Michael+Zook

"Fight!" The instructor yelled and the match began. Two men paced back and forth nervously. Keeping to the mats edge I counted my steps, calculating what it would take to get me to him. I was so nervous and everyone could tell from the beads of sweat slowly dripping down my face. I wiped it off and shook myself all over to calm my nerves. I slowly circled towards him, my right foot slightly raised, ready to push me out of the way of his punches. I knew that if he got a chance, one punch from him would end this match. But I had a lot of energy, and my fist was just dying to meet his ribcage. Then we glanced at eachother and smiled. A loud cry, "I'm going to win this match!" and a push of the foot sent me speeding towards him. I side stepped to the right. He did a spin kick. I ducked and did a sweeping kick to make space between us. I ran and did a crescent kick followed by a jump spin kick. Both were blocked. He saw my chest open and went for a quick jab. I blocked it and he followed it up with three more jabs and a palm struck. The three were blocked but the palm found it's target on my side and I stumbled backwards, He ran at me and did a jumping kick. I side stepped and he landed behind me. My back was open and he took the oppurtunity to give his final paralysing jab to a pressure point. But I surprised him and jumped up just in time. A backwards spin kick to the neck sent him crashing into the mat. I had won the match. I helped my friend up and said to him " so, my best friend and sensai finally beaten by the student. How does it feel to raise a star pupil?" " It feels like I'm going to beat you up son! yah you can't handle my skills homie!" he jumped in the air and kicked wildly. "WUCHA!" When he landed, he smacked me in the face and ran away laughing like a crazy man. I chased after him, knowing that he would slow down eventually. I can't believe it; it's been five years of training and he's still faster than me. We ran all the way to Roma's and stopped at the front door, completely out of breath. I spoke between gasps, " so Martin, you think you can beat me next time?" He looked at me with a smile. " I taught you enough to get into the school, but I still know more than you from...." before he could finish I just walked away, went into Romas and sat down at a table. Martin walked in and looked at me with a sullen expression on his face. I looked at him and smiled. Martin sat down slowly beside me. " Michael, I was going to spare you next fight, but now I am going to murder you" " Martin, that's not a very nice thing to say to your son's godfather." Me and Martin both looked over to the door. It was Elise, my little sister and soon to be mother. She walked over to us slowly and Martin, remembering his duty as father, ran over to her to help her sit down. I looked at her and asked, " So when is the baby due?" " Six months" she said with a big smile. " I looked at Martin with a puzzled expression. "Martin, you two just got married not to long ago and you already have a kid on the way. With your job and a kid, and me with a job, we might not be able to hang out anymore. " ughh, Michael's p.m.s ing again." I stare at him, with the same sullen expression he gave me. " see Elise, it's p.m.s. Which stands for, pretty mean sister!" "yah, michael are you going through mood swings?" Elise chimed in as she looked at me with a smirk. " I know who the mean sister is" I said as I turned away from them. I never really liked that joke. they both looked at me and started laughing. than I laughed for a good five seconds until Martin looked at me serious and said " shut up jerk." I stopped laughing. He continued to laugh and Elise smacked him on the shoulder. They didn't change at all. Martin is still funny and crazy, and Elise still smacks him when he's being mean. I was so happy that the whole mood of the day changed from there. Martin had to take Elise to the Hospital so after we ate I went home. That made me miss the days were we just walked around New Holland, not caring about anything but our friendship. I turned on the lights to my apartment and sat down on a reclining chair. I remembered when I had a bigger apartment and was sharing it with Martin. Those were the best three years of my life. We had so much fun back then. I fell asleep to the sound of my memories and stayed asleep from one to four o'clock when I heard a knock on my door. It was Martin and Elise, with anime movies. We spent the next six hours watching All three Karas movies and Get Backers. Then we played card games and told crazy stories about the funny things we did to people and how we were just too cool for our parents. During that time My mom came over and gave us a home cooked meal and some fresh baked cookies. She didn't stick around to play cards but it was still nice to see her again. She did tell me that my dad was still angry at me for the way I left the house all those years ago. I told her that I only told him what was on my mind and that I thought he deserved it after the way he treated me. than Martin stepped in and told me not to worry about the past and to just enjoy the night. I did, but soon Martin and Elise had to leave. Lucky for me they lived in the apartment right below me. I went into my room and fell on my bed. I had to work tomorrow, but I had from four to eight to hang out with Martin and Elise again. And then it was the weekend. I thought to me self as I drifted off to sleep. I was finally happy.