Seth stood outside in the hot summer air, gi open and belt in his left hand, both hands on his head as he looked upwards. The rapidly darkening sky was about to give way to roiling storm. He felt the pent up emotions of an entire year leave his body in slow, shaky breaths. Seth didn't give a damn about the gold medal that awaited him at the end of the day, and it didn’t even matter to him that his parents had missed another tournament.

He'd done it. He had done it. He had done it.

"FUCK YES," Seth shouted, pumping a fist in the air. "Holy shit." He sank down into a squat, staring at the black belt in his hands. Plain black cloth, durable, representative of years of blood, sweat, and tears. He pressed it to his forehead and closed his eyes, elated.

A whole year he'd trained for this. Every day, even Sundays. He couldn't believe he'd finally done it. He could literally feel weight leaving his shoulders, his muscles relaxing in a way they had never relaxed before, the tightness between his shoulder blades finally vanishing. He stood back up and turned around.

Ms. Tull and Coach John stood there, both smiling.

"Good job, Seth," she said. Coach John slapped him on the shoulder. The impact shook Seth's body.

"So." Said Ms. Tull. She crossed her arms and grinned. "About that red tab?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"We don't think you should be wearing it anymore."

"Wait, what?" Seth blinked, genuinely confused to the moment.

"You're testing for your black tab this year, Seth. And your second degree." She pointed at his black belt. "You're ready."

"Holy-" Seth caught himself. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Go back in there and cheer the colored belts on. Half of them were watching you and it would mean a lot to them."

"Yes, ma'am." Seth started to head back in, re-tying his belt around his waist and closing his gi.

"And Seth."

He paused and turned back to face her.

"Don't think I expect you to stop training as hard now that you beat Jayson. Now I know what you're capable of."

Seth really couldn't stop smiling. "Yes, ma'am," he forced out before heading back inside. He walked over to his ring, where two kids he didn't know were stepping up to the line for the opening fight of intermediate sixteen to eighteen. He sat down next to his duffel and watched them start their fight.

The bag buzzed at him. Seth eyed it suspiciously. He did not want to be brought down from this high.

But, with reluctance, he retrieved his phone.

The first was a Snapchat message. He opened it. It was from one of the kids at CFA. It was a video of the final seconds of his and Jayson's fight and the caption simply said '#CFA'. Seth had to admit it felt good to watch after years of Jayson's torment. Maybe he could have won the fight by points, but damn, Jayson refusing to tap and then doing to him exactly what Jayson had told him he would do to him just an hour ago...

Seth moved on to the next notification, a snap from his friend Jess. She looked bored as usual, glasses sliding down her nose and hair somehow messy and styled all at the same time, her ubiquitous silver two-barred cross hanging from her neck. The caption said: 'Oh good, some drama to get me out of studying for the ACT. Check your messages you ding-dong'.

Seth opened them to see a long series of texts from Jessica.

A mystery, so exciting.

Well, not in my contacts. Then again, I don't associate myself with cowards.

It's our area code maybe we can look it up.

WELL SHIT.

It's one of those apps that gives you a fake number. Sorry dude.

Seth sighed and unblocked the number, then called it. It rang for a long time, then gave a pre-recorded voicemail. Seth ended the call and stared at his phone. It vibrated with a text from Madeline.

I got the part! How was your fight, penguin?!

Seth paused for a long moment. No, unless he had proof, this was just someone messing with him. He wouldn’t take that out on Madeline. That's awesome! I won!

Good job!

Seth stared at his phone for another minute. Do you want to go out tonight? I'll get back to the city around nine and we can catch a late movie.

There was no response for a while. Seth was vaguely aware of a winner being called in the ring.

His phone buzzed.

Sorry, I can't. I have plans.

Oh. Okay. Going out with your girlfriends?

Yeah.

Seth stared at the one-word response and scratched his head as two new competitors entered the ring. He swallowed.

Next Saturday though. We can drive up to the lake house. Ok?

Seth felt the tension and doubt leave his body.

Ok. We'll make more plans tomorrow. I love you.

I love you too, penguin.

Seth clenched his teeth and tried to force it all out of his mind. Just someone messing with him.