Watched

Chapter 17

I was in the gym again. Except this time it was dark outside and there was music playing on my IPod. I closed my eyes as I listened to Florence and the machine's heavy in your arms. They were my favorite band, Jordan had just stepped out to get the training mats from the storage locker and he instructed me to go over some of the warm up stretches he had taught me this morning while I waited for him.

It only took a couple of minutes for him to return with the mats and I helped him roll them out. When the mats were in place I stood and waited expectantly for him to give further instructions.

"So, what will we be doing tonight?" I asked, feeling enthused, he scratched his chin.

"Well ... I would like us to stick to the basics," he walked over to the punching bags and landed a few good hits that sent the bag swaying from side to side. I was impressed, thoroughly. I switched of my IPod and joined him at the punching bag.

"So I'm going to use the bag?" I asked all excited.

He chuckled,

"No, you are first going to learn how to throw a punch before you do anything like that."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Oh come on. Make a fist, move it forward and hit the bag. How hard can it be?"

He stepped away from the bag and lowered his hands.

"Okay... Bambi give it your best shot," he smiled smugly and I decided to ignore the Bambi comment.

I moved in front of the bag and curled my fingers into a fist, determined to prove myself I shot out my fist with as much force as I could muster. However, the instant my hand made contact with the hard leather bag I cried out in pain. The impact left my right hand stinging and I hugged my hand to my chest while belting out a list of curse words.

"Crap. Shit. Damn...pickle juice."

Jordan raised his eyebrow at the last one.

"Here, let me take a look at that," he said cradling my injured hand in his.

I wiggled about trying to loosen my hand from his grip but he didn't budge.

"Stop squirming you will only make it worse," he said while examining my knuckles. He placed is hand over my knuckles and started rubbing circles.

"Hey, Ouch stop that it hurts!"

He let go of my hand,

"It's just a small bruise; you'll be fine by tomorrow I think the worse that happened was a little knock to your ego."

I glared at him in righteous indignation; he didn't have to rub it in literally.

"So clearly boxing is out, what's next?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"I want to stick to the defensive stuff for now... like blocking and escaping different grip locks."

"Okay, let's do this," I said feeling my earlier determination resurfacing. I felt the need to do well, I wanted to be a good student but mostly I wanted to impress him.

                                                      ****

After an hour and a half of learning how to doge, counter maneuver and figuring out what my greatest assets are (my legs, knees and elbows) in taking down an opponent that is larger and stronger than me. Jordan decided to call an end to the session. By then I was already sweaty and out of breath but he seemed almost unaffected by everything. Although there was this one instant where he had to touch my abdomen in order to show me how to position my body properly and I could almost swear that he tensed up a bit. Just for a fraction of a second his eyes lingered on my chest area and I felt his fingers tense slightly and I forgot how to breathe. The moment was over faster than the blink of an eye and he went back to being calm, focused and indefferent as if nothing had happend.

"Hello, earth to Ari," it was Randy's voice that snapped me out of my short reverie.

"Hmmm...?" I replied, we were in the school's library studying for the history test tomorrow, but my mind kept on wondering back to Jordan.

"Err... sorry, I will totally start to focus from now on. Where were we?"

"The American invasion in Vietnam..."

"Oh yeah right... so they invaded because they were paranoid about a communist takeover in South East Asia." I said recalling what I had read in the text book.

"Exactly and they called this theory the Domino effect," Randy added. Looking at him I couldn't help but think about what Izzy had said earlier on today and it made feel a bit uncomfortable sitting so close to him so I tried to inch away from him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing..."

"Hey I'm not stupid okay, I can sense something is up with you and you've been acting all distant and stuff this whole night." Wow, he knew me that well. Suddenly I felt guilty, because Randy was the best friend in the world and if Izzy was right about him liking me and the fact that I didn't notice proves that I'm not a worthy friend. Also I was sitting here thinking about Jordan while I was supposed to be paying attention to him.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me," he murmured tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ears. My heart gave a little flutter at the sincerity of his words, as I realized that he was staring into my eyes with an intensity I have never seen before his hazel eyes seemed to glow in the dim lighting making it appear amber. I couldn't keep quiet any longer... I just had to ask him how he felt.

"Randy...do you err...like me?" I asked.

He laughed,

"Well on most days," he said sarcastically.

"No... I don't mean as a friend... do you like have feelings for me?"

He furrowed his brows and leaned away from me as if I had said something unsettling.

"Where is this coming from?" 

I raked my fingers through my hair and struggled with the decision of mentioning Izzy or not. At the last minute I decided against it.

"I just... want to know."

He seemed to be in deep thought and finally he spoke.

"Would you be offended if I said no?" I smiled at him; I was actually hoping he'd say no I haven't even decided what I'd do if he didn't. He's friendship is too important to me and I didn't want to lose that. He ran his fingers through his hair before he spoke.

"God, Noble sometimes you drive me crazy but I love you like a buddy...that's all."

"Same here," I said smiling from ear to ear. I pulled him into a big hug and he squeezed me tight.

"You know I love you more than everything right?" I whispered into his neck truly meaning all of it. For as long as I could remember Randy was always there for me, he was my rock. Even before I met Izzy or the rest of the gang it was always just the two of us. Randy and Ari, Ari and Rands...he was like a brother to me. More of a family than my snob of a grandmother could ever be. That is why I valued him so much and I never wanted to ruin our friendship.

He sighed before whispering into my neck.

"More than everything." He said, it was our motto, the one we had used with each other for years. Those three words had so much meaning for us. And as I hugged him tight to my chest those words kept repeating themselves in my head.

More than everything.