The next day at school arrived, and with it, the muscle aches from my intense workout. "Man, my muscles are hurting," I complained as I walked through the school hallways. "I've been working out twice a day, and I'm already getting stronger and even a little taller, but nothing too significant... yet."
As I was locking my bike in the bike rack, Demitri approached. "Clark, come on, classes are about to start," he warned.
"Sure, let's go," I replied, following him.
"Hey man, is there any girl you like?" I asked as we walked. "There are a lot of hotties around here."
"What? You think any of these girls would give me a chance?" Demitri replied in disbelief. "Haha."
"Haha, seriously, man, if you think like that, there's no way a girl would like you," I commented, laughing. "What about you, Eli?"
"Man..." Eli began hesitantly. "You know that scar on my lip? All the girls make fun of me because of it. How am I supposed to get any of them to like me like that?"
"You guys are really losers, huh..." I shook my head in disappointment. "You don't even try and you give up."
"Yes, that's right," Demitri agreed. "You should be content with that too. Once you start hanging out with us, give up on having any relationships with any girls before college."
"Haha, man, screw you, seriously," I replied, walking away from them and heading towards the classroom.
"Hey man, I was just telling the truth, hahaha," Demitri yelled as I walked away.
Eli smiled, agreeing with Demitri.
At recess...
"Dude, are you coming with us to recess again?" Demitri asked.
"No, I'm going to be alone for a bit today. There's a place I want to go," I replied mysteriously.
Demitri looked at me suspiciously. "Okay then, man," he said. "Come on, Eli. Leave this crazy guy alone."
I laughed and gave him a thumbs up before heading out onto the terrace. It had been almost a week since I had seen or spoken to Tory since that day.
"I mean, we only have one class together a week, which in this case is today, so why not talk to her? Hehe...", I thought, as I walked up the stairs.
"So you're here today too, huh?" I asked, finding her on the terrace.
"Clark!" Tory exclaimed, surprised. "You've been missing. I thought you liked solitude, but that's not the case, is it?"
"I was feeling a little bad that day," I explained. "These past few days, I've been pushing those thoughts aside, as well as the grief… It's hard to let go of the memories, our parents, but I can't stay angry for the rest of my life. It's bad for both my soul and my health…"
Tory looked at me for a moment and then said, "Hmm, you might be right..."
I smiled and sat down next to her. "So, what interesting things happened these past few days?" I asked.
"Not much has happened, really," she replied. "The only news is that I got a job at a new place... They fired me from the old one..."
"And why did they fire you?" I asked, curious.
"Those idiots fired me because I complained about the pay and the long hours," Tory explained angrily. "I was practically enslaved in that place, it was horrible..."
"What the hell, Tory..." I said indignantly. "I'm glad you found another job."
"Yeah, that one seems more relaxed," she agreed.
"And your mother? How is she?" I asked, worried.
"She's a little better," Tory replied. "She's able to eat and talk properly..."
I smiled and said, "That's great..." I looked up at the sky and continued, "Even though it's hard, Tory, you're doing all this, enjoying all the time you have with her... You never know when our parents will be around in the world..."
"I see..." Tory muttered thoughtfully.
"I've heard some things about you," I said. "I don't know if it's true..."
"Ham?" Tory asked, surprised. "What did you hear?"
"That you are hot-headed and quarrelsome, that you have fought several times here at school, especially with men," I revealed.
"GRR, who told you that?" she asked angrily.
"It was a friend of mine...", I replied, giving a light laugh.
"THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE LAUGHING AT, IDIOT?" Tory yelled, furious.
"Haha, you really are hot-headed...", I teased.
"GRR, YOU..." she growled, grabbing the collar of my shirt. "DON'T CALL ME A HOT-ASS!"
"WOW WOW, calm down, kitten," I said, raising my hands in surrender. "Maybe 'tigress' suits you better, huh?"
"Your... YOUR..." she stuttered, before jumping on top of me.
"This position is a little weird, don't you think? 'Kitten'," I teased, with a smirk.
"Clark... Don't provoke me, or I'll kick your ass," she threatened.
"Calm down," I said, my hands still raised.
Quickly, I pulled her beneath me, reversing our positions.
"And now? Who's on top of who?" I asked, with a victorious smile.
"You idiot, don't forget that you started it," she replied, before kicking me between the legs.
"ARRG..." I groaned in pain, falling to the ground. "AHHH, TORY, DAMN IT, I WAS JUST KIDDING, I DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT... Arrg, that hurts so much, shit..."
"HUNF, don't forget that you were the one who started teasing me," she replied, with a mocking smile.
While I was still writhing in pain, she continued to mock me.
"You're so weak, Clark," she said. "I thought we were going to fight for real, but you can't even take a kick in the balls... How do you feel after that, 'manly'?"
"Shit..." I muttered, slowly standing up. "You have no idea, but this shit hurts like hell... I was just kidding, damn it..."
"He looked at me with contempt. "Chee chee chee, you're not a real man, are you? Are you going to fall like that just because of a little kick in the balls? Are you really that weak?"
"Shit," I thought, struggling to my feet. "I can't be humiliated like this. You're not getting out of here without getting punched first, Tory..."
"So come on, 'little woman'," she teased.
I stepped towards her and punched her in the face. She dodged it and punched me in the stomach.
"Shit, she can actually fight," I thought, surprised. "I thought all that karate crap was just talk, but she can actually fight."
After the punch in the stomach, she tried to punch me in the face. I defended and tried to knock her down.
She was the same height as me, but I was heavier. I held her for a moment, like boxers do, to give myself a break. It was still hurting badly from the kick she had given me in the balls...
"What's wrong? Are you going to grab me now?" she asked, with a sarcastic smile. "I thought we were going to fight, not date."
She brought her face close to my ear and whispered, "Young lady..."
"GRR, damn it, Tory, I'm going to..." I growled, struggling to get free.
"You're going to be an idiot," she replied, pushing me back and kicking me in the chest.
I fell to the ground again.
"ARRG," I groaned in pain. "Thoughts: Even if it's Tory, damn, I'm being humiliated by a girl. What the fuck... If my balls weren't hurting so much, I wouldn't take these blows..."
"Clark, even though you're still feeling pain from my kick... You're too weak," she said, with a tone of disappointment.
"Okay then, Tory. I didn't want to use this on you, but since you asked..." I replied, assuming my fighting stance. Basically, I was copying Baki's stance.
"Hoo, so you knew how to fight, huh..." she commented, surprised. "I realized that when you blocked that punch of mine."
"Enough talking. You've really pissed me off with all this," I said angrily.
"Alright then, young lady," she replied, with a challenging smile.
She ran towards me, trying to punch me in the face again. I dodged and punched her in the stomach.
I started throwing a series of punches at her: in the arms, in the stomach... I avoided her face, she couldn't defend herself. Then, I gave her a side kick to the leg. She lost her balance and I quickly went behind her and put her in a rear naked choke.
"SHIT...ARRF," she moaned.
"Give it up, Tory," I said, squeezing a little tighter.
But she didn't want to give up.
"Shit, you just wanted a chance to get behind me, right, you bastard?" she muttered.
"WHAT? What are you talking about, girl? You asked for all of this," I replied, confused.
"Shit, she was already turning red and wasn't going to give up...", I thought, worried. I decided to let her go.
"ARRF ARRF, HAM? Why are you... aARRF ARRF," she coughed, trying to catch her breath.
"Are you an idiot? Did you really want me to make you pass out?" I asked in disbelief.
"You idiot... I felt you, you pervert! You were hard behind me? What the hell is this?" she asked, furious.
"What are you talking about? Of course not..." I replied, trying to hide my embarrassment. "Thoughts: Shit."
"Are you serious, man?" she asked, with a suspicious look. "HAHAHA, you stupid virgin! Did you really get hard by grabbing me? Hahaha."
"Shit, sorry, Tory," I said with a forced smile.
"HAHAHA," she laughed, non-stop.
The bell rang, announcing the end of recess.
"Well, class time has finally arrived. I'll be going now...", I said, standing up.
"You pervert, are you just going to leave like that?" she asked, pointing down.
"Come on, I'm going to the bathroom to pee. Bye," I replied, walking away.
"HAHAHA..." she laughed. "He really was quite big..."
As I walked down the stairs...
"Shit, how could I be so ridiculous?" I thought, embarrassed. "I mean, man, I got hard just from fighting a girl. What the fuck, man..."
"I also blame my stupid teenage body... This body looks exactly like me when I was 15... Hahah, shit, I forgot all that. In my past life, I know this shit is weird, but I only learned what masturbation is when I was 16 or 17... Hahaha, what a mistake I made. But surely..."
"MASTURBATION IS FOR THE POOREST, IT'S FOR THE MOST IDIOTS ON THIS EARTH... IT TAKES AWAY YOUR ENERGY, LEAVES YOU LIKE A ZOMBIE AND GIVES YOU NOTHING BUT A MOMENTARY PLEASURE THAT, AFTER IT PASSES, YOU FEEL A FILTHY DEPRESSION. IT'S THE WORST OF ALL FOR ME... THE LACK OF GOD, YOUR SPIRIT IS SUCKED ALONG WITH THAT FILTH, IT DOESN'T ONLY TAKE AWAY THE MATERIAL THINGS FROM YOU, BUT IT ALSO SUCKS YOUR SOUL WITH ALL THE ROT IT CARRIES..."