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He took another big swig of his water as Taylor just sat there awkwardly, literally biting her tongue past her closed lips, as she thought about how she wanted to squeeze this adorable guy who was not only a physical wimp, but also so clueless on how to deal with women that he had gotten extremely high on himself in self-defense.

“Time!” Sensei called out, his timing couldn’t have been any better to break up the awkwardness that Taylor was feeling. “Everyone get a drink.”

Dallas was quick to put his drink down, stand up, and walk away. Taylor got to partner with Preston for the next round and she couldn’t help but think that he agreed to do so because he was impressed watching her fight Dallas. He spent a lot of time playing defense and complimenting her for improving, though she felt like she was doing awful compared to her match against Dallas. Towards the end of the round, Preston made sure to come at her fairly aggressively and remind her why he was the sensei and the only black belt in the class.

She paired with Haley in the final round, hoping again that she’d be able to show something against her this time but the small girl proceeded to whoop her, without showing the mercy that Preston had. But her performance against Haley was the last thing on her mind when Sensei called time. After they did their breathing, she grabbed a quick drink, and had to move fast since Dallas wasted no time exited the dojo. She rushed out the door after him.

“So Dallas,” she called to him having to speak louder than she would have liked. At first she thought he was going to just keep walking which really would have put a damper in the plan. But then he stopped and reluctantly turned around. “You want to hang out sometime?” she said.

He looked at her like he was perplexed by the question and as stupid as she felt right then, she stood her ground and maintained eye-contact with him. He might have looked plenty awkward but she wasn’t going to make it worse by looking the same. He looked like he was thinking about it. Just spit out your answer, she thought to herself.

“Nah,” he said.

She had thought she had been prepared for that answer when he had been just staring at her with that stupid look but hearing it come out of his mouth, especially with how dismissive he was about it, made her feel like a complete idiot as she stood there in shame while he quickly turned away from her and walked towards the locker room. Why did she bother taking this karate class anyway? She was a fool to think she’d meet guys here.

“See you next week,” Haley said to her with a friendly tone, as she walked by her, Taylor feeling how red her face was, wondering if there was any chance that she’d be back.

**

But she did come back the following week and she did so on a mission. No more thinking about meeting guys. She was getting good at karate and that was what she was going to focus on. Right after Dallas had told her about all of the ‘stupid’ women out there that didn’t want a good man, he went and showed her how men were just as bad. As she practiced her kata to warm up before Sensei entered the dojo, she smiled a bit, wondering if she was going to end up just like Dallas, some lonely person who couldn’t find a relationship, taking out all of her aggression as she did katas in karate class with ferocity. Maybe she’d get so motivated that she’d pass everyone else and be the next brown belt in the class. Maybe she’d follow Dallas’s path in all of those ways but one thing she promised herself right then was that she wasn’t going to turn out to be a wimp like him.

Class began and Taylor no longer had to be taken aside for most of class, instead able to do her drills and her kata with the class. She did them with ferocity, the same way Dallas did, thinking how having some bitterness in you when you did a kata really helped. Oh why did she have to keep thinking about Dallas?

Sparring time came along, Dallas completely avoided her, and that was OK. She partnered with Najee first, did much better against him than she had previously, and although he was still blocking her punches and getting his shots in, he complimented her improvement, and sounded genuine about it. He did get her with ‘the snake’ at the end which gave her a good laugh.

She partnered with Ilya next, frightened a bit of him based on their last sparring session, but standing her ground like she promised she would. While he was still much better than her, he didn’t seem nearly as intimidating once they got going, and she was actually able to hold her own. When Sensei called time, she saw something in Ilya’s eyes that she hadn’t seen at all the previous time they sparred – respect.

She felt like she held her own with the next guy she went against and then for the final session of the class she partnered with Haley. Maybe she wouldn’t beat her but she had to get some good shots on her this time. Haley proceeded to whoop her like always. The other guys didn’t seem like they had been holding back on Taylor and seeing how good Haley was, she wondered if maybe the girls in this class just didn’t get the respect they deserved.

More classes came along with Taylor feeling tougher and more confident with each one. She had been avoiding Tony for a few classes which he seemed totally fine with, but when the two of them ended up next to each other one class with everyone else already partnered up, they both knew they didn’t have a choice. As afraid as she was as they began, she managed to hold him off much better than she had the previous time. Towards the end of the fight he started getting rougher. He started doing this thing where he’d make a rolling motion with his hands before punching her in her belly with punches she wasn’t quick enough to stop. They hurt a bit too but when Sensei called time and she still hadn’t started crying, she considered that a win.

**

“Everyone off to the side,” Sensei unexpectedly called to the class, a few classes later, around the time that he normally told them to get their pads on. Everyone did as they were asked, except Najee and Tony, who stood in the center of the dojo. Sensei threw a kicking pad over at Tony who picked it up, stood with his side towards Najee, and put the pad to the side of his body to defend it. Najee got in a fighting stance with an intense look on his face.

“Two minutes,” Sensei said. “Go!”

Najee delivered a devastating side kick to the pad that almost knocked Tony over. Taylor was glad that pad was there or she was certain that Tony would have gotten taken out of there in a stretcher just from that kick. Even with the pad, Taylor knew that she couldn’t have stayed on her feet from that kick. Dallas couldn’t have either.

Najee proceeded to beat the shit out of the pad, Tony looking like he was holding onto it for dear life as he moved around and allowed Najee to punch, chop, and kick it from different angles. Taylor had never seen such ferocity in Najee before, the normally nice and well-spoken man. He kept his eyes on that pad like he wanted to kill it.

“Time!” Sensei called. Tony walked away and Najee turned like he was going to make a run for his water but Sensei grabbed his shoulder. “Not yet.”

Sensei called out the name of a green belt level kata that she still couldn’t say the name herself despite hearing it over and over for weeks. She looked closer at Najee who was dripping in sweat and she couldn’t believe that Sensei was going to make him do a kata after what he had just gone through, especially in front of class by himself. This was her first time really getting to focus on Najee doing a kata. She observed that his form didn’t look as good as Dallas’s and he didn’t have the same intensity either, although she had also never watched Dallas do a kata under the circumstances that Najee was. That asshole Dallas wasn’t as good a fighter or teacher as Najee was either. When Najee was finished, Taylor started to clap her hands a little, but then quickly pulled back when she saw no one else doing so.

“Najee, go get a drink,” Sensei said and Taylor was excited to finally do some sparring. “Everyone else come out. I’m going to count and you’re each going to do the kata of your choice.”

Taylor only knew one that she could do but she thought it was neat being out there with different people doing different katas to the same count.

“Everyone back to the side again!” Sensei called out once they were done. “Najee come on out.”

She saw both Sensei and Najee must have put their pads on when everyone else was doing kata and Sensei stayed out in the center of the dojo as Najee went out, a focused look on his face as he approached his Sensei and Sensei wasn’t holding a kicking pad. Watching the two stare each other down gave Taylor an unpleasant feeling like something bad was going to happen and she felt a strong urge to want to be out of there. She felt her palms start to sweat but she stayed put.

“Ready?” Sensei said. “Go.”

Najee let out a loud breath as he threw a quick backhand toward Preston’s face that Preston swiftly backed up and avoided. Najee came with a front snap kick that Taylor felt sure was going to connect but almost like he knew it was on the way, Preston put his hand down on Najee’s shin before it could get too close to him, blocking the kick.

She watched as the fight got more intense, the look on Najee’s face one that Taylor couldn’t tell if it was just focus or had some anger behind it. He looked like he was genuinely trying to hurt Preston with every strike that he threw and the frustration that Taylor saw in his eyes on his one that was blocked or missed had to be legitimate.

Najee started to back Preston up but the tired look on his face and the louder and more rapid that his breathing got, suggested that he was starting to run out of gas. Preston was cool and calm, now looking like he was toying with him on every block that he threw. Najee finally stopped attacking and just stood there for a moment catching his breath.

Preston then leapt like a frog at Najee, bouncing up from the bent over stance that he was in, and throwing his own backhand at Najee’s face that he was just barely able to block. Preston came right back with a powerful hammer fist towards the top of his head and even though Najee was just barely able to block it, Taylor could see the fear in his eyes as he raised his arms up, knowing that if he missed that block he was going down.

Preston took a step back and then threw a fast crescent kick at Najee’s head and Taylor winced thinking that she was going to watch a man get knocked out right in front of her for the first time in her life. Najee ducked and as Preston’s size 14 foot grazed the top of Najee’s shaved head, Taylor thought that he had to feel the breeze of that one.

Taylor watched the two continue to go at it, feeling bad for Najee, as Preston had the clear advantage and Najee was resorting to playing defense to save himself from getting knocked out. As time passed, Najee started backing up more noticeably which seemed to fuel Preston to bully him more. Preston now looked like he was toying with the lower ranking belt as he threw some powerful looking punches and kicks, all ones just barely missing, and they all looked like intentional misses. As Najee started to bend down and put his hands on his thighs, Taylor thought he was done right there.

“Time!” Dallas called. Some students started to talk a bit, sounding impressed, and some clapping started to ensue, before Preston put up his hand and the dojo immediately went silent.

“Back in the center of the dojo,” Preston said to Najee. “Keep your pads on. Show everyone your highest kata.”

Taylor looked at Najee dripping in sweat, looking like he could barely stand, and wondered how he was going to do another kata. She thought she could hear him breathing heavily from where she was. She thought as the sensei that Preston had to see that he wasn’t up for this and to call him back.

“Start” Preston said.

Taylor didn’t think this was right but that didn’t stop anything as she watched Najee begin. While he still didn’t have the same intensity that Dallas did when he was doing a kata, she thought he looked a lot more badass doing it when he was breathing heavily, covered in sweat, and had just been through everything he had. His moves didn’t look perfect by any means but they were powerful looking and they didn’t look like the kind of strikes that Taylor would want to be hit with. She watched him finish up and immediately lean forward with his hands on his thighs, breathing heavily, and sweat dripping from his head to the floor.

“Everyone now gather around in the center of the dojo!” Preston said.

At that moment everyone almost looked like zombies to Taylor as they just walked to the center. She followed along, feeling awkward like she often did in here.

“What are we doing?” she asked Haley as she walked up to her.

“You stay behind everyone,” Haley said and for the first time she actually sounded like she was a bit annoyed at Taylor.

Feeling scolded, Taylor did what she was told. She watched everyone lining up in order, but instead of being spread out like they normally were, they were all in tight together with Taylor at the very back. She then watched them all get on their knees and get in somewhat of a fetal position, but all facing the floor. Preston stood on top of all of them looking down at them and when it looked like he was about to look back at her, she did the same, fearing what would happen to her if she didn’t. She kneeled there huddled up with her arms covering her head, looking at the floor, and she had this gut feeling inside of her that something bad was about to happen.

“Everyone look up,” Preston said. She sat up, saw everyone else do the same, and felt some relief. “Najee, come on up.”

Najee stood up and Taylor’s feeling of fear quickly turned to excitement when she saw that Preston was holding a folded up brown belt in his hand. Najee kneeled next to him.

“Najee, you always work extremely hard in class so it’s my honor to award this to you,” Sensei said. “You still have a long journey ahead of you but today you are taking a big step in that journey.”

As Taylor watched the two men shake hands she felt her eyes water up. She watched Najee take the belt from him, take off his green belt, and the proud look she saw on the sweaty man’s face almost made those tears start coming out. The man probably had everything he needed in life with his doctor career, his wife, and his BMW, but he still came to karate class with all of these different types, never acting like he was better than any of them and always happy to help. Watching him stand there with his new brown belt tied around his waist was a sight of beauty, a picture that she planned on calling to her mind whenever she was feeling low.

“Class dismissed,” Preston said and everyone stood up. People quickly started to talk amongst each other causing some noise. Taylor tried to push through them as she just wanted to walk right up to Najee and give him a big hug whether he wanted one or not. As she made her way closer she saw Haley and gotten to him first.

“I challenge you after class,” Haley said to him anxiously.

“What?” he said and he let out a bit of his contagious laugh. Apparently no one else was interested in watching this little confrontation or they didn’t care because they all started walking away. A curious Taylor continued to observe.

“I’m better than you and you know it,” Haley said. “Spar with me after class so I can whoop you.” Taylor had never seen Haley like this and she didn’t like it.

“I just earned my brown belt and I’m going to go home and relax. Maybe some other time.” Najee was still smiling but Taylor thought she detected some nervousness. She wasn’t liking the way Najee was getting treated today.

“Yeah, enjoy that brown belt around your waist,” Haley said as he started to walk away. “A belt doesn’t make you tough, remember that.”

Najee stopped in his tracks. She just wouldn’t stop and Taylor saw she had hit the nerve.

“Alright fine, what’s a little more karate today,” Najee said.

Taylor looked around. Most of the dojo had cleared out but Dallas was still in there drinking out of his water bottle. She quickly made her way over to him. “Wanna fight?” Taylor said.

He looked like he choked on his water a bit before he put the bottle down away from his face. “What?”

“Want to spar after class?”

“I’m not sparring with you anymore. You cheat.”

“You charged at me, I wasn’t sure what else to do. But I’ve been training and I’m better now. Let’s go again. No more charging each other, no more headlocks. Just regular karate.”

“Don’t try and chicken out the way Najee tried to,” Haley called to him. “Fight her.”

Dallas didn’t say anything but he put his bottle down and started getting on his pads. Taylor walked over and put on her pads. She walked towards the middle of the dojo with her pink girly pads and Dallas followed. She briefly looked over at Haley and Najee getting ready to square off. Then she looked back at the tall, gangly, incredibly handsome man that was standing in front of her.

“Ready?” she said, making it a point to make her voice sound extra girly. “Go!”

She got in position, her hands up protecting her head so his forecasted punches wouldn’t be able to get through. She stood light on the balls of her feet like Najee had taught her recently, knowing that her legs were a lot stronger than any part of Dallas’s body and if he tried to go low she was going to make him pay.

While his expression looked scared, it did look a little brave as he aggressively went at her with a jab that definitely would have clocked her in the face when she had first started out, maybe even the last time they sparred. But she was able to shoo his punch away with a quick block. He threw two more quick jabs at her face that she barely blocked as well.

Seeing some discouragement in his eyes, she threw a punch at his face. He was barely able to block it but she could feel her arm being stronger than his from the contact and he took a step back. She threw a backhand that hit him hard on the side of the face, causing him to back up more. She punched him in the nose and he got his hands up in front of his face enough where she knew she wasn’t going to get another punch in up there but she could tell he was shaken up.

She just stood there and watched him stand scared like that before he slowly pulled his hands away from his face. He came at her hard again, but was clearly flustered, and she easily blocked his forecasted punches. She struck back, he blocked the first one, but she could tell the collision had more impact on his arm than hers again. She punched him in the face and he came back at her with three rapid punches that she blocked all of. She watched his hands drop down in front of his chest and she would have knocked him out with the wide open shot if she didn’t see how heavily he was breathing.

“You need a break?” she said.

She saw him thinking about it. “Nah,” he said, and she could hear his heavy breathing even more when he spoke.

Trying his best to be tough, he threw two more punches at her face that she blocked. When he came in with a third, she blocked that and he was close enough to her where she shoved him away from her. She lunged at him and punched him twice in the face. She lifted her leg, feeling how slow it was coming up due to her weight, but he had brought his guard up so high that she had all the time in the world.

“Ya!” she yelled as she kicked him in the hip.

He brought his guard down to his hip with both hands, now leaving his upper body wide open. She punched him twice in the face, watching his upper body swing back, the tall gangly guy looking like some jack-in-the-box swinging around that was going to fall over at any moment. With his lower body wide open, she kicked him in the stomach, and his guard again came down way too late.