Cracks

Chapter 10 Trust issues

It had been a while since she had woken up from a nightmare. She couldn't really remember what it had been about, only that she had been alone and terrified. When she'd woken up there had been tears on her cheeks.

On top of that, Trevor had been on her case the past few days. Her court date had been moved up.

And there were still midterms to worry about.

Perhaps that was why she was now staring at the doors of the Donnovan gym. She had found the card in her pocket this morning. She had already forgotten about it.

The building wasn't at all what she had expected. Instead of a slab of concrete in the middle of a busy street, a small paved pathway ran down a little garden. The building itself was one story and wood paneled. Much to her surprise it was wheelchair accessible.

She wheeled herself past the entrance with rows of lockers. A sign pointed towards dressing rooms and showers.

Allison headed or the gym itself. She entered a large open space. In the far right of the room was a boxing ring. Next to it hung two punching bags and on a few shelves she could see gloves and pads.

On the left of the room was training equipment. Treadmills, wights and other instruments.

The center of the room was empty with against the far back wall, large matts. Perhaps they were used for the karate Chase had mentioned.

There were only three people occupying the gym at the moment. Two of them were sparring in the ring. The other was lifting weights.

Allison watched for a while and sighed. What was she even doing here?

"Are you looking for someone?"

Allison looked up to find a man standing at her chair. He didn't seem much older than her. He had light brown hair and his green eyes studied her curiously.

"Are you Archer?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Archer's out on an errand. He should be back this afternoon. Should I tell him you stopped by?"

Allison shook her head. "No, forget it. It ain't important." She turned her chair to leave.

"Hey, wait up," the man said, "what did you need? Maybe I can help. I work here."

She shook her head again. "It's fine. Nevermind."

"Are you sure?"

Allison gritted her teeth. "Look, I don' need no help, okay? He just said to ask for Archer. It ain't important, so forget about it."

"He who?" the man asked confused.

Allison sighed. "This kid Chase. Just leave it already."

He smiled amused and let out a laugh. "You're friend's with Chase?"

"No," Allison spat, "I barely know him."

The man grinned. "Well enough apparently if he asked you to come here. He's not the most sociable person, so this is a big step." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Kai."

"Good for you," Allison said, "I'm leaving."

A vague smile appeared on Kai's lips, as if he knew something she didn't. She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"Nothing," Kai shook his head amused, "you just remind me of someone."

Allison huffed. "Whatever." It irritated her that he seemed so amused by her behavior. Normally people snapped at her or in Trevor's case told her to grow up. And of course Valerie would give her a lecture on respect.