Ashley had always been blunt and forward growing up, but she’d never wanted to know how to fight. Her mom had always said there was too much violence in the world and there wasn’t a reason to add more. Alex had a slightly different philosophy.

“I want to enroll you in self-defense courses.”

“Why?”

“Because the world isn’t always a safe place and I want to ensure your safety however I can.”

“I’d really rather not.”

“Well as your dad I plan to give you a lot of room here to decide what you want to do. You’re almost an adult and I believe you should start to make your own choices. But this is going to be one of those things I insist on. A few hours out of the week won’t hurt you.”

Ashley tried to argue it further, but Alex had made up his mind. Ashley wasn’t going there to learn to be violent; just how to be violent towards violent people. It sounded the same to Ashley, but she gave in. For the most part, Alex really hadn’t imposed on her life there. He let her do almost anything she wanted within reason and had been supportive. She could give him this.

The gym was nothing like she’d expected. Every gym she’d passed in Sacramento was enormous, capable of fitting a hundred people easily with lots of wide open space. Here it was one long room with weights, a couple treadmills and stationary bikes. The backroom was a little bigger, filled with lots of mats and a few punching bags. The instructor, Duncan, was a small, but very fit man in his late forties with brown hair that was beginning to show hints of white. He was shorter than Ashley which surprised her, but he said he enjoyed being short.

“Never judge an opponent by their size Ashley,” he said to her in his short tour of the gym. “I may be smaller than most people, but I’ve been doing this for over twenty years. Through my teachings, I’ll show you how you can use your opponent’s size against them.”

“Sounds fun.”

“I take it you didn’t want to take these classes?” He said with a smile.

“My dad wanted me to learn.”

“Well give us a chance. You just might find that you enjoy it. I’ve got both boys and girls in my class so you won’t stand out. My instructors are all well trained and we’ll start out slow for you.” Ashley just nodded and the tour was over about two minutes later. That night she put on some work out shorts, a tank top, and Alex dropped her off for her first lesson.

The class had about sixteen students and two instructors. They started out with a small talk about what they’d do that night and started almost immediately. They started with basic exercises before moving into disabling and throwing an opponent. Ashley paid close attention and debated how much this would hurt. The instructors made quite a scene and smacked down on the mats loudly. After a few demonstrations, they lined up to practice on each other.

Ashley looked up in surprise to see her training partner was another girl. She’d expected to get one of the instructors since she was the new kid. The girl in front of her was a bit shorter than her and heavier. The girl had dirty blonde hair in a pixie cut she might’ve done herself. Her eyes were a dark blue and there was something off about them. They looked unfocused, almost lazy. Ashley held out her hand.

“Ashley.” The girl took her hand surprisingly fast.

“Kara.” Her voice was soft with a slight accent. “I’ll go first to show you. Ready?”

“I guess.” They stepped away and waited in the stance they were shown.

“Begin!” shouted their instructor.

An instant change come over Kara. Her loose body snapped to and her eyes looked at Ashley as if she were an enemy. No. Kara looked at her like she was prey. Ashley hesitated. It was a second too long and Kara came in as quick as a snake and caught her by the wrist. Ashley tried to pull away, but the girl’s fingers were like steel. With an unintended cry, Ashley left the ground as Kara pulled her over her shoulder. The room spun around and then Ashley hit the padded ground. The blow was lighter than she would’ve thought. Kara released her hand and leaned over.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. You just surprised me.”

“I know.” She held out her hand. Ashley took it and was hauled back to her feet. Again she felt the strength and realized the girl must be a monster. “Let’s try that again, shall we?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Well I’m going to attack you again. Feel free to try and stop me.” Kara’s voice was deadpan flat.

Ashley wasn’t sure what to think of this girl. She couldn’t make heads or tails of her. It was as if she was one person one minute and a different person the next. When they both took their positions again, Ashley knew there would be no warning. The rest of the class was practicing at will. Their instructor wouldn’t say begin this time. Kara was staring at her with the same alert and hungry eyes as before. Then Kara relaxed and Ashley tensed. Kara moved at her the same way, but at about a third of the speed she had the first time. Ashley watched her come, confused. Kara took hold of her wrist and stopped. She looked at Ashley, puzzled in return.

“Aren’t you going to stop me?”

“What?”

“I moved slower so you could see it this time. Now take my wrist and spin me.” Ashley nodded and took Kara by the arm. She expected resistance but by holding her this way Kara couldn’t use her strength against her. She smiled a little as she bent Kara away. Kara nodded and pulled her arm free. “See how that works now?”

“I think so. It seemed easy.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Try it again. This time stop me before I grab you.”

Ashley nodded and took a step back. Kara came back in slow and Ashley stopped her neatly. They repeated the process many times with Kara progressively striking faster. Ashley couldn’t keep up with her at full speed, but she was learning. After about five minutes they separated as a new demonstration began. When they paired up again, she was happy to see Kara return to her side. Kara wasn’t one of the instructors, but Ashley had a sneaking suspicion she’d done this many times before. They stayed together for the entire session and Ashley was forced to admit she was beginning to like it.

“Alright class,” said the instructor finally. “You are all dismissed for the night. Well done and I’ll see you next time.” He nodded to them all and they all dispersed. Ashley wiped the sweat off her face. Practicing like this was a harder workout than she was used to. As she started to head for the door she saw Kara practicing alone with a punching bag. Ashley looked at the door before heading back.

“Ready to go?” she asked. Kara stopped and looked at her blankly.

“In a minute. I need to get all of the fire out of my system.”

“Okay, I’ll wait.”

Kara turned back to the bag and laid into it. Ashley wasn’t sure what was more impressive. The fact that she was hitting the bag so hard or that she didn’t appear to be running out of breath. After a series of punches and a finishing kick, she let out a sigh.

“Now I feel better.”

“Ready?”

“Yeah. Let me grab my bag.” Ashley felt unbalanced as Kara’s personality seem to change on her again. There seemed to be more color to her face now and emotion in her voice. When she walked for her bag, it was done almost at a skip instead of walking with a purpose. When she returned, she stuck out her hand.

“Proper introduction. My name is Kara Fortune.” Ashley shook her hand.

“Ashley Lebell.”

“You’re new to town, right?” asked Kara.

“Yeah. I’ve been here all of a week.”

“Exciting. I’ve been here for almost three years. This town isn’t too bad.”

“Where did you live before this?”

“Lots of places. My family has moved around a lot. I was born in Canada.”

“Wow.” Ashley was glad to have a place to put the accent to. It was more than just Canadian, it sounded like there was some French in there too. “How’d you wind up out here?” It was only for a second, but Ashley saw pain in Kara’s eyes. It was a type of pain she knew all too well. She didn’t slow her step, but Ashley was sure what she saw.

“My dad was in the military until I was four. We just moved about a lot. So you’re going to be a senior as well?”

Ashley didn’t understand why Kara changed the subject so quickly, but part of her was glad she did. She didn’t feel like explaining why she had to move either. If Kara didn’t want to talk about the past, that was fine as long as she didn’t have to bring up hers.

“Yeah I am. You go to Robert’s High too?”

“I hope so. It’s the only high school in town. I’m in your year same as a few other kids in this class.”

“Cool. I guess I’ll see you there.”

“Yup yup. I’ve been training here for a year so I guess we can be new kids together. We should make good enough friends.”

Ashley laughed as they stepped outside. She had no idea what to make of this girl, but she knew she liked her. They stood outside the gym and looked around. Only a few cars were there as the class had been let out early. They barely made it to the sidewalk before a van pulled up in front of them. A lady stuck her head out of the passenger window while a man waved from the front seat.

“Have a good time?” asked the lady enthusiastically.

“Yes mom,” said Kara. “Same as last time.”

“Good, good. Who’s this?”

“This is my friend Ashley. She’s new to town.”

“Oh Ashley,” said the man. “You’re Alex’s daughter, right?” Ashley looked at them in surprise.

“Um…yeah.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” said the driver. “My name is Mr. Fortune, I’m Kara’s dad.”

“And I’m Mrs. Fortune.” Mrs. Fortune stuck her hand out the window and Ashley shook it. Kara’s mom gave an intense shake and Ashley felt her fingers practically squeezed off.

“It’s nice to meet you,” said Ashley and she stretched her fingers.

“It is indeed. Ready to go Kara?”

“Yes mom. I’ll see you later Ashley.” Kara hopped into the van’s backseat.

“Okay, bye.” They all waved at her and drove away a second later. Ashley shook her head.

“They can be a bit strange,” said a boy from behind her. He stood next to her and looked at the leaving van. “The Fortunes, I mean.”

“I guess.”

Ashley recognized this boy as one of the instructors from inside. He was a bit taller than her and had a lean, almost sickly look to him. Ashley knew he was capable; he just had the look of a scrawny guy. He looked like he didn’t get enough sun and the bags under his eyes said he didn’t sleep much.

“My name’s Shoren.” He held out his hand to her. “You’re the new student Ashley, right?”

“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you,” she said as she shook his hand.

“A pleasure. I may be one of the instructors, but I’m still in high school too. I’ll be in your senior class with you.”

“That’s cool.”

“Yup. So what brings you to the classes?” Ashley shrugged.

“My dad wanted me to take them?”

“Well if you want to learn anything quickly, just ask me. I’ve been doing this since I was a little kid. I’ve helped train a lot of kids here.”

Ashley nodded and looked away. Shoren’s offer seemed sincere, but he seemed a bit cocky. He was a little too sure of himself for Ashley’s liking.

“Is your dad coming to get you?”

“Should be.”

“Kay. I’ve got my own truck, but I’ll wait until he gets here.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t be a very good teacher if I left a new student here.”

Ashley coughed and looked away. Shoren was an instructor, but he wasn’t a teacher. From everything she remembered of him in class, he was more of the teacher’s training dummy. Whenever he had to make an example out of someone, he used Shoren.

“Are you enjoying the town?”

“It’s different,” she said.

“I’m sure you’ll come to like it. I’ve been here my entire life and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Ashley cringed at his words. She’d rather be back home with her mother in California. She looked at Shoren and felt that maybe he should try somewhere else. Maybe being trapped in the mountains all his life hadn’t been good for him.

“We’ll see,” she said just to give him an answer. She saw her dad’s truck coming around the corner. “There’s my ride. I’ll see you next time.”

“Hopefully. Have a good night.” He shook her hand and walked away into the parking lot. Ashley shivered as his hand left hers. The boy was so cold even after working out. Did he not have any warmth in his body?

Alex parked and held the door open for her. “Have a good time?”

“It wasn’t too bad.”

“Looks like you made some friends.”

“That was just an instructor. I was talking to this one girl, but she already left.” He closed the door for her and got in the other side.

“Oh? Who’d you meet?”

“A girl named Kara. She seemed a little strange, but fun.” Alex started chuckling as he started the truck. “What’s funny about that?”

“You’ve met the Fortunes then?”

“I met Kara and her parents. They left really quickly though. Why? Do you know them?”

“Oh yes, everybody knows the Fortunes. Kara’s dad is a big businessman who works with stocks and investments. They’re good people, but they’re definitely a little strange.”

“How strange?”

“If you hang out with Kara a little more you’ll probably see. I’ll definitely say this, there’s never a dull moment with the Fortunes around.”

Ashley looked at Alex confused, but he didn’t say anything more as they drove away. She just shrugged and figured she’d see Kara in class again in two days.

As Kara said after all, they’d make good friends.