Brushing past a group of people, they made their way into one of the back rooms. Inside, the older students were lined up along each side of the room waiting to be weighed in. Everyone was dressed in various degrees of their uniform. The white doboks were mandatory. Some of the boys were just wearing their billowing pants and no shirts, showing off their muscles to the girls and other opponents while waiting at the last second to put on the wide-sleeved jackets. But the one thing everyone had on was their belt, proudly showing off their color ranking.
Everyone except her. Ebony was the only one not wearing any part of their dobok. It was pointless at this stage. She would change after, the only thing on her mind right now the large scale in the front of the room the stern attendant lady was operating.
Ebony took a deep breath. This was the moment the four days of misery all came down to.
Behind her Gavin leaned over her shoulder and whispered. "You better not have snuck any cookies when I wasn't looking."
Ebony whipped around and gave him a look that could melt steel.
Gavin held up both hands in defense. "Hey, I'm on your side." Stepping closer to her, he flicked his gaze meaningfully across the room. "I hope to God you're under weightbecause that giant bitch Winifred is over there and I swear to all that is holy her quads are bigger than mine."
Ebony gave him a reproving look. "Don’t call her a bitch," she said, even as she snuck an anxious look across the room.
She inhaled sharply at the sight of Winifred. Good Lord, he was right. Winifred Parker was the same age as Ebony and lived in Corpus Christi. Winifred had also practiced martial arts since she was young but that was where the similarities between them ended. Winifred was built like a rugby forward: thick, powerful, and built to crush bones. Ebony could recall each and every time she had lost to Winifred in their tournaments and the accompanying bruises that took weeks to heal. The last two times they fought was a few years ago and Ebony had scraped by with wins on speed alone. She knew without a shred of doubt Winifred wanted a rematch—badly.
"Okay fine, how about the missing link?" he whispered, pouring a wealth of sarcasm into his words.
Ebony ignored him. She was too busy praying. She better be underweight or she was going to have to strap some horseshoes onto her ankles and pray she could knock the girl out first.
"Did you or didn't you follow the diet?" Gavin stressed, this time directly in her ear. She could feel his big body crowding her close as they stepped up in the line.
Around them, the room was clearing out as most people got their weight recorded and left to go hang out in the main area.
Fed up with him, Ebony threw him a warning look over her shoulder and whispered back. "Yes, dammit. Now leave me alone. You're making me nervous and pissing me off."
Gavin rested his hands on her shoulders and began to massage. Pulling her backward until she bumped up against his chest, he let out a soft laugh, the sound vibrating throughher. "Don't worry, I highly doubt you two are in the same range. And even if she is, I'll put a wig on and go fight the giant-"
Relaxing into his massage, Ebony let her head loll to the side, stretching out her neck. "Don't say anything mean," she reminded him.
"I'll go fight thegirl—who I strongly suspect is juicing," he added with a grumble, "my damn self."
Ebony smirked at the mental image of that but the diversion didn't last long.
"Next," the sharp command of the attendant told her she was next.
Nervously, Ebony stepped forward and reached for her zipper. For weigh-ins you were allowed to wear as little or as many clothes as you wanted, depending on what weight class you were trying to get. And since the Dobok uniforms were made out of heavy fabric she had always opted to wear as little as possible. Unzipping her hoodie, Ebony let it fall away into Gavin's waiting hands before slipping out of her sweatpants. Standing in only a sports bra and a pair of track briefs, which essentially were just panties, she stepped onto the scale. Behind her Gavin said nothing. He was just a void of silence behind her as she stood on the scale. For a brief second, it felt like the whole world stopped breathing as the numbers dialed into place.
"Okay, thank you. Next," the attendant said crisply as she scribbled Ebony's number onto a sheet.
Large arms wrapped around her from behind, encasing her in her hoodie jacket and pulling her gently from the scale.
Turning around and feeling somewhat like a burrito, she looked up at Gavin who grinned down at her.
His eyes flashed wickedly. "No having to fight Godzilla."
Movement behind Gavin caught her eye and Ebony leaned over to see a familiar figure walking into the room as Winifred walked out. Covering his eyes with one hand, Cameron blindly walked inside the room.
Gavin handed her the discarded sweatpants and turned with his back toward her, shielding her as she changed back into her clothes.
"Everyone decent?" Cameron called out even though they all knew he was mainly talking about her.
Dressed, Ebony walked past him to her bag lying on the floor. "Yep. I'm about to change."
Uncovering his eyes, Cameron grinned at her just as the attendant gave both guys a demanding look. With her hands on her hips, she shouted. "Are you two going to weigh in or not?"
The thick fabric of Gavin's uniform rustled as he stepped onto the scale. His sleeves were custom fitted and shorter than other students’, showing off his thick defined arms. The black belt at his waist accentuated his narrow hips, pulling in the billowing fabric of his pants.
With his number recorded he stepped back to allow Cameron forward and raised a brow at him when Cameron didn't remove any of his clothes like he normally did. Like her, Cameron didn’t enjoy fighting above his weight class. With his tall swimmer's build, any extra weight could easily put him into the heavier weight class—the class Gavin happily fought in.
