Gianni and Me

Chapter Thirteen

Charlotte wakes me up with a harsh shake, to which I curse and toss a pillow her way. Of course, it misses her by like, five  feet, but in my defense, I was still half asleep. 

"What?" I grumble out and turn over. She pulls my pillow out from under my head. 

"Wake up, training starts in twenty minutes!" 

That wakes me. I bolt up and look at my best friend, wide eyed. "Today?"

She nods with her famous grin. "Yup." 

I run to my closet and throw on a pair of workout leggings, along with a sports bra and a black tank top. I top it off with a purple sweatshirt, because the castle runs cold. 

What a weird sentence, huh?

"What do you think?" I come out, fully clothed and ready. Minus a ponytail and running shoes.

"Good." She eyes me closer and then shakes her head, laughing to herself. I look down. Do I have a stain on me? 

"What?" I feel like I'm asking this a lot today. 

Charlotte squints, scanning me. "Do you have anything to tell me?" She asks, all suspicious and whatnot, which is even more confusing than the weird faces she's sending my way. 

"Um, not that I know of..." 

She only nods and stands. "Come on, then, let's go." She scans me again. Okay, what is actually going on? 

"Charlotte, tell me." I urge, with a tug on her sleeve. She points to my shoes and I begrudgingly put them on. 

"Later... I guess..." Charlotte says in that weird tone of hers. 

What does that mean?  "Charlotte-"

"Olive, we'll talk after, it's not a big deal, don't worry about it!" She claps once and opens my door. "Let's turn you into an asskicker."

An hour later, I'm sweating bullets, while Charlotte manages to look like a glistening queen. Dirk is my instructor today, but he said that he and Tricia will be switching back and forth. 

He's taught me the fighting stance, along with how to punch with the proper form, and a few different workouts to build my strength and stamina. It's been painful, but... I've never felt more powerful. 

"Alright, Olive, give me a two punch combo. Left, right." Dirk says, holding up his hands, covered in boxing pads. 

I get back into the stance, think of the form, and punch. 

"Good. Again." We do this for about five minutes. I'm breathing heavily by the end of it and Charlotte claps from somewhere behind me. 

I take a swig of water while Dirk gives more tips and advice on punching, along with kicks. 

" I have to go teach a class, but I'll see you again tomorrow. Tricia will train you Thursday." Dirk slips off his gloves. A tattoo shows over his ring finger. My heart swells at his choice to keep a symbol there when his ring is off. 

"Thank you, Dirk." I say with a sweaty smile, and go to the mats to stretch. 

"Of course. See you." 

"Bye." He leaves quickly after and Charlotte plops down next to me.

"Don't think I forgot." I immediately state before taking another sip of water. 

Charlotte laughs and leans back on her hands. "I knew you wouldn't forget." 

"I thought to myself, was Charlotte upset about something or just constipated?"