Kylee's Story Part 1

Man, I hate hooks. I'm fighting to keep my wrist straight and because I'm concentrating so hard on that, I can never get any power behind the punch. Screw it, I'll just throw an elbow or a knee if someone gets this close.

"The look of concentration you have makes you look mildy constipated. I'm just saying," said Kari, who was not only my current bag partner but also my roommate.

"Shut up Kari, or I'll tell Mike that you sing to yourself when you're on the toilet." Oh yeah, she's also dating my brother.

I practiced a few hooks in slow motion, trying to make it feel more natural. When I was feeling confident I tried throwing one at full speed and felt my wrist pop when I hit the bag.

"Sonovabitch!" I glared daggers at the stupid punching bag while massaging my sore wrist. It didn't feel like anything was broken at least.

"It would feel more natural if you kept your striking arm closer to your body and rotated from your hips rather than just your shoulders," came a voice from behind me. Even if I hadn't been familiar with that voice, Kari's smirk would've tipped me off. Ballsack.

"Hey Will," Kari said, "How's Econ treating you?"

"Meh, Professor Anderson is Satan, but I'll be able to pull a C at least. How about you?"

I continued doing hooks while Kari exchanged pleasantries with Will, AKA Current Bane of My Existence. Sure, he had the whole "Sexy Australian" thing going for him, but he also had this way of annoying the hell out of me with less that ten words. One time he did it in four. Did he realize that he did this? I don't really know. And was I going to blame him anyway? You betcha.

My revenge on the punching bag was interrupted when Will said, "Leanna, are you trying to hurt yourself? Here, let me show you." I clenched my fists and stepped back while he executed a textbook perfect hook. Watching did help me realize what I was doing wrong, but I'd be damned if I told him that. When he was done, he asked me to try a few, which I did half-heartedly.

"Looking better already. See ya later Kari." He winked and left.

When he was gone I snorted in disgust then turned and threw a solid hook at the bag. It felt awesome.

"Man, if I wasn't head over heels in love with Mike I would totally hit that," said Kari. She wasn't talking about the punching bag. "What the crap is your problem?!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm just not into patronizing, infuriating, cocky douche bags who think they're god's gift to women. I don't understand how you can stand sitting next to him for more than five minutes, this seriously baffles me. Sure, he has that hot accent and he smells amazing but...what?" I cut off my tirade at the sight of Kari's smirking face.

"You think I smell awesome? I want to say that's adorable, but it's mostly weird."

Note to self: Kill Kari. I'm sure Mike would understand.

I just stood there, frozen and staring at the punching bag. In my periphery, I saw Will bend down and grab the water bottle he'd forgotten.

"I saw that hook by the way, it looked good and solid. You're welcome." I could just hear the smugness dripping from his words, and I felt heat rise to my face. I glanced over to see if he was leaving yet. Nope. He was just standing there expectantly. As I watched, he leaned against the wall, folded his arms across his chest and raised his eyebrows as if to say, "I'm waiting".

"Thanks for the help," I said with clipped words, imagining his perfect teeth just falling out of his mouth made the words a little easier to say. I then turned to grab my stuff so that I could go and mourn the departure of my dignity in the comfort of my own room.

"If you're really grateful, you'll have dinner with me this Friday," he said. I turned and raised an eyebrow at him. Seriously?

"I work Fridays," I said, then started walking out of the room into the main gym. Kari was taking her own sweet time grabbing her gear. Will walked next to me, he really did smell amazing. I'm pretty sure I smelled like cheetos and....death.

"How about tonight then?" he asked. I opened my mouth to make up an excuse, but Kari beat me to the punch.

"That's perfect! Lea, you just told me that you don't have any homework tonight and wanted to go out for Italian. Now I don't have to!" I'm fairly positive I resembled a fish with my mouth hanging open and gaping at the traitor who Kari had become.

Will's face lit up and he said, "Excellent! How does an hour sound? Good? Ok, I'll pick you up at seven then!" and with his usual wink, he left.

I waited until I saw him drive away before turning to Kari and saying, "Just so you know, you're dead to me. Also, I'm calling dibs on the last of your peanut butter as payment for this betrayal."

"Oh you totally want him. And if you take the rest of my peanut butter I'll have no choice but to finish off your brownie ice cream."

"You suck."

"I love you too Lea."