Best friends Frankie and Penelope have just arrived in the Valley seeking to escape the past. All they needed was each other and a fresh start. They make new friends and potentially find love. Unbeknownst to them, they stumble upon a war between two...
Frankie thought if she hit the punching bag just a little harder, it might make her feel better. However, that was the third or fourth time she had that thought and it hadn't changed anything yet. She continued with the rolling punches, though, because she felt like it. Not because she thought that it would actually help, but because it felt good to hit something.
She wished she were alone, though, but the dojo was full of teenagers.
There was so much noise bouncing off the walls, there wasn't one distinct sound she could pull out. It was all clashing limbs and groans of pain with the occasional laughter and jeering. As it all became one big sound, it was easy to drown out with the rapid thump-thump-thump of her own heart in her ears.
It wasn't really the noise that was the problem, though.
While she was focused on the punching bag, her eyes wandered to the wall of mirrors before her. It gave her the perfect view of the entire room, though most of the people there were largely of no interest to her. However, each time this happened, her eyes were drawn to the large, red mohawk near the center of the room.
It was loud and annoying, seeming to go along perfectly with the boy it was attached to. She glared hard at him through the reflection as he laughed at something Miguel had said or he took down his sparring partner, then she punched her own target harder and regained her focus. She imagined it was Hawk and she was landing strike after strike into his face.
Tory stood to the side, lent against the wall with an amused little smirk on her face and arms crossed over her chest. She was well aware of the conversation Frankie had with Penelope, but it didn't stop her enjoyment from watching her wishing she could lay into Hawk and beat his teeth in.
"He's not a bad guy," Aisha told her, aware of the circumstances as well. She was close by, too, watching as she took cooling sips from her water bottle. While the day had been pretty chill when it came to training, watching Frankie nonstop attack the punching bag was kind of exhausting in of itself. "Hawk's actually really cool."
Frankie heaved out a sigh and dropped her arms to her sides, unintentionally glaring at her friends. Her jaw was tight and her hands were sore, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to let up anytime soon.
"I just don't like him," she told Tory and Aisha, not caring too much to keep her voice low. She didn't care if Hawk heard them talking about him. In fact, she wanted him to hear how much she disliked him. "Besides, a guy like him isn't what Pen needs right now."
"And why is that?" Tory asked pointedly. She and Aisha rose one brow each in questioning looks, but Frankie turned her back and took a sip of water.
Dread wanted to break its way into her chest, but she didn't allow it. She fought it off as memories flooded her mind, ones of Colorado autumn and high winds that brought about discomfort. The onslaught of emotions that wanted to fill her heart were shot down as she remembered how everything had changed for the worst.
She killed those throat-tightening, sore emotions for the better.
"She's never had a boyfriend," Frankie said simply, closing her water bottle tight and tossing it onto the floor.
Aisha hummed, giving a little nod. "Then maybe a boyfriend is exactly what Penelope needs."
Frankie shook her head, then went back to punching. Taking her stance, she kept her arms close until she was ready to strike, and each time the punching bag came back at her, she stopped it with her palm. Her hands were wrapped with care thanks to Tory, but it wouldn't have mattered. She'd be there with or without the wrap. And each hit was hard and merciless, the sound of her fist meeting the bag filling her ears. It was rhythmic and matched the tempo of her beating heart.
It wasn't as if she didn't want Penelope to one day find a boyfriend, quite the opposite actually. However, she couldn't help but think that now wasn't the time.
She also thought that her cousin deserved someone who was going to cherish her forever, not some one just looking for a summer fling. So, yes, she did want Pen to find happiness with someone one day, but she'd be damned if that person was Hawk.
She glanced at him in the mirror, glaring at his stupid, smiling face. His attention was on some newbies, whom he was supposed to be helping learn the basics. She didn't know whether or not if that was what he was actually doing, but he seemed so amused by their performance, she couldn't tell if he was actually helping anyone. She had it in ill faith to think that he wasn't really helping anyone.
Suddenly, he looked over and somehow caught her eye in the reflection of the mirror. He smirked at her, holding her gaze for a moment before looking away as if he hadn't seen her at all. He clapped his hands at the sparring match he was overseeing, as if she wasn't there at all.
Frankie felt her lip curl and a low growl actually emitted from her throat before she turned her attention back to the punching bag, except in her eyes it wasn't the bag anymore. It was Hawk. She threw a hefty punch at him and the bag nearly tipped over.
The only reason it didn't was because Tory jumped from her spot on the wall and caught it, setting it upright again.
"Whoa, remind me never to get on your bad side," she laughed, trying to ease the atmosphere. It had been thick and heavy since Frankie had walked in, as if she'd brought her own thunder cloud in with her. It seemed to hang low and have a downpour on her. Tory chose to ignore that feeling as much as possible and looked at her. "You're like the definition of small but mighty."
Frankie tilted her head, putting her chin up. "Better believe it."
Tory grinned and took a step over to her. "Oh, I can believe it."
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Jeez Wattpad just about gave me a heart attack. It's acting up and I just wanted to post this chapter.
It's short but that's just how it has to be. I didn't want to force myself to write a super long chapter when I wasn't feeling it.
Let me know what you think of Frankie here, because she's just so fun to write from!
