Playing With Fire (Terry Silver)

Chapter Four

"Elswith."
Terry called over a girl to the mat.
"Kreese."
Terry called over Amara to the mat. Upon hearing her last name, everyone began whispering. This made Amara very uncomfortable. Amara hid her emotions very well but Terry was learning to see right through them.
"That's enough!"
He shouted. And everyone was almost immediately silent.

Amara took her position on the mat in front of Kreese.
"Alright. You've seen her fight once before. What's Piper's weakness?"
Kreese asked. Honestly, Amara had seen her do a tiny bit of sparring with another student.
"Um. Her left. She telegraphs her kicks."
Amara said. She wasn't exactly confident in her answer but she said it confidently enough that Kreese believed her.
"Then you know what to do."
He smirked at her and she nodded.

Amara turns onto the mat. Both of the fighters took their fighting positions.
"Aits!"
Kreese shouted. The two began to fight. Piper did a cartwheel towards Amara and threw a punch which Amara easily blocked. Amara scoffed and walked to the other corner of the mat as Piper did any other cartwheel towards the other corner.
"Are you just going to dance around or are you actually going to throw something?"
Amara challenged her with a smirk on her face. Amara like to get competitive. Especially since she had to show the class how good she was.

Both of the girls were looking eye to eye
"Why not both?"
Piper teased back. She ran to Amara and threw a kick which she easily dodged. Amara grabbed her shoulders and the two spun around with one another. Amara lifted her knee and hit Piper in the stomach, causing her to let out a loud grunt. Piper tried to sweep Amara's feet but she jumped over her leg and swept hers instead, causing her to fall to the ground. Amara looked up and saw Terry with a disappointed look on his face and Kreese with a smirk on his.
"We should do that again sometime."
Piper smiled.
"Don't get your hopes up."
Amara smiled back to her. She helped her stand up off of the mat. The two both bowed to one another.

"Should've chose me."
She mouthed to Terry, while going back to her spot on the mat.
"Good one, Sensei Kreese. Who's next?"
Terry said, his voice and demeanour back to normal.

Park and another boy who's name I didn't catch were next up. Although the fight was over almost as soon as it started. Park was very easily able to distract the other bit and throw him over his shoulder.
"Another one for me."
Amara could practically hear the smirk in Kreese's voice.
"Good work Mr.Park."
Kreese praised him.
"Thank you Sensei."
He bowed and went back to his spot on the mat.
"Double or nothing?"
Terry asked.
"Okay."
Kreese paused for a moment to think about who to pick next.
"Mr.Keene"
Kreese called up. Terry thought for a moment before saying,
"Payne."
Some of the class snickered at this, Kreese included. Amara was curious to S.E. where this would go.

The boys both took their positions on the mat. They bowed to one another and got into fighting positions.
"Aits!"
Kreese called out, beginning the match. Robby threw a punch that was very light and Kenny was easily able to dodge. Robby then threw a small kick that caused Kenny to gasp aloud.
"Aits!"
Ronny yelled as he threw yet another kick that landed on Kenny's side causing him to grunt in pain. Robby immediately dropped the fight and walked over to Kenny,
"Hey, are you okay?"
Kenny didn't answer and instead just looked into his eyes with a look of pain on his face.
"Back to your corners."
Kreese announced. Amara couldn't hear what Kenny and Terry were talking about, but she was close enough to Kreese that she could overhear his conversation with Robby.
"Stop playing with him. Take him down."
Kreese ordered Robby in a firm tone.
"Yes Sensei."
Robby agreed. Terry looked over towards Kreese's direction and yelled
"Back on the mat."
The two bowed to one another and took their fighting positions once again.
"Aits!"
Kreese shouted beginning their match. Robby threw a punch that Kenny blocked but he also threw a kick at the same time that hit Kenny in the side, causing him to groan.
"Hey, K-Kenny. I'm.. I'm sorry if-"
Robby started but was quickly knocked down the the mat by Kenny who dropped to his knees and swept his feet all in one swift move. Robby groaned in pain. All of the students looked shocked, Amara included. Nobody was expecting that to happen. Terry just grinned and chuckled. Amara heard Kreese dish in disappointment. Kenny and Terry high five one another. Both of them have big smiles on their faces.
"There. What did we learn? The common belief is, you shouldn't care what other people think about you, right?"
Terry said walking around the classroom.
"Wrong. What your opponent is thinking is key. In war. In business."
Terry pointed towards the centre of the mat where Robby and Kenny were both standing.
"In a fight. Don't let your opponent think whatever they want. Make them think what you want them to think. If they think you're weak, that's when you can surprise them with your strength."
Terry nodded approvingly towards Kenny.
"Good job."
He said while patting him on the back. Terry walked over to Kreese with a big grin on his face,
"You owe me some brewskis, brother."
Terry laughed into his ear as he walked into the office.
"Class dismissed!"
Kreese shouted angrily as he too, stormed off into the office. Not wanting to get involved with their Sensei drama, Amara decided to hang out in the dojo and meet some of her teammates. She walked over to the girl with blond hair who she found out was Nichols.
"Hey, look who it is."
Nichols said, standing next to Robby.
"I'm Tory by the way."
Tory said with a smile.
"Amara."
She smiled right back.
"You did awesome out there."
Tory complimented her.
"Thanks. You did too."
The girls smiled at one another.
"Iv e gotta get going I've got a shift at work."
Tory said waving goodbye to Amara and Robby. They waved her off and began to talk.
"You and Kenny are pretty close, huh?"
Amara asked, taking a step closer to Robby.
"Yeah. I was in juvie with his brother. I'm protecting Kenny while his brother is away."
Robby explained and Amara nodded. She so desperately wanted to ask what he went to juvie for but she didn't want to ruin their friendship.
"Well pretty soon he won't need protecting. He's strong. Kids going to be a great fighter before you know it."
Amara said with a smirk. And she didn't doubt that for one minute. She could tell that Kenny was very determined. Robby nodded his head in agreement.
"Hey, would you by chance want to grab some lunch together sometime?"
Robby asked Amara nervously. Amara thought about it for a moment,
"Sure. I'd like to. But today I'm going to have to take a rain cheque. I've got a Sensei war to contain."
Amara motioned to the office with a slight chuckle. Robby laughed and smiled,
"Sure. Rain cheque it is."
He smiled and walked out of the dojo, leaving Amara by herself.