ONE

I am exceptionally good at what I do.

That sounded braggy. Let me try again. My name is Michael, but most people know me by my ring name, Ethan Carter III. As EC3, it is my job to make people hate me. Seriously, I literally get paid to piss people off. The fans love to hate me. This makes me a very good at my job.

My other job is more complicated, and it doesn't pay as well as wrestling does. Actually, it doesn't pay at all, but it should. I am a telepath. Yes, that means I know what people are thinking, and yes, I heard that. And that, too. Jeez, do you kiss your mother with that mind?

Moving on, I'm telling this story because someone should. It's not really mine to tell, it's her's... But here I am, and here I go.

I met her at her very first night wrestling with TNA. She wasn't green, but I didn't recognize her. I watched her train with Tanea, our very own Knockout Rebel. "Who's the new girl?" I asked James. You probably know James better as Spud. Yes, surprisingly, we are actually extremely close friends when not in character. He totally sends me random text messages with Winnie the Pooh quotes, too.

"Hey, Michael," he greeted me. "That's Emily. She's our newest Knockout, Abstract."

"Abstract... That's kind of badass." I studied her, liking her unique ring name and her equally unique style. "Hmmm... That's weird."

"What is?"

"I can't get a read on her. That girl's mind is completely blocked."

"I thought you don't actively try to read minds."

"I don't, unless the mind in question is completely silent. That makes me wonder what the person is hiding."

"You think she did that on purpose?"

"Only the strongest blocks keep me out, and even those I can usually break through with a little effort."

"But not with her?"

"No... There's nothing there, James."

"Why is she special?"

"Exactly." I was fascinated. It really was rare that I met a person who could keep me out of their head. "She's pretty, too..."

Emily looked toward us then and I saw amusement on her face. That's when I realized that although I couldn't hear her thoughts, she could hear me and James talking. I had the good grace to blush slightly as I looked her in the eye. I wondered how much of our psychic rambling she understood. Was she psychic? Although a lot of wrestlers were, not everyone was. If she was a mere mortal, she'd think we were nuts. If she was psychic, she was being awfully rude by not telling us.

Emily tossed her brown curls over her shoulders and laughed. She tapped Tanea's back, signalling she was ready for a break, and took a few sips of water before walking toward me and James.

"Emily Farrow," she said, extending her hand toward me.

"Hello, Emily. Nice to meet you," I said. "I'm Michael."

"I know. Nice to meet you, too. I absolutely hate you, so keep up the good work!" She gave me a thumbs up.

I smiled my best smile at her. She hardly seemed to notice. I wasn't sure if I was losing my touch or if she was just immune to my charms.

A small person who with hidden beneath an enormous mass of brown curls came toward us. "Are you finished yet?" The squeaky little voiced entity asked.

"Almost, honey," Emily said. "Abigail, this is James and Michael. Gentlemen, this is my daughter, Abigail."

"Hello, Miss Abigail," James said politely, crouching down so he was her height.

"Hi, Abby. Nice to meet you," I added.

"My name is Abigail," she corrected me precociously. "Nicknames are for people I know."

"Well, you can call me Mikey or Mike if you want to."

"The same rules are true. Michael."

Wow. Not only had I struck out with the mom, but I was striking out with the kid, too. "Um... How old is she?" I asked Emily.

"I can speak for myself. I'm right here. And I'm seven."

"Going on seventeen," Emily added with an exaggerated sigh, but the smile on her face betrayed how amused she was by watching her non-child-creature put me in my place.

The Abigail Creature looked at me smugly. Could seven-year-olds legally be smug? Like, was that even kosher?

James was politely trying not to laugh aloud, but his thoughts betrayed him. I shook my head. "I stand corrected, Abigail," I said. "I shouldn't have assumed you'd want to be called Abby or anything else."

She nodded and studied me, like she was trying to figure me out and decide if she liked me or not. It was a mutual thing.

"I have to go back to training, sweetheart," Emily said. "If you want to stay and watch, I'm sure James and Michael won't mind." She gave Emily a kiss on her head before heading back to the ring.

It was nice that Emily was sure I wouldn't mind babysitting, because I certainly wasn't sure. The Abigail Creature was clearly a handful. James didn't seem to mind, though. He's a kid magnet. I think it's because he's about the same height as them.

"Your mum's quite good," James told her.

"She's the best," Abigail told him. Although I suspected if she said it to me, it would have sounded like an angry correction, when she talked to James, she just sounded in awe of her mother.

"Has she been wrestling long?"

"She started before I was born."

"What does your dad do?"

"I don't know. My mom says he's dead, but that's just to make me feel better, and I pretend I believe her to make her feel better."

That is definitely not a kid, I decided. I tried to slip into her mind because I was fascinated by the way she talked and wanted to take a peak at her thought patterns, but just like with her mother, I got nowhere. Maybe it was a genetic thing.

Abigail looked at me like she knew exactly what I was trying to do. I felt guilty, like a little kid caught using a cheat sheet on an exam. It's kind of unethical to intentionally read someone's mind just so you can figure them out, but I'm a naturally curious person and I couldn't help it.

I focused on her mother. Emily was clearly more seasoned as a wrestler than Tanea was, even though Tanea was probably older. I actually wasn't sure how old Emily was, but Tanea had come into wrestling very late in her life for someone to start. Prior to that, she'd been a cheerleader. It was obvious Emily had been wrestling for a while. She moved with a precision, awareness, and skill that only came from years in the business.

When she finished, she rejoined us. "Would you ladies like to catch lunch with us?" I asked. I directed the question at the Abigail Creature who I suspected had the ultimate say in such matters.

She pondered this for a moment before saying, "I am hungry, Mom."

"Okay. Let me shower and I'll be back in a few minutes. Come with me, Abigail," Emily said.

They walked off. "Cute kid," James said.

"That's not a kid, it's a creature," I said.

"Actually, you're right," Jeff Hardy said. I jumped out of my damn skin. Like a ninja, he'd come from out of nowhere. "Abby told me she's a huge fan of mine, so that makes her a Creature."

"Abigail," I corrected him automatically.

"Nah, it's cool, she told me I could call her Abby earlier."

I wondered how offended I should be by that. James tried to cover his amused thoughts, but he's a loud thinker. "Shut up," I told him.

Jeff looked at James sympathetically. "You'll learn how to block him from some things eventually," he told him. Jeff had been psychic for as long as he'd been psychotic, so basically most of his life, but James was much newer to his gifts.

"Sorry, Michael... It's just, I think Miss Abigail is giving you a hard time intentionally," James said.

"Yeah, I got that impression, too," I said.

"Would you like to come to lunch with us?" James asked Jeff.

"Sure, if y'all don't mind my brother coming along."

I groaned internally. It's not that I dislike Matt, but him and his ego joining us would make this outting even more crowded. I wanted to get to know Emily better, and having more people around would make that harder.

"Of course they don't mind!" Matt proclaimed as he joined us. "Everyone loves Matt Hardy."

As Emily and the Abigail Creature appeared, I wondered if this was true. Abigail didn't seem to be a fan of Matt's, so at least I wasn't the only one getting the cold shoulder anymore. She talked to Jeff excitedly, the two of them lost on their own planet, and I focused on Emily again.

"So, not your first gig, clearly," I said to her.

"Not even close," Emily said with a smile. "I've been wrestling since I was seventeen. I'm twenty-seven now."

"Seventeen is young to be working as a wrestler," James said with respect.

I caught something in her eyes that looked haunted. She shook it off so quickly, I wondered if I'd imagined it. "It turned out to be a great way for me to support myself. I never realized I could make money beating people up." She laughed, but a bit of that sadness still touched her eyes.

What's your story? I wondered. I was dying to know. It was driving me nuts not being able to just pull the information out of her head. It looked like I was going to have to find out her story the old fashioned way and spend time getting to know her. Looking at Emily, I decided that didn't sound so bad.

The Abigail Creature turned around and glared at me. I shuddered and reconsidered my views.