A/N: Here we are, Hayden second match, not all is as it seems. CB73 the idea you gave me comes in at the end here.
Anonymous Noob the 2nd- Thanks for loving the story and sorry again about not being able to do the second story idea you gave, just too busy.
CB73- Tournaments are tough and last all day long, wrestlers were basically vampires. Arrive before the sun was up, leave when it was night.
WinterBreath0602- That makes me smile so much to read that you binge read the entire story in like two days. Thank you, and I will have to take a listen to your song suggestions.
Review leave it, I read it, but you already knew. The poll, vote on it, the chapter read it.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Mexican ;p
To my Fiancée, I can't wait for October. I love you.
Disclaimer: I don't own shit...Sadly
Friday, February 14th, 2020
Hayden walked into the stands after a short meeting with his coach, sweaty and out of breath he fell into the seats and threw his head back in exaggeration. His friends were busy congratulating him and he was just lazily mumbling thanks to them. They fell silent after a few moments still staring at him, Heather, Rebecca, and Maria all looked at each other and just smiled when they saw Ashley. They all shared a look and wondered who was going to be the one to tell her.
Hayden had come back up into the stands with the straps of his singlet pulled off his shoulders and the top half of his singlet pushed down to his waist, exposing his torso. He did mange to put his shorts back on, but in his tired state he seemed to forget to put a shirt back on. The three girls all noticed that Ashley seemed to be fixated on staring at Hayden as he was leaned back on the stands. They could just make out the beginnings of a blush rising from Ashley's neck up to her cheeks. They all nudged each other and started to smile evilly at each other.
Hayden though managed to beat them to the punch as he opened his eyes and brought his head back up, to see Ashley staring at him. his brow furrowed in confusion as he looked around to see if there was something near him that she was looking at. Seeing nothing he looked down and noticed that he hadn't put his shirt back on yet. He quickly looked back up at Ashley, who was still staring at him, and he smirked, evil intentions forming in his brain.
"See something you like Ashley?" He teased her.
Ashley's eyes suddenly came back into focus, her breath hitched, she looked around and noticed that the entire group was watching her stare at Hayden. Her face and neck turned several shades darker as her mouth open and shut, trying to find a response to the obvious teasing. Coming up blank she proceeded to cross her arms and pointedly turn her head away from Hayden and the others. Chuckling to himself Hayden threw on the shirt that he had in his hand and brought Ashley into a hug, he smiled when she just went with it.
"Come on, you know that was a good one. I mean you looked completely out of it." Hayden told her as he rubbed her back.
Ashley just gave a groan in response and weakly tried to get out of the hug. Hayden laughed some more and tightened his grip on her.
"Come on now, first you are staring at me like you are about to eat me, and now that I brought you in closer so you could get a better look you try to pull away." Hayden teased her some more.
Ashley groaned some more and buried her head into the crook of Hayden's neck. The entire group laughed, which only served to make Ashley more embarrassed. It took several moments for the group to calm down and regain their breath and it was then that Hayden whispered into her ear.
"We can finish this later." Hayden told her.
Ashley slowly lifted her head and looked at Hayden, her gaze knowing as she cocked an eyebrow. Hayden smirked up at her and gave her a nod, the obvious call back to their last make out session. Ashley gave a playful shake of her head before scooting out of Hayden's embrace.
"In your dreams pretty boy." She teased him.
"Says the goddess who was staring like a school girl." Hayden teased back.
"Oh, quiet you." Ashley shot back.
"Never." Hayden quipped as he leaned in closer to her, their faces inches apart.
"Will you two just fuck and get it over with." Rebecca's voice cut through the air.
Her comment managed to turn both Hayden and Ashley 50 shades of red as they stared into each other's eyes. They sheepishly backed away from each other before turning to glare at Rebecca. The girl in question just had her arms crossed and a disinterested look on her face.
"Seriously, there is more sexual tension between you two than the actors in a porno." She stated casually.
Hayden and Ashley looked too each other trying to find an acceptable rebuttal but ended up looking to Rebecca and Maria for help. Both girls just held their hands up and laughed as they shook their heads.
"Don't come looking to us for help." Rebecca stated.
"You two are on your own." Maria followed up.
Hayden and Ashley's faces scrunched into pouts as they turned away from the group. They both muttered 'traitors' under their breath before slowly turning back to watch the tournament. The girls did apologize for their light teasing and everyone was able to laugh it off. They all turned to watch the tournament and the girls would turn to Hayden whenever a question came up about what was going on or why a wrestler did a peculiar move.
They stayed in their spots as the second round was announced. This time around two of the mats would be used for the champions bracket and the other two would be used for the consolation bracket.
"No breaks in between rounds?" Ashley asked.
"At normal tournaments there would be but since there are a lot of matches to get through, they just power through this time. No rest for the weary, as they say." Hayden explained.
The girls nodded their heads and turned to watch the action. The matches this round were fast paced and seemed to fly by faster than the first round. They watched as kids on the championship mats gave fist pumps if they won, signaling their ticket to the next round. While they watched heartbreak shoot across the face of wrestlers who lost on the consolation side, signaling the end of their hopes to get to state. Before they knew it, Hayden had gotten back up, stating it was time for him to get ready again. They all waved him goodbye, with the exception of Ashley who of course gave him a kiss goodbye. When the girls shot her a smirk, she smirked back and mouthed 'mine' to them. They laughed and turned to watch the action.
Soon enough they saw Hayden standing by the mat closet to them. Ashley flipped through her bracket, which she had filled out, at least for Hayden's weight class and looked for the name of the person Hayden would be going up against. She saw the name Zach Perry, with a number 2 next to her name. Ashley's eyes widened as she realized what that meant.
"What is it Ashley?" Heather asked.
"This guy that Hayden is wrestling. He is the number 2 kid in the state." Ashley explained to them.
The girls looked at her confused, not sure what she meant.
"It means that of all the 145lb wrestlers in the state this kid is supposed to be the second best." Ashley enlightened them.
The girls' mouths formed perfect O's just as their eyes widened with realization of what that meant. They all turned their attention back to the mat just in time to see the Hayden and this Zach kid shake hands. The ref blew the whistle and the match was on.
Both wrestlers circled each other for just a moment before tying up with one another. Pushing each other back and forth, feeling each other out and looking for an opening. They both broke the hold, still circling each other they both tied up again, Hayden peeling the other boy's hand off his head and trying to keep ahold of his wrist. Zach though was able to pull it back and started working on Hayden trying to find an opening of his own.
Hayden tried to take a shot and dropped to his knee and managed to get a hold of the other wrestler's knee. The hold didn't last long as Zach was able to kick his leg back and break the hold. At the same time, he ducked his head and threw Hayden's arms off to the side and was able to slip behind Hayden. Hayden tried to spin out of the hold and break Zach's grip but was spun down to the mat.
Down by two Hayden got to work trying to stand up and get back to his feet. He managed to get up but was unable to break the grip and spun back down. They were near the edge of the mat and Hayden kept working his hands to try and break the grip and stand up. His head was on a swivel and when he saw how close they were to the edge he, he slid up to his knees and stood up. The kid was still on his back and Hayden slowly walked outside of the circle. The ref called them out of bounds and motioned for them the reset at the center of the mat. Hayden jogged back and got down on his hands and knees and waited for Zach to take his position behind him.
Once both wrestlers were in position the ref blew his whistle to start again. Hayden quickly got to his feet and tried to spin around to face Zach but couldn't manage to spin around enough. He was spun back down to the mat; he was on his knees in a flash and the moment he felt Zach try to push him forward Hayden dipped his shoulder and rolled out of the hold and was back on his feet in a flash. Ashley and the others clapped their hands and cheered for Hayden as he got out but quickly quieted down. The wrestlers started to circle each other once again and tied up all the same. They soon found themselves back near the edge of the mat with five seconds left they both stepped out of bounds and a reset was called.
Ashley could tell with the labored breathing that Hayden was fighting with all his might against this guy and it showed in the last five seconds. The boy jolted forward as soon as the refs whistle blew which Hayden reacted to by sprawling to the ground. In a flash the boy had a hold of Hayden's arm and head and spun him to the ground on his back. Ashley's heart flew up to her throat as she had never seen Hayden in such a vulnerable position. Saved by the buzzer the period ended and the ref took out a small disc, one side green, and the other red. He flipped the disc in the air, and it landed red. Ashley took a moment to look at the score and saw that Hayden was down 6-1. A monumental deficit, but she had hope that Hayden would come back.
Hayden got the choice of what to do as the boy had deferred to him. Hayden chose down and assumed his position at the center of the square. Zach took his position and the after a moments pause the ref blew his whistle. Hayden stood up like a bolt of lightning and this time managed to spin around and break the hold, earning him an escape point. The score was now 2-6, Hayden was slowly chipping away at it, though it did little to calm Ashley's nerves.
On their feet again the boys tied up and started fighting for position, they once again ended up near the edge of the mat and Hayden was fighting desperately not to get taken down. He was rolled over Zach's shoulders and onto his back but both of them had landed out of bounds and another reset was called. This time with both of them on their feet. The ref blew his whistle and they both tied up. Zach took a shot on Hayden who sprawled back and tried to counter with an attack of his own. However, it backfired horribly, Zach had managed to capture one of Hayden's arms and was nearly pinning him to the mat. Zach had gotten the two points for the taken down, plus two near fall points. The score was now 2-10, Ashley was stunned silent. She had never seen Hayden get handled like this before and it was shocking to say the least. For the first time since she started coming, she was worried that Hayden might lose.
Zach had turned Hayden back over just enough for the ref to start counting, Hayden was held there for a few more moments as Zach tried to put his other shoulder to the mat. The score was now 2-13. Hayden though was able to roll back onto his belly, but not before Zach had gotten three more near fall points. Hayden fought to get back onto his knees and once he was, he dipped his shoulder again and rolled forward, breaking Zach's hold on him and catching the other wrestler off guard. Zach had tried to roll with Hayden but only ended up on his but and Hayden, like a Leopard pounced on the opening and got the take down plus the escape point, now it was 5-13.
Before Ashley had time to cheer Zach had reversed the hold and was now behind Hayden, scoring two reversal points, 5-15. Ashley could tell that Hayden was tired beyond belief as the second period came to an end. His breathing was heavy and labored, his steps were getting slower, and his form was getting sloppy. The third round started, and this time Zach had chosen to be on bottom. As soon as the ref blew his whistle Hayden started trying to chop Zach's arms down and keep him on a flat base. Ashley though could tell that Hayden didn't have the usual power behind them, he was exhausted. Her breath hitched when she saw Hayden get caught and Zach and reversed their positions and rolled Hayden onto his back. It was over in a matter of seconds. Hayden was pinned and slowly moving to the center of the mat. He shook the boy's hand and gave him a nod.
Ashley knew that Hayden would be upset but she was surprised to see him look at his coach and give a shrug of the shoulders, like he was surprised. After a few words and a pat on the back Hayden was back up by the group who were all stunned at how he lost.
"You all look like you just saw a ghost." Hayden breathed out heavily. Still showing the effects of the match.
"Well we just watched you get the ghost kicked out of you." Heather remarked.
"Yeah, I know. That kid was strong, plus I pissed him off when I managed to get that reversal on him. I'm surprised I lasted as long as I did. Good stuff though." Hayden replied.
"We've just never seen you lose before. Kind of shock is all." Ashley spoke up.
"Oh, well I don't win every match. As you can tell, sorry if I gave you this impression that I was unbeatable." Hayden responded gently.
Hayden explained what had happened in the match and how he wasn't upset with himself, just that he knew that from here on out it was do or die. They all continued to watch the tournament as Hayden recovered, as they were focused on one of the matches of Hayden's teammate, they all missed the sight of a large stocky figure lumber through the doors of the gym and started to scan the area with beady, lifeless blue eyes. They also missed the moment when said eyes found Hayden and the evil smirk that followed as he stepped forward and made his way into the stands.
A/N: So yeah I actually had to wrestle the number 2 kid in the state and this is exactly how I got my ass handed to me. But I was surprised I lasted as long as I did and didn't feel too bad about it. So we got Hayden's first loss and something in the background that is lurking, waiting for the moment to strike. See you all next week.