Day 43 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write a story where one of the enemies considers the other a dear friend.

Erin: “Why so sour babe,” Dylan asked as I started packing for the gym.

“Training with Greg today,” I sighed. I zipped my bag and hoisted it to my shoulder.

“You’re a free woman, you can train with whoever you want,” he stupidly suggested.

“Have you met my trainer?”

“I’d rather not, since he’s always having you fight dudes,” he rolled his eyes.

“You’re jealous of my fighting partners,” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, you know I trust you,” he redeemed himself right before sticking his big old foot right back in his mouth. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Excuse me,” I dropped my gym bag and whipped my head to look directly at him. “You want me to beat the shit out of you right now to prove I can handle myself with a boy. You’re not a man like the guys I fight, but if I pummel you to the ground maybe you can comprehend how I compete with a real fighter.”

“Calm down tiger you’re going to be late for training,” he laughed off my threat.

“This is not over,” I warned taking a hard sip of my protein shake.

By the time I hit the gym my blood had boiled to the point I could take on any boxer man, woman, or anyone in-between. Greg would be in for it once I spotted him. Too bad he saw me first, “sneak attack Ray.”

“What the,” I bent over, elbowed him in the hip and dropped down until he was off of me.

“Play fair,” I shouted as I tried to maneuver my body to restrain his arms and pin him down.

“Advice you could stand to take yourself,” he managed to worm his way out of my attempt and was on top of me before I knew it.

“Sneak attack is my thing. You can’t steal my idea and think you can get away with it,” I engaged my legs, knowing that is where my power came from. He was no match and we were rolled from my back to his.

He tried to struggle, but my anger and position were both staying stable. “Uncle,” he surrendered.

“Damn straight,” I unpinned his shoulder’s while I tried to catch my breath.

“You’re getting really good,” I looked down on him confused by the compliment. He had a giant smirk on his face though, so I knew he meant it. That’s when I realized Greg and I mercilessly beat each other up out of the respect we had for each other’s strength and resiliency. I was not sure how many people I could say that about.

“Thanks Greg,” I stood up and offered him a hand. I hoisted him up, but the jerk threw me down to the ground the second he had the chance.

Shannon: “You do know that nobody wants you here,” Katelyn stated her rhetorical question as she sat down next to Keith.

“I think I know at least one person who is happy to see me,” he stared her down, waiting for the response he was trying to fish out.

“Are you implying that I wanted to see you,” she questioned and let out laugh. He shrugged, in his usual cocky way. “Well you’re wrong. I could live the rest of my life without ever seeing you again, and I’d be all the better for it.”

He looked forward and shook his head with a smirk. “Then why sit next me?”

“To tell you to leave.”

“I’m not buying it. I know we’ve been apart for a few years…”

“For good reasons,” she interrupted him.

He sighed, “Ok, but even though we’ve grown up a lot since high school, when you get together with an old friend doesn’t it feel like nothing has changed, like we could pick up right where we left off?”

“You think we’re old friends. Are you serious?” Her brow furrowed.

He nodded, “Of course, what else could we have been?”

Katelyn felt her face heat up, and couldn’t breathe in and out enough to diffuse the energy. “Do you see them over there,” she questioned pointing to her real old friends, who had appointed her to take care of the unwanted situation. “You torn through them like a hurricane. None of them ever fully recovered, and you didn’t even try to make it a little easier on them. I may have been the only one who wasn’t targeted by you, but I was there to watch all of them fall apart, and I hate you for that,” her voice wavered as she finally got to say what she though of him after all this time. “But go ahead keep acting like everything ok, and this conversation never happened. That’s what you do best.”

She started to get up, but he put his hand on her forearm to stop her. “Wait, there is something I never told anyone about that night. Please, you’re the only one who will listen, and you are the only one who can tell them. That’s why I really came,” he begged, cracking from his confident demeanor.

It was a side of him she’d never seen, and she promised herself this would be last time she pitied him, “Ok fine. Tell me.”

Let’s see your best attempt at writing two character’s with conflicting feelings.