He came there for wrestling. It had become his escape from life. The one thing he felt he was meant to do.
For Jon, life had been anything but easy. He had witnessed many horrible things since an early age. When he found wrestling, it became something he could hold on to. Something he could relate with. Despite being told that he was too young and being turned away, he came back, he couldn't stay away. Little did he know, that as he sat and watched the action in the ring, someone was watching him.
Emerson had walked in with her father's doctor's bag that he had asked her to bring. The small building wasn't unfamiliar to her. Her father had been a supporter of wrestling since as far back as she could remember. She had known most of the people in the building since before she could walk. She had always tagged along with her father to the training sessions and shows. She enjoyed it as much as he did, but it had been a while since she had been in the building. A little over a year ago her mother had lost her battle with cancer, and Em had poured herself into her athletics. She had completely filled her life to help her cope with the loss.
Today was one of her rare days when she only had one practice. Her blue eyes scanned the room for her dad. He wasn't in his usual spot next to the ring. As she looked across the room, her eyes fell on him.
What was he doing there? She didn't really know him, but she knew of him. They had a few classes together at school. She'd passed him in the halls for years and had never even said hello. Now there he was, watching the guys practicing.
He was mysterious, and a little dangerous. That's what attracted her to him. That's what had always drawn her to him. He had no idea that she had a crush on him. After all, he never even looked twice at her.
She wasn't his type at all, not that she knew what his type was, but in her mind, she was sure he wanted nothing to do with her.
She was a cheerleader, she ran track, and was involved in numerous clubs. She attended two dance classes. Anything she could to keep her mind busy and not be home, he, on the other hand, was an outcast, a loner. He didn't have many friends, and acted as if he didn't need any.
Emerson had listened day after day as her group of friends would talk bad about him, for no reason but that he was different from them. He didn't care what people thought of him, and Em desperately craved that feeling.
Emerson had never had a problem with confidence. She was a beautiful girl. Boys fell at her feet. But she found that she was second guessing herself as she walked over to the chair next to him. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't fall all over himself in front of her that made her want to know him so much. Maybe it was the fact that she was so much like her father, and wanted to fix everyone. She took a deep breath as she sat next to him.
He glanced at her, then his eyes went back to the ring.
"What are you doing here?" He asked coldly.
"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing." She said. He didn't look back at her.
"I didn't know you liked wrestling." She tried, still no response. She tucked her light brown hair behind her ears.
Maybe he didn't recognize her.
"I'm Emerson. We go to school together." She held out her hand.
"I know who you are. You're little Miss Popularity. Head of the cheerleaders, captain of the track team. You're what every girl in our school longs to be. Rich, popular. Gets any guy she wants. You're the one who stands there looking at me as your friends laugh, and talk about me." He said.
"I'm sorry..." Em tried, but stopped as his eyes snapped to her.
"You're just as bad as they are. You think that it matters that you never say anything when your friends are making fun of people. You think that makes you ok? Do you know how many people you hurt?"
Tears were threatening to spill from her blue eyes.
"There's no sense in wasting your time with me. I'm not one of your little puppets."
"I was just trying to be nice." Emerson said softly.
"Yeah, it's so easy to be nice when none of your friends are around to see it, huh?" He asked, his eyes turning their attention back to the practice match in the ring.
"There you are, Emmy." She heard her dad's voice call from behind her.
"Hey Dad." She said getting up. As she walked towards her dad, she couldn't help but feel his eyes on her, but she didn't dare to look back at him.
