"Troubles"

Amy Dumas, an 23 year old auburn haired girl with hazel eyes, sighed as her wrestling classmate, Joann Sedore, threw her arm across the back of her neck. She got a tight grip on Amy's pants and both girls closed their eyes as Joann attempted to do a Suplex. Amy's head hit the ring first since Joann began to fall back before Amy's body was in the air all the way. She grabbed her head as pain started to flow throughout that part of her body. Joann sighed and lew her hair from her face as she laid in the ring with Amy. They knew that their wreestling teacher, Grant Sawyer, was about to fuss them out severely for the move they had just tried to execute.

"Joann, what the hell are you doing?! No, better yet...Amy, what the hell are you thinking?! If you don't have your mind on what I'm trying to teach you, then get out of my ring!" Grant yelled.

Amy ran her fingers through her hair and grabbed the ring ropes before she stood up. Grant had been trying to teach the two females how to do a Suplex for over a hour. He didn't understand what was so hard about it. The girls hadn't exactly been progressing very well and Grant was way behind schedule since Amy & Joann didn't catch on to everything as good as he thought they would. This made him frustrated a majority of time and he took that out on the two very often. Amy and Joann had been training with Grant for about a month now so they were beginning to get used to being yelled at all the time.

"We're sorry, Grant. Can we try it again?" Amy asked as she helped Joann get up while she smiled a little down at her.

"No, I'm tired, my girlfriend has to work tongiht and I gotta babysit her son."

"Can we stay here for the night? I'm like so broke right now. I need to get a part-time job 'cause I'm trying to pay you and get rid of all my college loans at the smae time. I have nowhere to stay." Joann replied.

"I don't know, ladies. I don't like leaving my ring in the care of somebody else, you know." Grant said, not too sure if he could trust them.

"Don't worry about us, man. Everything will look just it does when you come back tomorrow. We've got sleeping bags in my car...that's something I can barely afford either." Amy said.

"Fine...but I will be here bright & early so that we can get these Suplexes over with. I'm ready to move on." turned around and made his way towards the exit.

"Thanks, Grant. See you tomorrow." Joann smiled, pulling off her t-shirt, revealing her black sports bra.

"Joann, didn't I tell you to start working out?! You can't be a wrestler having the gut you have." Grant smiling a little, leaving the building.

Amy looked at Grant like he was crazy and Joann felt tears in her eyes. She felt those tears go away as Amy put her arm around her waist.

"Pay him no attention, you have no gut. You're a real cute skinny girl." Amy and Joann both smiled.

A smile was something barely seen on either of their faces. THey just didn't have anything to smile about. The two females loved wrestling and longed to pursue a successful career in the sport. They particularly had their sights set on the WWF. Amy was gonna do whatever it took to get there. The determination in her heart was serious. Yet, there were many times when that determination was tested. Her family was not very supportive of her decision to be a wrestler. Amy's desire to be a wrestler even caused a serious relationship she was in to fall apart. A breakup wasn't official but she saw it coming. As if all that weren't enough, she was no longer as finanicially stable as she was once was. She could only afford and pay for three things...her car insurance, her wrestling training and food. Amy was full of stress because life on the Indys was not easy at all.

Joann had a similar life to Amy's. She often found herself waking up every morning without any motivation. For a majority of her life, a fear of failure prevented her from pursuing a great deal of things. It was still in her but a close friend encouraged her to give wrestling a try. She had always wanted to be a wrestling mangaer and endless support from that friend led her to where she was now. Unlike Amy, Joann's family was very supportive of her decision since being in wrestling was something she had wanted from a young age. They would send her money whenever she needed it but other than that, Joann wanted to do it on her own. She met Amy two months ago through an old mutual friend they both once had. The two ladies were lucky to have each other in their lives because there were many times when a companion was really needed...especially by being in the wrestling business.

"Are you as tired as I am?" Amy asked, leaving the ring to go get their sleeping bags since it was already dark.

"Yeah, I really am. Grant has been real rough on us lately."

"Well, that's what you have to expect when you get in this profession. I had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to this but it's like...I'm addicted. I want to learn everything I can and just continue to expand my knowledge on wrestling."

"Let me shut up. A little bit of doubt can begin something real negative and that's the last thing I want to deal with right now. I don't have time for it."

"I hear you." Amy said before she opened the trunk to her car and tossed Joann both of their sleeping bags.

"It's not like I don't believe in myself because I do, but do you really think we'll ever make it? There are so many people out there doing the same thing we're doing now. I mean, do you ever feel like we're wasting our time?" Joann replied as both females stepped back into the building.

"No, the thought never crosses my mind but if it crosses yours, then maybe this isn't for you. You gotta be sure about this and you have to give a huge amount of commitment to this. If it's not in your heart, you won't make it. Don't that fear get the best of you."

"I just don't know what I would do if this doesn't work out. I really want this to be a part of my future."

"It's okay to be afraid of failure, I am too. If you think you're gonna fail, you're gonna fail. Believe in yourself, girl." Amy said as they climbed into the ring and began to set up their sleeping bags. It wasn't a real cold night so they would be fine sleeping in the ring.

"I do, I guess it's just a matter of you and I...finding what's gonna happen to us." Joann said, getting into her sleepiing bag.

"Yeah, we'll see what happens." Amy replied, before closing her eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep.

**The Next Morning**

Joann looked over at her extremely upset friend. The two ladies had planned to go to McDonalds to get a quick breakfast before Grant later arrived but a problem stood in the way. Now, Amy's car wouldn't start. Amy had her head in her hands feeling the urge to scream but before she went totally off, she decided to give it a try one more time.

"I really don't have the money for this." Amy angrilly said to herself as she turned the ignition one last time.

She cursed under her breath as the engine did nothing at all. It made one small sound but the car wouldn't start at all.

"DAMN IT!" Amy screamed at the top of her lungs after Joann quickly covered her ears.

"Amy, I'm sorry. McDonalds isn't far, maybe we could walk."

"Joann...it takes A LOT to get me upset. Therefore, when I do, I might say things that I don't mean. You might want to get out the car...worthless piece of junk."

"Yeah, I'm not that hungry anyway. I'll just go inside and work on some holds." Joann smiled a little and left Amy in her misery.

She may not have showed it often but Joann really admired Amy. She was an extremely strong female to get over the things she went through. The situation with her car was a perfect example. She knew Amy wasn't gonna do something stupid like kill herself. than do that, she knew Amy would handle it in the best way she could. She really saw Amy in the WWF someday. The kind of person she was contributed to that thought. Amy never failed to give Joann advice when she needed it and what the things she said weren't in vain because it always helped Joann. She blinked out of her thoughts when she heard Grant's phone ring. She knew he would want her to answer it so she ran over to his desk and answered the phone.

"Grant Sawyer Wrestling School, how may I help you?" Joann said.

"Hey, Joann. Is Amy there? This is Michael."

"Oh, hello there. I didn't even recognize your voice at first. Uh...I'll go see if she wants to talk to you, hold on."

"No, you tell her to come the phone. Don't ask her anything. Tell her it's important." Michael firmly replied.

"Okay...hold on." She said, feeling a little disrespected, before she went to go see how Amy was doing.

Joann gasped when she turned the corner to see Amy crying in the car. She never saw her like that before. She ran over to the door and opened it before Amy began to cry on Joann's shoulder as she tried to comfort her to the best of her ability.

"Amy, calm down, honey. It's okay. We can travel by the city bus or Grant's car. Even though he's mean as hell, he should understand."

"It's not that, it has nothing to do with transportation. My car insurance is gonna go sky high because of this shit! I cannot afford this right now. I just can't do this right now."

"Look, you can apply for a job, we'll both do it. There's plenty of fast food resturants around here. They just opened up that new K-Mart down the street. We can walk there after training."

"A part time job? You think Grant will let us?" Amy said, looking up at Joann.

"Grant doesn't tell us what to do outside of the ring. The ring is the only place where he has authority over us...speaking of men, Michael is on the phone."

"I do not wanna talk to that asshole." Amy said, looking the other way as she heard yelling come from the phone.

"I don't wanna talk to the fool either but he's your boyfriend. Just talk to him so we can get ready. We're already gonna be kind of messed up without a breakfast." Joann said before Amy sighed and put the phone to her ear.

"What do you want, boy?" Amy nonchantly asked.

"Boy? I haven't talked to you in awhile, the least you could do is say something like...how are you, Michael. Oh, yeah, what's up with you calling me an asshole?"

"Look, Michael, I am not the one to mess with today. My car won't start and hearing your voice doesn't make the situation any better."

"You ain't gotta be so upset, girl. I can loan you some money."

"Bullshit, like your ignorant ass really cares. Please, Michael, do not waste my time. What do you want?"

"What the hell is your problem? No one told YOUR ignorant ass to be a wrestler. If you had a normal career, maybe you could pay for that cheap car."

"You know, I don't why I waste my time on you. This is totally something I would expect from you. Rather than you showing sympathy, you decide to make my day even worse than what it already has been. Why did you even bother calling here?"

"I'm your boyfriend, right? Can't I call my girl and see how she's doing. Before I could even ask you, you talked to me all rude and disrespectful."

"First of all, don't call me your girl. I really don't want to be that to you anymore. I guess I'm kind of glad you called, we can make it official...it's over!" Amy hung up the phone, got out the car and slammed the door before she walked back into the building to start working with Joann.

*************

Joann and Amy had been working in the ring for a little over two hours. Grant had arrived earlier and had been watching them for about a hour and a half. He occasionally offered his comments. They were trying out some new moves and Grant told them how to perfect those moves. For some reason, the girls were more focused than they had ever been. For the first time, Grant was very impressed but he didn't want to show it because he didn't want the two to slack off.

"Alright, it seems like y'all got the basics down finally. Why don't y'all try..." Grant turned around as he heard the door open.

A short man entered the building with a briefcase in his hands. He looked around and spotted who he wanted to see. Grant gasped when he saw the "Duke Power" logo on his shirt.

"Are you Grant Sawyer?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Can I help you?"

"Mr. Sawyer, you recieved four warnings in the mail from Duke Power that you had not paid your electric bill. We never got a response nor the proper amount of money from you. Therefore, you know what has to be done. We just wanted to come and inform you before we did so." The man said before he walked away.

"Wait! I just need some more time! It's hard to pay bills while you're in the wrestling business!" Grant yelled before the man turned around.

"Well, I suggest you get out of the wrestling business, because from now on until you pay that bill, your power is out. Excuse me, ladies, for interrupting you. Y'all have a nice day."

Grant just stood there as the man left. Amy and Joann looked at each other with concern in their eyes. They had invested some much time and money into this school. Therefore, they would be extremely upset if the school had to be shut down because of Grant's irresponsibility. The two females got out of the ring and walked up to him.

"Grant, you have been bossing Amy and me around for quite some time. We've been putting up with it because we're really determined to be wrestlers but now is not the time. Please do not tell us that you're shutting this place down." Joann said.

"I have no choice to shut it down. I can't run this school without no power. I barely get any students. You two have got to be one of my first students. I can't set up the ring outside because it's way too cold out there. It's over, you two get your things and leave." Grant sat down on the floor and sighed.

"We can't leave, Grant! Amy's car is not working. We can't afford to take it to some place like Jiffy Lube! All of our money has gone to you! We've been paying you! Why the hell can't you pay your electric bill?!"

"If you want your damn money back, go over there to my desk and your checks are in that top drawer." Amy walked over to the desk and took their checks.

"You didn't answer my question. Why can't you pay your bills with all the money we've been paying you?"

"I don't just pay my bills with the money y'all give me. I have to get some money from wrestling promoters but every show that I have desperately tried to get on has a card that's full."

"I'm tired of your excuses. Get your ass up and take me & Amy wherever we tell you to go in your precious car. We plan on using all that money we paid you to our full advantage." Joann replied as Grant got up and pulled out his car keys from his pocket.

**********

"Pull over right here, sunshine." Amy looked over to Grant.

"Yes, ma'am." Grant smiled as he pulled over next to an used car lot.

"You think we can afford an used car right now, Amy?" Joann asked.

"That Honda Accord marked at $1800 caught my eye. It must not be much but we could use anything at this point. Maybe if we tell them about my car back at the school, the piece of junk might be worth some money to them."

"Cool. Let's do it, girl." Joann replied, getting out of Grant's car.

"Stay here until we come back, pretty boy." Amy said to Grant, still feeling very mad about the situation he had put them in.

"I'll be right here waiting." Grant smiled before Amy slammed the door.

***********

"Okay, I think we could use the car that you talking about. Since it's a 1991 car, we can probably pay you about $1600. Would you like to use that money to pay for that Honda Accord or would you like to pay for it with these checks?"

"Uh...we would like to use the checks to pay for the car and take the money that you're offering us as well." Joann replied.

"Alright, that will be just fine. If you two will step into my office, we can straighten this out right now. By the way, my name is Vida Johnson."

"Nice to meet you, Vida. I'm Joann and this is Amy." They both shook her hands before they went into Vida's office.

**********

Amy and Joann both smiled as Vida placed the keys of their new car in Amy's hand and the $1600 in Joann's hand. They felt a lot of release from their problems from that.

"Thank you ladies for doing business with us. Do come back again."

"We will. Thank you, Vida."

"No problem. Enjoy the car."

Amy and Joann turned around and gasped to see Grant's car gone. Amy and Joann's bag sat on the sidewalk with a note attached to them. The two friends looked at each other.

"That selfish, backstabbing, two-faced bastard." Amy muttered to herself as she walked over to read the note.

"What does it say, Amy?" Joann replied, picking up her two gym bags, placing them on her shoulders.

"Nothing but bullshit. Listen...you two girls actually thought I was gonna sit in my car and wait on your asses. Hell, no. I hope you two have a good life. Good luck in the wrestling business. You two of all people are gonna need it as horrible as y'all are in the ring. We'll see who makes it to the WWF first. Grant."

"That boy is evil. Good riddance. I'm glad he's out of our lives." Joann shoke her head.

"Well, this leads us to bigger and better things. At least, we have our basics down. Now, we can learn even more moves and try to do the high-flying stuff that I've been craving to do." Amy said, tossing the note in the trash, taking her bags and following Joann to their new car.

"I know but...where do we go from here? There's nothing else going on for us in this state." Joann placed her and Amy's bag in the back seat.

"As soon as we get out of Atlanta, we'll just go to wherever our journey leads us, I guess. Maybe we can try to get ourselves booked on some shows in Tennesse, North Carolina, Baltimore or something. I'm quite sure there are some schools up there." Amy got into the passenger side of the car as Joann got into the other side.

"I like the sound of North Carolina. Ric Flair is from that state. There must be some wrestling stuff in that state."

"Cool...North Carolina it is." Amy smiled over at her friend as she turned the ignition and with no problems at all, the car started.

"Yay! It works! NC...here we come." They both laughed as Joann drove out of the used car lot, hoping their lives were headed in the right direction.

The End.