(January 2005)—Flashback!!!!
I sat in the front row, ringside, in the empty arena. The only time I'd go out to the arena was if it was empty. A year later, I'd actually go out to see a fight, but it wasn't planned yet.
Sean sat next to me as Hunter went through his fight for later that night with Ken Shamrock.
The crew of technicians were testing sound and visual effects for the night. Other people were still setting up the entrance. It was the night of Wrestlemania, a huge pay-per-view, probably one of the two most important of the year. We'd been there since noon and now it was two, five hours before Sunday Night Heat would start airing.
Hunter and Shamrock's fight was for the Championship title. Hunter had won the chance for the fight by winning the Royal Rumble two months earlier at the January pay-per-view. That's all Hunter would win; he was losing to Shamrock that night.
"It's just not the same." Sean said next to me.
I looked up from the notebook I'd been writing in. I liked to keep a journal, figuring someday I'd be back in a normal life and enjoy reading what had happened. "What's not the same?" I asked Sean.
"Five years ago, who had the Championship?"
I thought for a second, lots of the guys had had the belt around then, but only one had his own belt. "Stone Cold." I answered Sean.
"And where is he now?"
"Is this a weird quiz? Are you going to give me money for getting these right?"
"No, I'm just making a point." He was confusing me and annoying me at the same time.
"Okay, Stone Cold. He's injured, can't wrestle again."
"Who else held the belt five years ago?"
I sighed. "Um…The Rock I'm sure had it. Mankind had it, Triple H, Big Show had it shortly."
"What happened to Mankind?"
"He's dead. Died because of some stupid thing he was doing in the ring. It happened over a year ago." It was sad to talk about Mick Foley's death. He'd been a great wrestler and person. But he'd do anything for the fans, and one night, it went a little far. He'd been fighting Kane, who quit the next night. It was a normal thing to see Mankind being hit with a chair, and this fight was no different. Chair shot after chair shot straight at Mick Foley's head.
Half an hour into the fight, Mankind could barely stand up. I'd been watching from the DX locker room, sitting next to Hunter. The rest of DX was getting ready for a six-man tag team match. As Kane hit Mankind, Hunter would jump. I was in shock. Mick Foley was always hit with the chair, it was something he refused to fake.
The two wrestlers had agreed on ten chair shots, Kane wanting less and Mankind wanting more, before going to the ring. I'd actually been standing next to them, trying to find Crystal.
On the little TV in the locker room that night, I counted. The last hit was supposed to knock Mankind out, or at least look like it did, so Kane would win. Kane swung the chair like a baseball bat, but as it connected he used too much force. Mankind's neck made a loud crack and his head fell onto his shoulder as he fell back onto the mat.
Paramedics rushed the ring where Kane stood, with the chair still in his hand, over Mick Foley's dead body. The arena was completely silent except for the halls of the locker rooms as wrestlers ran to the curtains. Hunter didn't move so neither did I. That night was the first time I'd seen him cry.
"Game over!" Shamrock yelled in the ring, breaking into my flashback.
"Come on! That was the wrong move!" Hunter complained.
I looked up to see Hunter getting up from the mat.
"Next you'll be complaining because you lose." Shamrock joked. They went on with the fight.
I turned back to Sean. "And before you ask, I don't know what ever happened to Big Show or Kane for that matter. So just get to your point."
"Okay. Five years ago we had all the big names in wrestling. Now we have The Rock and Triple H. The Championship goes to smaller guys, who while Stone Cold or Mankind wrestled, wouldn't have gotten higher than European or I.C. Next I'll be walking out with the damn belt." Sean said.
"So, why are you complaining?"
"Because when you think of the Championship, who's the first person that comes to mind?"
"Probably Stone Cold." I couldn't picture Stone Cold without the belt. "He even had his own Championship Belt."
"Exactly. He's a big guy, asshole, fan favorite, a wonderful fighter, and a great person in real life." I nodded to agree. The few times I'd met Steve Austin, I was surprised how nice he really was. Sean went on. "Something has gone wrong with the Federation with them guys gone. People loved to hate Stone Cold. There's nobody like that now. Vince doesn't even challenge anyone or show hatred anymore. The Rock is a fan favorite, but he's just got that nice image. DX isn't as hated as it used to be. Triple H is hated—"
"I can hear you, Sean." Hunter said from the ring.
"Well, it's the truth." I agreed with Sean.
"But it's not good for your character." Sean said to Hunter, who nodded then flipped Shamrock.
"So what's your point?" I asked Sean.
"The WWF has changed so much in just five years. The fans have no reason to hate anyone. It sucks."
"Sorry. There's nothing that can change now to make it like it used to be."
"There's no more Hardcore matches, and I don't even know who has the Hardcore Championship. We have sissy matches."
"There's still chairs over heads." I pointed out.
"Where's the table matches or ladder matches?"
"Talk to Vince and maybe you can get one set up." I suggested.
Sean turned away, quiet. After a few minutes I went back to writing. About ten minutes later, Hunter and Shamrock decided they wanted to rest, so Hunter joined Sean and me in the audience seats.
"Hey, Sean, can I talk to Shauna alone?" Hunter asked around me.
Sean stood up. "Yeah, I'm going to talk to Vince about a ladder match."
"For what? You have no belt." Hunter laughed.
"I don't want to be in it. The Outlaws against the Dudley's for the tag team belts."
"A double ladder match? And I'm sure the Outlaws would love those belts. Great idea." I said. Hunter agreed and Sean left, going up the ramp into the locker rooms.
"So, did you watch anything I was just doing?" Hunter asked.
"I saw you in a Shamrock leg lock. Other than that, I was writing."
"You really like sitting in the empty arena writing, don't you?" He smiled.
"It's cool. Not many people get to sit in an arena almost every night, mostly an empty arena. Plus, I like to see them build the stage area and the ring. It's weird." I explained.
"It is kind of weird and cool." He agreed.
Shamrock's theme music suddenly filled the arena then as abruptly cut off. I laughed. "Not exactly quiet though."
"So, anyway, I didn't want to talk about the arena."
"I assumed that much."
"Hunter! Shauna!" Brian said from the stage. He had a microphone and his voice was loud. "Vince wants to go over some things. He needs you back here, Hunter."
Hunter stood up and looked at me. "I want to talk about last night. I'd like to do it before my fight tonight. I'm too tense."
He went up the ramp as Brian came down.
"Hey, how have you been?" I asked Brian as he stood on the other side of the barricade in front of me.
"Pretty good. I've got a ladder match tonight for the tag team belts." He climbed over the waist high barricade and sat next to me. "You and Hunter seem slightly distant today. Sean noticed too. So, what's up?"
I laughed. "Not much."
"That's not what Hunter said." Brian smiled. "How long have you two lived together? About nine months? Didn't you move in as a friend?"
I laughed again. "Yeah, about nine months. We're still friends. If you ask me one more question, I'll have to take you to the ring."
He smiled. "A little touchy, are we?"
"Touchy? I've been playing Question and Answer all damn day. What did Hunter tell you?"
"He told me the truth, obviously. I'm one of his best friends. Unless you're trying to take my place, and if that's how you move up Hunter's ladder of friendship, I'm happy where I am."
"Okay, what exactly did he say?"
"Let's start with, because of last night, he thinks you're not just a friend anymore. It's not like him to have sex without a commitment."
I looked away, almost ashamed. "I don't want a commitment."
"You have to tell him." Brian said, quietly.
I turned to look at him and noticed Chyna coming towards us, and she didn't look happy. Brian and I stood up when she stopped in front of us, thankfully on the other side of the barricade.
"Hey, Joanie." Brian said, trying to sound nice.
She didn't respond to Brian, just locked eyes with me. "You slept with him." She said.
I wanted to slap her. She had no right to confront me like this. She'd left Hunter for Jericho a year and a half earlier. And to top that off, I had Hunter wandering around telling people we were more than friends. "I've got more to worry about that you right now, I'm sorry." I said.
Chyna looked at me, shocked. Most people were scared of her, but as long as I'd known her, fear was never an emotion I'd had for her. Hate, jealousy, yeah, I'd seen them, but never fear.
"You're lucky there's a barricade between us and Brian's here." She tried to scare me.
"The barricade comes up to my waist, it's worthless. And who cares if Brian's here? What do you want?"
"You, in the ring, right now."
"The stuff in that ring is fake. And if you want to make it real, you have an unfair advantage. I've never tried most wrestling moves."
She thought for a second. "Okay, fine. Remember when you were with Brian and Hunter and I were together, when we first met?"
Before moving to Connecticut, I'd been a personal trainer in a gym in Ann Arbor, which was close to my hometown. Traveling with Brian, I'd help him and the rest of DX train in the gym. In return Chyna would help me learn to box, something I'd always wanted to do.
"Boxing?" I suggested.
"Exactly." She smiled.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Brian finally spoke up.
"No, it's fine. Don't worry." I assured him.
"Meet me back out here in an hour, dressed. I'll send Chris to your locker room with gloves." Chyna walked away.
I turned to Brian and sighed, realizing how crazy I was. "Well," he said. "I suggest you go talk to Hunter, because in an hour you might be dead."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I said sarcastically.
Fifteen minutes later, I was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. Chris Jericho had brought me the boxing gloves. They were the ones I'd learned with years earlier.
I sat on the couch, waiting for Hunter to come back from talking to Vince. I needed to relax, not only for my fight with Chyna, but also to tell Hunter I didn't want to a commitment.
Five minutes later, Hunter came in as I was putting on my Nikes. "Hey, it's about time I got you alone." He said, closing the door.
"Actually you have about half an hour." I said, standing up. "But we do need to talk."
He nodded then looked down at the table in front of the couch. "Why are there boxing gloves in here? This isn't another of Sean's ideas, right? I've never boxed before."
"In about forty minutes, Chyna and I have a boxing match." I said with nervous laughter.
"You and Joanie?"
"Chyna." I corrected him.
He laughed. "I never understood why you couldn't call her Joanie like everyone else."
"That doesn't matter right now. I have to get in a ring with her and hope to God that I don't die." I fell back onto the couch, feeling slightly stressed.
Hunter came around the table and sat next to me. "Why are you doing it? I'm not saying you can't win, but she's mean."
"I trained with her. I know how she fights. How does she know we slept together last night?"
He'd been looking down at his hands, like he was thinking, now he looked up, shocked. "She knows?"
"Yeah, Hunter. Did you tell her?"
"No!" His eyes met mine.
"Who did you tell?" I demanded.
"Brian and Sean. That's all. I don't know how she found out. They wouldn't tell her and you know that." He was right. Brian and Sean were our best friends and I could trust either with my life.
"While we're on the subject, we really have to talk about last night."
He smiled, but I didn't.
"Brian and I were talking and a very important point came up." I said quietly.
"You didn't happen to mention to him why you were gone this morning? I'm a little confused about that."
"I left because what happened was wrong. It wasn't just wrong, it was stupid."
He looked hurt, then I saw a flash of anger in his eyes. "Are you and Brian still sleeping together?" He raised his voice slightly.
"Oh, my God!" I said, throwing my hands up.
"You are, aren't you? At least you still have feelings for him, right?"
I took a deep breath. "I want you to think way back to when I first got to meet you in Detroit. You and Chyna were sitting on one couch, Brian and Sean on another. Do you remember who I talked to first and what I said?"
"Probably Brian." He said without thinking.
"No, Hunter." I was getting angry. "I went to you first, and I said, 'You're my hero. I wish I were you. You're a great fighter and you've been through so much. And I respect you a lot for that.' And do you remember what you did? You turned to Chyna like I wasn't even there, Hunter! Do you know how much that hurt?"
He was completely shocked now. He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted.
"I'd waiting over two years to meet you, then I finally got a chance and you completely blew me off. You did until she left you." I wanted to cry but I was too mad. I'd refused to talk about how much it'd hurt when I'd meet DX for the first time. And now all the feelings were coming back and the main emotion was anger.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I really am. But that happened almost two years ago. I want to be with you now."
He tried to hug me, but I stood up, stepping away from him. Before I could say anything, there was a knock on the door and Brian walked in.
"You have ten minutes. I wanted to help you tape your hands and put your gloves on." Brian said.
I looked at Hunter. "We can continue this later."
He stood up. "Just think about it. And good luck." He said and then left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Do you know everybody walking by can hear you two arguing in here?" Brian said, picking up a roll of tape.
Suddenly I understood how Chyna found out about Hunter and I. Anybody could've heard. Now, I wanted to get out to the ring faster.
Ten minutes later, I was standing in the ring with Brian, waiting for Chyna. Finally she came down with Jericho. As she came down the ramp, I realized I'd just signed my death warrant. I looked over at Brian.
"It'll be okay. You can do this." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
Twenty minutes later, Chyna and I still hadn't really gotten into the fight. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and swung hard enough to make her stumble back a step or two. That's all it took; she came back swinging.
"God damn you!" I said as I fell back on to the ropes.
"You're going down!" She hit me again.
I struggled to get up and finally did, and I could block her punches again. Blocking and hitting didn't leave much time for watching my surroundings. Out of nowhere, Hunter was in front of me, pulling Chyna away and yelling at Brian to pull me back.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I demanded as Brian did what Hunter said.
"This had to stop!" Hunter said.
"If she wants you bad enough, she'll win." Chyna said, still struggling to get away from Hunter.
I struggled against Brian until I was close enough to hit Chyna. "You never deserved him!" I yelled and swung at her, missed and hit Hunter square in the jaw.
"Oh, my God!" Chyna and I said at the same time as Hunter fell to the mat, rubbing his jaw.
Chyna dropped down next to him as I tried to get away from Brian.
"Get off me!" I pushed Brian away as Chyna pulled her gloves off and got Hunter's hand off his face to see his jaw.
Hunter stood up and pushed Chyna's hand away. He looked at me, still stunned that I'd hit him. "God back to the locker room."
"I'm sorry." I said.
"Just go." He pointed to the ramp.
I looked at Brian, who put his arm around my shoulders. "Come on, let's go."
I went back to the locker room and took my gloves off, throwing them at the wall. Brian helped get the tape off my hands and wrists. "You did good." He said.
"Yeah, I didn't fall down completely." I said sarcastically.
"No, I mean, you knocked Hunter down with one punch." He laughed.
"That's only because he didn't expect it. If only I would've hit Chyna instead."
"Maybe someday you can get back out in the ring with her again."
"I don't think I want to."
"What were you thinking as you stood in the ring and watched her coming down the ramp?"
I thought for a second. "There's this Limp Bizkit song from years ago. I don't remember the name, but the line kind of stuck in my head. It goes, 'You'll get knocked the fuck out 'cause your mouth wrote a check that your ass can't cash.'"
Brian laughed. "And how did that get stuck in your head?"
"I have an everlasting database of quotes in my head. That's not even one of the really good ones."
Before we could go on with our conversation, Hunter walked in. Brian stood up from his place next to me on the couch. "I'm going to go get ready for my match tonight." He said and started towards the door, knowing Hunter was not happy.
Hunter sat down next to me, but didn't say anything until Brian was gone. Then he turned to me, and I saw a bruise starting to form from his jaw to his eye on the left side of his face. "I hope this doesn't reflect your decision." He said, rubbing his face.
"Not exactly."
"What are you saying? Together or friends?"
"You can witness a fight about you between me and your ex-girlfriend, a fight that you had to split up, and then you order me to come back here while you stay out there with her? Hunter, doesn't that strike you as a little odd?"
"Her and I needed to talk." He defended himself. "She had no right to get you in that ring just to beat you."
"You don't believe that I could've won? If I wasn't sure of myself, I wouldn't have gone out there. I agreed to the fight. She might have come up with the idea just to be able to hit me, but I agreed so I could beat her, too. I did it because she pissed me off by coming up to me and confronting me about sleeping with you. That's what she had no right to do."
"Honestly, I don't think you could've won. Sorry, but you know she's been doing this for a long time. She went easy on you."
I looked at him shocked. "Is that what you told you?"
"She said she didn't want to hurt you because she'd have to answer to me, and she didn't want that. She trained you and she knew how you fight and how good you are."
"She's lying to you. As soon as I hit her, she came back full force. I was scared, but I didn't back down not even when I almost fell. There was no way I was going to lose, I'd promised myself that as soon as the fight was suggested. And if she would've hurt me, she wouldn't have had to answer to you. She'd have to answer to me as soon as I got up and by then I'd be more pissed and ready to hit harder. I don't need you to cover me, I didn't need you to break up the fight, and I won't need your help for the next fight, and I'm almost positive there will be a next one. As long as she keeps poking in where she shouldn't be, there will always be another fight." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We're not ready to be together because you're too quick to try to protect me and I can't handle that. You have to learn to watch and let me make mistakes. Just make sure you're there when it's over and I'm hurt, then I'll need you, but not to fight for me."
"You're a lot like her." He said quietly.
"She's my hero. I've always wanted to be like her."
"I thought I was your hero and you hated her." He said confused.
"I hated what she had. When I'd help you all out in the gym, I was so jealous. I was with Brian and I really liked him, but there was always a part of me that wanted to be with you. She got to go home every night with you. She was there to talk to you if you'd had a bad fight or if you were hurt. You'd always look at her with that loving look, the same look Brian and I had for each other. Everytime you would look at her, it almost made me sick. I think Brian caught on and that's why we broke up."
"Did you just figure that out? He told me that a long time ago. He said he loved you and you loved him and you were happy with him. But he wanted you to be completely happy and when Joanie left me, Brian knew he had to break up with you. That's why you were always pushed as my tag-along, not his or Sean's. Why do you think nobody ever suggested you moving in with either of them, but with me? But I guess you're completely happy with the way things are."
"Yeah, I am. Someday I will want to have a relationship with you, but for now I'm happy with just being the one you talk to."
He smiled and hugged me. "If you're happy then that's what you'll be, the one I go to when I need to talk."
"Okay," I laughed. "Then let's talk about how you're going to explain how you got that bruise to Vince. He's not going to be happy."
I sat in the front row, ringside, in the empty arena. The only time I'd go out to the arena was if it was empty. A year later, I'd actually go out to see a fight, but it wasn't planned yet.
Sean sat next to me as Hunter went through his fight for later that night with Ken Shamrock.
The crew of technicians were testing sound and visual effects for the night. Other people were still setting up the entrance. It was the night of Wrestlemania, a huge pay-per-view, probably one of the two most important of the year. We'd been there since noon and now it was two, five hours before Sunday Night Heat would start airing.
Hunter and Shamrock's fight was for the Championship title. Hunter had won the chance for the fight by winning the Royal Rumble two months earlier at the January pay-per-view. That's all Hunter would win; he was losing to Shamrock that night.
"It's just not the same." Sean said next to me.
I looked up from the notebook I'd been writing in. I liked to keep a journal, figuring someday I'd be back in a normal life and enjoy reading what had happened. "What's not the same?" I asked Sean.
"Five years ago, who had the Championship?"
I thought for a second, lots of the guys had had the belt around then, but only one had his own belt. "Stone Cold." I answered Sean.
"And where is he now?"
"Is this a weird quiz? Are you going to give me money for getting these right?"
"No, I'm just making a point." He was confusing me and annoying me at the same time.
"Okay, Stone Cold. He's injured, can't wrestle again."
"Who else held the belt five years ago?"
I sighed. "Um…The Rock I'm sure had it. Mankind had it, Triple H, Big Show had it shortly."
"What happened to Mankind?"
"He's dead. Died because of some stupid thing he was doing in the ring. It happened over a year ago." It was sad to talk about Mick Foley's death. He'd been a great wrestler and person. But he'd do anything for the fans, and one night, it went a little far. He'd been fighting Kane, who quit the next night. It was a normal thing to see Mankind being hit with a chair, and this fight was no different. Chair shot after chair shot straight at Mick Foley's head.
Half an hour into the fight, Mankind could barely stand up. I'd been watching from the DX locker room, sitting next to Hunter. The rest of DX was getting ready for a six-man tag team match. As Kane hit Mankind, Hunter would jump. I was in shock. Mick Foley was always hit with the chair, it was something he refused to fake.
The two wrestlers had agreed on ten chair shots, Kane wanting less and Mankind wanting more, before going to the ring. I'd actually been standing next to them, trying to find Crystal.
On the little TV in the locker room that night, I counted. The last hit was supposed to knock Mankind out, or at least look like it did, so Kane would win. Kane swung the chair like a baseball bat, but as it connected he used too much force. Mankind's neck made a loud crack and his head fell onto his shoulder as he fell back onto the mat.
Paramedics rushed the ring where Kane stood, with the chair still in his hand, over Mick Foley's dead body. The arena was completely silent except for the halls of the locker rooms as wrestlers ran to the curtains. Hunter didn't move so neither did I. That night was the first time I'd seen him cry.
"Game over!" Shamrock yelled in the ring, breaking into my flashback.
"Come on! That was the wrong move!" Hunter complained.
I looked up to see Hunter getting up from the mat.
"Next you'll be complaining because you lose." Shamrock joked. They went on with the fight.
I turned back to Sean. "And before you ask, I don't know what ever happened to Big Show or Kane for that matter. So just get to your point."
"Okay. Five years ago we had all the big names in wrestling. Now we have The Rock and Triple H. The Championship goes to smaller guys, who while Stone Cold or Mankind wrestled, wouldn't have gotten higher than European or I.C. Next I'll be walking out with the damn belt." Sean said.
"So, why are you complaining?"
"Because when you think of the Championship, who's the first person that comes to mind?"
"Probably Stone Cold." I couldn't picture Stone Cold without the belt. "He even had his own Championship Belt."
"Exactly. He's a big guy, asshole, fan favorite, a wonderful fighter, and a great person in real life." I nodded to agree. The few times I'd met Steve Austin, I was surprised how nice he really was. Sean went on. "Something has gone wrong with the Federation with them guys gone. People loved to hate Stone Cold. There's nobody like that now. Vince doesn't even challenge anyone or show hatred anymore. The Rock is a fan favorite, but he's just got that nice image. DX isn't as hated as it used to be. Triple H is hated—"
"I can hear you, Sean." Hunter said from the ring.
"Well, it's the truth." I agreed with Sean.
"But it's not good for your character." Sean said to Hunter, who nodded then flipped Shamrock.
"So what's your point?" I asked Sean.
"The WWF has changed so much in just five years. The fans have no reason to hate anyone. It sucks."
"Sorry. There's nothing that can change now to make it like it used to be."
"There's no more Hardcore matches, and I don't even know who has the Hardcore Championship. We have sissy matches."
"There's still chairs over heads." I pointed out.
"Where's the table matches or ladder matches?"
"Talk to Vince and maybe you can get one set up." I suggested.
Sean turned away, quiet. After a few minutes I went back to writing. About ten minutes later, Hunter and Shamrock decided they wanted to rest, so Hunter joined Sean and me in the audience seats.
"Hey, Sean, can I talk to Shauna alone?" Hunter asked around me.
Sean stood up. "Yeah, I'm going to talk to Vince about a ladder match."
"For what? You have no belt." Hunter laughed.
"I don't want to be in it. The Outlaws against the Dudley's for the tag team belts."
"A double ladder match? And I'm sure the Outlaws would love those belts. Great idea." I said. Hunter agreed and Sean left, going up the ramp into the locker rooms.
"So, did you watch anything I was just doing?" Hunter asked.
"I saw you in a Shamrock leg lock. Other than that, I was writing."
"You really like sitting in the empty arena writing, don't you?" He smiled.
"It's cool. Not many people get to sit in an arena almost every night, mostly an empty arena. Plus, I like to see them build the stage area and the ring. It's weird." I explained.
"It is kind of weird and cool." He agreed.
Shamrock's theme music suddenly filled the arena then as abruptly cut off. I laughed. "Not exactly quiet though."
"So, anyway, I didn't want to talk about the arena."
"I assumed that much."
"Hunter! Shauna!" Brian said from the stage. He had a microphone and his voice was loud. "Vince wants to go over some things. He needs you back here, Hunter."
Hunter stood up and looked at me. "I want to talk about last night. I'd like to do it before my fight tonight. I'm too tense."
He went up the ramp as Brian came down.
"Hey, how have you been?" I asked Brian as he stood on the other side of the barricade in front of me.
"Pretty good. I've got a ladder match tonight for the tag team belts." He climbed over the waist high barricade and sat next to me. "You and Hunter seem slightly distant today. Sean noticed too. So, what's up?"
I laughed. "Not much."
"That's not what Hunter said." Brian smiled. "How long have you two lived together? About nine months? Didn't you move in as a friend?"
I laughed again. "Yeah, about nine months. We're still friends. If you ask me one more question, I'll have to take you to the ring."
He smiled. "A little touchy, are we?"
"Touchy? I've been playing Question and Answer all damn day. What did Hunter tell you?"
"He told me the truth, obviously. I'm one of his best friends. Unless you're trying to take my place, and if that's how you move up Hunter's ladder of friendship, I'm happy where I am."
"Okay, what exactly did he say?"
"Let's start with, because of last night, he thinks you're not just a friend anymore. It's not like him to have sex without a commitment."
I looked away, almost ashamed. "I don't want a commitment."
"You have to tell him." Brian said, quietly.
I turned to look at him and noticed Chyna coming towards us, and she didn't look happy. Brian and I stood up when she stopped in front of us, thankfully on the other side of the barricade.
"Hey, Joanie." Brian said, trying to sound nice.
She didn't respond to Brian, just locked eyes with me. "You slept with him." She said.
I wanted to slap her. She had no right to confront me like this. She'd left Hunter for Jericho a year and a half earlier. And to top that off, I had Hunter wandering around telling people we were more than friends. "I've got more to worry about that you right now, I'm sorry." I said.
Chyna looked at me, shocked. Most people were scared of her, but as long as I'd known her, fear was never an emotion I'd had for her. Hate, jealousy, yeah, I'd seen them, but never fear.
"You're lucky there's a barricade between us and Brian's here." She tried to scare me.
"The barricade comes up to my waist, it's worthless. And who cares if Brian's here? What do you want?"
"You, in the ring, right now."
"The stuff in that ring is fake. And if you want to make it real, you have an unfair advantage. I've never tried most wrestling moves."
She thought for a second. "Okay, fine. Remember when you were with Brian and Hunter and I were together, when we first met?"
Before moving to Connecticut, I'd been a personal trainer in a gym in Ann Arbor, which was close to my hometown. Traveling with Brian, I'd help him and the rest of DX train in the gym. In return Chyna would help me learn to box, something I'd always wanted to do.
"Boxing?" I suggested.
"Exactly." She smiled.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Brian finally spoke up.
"No, it's fine. Don't worry." I assured him.
"Meet me back out here in an hour, dressed. I'll send Chris to your locker room with gloves." Chyna walked away.
I turned to Brian and sighed, realizing how crazy I was. "Well," he said. "I suggest you go talk to Hunter, because in an hour you might be dead."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I said sarcastically.
Fifteen minutes later, I was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. Chris Jericho had brought me the boxing gloves. They were the ones I'd learned with years earlier.
I sat on the couch, waiting for Hunter to come back from talking to Vince. I needed to relax, not only for my fight with Chyna, but also to tell Hunter I didn't want to a commitment.
Five minutes later, Hunter came in as I was putting on my Nikes. "Hey, it's about time I got you alone." He said, closing the door.
"Actually you have about half an hour." I said, standing up. "But we do need to talk."
He nodded then looked down at the table in front of the couch. "Why are there boxing gloves in here? This isn't another of Sean's ideas, right? I've never boxed before."
"In about forty minutes, Chyna and I have a boxing match." I said with nervous laughter.
"You and Joanie?"
"Chyna." I corrected him.
He laughed. "I never understood why you couldn't call her Joanie like everyone else."
"That doesn't matter right now. I have to get in a ring with her and hope to God that I don't die." I fell back onto the couch, feeling slightly stressed.
Hunter came around the table and sat next to me. "Why are you doing it? I'm not saying you can't win, but she's mean."
"I trained with her. I know how she fights. How does she know we slept together last night?"
He'd been looking down at his hands, like he was thinking, now he looked up, shocked. "She knows?"
"Yeah, Hunter. Did you tell her?"
"No!" His eyes met mine.
"Who did you tell?" I demanded.
"Brian and Sean. That's all. I don't know how she found out. They wouldn't tell her and you know that." He was right. Brian and Sean were our best friends and I could trust either with my life.
"While we're on the subject, we really have to talk about last night."
He smiled, but I didn't.
"Brian and I were talking and a very important point came up." I said quietly.
"You didn't happen to mention to him why you were gone this morning? I'm a little confused about that."
"I left because what happened was wrong. It wasn't just wrong, it was stupid."
He looked hurt, then I saw a flash of anger in his eyes. "Are you and Brian still sleeping together?" He raised his voice slightly.
"Oh, my God!" I said, throwing my hands up.
"You are, aren't you? At least you still have feelings for him, right?"
I took a deep breath. "I want you to think way back to when I first got to meet you in Detroit. You and Chyna were sitting on one couch, Brian and Sean on another. Do you remember who I talked to first and what I said?"
"Probably Brian." He said without thinking.
"No, Hunter." I was getting angry. "I went to you first, and I said, 'You're my hero. I wish I were you. You're a great fighter and you've been through so much. And I respect you a lot for that.' And do you remember what you did? You turned to Chyna like I wasn't even there, Hunter! Do you know how much that hurt?"
He was completely shocked now. He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted.
"I'd waiting over two years to meet you, then I finally got a chance and you completely blew me off. You did until she left you." I wanted to cry but I was too mad. I'd refused to talk about how much it'd hurt when I'd meet DX for the first time. And now all the feelings were coming back and the main emotion was anger.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I really am. But that happened almost two years ago. I want to be with you now."
He tried to hug me, but I stood up, stepping away from him. Before I could say anything, there was a knock on the door and Brian walked in.
"You have ten minutes. I wanted to help you tape your hands and put your gloves on." Brian said.
I looked at Hunter. "We can continue this later."
He stood up. "Just think about it. And good luck." He said and then left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Do you know everybody walking by can hear you two arguing in here?" Brian said, picking up a roll of tape.
Suddenly I understood how Chyna found out about Hunter and I. Anybody could've heard. Now, I wanted to get out to the ring faster.
Ten minutes later, I was standing in the ring with Brian, waiting for Chyna. Finally she came down with Jericho. As she came down the ramp, I realized I'd just signed my death warrant. I looked over at Brian.
"It'll be okay. You can do this." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
Twenty minutes later, Chyna and I still hadn't really gotten into the fight. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and swung hard enough to make her stumble back a step or two. That's all it took; she came back swinging.
"God damn you!" I said as I fell back on to the ropes.
"You're going down!" She hit me again.
I struggled to get up and finally did, and I could block her punches again. Blocking and hitting didn't leave much time for watching my surroundings. Out of nowhere, Hunter was in front of me, pulling Chyna away and yelling at Brian to pull me back.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I demanded as Brian did what Hunter said.
"This had to stop!" Hunter said.
"If she wants you bad enough, she'll win." Chyna said, still struggling to get away from Hunter.
I struggled against Brian until I was close enough to hit Chyna. "You never deserved him!" I yelled and swung at her, missed and hit Hunter square in the jaw.
"Oh, my God!" Chyna and I said at the same time as Hunter fell to the mat, rubbing his jaw.
Chyna dropped down next to him as I tried to get away from Brian.
"Get off me!" I pushed Brian away as Chyna pulled her gloves off and got Hunter's hand off his face to see his jaw.
Hunter stood up and pushed Chyna's hand away. He looked at me, still stunned that I'd hit him. "God back to the locker room."
"I'm sorry." I said.
"Just go." He pointed to the ramp.
I looked at Brian, who put his arm around my shoulders. "Come on, let's go."
I went back to the locker room and took my gloves off, throwing them at the wall. Brian helped get the tape off my hands and wrists. "You did good." He said.
"Yeah, I didn't fall down completely." I said sarcastically.
"No, I mean, you knocked Hunter down with one punch." He laughed.
"That's only because he didn't expect it. If only I would've hit Chyna instead."
"Maybe someday you can get back out in the ring with her again."
"I don't think I want to."
"What were you thinking as you stood in the ring and watched her coming down the ramp?"
I thought for a second. "There's this Limp Bizkit song from years ago. I don't remember the name, but the line kind of stuck in my head. It goes, 'You'll get knocked the fuck out 'cause your mouth wrote a check that your ass can't cash.'"
Brian laughed. "And how did that get stuck in your head?"
"I have an everlasting database of quotes in my head. That's not even one of the really good ones."
Before we could go on with our conversation, Hunter walked in. Brian stood up from his place next to me on the couch. "I'm going to go get ready for my match tonight." He said and started towards the door, knowing Hunter was not happy.
Hunter sat down next to me, but didn't say anything until Brian was gone. Then he turned to me, and I saw a bruise starting to form from his jaw to his eye on the left side of his face. "I hope this doesn't reflect your decision." He said, rubbing his face.
"Not exactly."
"What are you saying? Together or friends?"
"You can witness a fight about you between me and your ex-girlfriend, a fight that you had to split up, and then you order me to come back here while you stay out there with her? Hunter, doesn't that strike you as a little odd?"
"Her and I needed to talk." He defended himself. "She had no right to get you in that ring just to beat you."
"You don't believe that I could've won? If I wasn't sure of myself, I wouldn't have gone out there. I agreed to the fight. She might have come up with the idea just to be able to hit me, but I agreed so I could beat her, too. I did it because she pissed me off by coming up to me and confronting me about sleeping with you. That's what she had no right to do."
"Honestly, I don't think you could've won. Sorry, but you know she's been doing this for a long time. She went easy on you."
I looked at him shocked. "Is that what you told you?"
"She said she didn't want to hurt you because she'd have to answer to me, and she didn't want that. She trained you and she knew how you fight and how good you are."
"She's lying to you. As soon as I hit her, she came back full force. I was scared, but I didn't back down not even when I almost fell. There was no way I was going to lose, I'd promised myself that as soon as the fight was suggested. And if she would've hurt me, she wouldn't have had to answer to you. She'd have to answer to me as soon as I got up and by then I'd be more pissed and ready to hit harder. I don't need you to cover me, I didn't need you to break up the fight, and I won't need your help for the next fight, and I'm almost positive there will be a next one. As long as she keeps poking in where she shouldn't be, there will always be another fight." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We're not ready to be together because you're too quick to try to protect me and I can't handle that. You have to learn to watch and let me make mistakes. Just make sure you're there when it's over and I'm hurt, then I'll need you, but not to fight for me."
"You're a lot like her." He said quietly.
"She's my hero. I've always wanted to be like her."
"I thought I was your hero and you hated her." He said confused.
"I hated what she had. When I'd help you all out in the gym, I was so jealous. I was with Brian and I really liked him, but there was always a part of me that wanted to be with you. She got to go home every night with you. She was there to talk to you if you'd had a bad fight or if you were hurt. You'd always look at her with that loving look, the same look Brian and I had for each other. Everytime you would look at her, it almost made me sick. I think Brian caught on and that's why we broke up."
"Did you just figure that out? He told me that a long time ago. He said he loved you and you loved him and you were happy with him. But he wanted you to be completely happy and when Joanie left me, Brian knew he had to break up with you. That's why you were always pushed as my tag-along, not his or Sean's. Why do you think nobody ever suggested you moving in with either of them, but with me? But I guess you're completely happy with the way things are."
"Yeah, I am. Someday I will want to have a relationship with you, but for now I'm happy with just being the one you talk to."
He smiled and hugged me. "If you're happy then that's what you'll be, the one I go to when I need to talk."
"Okay," I laughed. "Then let's talk about how you're going to explain how you got that bruise to Vince. He's not going to be happy."