A week after her collapse, Jody stepped into the gym for the first time following her trials. Upon walking in, she scanned the vicinity with fresh eyes, reminiscing about the first time she'd entered as a member. She'd been so excited back then, so full of energy, and, to her, boxing had still been solely about channelling her anger and aggression into something positive and useful. Somehow, along the way, particularly the last month, she'd lost sight of that.
Wanting to make a career out of boxing wasn't a bad thing, but she'd gone about it all wrong; she'd trained so often and so rigorously that she'd sucked all the fun out of the sport, making it nothing more than another chore in her long list of daily tasks. Of course, she still wanted to be a boxing champ but first, she wanted to love boxing again.
"Hey, Jody!"
Hearing her ex-boyfriend's voice, she spun around to see him jogging over to her, wearing the same shy smile he always wore.
"Hi, Brandon," she greeted, genuinely returning his smile. Looking at him, she fondly recalled the moment they'd become sparring partners. As her first partner, both in boxing and a relationship, he held a special place in her heart that no one else could take. She wondered if he knew that.
He dug his hands into his pockets, faltering slightly. "I heard what happened last week, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. Actually, I found out from Emily the day after it happened, and I worried when I didn't see you here after that."
"It's sweet that you worried but I'm fine. I wasn't gone because I was ill, or anything like that. It's just that after what happened, I decided not to come in again until after the trials were over and I got my college application in." He nodded, visibly relieved. "By the way, you didn't have to wait for me to come in to ask how I was. You could've just texted me."
"Really?" he asked tentatively, seemingly surprised by her statement. "I mean, that would've been okay?"
She understood his reticence; they hadn't texted since they'd broken up. Since she was the one who'd initiated the break-up, it'd been up to her to text him first, to establish that she wouldn't find him texting her awkward. It was one of those simple, unwritten rules about dating (or, rather, breaking up). How had she forgotten that?
"Yeah, of course," she answered, wringing her hands together. "Whatever happened between us last year, we're still friends, aren't we?"
His bashful smile returned in full force. "Yeah."
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a dark head of hair whiz past the punching bags. So, she wasn't the only one to have returned after a mysterious absence. Suggesting that they spar together sometime, she told Brandon she'd talk to him in a bit before approaching the punching bags.
Amy paused upon seeing her, donning a smirk. "Well, well, well, look who's back after a lengthy absence."
Jody chuckled, shoving her hands into her pockets. Despite not always getting along with Amy, it was somewhat good to see that she was still her sardonic self. After her collapse, Jody had worried that something similar had happened to Amy and that that was why she hadn't been in on that fateful day; with the obsessive, sometimes manic way said girl carried on, such a scenario was highly likely. "I could say the same about you. When did you get back?"
"Get back from where?"
"From wherever you were on Saturday."
"I was here yesterday," Amy said, shaking her head in apparent amusement. "Where were you?"
"I was at a college fair," Jody replied, setting her gym bag on the floor. "But I didn't mean yesterday Saturday; I meant the one before that."
For the first time since Jody had known her, Amy had nothing smart or snarky to say in response. Rather, all she did was briefly look down, press her lips together in a thin line, shrug, and then continue working on her punches. Jody watched on in astonishment, unsure of what to make of her sparring partner's behaviour, until Jess' remarks from the day of her collapse suddenly came to mind; Jess had been rude enough to her as a mere associate of Amy's, so she could only imagine what sort of words the girl herself received. Now, Amy didn't seem to be the type to allow herself to be bullied, let alone let it her affect her to the point where she'd decide not to come to the gym anymore, but Jody didn't know her all that well, so it couldn't be ruled out as a possibility.
Taking a glance around the gym, she noticed that Jess and Emily weren't in today, which seemed to support her theory.
"Say," she began, drawing Amy's attention again, "the gym looks a little empty today. Where are the other girls?"
Amy scoffed, continuing to work on the punching bag in front of her. "You mean Watson, Taylor and all of that lot?" Jody hadn't a clue who those people were but nodded nonetheless. "They don't come in at all between the trials and the day of the announcement. They did that last year as well."
Jody raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"They think they're too good to have to practice in between. They don't understand the dedication and amount of work required to represent our region. That's why they didn't make it last year."
Typical Amy. She was the walking, talking definition of 'all work and no play', but it didn't make her 'dull' like it did Jack. If anything, it endeared her to Jody in a bizarre kind of way. However, that wasn't to say that Jody approved of Amy's lifestyle. It was still wholly unhealthy, and set a dangerous precedent for others; in her desperation to prove her worth to her family, friends, and Amy herself, she'd taken the same approach to training, with disastrous results. She was lucky she hadn't landed herself in hospital.
"Did you?" she asked, biting her lip.
Momentarily glancing at Jody, Amy readjusted her gloves before delivering her hardest punch yet, making the punching bag fly like the one that'd knocked Brandon to the floor upon his and Jody's first meeting. "I wasn't old enough to try out," she answered, wiping the sweat from her brow, "but I could've got in. I know I did this year."
The heat mixed with a flurry of intense emotions, mostly negative ones, radiating off her was palpable, and as someone who wanted to gently ease herself back into boxing, Jody was forced to take a step back. She'd only just regained her health and however much she liked Amy, she couldn't let said girl drag her back down into that dark, lonely place.
"I'll see you later," she said as she backed away some more, hoping she sounded polite enough. "I told Brandon I'd spar with him."
Nodding, Amy sent her on her way.
.:. QK .:.
The cold February wind blew at Jody's ears as she knocked on her brother's door, jumping on the balls of her feet. She tried not to let her discomfort show as a trio of gangsters slunk past her, howling loudly in amusement. At least, she thought they were amused; either that, or they were high. Despite only having been here twice before, she already disliked the neighbourhood, and still couldn't believe that her brother's prissy girlfriend had agreed to live in such a rundown area; she wouldn't bat an eyelid if she were to learn that the neighbours were all drug dealers, thieves, or both.
After a decent amount of time had passed, Jody frowned and knocked again. Was no one home? She'd only come by because she had some rare free time and because Luke had told her on many occasions that he was always off on the weekends. Had he accompanied Millie to her mother's place or something? She sighed. Perhaps she should've checked with him before randomly showing up but the thought hadn't crossed her mind; she'd been too preoccupied with figuring out how she was going to finally tell him about Gray and Amy.
Hard footfalls approached from the left but she didn't bother turning to see who it was, assuming it was another one of Luke's wastrel neighbours. Only when she heard a soft utterance of her name did she whip her head to the side to see her brother walking up to her with a surprised expression on his face, carrying half a dozen shopping bags in his hands.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, not unkindly.
"Well, I was waiting out here like an idiot for you to open the door," she answered, shivering. "I didn't realise there'd be no one at home."
His eyebrows knotted together. "Did you knock?"
"Yeah, twice."
Muttering something to himself, he transferred the bags in his left hand to his right and began fishing around for something in his pockets. Jody wordlessly took some of the bags from his overburdened hand, and as he continued to search for what she presumed was the key, she peeked into one of the bags, recoiling when she saw disgustingly healthy food. Looking into the other bags, she saw the same sort of stuff. She was trying to be healthy too, but did indulge in snacks once in a while; Luke seemed to be healthy, full stop. However, she hadn't seen the contents of the other bags, the ones he was still holding, yet, so perhaps there was still hope.
Letting out a triumphant noise, Luke took the key out of his pocket and waved it at her before slotting it into the lock and turning it. Pushing the door open, he gestured for her to go in first, and as she stepped into the narrow hallway and looked around, she heard him close the door behind her.
"You can give me the bags," he suggested, his body half-turned towards the kitchen.
"Nah, it's fine," she said, walking past him with a smile. She placed the bags on the counter, noting the unwashed dishes in the sink. They weren't the only things that needed cleaning; back in the hallway, she'd caught a glimpse of the living room which had looked like a right mess. It was mind-boggling because the last two times she'd been here, the kitchen, as well as the rest of the house, had been impeccably clean. "I'm used to it; Mike and May-Li have us do this stuff all the time."
Luke thanked her as he put the other bags down on the counter, only to let out a sigh when his gaze fell upon the sink. He looked back at her with a tight-lipped smile, telling her he'd be back in a minute before storming off into the hallway. She bit her lip, wondering if she'd decided to visit at the wrong time, when Luke re-entered the kitchen with a blonde woman by his side. This woman she recognised immediately as the one from virtually every framed photo throughout the flat: Millie.
"But I thought I told you to do them," Millie told Luke, haughtily placing her hands on her hips. The action made her nightwear bunch up at the waist, and Jody couldn't help but notice that her brother's girlfriend was plumper than she was in the photos, especially around the belly. Millie, however, didn't seem to notice that there was another female in the room as she rolled her eyes and ambled towards the sink.
"I went out to do the shopping," Luke replied, gesturing towards the numerous bags on the counter.
"So? I didn't ask you to do that. I told you that I would do the shopping this week, meaning that the washing up was your responsibility." Jody winced, feeling like an intruder witnessing something that wasn't meant for her eyes.
"But when exactly were you going to go to the shops? It was past noon already and we had nothing to make lunch with. You were still asleep!"
Millie whirled around towards Luke, her eyes flashing with fury. "Don't raise your voice at me just because I'm the woman here, Luke! Do the bloody dishes; I've got work to do on the laptop! And when you're done with that, clear up the mess in the living room!"
Luke sighed. "At least help me. I've got a visitor."
"Can't you do anything on your own?" She finally turned towards Jody and laid eyes upon her, looking her up and down, before turning back to her boyfriend. "If you really can't manage, then she can help you!"
Jody could do nothing but watch on in stunned silence as Millie walked off without another word, leaving behind a very embarrassed looking Luke. What had just happened? Was this what it was always like? She stood rooted to her spot as her brother shook his head and made his way towards the sink, wanting to offer him her help but barely stopping herself as she realised it would only embarrass him further because of what Millie had just said.
"Uhh, Luke," she began tentatively, pulling at her sleeve, "is it alright if I go and sit down?"
"Sure," he responded quickly, his voice hoarse. He kept his back turned to her. "I'll be with you in a minute."
She nodded meekly, even though he couldn't see her, and gingerly made her way towards the living room. Perhaps now wasn't the best time to tell him about Gray. After all, what good would it do to mention their (or, just his?) deadbeat father when he already had one of those for a girlfriend?
.:. QK .:.
"Higher," Brandon instructed.
Jody did as she was told, holding the punching mitts up higher, but didn't really focus on him, her mind still reeling from her short stay at her brother's place. She felt miserable, all choked up in the throat area, ashamed that only last year, she would've thought that Luke deserved to be treated in such a manner just because he'd ignored her for a while. No one deserved that sort of treatment, no one. She wouldn't even wish it on Ryan.
As she thought about it longer and longer, however, her upset slowly morphed into anger; anger at Millie for the vitriol she'd meted out to Luke, and also anger at Luke himself for just standing there and taking it.
"Actually," she found herself saying loudly, causing Brandon to cease, "I think I do wanna work on my hand speed today."
Brandon looked a little surprised at her change of heart but complied with her wishes nonetheless, taking his boxing gloves off as Jody unstrapped the punching mitts from her hands. She passed the mitts to him before putting her own gloves on and before she knew it, she was releasing all of her rage and frustration into those very same mitts.
She thought she'd seen the worst of Luke and Millie's relationship in their kitchen but that had been nothing. Around five minutes into her chat with Luke, after he'd cleared everything up on his own, Millie had strode into the living room, complaining about the food he'd bought. Not a little complaint either, like the sort that Mike and May-Li directed at one other whenever the weekly food order went a little wrong, but a full-blown tirade about how she'd wanted milk chocolate chip cookies, not white chocolate. Luke had begun to explain that the bakery had run out of milk chocolate chip but Millie hadn't wanted to listen, cutting him off to rant about another one of his 'mistakes'. That was when Jody had lost it, clearing her throat and straight up saying, "It's just a cookie".
Millie had stared at her, eyes popping out like a cartoon, lip curled up in disgust, and had then sneered all hyenalike, insisting that her conversation with Luke wasn't any of Jody's business. Jody had wanted to punch the bitch right then and there but Luke had held her hand, silently shaking his head, before pathetically apologising to Millie for 'everything'. Later, after Millie had gone back to their room with her head held high, he'd turned to Jody and told her that relationships weren't easy, as if that somehow absolved Millie of her behaviour.
To be honest, his words troubled her. Did all adult relationships devolve into that after the novelty faded away? Would Mike and Fiona eventually start sniping at each other like that after a year? Sally and Kamal? Had Alice and May-Li, having been married for a while now, already reached that low point? Jody gulped; would she and Tyler, too, grow to hate one another one day?
"Oh," Brandon said, snapping her out of her thoughts. She noticed that he'd turned his head and followed his line of sight to see Bernadette pinning a list to the noticeboard. He turned back to her, beaming. "I think this is it."
Clearing her mind of Luke and Millie, if only for a while, she took her gloves off and walked to the board with Brandon. The two of them exchanged looks upon seeing that it was the girls' list, and he patted her on the arm in encouragement. Scanning the list, she spotted the names Jess Watson and Emily Taylor amongst others but didn't see a mention of a Gray.
Looking around, she was relieved to see that Amy wasn't around. She smiled at Brandon, not having expected to make the team anyway, but couldn't help but feel that her boxing-obsessed sparring partner would take her own failure very badly.
A/N: I've done it! Chapter 50! Half-century! A huge thanks to Charlie for the review. I see what you mean by great minds think alike, and I agree. Thanks in general because your support has kept me going through my rough patches (writer's block).
Who's seen the Series 7B trailer? As soon as I heard that the actress who plays Piper would be coming back for the prom episode, I had the sneaky feeling that Piper would get in between Jyler. Looks like I was right, unfortunately. I don't know what the writers are trying to do here. I mean, why would Tyler go after Piper after what he told Jody in 'Run The Risk'? It makes no sense. I think I'll hold off from watching 7B until I've finished this fic because I just know I'm going to lose the motivation to write Jyler after seeing that episode, even if Tyler ends up choosing Jody over Piper. Jody and Brandon was one thing since it only happened because Tyler wouldn't own up to his feelings but him even thinking of taking Piper to prom instead of Jody after the confession in 'No Escaping' just ruins Jyler for me. Looks like it gets worse in the romance department in general because Alex seems to want to forget his kiss with Charlie (?). The other stuff sounds good, though: Finn meeting a girl, Bird entering a comedy contest, Chloe doing online dating (?), Chloe and Candi actually being besties again, Mike going nude, new girls... Looks like things are going to become crazy. Can't wait!