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He punched her in the face again and even though she didn't think there was any malice behind it, it seemed like he was getting more worked up because it hurt more. Trying to defend herself, she put her hands up in front of her face and ducked, but his long arm always found a way to get in there as he connected with another punch.

Too timid to stand back up straight, she stayed in that position. She felt his gloved fist hit the top of her head and as much as it sucked, it was still better than getting hit it the face, so she stayed in that position, trying to guard her head more. Already at a severe height disadvantage, he now stood even taller than her, and she wasn't able to see how easy it was for him just to look down at her and find places to hit. She felt him playfully bopping her all over the place on her head, shoulders, and wherever he could find. She wasn't laughing anymore as she was just getting to the point where she wanted it to be over with. It felt like it had been a lot longer than three minutes to her.

Finally after getting punched a few more times, she felt it stop. She put her hands down and slowly started to stand up straight, still preparing herself for the possibility that another fist was going to come flying in her face once she left herself open enough. When that didn't happen she thought time may have expired and she didn't realize it. But she saw all around the dojo, everyone else was still fighting with each other, and Ilya was standing tall and looking at her with a smile.

"Come on," he said, and he waved with his hand for her to try and attack him, his smile suggesting that he was doing it mockingly. "Try and hit me, see if you can."

Still feeling the punches he had administered on her head and face, she was a little fired up now. She raised her fists then lunged at him, throwing a right punch at his face that he easily backed out of the way of, and then a left punch where he did the same thing, smiling the whole time. She watched his fist come in and this time it effectively connected with most of her nose. She had no doubt without the glove on she'd be crying right then.

"Alright, time!" Sensei called, Taylor looking at Ilya smiling at her after just punching her in the nose, and she was pretty sure she hated him.

"Good match," he said and he held out his fist for a fist bump, his smile now looking a lot more genuine. She cooperated with the fist bump. "That was pretty good for your first time."

She couldn't stay angry with someone being nice like that and she laughed. She didn't want to be the girl getting all upset on her first day either. She had guys here she wanted to meet. "Thanks, although I'm pretty sure you're just being nice." She laughed as she said it.

"Alright, everyone find a new partner!" Sensei called.

Taylor had no more use for Ilya and she turned her head and quickly walked away from him. She saw everyone else moving around looking for different partners but Sensei and Haley were still talking to each other. Why were they talking? Everyone was supposed to be getting new partners so why weren't they moving around. When she got close enough to them and they were still both talking without acknowledging her, Taylor got the hint.

She looked around to see what her other options were going to be. Everyone else had partnered with someone already except for one black guy who was either bald or with a shaved head wearing a green belt that was now walking towards Taylor looking like he wanted to be partners. Taylor wasn't attracted to black guys and she was normally afraid of them which she supposed made her at least a little racist, but it was what it was and it made her definitely not want to partner with this guy. While he stood closer to Taylor's height, maybe 5'10 at the most, he was thicker than Ilya was, and probably weighed close to 200 pounds.

"Want to partner up for this round?" he said to Taylor. He spoke extremely intelligently, which Taylor hadn't expected, something she also wasn't proud of. His words were very well annunciated and his voice was on the higher-pitched side, almost sounding like he was gay. But that all made her feel better.

"Sure," she said. "I'm Taylor."

"I'm Najee," he said, and he held out his fist for a fist bump which she cooperated with. "This your first class?" She nodded. "First time taking karate?"

"Yup," she said.

"Well don't worry," he said, and he spoke extremely eloquently. "First time is always a bit intimidating but you'll get used to it before you know it. We'll go light this time."

"That would be great," she said with relief and he laughed with a very genuine sounding laugh.

"Everyone ready?" Sensei called and Taylor started getting in a fighting stance as she watched Najee do the same. "Three minutes. Go!"

Najee raised his fists and even though he said they were going to go light, her body tensed up, afraid she was going to spend another 3 minutes as a punching bag.

"Now what are you doing wrong now?" he said to her.

"Absolutely no idea," she said. She laughed, knowing that she probably was starting to sound pretty stupid laughing all of the time, but she still felt extremely out of place and couldn't help it.

"Your head is wide open," he said. "Raise your fists more." She did so. "More," he said. She did so. "More," he said, starting to get on her nerves. She raised them even more.

"This doesn't even feel natural," she said.

"It's not supposed to feel natural. You're fighting. But watch this." He started throwing rapid punches towards her head. "Huh-huh-huh-huh-huh!" he called, making punching noises as every punch he threw connected with her arms. She thought that he was just doing all of that on purpose and could have easily started bopping her all over the place until he threw a punch towards the side of her head. She saw it coming and with her fists up so high, she was easily able to move her arm to the right to block it.

"Good," he said, sounding very encouraging. "Now put your fists how you felt natural."

She moved them down but not too far, knowing obviously that she'd be leaving herself wide open. Najee was still able to easily come in with a fist that connected with her forehead. It hurt a little bit but he let out a contagious laugh and she couldn't help but laugh back.

"Alright now put them back up where I told you to," he said, and she thought she lifted them high enough. "Higher," he said, so she did. "Good. Now try punching back at me."

He had been smiling most of the time but he quickly got a serious look on his face and brought his fists up high. She got serious too. She threw a punch that he blocked then another one that he blocked. He threw a punch back at her head that she was able to block. "Good," he said. He threw another punch at her face that she also blocked. "Good!" he said, sounding very encouraging.

The encouragement made her feel great. She threw a punch at his face that he blocked but when he punched back she blocked it too. She could feel her confidence growing as she threw more punches at his head, not connecting on any of them but feeling a lot more comfortable with each one she threw. She liked this kind of training a lot more than just the immediate all out aggression that she had in her previous match. They threw some more punches back and forth, Taylor not actually connecting on any of them, but Najee only barely connecting on a couple. She felt like she was quickly getting better.

“Alright, time’s almost up, you ready for the snake?” he said.

“The what??”

He made a hissing sound, brought his fist towards her ribs, put it into her ribs, and twisted. The tickling sensation quickly spread throughout her ribs and she laughed loudly. “Gotta keep your body defended too,” he said to her with a smile.

“Great, right when I felt like I was starting to get used to blocking my head,” she said playfully.

Now starting to really feel off, Taylor had her left fist up by her head and was bending her body on the left so her left elbow could cover as much of her ribs as possible. As Najee started his hiss again she realized that she had left the whole right side of her body wide open. It was too late as his left hand came in, got her in the ribs, and twisted more. She laughed harder this time as he really dug in.

“Come on, defend yourself,” he said, clearly playing with her, as he put his fists back up. “Gotta guard yourself.”

She had her arms down by her ribs on both sides now, knowing that her head was wide open, but just wanting to protect herself from getting hit by the snake again. She saw his fist coming in again, and she heard him doing the hiss, but even though she thought she was protecting her ribs everywhere she could, he still managed to get his fist into her ribs, this time really twisting, and this time really making her laugh.

“Alright, time!” Sensei called. Taylor could still feel the tingly feeling on her ribs and instead of feeling upset like she felt after sparring with Ilya, she felt good. When she initially saw Najee, she didn’t think for a second he would be her type, but she was open-minded.

“So is this your first time taking karate?” she asked, then quickly realized how stupid her question sounded. “I mean did you ever take karate before here?”

He laughed with his friendly laugh. “It’s all good. Yeah, I took Taekwondo for years before I took this.”

“What belt did you get in that?”

“I got a black belt,” he said, trying to sound modest, and looking a bit embarrassed. Taylor found it cute.

“Really? What did you just get your black belt there and then just come here and start over?”

“Pretty much. Much rather get very good at a few styles than just be an expert at one.”

“That’s so cool. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a doctor,” he said, looking a bit embarrassed again.

“Like a real doctor?”

“Like a real doctor,” he said laughing, and Taylor was starting to enjoy the cute awkwardness that was developing between the two of them. “Yeah, I’m a primary care physician.”

A fun guy, with a black belt, and he was a doctor. It was hard to find much better than that. “Married?” she asked.

“Oh yeah. Got a loving wife of five years now. Been trying to get her to come to karate class with me but haven’t had any luck yet.” Of course he was married. All the good guys were. Taylor sometimes thought it was like that for a reason just so they could get her hopes up for no reason.

“OK, let’s find new partners,” Sensei called out.

“You did great,” Najee said, making her feel better. “I hope you stick with this.”

“I’ll partner with you now,” Haley said, kind of startling Taylor as she popped out of nowhere. “Sorry, I should have partnered with you earlier. Sensei had some things he wanted to work on with me.” The way she said it, Taylor almost believed it. “How’d the first two rounds go for you?”

“Not bad,” she said, not wanting to let on that she learned a bit from Najee. Looking at how much smaller Haley was than her previous two opponents, Taylor thought she might have a chance this time.

“Everyone ready?” Sensei called out and Taylor watched Haley start to get in a fight position. “Go!”

Trying to use her knowledge she gained from Najee, Taylor immediately lifted her fists up as high in front of her head as she could. Haley lifted her leg and brought the bottom of her sexy foot right into the fat of Taylor’s stomach. It wasn’t a powerful kick by any means but it was enough to push Taylor back a step.

Trying to stay focused on what she was taught, Taylor kept her fists up in front of her head and watched Haley’s head for an opening. Her head actually looked pretty wide-open as she was not defending it the way Najee had advised. Taylor was about to take a shot at Haley’s head when another foot to her stomach stopped her.

Taylor put her hands down towards her ribs again, mostly because getting kicked by Haley’s cute feet was worse than dealing with the snake. With Taylor’s arms mostly at her side, Haley kicked Taylor in the fat of her stomach. Now quickly losing her confidence, Taylor started backing away from the cute girl. Haley started bring her feet up more rapidly, using her feet to push Taylor backwards more than she was actually kicking her. Taylor laughed uncomfortably, not enjoying getting beat by a cute girl that was so much smaller than her, even if she did have more experience.

Taylor tried to stay focused, remembering what Najee told her. Haley’s head was wide open and if Ilya had been able to punch her around the way he did when she had her guard down, why couldn’t she do the same to Haley? She lunged towards her and this time Haley kicked her in the stomach hard. Taylor didn’t back away as much as she wanted to, but feeling the pain in her stomach increase from that kick, she was reluctant to try and attack her too. Haley wasted no time and she kicked Taylor in the stomach again.

In desperation, Taylor threw a straight-legged kick and couldn’t believe it when Haley grabbed her leg in the air. Taylor didn’t think she’d have a problem pulling her thick leg away from Haley’s arm so she was unpleasantly surprised when she tried to pull it down and had no luck. She tried harder but Haley had her arm locked around her leg perfectly so she couldn’t get it away. Taylor started uncomfortably laughing again as Haley stepped back a bit and Taylor needed to hop on one foot just to keep from falling on her ass. Haley then gave Taylor’s leg a good yank with all of her weight behind it, taking Taylor right off of her feet, and her butt hit the dojo floor hard. Taylor laughed loudly now, trying to keep from making a noise indicating how much that hurt, and also trying to play it off like she wasn’t badly humiliated by it. Getting beat up by a tall guy with a scary smile suddenly didn’t seem as bad as getting dropped by a cute, small girl.

“Alright, time!” Sensei called and then he was standing above Taylor before she knew it. “How’s it going so far, Taylor?”

“Well Haley just whooped my butt.” She said it smiling, but hated having to admit that out loud.

“Don’t be afraid to use your strength,” he said. “I know this is karate class but Haley’s been taking karate a lot longer than you have and you look like a strong girl. You can do whatever you gotta do to survive in here. Don’t get discouraged, though.” He looked away from her. “Let’s find new partners!”

Haley reached down to give Taylor a fist bump then her and Sensei Preston both walked away, talking to each other. Were they really going to partner up again? Either way, Sensei didn’t seem too interested in partnering with the new girl and helping her learn. She slowly got to her feet and watched everyone around her partnering up. She saw Dallas over by the wall getting some water. Did she make a move? Was it too soon? It wasn’t making a move, she needed to partner with someone, so why couldn’t it be him? She actually felt herself getting nervous on the inside as she got closer and saw how truly handsome this guy’s face was, his long eyelashes looking even better. Maybe she should just turn around and see if anyone else wanted to partner up. No, you coward. Remember the main reason you’re here.

“Want to partner with me?” she said innocently to Dallas.

He looked around like he was seeing if there were any better options for him, then looked back at her. “Um, sure,” he said, sounding confused that she would ask him.

“I’m Taylor,” she said as she backed up a bit, getting in a fighting position. Dallas moved closer to her, but was still looking around like he was still checking out the scene of other potential sparring partners.

“Everyone partnered up and ready?” Sensei called out and Taylor was a bit relieved to see that at least he wasn’t partnered with Haley again. “Fight!”

As Dallas got into a fighting position, Taylor did the same, putting her fists up high to protect her head and remembering what Sensei told her – to use her strength. Taylor could was stronger than her younger brother and some other guys she had come in contact with that she had playfully outwrestled in the past. Dallas looked just as skinny as them. Of course none of them were brown belts in karate but if Taylor could even hold her own a little bit against this gorgeous guy in her first ever karate class, she’d consider that a win for her and a good foot in the door.

She noticed that his fists also were in front of his chest and his head was wide open, the exactly opposite of what Najee had said to do. It didn’t surprise Taylor so much when she saw Haley doing this but she expected the brown belt to be in some sort of position that would intimidate her. His height would make it a bit tough for her to punch that high but that opening looked like something she might be able to take advantage of.

Dallas attacked her, throwing a punch towards her chest, which she was easily able to block with her elbow, though she did back up a bit. Fighting these guys with the long arms was difficult. He threw another punch towards her chest and even though it was fast with good form, it just looked so predictable coming in and she was easily able to block that one as well.

With a serious look on her face, she looked at Dallas and thought that he looked a bit tired already, and he also looked a bit afraid. He threw kind of like a hammer fist down like he was trying to punch the top of her head but with her fists up in position she threw a hard block. She was glad his arm was skinny because their arms met at full force. His skinny arm didn’t hurt her but when he pulled his fist back, she saw the ‘ow’ look on his face. He threw another punch at her stomach and even with her hands up high, his punch was so forecasted that she was able to bring her arm down quick, her hand pushing down on his wrist, and blocking the punch.

Now the two of them were close with his face wide open. She reached her hand back, realized it wasn’t in the position she wanted, but nonetheless she threw a backhand at him. She felt the top of her gloved fist connect with his face hard and her first really good connection of the class felt good. Looking at his reaction, she could tell that she hurt him. She almost apologized but held herself back from doing so, thinking it would be silly to apologize for a hit she made in karate class.

She watched Dallas start to back away from her and seeing that this great looking man looked hurt and a bit scared sent a rush of adrenaline through her like she never felt. She wound back her fist again and now brought a quick punch forward that hit him in the mouth. Dallas put his hand up to his mouth, not looking like he was trying to block it, but just naturally grabbing it because he was hurt.

Taylor felt even more adrenaline. She punched him in the face again and then threw another one that he blocked but whether she connected or not, she was sending him backpedaling with every punch that she threw. With Dallas not fighting back and not playing very good defense, she just kept coming at him, one punch after another, some of them connecting, some of them getting blocked, but each one sending him back. She kept feeling more power of dominating this guy as she felt either her gloved fist punch his face or her bigger arm connect with his skinnier one. Not knowing where it came from, she lifted her leg, spun around, and threw a kick that hit him right in the side of his stomach, his lack of skill helping her find in her power and skill that she didn’t know she had. She felt herself lose her balance a bit as she brought her leg down but her foot came to the ground without her falling.

She looked at Dallas who had his hand where she kicked him, clearly trying his best to not show that he was hurt. She was a sweet girl and didn’t want to hurt anyone, but for reasons she didn’t quite understand, she did not feel any sorrow. Beating up this guy felt like paradise to her. She stepped back and when she saw that he didn’t look like went wanted to step to her, she punched her gloves together in front of her, indicating that she wanted more.