“Yame” The word rang throughout the hall. Twenty people stopping what they were doing, kicks, punches, blocks, and counters, halfway to their target. The chaos of sparring pairs reformed into two lines facing each other and, on the Sensei’s command, bowed and shook hands. 

Lexi bounded across the hall to where Max was sitting, patiently waiting for the end of the lesson. Collapsing on the bench next to him she started peeling off her, now sweaty, pads and mitts. “Arhhgh” Max recoiled from the stench, “You stink worse than the garbage.” 
“Ai uo knot!” Lexi exclaimed and then, fishing her mouth guard out, she repeated indignantly, “I do not!” Max just smiled one of those knowing smiles. “Right well, you stay there and I’ll go get changed.” Lexi grabbed her bag and headed off to the girls bathroom. She of cause, being Lexi, would have quite happily changed right there and then in the hall, however some of the other club members had voiced their opinions of this and so she, being nice, left to get changed. 

When she came back, bowing in at the door, Lexi had swapped her crisp white GI for a pair of lose khaki three quarter pants and a grey tee-shirt, her hoodie wrapped round her waist and a glinting silver dog tag round her neck. Saying the usual goodbyes, and thank-yous, Lexi and Max headed home, strolling along the footpath, chatting about random things; dinner, their aunt, school.

It happened as they reached the main road; Lexi was slowing down as the adrenalin wore off, and Max, ever grateful, was keeping pace. The bike came up fast, shoving them out the way before they even knew what was happening. Max fell onto the grass by the footpath, but Lexi toppled out onto the road. It was just bad luck that a car, one of those big four-wheel drive things, was speeding up at just as she scrambled to her feet, smashing her legs out from under her, her body flying forward, but not as fast as the car which was still moving, meaning that Lexi’s head walloped the windscreen. The driver franticly hit the brakes, but because of momentum, Lexi kept moving forwards falling off the car and impacting on the ground, hard. Most car crashes don’t always kill people but because of the force with witch Lexi’s head hit the windshield she was doomed. Lying in a heap on the warm tarmac, Lexi’s last thought, which she might or might not have said out loud, was about Max and their pledge.