Coach turned and headed for the wrestling ring in the middle of the gymnasium. He got up on the apron with ease and weaved his way through the ropes and into the center, that asshole Sean right on his heels.
"Alright so the first thing we're gonna do today is review the basics since we have a couple of new upcoming wrestlers." Coach gestured towards Cammi and Cassidy for a second before moving on.
"What better way to learn then to actually get your hands dirty" he gave a hearty laugh and turned to Sean. "They're very green at this stage, of course. Have fun'"
Coach chuckled on his way down from the ring as Sean stayed in there., waiting for his for some direction.
"So, which one of you would like to go first and break our little toy today?" Coach asked.
Cammi turned to Cassidy, expecting her to do the same so they can talk it over. Cassidy, however, was looking straight forward with a huge grin. She cocked her head to the right and lovingly (and a bit creepily) proclaimed, "I'll go first, Coach!"
"Excellent!," Coach barked and took a look back at his clipboard to jot down some notes while Cassidy energetically jumped her way into the squared circle.
Cassidy bounced back and forth in place, ready to get down to business, her initial uneasy and nervous feelings completely unphasing her at the thought of some much-deserved ass kicking. She stared at her "test dummy" right in the face, her smile now no where to be found, arms raised in a fighting stance. Sean's face scrunched in disapproval, definitely showing Cassidy that he did not want to be there, especially not with her. This only served to make cassidy angrier, but she kept a calm exterior.
"Alright Cassidy now I want you to start with a simple lock up. I'm sure you've seen it millions of times. Think you can manage one?" Coach questioned.
Cassidy nodded, her eyes never leaving her opponent's. Once the whistle blew, Cassidy blew up, lunging forward quickly and managing maneuver around her opponent and locking her arms around Sean's neck and shoulders. Sean was caught off guard with her aggression and stumbled back a few steps before attempting to struggle against her arms, but Cassidy kept her lock firmly in place.
"Fantastic!" Coach laughed as Cassidy kept a focused face and Sean panicked and squirmed in her the headlock to no avail. "You can let that go now."
Cassidy reluctantly released, smirking at Sean when she walked past him and to her side of the ring. He held his throat with wide eyes, trying not to cough to show weakness.
"Now I want you to try something that in a regular match, Sean should've done when he was in the position you put him in. So, Sean, put Cassidy in a headlock and make sure to hover over her slightly," Coach instructed.
"With pleasure," Sean answered, earning a roll of the eyes from Cammi, paying close attention to the demonstration. Cassidy struggled against Sean's hold when he locked it in.
"Alright now I want you to elbow him in the abdomen to try to get him to ease up on the hold," Coach instructed. Cassidy did so, jabbing her elbow into his stomach about three times before she felt him release the hold slightly.
" Perfect. Now move the arm you used to elbow him and move it behind him. Good. Now pry his arm off a bit. Move your right leg back. Good, good. Now turn your body and bring that leg forward again and use his weight against him."
Following the instructions, Cassidy managed to pull of a flawlessly executed hip toss, managing to send Sean on his back with a thud. Cammi's eyes widened with admiration. The move Cassidy just performed was absolute perfection, she couldn't believe her best friend could take someone down like that. Cammi was so proud of her. The gym exploded in applause as, without instruction, Cassidy took the opportunity to flip Sean onto his back, step over him and put him into a full nelson hold just like she had put Cammi in just last night. Coach laughed and clapped along with the class as Cammi beamed in Cassidy's direction, now smiling smugly at her audience. However, Cammi's smile faltered as she began to feel nervous. How the hell was she supposed to follow up this performance?
Coach blew his whistle. "Alright. Alright. Let the poor man go, Cassidy. You did wonderful but now let's see something from Cammi," Coach gestured towards Cammi, beckoning her to get in the ring. Cammi's stomach dropped. She wasn't so sure she could do this anymore. Cassidy let go of her hold and left the ring going through the middle rope one leg at a time. She was ecstatic. She had no idea how much of an energy and confidence boost you can get while in the middle of the action. Her heart was still beating fast and she couldn't stop smiling. Cassidy got to where Cammi was standing. She noticed Cammi's expression and how she didn't move an inch since her name was called.
Cassidy put a hand on Cammi's shoulder and whispered, "Come on. Do it for the Divas."
That was enough to get Cammi stirring again. She blinked her eyes a few times, took in a deep breath, and muttered, "For the future." Both girls nodded at each other and Cammi made her way to the ring where Sean stood in the middle, rubbing his neck. Cammi finally hopped in the ring and the gym applauded encouragingly. It felt...nice.
When Cammi met him in the ring, Sean reached his arm out to shake her hand. She stepped forward and faced him boldly with a newfound confidence. With a smirk in place of a smile, she kicked his hand away, earning a few oooooooh's from the audience. Cammi smiled to herself, proud of her new attitude already. Cassidy laughed from her spot at ringside and she noticed a smile on Coach's face. He nodded his head grinning wider, "She's a natural." Cassidy's eyes drooped to the ground and her smile slowly faded. Why didn't I think of that? she thought. Cassidy was happy for her friend, she really was, but she couldn't help but worry about how she could connect to the audience. In ring ability is one thing, a major thing actually. But, being able to put on a show and have people love you? That's important too. Cammi's a natural with words, but what charisma do I have? She worried and pondered for a long time and before she knew it, she realized she completely missed Cammi's performance. Based on applause, it was probably pretty good too.
"That was great, both of you. But now I want you two to get familiar with the ropes," Coach instructed, signaling for Cassidy to get back in the ring as well. Both girls bounced and rebounded off of ropes, running side to side with each blow of the whistle with the onlookers yelling "Go! Go! Go!" Cammi and Cassidy ran for what seemed like forever, both were red in the face and out of breathe, but that wasn't the end of it. Coach had them learning many basic maneuvers: hip tosses, shoulder blocks, clotheslines, leg sweeps, and how to land so that they're not impacted as much when their opponent knock them down. Both girls, despite being out of breath and barely able to move, kept going and it was only when they suggested trying suplexes that Coach had to stop them before they got ahead of themselves.
"Alright that's enough for the both of you, hit the showers and come back to see how everyone else does," Coach said. Cammi and Cassidy complied without a word, got out of the ring, and headed for the showers after stopping at their lockers. Coach and many of the other students looked on as they left. They were honestly impressed; most people don't do as much as they have done and as well as they have done on the first day. Even Sean changed his initial views of them. These girls really want this badly, and everyone was glad to have them along.
The girls showered in theor adjacent stalls silently, taking in everything that had happened. A mix of ecstasy and adrenaline in their veins coupled with the worries for the future and incompetence they felt about themselves still fresh in their minds. But overall, they felt... Happy. Not only had they gotten done with the first day in their training, not only had they just tore all those assholes a new one and showed them not to judge, not only had they showed everyone how hardcore and committed they were, but they were also that much closer to their goal. And it felt amazing.
After they were all showered and dressed and ready to head out, they stood in front of each other and smiles. Cammi stretched her arms out, inviting Cassidy in for a hug. Cassidy couldn't resist. The tiny blonde hopped into the hug and wrapped her arms around her best friend. The two held on to each other tightly, rocking in place not believing the day they just had. When they finally let go, they gathered their stuff and walked slowly out the door.
The girls had taken a lot longer than they had thought. When they walked out, most of the guys were already dressed and on their way out the door. Class was dismissed. Coach raised an eyebrow at them and gave them a look that told them to hurry up next time. The two nodded and Coach waved them off to dismiss them with a smile. They did good today.
"That Cammi girl has a hell of a lot of charisma. I could totally see her being a big thing in the future"
"Yeah but Cassidy would kick her ass in a match, no way she'd get out of that full nelson of hers."
"Yeah but you can only go so far without a personality, staring won't get you anywhere."
"No point in a personality if you're dead."
Cammi and Cassidy overheard two of the guys in the class who now walked off laughing. Both fully understood the truth behind all the words but both avoided eye contact and kept walking. Cammi rubbed her shoulder as the aches and pains of the day finally registered and undoubtedly leaving behind bruises for both of them.