“Dad and I used to train here. We’d train here before school and we’d even train on weekends. He told me that there are so many other ways to pay for something you want than money. And at the time, all I had was him and the body I’ve trained since I was ten,” she said softly.
“Funny enough, you didn’t like me back then, did you?” Jordan said, smiling at Mia as she gazed ahead.
“It’s not that I didn’t like you, it’s that I didn’t want anything to do with a teacher.”
“Why not?”
“They told me some pretty messed up shit when I was a kid. I’d ask for help and they’d just get frustrated, and when I couldn’t do my homework, they’d blame dad. But he was too busy working to even — and mom was…”
“This is your last year. Next year you’ll be going to college and the professors there are pretty much like me.”
“Old?” Mia teased.
“Cool, and laid back,” Jordan said, grinning as if he was in a toothpaste commercial.
Mia rolled her eyes and laughed. “That’s the problem. We don’t know if that’s even going to be a thing.”
“Mia, I told you I’d…”
“Yeah. And you told that to Terr– Ms. Gray. When you said that to her it actually meant a lot to me. Not just about you looking out for dad and mom, but how you told her you’d keep looking out for me even if it got you in trouble. I want to get this going and finally stop being that kid teachers look down on, but I don’t want that if it means being a burden to you,” Mia explained, her lips dropping like the drips at the edge of her cone.
Jordan looked at Mia as she shook her head slowly. He knew all too well what was going on in her mind and wanted to soothe that wound of thought before it got worse.
“Your father and I had an honor code. We knew we were imperfect, but somehow, he seemed to have all the talents I lacked and vice versa. So naturally, when he fucked up, I would come to the rescue, and when he did, so did I. I guess I was lucky at the time to actually have my parents, but he was more family to me than them. Not once did he feel like a burden to me. With family, it’s not a system of ‘give and take’ or getting even. It’s more like becoming a part of someone’s life and even putting your own ass on the line if it means saving theirs,” Jordan explained calmly.
Mia turned to him as he spoke and smiled, nodding along slowly.
“You know, for once you actually sounded like an adult,” Mia said.
Jordan might have looked like the exact opposite, but he was just like her father in almost every other way.
“When I saw you running your ass off during practice, I told myself ‘that’s one girl to have on your team during a zombie apocalypse’,” Jordan said with a wink.
Mia laughed, covering the blush of her right cheek with her ice cream cone.
“You looked so determined. Then everything happened and I ended up living with one of the most fun, strong, and dare I say sexy young women I’ve ever met. I couldn’t do anything about your dad’s death and I’m not going to let that happen to you. Terra and God himself could send the army after me, but I’m not losing you without a fight.”