Chapter One
Maddy
“Girls can’t wrestle!” Kyle Pope shouted at me on the playground.
My cheeks grew hot with embarrassment as his friends laughed at me, hunched over like it was the funniest thing they’d heard. I just wanted to play with them, was that so wrong?
All my friends were doing boring things like playing with dolls and stuffed animals or making up dance routines to lame pop songs. I wanted to rough and tumble, to fight. I liked being active and playing tough, keeping up with the boys.
Living on a cattle ranch had made me strong. I wasn’t afraid of getting hurt and I liked physical work. I didn’t want to sit and play with dresses or make beaded bracelets for my best friend. I didn’t care about make-up or hair styles.
Instead, I wanted to prove how tough I could be. I might not be the oldest but I am the toughest of my sisters. Yet everyone treated me like I was dainty, breakable, and I was sick of it.
Of the boys in front of me, Kyle was almost twice my height. He loomed over me with his hands on his hips, his stupid missing front tooth mocking me. His breath was fishy from the tuna sandwich he’d just eaten.
His best friend was Carter Hains, on the shorter side, but he was still big for his age, and he did whatever Kyle said, which made him so stupid.
Then there was Kevin Baxter, who picked his nose and ate it. Ugh. As much as I wanted to be one of the boys, they were so gross.
The only one of them not laughing at me was Leo Valkner. He was the same height as Kyle and just as intimidating. But instead of laughing, he watched me closely, his eyes narrowed.
I looked at each of them in turn, taking deep breaths to steady myself and show them that they didn’t scare me. I’d tamed wild horses, or that’s what my dad told me anyway, so these boys didn’t scare me.
Just when I thought I was going to have to walk away, my tail between my legs and pride bruised, a voice piped up.
“I’ll wrestle you.”
My stare flicked to Leo. He spoke softly, his expression hadn’t changed, but it was like he hadn’t spoken. The other boys stopped laughing and stared at him too.
“Don’t bother.”
“She’s a weenie, what’s the point?”
I sniffed at them, hurt. “I’m not a weenie, I’m a tough girl,” I insisted, giving them my meanest scowl and flexing my biceps.
They burst out laughing again which stung. Tears threatened to prick my eyes but I refused to let them out.
I didn’t cry.
But Leo wasn’t laughing. He just looked me over from head to toe, then waved at me to follow him. He walked over to a thick patch of grass in the playground and faced me.
“Leo, don’t do it!”
“The teacher’s gonna kill you!”
I stood in front of him, peering up and I swung my arms, stretching them out. His mouth kicked up in a smirk, but I ignored him. Next, I stretched out my legs, my knees cracking, ready for battle.
When I was finished, he said, “You finally ready, Tough Girl?”
The nickname annoyed me, but when I met his stare, he wasn’t making fun of me.
I nodded once.
“Wrestle!” Leo shouted. He stepped towards me and my stomach pitched, like I realized too late that I was in over my head.
His arms wrapped around me, and I brought mine up to block my face.
As soon as I was trapped in his embrace, my excitement kicked in and I started twisting my body.
Leo grunted, not expecting that, and I ducked out of his hold.
I dipped down and swung my leg out, kicking his out from under him.
He hit the ground with a surprised oof. I rolled him over then leapt on top of him.
Straddling his back, I reached back to pull his legs up so he couldn’t swing them.
“Hey!” he cried out.
I grinned. I loved surprising people. Having them underestimate me.
“You give?” I demanded.
He struggled, putting up a good fight and ended up knocking me off him. Then he was on his feet with a speed I wasn’t expecting from someone so tall. Although I hadn’t won, I was secretly glad we kept going, that it wasn’t an easy win.
Victory was better when you’d earned it.
Leo leapt on me and wrestled my arms, pinning them to the side so I couldn’t move.
The other boys gathered around him and started chanting Leo, Leo, Leo but I blocked them out. He wasn’t winning, it wasn’t over. I had learned a new trick recently.
I brought my knee up sharply between his legs. He grunted in pain, his eyes rolled back but he still held on.
Damn him!
We twisted and soon we were rolling into a muddy puddle. My nice white sweater was ruined but I didn’t care. I’d finally found what I’d been looking for; a worthy opponent. Someone who didn’t make it easy for me just because I was a girl. Just because I was smaller.
He didn’t hold back either.
If I cried out or made a noise, he didn’t immediately panic that he’d hurt me and get off.
He’d actually believed me when I said I was a tough girl and didn’t treat me like I was a delicate princess.
I was having the best time and soon we were wrestling furiously, both grinning at each other. The other boys had lost interest when they saw Leo wasn’t winning, and they disappeared.
Eventually a teacher spotted us and broke the whole thing up. I was so disappointed and I could tell from Leo’s face that he was too.
The teacher started yelling at us, but more so at Leo which I didn’t think was fair and I told her so. Then we were both dragged back inside, put into detention after school, and forced to write lines until our parents came to collect us.
I kept glancing at Leo out of the corner of my eye. I caught him gingerly rubbing his shin where I’d kicked him. I smirked, a savage enjoyment filling me. Not at hurting him exactly, but at being a match for him in the first place.
An equal.
His clothes were ruined and so were mine but neither of us cared.
Finally, his mom turned up, scowled at his clothes and shook her head. She looked like the opposite of my mom, she had dark curls and a smart pantsuit on. She dressed all fancy.
“Get in the car, Leonardo. I will spend the drive home thinking of your punishment for hurting that poor girl, this isn’t how I raised you!”
Leo’s expression fell. “But Mom, she—”
“I don’t want to hear it, young man. Let’s go,” she ordered, then stormed out of the room.
I felt bad, I didn’t want her thinking he’d started it. I’d wanted to wrestle.
He turned back, lingering in the doorway and offered me a small smile.
“See you later, alligator.”
I smirked, biting back. “In a while, crocodile.”
His eyes narrowed. “Gotta go, buffalo.”
I sat up straighter, my competitive spirit once again engaged. “See you soon, baboon.”
“Too-da-loo kangaroo.”
I paused for a moment, thinking of another. “Take care, koala bear.”
His light brown eyes flashed with victory. “Actually koalas aren’t bears, they’re—”
“Leo! Car! Now!” his mother shouted from down the hallway and he flinched, then gave me a wave and was gone.
I was still staring at the door when moments later my mom appeared, her blond hair flying behind her as she hurried into the room, red gingham dress floating on the breeze.
She gripped my shoulders, looking me over with her panicked blue stare.
My mom was so beautiful, sometimes it took my breath away when I looked at her.
“Madison, baby, look at you! Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened?”
I shrugged her off, ignoring her worry. “I wanted to wrestle, that’s all.”
She made a choked sound before tugging me into her arms and I settled against her. I loved the way my mom smelled, like warm cookie dough and a fresh meadow all at the same time.
Mom pulled back and looked at me again, brushing off the dried mud from my clothes.
“I can’t believe someone hurt my poor baby. Just wait until I get my hands on that boy’s family!”
“No, Mom!” I cried. “I had fun, we were just playing!”
It was true. I’d had more fun with Leo in the five minutes of wrestling than I had with any of my other friends in all the hours I’d spent with them.
“Why were you playing with him and not your friends?”
I kicked my feet. “Because they’re boring and only care about dolls or hair styles. I’m not interested in those things.”
She frowned at me. “So, you were just playing?”
I nodded, grinning wide. “It was SO fun!”
She smirked and then wiped it off her face. “Come on you, let’s get you out of those muddy clothes.” She tsked. “That beautiful white sweater is ruined.”
We left school and in the parking lot I kept looking around for Leo, but I couldn’t see him. On the drive back to the ranch, I worried that he would get in a lot of trouble when I had been the one to start the wrestling.
The next day, I looked for him in the school halls but I didn’t see him. What if he’d been expelled? What if he’d gotten in serious trouble? I worried all morning at what my need to prove myself had cost him.
When I was picking over my food in the cafeteria, a plastic tray slapped down on the table. I looked up and saw Leo’s face smiling down at me.
“Is this seat taken, Tough Girl?”
I looked around the cafeteria and spotted his friends glaring over at us. Glaring because Leo had chosen to sit with me. I felt victorious all over again. I smiled back at him and shook my head. He took a seat and started eating his food like nothing happened.
Like we didn’t just become best friends.