Jennifer looks for more competition

Jennifer was on a high after her double victory. She could barely sleep that night as a playback of events ran through her head over and over again. The highs and lows of the matches, her victories and subsequent rewards, it was all like a wet dream fantasy made real. She was intoxicated by it.

She kept riding that high throughout the next day. She had a pep in her step and an air of confidence that she’d never shown before. While seeing classmates and attending class, she could feel others start to notice her new and improved demeanor, but she was surprisingly fine with being noticed. She felt like the queen of the campus at this point and wasn’t worried what others thought. Jen’s mind was hyper focused on submission wrestling. She couldn’t wait to get home and look up some more competition. With her winning ways and the skills she had been picking up, she felt confident she could put up a good fight with even relatively experienced wrestlers now.

Class couldn’t end soon enough. Jen was inching her way to the exit during her final lecture of the day, anxiously waiting for the professor to finally let them go. Once freed, she made a beeline for her dorm and was in her room, in front of her computer, checking up the WSW Discord before anyone could even look up to see who came in.

Usually on the forums, Jen would be trawling through the discussion about the latest pro matches or looking up techniques and tips, but this time her curiosity brought her to the challengers section. She had shied away from this channel before because she was afraid of the skill level there. She felt she was a novice and would only be wasting their time. Now that she had a few matches under her belt, she was curious how well she could do against more experienced competition.

Posting a challenge would mean announcing your intentions and listing your wrestling record so that people could get a general idea of each other’s experience level. While one could lie about their record to artificially inflate it, it would only mean matching up against someone above your abilities. You would be only setting yourself up to run into a brick wall. People on the channel were looking for people of similar skill to compete with, not brag about their win record.

Jen counted up her wins in her head. There was Sam who she traded wins with, Monica the physical therapist who beat her, Sonya who she won against and then Hayley. Counting all those, she would be 3 and 2. Not the best record but also not the worst. She scanned through the listings to see if anyone was in that range.

To her surprise, the regulars on the channel had records far exceeding her 5 matches. The lowest total matches she saw listed was 12. Suddenly all her insecurities came rushing back in, she felt like a small fish in a giant pond. Jen didn’t even feel qualified enough to be looking at the page. She started checking out the specialty matches to see if there was a newbie section for inexperienced wrestlers like herself. She remembered that the rookie tournament was coming up. Surely there had to be some other rookies like her who wanted to get in some wrestling time.

The newbie section hadn’t been used in months, so there was no luck there. She started browsing the other specialty matches to see if there was any activity at all. She found some postings in oil wrestling. It looked like a conversation was going on right then. It was mostly meme posts and joking around, but there were people in there chatting.

Jen felt intimidated about posting a message with people actively on the forum. She wanted to find a match though and it wouldn’t hurt to ask these people. She held her breath and typed away, not stopping to look at what she wrote. As soon as she was finished, she hit ‘enter’ before she could second guess herself.

Tara Nova: Hey! I’m a relatively new wrestler looking for a match with someone on the same level as me. My record is 3W2L so far… Do any of you know anyone in that range that would be interested in a match?

Jen bit her lip and held her breath as she awaited a response. An ellipsis flashed under her message telling her that someone was typing something. Her heart sank when it was another joke GIF. The conversation continued on as if she didn’t even post anything. Jen let out a sigh. She was both relieved and disappointed that there weren’t any takers. She browsed around the other categories, but didn’t have the heart to post another message. If she spammed the boards it would just make her look ****.

She debated hitting up Sam for another match, or maybe even Sonya. She still hadn’t returned Sonya’s strap-on; maybe she could get another match out of the athletic blonde before giving it back.

Then, Jen heard the blip of a message being delivered. She checked the discord again. It was still unrelated talk, but she noticed there was a new personal message. She clicked on it. It was from a user named “Becky Flinch”.

Becky Flinch: Hello! I saw your message in the Oil Wrestling channel. I’m 2W3L and would be interested in a match!

Jen’s heart fluttered. She was getting the same nervous energy she got when she first met Sam. She messaged back right away.

Tara Nova: I would love to meet up with you! Do you go to Olympia? We could meet up on campus. I know a spot.

She was thinking of the shed, which she would have to clear with Sonya, but she figured it’s better than nowhere.

Becky Flinch: Actually, I have a spot.

Becky included a link to a map site which Jen clicked. The location was a sports gym. Jen had trepidations about joining a gym when she first started, but if it was to meet up with a fellow wrestler, she thought it would be alright.

Tara Nova: Great! When do you want to do it?

Becky Flinch: How about Wednesday?

That was Jen’s amateur wrestling night, but if she was going to do submission wrestling instead, that could fill in for her practice for the week.

Tara Nova: Sure! What time?

Becky Flinch: Come by around closing. We’ll have the place to ourselves. Will you bring the oil or should I?

Jen stopped and read that last line again. She was confused as to what Becky was talking about, then remembered she had posted her request in the Oil Wrestling section. Becky must be thinking she wants an oil wrestling match!