Page 6 of Another Love, Another Time

This year, I decided to try out for wrestling at our local youth wrestling club.

My mom showed me a picture from the one year she wrestled, and she said she loved it.

My brother didn’t think I would do it. He started wrestling when he was five.

I’ve gone to a lot of his practices and tournaments, and we wrestle at home, so I know a lot of the moves. How hard can it be, right?

Tonight is my first night of practice. My mom said female singlets have come a long way since she wrestled.

She’s pretty excited about me wrestling.

She went out and bought me new wrestling shoes, headgear, and a singlet.

We don’t have to practice in a singlet, but I have spandex shorts and a leotard on, so it’s similar.

We start warmups. Duck walks, wall sits, suicide sprints, pushups, and shot drills. The coach then instructs us that we are going to do a couple of laps around the wrestling room. There are a bunch of groans when the coach yells, “You all know the drill. Let’s go!”

“Well, okay then,” I think to myself. After everyone gets their laps in, the coaches start pairing all the wrestlers off in twos with people around the same weight to start on drills. I know a lot of these drills since I’ve practiced with Brock in the past.

We start with the takedown drills. The coach grabs someone and runs through the technique he would like us to work on a few times.

Then, he cuts us loose to practice the move.

We’re supposed to take turns practicing the drills.

I’ve been paired with a new kid. I let him go first, and when he takes me down, we reset.

It should be my turn, but he surprises me and takes me down again.

“Okay, so this is how we are going to play this.” He doesn’t know me. “Hey, I think we are supposed to be taking turns,” I tell him.

“No. I’m going to need more practice. It’s not like you’re going to win, anyway.”

I scoff. “Well, I’m definitely not going to win if I don’t get to practice.”

“Whatever.” He sneers and then gets back in his stance to start the drill again.

So do I. He tries to take me down, but this time, I’m ready.

I maneuver back so he can’t grab my legs.

I look him in the eyes to let him know that I’m not backing down.

How dare he? I know he’s doing this because I’m a girl.

In my head, I’m thinking, “Let’s get ready to rumble! ”

He goes for another takedown, but again, I move away too quickly.

Before he can recover, I’m on him. I grab his head with my right arm and squeeze it into my armpit while my left hand grabs his right arm.

I then drop to my knees and drag him down with me.

I’ve caught him off guard, which gives me time to rotate behind him and pin him down.

I get him in a half nelson and flip him over. I think the poor kid is still in shock.

I’m pretty dang pleased with myself until I hear my coach call, “River, we’re not practicing pins yet. You should only be working on takedowns.” He walks over to us.

I get off the kid, and he jumps up. I turn to look at the coach. He’s been a coach for a while, so he knows who I am. “I’m sorry,” I say, “but he wouldn’t let me have my turn, so I had to put him in his place, Coach.”

I can see he wants to smile, but he can’t in front of this kid. “So, are you done putting him in his place?”

“If he’s done not giving me a turn, then I’ll be done too, Coach.”

Coach turns to the new kid. “You got a problem wrestling with a girl?”

“No, Coach,” the kid mumbles.

“Okay. You two quit wasting my time, and get back to work.” He walks off to oversee some of the other wrestlers.

“You had to snitch on me, huh?” the new kid grates.

“I’m not a snitch. Don’t put this on me. You are the one who didn’t want to take turns. Is that not true? I’m not getting into trouble because of you. I told him the truth. That doesn’t make me a snitch.”

“Forget this. Let’s get this over with.” He gets back into position. This time, he lets me do the takedown drills.

We get a few more minutes, and then we move on to reverse and then pin drills. The new kid and I don’t have any more problems. Hopefully, he learns that I’m not scared of him.

Okay, so I may have jumped the gun a little on how easy that was going to be. I know I’m going to be sore as a scab tomorrow. I jump out of the shower and see I have a missed text from Auggie.

Auggie: How was the first night of practice?

I pull on my pajamas for the night and pick up my phone to respond. I’m so sore I can barely lift the phone in my hands.

River: I had to put some new kid in his place. He thought he could walk all over me.

Auggie: Well, I’m sure you didn’t have any problem doing that. Did he learn his lesson?

River: I think so. You know I never back down from a challenge.

Auggie: Don’t forget to take some Aleve. You know you’ll be sore tomorrow.

River: I just did.

I send him a picture of the Aleve bottle and my water. Auggie sends me a GIF of Selena Gomez that says “Good girl.”

River: What did you do tonight?

Auggie: My mom had some work thing. Melissa was there and asked about you

River: I hope you didn’t tell her anything.

Auggie: I think she’s trying to be your friend. I don’t know why we can’t all be friends.

River: How’s school going?

Auggie: Really, River? Changing the subject?

River: I don’t want to talk about her. If you want to be her friend, that’s on you. I don’t have to be friends with her, and I’d appreciate it if you would keep my name out of your mouth when you do talk to her.

Auggie: Wow.

River: “Wow…” You miss me so much?

Auggie: (GIF of rolling eyes) You know I miss you.

River: My mom said your parents are coming to my first tournament since it’s up by your house. Are you coming too?

Auggie: You know I’m there.

River: You know I miss you too. I hope to see you there. I’m exhausted. I’m going to hit the hay.

Auggie: Night.

River: Night. Talk tomorrow.

~~

Today is my first tournament. I have been practicing with the team three nights a week for the last month and a half.

The tournament is near Aunt Connie and Uncle Eddie’s place.

They don’t have anything going on this weekend, so they will be there to watch me.

Auggie wants to see my first match. I hope I don’t suck too badly in front of him. He will never let me live it down.

I already had to weigh in this morning. I weighed in at 80 pounds, which still allows me to wrestle in the 82-pound weight class. I sit by my coach to look at the brackets, which will tell me who I will be wrestling.

My match isn’t for another hour, so I have time to hang out with my family.

I look around the bleachers to see where my family is sitting and to see if Auggie has arrived yet.

As I’m scanning the crowd, someone comes up behind me and grabs me.

I screech and quickly turn around to see a grinning Auggie. “You lookin’ for me?”

I quickly jump into his arms, and he catches me as I give him a big hug. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m so nervous.”

“Riv, you’re going to kick butt.”

“Yeah, I hope you’re right.” I look around. “Where are our parents?”

“They grabbed something to eat at the concession stand. They said you might get you something since you didn’t eat before you weighed in.”

“Let’s go find them. I’m starving.”

~~

I’m up next. I’ve never seen the kid I’m wrestling at any of my brothers’ tournaments. He gets the green band, and I get the red band for the referee to communicate points scored. I kneel to wrap the band around my ankle.

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, stand up, go to the middle of the mat, and get in my stance with bent knees and my hands ready to take him down.

I look my opponent in the eye. As the referee blows the whistle, we start to circle around the mat.

Both of us try to go for a single-leg takedown but fail.

The second time I try for a takedown, my opponent catches me by the neck, pulls me down to the mat, and quickly gets behind me.

My opponent tries to put me in a half nelson to get me into a pin position.

I try to get up to my knees and into a bottom position so I can either stand up or reverse our places.

Instead, my opponent pushes my face into the mat.

Pretty soon, the referee calls a stalemate.

When I get up, I feel something drip from my nose.

I must have gotten a bloody nose when my opponent was pushing my face into the mat.

My coach pulls me off the mat and starts to wipe my face.

Meanwhile, he coaches me for the next round.

I look over at my opponent and see him watching me.

I hear his coach tell him, “Don’t worry. She’s just a girl.”

“Oh, heck no.” I think. “I’ll show him ‘just a girl.’”

I turn back to my coach to listen to the rest of his directions.

Once my blood has been cleaned off the mat, the ref calls us back to the middle of the mat.

For the second round, the ref flips the red and green chip.

It lands on red, so I get to decide if I am going to be on top or bottom.

I look at my coach, and he makes the “down” motion.

I make the same motion and get in the bottom position while my opponent gets in the top position.

Waiting for the whistle, I take a deep breath and prepare to make my opponent’s coach eat his words.

The whistle is blown, and I catch my opponent off guard by being quick on the whistle.

I use my elbow to push his arm off me. Then, I escape, and without hesitation, I go right for the single-leg takedown.

He is on his stomach and trying to push up, but I’m on him.

I wrap my leg around his and try to get his legs to straighten out so that he is lying on his stomach again.

Eventually, I get him on his stomach again, and I quickly move into a half-nelson position and flip him over on his back. I’m worn out, but there is no way I’m letting him up. I’m showing him I'm just a girl.

Before I know it, the referee announces I have pinned my opponent. I stand up and try to shake his hand, but he just walks off the mat. I smile while the referee raises my hand.

“‘Just a girl,’ my butt.”

~~

I end up getting second in the tournament for my weight class. I got the one pin, lost my second match without getting pinned, and in the third match, I won by a point. My brother got first place. I’m proud of him. He’s the one who helped me get ready for today.

We are back at the hotel, playing in the pool and waiting for pizza. Aunt Connie and Uncle Eddie decided to stay the night with us. Auggie and I are hanging out in the jacuzzi.

Auggie splashes me. “You kicked butt today, Riv.”

“I know I did.” I grin back.

“When that boy was pushing your head into the mat, and then when you got up, and you had blood running down your face, I almost went down there and wrestled him myself.” Auggie weighs twenty pounds more than me, so he definitely could have beaten him.

“No need to worry. His coach told him not to worry about me, that I am just a girl.” I scoff.

“Remind me not to piss you off.”

“You would do good to remember that.” Another grin spreads across my face.

“Hey, is your name Auggie?” A girl with shoulder-length brown hair and a pink two-piece interrupts our conversation.

“Yes, why?” Auggie gives her a questioning look.

“Well, my friend over there…” She points to a girl in the pool whose face is as red as a tomato. She is still smiling and darting her eyes between Auggie and the floor. “She goes to your school, and she thinks that you’re cute. Do you want to be her boyfriend?”

Always the nice guy, Auggie answers, “Tell your friend ‘thanks,’ but I can’t. I already have a girlfriend.” He looks at me.

“Oh,” she replies.

“Who?” The girl and I say at the same time.

“Riv, you know you’re my girlfriend,” he says. Then, he looks at the girl again. “She doesn’t want our parents to find out.”

The girl looks between Auggie and me as if confused. “Yeah, sure. Well, see ya.” The girl jumps back in the pool and swims over to her friends.

“What was that?” I ask.

He shrugs like it’s nothing.

“Well?” I ask again.

“Which part? Her asking me out or you being my girlfriend?”

“I guess… both?”

“Well, I am irresistible. Have you seen me lately?” He grins. “And you are my ‘girl’ and ‘friend,’ the only girl I keep this close. There is no room for other girls.”

Just then, my mom pops her head in to tell us the pizza is here. We both grab our towels, dry off, and wrap them around us.

Auggie loops his arm through mine as we walk out the door, and turns to me. “See? Still enough room for both of us to fit through.”

I push him off me. “You barely fit.”

Laughing, we continue to walk toward our room. There is an aching feeling in my chest. I don’t like how some girl just came up to ask him out. He’s my Auggie. I don’t want to share him. I wonder how many times this happens at school.

And why do I like how he referred to me as his “girlfriend” even though he said he meant it in the literal sense?

I know that some of my friends have started asking boys out and vice versa, but I guess I didn’t think that this would be happening to Auggie.

I know Auggie is cute, and he is a nice boy.

He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body unless you mess with someone he cares about. He always wants everyone to get along.

My thoughts drift to his appearance. He has started to keep his hair longer on top. I like his hair short, but I do have to say that the way he’s keeping it now looks good on him.

We get back into the room where my parents are staying, and I change into my pajamas. Meanwhile, Auggie changes into a pair of basketball shorts and the shirt I bought him today at the tournament. The gray shirt has the tournament name on it and reads “I love my wrestler” on the back.

Ever since Auggie’s tenth birthday, T-shirts have become our thing. Any time one of us sees one that we think the other would like, we get it. In this case, I knew he had to have it.

I need to get him one that says, “Stay back,” but I know I can’t. I hate that we don’t live closer, and I only get to talk to him through our phone conversations. I turn to him and pull him into a hug. Then, I whisper into his ear, “Thanks for coming to see me today.”

He hugs me back. “Me too. I said you would kick butt today.”

We pull apart, head over to the pizza, and get ready to play one of the board games Aunt Connie brought today.