~April 2010~
~Philadelphia, PA~

"Well, look who just walked through the door!" DJ Hyde laughed.
Skylar Quinn smiled at him. Her long blonde hair pulled up in a high messy bun.

"You told me to come back when I was 18 if I really wanted to do this, I'd said be back in two weeks. Here I am." Her bubbly voice called back to him over the chatter echoing off the walls of the big, almost empty room.
She walked up to the table he was standing behind, dropping the heavy bag off her shoulder to the hard concrete floor, crouching over it.
After a minute of searching the bag she pulled an envelope out and put it in the portly man's hands.
"A year up front." He looked at her question in his eyes.
"That's what we talked about, right?" Her blue eyes glistened, as her Eastern Tennessee twang sounded thick in her voice.

"Listen, Cheerleader..." He started.

"I'm not a cheerleader anymore." She said.

"Ok, what's your name again?"

"Skylar Quinn."

"No, not your 'ring name'." He said, making air quotes.

"Skylar Quinn is my real name." She told him.

"Ok, Skylar. You know this is no refunds? I told you that right?" He asked as she nodded.
"That means you can't get any of this back."

"I understand what no refunds means." She retorted.

"Why don't we just do this on a month to month basis?" The man tried.
"That way when you get over this month's dream you aren't out all your daddy's money."

"Sir, I know I'm young, but who here isn't?" She asked.
"I've been going to wrestling events since I was 16. I knew at the first show I went to that this is what I'm meant to do. This has been my dream for more than a month, and I'm not going to out grow it."

"OK, I never do this, but I'm going to make an exception this one time." He told her.
"I'm going to keep this envelope. I'll keep it put away. I won't deposit your money. Then when you realize that this is wrestling and not cheer leading, I'll give you back all but the first months cost of your daddy's money. Deal?"

"I know cheering isn't a contact sport, but it's not simple either." She smiled.
"I'm sticking this out. You'll see. And with all due respect, you shouldn't make assumptions about who that money belonged to." She winked at him as she turned and walked away.

~May 17, 2010~
~5 weeks later~

"Today we're having a few guests from the show coming to help us out." DJ Hyde called from the ring.
"Get changed and stretch. Just fair warning, today won't be easy. If you thought last week was tough, this week may end you."
The last month wasn't easy for Skylar. She was balancing her last month of high school, studying for exams, a part time job that she had to cut down to Friday Saturday and Sunday only, and wrestling academy Monday through Thursday.
She watched as week after week the numbers dwindled. And every week DJ Hyde waved that envelope in front of her nose.
She walked out of the bathroom dressed in one of her workout outfits. A pair of Nike pro black and hot pink compression shorts, and her matching black and pink compression sports bra. She tossed her bag against the wall where she always stretched, sitting next to it, pulling on her wrestling shoes, then digging out her kick pads, elbow sleeves and knee pads laying them on top of her bag. Her eyes drifted to the ring as she popped in her ear buds, the music already playing.
She saw several men in the ring that she recognized from the CZW shows she had been to. One was talking with DJ Hyde, both of them were looking at her as they talked.
She was smart enough to know they were talking about her. Hyde motioned for her to pull her ear buds out. When she did he pulled the envelope from his back pocket and waved it in the air.
"Ready to quit?" He asked, just like every week, and just like every week she shook her head at him. As she grabbed her ear buds she heard DJ Hyde tell the man that she was the one to watch.
She smirked and went back to her stretching.
As the class began she tossed her ipod in her bag, grabbed her pads and took her place around the ring.
She looked around as everyone else was chatting to the person standing next to them.
She had been the outcast of the class from the beginning. None of the women had wanted to associate with a 'kid still in high school' as they told her, and the only one left was more interested in flirting with the men. Most of the men had made passes at Skylar for the first few days, and once they realized that she wasn't interested in dating them or sucking their dicks they classified her as a bitch, which she didn't mind. It gave her the chance to soak in what was being taught. While the one on one matches were taking place, everyone else would talk while Skylar listened in on what the trainers were telling them.
"I'm sure most of you already know these three. Sabian, Ruckus, and the new CZW World JR. Heavyweight Champion, Adam Cole." He paused as the class applauded them.
"These guys are going to be working with you all for the next month or so to help you all get your moves down, help with selling, bumps, dives. Whatever it is that you all need help on, these guys are the best. If you can't learn from them, you should probably find another dream." They all climbed out of the ring.
"Run the ropes." Hyde called, getting groans out of everyone in the room, but Skylar.
"Cheerleader, you're in first."

"That's not my name." Skylar said, hopping up on the apron, and climbing through the ropes.
"How long?" She asked as she started running, bumping off the ropes and running to the other side.

"Since you thought you had to ask, just go until I tell you to stop." Hyde said.
"Johnson, run the ropes."

"Fuck yeah. I'm setting the pace." Johnson said, hopping in.

"Bull shit. I was in first, I'm setting the pace." Skylar said.

"I'm not following you." He called, standing by the ropes.

"You followed me the whole first week, until you finally got the point that I wasn't going to suck your dick." Skylar smirked, never losing a step, making every one in the room laugh.

"Fuck you bitch."

"Uh, no." She said.
"Run, or get out of the ring."

"Listen to her Johnson. Keep her pace or leave." Cole called out, making Skylar's head turn towards him a smirk plastered on his face.
Johnson shook his head but started running.

"Slow your pace, or we'll meet in the middle." Johnson told her.

"Pick your pace up." She retorted.
"My pace has been the same from the beginning."

"Slow your pace bitch!" He yelled as she side stepped to make sure she didn't run into him.

"Keep calling me a bitch and I'll go faster." Skylar said.

"Pick it up, Cheerleader." Hyde called.
"Keep your line straight, don't side step him again. You're gonna hit, figure it out."

"Jump." Skylar called, as she hit the ground, having him jump over her.
She started slowing down so they wouldn't hit in the middle.

"NO!" Hyde called.
"Don't you dare slow down for him Skylar!"
She did as she was told.
"Clothesline next pass. Johnson take the bump and get your ass out of my ring."
Hyde had Skylar keep running, even after the last person got to take the bump and leave the ring she was still running.
Hyde climbed into the ring.
"You ready to stop? I'll give you all of your money back right now if you want to quit."

"No sir." Skylar said.

"You've been running the ropes for 15 minutes."

"I'll run the rest of class if it will made you understand that I'm not going to quit." She breathed.

"Ok then." He said, trying to call her bluff as he started to climb out of the ring.
"Aren't you tired?" He asked.

"Exhausted." She gasped.
"But... I'm... not... quitting." She told him taking a deep breath between each word.

"Are you always so stubborn?" He asked her.

"Only when it comes to my goal in life." She said.

"Do you know what you look like right now, Cheerleader?" He asked her.

"My name's Skylar. And I don't care what I look like." She said.

"Your perfectly placed hair is falling out of its band. Do you know that?" He asked her.

"I bet." She said.

"Do you care that you have sweat dripping off you?" He asked.

"No." She said.

"Your answers are getting shorter and shorter. Are you starting to suck wind?" He laughed.

"Yeah, but I've been a distance runner for 7 years. I can dig deep and keep going as long as it takes to earn your respect, Sir." She said.

"Switch." He called, she switched ropes, not losing one step. He stood on the apron and shook his head at her.
"Take the bump Skylar." She did as she was told, spreading her arms out and landing on her back. She closed her eyes, gasping for air as she lay on the mat. She felt the ring move as the three men climbed back in.
When she opened her eyes, Adam Cole was standing above her, looking down at her, smiling.

"You ok?" He asked. She just nodded. She started to roll to get out of their way.
"No, you lay there for a few minutes until you can breath again." He turned and looked at the people outside the ring.
"I think it's fair to say who has the biggest heart in this room." He said.
"I'd guarantee that she is probably the youngest person here. Am I right Hyde?"

"She's barely 18. Barely." Hyde said.
"She reminds me of you." That made Adam laugh.

"I had that much courage when I first started?" He asked.
"I think I would have quit after 10 minutes. According to the clock this girl ran the ropes for almost 20 minutes straight. She has something that isn't teachable. Her heart, her drive. That's what's going to make her successful in this business." Skylar, forced herself to roll out of the ring. Almost collapsing as her feet hit the ground. Her legs wobbled as her arms strained on the apron to hold her up. Johnson's hand grabbed her waist. She pushed at his hands to get him off her, but he didn't move.

"Don't touch me." She breathed.

"You can't stand up by yourself." He said.

"Get your hands off me." She said, her temper starting to flare. He shook his head. Skylar stood up straight, pushing the pain out of her mind, and shoved his chest hard, making him take a step back. She wasn't good at showing weakness, and wasn't about to start in a room full of people just waiting for her to fail.
"Fuck off. I don't need your help." She shook out her legs and walked over to grab her water before rejoining everyone ringside. The rest of the night was showing tricks of the trade. How to sell moves, and holds.

"Starting tomorrow I will be here at 5 for anyone who wants to come early. Get a little extra training. It's open for whatever." Adam said as class was closing.

"Alright, class is dismissed. I'll see you all here at 6:30 tomorrow. If any of you take Cole up on his offer, which all of you should, be prepared to work." Hyde said.
Skylar walked over to her bag, her legs still burning. She pulled off her padding, and untied her shoes, pulling them off. She pulled her shoes and a light weight jacket out of her bag, too tired to even bother changing. She was zipping her bag when a voice sounded behind her.

"You know he only does that because he knows you won't quit." Skylar turned to see Adam Cole's blue eyes looking into hers.
She suddenly felt very under dressed, so she pulled on her jacket on, zipping it half way.
His smile reached his eyes. And she was suddenly, for the first time in her life, speechless.
"He likes pushing people to their limits to show them that what they thought was their limit, really isn't. If that made any sense?"
She smiled at him.

"Yeah." She said quietly.
He held out his hand.

"We haven't really been introduced. I'm Adam Cole."
She took his hand, smiling at how gentle his handshake was.

"I know." She said softly.
"I'm Skylar Quinn."

"That's really your name? No joke?" He laughed.

"That's my name." She said.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"It's a great ring name." He said. The lights started going off over their heads.
"I guess Hyde is ready to lock up. You will be back tomorrow, right?"

"I may be crawling, but I'll be here." She laughed, grabbing her bag.

"Good." He said.
"You have a good night."

"Yeah, you too." She said, not able to wipe the smile off her face the whole way home.
Even after showering and collapsing into her bed, she couldn't stop seeing his smile in her head every time she closed her eyes.