"I didn't mean to do it!" Catrina screamed through the closed door. "I fucking didn't mean to!"

"I know! I can't believe your brother wants to fuck her! Ew!" Catrina laughed reading her best friend's magazine. "I mean she's just so gross!"

An hour later would lead to the worst thing to ever happen to the thirteen year old. They heard a noise.

"What was that?" Alice asked sitting up.

"It's just Mark. That asshole is always sneaking back in. He misses curfew." Mark was Lisa's big brother.

"Well let's go find out if he's alone." Catrina said. Fifteen minutes later she stepped back into the room holding her head.

"I can't believe you missed the step!" Alice said falling to the bed laughing.

Catrina took a drink from the third bottle they had stolen from Mark. "Oh shut up! I need some aspirin."

She'd basically grown up in Lisa's house so she walked to the bathroom in the dark. Lisa's parent's room door was open so she used the glow of the night light to help her find the bottle of medicine she wanted. She didn't know she'd grabbed the wrong bottle until it was too late.

The sounds were different than she remembered. She opened her eyes and was met with white and bright. "What the…?" Her throat hurt and her head pounded.

"Catrina?"

"I guess I hit my head harder than I thought." She said sitting up to see her dad and step mom.

"No Catrina. You tried to kill yourself." Her father's voice raised in volume.

"No." She told them what she remembered.

"Do you know that was four days ago?"

She didn't know that so they told her what had actually happened. She'd taken Lisa's mom's muscle relaxers and ODed off them and the alcohol. She swore she hadn't meant to and she screamed that fact but in the end her dad didn't believe her and he'd already been looking for a way to get rid of her so it was perfect.

Stupid fucks, she thought. Her father hadn't wanted to send her to an asylum so he had called her uncle in Cincinnati and she was going to live with him. Her packs were packed and she was waiting in her empty room for her uncle and the four hour drive to her new one.

"Catrina? Your uncle is here!" Why did that bitch have to sound so happy?"

Catrina didn't respond only opened the door and brushed past the dyed blonde. She met her uncle with a small smile. He'd been the only person that believed her when she'd told him what she remembered and thought happened. He hugged her and took her bag.

"Are you ready?"

"There's nothing here for me." Her uncle raised his eyebrows at her. "Goodbye Dad."

She looked at her uncle and hoped that it was the only thing he'd make her do. He held the door open said goodbye to his brother-in-law.

Once at his home her uncle showed her to her room. "Tomorrow if you want, since you don't start school until Monday, you can come with me to the gym. We're having tryouts for HWA wrestling camp tomorrow. You can help me by making sarcastic remarks." He winked at her.

"Okay!"

"Good night Rina."

"Night Uncle Les."

The next morning the blare of her uncle's alarm clock woke her. She'd stayed with Les a few summers in a row and knew the morning routine, it was the one she mirrored her own after. She jumped up threw her hair in a ponytail and met him half way down the stairs.

"Good morning, sleepy head. Took you five minutes."

"Haha." She mocked. "Took you ten. Getting slow in your old age?"

"Haha. You wish. Remember the rout?"

They were back from the five mile run and about to sit down for breakfast when Les's partner and wrestler Cody Hawk came in the back door. She smiled remembering the massive man from the past summer. He was kind and in general a good guy, she liked the fact that he was honest and up front the most.

"Dang Kit Cat." He had one annoying thing about him. He grinned knowing she hated word play with her name. "You've grown."

"Not really. Maybe you've shrank Code Breaker." She had learned a few things over the summers there how to handle herself with the wrestlers and pick back was one.

"Ya think?" He smiled and put her in a headlock. Talking to Les while she fought her way out, which wasn't easy because he didn't take it easy.

"She's going with us today so take it easy." Les said after a few minutes.

"Gee thanks Les. But I got…" She finally found her counter. "…this. Ha. Ha."

"I let you do that." Cody said matter of factly just to make her wonder the rest of the day. "Ed called and said we had some lookers showing up already."

Les parked his truck next to Cody's SUV and Catrina smiled. This was her favorite place and she loved the random jobs her uncle gave her during the summers, she could put a ring together in less time than anyone else in the place and it held up too. She hoped he'd give her one while she was here this time too. As they walked to the door something caught her eye, no someone. A tallish but slouching blonde closer to the back of the line. She committed his ripped and faded jeans and the dark hoodie he wore to memory for later.

Half way through the morning and they finally got to Mr. Ripped Jeans. She set watching guy after guy and girl after girl commenting at times and others just being bored. But she set this time when the blonde dropped the hoodie to the canvas and revealed a torso that was toned but not so toned that he'd be considered ripped or overly muscular in any way.

"Wow." She thought.

But when his eyes met hers and her uncle and Cody both asked, what? She knew she'd said it out loud, she tried thinking of a witty thing to say but only words about how hot the guy in the ring was kept coming to mind. She ducked her head with a blush to her cheeks as her uncle started the questions.

By the end Cody and she was fighting for Mr. Hot Bod or better known as Jon Good to stay. Les was saying no for two reasons. One: His niece seemed to really like the guy and he didn't like that. And two: the kid was only sixteen and he couldn't train until he was seventeen leaving Les with a kid he couldn't use for almost a whole year on his hands.

"He can…"

"I said no."

Cody and Catrina looked at each other they were going to win this but they didn't know how. "Okay wait I got it." Cody said stopping both Jon and Les in their tracks.

"I'm listening." Les turned.

"We need another roadie…"

"Catrina can handle that."

"Jack quit last night so now we need two." Cody finished. "He can learn the basics and work up."

"No." Les walked off leaving the three of them standing there.

There was commotion in the back "Fuck it I quit!"

"Dude you're just not there no way you're getting a title shot!"

"Wrestler drama. Excuse me." Cody left the two teens.

Catrina looked around only to see that the new roadie Les had hired that morning was putting a ring together wrong. She had an idea. She grabbed Jon's hand.

"Come on! I have an idea." She noticed Les had notice the problem too and ran to the guy. "You're doing that wrong."

"Excuse me, little girl? I know what I'm doing."

Jon actually caught on to her plan and surprised her. "Obviously if you wanted to kill whoever stepped there. The way you have it laying is going to unbalance the whole thing."

Les listened to him. "Where did you work before?" Jon and the new guy stared at him not sure who he was talking to. "You." He pointed to the roadie.

"Oh I did some construction work."

"You?" Les pointed at Jon.

Jon shrugged. "I haven't really."

Les looked at the roadie "So you should know more than a kid." He turned toward Jon. "You really want to work here?"

"Yes sir."

He turned toward the other guy. "You're fired." He put his arm around his niece. Kid you can follow Catrina around and learn the ropes."

Catrina could have jumped for joy her idea worked. Yes, yes, yes! She thought. Cody walked up behind them. "What did I miss?"

"You got what you wanted." Les walked off.

"He gave Jon the roadie job. Speaking of how did you know what he was doing wrong?"

"Uh…"

"Were you faking?" Cody asked.

"No. I've watched a lot of wrestling and picked up a few things."

"I knew I like you, kid. Okay Kitty Catty show him the ropes and I'll check on you guys later."

Jon looked nervous Catrina found it adorable because he didn't seem like a nervous type of guy. She shook her head and started undoing the mess to set the ring back up. With the both of them and her not having to explain a lot or him catching on fast to what he didn't know and no shame in having to ask, they had the three main rings in the big room set up and were sitting on their butts drinking a soda.

"So Les Thatcher is your uncle? Or is that some weird mom's boyfriend thing?" He asked.

She laughed. "No. Ew. He really is my uncle, my mom's brother."

He took a bite of a Snickers. "So do you live with him?"

"Yeah. Had to move in with him after some stuff happened. So now I'm here."

He looked at her. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

"Thirteen? And you know all this stuff?" He waved his arm around.

"Well since my mom died I've been spending every summer here. I was at a show the first time and one of the roadies backed out so Cody asked if I'd help take tickets. Ever since then I've worked the shows and do whatever needs to be done. It's not glamorous but it's fun and hey money so that's always good."

"Sorry to hear about your mom."

"It was almost four years ago so I'm good but thanks. So what about you, what's your story?"

Jon sighed. "I'm sixteen and have nothing better to do. And nothing else I want to do."

"Oh come on. There's got to be more than that. I told you my horror show story."

"Alright. My dad is normally in jail, my mom is…uh…yeah never mind about that. And I have a sister. And now I'm here. There's my horror show story."

What they didn't know was that Cody had been listening to the last half of their conversation. He smiled he'd just found his little project. That kid would rise in this company if he had any say in it. A few hours later they were breaking the sets down when Cody told him he would train him on the side as long as he'd show up when they needed him. Catrina saw the look on his face when he walked away and smiled she didn't know why or how but Cody had just given him a reason to live.

A few weeks later she opened the door to a smiling Jon. "What are you doing here?"

"School. Remember that thing you were cursing Friday?"

"Oh." She walked away from the opened door knowing he'd follow. "You hungry?"

"Of course." She laughed at his usual response. "I gotta tell you something."

"What's up?" She handed him a cup of coffee. They had actually gotten really close over the last few weeks. It was like they'd known each other forever.

"I think I'm gonna quite school."

She seen the look that said he was waiting for the back lash but he wouldn't get it from her. "Why?"

"It's in the way."

She didn't know if he was serious or not. "In the way? What does that mean?"

"I mean it's in my way of wrestling. I hate going and if I can train during the day then…"

"…But…"

"…But. But nothing. I mean it makes since."

"To you. Have you told anyone else?" She knew she couldn't change his mind so she gave that part up.

"No. Only you I'm doing it today."

Her jaw dropped. "You've been thinking about this for a while now?"

"For a few weeks."

Catrina didn't know what to say. She had gotten to know the guy in front of her pretty well and knew if his mind was made up there was no changing it. "What if…"

"Rina there is no what if. I won't fail. Come on we're gonna be late."

She let it drop and they chatted their normal randomness on the walk. After classes she met up with some friends and wondered if he had done it or not she wouldn't know until later that night. Or so she thought they were walking away from the building when she heard someone call her.

"Yeah?" She turned back and her friends stopped. "Kelsey, hi."

Kelsey was a girl Jon had introduced her too when she first came to school. Besides crushes on Jon, wrestling, and knowing Jon the two of them really didn't have anything in common. It wasn't that they had anything against each other and Catrina was sure if she tried, if she had to, she could like the girl more but she wasn't up to try any time soon.

"Do you know what he's doing?" Kelsey said coming to stand in front of her.

"Gees possessive much?" Ally mumbled.

Catrina ignored her friend. "He told me he was thinking about it and that he might do it today."

"What am I missing?" Janie asked.

Catrina rolled her eyes. Could they just shut up for a minute and they'd know? "Jon's dropping out of school?"

"Why?" The three girls asked at once.

"Ugh! Kelsey did you ever think if he wanted you to know he'd have told you?"

The older girl just stared at her and she started to turn to walk away. "He told you. A girl he's known for all of three weeks but not me? Nice."

Kelsey walked away and Catrina sighed and threw her hands in the air. Whatever! She thought. Jon had told her Kelsey was pretty cool but once she figured out Catrina's secret she had changed toward her also could have had something to do with Jon's affection toward her. Catrina wasn't stupid she seen it so she was sure Kelsey had noticed too. Jon had taken her to the gym a few times and the last time he'd almost left her there forgetting she'd gone to the rest room. She did feel bad for the girl but if she was dumb enough to keep going after him that was her choice.

She was selling tickets when Jon finally found her. "What's up Cutie?"

"Hey Jon." She counted out a few tickets and handed them to a big bald guy. "Here you sir. Enjoy."

She took the next people's money and handed them the correct amount of tickets in return. Jon flirted with some girls and she rolled her eyes. Cody yelled at him to come help carry in crates. He ran off and she shook her head as the girls giggled as they handed her their money. She laughed feeling like a pimp, she took people's money and then they got a performance.

"What are you laughing at? Oh and Cody said five more minutes and then stop and go to concessions."

"I'm your pimp." She laughed as she took more money.

"What?"

"I take money and then you and the others get ogled at." She was laughing so hard she almost fell off her stool.

He cracked up. "That's just sad. I'll see ya later."

She was sitting in the concession box watching the fights when she seen her dad walk in. Les greeted him from where he stood by the door. Catrina froze and Jon noticed. He came to stand by her after giving a guy a beer.

"Hey Cat what's wrong? You didn't hear that guy at all."

"My dad's here." She turned but the only way out was where he was standing. "Oh shit."

"I think you have to help me get some boxes. Katty we'll be right back."

Jon grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the back curtain. They set on some stacks while she calmed down. He didn't say anything she had told him how she'd come to live there and he kind of wanted to punch the guy. He cracked open a coke and handed it to her.

"Thanks. Think he's left…"

"…Catrina?"

"I guess not." She downed the coke. "I'm coming." She walked out with Jon close behind her. "We were taking a break."

She could tell by the look on her father's face he thought it was more than a break but hoped he'd keep his mouth shut. When he opened it she knew her wish was illused. She rolled her eyes at the words he spoke.

"Les I sent her here to learn a lesson. This was not the lesson I wanted my daughter to learn!"

The other three people looked shocked at the implied accusations. Les looked from her to Jon and then laughed. "By those looks I'd say you're safe. Catrina isn't that type of girl she may like to drink but…"

"Hey! Excuse me!" Jon snorted trying not to laugh. "Shut up. Don't you have some where to be?"

"Not really. And this is just getting good." He teased her.

Jon walked away laughing and she made a mental note to kill him later. The three left talked and in the end she walked away angry to the point of tears. Her father wanted to take her back to his home over the winter break and she knew it was only because he was hosting his business Christmas party and it would look bad on him to say he'd sent his only child away. She wiped her tears before opening the door to the stand but Jon didn't miss the stray tear that escaped her fingers.

He waited until the main even when they're busy to ask what had happened. She told him with tears in her eyes. He set the case of snacks he had down and drew her small frame into him. Hugging her tight he ran his hand through her hair trying to sooth her.

"I just hate him. I hate them both. Her and him. And that ass I have to call brother."

"Shh. I know how you feel." He kissed the top of her head. "Come on let's get stocked up so we can get out of here."

They talked about anything that would keep her mind off of having to go home with her father. In the next hour he drove her to her uncle's house. She set in the cap of his second hand ran down Chevy. They made plans to meet at the gym in the morning and finish packing for the weekend trip to a nearby county fair. She actually perked up at the thought of the trip. She got out and walked up to the door waving as she opened it.