Milk and Cigarettes

Chapter 1

The boy who stood in front of me was nothing like I had imagined. When my best friend, Roger, convinced me to fight at an underground wrestling match, I thought I'd be going up against someone more meaty. I had never been much into sports, but Roger thought that I was limber and agile and that I'd enjoy myself. I told him no way, that that was a terrible idea. He just shook his head when I said I'd walk out of the place with every limb of mine broken. Roger thought the exact opposite. He always told me I was capable of much more than I thought and always encouraged me to try out different things. I only agreed to the match because Roger would be going away to college soon, and I wanted to make him proud of me. Roger was like the big brother I never had. Anyways, there I was, up against my first, and hopefully last, opponent. His tall lanky figure stood confused and off beat. I assumed because I was nothing like he'd imagined either. This was, after all, an amateur match. Roger had taught me all of the moves I had now known in just a matter of a week. I was hoping this boy was as lost and nervous as I was, too. The referee, who was a guy Roger graduated with, blew the whistle, indicating the start of the match. With my hands in defense in front of me, I stood low like I'd been told. My heart raced and all I wanted was to back out already, but, I didn't want to disappoint Roger. The boy in front of me was already sweating as he took one step forward, which caused me to take one step back. We went back and forth like this for a while and the abandoned factory we were in remained silent, despite all of the neighborhood kids residing in it. Someone called out, "Hey, are you two girls going to start or what?" which made me smile because he must've not realized I was, in fact, a girl. That comment fueled me with more confidence, to which I took two steps forward, bent down, laid one hand behind the boys left leg and the other behind his right. I felt him try to push me off of him but I pulled, leaving him to fall hard on his back. I heard Roger clapping for me and my heart raced in astonishment that I'd just carried out a move I had only just learned. The boy raised back up onto his feet and I took a few steps back, giving us both space. He smiled slightly at me before quickly moving forward, locking his hands together around my thigh, and pulling. I fell down, but not too hard, and rose back up, looking to Roger who gave me a reassuring head nod. The boy gave me a serious look, his eyebrows scrunched. All I wanted was for this to end, to tell Roger I didn't like it and for him to disappointingly say okay. My opponent stood low but still, resisting to make another move although I made a perfect opportunity for him to take me down once again. Finally, I decided to step forward, laying my hand behind his neck. This forced him to step towards me and I reached down, taking his ankle in my hand, causing him to lose balance and fall. I didn't know what to do at that point, but I wanted it to be over. I put my legs on either side of him and pinned his hands down to the mat. This was made too easy for me, which prompted me to think he was letting me win. I wondered if he could tell I was a girl, although I thought my baggy t-shirt eliminated any sign of that. It didn't bother me. What bothered me was that he smirked at me in my position, and then tapped out. I quickly got off of the boy as the referee, also known as Joe, took my hand and raised it up.

"Our winner is Wendy!" He yelled as people clapped and cheered. Roger cheered the loudest amongst them all, which made me happy. I took off my helmet, which was squishing my hair down, and saw a few guys whispering in the crowd in shock that I was a girl.

"And the loser is Leo!" Joe pointed to my opponent who smiled at me and walked off the mat, disappearing into the crowd of neighborhood kids.