Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1)(54)

Seriously, what would I have done if Estaine hadn’t been here with me? It would have been one hundred times worse... being in the house with just Uncle Matty and Jake.

Uncle Matty wakes me up early for our MMA lesson. While we are training, Estaine wakes up and comes to watch.

I’m still not that good. I’ve been doing this less than two weeks, but I have made a lot of improvements in that short time. I guess the thought of getting kidnapped again has motivated me. I want to be able to defend myself and get away.

“Put your feet farther apart,” Jake says, as I keep eye contact with Uncle Matty. “You’ll get better balance.”

Eye contact was the first thing they taught me. You can always tell your attacker’s next move by their eye movements.

I spread my feet farther.

“Good,” Jake says.

Uncle Matty’s eyes shift to the left and I immediately go to block the punch. He doesn’t put a lot of force behind it. He’s been holding back a bit since he accidentally punched me the other day. I think he feels bad about it.

“Very good,” Uncle Matty tells me. “Let’s try something different.”

“Okay,” I say, standing up straight. I grab my bottle of water off the ground and take a drink.

“Estaine, you’re up,” Uncle Matty says.

“Um... okay,” he says, warily walking over to us. “What do you need me to do? I have no idea how to do all this.”

“But you’re strong,” Uncle Matty says. “You play football, right?”

Estaine nods.

“I need you to attack her from behind.”

“Excuse me?” Estaine asks, then shakes his head. “No. I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Ah, come on, Estaine,” I say, taunting him a little bit. “I’m not quite that fragile.”

“I’ve tackled guys a lot bigger than you,” he says.

“So why not try?” I ask. “Scared you’ll lose to a girl?”

I know the moment he’s made up his mind. He starts coming towards me, and I do exactly as Uncle Matty and Jake have taught me. I use his own strength against him. The second he gets to me, I use the force of his attack to throw him onto the ground.

“What. The. Heck?” Estaine asks, looking up at me.

I just grin.

“This is a proud moment,” Jake says.

I hold out a hand to help Estaine up and he accepts it.

“I’m not sure how it’s possible, but you just became way cooler,” Estaine tells me, as he stands up. “Seriously. You just threw me onto the ground without even trying. That was awesome!”

“It was good,” Uncle Matty says. “But what do you do if the person has grabbed you? What if they have their arms locked around you and you can’t get away? Do it again, but this time, Estaine, you put her in a choke hold. Hold it as tightly as you can without actually choking her.”

Estaine looks at me, as if to get my approval.

“It’s better I learn how to do it now against you than be put in this situation in real life and have no clue what to do,” I say.

He nods and walks behind me. He puts one arm around my neck, holding tight.

“Phoenix, you remember how I told you to get out of this?” Uncle Matty asks.

I don’t answer. I just do what I remember.

I take both of my hands on his arm and pull as hard as I can. I can’t completely loosen his arm, but I do it enough that I can spin around and face him. No longer in a choke hold, I can fight back against my attacker. I don’t actually hit him, but I do the motions, showing Jake and Uncle Matty.

“Very good,” Jake says.

“You’re learning fast,” Uncle Matty says, grinning like a proud parent, which makes me feel good.

“Maybe I should be taking lessons too,” Estaine says. “My fake girlfriend can fight better than I can. This isn’t right.”

I stick my tongue out at him and he laughs.

“Okay, let’s do it again,” Uncle Matty says.





Thursday, August 31

He’s mine.





When Estaine and I walk into the dining hall on Thursday morning, I swear the entire place falls quiet as they watch us.

“Everybody is staring,” I whisper to Estaine.

“Yeah,” he whispers back.

“What do we do?” I ask.

“Just let them stare,” he says, and walks in front of me.

I follow him to the table where our friends are sitting and we take a seat in our usual spot. Thankfully, everybody in the cafeteria starts talking again. I cringe, thinking that they’re probably talking about us.

“Hey, guys,” I say, when I realize that nobody is going to say anything.

“Just because you have a boyfriend now doesn’t mean you’re not still my bae,” Jason says, making me laugh.

“Actually,” Estaine says, putting his arm around me, “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it means.”

“This is just...” Teagan says, her voice trailing off. “Unexpected.”

“Are you kidding? Those two have been flirting since the first day of school. I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner,” Ian says.