Chapter 5
“Pre-lab, short answers, and…worksheet,” Elizabeth muttered to herself as she placed her assignments in the three colored bins on Professor Scott’s desk.
Next to her, Xander was wheedling an extension on the short answers from the short, balding professor.
Faith hadn’t even bothered to show up for the massive Everything’s Due Day.
Elizabeth waited patiently in the hallway, and a few seconds later Xander joined her. “Extension acquired?” she asked with a small smile.
“Till Monday,” he sighed. “There goes my weekend.”
“Hmm,” she nodded, fighting to suppress her smile.
He quirked a half-smile in her direction in response. “Go ahead,” he teased, “gloat.”
“No homework at all this weekend!” Elizabeth exclaimed excitedly. “Nothing but relaxing and partying and sleeping…”
“I said you could gloat, not rub it in,” Xander said, mock-offended.
Elizabeth gave him a playful bat on the shoulder. “If you did your work on time, you wouldn’t have this problem,” she informed him.
“I was doing work!” Xander insisted. “I stayed up all last night on the pre-lab, and the night before that it was the math problem set, and before that my history reading… How on earth did you find time to write the short essays?” he demanded.
“It’s pretty much all just reading,” she shrugged. “I just sit down and do it. You should study with Will and Tara and me. It’s really quiet, and you actually get stuff done.”
“Except for the whole being surrounded by three beautiful women, two of which could start making out with each other any minute…” Xander joked. “Yeah, perfect distraction-free environment.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him and stepped out into the bright Friday afternoon. “So, what’re you doing this evening?” she asked.
Xander let out a weary sigh. “Studying,” he admitted ruefully. “You?”
“Well, this afternoon I get to hit things, and then there’s another Delphi Phi party tonight, and rush, rush, rush on Saturday…” Elizabeth began.
“Hold on a second,” Xander waved his hands in the air in a confused manner. “Hit things?”
Elizabeth laughed. “Karate,” she informed him. “Or, actually, Tae Kwon-Do. Even though the school doesn’t technically offer it, I’ve been informed that we have a small team.”
“You do Karate?” Xander looked suddenly nervously.
She shrugged. “To a lesser degree,” she agreed.
“How good are you?” he gulped.
“Black belt.” There just was no way to make those words sound modest. “Took the high school state tournaments a couple of times…although that was in Tae Kwon-Do.”
“So, you could, like, totally kick my ass right now?” Xander demanded clarification.
“Yup,” she agreed with a small smile.
“Why do I feel like I should be handing you my lunch money right about now?” he joked.
Elizabeth laughed and opened the back door to Westing Hall. “That would be immoral…and strictly prohibited by all martial arts’ philosophies.”
“Whew.” Xander breathed a mock sigh of relief. “You coming to lunch?” he asked, gesturing over to the crowded dinning hall.
Elizabeth grimaced at the size of the line. “Don’t think I’m brave enough to face that mob,” she joked. “I’ll just make a sandwich or something.”
“Ah, culinary skills,” Xander said in a mock-sage voice, “a vital tool for the college student.”
Elizabeth laughed at the reference to Xander’s mega-disaster in the kitchen on Wednesday. The microwave had been thoroughly traumatized, and she didn’t think she’d even be able to see a potato again without cracking up. “I’m sure you could manage a sandwich,” she reassured him.
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” he teased before giving her a quick wave and vanishing into the crowd.
Elizabeth practically skipped up the stairs, so happy at her first weekend that not even Spike’s blaring music could sour her mood…
* * *
OK, so she was slightly more sour by the time she finally arrived at the ‘dojo’ – i.e. the rec room of the Stanton Gymnasium.
First off, Kathy had dropped by, reminding her that she should visit Tri Xi with her later this evening if she wanted to get an extra in at the sorority. That meant she had to spend an entire evening with Kathy. Which was scary enough in and of itself.
Second, her father had e-mailed her with a list of ‘social contacts’ she should make while at college. They consisted of various friends of Kathy’s, most of which Elizabeth had already met and immediately disliked. Her father had also offered several times to do family background checks on any ‘potential suitors’ she might run across. Elizabeth so didn’t need her father running her love life from afar…
Third (and what list would be complete without Spike somewhere on it), the irritating peroxide blond had plopped down beside her on the couch in the lounge for about an hour, making sarcastic remarks about the rerun of 90210 she’d been watching and sending not-so-subtle innuendoes at her so rapidly that she was sure her face was a permanent shade of red.
The instant her show had ended and she’d gotten up to leave, he’d immediately switched over to ‘Passions’, which really wasn’t any better in Elizabeth’s opinion. However, after she’d pointed this out, he’d gotten this smug little leer on his face and informed her that she was welcome to help him find something better to do with his free time. One glance at where his thumb had hooked into the waist of his tight jeans, and she’d fled like mad into the safety of her room.
And the worst thing was that she couldn’t even go out to take a cold shower without him knowing about it.
And, finally, she’d gotten all her gear together and was ready to head for practice. Faith had expressed some interest in checking out martial arts, so Elizabeth had banged on her door…only to hear loud grunts and groans inside. Specifically Faith’s and a guy’s. Elizabeth so didn’t need to hear that right now.
Needless to say, it’d been a frustrating afternoon. She was thoroughly anticipating kicking something’s ass. Too bad the ass she was kicking wouldn’t be Spike’s…
Having quickly changed into her uniform in the women’s locker-room, she entered the makeshift ‘dojo’ and bowed gracefully before taking her place at the end of the line of students. Most were dressed just in sweats, indicating that this was their first time here.
A couple quiet conversations started around her about what this class would be like, and several people even asked her about the sensei and such before she informed them that she was a freshman too and didn’t have the slightest clue. Well, maybe a teensy bit more than the slightest clue, but still…
She was still surprised when their coach entered and turned out to be very British. She’d kind of gathered that from his name and all, but it still seemed unusual to her.
“Greetings, class,” the young man glanced at them through wire-rimmed glasses, pausing when he noticed Elizabeth’s belt for a brief second. “You are all here for karate, I take it?” he joked lightly. “Good. First thing’s first, we are not here to learn how to beat people up or do our own Matrix-style special effects. Anyone who’s here for that purpose should leave now. Anyone?”
A couple of the girls giggled. Probably because he was pretty cute…not to mention he had a sexy accent.
“Well, then,” he said with his first smile, “my name’s Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, but I don’t expect you to call me by that monstrosity…”
More giggles.
“Now, you may have heard that all the martial arts deal strongly in philosophy and discipline, and this class will as well. However, I see no point in forcing unnatural formality onto you all. So, please, just call me Wesley. Likewise, if you have any questions, please feel free and comfortable to ask them. This is a class, after all – a self-defense one, but a class nonetheless – and I find that students tend to learn best in a more casual environment. However, let’s not go overboard. There are a few basic rules to be observed…”
Elizabeth tuned out as he went through the basics of dojo etiquette. She was too busy debating whether or not she liked Wesley’s style. Her old sensei back at home had been ultra-conservative style. Her first thought upon seeing Wesley’s teaching technique was that he was sloppy, but she had been assured that he was one of the best coaches in New England…
“Now, we’re going to start off with some simple stretches,” Wesley finally began the class. “Since our captain seems to be – surprise, surprise – late, Kendra, will you lead the class?”
A stocky girl of exotic African features stepped to the mat across from them, and soon everyone was following her in the standard series of stretches.
Elizabeth easily managed all of the exercises and took her free time to observe the class itself. Well over half the people there were obviously freshmen trying karate out for the first time. Another quarter perhaps were recent students to the sport. There were nearly a dozen or so like Kendra, however, who sported various colored belts and obviously had some skill. She had been informed that there would be other students of her level in the class.
Stretching was followed by a bit of aerobic exercise, followed by the standard instruction on posture, position, footwork…
Wesley came over to talk to her during this portion of the class. “You’re Elizabeth?” he asked, extending his hand. “The one who e-mailed me?”
She shook it. “That’s me,” she agreed.
“Very good,” Wesley agreed with a small smile. “Your previous instructor gave you a rather glowing recommendation.”
“Sensei Hwang?” Elizabeth said in slight disbelief. “Really?”
Wesley laughed. “Not very good at expressing those sorts of things, is he?” he agreed. “If it would be at all possible for you to stay a bit after practice so that I can more accurately assess your skill level…?”
That would mean she’d be late in meeting Kathy. “Sounds great,” Elizabeth said enthusiastically.
“Wonderful,” Wesley clapped his hands together. “I’m afraid everything today will be a bit below your level. And I believe that you focus on Tae Kwon-Do?”
She nodded.
“I’ve got several advanced students in the same predicament – small school means I have to just choose karate as the basic program, but I’m sure we’ll all work it out,” he informed her. “Today if you’d just care to help with the instruction of the new students…”
“I’d love to,” Elizabeth agreed with a smile.
“Great,” Wesley said enthusiastically. “Well, it’s been a pleasure meeting you, and I hope you enjoy our club.”
“Thanks a lot,” Elizabeth agreed.
“And, ah!” Wesley commented, looking over Elizabeth’s shoulder at the door. “You’ll want to meet our team captain, and here he is, half an hour late as usual…”
Elizabeth had the premonition even before she turned. It was kind of this strange tickling sensation at the base of her spine. She looked and groaned when she realized she had been correct.
“Spike, this is Elizabeth. She’s a quite accomplished fighter from California,” Wesley needlessly introduced them. “Elizabeth, this is—”
“I know who he is,” she sighed before addressing Spike. “Might’ve known this would be your sort of thing.” Ooh, black belt, too, she couldn’t help but notice. Maybe I WILL get to kick Spike’s ass…and a very nice ass it is. Not to mention that gorgeous expanse of chest peeking out of his uniform and— She inwardly cringed. Bad mind! Bad!
“Yeah, well, need to get out all that aggression and…” he gave her an appraising look that made her feel like he was reading her mind, “frustration somehow.”
“Yeah,” she nodded with a falsely sweet smile, “I can see how you’d be frustrated a lot.”
Wesley seemed quite thoroughly oblivious to the sparks that were flying between his two students. “You know each other already? Good. Spike can tell you anything else you need to know then. If the two of you will excuse me now, I’ve got a class to teach…” He left the two of them to their own devices.
“So, Summers, how’d you come into the world of martial arts?” Spike asked cheekily. “You seem more like the cheerleadin’ ice princess type…”
“I was a cheerleader,” she informed him primly. “And a figure skater. Dad let me take one additional activity, and this was what I chose.”
“Oh, Daddy let you,” Spike said sarcastically. “’S nice to know he’s so lenient.”
Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed just as Wesley’s voice caught both of their attentions.
“Our captain has finally decided to grace us with his presence,” Wesley announced, gesturing to Spike. “This is Spike. He’ll lead the general exercises…when he bothers to show up on time.”
Spike gave him a sheepish shrug in response.
“I’ll be in the office for the rest of this class then,” Wesley informed them. “I’ll be back next week when we’ll do our first real exercises.” He cleared the instruction mat for Spike.
“’Ey, all,” Spike leapt right into his leadership role and threw Elizabeth a cocky smile as he did so, “right now, we’re just gonna keep it really simple. You all ‘ve already learned a simple punch an’ block, right?”
Kendra gave him an affirmative nod.
“Right then, here’s what we’re gonna do. Can I have a volunteer from the audience? One ‘f you new students?”
Several hands shot up. Elizabeth was half-convinced Spike was going to pick her, just to annoy her, but instead he picked an attractive young brunette who blushed horribly when he took her hand and led her over to the front mat.
“What’s your name, luv?” he asked, charm out in full force.
“Julia,” she said with a shy little smile.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. OK, so Spike was physically attractive. She could admit that. At least in an abstract sense. After all, she’d have to be pretty much blind not to see it. But after that his appeal died a horrible, brutal death. He was just so aggravating and argumentative and impolite and a shameless flirter and… And why on earth were all these girls giggling at his jokes and batting their eyelashes at him and…!
Elizabeth let out a deep breath to calm herself. She quickly found that she could take some consolation in the fact that she could kick any of their asses.
“Now, Julia,” Spike said with that gorgeous little smile of his, “you’re gonna aim a punch at me real slow, an’ ‘m gonna block it. So, first, jus’ make a fist…tha’s right…”
He checked her hand position and her arm set-up where she had the fist coiled up against her body, leaning in way too close for his inspection…at least in Elizabeth’s opinion.
“Good,” he instructed the young brunette. “Now, punch forward slowly, jus’ straight out at first…”
She uncoiled her arm and struck onto into the empty air.
“Perfect,” he said with a wide grin, moving across from her. “Now, you’re jus’ gonna do it while ‘m here, an’ ‘ll block it real gentle-like. So, we bow first…” Julia followed his lead. “…And now hit me.”
Elizabeth examined his technique desperately for flaws and let out a little sigh of disappointment when she saw none.
“See that?” Spike addressed the class as a whole. “Din’t attack ‘er or anythin’. Jus’ redirected the force ‘f her blow so that it went off to the side. Now, all you new folks pair up with anyone in uniform, an’ they’ll take you through it nice an’ easy…”
Elizabeth found herself paired up with a skinny guy with glasses. She let him practice hitting her a few times so that he could watch how she blocked. Satisfied that he’d gotten the arm motion down correctly, she let him deflect her own blows a couple dozen times, correcting his form occasionally.
“We doin’ all right here?” Spike had snuck up behind her and whispered into her ear.
“Great,” she said through tight lips. She could actually feel his breath on the back of her neck…
Her sparring partner nodded as well.
“Good job, luv,” Spike gave her a little smile before going to check on the next pair.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and turned back to the drills. The entire class proceeded like that, sequentially going through the first few basic kicks as well as several other blocks. It wasn’t half the workout she was used to, but it seemed to fit the stamina of the beginners well. By the time Spike finally let them out – half an hour early – most were looking pretty exhausted.
Elizabeth herself followed Spike and Kendra back into Wesley’s office where they found him grading papers, of all things.
“I’m actually an English professor,” he explained off of Elizabeth’s look, “but I volunteered for this as well, since I was qualified.”
She nodded in understanding, and the four of them headed back out to the mats. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“Just do a quick, light spar with Kendra here,” Wesley instructed, “your standard warm-up and all…”
Elizabeth and Kendra exchanged a quick bow before engaging in a quick series of kicks and blocks.
“Not half bad,” Spike commented under his breath to Wesley.
“Pretty damn good,” Wesley agreed, watching Kendra fall to the mat as Elizabeth scored. “See that?” he couldn’t help but ridicule his best student. “That’s known as ‘patience’. Perhaps you’d do better if you learned some…”
Spike chuckled at that and watched Kendra fall for a second time. Elizabeth held back her blow and waited for her opponent to rise.
“That’s good enough,” Wesley clapped his hands to stop their bout.
Elizabeth and Kendra exchanged a quick final bow. “You’re very good,” Kendra said with a thick accent and a shy little smile.
“You, too,” Elizabeth returned her smile.
“Elizabeth, why don’t you try a quick bout with Spike,” Wesley instructed. “Kendra, you can go home now…”
Elizabeth gulped inwardly when Spike stepped onto the mat across from her. She never exactly sparred with someone who affected her the way he did, and she wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
“Lookin’ forward to our rough an’ tumble,” Spike couldn’t help but tease. It was just the way she looked in her uniform, all tiny and fierce and powerful…not to mention completely beautiful. He bit back the strange emotions that stirred within him every time she was around and focused on the matter at hand.
They exchanged a brief courteous bow and then…
Well, all hell broke loose.
Elizabeth came at him right away with a fast flurry of kicks and punches, all of which he blocked flawlessly. She leapt high when his leg swung out to try to sweep her from beneath her and turned the move into a high kick to fend him off until she could regain her footing.
He was definitely on the attack by the time she did so, raining an intricate combination of kicks and feints that had her gasping for breath to keep up. Finally, he managed to catch her off-balance on one of her blows and used the opportunity to send her rolling onto the mat.
She took a deep breath to quell her anger and quickly rose to her feet again, bowing slightly to acknowledge the point…but not the match.
She expanded her moves, using more innovative back kicks and flips this time, judging that he’d be able to handle her at her infuriated best.
He faltered a bit at her infamous spinning kick back-flip combo, and she caught his ankle, sending him to the mat.
It was Spike’s turn to recover himself then. He gave her an impressed little smile when he stood up and bowed once more.
What followed was an alternating series of blows and blocks so blindingly fast that even Wesley had difficulty keeping up with it. Both opponents were giving this one their all, playing with speed, rhythm, form, pattern. A small smile crossed the young instructor’s face at how they were absolutely going to mop up Regionals with Elizabeth as the latest addition to their team…
Tired, sweating, and panting, Elizabeth and Spike both found their openings at exactly the same time. They each froze, their hands only millimeters from the other’s throat, and their eyes widened when they realized that they’d each completed their attack perfectly in sync.
They exchanged a quizzical look, each asking if the other knew who had beat who to the punch.
“So, who’s ‘s that then?” Spike finally felt obliged to ask Wesley after a moment’s pause.
“I would give it to her,” Wesley said with a teasing smile, “since someone dropped their elbow prior to the recoil… Although I suppose it could be judged either way.”
Spike conceded the hit anyway, looking up at her through long lashes during his bow. Elizabeth felt her face reddening yet again. Dammit, how did he do that? She hadn’t blushed this much since junior high…
“Well, on that exciting note, I’ll think we’ll call it a night,” Wesley announced, “and congratulations on a match very well fought. You two shall have to spar together more next time. You’re a quite an excellent match for each other.”
“Was jus’ thinkin’ the same thing,” Spike flashed a lascivious smile in Elizabeth’s direction, letting her know that he wasn’t just talking about their fighting prowess.
“Well, next week then,” Wesley shook Elizabeth’s hand once again. “We shall greatly enjoy having you on the team, won’t we, Spike?”
“Oh yeah,” Spike agreed, his tongue curling up beneath his teeth.
Elizabeth blushed again. Before inwardly swatting herself for blushing so much. I mean, what was she, some love-struck schoolgirl? Certainly not for Spike. No way, no how…
* * *
Elizabeth stepped from the gym into the warm night air and wasn’t at all surprised to see that Spike had waited for her there. He quickly put out his cigarette, giving her an almost shy grin as she approached him.
“How many times a day does someone tell you that those things will kill you?” she asked wryly.
“Far too often,” he smiled slightly.
Elizabeth bit her lip. Usually she found smoking repulsive, but the way Spike had been doing it, all casual sex and black leather…
“You heading back to Westing?” he asked.
“What,” she couldn’t help but tease, “you need a big, strong woman to walk you home at night and keep you safe?”
“’Ey!” he exclaimed, offended. “’ll have you know that I plan on winnin’ back my manly honor next week!”
She gave him an amused little smile. “Not a chance,” she informed him. “Your manhood is mine.” She realized a second too late just how that sounded and groaned just as the wicked smile curled across his lips.
“’f you want it so badly…” he needled her.
“Fine, fine,” she sighed, “you got me on that one.”
“So, Summers,” he said, still gloating in his slight victory, “how long you been doin’ Tae Kwon-Do?”
“Since I was seven,” she admitted. “You?”
“Nine.”
“Ah,” she nodded. “You’ve got a rather…mixed style.”
“An’ you don’t?” he retorted. “I saw that li’l judo block…”
“And you were half doing Aikido,” she retorted. “What else’ve you done? Karate? Looked like a bit of Kung Fu, too…”
He nodded. “You?”
“Karate, tai chi, a lot of judo, a bit of kickboxing, too,” she admitted.
“Hmm, quite the little killin’ machine, aren’t you, luv?” he joked.
“Remember that next time you annoy me,” she retorted.
He chuckled slightly at that. “You should help with the lesson plan,” he suggested. “We tend to dabble a bit in other arts jus’ for the hell of it.”
“Sounds fun,” she agreed. “I’m always willing to expand my horizons.”
“In fact,” he instinctively went for the innuendo just like he always did when she was present, “’d love to try a little Brazilian jiu-jitsu with you…”
She gulped. The art was actually very sophisticated, but to the common eye, it didn’t look like much more than mud wrestling without the mud.
“All close an’ intimate,” he practically purred. “’d just love to get down on the mat with you an’ see what we can do…” They had stopped, having reached their destination, and his lips were only a hairsbreadth from her ear as he said these last words.
She felt her entire body burn at his nearness and suddenly had the nearly overwhelming urge to just say yes. Sanity quickly reasserted itself, however, and she took a step back, opening the door to Westing Hall and stepping inside.
“Don’t you ever give up?” she demanded of him as he followed her up the spiral staircase that led to their house.
“Never with you,” he promised her with a little wink. “Speakin’ of which… Oz’s band’s playin’ down at the Blue Club tonight. Most ‘f the house is goin’. Care to join us?”
She gave him an apologetic smile. “Delta Phi party tonight,” she told him. “I’m already late. I was supposed to help with the set-up and all…”
“Next time?” he asked hopefully.
“Sure,” she agreed with a small smile.
“You know ‘m just gonna keep askin’ till you say yes,” were his parting words before he vanished into his room.
And Elizabeth let out a deep, longing sigh before turning back to the important task of getting in good with the girls at Tri Xi…