Weekend Wrestling

"This is so cool!" she said.

"It's pornographic!" replied Chloe. She looked around at the crowd again, fired up and noisy, and felt rather uncomfortable.

The two wrestlers were still going. The topless girl seemed unfazed at the fact that everyone could see her breasts, and her opponent was just as cocky as ever. She even jiggled her own breasts (still covered by her T-shirt but obviously much bigger than her opponent's) in mockery, but her words were drowned out again. The other girl charged for a third time. This time they both went down, and for a moment it seemed that she had finally got the better of her taunter. But it was painfully obvious which of them was the stronger - despite starting out on top of the brown-haired girl, the smaller girl still ended up in a vice. Then bigger girl twisted her around, to show off her chest completely to the rapturous crowd, and even brought a hand around to play with her left breast.

"Give up?" she roared again, squeezing the poor girl's nipple. There was a pause, the black-haired girl gritted her teeth, and then nodded.

Another deafening roar from the crowd - even Kirsty and Paul cheered. A man walked onto the stage just as the brown-haired girl was physically picking up her opponent.

"Let's hear it for THE WOLF!" the referee shouted. The brown-haired girl, who Chloe supposed was meant to be the Wolf, was carrying her opponent off on her shoulders in one last humiliating display, disappearing into double doors at the other end of the ring.

Chloe still couldn't quite process what she'd just seen. She had no idea such things existed! Was she really the only one who thought this was obscene?

"You alright there, sugar?" asked Kyle, apparently off to get another round of drinks. Chloe suddenly felt silly - was her anxiety so obvious from her expression?

"Yeah... Yeah of course - just not what I was expecting. Is it always... like this?"

"Sometimes it can a get bit... raunchy," he replied with a wry smile. Chloe didn't press him for details.

There was a steady stream of people heading through to the bar, in what was apparently an interval before the next match. She stayed quietly in her seat. Paul and Kirsty were talking animatedly about something which Chloe was doing her best to ignore, and Diana tried to start a conversation a few times, but Chloe wasn't really paying attention. She kept replaying the match she'd just seen in her head - the brutal depravity of it, the way the crowd had cheered lecherously at that poor girl being stripped topless. She wondered what it must feel like to have so many people watching you struggle around naked like that, shouting names at you as you fought to keep your clothes. She shivered.

It was at least half an hour before the next match. She had been so focused on replaying the last one that she'd completely forgotten there was going to be another until she saw the referee stride out into the middle of the ring. Two women followed him, just as scantily clad as last time.

"Ladies and gentleman, please welcome to the ring our next set of contestants, battling it out for tonight's star prize - three thousand dollars!" The crowd roared on cue, and only now did Chloe see that one of the two was the same winner from last time, The Wolf. Her long brown hair was tied back again now, but she looked just as confident as ever. Her opponent looked quite unfazed, and was staring around at the audience with a voluptuous smile. Her hair was black, like her predecessor, but much shorter, and her frame was taller and almost ungainly. "I give you - The Wolf, and LaRouge!" More shouts, more cheers, and the two women drifted to opposite ends of the ring as the referee retreated to one side. Through the din, Chloe could just make out a whistle, and then it all began.

Even knowing what to expect, Chloe could still scarcely believe that this was a real event, and not the set of some porn film. The two wrestlers charged at the same time, falling into the glistening oil and lathering their bodies in it. They seemed somewhat more evenly matched, though 'LaRouge' still seemed to be struggling to make her height advantage work. Their grappling degenerated into mere rolling around. The Wolf made her first attempt at removing LaRouge's top, but failed and let her prey get away instead.

Chloe kept looking away to survey the faces in the audience from time to time, at the hundreds of pairs of eyes utterly focused on the depraved scene before them.

The same scene repeated over and over - they would run at each other, grapple around for a little, then break off, each time a little more worn down, especially LaRouge who was breathing heavily now. The Wolf seemed to realise her advantage, as the next time they broke apart she didn't wait, but instead barrelled straight toward LaRouge without letting her catch her breath. The surprised LaRouge went down awkwardly with the Wolf on top, but as she fell grabbed her attacker's T-shirt and pulled, tearing it.

The Wolf obviously hadn't expected this, and defended far too late. The crowd roared with delight as her right breast bounced freely. She didn't seem to care. Besides, her attack had worked - she had pinned LaRouge beneath her. LaRouge struggled and strained but there was no way she was getting away this time.

Chloe watched the scene with a strange fascination. She tried to imagine being topless in front of so many people, to have all these people cheering at her half-naked body. Somehow she doubted that her meagre breasts would get people quite as excited as the Wolf's bouncing bosom, but still. She blushed just thinking about it, and it made her feel... strange.

The Wolf was clearly playing the crowd, mocking her helpless opponent and making lewd gestures at LaRouge's ass, which was currently sticking up in the air. She shouted something inaudible, most likely asking LaRouge if she gave up. She shook her head.

So, the Wolf started spanking her. She could hear Kirsty cheering with everyone else, and even Diana giggled guiltily next to her. Again and again the Wolf slapped LaRouge's ass, and not exactly gently. Just twenty seconds later, the helpless girl tapped out and the Wolf was once again declared the winner.

Chloe let it all wash over her - the triumphant Wolf jumping up and down in victory (completely unbothered that her breasts were still exposed and bouncing up and down with her), the drunken catcalling of the audience, the surreal awarding of a trophy (she supposed the money must come later). Everyone seemed to take this in their stride. Again and again she kept imagining herself in the same position until she could almost feel all the eyes staring at her, and the deafening sound of the audience directed at her. She felt dizzy.

"I'll meet you in the bar," she said to Diana breathlessly, and hurried away.

It was ten minutes by the time her friends came through, by which time she had had a drink and calmed down somewhat.

"There you are," said Paul. "You alright Chlo?"

"Sure - just needed a drink!" she replied in a bid to sound chirpy and cheerful. Kirsty had apparently abandoned her attempt at making Paul jealous, and now seemed to be stuck to his side. This did nothing to cheer Chloe up.

Nor did the inevitable conversation that followed about the show they'd just seen. Chloe zoned out a little as they all sat with their drinks, as everyone replayed what they had just watched. Everyone seemed to agree that it was a lot of fun. She looked at Paul - was the reason she felt so uncomfortable because he'd just paid more attention to some half naked slut in a wrestling ring than he was ever going to pay to her?

"I think I'm gonna head off," she announced suddenly. There were the usual perfunctory "no no stay!"s, but eventually she said her goodbyes and left. No doubt they were already agreeing that boring, plain Chloe shouldn't have come, that this was obviously not her thing. No wonder Paul was never going to look twice at her.

She was going to get a taxi, but she found herself walking. It would be good to clear her head with a little walk before she called a taxi, she supposed.

The cold made her shiver, but still she walked, left alone with her miserable thoughts. She thought of Kirsty, and how easy she found it to get guy's attention. She thought of the girls in the wrestling ring, and how every guy (and a lot of the girls) in the room had cheered them on. Suddenly she found herself jealous even of that.

And with a final dejected sigh, she realised she had left her phone back at the bar. What a stupid way to end the night. Probably just as well that she hadn't gotten a taxi - she was only a ten minute walk from the club.

It felt like longer.

Already the bar was much emptier now. Apparently people didn't hang around once the show was finished. Understandable, she supposed. Her friends had seemingly gone too - the table they had sat at was one of many empty ones now. She was both relieved and annoyed to see that her phone was still there, alone on the bench. Could no one have picked it up for her?

Only as she went to leave for a second time did she realise that her friends had not, in fact, left at all. Or at least, two of them hadn't. Paul and Kirsty were at the bar, but they were paying no attention to her, or to anything else for that matter. They seemed entirely focused on forcing their tongues down each other's throat.

Oh, thought Chloe to herself, coldly. She watched them impassively for a second, before turning mechanically on the spot and walking out. Well, there we go.

She was still processing what she's just seen when she walked straight into a man outside the building.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she mumbled to the guy, who looked a little ruffled but otherwise didn't really give her a second glance. He did look familiar though. "Hey you're the referee!" she blurted out. He turned and smiled. He was indeed the same man who'd just overseen the two fights.

"You like the show?" he asked, with the same big toothy grin. She recalled all the scathing things she'd said to Diana about it, all the things she'd been thinking while watching, the way it had driven her friends away from her. But when she opened her mouth to answer she found herself saying something completely different.

"Are you still looking for wrestlers?" she said, before blinking slightly. The referee studied her closely, as though unsure of what she was asking. Even she wasn't sure what she'd just done. Where had that come from?!

"Are you asking for a friend here, or..?" he said. Chloe took another steadying breath. What on Earth was she doing?

"No, for me."

The referee looked her up and down with a new scrutiny, but also with a new look in his eye that wasn't there before. It was as though he was really seeing her for the first time. Chloe blushed slightly, and cursed herself silently for doing so. Eventually the big grin returned.

"Yeah, as it happens. We do what you might call 'amateur matches' Saturdays and Sundays. You come along tomorrow night, about seven o' clock - maybe we can get you in."

Chloe's heart was racing. Somehow she hadn't really thought this was going to happen and suddenly it felt a bit too... real. "C-could I wear a mask?" she asked. This was met with laughter.

"You nervous?" Chloe said nothing. Her face probably answered for her, but she also did not back down. "Sure. You bring a mask if you want, should be good for a laugh anyway. What's your name girl?"

"Chloe. Chloe Bentham."

"Ok Chloe, you can call me Jonas. If you haven't lost your nerve by tomorrow night, you'll want to be here, at seven PM. I'll tell the bouncer to let you through."

Seven PM. She had a whole day to back out if she wanted to. She could do this.

"I'll be there," she said, before scurrying away.

"Oh and Chloe?"

"Yes?"

"You'll need a stage name."

Saturday

Chloe awoke unusually early the next morning, especially given how long it had taken her to fall asleep the night before. Almost as soon as she woke up, the same futile cycle of thoughts that she'd gone through over and over in her mind last night all returned.

This is crazy, what was I thinking? But I'll be wearing a mask, it'll be fine. Yeah but I'll still be half naked - what if I lose my top like those other girls? Well, maybe I'm a little curious as to what that would feel like... But I'm not a slut! I don't do things like this! Yeah and where has that got me? Nowhere. But this isn't going to fix anything, or make Paul lose interest in Kirsty. This is crazy! What was I thinking? But I'll be wearing a mask...

She got out of bed at noon. She had no texts from the others, or anyone at all. In all the turmoil of her strange decision to sign up for an underground sordid wrestling match, she had almost been able to forget what she'd seen a minute before that. But every so often, unbidden, the image of the two kissing in that darkly lit bar entered her mind, and her stomach would twinge. Maybe actually going through with this would be a welcome distraction.

She had seven hours in which to decide. One thing was certain though, if she did go, she was definitely going to wear a mask. She couldn't risk anyone recognising her, no matter how unlikely that might be. And that was going to require shopping.

And so, Saturday afternoon found her walking along the high street looking for, of all things, a wrestling mask. She looked in a few stores, but 'masks' were sort of a specialty item, and the only things she saw were just comical, like Hallowe'en stuff. It was only when she tried a few sports shops that she saw what she was looking for - a ski mask. Black, lycra, and with a single horizontal strip for her to see out of. It only looked a little ridiculous, which was probably the best she could hope for.

Standing in line to pay, she tried to conjure up an image of herself actually wrestling in this thing, but she just couldn't. It all seemed so ludicrous! And yet, she'd just bought it.

Even back home, with less than four hours to go, she still couldn't decide if this was a good idea, or insanity, or both. Mostly she was horrified by the thought of a crowd of drunken hecklers seeing her topless, even if a small part of her actually felt a guilty thrill at the idea. Whenever she realised that she was dwelling on such an image with pleasure, she would blush and return to the same cycle of useless thoughts - back and forth, back and forth...

At five o' clock she took a shower, feeling oddly self-conscious of her own nakedness as she did so. When she emerged, she took a long, hard look at herself in the mirror, scrutinising her wet, naked body. She knew she wasn't unattractive - far from it in fact. She was slim, blonde, people had called her pretty. Her breasts were small, it was true, but they were perky as well. She looked at them now, glistening pink nipples and all, and tried to imagine a crowd of people seeing them. It was dizzying.

And then there was... down below. She guessed she didn't have to worry about that as much, since the wrestlers only seemed to get topless, but still... she didn't exactly keep things as 'maintained' as she did when she was twenty. In a fit of paranoia, she decided to trim back what little bush had built up. It was then, mid-way through shaving her vagina, that she realised she must have made up her mind.

Why not try it, just the once?

She was half expecting the bouncer to laugh her away when she turned up at seven o' clock, jittery and softly spoken, but he just smiled meaningfully and let her pass. She had no idea where she was going - Jonas hadn't really said - so she headed for the bar again. It seemed to be empty, until...

"Chloe! I didn't think you were gonna show!" Jonas was sat in the corner, beer in front of him, chatting to a patron. He said something to the guy, shook his hand, and then beckoned Chloe over as the man headed for the bar. She took the vacated seat, perched stiffly on the edge. "Nervous?"

"No! I mean, well, yes," she squeaked. Jonas laughed, a deep throaty laugh.

"Don't be! You look wonderful," he said. Chloe relaxed only a little. She had been so paranoid about what to wear, and whether she was wearing too much makeup or not. Which, she had to admit, was laughable. No one was going to be looking at her makeup and she certainly wouldn't be wearing the smart outfit that she'd decided to wear tonight.

"Can I still weak my mask?" she asked. This was the main thing. She'd managed to convince herself to try this, only as long as she could be anonymous. Jonas asked to see it, and she produced it from her bag. She'd tried it on at home, and it fit well. She'd even managed to cut a little hole at the top, so she could have a sort of pony-tail emanating from it. Her sleek blonde hair was one of the few things she was quite proud of. Jonas laughed again when he saw it, but said it was fine.

"Did you come up with a name then?" he asked. Chloe turned red. How stupid! She hadn't even thought about a name.

"Errm... I guess..." but it was no use, she couldn't come up with one on the spot. Jonas seemed to understand.

"Slipped your mind huh? How about 'The Masked Avenger?'"

"The Masked Avenger?" she repeated incredulously. She couldn't imagine anything cheesier. "Isn't that a little... melodramatic?"

"Trust me, the audience love shit like that. They're gonna love you!"

Chloe grinned despite herself. Maybe this was going to be OK.

Then Jonas got to the point - the waiver. Chloe had to sign a document saying that she consented to be in the ring, she consented to whatever might happen there, that the club wasn't liable for anything... that sort of thing. It also mentioned the prize...

"Five hundred dollars?" she said, astounded. "I get five hundred dollars if I win?" She honestly hadn't even thought about any money. Did this make it better or worse? Obviously five hundred dollars was five hundred dollars, but didn't this make her sort of... a stripper? It was a bit late to start being prissy about things like that.

"Standard prize money for an amateur match," Jonas said, as Chloe scribbled her signature everywhere she was asked to. "Now come on, I'll show you to the changing room and take you through how it works."

It was actually pretty simple, it seemed. Two girls go into the ring - two amateurs in tonight's case, girls who hadn't done it before. The ring would be slippery and lubricated. The first person to get the other girl to tap out, or say she gives in, wins. No physical injuring was allowed, but everything else was fair game. What could go wrong?

Chloe had never been a violent person. When she got angry, she usually just stayed frustrated for a day, or ranted to a friend, but never violent. And now she realised that she'd been so caught up in worries about managing to keep her clothes on, that she hadn't even given thought to the idea that she also had a wrestling match to win. She didn't know anything about wrestling! What would her opponent be like?

That question was answered soon enough. Jonas led her not out to the seats that she had sat at the night before, but around that whole enormous room to a makeshift changing room. It wasn't exactly the standard you'd get in a gym - it looked old and worn, even for a room that must surely have been right in the bowels of the club. But, it did at least have a set of metal lockers, and a door that appeared to lead to some showers. Sitting at the opposite end of the room, already dressed in the tiny lycra T-shirt and shorts she'd seen yesterday, was another girl.

"Hey," she said, looking up from her phone almost bored. She looked to be a tall and lanky girl, probably around Chloe's own age, mid-twenties or so. She had very pale skin, natural red hair that she'd tied back, and lazy green eyes. This was going to be her opponent.