Fractured Light (28 page)

I
WAS DETERMINED TO PROVE
C
HRISTIAN WRONG
. W
HEN
Monday came, I decided to go visit the dojo Heidi had told me about. I was more than ready for it, especially after the crazy day I’d had at school. I’d never had so much attention in all my life. First everyone was shocked that I was even there and then after the initial shock, they bombarded me with questions about what’d happened. Luckily, Christian and May protected me from most of it.

In math, I’d wanted to thank Mr. Steele for helping me, but a substitute was teaching instead. I was disappointed, but figured I could thank him the next day. I took advantage of his absence and learned as much as I could. With all the extra credit I’d completed, I almost had my grade up to a C.

As soon as the last bell rang, I was out of there. I didn’t even bother saying good-bye to May or waiting for Christian, whom I knew would be upset. But I didn’t worry too much. He knew where to find me.

The dojo was like I imagined: white walls, mirrors, red and black mats. I walked in on a children’s class already in progress. They looked to be around eight years old. I watched the mini ninjas for a minute before I headed to the office to discuss classes.

A short, bald man with an egg-shaped head, and the body of a tree trunk explained that a coed class had started a few weeks ago, but he would let me join if I promised to work hard to get caught up. I easily agreed, but when he told me the cost I almost choked.

“These aren’t your typical fighting classes,” he said in a deep voice. “Many of our students go on to fight professionally. I know the cost seems steep, but I guarantee you will learn many different fighting techniques and will be able to hold your own against an opponent in a matter of months.”

“Is that a promise?”

He stuck his hand out for me to shake. “If you work hard, absolutely.”

Satisfied, I completed all the necessary paperwork.

“You can begin today if you’d like,” he said.

The moon was still partially full so I knew I had enough energy to start right away. “Today’s good.”

“Great. I’ll have a uniform ready for you. See you in an hour.”

I left feeling empowered, but my jubilance was short lived. Outside, Christian leaned against his car.

“So you’re serious,” he said.

“I told you I was.”

“I give it two weeks.”

“You’ve already said that. Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I unlocked my door.

“I have no doubts that you are physically capable, but not emotionally. You’ll see. You won’t like fighting.”

My face grew hot. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

“Do you? Be realistic. Fighting’s not for you.”

Before I could stop myself, I balled-up my fist and punched him in the gut. He doubled over, sputtering for air.

“If fighting’s not for me, then how come that felt so good?” I jumped into my car and drove away before he could respond. I’d only made it a few blocks before I saw his SUV appear in my rearview mirror following me home. He practically tail-gated me the entire way.

As soon as I pulled into the driveway, he was right behind me, jumping from his car. “Okay, you made your point. You do have some fight in you. How about we make a deal?”

“What kind of deal?”

“If you stick with your classes for three weeks, then I’ll start teaching you what I know.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“Won’t you get in trouble?” I asked.

He shrugged. “We’ll deal with that later. This is about what makes you safe. If taking these classes makes you feel safer, then so be it. But in the meantime, I’m going to be with you as much as possible.”

A few months ago, I would’ve loved to hear this, but now I found it annoying. Probably because I knew the only reason he wanted to be with me was because he was my guardian. “You don’t need to be with me all of the time. I’ve made it this far in life. I’m pretty sure I can make it the rest.” I was half kidding, but he didn’t laugh.

“You’re not taking this seriously.”

I opened the front door. “Oh really? So I’m learning to fight only to better my physique?”

“Your physique hardly needs to be bettered,” he said. Instead of leaving, he plopped down on the couch. “No, I think the real reason you’re doing this is because you want to prove that you can handle everything on your own. Your whole life you’ve taken care of yourself, and now all of a sudden you find you’re in a situation you can’t control and it’s driving you crazy.”

“You might be partially right, but I am serious about fighting. And I really believe it’s what Light wants too.”

“We’ll see.” He propped his legs up on the coffee table. “When does Jake come home?”

“Not for another hour, but I’ll be gone when he gets back.”

“Where are you going?”

“My classes start tonight.”

“I’ll take you and pick you up. We’ll go out for ice cream afterwards.”

“Deal.”

*     *     *     *     *

My first martial arts lesson was a lot harder than I expected. The instructor had a thick Asian accent, and many of the students already had several years of training. I was glad when the class finally ended. The instructor told me I did well, but I think he was just being kind.

“How did it go?” Christian asked when I walked out.

“Don’t ask,” I said.

“Already throwing in the towel?”

“Not in this lifetime.”

After ice cream, he drove me home. Just as we were pulling up to our house, I noticed a strange car parked in the driveway.

“Who’s that?” Christian asked.

“No idea. It’s not Heidi.” I jumped out of the car and made my way inside. My heart stopped when I saw who was sitting on my favorite spot on our living room couch.

“L
LONA, LOOK WHO CAME BY TO SEE HOW YOU’RE DOING
,” Jake said.

I stared, mouth open, head spinning.

Mr. Steele stood up. “I hope it’s okay I dropped by. I couldn’t make it to school today. How are you feeling?”

I squeaked out the word, “Better.” Pull yourself together, I told myself.

“We were really worried about you. It’s a good thing Christian was there. Everyone else had given up on you.” Mr. Steele looked at Christian. “You making sure she takes it easy?”

“Yes, sir, as best I can.”

“Llona just got back from fighting lessons,” Jake piped up.

I shot him an angry look.

Mr. Steele raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? So much for taking it easy. What are you learning?”

“Nothing yet.” I could feel my legs growing weak. Why did he have to be so good-looking? I moved to the couch to sit down before I collapsed.

“She thinks she can fight,” Christian said in a mocking tone.

Mr. Steele smiled. “You will make a worthy opponent for someone one day.”

I managed a smile.

“So where were you today, Mr. Steele?” Christian asked.

“Remember the doctor I punched?”

“Yeah, that was great.”

“He wanted to press charges, but I convinced him not to.”

“What a moron,” Christian said.

“We worked it out. So when do you start playing basketball, Christian?” Mr. Steele asked.

I stared at Christian. I had no idea he’d made the team.

“Actually I decided not to.”

“Really? How come? I heard you were their star player.” Christian’s face reddened. “There are a lot of good players. I’m just giving myself a break for awhile, you know, to try and get my grades up.”

“Are you sure there’s not another reason you might want some extra time?” He glanced in my direction.

Christian didn’t miss a beat. “That’s just one of the perks.”

Mr. Steele stood up. “I should be going. Thanks for letting me come by, Jake.” He looked over at me. His eyes seemed to burn into mine, forcing me to look away. “I’m glad you’re alive, Llona.”

As soon as he left, Christian turned to me. “Why is it that every girl goes gah-gah over him?”

Jake laughed.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked.

Christian snorted. “I don’t see anything special.”

Jake opened the front door. “I’m off too. I’m meeting Heidi for dinner. I’ll be back soon. You guys want me to bring you back anything? Chinese?”

“That’s okay,” Christian said. “I’m going to fix something here.”

As soon as Jake left, Christian went into the kitchen and began moving about as if he’d grown up there.

“Why didn’t you tell me you made the basketball team?” I asked.

“What does it matter?”

“I feel bad you had to quit.”

“I didn’t have to. I wanted to.” He turned the burner on the stove to high and placed a pan on top.

“But I know how much you love sports.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t come back to school to be on a team. The only reason I did it before was to blend in. We were afraid if you knew who I was, you’d run away again. You like tomato soup?”

“Sure. I still feel bad, though. Maybe if you’d teach me to do some real fighting, I won’t need you as much.”

He smiled. “I hope not.”

*     *     *     *     *

The next couple of weeks blurred together. I continued training and actually began to feel like I knew what I was doing. My movements were more fluid and didn’t seem to be so forced. Even Christian seemed impressed with my progress.

I kept up with basketball, even though the coach told me she’d understand if I couldn’t finish the last couple of games, given what had happened to me and all. But I insisted on finishing the season, especially since we were undefeated.

As for Christian and I, we became inseparable. Everyone at school thought we were a couple. At first I tried to tell them we were just friends, but after awhile I realized it was easier to let them believe what they wanted. Christian didn’t care one way or the other, but it sort of bothered me because we had the appearance of a relationship but none of the perks. It was as if Christian had lost all interest in me except to be my protective big brother. But I couldn’t shake my feelings for him as easily as he had for me.

Because of this, I tried as best I could to find time away from him. It was simply too hard to be near him without longing for more. In addition to the dojo and basketball practices, I convinced Matt to change the book club to once a week instead of once a month. I knew Christian wouldn’t ever join because of Matt. For some reason Matt really bothered him though he’d never tell me why. I also considered getting a job, but couldn’t quite bring myself to give up my weekends.

A week before Christmas break we had our state basketball championship game. I’d never been so nervous! All my friends came, including Jake and Heidi. The moon was only partially full, but it was enough to keep me from embarrassing myself.

We were down by a basket with only one minute left in the game. The opposing team had the ball and was making a break for it. Leah attempted to steal it from a mammoth redhead, gratefully slowing her up while the rest of us posted beneath the basket. The redhead attempted to pass the ball, but Leah knocked it away. Our eyes all widened as it headed out-of-bounds.

With only seconds left on the clock, I knew I couldn’t let the other team gain possession or the game would be over. As if a surge of adrenaline, Light exploded into my muscles, and I sprinted as fast as I could to the sidelines where I made a mad leap into the air. I didn’t care that it happened to be where the other team was sitting; I only kept my focus on the ball. Just before I started falling, I slipped my hand under it and flipped it hard to Leah, who had the awesome foresight to run toward our basket. With only a few seconds left, Leah caught the ball and shot a three-pointer while I crashed into several girls. I quickly stood up in time to see the ball go through the hoop. The crowd erupted into cheers, and I, along with the rest of the team, rushed on the court to embrace Leah. It was the most amazing feeling!

“That was such an awesome save!” Leah shouted at me over the celebration.