"Except," I speared a piece of chicken and dipped it in the red sauce, "I don"t like to be touched."
"You were holding that one guys hand. What"s the difference?" Rollo asked, perplexed.
I shrugged. "I felt safe with him. I feel threatened by most people."
"Baby cakes," he shook his head, "you need some serious help."
"I know," I sighed. "I"m trying to move past things it"s just... hard."
"I"m here for you, Katy, if you ever want to talk about it," he looked at me sympathetically.
"Thanks," I smiled at him, "but I don"t know if I"ll ever be able to talk about it."
"You will," he patted my hand. "One day, you"ll be ready."
3.
"ROLLO! HURRY UP!" I called from my car. "We"re going to be late!"
Even if I was dreading the stupid self-defense cla.s.ses, I still didn"t want to be late.
He held his hand up in wait-a-minute-gesture.
"Rolland!" I yelled. Rollo hated to be called by his first name just as much as I did.
"I"ll be there in a second, Katyrina!" He yelled back.
I slid into the car and tossed my backpack in the back.
Cla.s.ses were over for the day and I had a mountain of homework to do when I got home.
I started the car and watched another minute tick by.
I honked the horn.
Rollo turned and gave me a death glare.
I rolled the window down and yelled, "I"m leaving without you!"
He threw his hands up and said something to the guy he was talking to, before finally starting towards the car.
"Jesus, Katy, could you not give me one more minute! I really like that guy!" Rollo howled.
"Sorry," I backed out of the parking s.p.a.ce. "I don"t want to be late."
"Ugh," he buckled his seatbelt, "at least I got his number." Triumphantly, he held up a slip of paper.
"You"re such a flirt, Rolland Kenneth York!"
"Can you please stop saying my full name? I swear, it sounds like my parents thought I"d be born wearing a suit and tie or something."
I laughed. "Rollo sounds like a dog"s name."
He narrowed his eyes at me.
"But it"s way cooler than Rolland," I conceded "And I think Katy is way cooler than Katyrina." He wrinkled his nose. "Katyrina sounds like an old lady"s name."
I laughed. "I was named after my grandma. At least I have you to thank for my amazing nickname."
"Yep, and I have you to thank for my "dog" nickname," he chuckled.
I shook my head. "Rollo, I seriously don"t know what I"d do without you."
"You"d be very lonely, cause baby cakes, I brighten up your world."
"You"re so weird," I said as I came to a stop at the red light. I stole a glance at the navigation system to see how close I was to my next turn.
"Back at ya, sweets," Rollo made a kissy face at me. I swear, most days I wasn"t sure he"d ever grow up.
I drove the point four miles indicated by the navigation system and turned left.
I had to drive another five miles or so before it told me I had arrived at our destination.
"Um," I looked at Rollo, "I don"t see anything."
"I think it means that building there," he pointed to a run down, all brick building that looked like it had seen better days.
"No way," I shook my head.
"There are cars," he pointed. "I think we"re at the right place."
"I"m leaving," I went to put the car back in drive.
"No!" Rollo grabbed my hand. "You have got to stop running all the time. Turn the car off, get out, and go inside. If anyone tries to mess with you, they"ll have to go through me first."
"I bet they"re already shaking in fear," I deadpanned.
"I could be menacing... if I tried," he pretended to growl.
"Even I"m not afraid of you," I giggled.
He pushed my shoulder. "You"re mean."
I laughed and unbuckled my seatbelt. "Alright Mr. Menacing, let"s check this place out."
I locked the car behind us and looked around.
"Uh... where are we supposed to go in?"
Rollo looked around. "There"s a door," he pointed to a metal door that looked like it was barely hanging on.
"Yippee," I muttered.
We walked across the parking lot to the lone door.
"This place seems really shady," I whispered to Rollo.
"Katy, you think everything looks shady."
He opened the door and motioned for me to go first.
"Nope, you go," I crossed my arms over my chest.
He rolled his eyes and muttered, "You"re being ridiculous," under his breath.
Concrete walls and floors surrounded us. I felt like I was in a prison or something.
I followed closely behind Rollo, clenching my fingers so that I wouldn"t grab him and run the other way. A door on our right opened up and I squeaked when a man appeared.
"What the h.e.l.l are you two doing back here? This is private," the imposing man said.
"Uh..." Rollo took a step back. "We only saw the one entrance," he pointed behind us. "We"re here for the self-defense cla.s.ses."
The man chuckled. "Follow me. And next time, please use the front door."
"Stupid, piece of s.h.i.t, navigation system," I cursed under my breath.
"What was that?" the man asked.
"Nothing," I spoke up.
Rollo snickered and I slapped his back. "Ow!" He rubbed the spot.
The man pushed open a door and suddenly we were in a bright, open room. A lady sat at a desk, answering phones, and smiled when we walked in.
The man motioned for us to keep following him. He went down a hallway and opened a door at the end.
"This is the room where the self-defense cla.s.ses are held. The teacher isn"t here yet. He should be here in-" he looked at his watch. "Five minutes. Next time, please come in from the front," he pointed. "Since you"re parked in the back, feel free to leave the way you came, so you don"t have to walk all the way around the building. I"m Dan, the owner," he held out his hand.
"Rollo."
"Rollo?" Dan raised a brow in disbelief.
"Yep," Rollo swayed back and forth on the b.a.l.l.s of his feet.
"Okay then," he shook his head and held his hand out for me.
I took it, because it would be rude not to, but released my hand after only a second of contact.
"Katy," I introduced myself.
"If you need anything, feel free to ask me, or my wife, Patsy, that you saw at the desk. Welcome to Fight For It," Dan said and then turned to leave.
"Thanks," Rollo said, and ushered me into the room.
The walls and floors were covered in blue padding. A sign instructed us to take off our shoes, so we did.
Sitting, cross-legged on the floor, I said to Rollo, "Do you think we"re the only ones?"
"No," Rollo rolled his eyes, "we"re early. I"m sure at least one other person will show up."
"I hope so," I bit my lip.
"Stop that," Rollo commanded. "You"re going to make it bleed."
I released my lip.
"Thank you," he sighed and ran his fingers through his curly blonde hair.
A middle-aged man walked into the room and smiled pleasantly. "I"m Todd," he said, before dropping his bag on the floor.
"Hi," I said and waved. "I"m Katy and this is Rollo."
The man raised a brow. "Rollo?"
"It"s short for Rolland," Rollo replied, reluctantly.
"Ah, that explains it," Todd nodded with his hands on his hips. He looked at his watch. "We"ll wait a few minutes before starting, just in case more people arrive."
Five minutes later, a group of people entered the room and I breathed out a sigh of relief. It wouldn"t just be Rollo and me.
"I"m Todd, your instructor in basic self-defense techniques," he said. "In my opinion, everyone should take a self-defense cla.s.s, but most don"t until it"s too late. I sincerely hope that isn"t the case with any of you. But if it is, I"m glad you"re here and I hope I can help you."
He counted off how many people were in the cla.s.s and said, "Good, an even number. I"m a.s.suming most of you came with a friend, which means you"re comfortable with them. I want this to feel like a real attack so I"m going to divide you off." He proceeded to separate us into groups of two.
The guy that was paired with me, slid over and his leg b.u.mped mine. I jumped and scooted away. He gave me a peculiar look and shook his head.
Yeah, dude, you just got paired with the weird girl. I wish you luck.
"Today, we"re just going to cover basic defensive maneuvers. Stand up," he instructed.
I reluctantly stood and faced my partner.