No

Marlene bucked and the moment Tara tried to lift herself, the smaller girl lost her balance and Marlene turned over. Getting her knees under her with a screech, Tara tried to pull it the rest of the way up her back.

She shoved Tara away. It wasn’t hard but it was enough to make her lose her grip. The second allowed Marlene to get to her knees and leap towards Tara.

Tara saw it coming but it was too late for her to escape. Marlene managed to seize her and take her back down to the mat again.

For a few seconds both girls fought for dominance. Neither one looked like they were about to get any purchase until Tara shoved Marlene backwards and bolted away.

Marlene caught a trailing leg as Tara reached the stairs, hoping to use them to get back to a vertical base. She grabbed the third step when Marlene grabbed her where she was. She clamped her ankle between her arm and body. She’d been trapped.

“I think these shoes aren’t casual enough for today.” She popped one of her black slip-on shoes off. “You can put these away until Monday.” Marlene removed her other shoe to leave her in her socks.

Tara cursed internally. She shouldn’t have turned her back on Marlene. Now Marlene had her ankle in her hand and was already pulling her back towards the mats.

She let go of the stairs and fell back to earth with a thud.

Marlene dragged her back onto the mats again. She made short work of removing her socks and leaving her barefoot.

The socks didn’t bother Tara, but the feeling of being stripped against her will made her heart sink.

She had to regain control of this.