Chapter 1

I climb out of the car with a groan. I stretch, my stiff muscles and joints protesting the movement. I've been in my car for the past twenty-four hours traveling from Kansas to Canada, but I finally made it to my destination. I look up at the gray building in front of me and a chill goes down my spine. I escaped my past the moment I drove away from Kansas and I am now looking at my future. My eyes drift to the sign on the door that reads Storm Wrestling Academy and I get butterflies in my stomach. Now that I'm here I'm too nervous to walk in the door. "Quit being a fucking baby." I curse at myself before turning back to my car and opening the back door. I pull out a small duffle bag and unzip the side pocket and check for the hundredth time that the envelope containing the 3,750 Canadian Dollars is there along with a note from a doctor and another copy of my resume, I had already mailed one in along with my 500 dollar deposit for a spot in the class. I had to scratch and claw for two years in order to make enough money to not only pay the tuition but buy a junker of a car and apply for temporary residency in Canada which was another 100 dollars. I don't have much left to my name and I still need to find myself a place to live while I am here.

With everything in check, I grab my bag out of the car, closing the door. I take a deep breath to clear the last of my nerves and walk determinedly up to the door of the building and open the door. I look around in awe. At the back of the building against one of the walls sits the ring where there is a class going on. I don't take my eyes off the ring until I hear a voice behind me, "can I help you?" I turn around and come face to face with a woman wearing a SWA jacket. "Um, yes." I stammer nervously. "I'm Jenny I'm supposed to start training today?" The girl smiles, "sure, we've been expecting you. Come with me into the office and we will get your paperwork all in order." I smile back and follow the woman into the office. "I'm Rachel. I help out here at the school." She says introducing herself sitting down behind a desk as is it across from her. She shuffles through some folders before coming across one with my name on it. She flips through the pages, "okay, we received your deposit, do you have the remaining balance?" I nod, "yes. It's right here." I reach down and pull the envelope out of my bag and hand it over to her. She counts it quickly with a nod, "okay, we are all set there." She confirms putting the money away in a lock box and tucking my resume and doctor note into my folder. She pulls a packet out and slides it across the desk with a pen. "Here is the paperwork, info on the school what to expect from training, a standard liability waiver, you know the basics. I'll give you a few minutes to read it over and sign it. I'll be right back."

She leaves the room and I read through the contract and sign it without hesitation. Rachel comes back in a bit later and I hand the contract over to her. She double checks that I got all the pages signed, "ok, looks good. Now, I see you didn't sign up for housing?" She questions and I bite my lower lip. "Yeah…I uh couldn't come up with that money, so I'm just going to find a cheaper alternative for now." I explain and she nods. "That's your choice. Let us know if you need help finding a place." She flips through all the paperwork again before closing the folder. "Ok, everything seems to be in order. You are now an official student of Storm Wrestling Academy." We both stand up and shake hands and she hands me an SWA shirt. "Follow me and you can join the two other new students to watch the end of the first class. They should almost be done. You'll be getting in the ring after the lunch break." She leads me over to the ring and motions for me to take a seat next to two guys who are watching the class going on in the ring. Lance is working with a purple haired girl and three other guys.

I watch intently, looking to pick up anything I can. Lance ends the workout and the three men climb out and join the two new guys and they head off. I stand up as Lance and the female student cross the ring and lean against the ropes by me. "Ravyn I haven't forgotten about you," Lance says addressing he female student, "this is your new training partner Jenny." He finishes before addressing me, "Jenny, how was the drive?" I laugh, "long, I only just got in and drove straight here." Ravyn climbs through the ropes and hops to the floor. "Come on, I'll show you where our locker room is. You can get changed for the afternoon session before we have lunch." She starts walking, not even waiting for me. I grab my duffle and jog the few steps it takes to catch up to her before I fall into step behind her as we cross the warehouse to the women's locker room. Her bag is the only one I see, "are we the only female students?" I ask trying to make conversation tossing my bag into a radom empty locker. Ravyn stands with her arms crossed watching me. "Yup. It's been just me for the last two months. Now it's just us…for now." She answers coldly. I don't look up from where I'm digging through my bag for my workout gear. I shouldn't be surprised that there would be some animosity towards me. "Yeah…I was the only girl at my last place. At least here they will train you. I had to scratch and claw to get even the tiniest bit of ring time. I'm looking forward to finally getting some good training." I admit, hoping to quell the animosity.

Ravyn unfolds her arms, "well, you'll get plenty of that here. Lance is the best. He's honest to a fault, he'll make sure you know exactly what he wants from you." She says grabbing a power bar from her locker, "you're going to want to eat sooner rather than later if you're hungry. Otherwise you'll puke. The afternoon session is usually blowup drills." She informs me. "I'm good, but thanks. I grabbed something on the road while I was driving in." I tell her, I'm too nervous to eat even if I was hungry. "So, where are you from? Lance said something about a long drive?" She asks nibbling her power bar. "I'm from Kansas. It was about a twenty-four hour drive if I kept the stops to a minimum." I tell her as I change. "That's a hell of a drive." She states, "first time in Canada?" I laugh, "it's my first time anywhere that isn't Kansas or Missouri." She smiles ever so slightly before offering to give me a tour before class starts.

I follow her around as she shows me the different workout areas. Free weights, cardio machines, even mirrors so that we can watch our form when lifting. The ring takes up most of the back of he building where it is backed against the wall. I'm itching to get in there. As we are finishing the tour Lance calls everyone to the ring. He has us stretch before sending us on a run. We run a grueling five laps around the huge complex that houses the building. I'm okay for the first two laps, keeping a steady pace with the rest of the class but by the third lap I start getting a cramp in my side that makes the last two laps agonizing. I finish the run grabbing at the stitch in my side, gasping for air as we head back inside and find lance standing on the gym mats.

We start doing some squats, wall sits, pushups, sit ups all at a grueling pace. I'm for once thankful for my lack of ring training. Every time I was denied time in the ring I would bust my ass in the gym working on my strength training and cardio so that when I did get my opportunity I'd be physically ready. The next thing Lance has us do is climb in the ring and asks one of the older students to demonstrate some drills we are going to do. We start with some simple running the ropes drill where we have to criss cross the ring, jumping over the other new students as they drop to the mat and then pop back up. I lose track of how many times I've repeated the motion because I have to focus on my breathing and not tripping over the other students. Finally, Lance tells me to stop and I hunch over catching my breath but I don't get a break before he has us rotate and it becomes my turn to drop to the mat and have to quickly pop back every time one of the other students hits the ropes. I drop to my stomach on the mat and quickly pop back up and drop back down, over and over and over for both of the other new students. My arms are shaking as I try to push myself up one last time as Lance finally blows the whistle. My lungs are on fire as I lay on the mat. I hear retching and for a moment I think I sit up and find my rookie companions each losing their lunch over the edge of the ring.

I crawl to the corner and use the ropes to hoist myself up to a standing position. I look around and see the older students chuckling at the sight before Ravyn catches my eye an di see a look of disappointment cross her face. Looks like I will have some competition on my hands. Lances calls for the end of class and I quickly shower, and change my clothes and head out to my car. I pull out of the parking lot having no idea where I am going. I need to find a job and a cheap place to stay. I only have another one thousands dollars saved up for housing until I can find a job. I stop in a few motels to see what their rates our but find them all to be too expensive. I keep driving before I finally find an extended stay motel so I decide to check it out. When I walk into the lobby my nostrils are assaulted with a horrible smell that actually makes my eyes water. A grungy man with a stained shirt that doesn't fit over his beer belly leers at me as I fork over the nine hundred dollars for a week stay. He hands me a key, grunting directions to my room while lighting up a cigarette.

I head back out to my car opening the trunk, everything I own, which isn't much, is packed away in there. I grab a bag of clothes and my own pillow and blanket and close the trunk. The room is completely disgusting. The comforter on the bed is stained with god knows what, making me not even want to know the state of the rest of the bed. I decide to not even touch the bed, instead I find the chair sitting in the corner to look very appealing. I pull the chair over to the window and put it close enough that I can rest my feet up on the windowsill and try to get comfortable enough to get some sleep. Luckily, I'm exhausted from class today so I pass out quickly despite my less than perfect conditions.

I spend my first week in Canada going to the school, getting killed in class and then as soon as class is over I go out and try to find a job. I keep hitting the same roadblock everywhere I go. No one will give me a job because I don't have a work license and I don't have enough money left to get one. My last night at the motel is a sleepless one as I lay awake all night worrying about what to do next.

I pack everything back into my car before I head to the school. I try to focus on class but my mind keeps wandering. I have fifty Canadian Dollars left to my name and it cost one hundred to get the necessary open work visa. So, things aren't looking good for me when class ends and I have no idea what to do.

I linger in the locker room afraid to leave and face reality. I'm afraid to overstay my welcome though so I sigh, grabbing my bag and head out to the parking lot, nodding a goodnight to Rachel on my way out. I get in my car and start it up, fighting tears of frustration as the fear really starts setting in. I move my car to the far end of the parking lot. I guess living in my car is the only option I have at the moment. I grab my pillow and blanket from the trunk before climbing back into my seat and reclining it back. It takes me a long time to finally fall asleep, and sleep is short as I am awake with the first rays of the sun. I hide out in my corner of the parking lot until I see Lance show to unlock the doors. I wait a couple more minutes before I move my car back to a parking spot in front of the doors. I spend my extra time I have before class working out and doing cardio.

I repeat the process for the next few days, always being the first to show up to class. I'm embarrassed when Lance actually points this out during a training session. I have to try really hard not to blush. I turn away and catch Ravyn's gaze and I can tell she is mad. I just can't win.

At the end of the next week I head out to my car and move it to my corner of the parking lot. I am completely exhausted after a particularly hard class. I count the money I have left and groan when I find it to only be 12 dollars. My funds have quickly diminished and soon I'm going to not have enough for food. I recline my seat, guess I'm skipping dinner tonight. I start to get myself settled in with my blanket and pillow. I sit up, attempting to untangle to the blanket around my legs, the temps are beginning to drop rapidly as fall is turning into winter.

A movement in my peripheral vision catches my eye. I turn my head and freeze. To my horror Ravyn is standing with her key frozen halfway to the lock of her car door. We make eye contact and she gives a slight wave, and begins walking to my car, so I use the lever to manually roll down my window, my stomach twisting into knots. "Um, hi." I say sheepishly.