Robin Bullock Rumble Novels & Stories

“We’re going to fight clean, ya hear me?” I eyed my opponent, his torso covered in tattoos, a huge tiger’s mouth opened on his chest. “Ready,” I said. “Ready.” The ref nodded. “Fight.” The energy that forms in those first ten seconds after the fight is called a rush. Both teams start to yell, your coach starts screaming, but the key is not to hear anything. Just the rhythm of your opponent’s feet on the floor, the sound of his hands missing your face. He slung a sloppy uppercut my way which I sidestepped easily. Dude was huge but slow. “Hands up, Merch. Get ‘em.”

“Like a sword I meant to say. Not a weapon.” “But a sword is a weapon.” She argues. “That's figurative, Ella. You're smarter than that.” I fire at her. I know she understands what I'm saying, she just wanted to pull my legs. “You know what? You get the point. Let's begin practice.” I tell her, cutting out every other thing I had to say. I show her the real robes now. No shortcuts, no ego, just mechanics. She’s hesitant at first, she finds them difficult.

“She smiles more now.” Tommy grinned slowly. “Maybe somebody should stop bullying her then.” I rolled my eyes. “I don’t bully her.” All three of them stared at me silently. Then Tyler burst out laughing. “BRO.” I grabbed a pillow and threw it directly at his face. But even while they laughed— One thought stayed stuck in my head. Hannah Foster was changing. Slowly. Quietly. And somehow… I had a feeling our story was only beginning.

Tana laughed heartily; the melodious chime of her laughter ringing around the living room as Rum cleaned his shirt. “I think you’ve just insulted the best slinger and dasher in the Howling Five, Miss Rose.” I stared at Rum. “You’re the best? What’s your best record?” “Thirty nine,” Blake said on his behalf and took a sip of his wine. My eyes couldn't get larger. "Thirty nine points? That's just one point from the full right?" I jolted my shocked look at Rum. "That means you never miss a ball and you'll always get it in the—six thousand? Six thousand what?"

Alpha Roman closes the distance between us quickly. I watch for his movements to signal his first attack. Sure enough, his right arm tenses and draws back. I duck to the side only to watch as his fist flies through the area where my head was. Alpha Roman lurches forward as his momentum carries him further than he thought. Taking advantage of this lack of balance, I place a hand against his back and push him away from me.

He'll get in trouble because of this. "He hurt my sister!" Max snapped in bewilderment, trying to reach back, "I will kill him!" "Come on, show me what you can do," Zack sneered, taunting him, still not giving up as he positioned himself in the right position to take another hit. My arm flung out to stop his punch, it collided with my forearm and with all my power, I pushed back at his hand, distracting him as my other fist collided with the soft flesh of his face.

[Lily] If you were to ask me before today if a man like Atticus Preston could cry, I would have told you it was impossible. Because crying would mean you can feel something profound enough to hurt you. To have the ability to feel so deeply means you have a heart. Atticus Preston the bully has no heart. He is all smiles and flirting and cruel manipulation. He doesn’t have the depth of emotion for true pain. But this person crying in my arms--he is not the bully, he is someone else.

As I scan the room, my eyes land on Riley, who is staring intently at a guy across the room. Curiosity getting the better of me, I creep up to her quietly, just to scare her a little. “Boo!” I say. “Ahhh…no, don't do that C. What's wrong with you?” she says, turning back to keep staring at the guy. I squint at the guy, trying to place him. “Wait, is that Drax?...ewwww nooo why?” I say, with a disgusted look on my face because Drax is my cousin.