And part II is up. If you want to read the next chapter go to A03. Otherwise, enjoy!

For the rest of the day, Jo had stayed quiet. And, more importantly, she had stayed out of sight from Ambali.

The black haired girl had continued using her phone, much to the annoyance of the other gym goers, especially when Jo wasn't so lenient with them.

Jo had also fully denied her mother's accusation. Jo had fully convinced herself that she only wanted to keep Ambali around because she was the only other girl and it was cool to see someone like her working out. On many occasions, Jo found her eyes wandering. No reason really, just seeing a girl like Ambali and her working out, surrounded by dudes, was admirable.

"You should talk to her."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Mom, she's here to work out. I'm not about to start distracting her."

"You clearly like her, Jo, and-"

"Stop saying that." Jo interrupted.

"Excuse me?"

The jockette sighed. "I'm sorry. But, she's a girl, I'm a girl. It's like magnets."

"Jo, where did you get that idea?"

"Hey, I pay attention in school. I know how magnets work."

"No, that's not what I meant." Jane pinched her nose. "Where did you get this idea that girls can't date other girls?"

"Well…school. Every girl there was going out with either a jock or…occasionally a nerd. It's…I don't know, it's just not something you're supposed to do."

"And since when have you cared what anyone else thinks?"

Jo, surprisingly, didn't answer this. Now, Jane was just concerned. She was used to dealing with the stubbornness of her daughter, but this felt different.

"Excuse me?"

Jo and Jane looked up. Ambali was now standing in front of the desk. Jo immediately tensed up, which Jane noticed, but first turned her attention to Ambali. "Yes, how can we help you?"

"If it's not too much to ask," Ambali said. "I was kinda hoping I could get someone to spot me at the barbell."

"You lift?" Jo asked suddenly. Even she was surprised at her outburst.

Ambali nodded.

Jane looked towards her daughter and smirked again. "I think my daughter can help you with that."

Jo went wide eyed and stood up. "Wait, what?!"

An awkward silence followed as Jo's outburst echoed around the gym. A few heads turned toward her. The jockette noticed and tried to play it off. She looked at Ambali again. "Ummm…sure, I'll help."

Ambali smiled. Jo suddenly found it easier to be around her. She walked around the desk and the two went over to the barbell.

"So, what do you want to start at?" Jo asked.

"I think 185 is a good place to start." Ambali responded.

Jo froze again. "Wait, 185? You?"

The black haired girl chuckled. "Yeah, I know, most people are surprised I can squat that much."

The two grabbed their weights and began setting it up.

In the middle of it, Ambali pulled out her phone. "Hey, is it alright if I film myself? Totally cool if you don't."

"Umm…" Jo thought to herself. She looked around. Everyone else was occupied with their workouts. Jo still had no idea why she was even debating this. If any of the guys had used their phones to record, she would've given them a tongue lashing. But, with her, it was different. She turned back to Ambali. "Yeah, sure."

The black haired girl smiled. Then she went over to the guys working out behind them. "Hey, are you guys okay if I film here?"

Aw crap. Jo thought to herself

All the guys stopped what they were doing and looked at Ambali. Then, they slowly turned their heads at Jo. The jockette felt extremely awkward, especially with all the judging glares she was getting. In any other situation, Jo would've told them to deal with it, but that didn't feel right this time.

She let out a loud sigh. "Fine. The…no phones rule is…done."

Almost immediately, the dudes in the gym nodded at Ambali, before going back to their workout.

The black haired girl went back to the barbell and set up her phone near a wall. Jo was still amazed that such a small girl was about to lift 185 pounds.

Ambali then took off her midriff top and tossed it to the side, revealing a black sports bra. Jo froze up again for a second.

"Alright, ready?" Ambali got in position under the bar.

The jockette snapped from her trance. "Y-Yeah." She responded reluctantly.

Ambali grabbed the handle, pushed up and, sure enough, the bar lifted with her. She took a breath and squatted down.

Jo was amazed. Not just for how strong the girl was, but also for something else. She found her eyes wandering. Holy crap. This girl is freaking toned. I mean, her back muscles look so trained. Geez, whatever workout routine she does, I gotta ask her if I can do it with her…I-I mean, ask her what it is, so I can do it…by…myself. I don't know, maybe if she was there, I guess that wouldn't be too bad. Just looking at her back muscles would give me the motivation I need. Her…really toned muscles…on such a small girl is really…really…

"Um, Jo?"

The jockette, once again, came back to reality. She saw Ambali, struggling to push the bar up. "Oh." She immediately acted and helped spot her, setting the weight on the latch.

Ambali grunted and rolled her shoulders. "Thanks."

"Yeah, no prob." Jo paused for a moment. "Ok, I gotta ask. How?"

Amabali raised an eyebrow. "How what?"

"How are you able to squat that much? I mean, you're so tiny. I-I mean, not like it's a bad thing, just…I don't know, it's weird. N-Not that you're weird, just that the thing in general is weird."

Amabali giggled. Jo felt an immediate sense of relief. "No, it's fine. I guess just from…a lot of working out. I liked to stay in shape and that meant training my body."

"How long have you been working out?" Jo asked.

"Probably since I was ten. You?"

"Since…" Jo hesitated. "...grade school."

"Really? That young?"

"Yup." Jo nervously chuckled. "I just…couldn't get enough of…lifting weights."

"You want to show me?" Ambali asked.

Jo stared. "Like…right now?" The black hair girl nodded. Jo considered her options. Alright, I guess I get to one up this…pretty…cool girl this. Like I always do…but with a girl this time. "Alright, give me a sec to change."

Jo ran off to her office to change into her gym clothes.

As she ran by the front desk, she saw her mom, still smirking at her. Jo ignored it.

"You've got this! One more!"

Jo was now at the barbell, back in her traditional black sweatpants and sweatshirt. She had also upgraded the weights to 220. Admittedly, she did find herself struggling, but didn't want to admit it.

She did another squat and went for another.

"You sure you're good for one more?" Ambali asked

Jo scoffed. "I'll do two more." Once again, she squatted.

"Hey, mom."

Jo heard this and she glanced around. The first thing that caught her sight was Rick standing near the entrance on his phone.

"You're never going to believe what happened today."

The jockette glared and might've said something, but then remembered what she was doing. She was mid squat, with 220 pounds on her shoulders and she just broke concentration. She sagged a bit and, if she wasn't careful, she was going to drop the whole thing.

"Hold on, I gotcha."

Jo felt a pair of hands touch her arms and hold her in place. Carefully, she pushed herself all the way back up and placed the bar back on the stand. She let out a sigh, before turning to Ambali.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned.

"I'm…fine." Jo answered. She was more embarrassed than hurt. "I almost had that last one."

"Hey, it's no big deal. We'll get it next time." Ambali held out her hand for a high five.

Jo stared. Slowly, she picked up her hand. Before she could extend it, Ambali beat her to it and high-fived her instead. She smiled and then walked off.

Jo stood in silence. She looked at the hand that Ambali had just high-fived.

She was still staring at it, in her bedroom, hours later, after the clock had struck midnight.

The next few days were very…mixed for Jo. On one hand, Jo had great days. She found herself smiling and laughing more. She felt motivated to do stuff around the gym, whether it be cleaning or just getting a workout in. The gym goers even found her more easy to talk to.

And then on other days, Jo felt aimless. She didn't always feel like helping around the gym and would spend more time in her office or at the reception desk and she was easily agitated. Ok, more easily.

And there was one factor in determining how these days were going to go.

Jane noticed her daughter's behavior. She knew it had everything to do with whether Ambali would show up or not. The girl seemed to bring out the best in Jo.

One day, when she came in, Jo had challenged her to a pushup contest…and she ended up losing. Even more surprising than that was that Jo wasn't even mad. She smiled through the whole thing.

On another day, they completely hogged the bench press and Jo showed her, what she claimed to be, the best workout mix.

But, despite this, the jockette was still in denial about having any sort of crush on her.

"I'm telling you," Jo would say. "I just like having her around because I don't have to look and hang out with sweaty gross jocks and when she's not here, it smells…bad."

Jane would then roll her eyes. She had eventually given up on breaking through to her stubborn daughter. It wasn't just because of her stubbornness, but also because she felt Jo was in denial about her feelings. In her mind, girls couldn't date other girls.

As much as Jane wanted to tell her how wrong she was for denying these emotions, she figured it was best to let her daughter figure things out for herself.

"Hey, you're early."

Ambali turned, while on the bike and smiled, as Jo walked up to her. "Yeah, I am. Hope you had time to stretch." She teased.

Jo chuckled lightly.

Ambali continued. "But, yeah, I came early because I can't stay for too long anyway. Family stuff. I might try and come tomorrow."

The jockette shrugged. "It's fine. No worries." However, her inner thoughts were very different. What? Seriously!? You weren't here yesterday and I didn't know what to do with myself and now you're telling me that I only get you for half the day. This is some bull-

"So," Ambali said, cutting Jo's train of thought. "Do you want to do another pushup contest while I'm still here?"

Jo smirked. "Absolutely."

"Not."

Jane appeared next to them. Jo was surprised. "Unfortunately, I need my daughter at this moment, so I'm afraid she can't join you."

Before Jo or Ambali could say anything else, Jane had pushed her daughter away.

"Mom, what are you-"

"Jo, I understand you like to hang out with Ambali, but you still have a business to run."

"It's your business too." Jane suddenly turned her daughter around to make her face her.

The jockette was met with her mother staring her directly in the eye.

She immediately knew what that look meant. "I'm sorry…what do you need me to do?"

"Just watched the front desk." Jane said. "I have a few phone calls to make in the office, so someone needs to man the front."

Jo nodded.

To Jane, however, there was a clear disappointment etched on her daughter's face. She softened up and sighed. "Look, I'll try to go quickly. I know you like being around this girl, but I really need your help right now."

Jo didn't say anything, or even acknowledge Jane's hint at her liking Ambali. After a moment, she nodded, still looking down. Jane gave her a pat on the shoulder and walked off.

The jockette was left to her own devices. She looked over at the bike that Ambali was using. She sighed and walked towards the front desk.

Her mind had kept going to what her mom asked her a few days ago. It's not a crush. I'm not a guy, nor is she. I can't get crushes like that…I-I mean, I don't get crushes like that. Sure, she's cute, but any guy would find her cute. She looked again at Ambali, still on the bike.

"Hey, Jo."

The jockette snapped from trance. She turned to see someone signing in.

"Oh…hey, Rick." She didn't say anything further

The blond gym go-er stopped writing and looked at Jo. "Hey? That's…that's it?"

Jo rolled her eyes. "What? Do you want a medal or something?"

Rick decided not to say anything after that and finished signing in. He walked off to the weights after that.

Jo went back to her thoughts. Stupid Rick. Distracted me from…thinking about her. I bet he read my mind, probably wanted to hit on her. I bet all these guys want to hit on her. But, they probably have no idea how to treat her. If I was one of these guys, I'd take her out. Maybe to a nice restaurant. Like Oceanic's or The Great Oak. Heck, even Ruth's. Their sandwiches are freaking amazing. Bet she'd love it.

"Hey," She heard someone's voice. "I came in with Rick."

Jo just waved her hand, still looking at her desk. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just sign in."

She heard some scribbling and then footsteps which soon faded.

Alright, back to thinking. I guess if I was a guy, I'd also buy her flowers. Not just for dates, but in general. Just to let her know how…special she makes me feel. She paused. Yeah, I'd do all of that if I was a dude. Maybe I should start giving them pointers. She then looked back over at the girl in question.

Still on her bike, but something was different. She wasn't peddling and someone was actually talking to her. Jo couldn't understand what they were saying, but she frowned. Of course a guy is hitting on her. And, look at him, his form is terrible. Like, give her space, dude. And, seriously, what is he even wearing? He doesn't look like he's dressed for the gym…She trailed off.

The gears started slowly turning in her head. She quickly grabbed the sign-in sheet. Just under Brick was a hastily scribbled name that said "Ethan."

Ethan? Who the hell is Ethan? He knows Rick, I guess, so I guess it makes sense why I don't know him. Since when does Rick have friends? She pondered that for a moment. Since when does Rick have friends? Then she got up and walked towards Ethan and Ambali.

As she got closer to the bikes, she could hear the tail end of whatever conversation they were having.

"I'm just saying, maybe you could give me some pointers on how everything works around here." That must've been Ethan.

"Y-Yeah, I could." Ambali chuckled.

What? Jo thought. That wasn't remotely funny.

She finally reached them. "Hey, Ethan?"

The new gym go-er turned.

"If you need some help, I can probably coach you." Jo, at the behest of her mom, had to learn to not be so snarky around gym go-ers (Except Rick, he was Jo's personal exception), so wasn't allowed to make rude comments towards customers. "Also, I know a few good places that sell cheap gym clothes, if you-"

Ethan turned his attention back to Ambali, barely showing any interest in what Jo was saying. "Thanks, but I'm good."

Jo frowned. She hated being brushed off like that. But, he couldn't entirely blame him. She's pretty attractive. Any guy would want to talk to her. Though who thinks it would be a good idea to flirt in a gym- She stopped herself

She caught a glimpse of Ambali, while Ethan was still talking to her. Strangely, she wasn't looking at him. She was staring directly forward. Ethan continued talking, not noticing anything. Ambali didn't look like she was enjoying the conversation. In fact, to Jo, she actually looked…scared.

No. That can't be. Jo debated. She probably gets hit on all the time. Why would she-

Ambali's eyes suddenly darted in Jo's direction. It caught the jockette off guard. Ambali stared at her, while Ethan was still talking. Jo glanced at him, then back to Ambali. When she did, the long black haired girl nodded quickly.

Jo gasped lightly. She now had an idea what was going on.

"Hey." Jo said.

Ethan didn't respond and continued talking.

"Hey." Jo said louder.

Still, Ethan didn't respond.

"You know Rick, right?"

"Yeah, I do. We're friends." Ethan said. "Come on, let's talk where she won't bother us." He whispered to Ambali. She turned away and seemed to tense up.

Jo continued. "Well, I have a hard time believing Rick has friends. I mean, have you met him?" Again, Ethan ignored her. But, Jo had an idea. "In fact…" She grabbed Ethan's shoulder and pulled him away. "Let's go talk to him."

"Hey, what? Let go of me!" Ethan was being dragged away towards the weights.

Jo didn't respond, nor let him go. The commotion turned a lot of heads, including Rick, as Jo walked up to him.

"Rick, this guy says he knows you. I want to know if that's true."

Rick wasn't sure what to say. "I, uh-"

"Jo?"

Jane suddenly appeared next to them. "What on earth is going on?!"

"This crazy girl just grabbed me!" Ethan protested. "I wasn't doing anything wrong."

Jane frowned and was about to tell her daughter off, when they locked eyes. Jo tried her best to silently tell her mom what she was doing. She gave me the most serious look she could. Trust me. She nodded her head towards the bikes.

Jane turned and could see Ambali, looking away and very uncomfortable. She turned back to Jo, who nodded.

"So, I'll ask again." Jo said to Rick. "Are you friends with this guy?"

Ethan scoffed and also looked at Rick. "C'mon, dude. She literally just said you don't have any friends. Who you gonna believe?" He winked.

Rick was still not sure what was going on. He saw how roughly Jo was holding him. Why would anyone deserve to be put through that?

Then he saw Jo's face.

Like with Jane, Jo looked serious. But, at the same time, fearful. She knew her and Rick's history. She didn't make things easy for him. If Rick did anything to screw her over, she wouldn't blame him. Please, Rick. I know I've been a jerk to you, but please do this. Not for me, but for… She nodded her head back towards Ambali.

Rick seemed to notice and glance there. Then he turned towards Ethan and Jo.

He hesitated. "I…no, I don't know him."

"Good enough for me." Jo grabbed Ethan's other shoulder and went towards. "No freeloaders allowed!"

"Hey!" Ethan shouted. "I already told you, we're- ow! Hey, let go of-" They pushed through the first door. Then the second.

And when they reached the outside, Jo pushed him forward. He stumbled and fell to the ground. As he turned to get up, Jo shot a finger in his face. "If I see you again here, I will kick your ass!"

"Yeah, right." Ethan retorted. "You can't just-"

A wooden bat suddenly appeared in front of his face. It surprised Ethan and he stumbled backwards.

He and Jo looked up. Jane pointed her bat towards Ethan. "Get…out of here." She said darkly.

Ethan seemed to take that as a serious threat and ran off. He turned the corner and was out of sight.

Jane looked at her daughter and nodded.

Jo smirked, but then remembered something and ran back into the gym.