In All Shapes and Sizes

Chapter Three

 NINA

 I thought he would be a tougher opponent based on what the instructor said about him. Not only that, but he was almost as tall as my Dad and that was saying something. But he sure as hell not as strong as Dad. If it was that easy to beat him, then all of the other students must've been chickens. They were all probably intimidated by his height and never wanted to fight him.
 This guy was irritating. Why the hell was he so tall? It pissed me off. And he had the nerve to ask about my height? I stood above him now.
"That's what you get," I said to him and held out my hand. Hey, I may hate the guy, but I didn't want to completely humiliate him. He ignored my gesture and helped himself up.
I could feel eyes boring into me.
"Nina..," the instructor started, "what belt did you say you earned before you came here?" He seriously didn't believe me? I already told him, but of course he has to ask again.
"Like I said," I started, "first-degree black belt."

 I've been taking tae kwon do since I was six-years old. Everyone was staring at me now. I looked at the belt on the really tall guy's waist. It was a black belt, first-degree.

 If he has the same level belt as me then why was it so easy to take him down, I thought to myself. Wait. Was he going easy on me? That egocentric jerk! I turned away from him and sat back down.
The tall guy ended up not going twice. I did that for him. Again, I won the sparring match. I was beginning to think that the studio was filled with weaklings until I looked at the Instructors' belts. The instructor called, Jeremy had a third degree black belt. He was supposedly a new instructor. Danny, the one who I talked with when I got here, had a sixth degree black belt. And the other instructor, I can't remember his name, had an eighth degree black belt.
Eighth degree, I thought, same as Joe.
I wiped the thought of that guy away from mind.
When tae kwon do ended, I went out front and opened the maps app on my iPhone. Our new house wasn't far away so I told my Dad that I'd walk home. It seemed like forever until I got home though.
I almost forgot what our new house looked like. Until I saw the giant sign out front that said:

THIS IS OUR NEW HOUSE NINA! LOVE, MAYA!

 I sighed. I may not have the best sense of direction, but I'm not that hopeless. It only took me.... forty minutes to get here. Hey, I actually got there quicker than I thought it would.
I pushed open the front door only to be tackled by Maya, my little sister.
"Nina!" she whined and acted like she was crying, "we thought you were lost again!" I put down my bag and closed the door. Maya, being the monkey she was, climbed on my back and held on tight as I walked into the kitchen.
"Uhh," Maya started, "where are you going?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to the kitchen!"
"But," she hesitated, "the kitchen is that way."She pointed to my left. I grunted.                                               "I knew that!" And then I walked toward the kitchen...for real this time. I walked in and saw my Dad making dinner.                    

"Hey, I'm making steak stir fry, your favorite!" He looked at us as we stood in a doorway. There was a half wall to the right of the kitchen that opened up to a living room. It was filled with cardboard boxes.      "Dad?" I saw him tense and put down a spatula.

"Ye-yes? Nina dearest?" Now he was nervous.
"Why haven't you started unpacking?" I smiled a smile that said, you-better-not-have-lazed-around-all-day-for-the seventh-day-in-a-row! He laughed nervously.
I set Maya down.
That's when I walked toward him and punched him hard on his arm. Yes, I punch my Dad. I live in what you call a unique family.
"You're so scary when you're mad Nina," he whined.
"Ugh! Spare me." he didn't even go to rub his arm. I got my strength from my Dad and my height from my Mom. So, of course he wouldn't even wince if I punched him.
We all had dinner together after I told my Dad to start unpacking tomorrow so that way I could help him over the weekend. He agreed with my terms and with that Maya and I slept on a blow-up mattress in the dining room since our beds weren't in our rooms yet.
When I fell asleep, I dreamt about being a giant and standing over everyone. Except for one person.