•Mirrors By Anthem Lights•

"Oomph." I rolled to absorb impact and laid face up on the mat as I tried to control my breathing. "Not bad O'Brian, but we still need to work on your form, yeah?" I groaned and nodded. Casey laughed as she helped me up.

Our instructor nodded. "Casey I want you to work with Giselle today." My blood ran cold. Why is she splitting us up? Oh please don't put me with a boy, I begged her with my eyes. She gave me a wink and turned, motioning to Daniel, an experienced fighter in the class. "Daniel you'll be sparring with Scout from now on."

My palms turned clammy and my chest was tight with nerves. Casey shot me a half-encouraging, half-worried smile over her shoulder. After I'd gotten better, I'd told her why I'd missed so many days. She was super worried but forgave me quickly. We've been hanging out a whole lot now.

"Um....Ms. Hernandez?" I stammered out, starting to ask her if I could have girl partner instead. I didn't have anything against Daniel, I knew he was a nice guy, but I couldn't do it.

My tiny instructor glanced up, her brows raised as she waited for me to speak. "Could.....could I have a girl partner?" Her hard gaze immediately softened and she glanced to a group of students nearby who were trying to make it look like they weren't eavesdropping. "What is this? A mall? Get your asses moving or you'll all be sparring with me!" She snapped.

Everyone scrambled, no one wanted to fight Ms. Hernandez. She was a beast. She grabbed my arm and tugged me off to the side. "Ms. Thornton has informed me of your recent......problems." I jerked my head up, meeting her sharp gaze with my startled one.

"W-what did she say?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Look, I know you can do this. Daniel is a nice guy and he'd never hurt you intentionally. And if he did, I'd have to kick his ass, and hospital paperwork takes forever." I eyed her, trying to figure out what she knew, but she offered nothing, not even a hint. I was angry that Evelyn had shared my past with her. That was none of her business.

"I don't know..."

She sighed again. "Try it, and if you get uncomfortable you can stop." Her gaze was soft and encouraging on mine and I couldn't do anything but yield.

"Okay." I muttered and turned to stalk back over to Daniel. He was actually very nice, but that still didn't make this any easier.

"You can use any tactic you want except the choke hold. Do that, and I will do one of two things; have an extreme panic attack that will get me sent to the hospital again, or two, I will snap and pummel the shit out of you, and get expelled."

His face showed alarm and a small amount of fear but I didn't stop to think about it as I took up my position across from him.

We circled each other slowly for a moment, testing and learning each other's movements. The door to the room opened and judging by the way ever hair on my body raised up in awareness, it was Evelyn. I didn't look away from Daniel.

He moved first, growing impatient with my prolonging of the fight, and lashed out with his fist towards my unprotected shoulder. I moved quickly, spinning on my heel and jabbing my fist into the left side that he'd stupidly left open.

He grunted in surprise but shook it off quickly, rolling his muscled shoulders. I cursed inwardly as I realized I'd underestimated his strength. I bounced around him lightly on my feet as I frantically tried to form a plan.

I wasn't fast enough as he suddenly lunged forward and jabbed me in the thigh, crippling my leg for a moment. I yelped and hopped to the side for a moment, gasping at the unexpected pain, before anger filled me and I lashed at him, landing a roundhouse kick to his back that sent him sprawling forward on the mat.

The students in the room murmured in low tones. I smiled triumphantly and glanced at Ms. Hernandez, who's eyes gleamed back at me. I just barely caught a flash of silver before a black glove entered my vision. I turned but it was too late, the punch hit me square in side, sending me to the ground in a heap. Pure adrenaline and anger rocked my body.

I growled and panted through the pain and kicked out, sweeping my leg around the back of his and knocking him off his feet before I jumped on him. Straddling his waist, I lifted my hand and was prepared to punch him when a whistle sounded.

Ms. Hernandez clapped, drawing my attention away from the boy in front of me and to her instead. Her face showed pride as she gazed back at me. "Very good, both of you."

I nodded back at her, setting my jaw as I climbed off of Daniel and offered him my hand. He laughed lightly and winced as I pulled him to his feet. "You're a lot stronger than you seem."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, I guess."

His cheeks turned a shade of pink. "I meant that in a good way. You're a strong opponent because people underestimate your skills due to your size."

His uncomfortable stature made a small smile form on my face and he seemed to relax at that. "I knew what you meant, thank you." I replied, softer this time.

He grinned back at me and jogged back over to his friends. My shoulders immediately dropped with exhaustion and I trudged over to my water bottle, chugging it quickly. I finished it in record time and pulled my gloves off as I headed inside.

Someone grabbed my elbow and halted me, but I didn't fight their hold. I knew exactly who it was. The room was empty now, and I took a long breath before I faced her. I was still quite angry.

Her silver eyes threatened to melt all of it away as she seemed to radiate pride and love. "You did amazing today." She murmured. A blush formed across my face. I had done pretty awesome, but that still didn't take away what she did. "I suppose I wouldn't have if you hadn't told Ms. Hernandez to shove me in there."

Her face showed surprise before it hardened into something knew. The loss of her warm fingers on my arm was monumental as she dropped her arm back to her side. "I thought you were ready."

"So it was your decision then? Do you know what I could've done to him? I could've killed him. Living on the streets didn't just teach me how to stab, Evelyn, they also taught me how to fight and kill. If I had had a flashback, Daniel would be dead right now!" My voice rose with my anger.

Her face became as hard as stone, everything about her suddenly became as hard as stone. She stepped right up next to me, so close her chest brushed against mine. I sputtered and backed up. I was on overload with my emotions, I felt like I was a wound rubber-band, just waiting to snap.

Her lips brushed my ear. "You do not give yourself enough credit, my love. You kicked Daniel's ass today."

Everything sort of exploded after that. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but here in this padded room, with me cornered against the wall, I couldn't breathe. My arms shot out instinctively and my hands shoved her away, hard. More like punched her away. The fog that had plagued my brain suddenly evaporated.

My arms were like jelly as the shook in front of me, my hands were covered in blood. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to push past the torrent of pain and death but nothing was working. My eyes flashed open and I saw Evelyn, sitting there, holding her arm and looking at me with shock.

I looked down at myself in horror, then back at her and then down at myself one more time before I shook my head and tore out of the room. I could hear her calling after me, but I couldn't stop running. All that was drumming through my mind was I hurt her, I hurt her.

I ran all the way to the beach. Mascara ran down my face and tears dried but were never dry for very long as more quickly took their place. My lungs were burning and the cold water was a punch in the gut as I collapsed into the surf.

I welcomed the cold, it brought me a numbing release from the pain. I'm not sure how long I stayed there, but when I finally climbed out I could barely hold myself up as I stumbled to Evelyn's house. The door was unlocked, and I immediately ran inside and gathered up all my clothes. All I knew is that I couldn't stay here, not when I could be a danger to her. I wanted to leave Char with her, but I knew that wasn't fair to her or Evelyn.

I gathered up all our clothes and belongings and stuffed them in my pillowcases since I didn't have a suitcase with me. Evelyn got off at 7 tonight because she has a meeting, and I usually pick Charlotte up anyways.

I was on my way out when I was stopped by a yip and a fluffy grey ball of fur. Koba barked and happily shook her tail side to side while her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

I sighed a knelt down to her level. "Hey little one." She placed her little paws on my knee and licked my face, making me giggle through my tears. "I'm gonna miss you, but I need you to take care of your mommy for me, okay?"

She yipped and I stroked her head for a moment before I sat up and walked out through the kitchen area. Tears pricked my eyes as I opened the front door and took in all the places that we made memories together. My heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces as I left the house, I wasn't sure when I'd be back.

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