Page 19 of Her Unending Horizon

He took me down hard and the mat knocked the air from my lungs.

We grappled.

I tried to roll him. He countered.

I tried to stand. He dragged me back down.

Every one of my muscles screamed.

I thought of Chloe.

JJ shifted his weight, locked his legs, and suddenly I was trapped. My shoulder burned. My neck twisted wrong. Panic flared—not wild, just sharp and clear.

This wasn’t about winning anymore.

This was about knowing when I was done.

I tapped.

Once.

Twice.

Cappy’s hand was there instantly, pulling JJ back.

“Fight’s over.”

I lay there for a second, staring at the ceiling, chest rising and falling like I’d just run miles instead of minutes. I’d lost.

Not because I was weaker.

Because I was already empty.

JJ offered a hand. I took it. He nodded, respectful, breathing hard too.

“Good fight,” he said.

“Yeah,” I answered. “It was.”

It mirrored my life.

I’d lost.

Not because he was better.

But because, if I was honest, I’d been done before the bell ever rang.

Chapter Five

It had been a week since I’d heard Zarek’s voice.

Seven days since that call where, for the first time in months, he’d sounded almost like himself. Since he’d said maybe he could visit. Since I’d hung up with this tiny, foolish thread of hope wrapped around my heart like a warm blanket.

The blanket had turned into a knot.

In that week, I drew like I was on a deadline no one had told me about until the last minute. Panels multiplied—on the walls, on the fridge, on the floor around my drawing table like fallen leaves. My fingertips were permanently stained with ink. The callus on my middle finger ached. I switched between inking and rough layouts, only stopping to pour a protein shake or microwave leftovers that Zoe or Trenda had forced on me.

On the outside, it looked like productivity.