Then a harsh beep. I hung up the phone quickly. God, I just wanted to hear her voice again. Even if it was taped on a machine. I pulled the calling card back out of my pocket and dialed the eleven thousand numbers it took to put a call through. Finally the phone started ringing again.
Once. Twice. Three times, four, five, here it comes.
"Hello, you've reached the Dumas residence. Nobody's home, but if you leave a message, we'll get back to you as soon as possible."
Short but sweet. Beep.
"Hi, Ma. It's me, Amy."
I paused. Duh, she knew that.
"Are you there?"
I actually waited a second. I knew that she wasn't.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm... traveling tomorrow. Some of the guys are going to an NWA show. It's supposed to be a big deal... I don't know. Matt is trying to find out if there's anyway to get me a match. I just thought I'd let you know. If I can do this, it's a really great experience. Well, I'll call you back later, we're about to do a show here.
"I love you."
Hang up the phone, Amy, she's not going to say it back. I swallowed and grudgingly placed the pay phone receiver back in its cradle. Well, that was that. Time to go. I turned away and head back towards the main part of the building, where the arena was, checking a clock on the wall. The doors would open soon.
"Amy?"
I froze when I heard my name called from behind me. That would be Matt. I turned slowly and saw him jogging slightly to catch up with me.
"Hi."
"Hey there," he smiled hesitantly. "I, ah, was thinkin'. Y'should get involved in a better match t'night. Y'been workin' with Shannon f' a while now, but I want y't'be in Jeff's an' my match t'night. In Jeff's corner."
"Jeff's corner?" I repeated, unable to form my own words.
"I was thinkin' y'could debut y'new hurrican rana t'night."
"On you?" I asked, taken aback.
He nodded. "Absolutely. Jeff an' I were talkin' 'bout it, he thinks it's a good idea, too."
"Um, ok," I answered with my only real option.
"Great. Let's find Jeff, we'll figure out what we want y't'do."
"Ok," I said, somewhat numbly. I was just figuratively shot to the top of the card. I didn't really know what to say. I just fell into step with Matt, silently. Why did he do this? Did Jeff tell him to? Matt made it sound like it'd been his idea. As we reached the rest of the guys, I saw everyone doing their own personal warm-ups. I looked around for Jeff, but I didn't know where he was. I felt kinda detatched from the situation. Maybe it was nerves, I was suddenly anxious to perform tonight. I was fighting Matt. Jesus, he was intimidating enough to just talk to. What if I messed up tonight? How did he have all this faith in me? I was snapped out of my little reverie when I noticed Matt watching me, expectantly. Oh, he must have said something.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I said that I can't seem t'find Jeff. Mind if we jus' go over th'match?"
"Um, sure."
Matt nodded and started talking. Obviously, he'd planned the match out with Jeff already. "...What y'have t'pay attention to is m'tornado DDT. After I hit that, I'm goin' t'get up an' go f'm'leg drop, but you're goin' t'be on the turnbuckle an' do y'hurrican rana. Ok?"
"Ok," I repeated, nodding my head and looking serious.
Matt smiled at me and set a hand on my shoulder. "Y'goin' t'do fine. Take a couple breaths an' relax. We're th'last match, so y'got some time. Take it easy, all right?"
Who the hell was this? I stared at him, shocked. My mouth was gaping, I'm sure. I'd never seen this before. Trying to regain my composure, I nodded again and closed my mouth. "Ok, thanks."
"Jeff an' I will find y'b'fore th'match, ok?" He looked at me with a slight smile. I got the feeling he was trying to not laugh at my shock. I just nodded again and he let go of me and walked away.
Escorting Jeff? That'd make me the face, not that that mattered here. People would pop for me just for being a girl. I looked down at myself. I had changed already, I was originally a lot earlier on the card. Ah well, no need to change out of wrestling gear. Wandering around for a bit, I watched the boys chat as they waited for the show to start. Matt and Jeff had taken off somewhere, but for the most part, everyone was hanging around. Again, I think it was the nerves, but the evening took on a slightly timeless mood. Before I even knew what was happening, the show had started. One match right after the other, I watched some, missed others. I was so distracted. I tried stretching, but halfway through, I'd forget what I was doing. Dammit. It wasn't a matter of debuting a new move, or being billed at the top of the card. It wasn't even a matter of the slightly larger size of the audience. Getting in the ring with Matt scared the fuck out of me. I was still slightly numb from when he first told me I'd be doing it.
"Snap out of it, Amy." Ah ha, this is great. Now I'm talking to myself. No, seriously, I had to get straight. I had to do good. I had to be perfect, and impress him. He was putting a lot of expectations on me. A lot of pressure.
"No problem, no problem, I can handle this." Internal monologue, kid, use it. Good thing no one was paying attention to my pacing and rambling. I made the overwhelming effort to stand in one place and keep my mouth shut. It was harder than I expected. Sighing, I leaned against the nearest wall and watched. The Serial Thrillaz were fighting -
The Serial Thrillaz? That was the second to last...
I looked around, expectantly, and found Jeff walking towards me in wrestling gear, sporting a huge grin.
"Are y'ready?"
I wrung my hands together slightly nervously. In my mind, I wasn't really allowed to say no to him either. "Hell yeah."
"Hey, great enthusiasm. Why didn't y'go int'acting?" Jeff smirked at me and I sighed. I looked up to his clear hazel eyes only to be met by a gentle smile and a hair tousle. "Y'goin' t'do fine. I know it."
"Me too," I answered again, trying to sound more confident.
"Y'gettin' better," He said, almost laughing. He tried again to fire me up. "Ready t'go?"
I took a deep breath and watched Shane and Mike come back from their loss. Finally, I nodded to Jeff and clapped my hands with a sudden spurt of emotion. Here it came, at last. "Let's go!"
I knew that the adrenaline would kick in sooner or later. Jeff grinned at my sudden excitement and we went to the end of the aisle to the ring.
"Where's Matt?" I asked, uncharacteristically. Jeff looked at me, slightly surprised that I asked.
"I'm here. Let's do this." Jeff and I looked up at the same time and I and found myself dwarfed between Matt and Jeff. They grinned at each other and Matt held out his hands to Jeff, palms down, with his fingers half curled under. Jeff did the same and they touched knuckles together. I watched, in slight awe. Maybe that Matt that Jeff had tried to tell me about way back when did exist. The action, all in all, took only a split second, but I noticed, for the first time, a strong connection between the two. Then, Matt started out to the ring, suddenly fired up and yelling at the crowd. I looked to Jeff, confused.
"What was that?"
"Knucks. Pre-match ritual. Let's go!"
He grabbed my hand and tugged me out, but let go as soon as we got moving. We mimicked Matt's general actions, but much nicer. The crowd wasn't that large, but it was pretty big for us. They popped appropriately as we reached the ring. And the match began. For the first part of the match, I was playing a valet. When Jeff did good, I cheered. When Matt did good, I pouted. I always knew that when I became famous my first goal would be to change this current image of women wrestlers. But as things stood right now, Matt had back-body-dropped Jeff onto the mat, so I started pounding the mat with my hand to encourage Jeff. The crowd followed me, clapping their support. I did this until Matt took a couple menacing steps towards me, and I backed off frightened. He glared down at me from the ring. Good acting on his part, but mine came a little more natural.
Matt went back to Jeff who was slowly getting to his feet. He still had his wind, unlike Jeff, and grabbed Jeff quickly and hit a tornado DDT. That was my cue. I grabbed the bottom rope and vaulted myself up onto the side of the ring. Matt stood up with his back to me, holding his arms out for some heel heat. Instead, the crowd popped for me, climbing the ropes. Matt turned to come over to the corner, but it was time to act. I dove, feet first.
From there, time seemed to slow down. It was wrong, very wrong.
There was time enough for me to notice that I was too far from Matt, I wouldn't be able to hook my legs. There was time enough for me to imagine my sudden impending doom. It would be a broken neck, first. Maybe some cracked vertebrae. The backs of my calves would slide off Matt's chest and I'd land on my head. Pretty damn hard. Fuck.
Suddenly, I felt strong hands catch just above my knees. Close enough for me. I swung my shoulders to the right and tried to complete the move. I didn't have the right leverage, but Matt managed a standing flip and safely dropped me on my stomach. I somehow rolled out of the ring and dropped to the outside, holding my stomach to sell the move. Jesus Christ, that was crazy. It had seemed so slow, but I knew it must have been insanely fast. Matt was really thinking on his feet.
Jeff rolled over onto Matt and got the pin. I jumped up, still holding my stomach, and cheered. Sliding right back in the ring, I held Jeff's hand up in victory. The audience popped, and Jeff and I helped carry each other backstage again. Out of character, I cast a glance back to Matt as we left. He was laying on his back still, not moving except for the exhausted rising and falling of his chest. I could hardly believe he'd done that. I knew I was done for, though. He probably thought I was a bust. Dammit, my first big chance to impress him and I'd blow it.
"Hey, Amy, are y'all right?"
"Do y'know how close y'head was t'th'ground?"
"Y'lucky that was Matt, I wouldn't have been able t'save y'like that!"
"Y'goin' t'be ok?"
I was assaulted with a barage of reminders of the fuck up. Thanks guys. I let go of Jeff as soon as I got backstage and held up a halting hand to all the questioners. "I'm fine, thanks."
"Amy," Jeff started, sympathetic, but I took off. I was so embarrassed. I heard footsteps behind me, Jeff was following me, but he stopped after a second when he realized I didn't want to talk. I walked around the tiny building, lost. I didn't know where anything was, much less where I could go. Finally, when I decided that I was far enough from everyone, I leaned against a cold, cinderblock wall, then slid down to the floor, burying my face in my hands. I wasn't crying, this wouldn't make me cry. I was embarrassed, yes, but I wasn't about to cry. Goddammit, how could I do that? I'd hit that 'rana perfectly on practically every guy in OMEGA by now, but the first time I try it on Matt...
I heard footsteps. Someone was coming. Keep walking, Jeff, keep walking. He didn't, I heard him crouch in front of me. I will not look up, I will not look at him. He set a hand on the side of my face, a soft caress. I was caught off guard, Jeff had never touched me this gently before. It didn't matter, I wasn't in the mood for it.
"Fuck off -" I froze as I looked up at him. It was all kinds of not Jeff. Matt's dark eyes captured my glance, and a slight smiled played on his lips. I swallowed to wet my tounge then quickly added, "I'm sorry."
His smile didn't so much grow as spread to his eyes, which sparkled with amusement. "Y'did good t'night."
I watched him, speechless. Did he just...? What do I...? With the amused look still on his face, he let go of my face, got to his feet and walked away. I watched him leave, slack-jawed and confused.