“It’s not how you start!”

Chelsea and Ross more than held their own against the Aylas but in the end, the interference of La Andalucera proved to be fatal for their efforts as Chelsea was made to submit by Damien, now Chelsea was heading into the third Victory solo as Ross had opted to take the week off this week but that didn’t mean Chelsea had it easy for her first singles match as she was taking on Nathanial Cartwright! And with La Andalucera taking on Betsy Granger in the match following that one, you knew Chelsea was looking for revenge! Can Chelsea finally pick up her first win?

Chelsea’s parents’ home, Chicago, Illinois
Tuesday the 15th of March 2016. 23:00pm

Would it surprise you to know that I wasn’t that much different at seventeen than I am at twenty-two?

Probably not, aside from the whole sleeping around and drooling over other women thing (I didn’t lose my virginity until I was eighteen, and I came out as bi a few months after that) I was still the atheist metalhead black sheep of the entirely Christian family, now up until this point things had been rather civil between me and my parents, we had our fights sure and they still gaslit me to hell and back, but it wasn’t nearly as nasty and toxic as it is these days.

That all changed the day I decided to sneak out and meet up with some friends from high school who were taking me to my first concert, I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head who we were seeing aside from it being a bunch of local metal bands playing a small venue in downtown Chicago but by the time the last band played and we were off home, it was way past my curfew but I didn’t care, the only thing that mattered was that I had fun, right?

Right?

”Okay, just gotta get in, head straight to the bedroom and hop right into bed.” I muttered to myself as I searched around my jean’s pockets in search of my house keys. ”With any luck, mom, dad, Toni, Liz, Chloe and Justin are already in bed……..” And wouldn’t you know it? I jinxed myself because as soon as I said that my dad opened the door, and he was not happy. ”Hi dad……..”

“Young lady, do you know what time it is?!” My dad demanded and I rolled my eyes before I went to push past him and into the house, this was years before I started training for the Olympic Gymnastics team, but I was still pretty athletic at the time and my dad? Well, he wasn’t, so he could do little to stop me from pushing past him, what I couldn’t do however was stop him from taking a whiff of my breath as I entered the house. “Is that alcohol?! Have you been drinking?!”

Yeah, I had been drinking but I wasn’t exactly drunk, I only had a couple of sips to see what it tasted like and that had been brought for me by one of my friends because I had forgotten to take a Fake ID with me. ”Yeah, so what?!” I asked as I turned to him not realizing that my mom could see one of the local band shirts that I had brought at the venue poking out of my jacket pocket. C”You’re acting like I drove home drunk and ran over a few puppies along the way! I had only a couple of sips, that’s it!”

“Chelsea, you know the rules, you have to be back home by seven on a school night and absolutely no drinking.” My dad stated and before I could respond my mom reached into my pocket and pulled out the band shirt. “What do you have their Maria?”

“Band Merchandise.” My mom responded before holding it up, glancing up at the second floor I could see my older siblings had come out of their rooms to investigate the noise. “You went to see that horrible noise you call music live?!”

”Yeah, and I paid good fucking money for that shirt, now give it back!” I demanded as I went to snatch it from her hands, but she had already passed it to my dad, like I said before, my dad was hardly athletic, but there was one advantage he had over me and that was height! Anyone who’s seen me with Ross knows that I’m hardly the tallest female wrestler around and whilst my dad wasn’t as tall as Ross, he was still tall enough to keep it out of my reach with ease. ”Give me my shirt back!” I demanded but before I could do anything else my dad ripped it in half.

Admittedly that shirt had clearly been made with cheaper materials, but I didn’t care, my dad had practically ripped up twenty bucks of my allowance money and that was the final straw. “That will teach you not to waste your money.” My dad stated as my hand formed a fist. “We will discuss this in more detail in the morning.”

”FUCK YOU!” I snapped at them before I stormed off to my room. ”Why don’t you just go ahead and admit that you’ll never be satisfied until I start following your bullshit like a fucking sheep!?” I added before I reached the door.

“Chelsea Rose Skye, you will not take that language with me!” My dad called after me, but I only had one response, the double middle finger salute. “You are grounded for the rest of the week, two if this nonsense continues!”

”You know what? Go to hell and then go fuck yourself!” I snapped at him before entering my room and slamming the door shut behind me, after a few seconds I just plopped into bed not even bothering to take my clothes off. ”Why do I put up with this bullshit?!” I grunted in annoyance as I just stared at the ceiling for a while, at least until there was a knock at the door. ”If it’s mom and dad, I’ll refer you to my previous statement!”

“Chelsea, it’s us.” Chloe’s voice rang out from the other side, and I sighed in response, honestly? My siblings were literally the only reason I put up with that bullshit growing up, they may have followed my parents’ religion but even they could see that they were treating me horribly for trying to be different, for trying to be my own person.. “Mom and dad have gone to bed do you have a moment to talk?”

”Make it quick! I’ve already got a headache from dealing with those idiots!” I grunted in response and Chloe opened the door to reveal my four siblings and I sat up in bed. ”I’m fucking done with this bullshit! This is just yet another day that I wish that I had died in the fucking womb!”

“Chelsea, you know you don’t believe that.” Toni responded as she shook her head, and I rolled my eyes in response. “They’ll come around, trust us!”

”Oh, you mean like when they came around after I discovered my love of metal music? Or when they came around when they caught me watching the original Friday the 13th in the middle of a sex scene?!” I pointed out with an annoyed look on my face. ”Still waiting on them to come around on the time they caught me watching lesbian porn on a school computer! Face it, nothing I ever do will ever be good enough for them and I’m done trying!”

“Are you sure it’s not tough love?” Liz asked and I quickly shook my head in response. “How did you get past the school’s filters anyway?”

”They are easy enough to get past once you know how, and that was one of the first things I learned when I took up IT so yeah, I know how!” I responded before running my hands through my hair. ”Twenty fucking bucks, that’s how much I spent on that fucking shirt, and he just ripped it up without a fucking care! Fucking bullshit!”

“Look Chels, we’ll talk to mom and dad in the morning, see if we can talk some sense into them.” Justin assured me and I glanced up at my older brother. “Just remember that you were meant for something special, no matter what they say.”

”Thanks Justin.” I thanked my twin brother before grabbing my iPhone and plugging in the headphones. ”I’m not going straight to bed, going to unwind with some metal first, but if they ask just tell them I dozed off.

“Will do.” Justin nodded before Chloe closed the door behind them.

”Something special? Yeah fucking right!” I grunted as I started playing my favourite Killswitch Engage album “The End of Heartache”. ”At this rate, that “something special” will be “poster child for why emotional abuse is just as bad as physical abuse”.”

Chelsea and Ross’s hotel room, Los Angeles, California
Saturday the 11th of September 2021, 09:00am

Another week in PWE, another day where I’m having a dream about the past, does this mean something?

Whatever it means, my sleep got interrupted by my iPhone’s ringtone (“Run To The Pit” by Insanity Alert) but I was too dazed to answer it in time, I sat up in bed and reached over to grab the iPhone, and instantly regretted it.

”My parents, what a fucking surprise.” I grunted as I did a quick count of how many missed calls I had from them, somehow, I had managed to sleep through the chorus of a Crossover Thrash Metal song that parodied the best song on Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast album (and I will fight on that hill) several times because I had at least six missed numbers. ”I don’t need this shit first thing!” I grunted before sending my dad a quick text. ”Just woke up (no thanks to you), give me a couple of hours to call back at least.” I muttered to myself as I typed the text and sent it, my dad didn’t say much in response, he just sent a reply saying “okay” and I quickly got out of bed before I got dressed.

Driving around LA
Saturday the 11th of September 2021, 11:00am

It had been a couple of hours since my rude wake up call, but I was still in no hurry to answer the call from my parents, for one thing, I just knew that it was going to result in a shouting match between us that ended with me wondering why I haven’t cut off all contact with them for the millionth time.

As we drove through LA looking for a place to eat, Ross and I didn’t really talk much because I was focussed on the road, that is until Ross spoke up.

”You know Chels? I’ve been wondering about those porn vids you did.” Ross spoke up once we had reached a traffic light and I glanced over at my boyfriend. ”How exactly did “filming porn starring you” become part of your twenty second birthday celebration? It sounds like a hell of a way to spend a birthday, but that’s not exactly normal.”

”I would’ve thought you’d know by now that most things about me aren’t normal.” I joked before the traffic light turned green and I continued driving. ”I mentioned before the one of the first friends I made after coming out was a sex worker right? It didn’t take her long to introduce me to her circle of friends, most of whom were sex workers, in the weeks leading up to my twenty second birthday they surprised me with an all-expenses paid trip to Vegas! The only catch was that they would be filming porn vids whilst in Vegas, but I didn’t mind, any excuse to get me as far away from my parents was a good one as far as I was concerned!”

”Sounds like a sweet deal, but how did you end up in the porn shoot? Sounds to me like they planned for it to just be them.” Ross asked, and I nodded in response.

”That was the plan but one of the girls had a family emergency and had to pull out of the trip at the last minute, the shoot was designed around all of them being there and they were having trouble finding a replacement so I figured “screw it” and asked if I could take part.” I explained before we came up to another set of lights. ”They didn’t throw me into the deep end with my first two vids either, the first vid was with a guy who had been doing it for a few years and the second vid was a lesbian vid with my friend who had introduced me to the rest of them, they made sure I knew what I was doing before I started starring in some of the more adventurous vids.” I added before flipping my hair a bit. ”To be honest? That was one of the most fun weeks of my life and they did say that if I ever wanted to do it again, they only needed to call, and the guy was even bigger than you.”

I hadn’t noticed, but Ross had taken a sip of his drink when I said that last part, said sip nearly ended up all over the rent-a-car’s windshield. ”When you say “bigger” do you mean height and weight or…….

”Height and weight, he was at least six foot five and was probably at least a hundred and twenty pounds heavier than me, to be honest with his build he could’ve been a wrestler.” I assured Ross and he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that. ”I said as much after the first scene was done and he explained that he was a football player before retiring due to injury, not sure how he went from that to porn, but I wasn’t complaining.”

”That would explain the build at least, and I doubt he was complaining either.” Ross shrugged, and I grinned in response. ”I’m certainly not complaining about my company.”

”I sure as hell hope not!” I responded with a laugh before glancing down at my phone and seeing another missed call from my parents. ”Do you see anywhere we can pull over? My parents have been calling me all day.” I sighed as I glanced around, and Ross had a look around.

”How about that parking lot there?” Ross pointed it out to me, and I nodded before pulling into it. ”I won’t let you face them alone and I’ll be here for you.” Ross added, and I grinned as we pulled into an empty parking spot.

”Thanks Ross.” I thanked him before putting the call on speaker and answering. ”Hi dad.”

“Chelsea, why aren’t you at your home?!” My dad demanded and I grunted in response. “Our computers have stopped working again!”

”I told you that I was going to be out of state a week in advance since, you know, I have a job!” I pointed out an exasperated sigh as I rolled my eyes. ”I can’t drop everything to travel back to Chicago just because you think god cares about your shitty PC! For one thing, that’s over a day’s travel by car!”

“You dropped everything to go see that drug addict boyfriend of yours!” My mom chimed in, and I could see it in Ross’s eyes that he was not liking where this was going. “And that crack baby son of his! You should’ve chosen a nice Christian boyfriend instead and not…….”

”What did you just say?!” Ross demanded and before I knew it he had snatched the phone from my hand. ”Talk about my girlfriend all you want but leave my son out of this!”

“You heard me you little punk!” My dad responded and I messaged my forehead in annoyance as I felt a headache coming on. “What are you going to do about it?!”

”You’re lucky that we’re in Los Angeles right now, because otherwise I would’ve punched you!” Ross responded, and I didn’t even need to see his eyes to tell that his rage was reaching a boiling point. ”So I’m going to tell you one thing instead, eat a bag of dicks and never talk about my son like that again!”/font]

“You disrespectful little punk.” My dad stated and I motioned for Ross to hand back my iPhone. “Chelsea, this is exactly why you should’ve listened to us…….”

”No dad, I shouldn’t have!” I interrupted him with an angry growl. ”You’ve treated me like shit for years just because I wanted to be my own person rather than follow you like a blind sheep! But now that I’ve got a job and a boyfriend, that’s suddenly not good enough for you?!”

“You had premarital sex with other women and men, and that job is as sinful as they come.” My dad responded and it was at that point that I had had enough. “If you continue, we will not be able to support your sinful ways much longer.”

“Right, because you’ve done a fucking fantastic job of supporting me before now!” I responded as I rolled my eyes. “The Olympic Training? All on my own, my wrestling training and career? I didn’t need or want your help then, I’m sick of these arguments and I’m sick of never being good enough for you idiots! As soon as this call ends, I’m deleting and blocking your number from my phone. In other words? I’m cutting off all contact with you!”

“You can’t do this!” My mom responded and I shook my head. “What about Justin? What would your brother think?”

The same brother whose funeral you barred me from attending? The same brother whose death you blamed me for just because I was in the same car as him? And by the way? Thanks for never fucking visiting when I was recovering in the hospital from the car crash or my suicide attempt!” I snapped at her before I ended the call and lay my head back against the head rest. ”I’m sorry you had to see that! I know I’m going to be crying my eyes out over this later but that has been a long time coming.”

”It’s not healthy to maintain toxic relationships like that, and I’m proud of you.” Ross assured me, and I grinned in response. ”What about your sisters?”

”They’ve been telling me to cut off contact with them since Justin’s death, they’ll understand.” I responded as I shook my head. ”I’m not in the mood for eating out after that, can we just head back to the hotel and order take out?”

”I was going to suggest that, and don’t worry, I’ll pay.” Ross assured me, and I grinned before driving off.

Chelsea’s home, Chicago, Illinois
Thursday the 16th of September 2021, 21:00pm

*promo time*

The million dollar question.

”So, two weeks into my PWE career and I let myself get distracted again and it led to me losing another match! At least the first time around, I had the excuse that I was playing to the fans but at Victory II? There was no such excuse, because La Andalucera decided to mess with my match! Just so we’re clear, I’ve never met that woman before, I don’t know what her deal is with me, but I can’t focus on that right now because this week, I’m taking on Nathanial Cartwright in my first singles match in PWE!”

Clash of the rookies.

”Not only is this my first singles match but this is my first match where I’m taking on a fellow rookie that didn’t take place inside my training school! Now granted Nate, do you mind if I call you that? It’s less of a mouthful than Nathanial in any case, you are a few years older than me but we’re both in our early to mid-twenties not the difference isn’t that massive, point is, we’re both young, we’re both hungry for a win and we have nothing to lose in this match, right?”

On paper at least.

”As I said before, I need to bounce back from my two back to back losses but you Nate? You bounced back from your loss in the Battle Royals at Victory I and picked up the win over TJ Alexander, sorry to inform you Nate but this is where your comeback streak ends and mine begins because this Monday at Victory III will be when I finally pick up my first win here in Pro Wrestling Excellence!”

Or die trying.

”There’s an old saying that goes “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish” and my start here in PWE wasn’t the greatest, I’ll be the first to admit that, well, outside of meeting Ross but from a purely in ring perspective? I have a lot of improving to do and that starts with you Nate, you can try to keep me grounded with your submission skills all you want Nate, but I can trade submissions with the best of them as well and if the need comes for it? I’ll match you hold for hold!”

It’s that simple.

“Nate, on paper we are very much alike, two young hungry rookies facing off in the squared circle this week at Victory III but between my speed and my submission skills? I think I’ve got the edge I need to outwork you and finally pick up my first win as a member of the Pro Wrestling Excellence Roster, just try to remember that you can’t beat me in the air, and I can and will match you hold for hold on the ground because that way? Losing to a girl might not seem as bad, right?”

And with that I decided to wrap things up.

“Whether it’s in the air, or on the ground, I know what I need to do come Victory III and that’s pick up my first win as a member of PWE! Nate, you’ve had a better start than me in this company but it’s like I said before, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and this Monday at Victory III will be when things finally start going my way in the ring! This is the “Nightmare Angel” Chelsea Skye telling you Nathanial Cartwright that once that bell rigs, the Skye’s the Limit!”

I went to start listening to music as the scene fades.