Nefretiri
Ivan signals us to start, and my stomach feels like it's in a million knots. What was he thinking? I get that he's trying Ava and Monica's sink or swim tactic on me, but this is insanity.
Carl, my sparring partner, looks just as nervous as I do, but I don't think it's for the same reasons. At nineteen years old, he's ten times more skilled than I am, and beating me isn't going to be difficult.
"No holding back," Ivan warns us as we circle each other.
Great, I was about to humiliate myself in front of all the people my age, and I was doing it on a full stomach.
Maybe it wouldn't feel so bad if everyone wasn't watching us. They all had this fucked up illusion that I was actually good at this, but their rose-tinted glasses were about to be shattered when they saw how weak I was.
It didn't help that Aurora and her friends had come to the packhouse too. I didn't know where they were, but I was sure they were watching this go down.
