Peter took a seat as close to the track as he watched the Wonderbolts take their places at the posts; Gilda, the tough as nails girl had Spitfire hand her Javelin after javelin as she expertly threw them onto the targets of the range. Soarin sprinted the hundred meter time and time again, his sleek well built body running from one end to the next. Peter watched the graceful and majestic Rainbow dash; the way she jumped the hurdles, was able to stick the landing on her jumps and the way she was so athletic. He felt like it was all futile, for what could a strong athletic tomboy girl see in a pale nerdy comic book fanboy?

The other athletes mostly left him to watch Dashie, that is until Gilda walked over to him. Her forehead dripping with perspiration from her volley of javelin throws; she held a water bottle to her lips, the water bubbling as she greedily sucked down the icy cool refreshment. She finished taking a drink wiping her lips with the sleeve of her brown leather jacket, Gilda didn't care much for the uniforms. "Hey book worm you lost or something?" She said folding her arms on her chest and smirking at him. "This is an athletes training field not the library you know." Peter knew Gilda, a little rough around the edges but if you know how to get on her good side she'd warm that icy exterior and be more pleasant to be around. So he said as calmly as possible, "I'm just here to show my support to the best of the best Gilda, that includes you."

"Ha! if that was flattery, know that I don't flatter easily." She said ruffling his head playfully he could tell it was playful because she wasn't rubbing hard enough to make his scalp feel like it was on fire. Peter reached into the zipped up pocket of jacket feeling for just what he felt the situation called for.

"Hey Gilda," he said drawing a faux leather card holder from the pocket.

"Yeah?" She asked giving her white and purple highlighted hair a little flip, almost like...a bird ruffling its feathers. Peter flipped the cap of the deck box open and one looking close enough could just make out two words written in a green font that invoked the color and texture of slime, Garbage Pail.

"Ever heard of The Garbage Pail Kids Gilda?" he asked taking the deck from its holder and handing them to the wonderbolt to browse them.

"Kinda...Like I've only just heard of them but I've never actually seen them before." She said giggling at the hilarious ones such as Swell Mel and Nervous Rex. "Hey, some of these have 80's dates on them." Gilda said turning one card over and reading the Topps Chewing Company copyright dates ranging from 1985 to 1987 mixed with the ones from the 90s and 2000's.

"I have a few good ones from the inital run. The ones created and drawn by Art Spigelmen himself."

"The guy who wrote and drew Maus?" She asked turning her gaze to him in intrest.

"Yep the very same guy...I didn't know you read Maus Gilda."

"I only did at first because Dr. Whooves assigned it as per his AP English assignment." Her words came off as a bit confusing, Gilda in an AP class? The girl who was as rude as rude can be when that nutty girl Pinkie tried to throw her a welcome to town party? And just now had made the javelin targets into pincushions with the javelins in under three minutes? Oh well , anything is possible. "I got more and more into the book as I read it, Dash said it was like how she got into Those Daring Do books...and the source of what it was a take off of Indianan Jones. Hey this one's hilarious!" She said breaking out in laughter and showing Peter a Potty Scotty card. For all her tough as nails exterior and take no prisoners tough girl attitude, Gilda was really just an overgrown child. more boyish than girlish as most girls of any age probably wouldn't laugh at something like Potty Scotty. Not that Peter was trying to generalize her that way; but it was from experience how as a little boy himself, when he showed a girl his Garbage Pail Kids Cards, she called them gross and ran away from him. Now much older; the last time he showed a girl the cards, she told him to grow up and stop liking gross stupid things. Not realizing the the man who wrote the only comic book to ever win the coveted Pulitzer Prize had drawn the little cards.

"You know, my ''Lucky Seven'' cards are at the bottom of the deck." He said as she made her hands get ever so close to them.

"Why do you call them the 'Lucky Seven?'" She asked as the ugly mug of Greaser Greg; the jaws of Ali Gator, Messy Tessie's snotty hands, Nat Nerd's pudgy belly, Foul Phil's halitosis ravaged mouth, Valerie Vomit's cooking pot full of stomach grease, and Windy Winston tooting his horn, and trying to play the trumpet at the same time.

"Those cards are the ones that appeared in that movie they made back in 87, the Nat Nerd one even IS the offical tie in card, you can tell by the way the art is more akin to the puppet used in the movie as opposed to Art's original drawing style."

"Sweet Saints VS the Packers! You watched that movie?!" She said, puckering her purple painted lips in protest.

"I have my interests Gilda, and some of them may not always be the ones everyone else agrees with, and I don't care that they aren't the same as anyone else." He said smirking smugly just inches from those puckered lips, he retracted at the last second, wondering if she would have accepted a lip to lip touch or slapped him for it.

"You got guts Turner, You're alright in my book." She said handing him his deck back.

"Keep em," he said smiling at her and warmly.

"Your collectible deck of 80's trading cards? That could be worth a pretty penny and you're just gonna let me keep them?" She said furrowing her brow and smiling looking just like a Dreamworks character as she did so.

"Sure,I'm outta comics to to let you have so why not cards?" He said happily and cheerfully to her. Gilda only looked at him before tucking the deck box in the pocket of her leather jacket, she walked back to the field but turned back to him real quick.

"Hey Turner, Come'er will ya? Follow me." She said beckoning him. Peter got to his feet and did so obediently. Wondering just what she had in mind, his hopes of it being something that most guys would almost never want to do with GILDA of all the chicks at CHS, where quickly dashed when he saw her picking up a couple of the Kenjutsu teams wooden bokken swords. Gilda then lead him to the hammer throwing ring. Which; with its sand covering over the clay foundation, was almost akin to a sumo Dohyō.

"What's this about Gilda?" He asked as she tossed him his sword, A wooden katana made to the most intricate of detail, only lacking the craftsmanship of tempered and folded Japanese steel. She drew hers from the plastic sheath and held it up in a ready stance.

"I wanna show you some of my moves, as a way of saying thanks." She said lowering her sword to the ground.

"Onegai shimasu, Hanshi Gilda.*" He said to her with a respectful bow.

Gilda smirked and let out a soft chuckle, "Watashi no sukiru no anata no chishiki wa, rippadesu,** did you understand what I said?" She asked in English.

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese." Was all he replied with.

"There's a lot you don't know about me dude." She retorted with her stance still held.

"Domo Onegai shimasu, Hanshi Gilda." He said again headed by a "domo" as she was like a sensei to him. With her brown leather jacket; tank top underneath, and those skinny jeans, holding the wooden sword while looking at her student. It wasn't hard for anyone on the field that day to not see Gilda and think of some Samurai movie. Only it was a high school athletic track and field instead of the Samurai palace and his zen garden, tranquility shattered by the coming duel. Instead of the cherry blossom petals delicately blowing in the mountain air, the brown leaves of a North American fall where tossed about by the autumn chill. They eyes watching them not a crowd of on looking servants and fellow warriors, but the student body gathered to watch the toughest girl in school duel with the resident comic book geek.

"Junbi wa dekita ka?" She asked him, knowing there was a good chance he wouldn't understand.

"Hai." He said back finally drawing his sword and clicking its wooden blade to hers; as two dueling opponents, be they east or west, are meant to honorably do.

"ichi; ni, san!" She counted off before striking at him. The first few blows to strike each other's swords were simple, easily blocked and parried. The strikes from the Sensei where swift, but restrained so as to allow her student to understand her technique. They had no safety gear, so he was careful to avoid taking swipes at her head or limbs, as was she with him. The wood smacking together as one tried to tag the other with the blades, had gotten the attention of all the other athletes. Equipment hit the ground and runners slowed to stop as they watched the duel. Soft uttering of oohs and ahhhs, followed by gasps wondering if someone would get hurt.

"You've got skill Turner, I'm impressed." She said locking his sword with hers and pushing the blades together, trying to ring out him.

"I'm quite surprissed you're willing to teach me this, when all I did was let you keep my prized trading cards Gilda."

"No one...has ever been so nice too me, not since...what happened my first day here. That's why I'm doing this for you." She said between his attempt to push back before managing to lower her sword toward the ground and parry it.

"Oh really?" he asked smugly while clutching the blade to her chest, as if he really meant to deliver a killing strike to her heart. "Are you sure that's the only reason a pretty girl like you wants to spend time with a guy like me?" Gilda was neither moved nor angry, she simply swept the wooden sword away with a quick strike to the guard and said.

"You think I'm pretty?" Even under the circumstances, Peter could see the blush on her face at the compliment. He didn't sheath his weapon, but he did give a wide bearth between them both as he said almost as if reciting.

"You are quite a catch; not many see you as I do, strong but a beauty."

"Was that a haiku?" she said with a giggle.

"Why? Did you like it?" He said with a a hopeful look in his face. Her only reply was this; Gilda sheathed her blade, put her hands together, and gave a respectful bow. He followed suit, both gave each other respectable bows, before the student said to the master.

"Domo Arigato gozaimashita." As is customary to do. Gilda put the kendo weapons away; the students began to break up losing interest in the two, things slowly returned to normal.

"Hey Tu...Peter," the sword fighter girl said to Peter as he was just about to make his way home.

"Yeah?" He replied gathering up his backpack and long-box.

"Got a few things for you." Gilda said unzipping her own sports bag, She withdrew a can of Arizona Green tea; she popped the tab of one can for herself and took a long gulp of the sweet, and tasty tea. When she finished she then took a slip of paper from her bag and wrote something on it before handing it back to him. The note was simply her name and a phone number, with a little heart over the I in Gilda. "For when you ever wanna spar and train again..gimme a ring, kay?" She said, although there was a slight playful giggle in her voice as she did.

"Whatever you say...Sensi" He said before giving her another bow, Gilda returned the notion, by gently kissing him on the side of his mouth. Both of them blushed red as maximum tomatoes.

Author's Note

* Kendo terminology roughly meaning, "I wish to train with you, master Gilda."

** translation(s):
• Your knowledge of my skill is commendable,
• Are you ready?