fact that I was having serious troubles keeping organized due to my brain jumping around all of the time. I was having a serious amount of trouble keeping my attention on things and it seemed to be getting worse lately. The stress of my life seemed to be making my attention problems worse. It was like the lack of structure was making it harder for me to focus...

She pushed her advantage, "And you would be getting an A, if you bothered to do the homework. Kind of scary to see a person who doesn't do the homework doing as well as you do. The only reason you're getting a C is because you're scary smart and you pick everything up faster than everyone else!" She bumped into me again.

Her little bump took a little of the sting out of what she said. She was right of course...

"That's not what I meant when I said you were stupid, anyway." She leaned into me again. "I'm giving you free reign to ask me anything you want... we're alone here... the nearest person is like 6 rows away... hell, I might even say yes..."

'Wait, is she hitting on me?' I thought to myself. I was confused. Her mind was jumping around too much. Hell, her mind was jumping around like mine did. One second we were talking about math class and the next, 'Wait, are we talking about sex?' I thought. "Are we talking about what I think we're talking about?" I asked her carefully.

She leaned into me again and purred, "Well I'm talking about sex. You might still be talking about Calculus. I'm beginning to think you don't even think about sex."

I was again defensive, "I think about sex!" I rushed ahead without thinking. "I actually think about sex a lot." Okay, that made me sound like a pervert. Good plan, make sure you put your foot straight into your mouth!

She laughed at me. "So do you think about it with me?" a note of passion in her voice, or maybe that was playfulness and my mind was simply adding in the things I wanted to hear...

I was shocked! That was not a question that you asked someone! Hell, it was not a question a good girl asked any guy! I had to be reading something wrong, Karly was many things and a good girl was definitely one of them...