The second that Jinny could breathe again, she inhaled. And then spewed forth an impressive collection of cuss words, punctuated with 'ow' every few seconds. That had not gone how she'd planned. Truthfully, she had been prepared to throw the fight a minute in. But it was like she couldn't stop herself; Slade had trained pride and stubbornness into her in even measures. It had made dropping her guard impossible. She hadn't meant to stay in the ring that long.
She didn't realize she could.
For a moment more, she lay on the floor, eyes shut to hold back the tears. She hurt like hell, and was going to have a palm-shaped bruise on her midsection for days. But that wasn't why she wanted to cry. Her new classmates were certainly going to hate her now - they'd think she was some kind of weirdo.
Slowly, she sat up, only opening her eyes when she was sure she wasn't going to cry like a kid. Bee's comment took her by surprise, and the look on the older girl's face was even more confusing. Then Kiri, too, complimented her. "Thanks. I... I didn't know I could do that."
She watched the fight in progress for a moment, knowing the moment that the student would lose. Since the adrenaline of battle had worn off, she'd started to ache. "Oof... this is gonna hurt tomorrow."