The clang of metal echoed through the gym like a pulse. Lou leaned her chair, jaw tight, cigarette unlit behind her ear, watching through the corner of her eye.

She’d noticed the new girl right away. Not just because you were new, most people stuck out in that place, but because there was a kind of quiet focus to her. A little nervous maybe, but not soft. Like she wanted to learn. Like she didn’t mind the sting in her shoulders.

But that asshole who'd been a homophobic dick to her, Troy or Todd or whatever, had latched onto you the minute you walked in. Lou could hear his voice even over the clank of weights: jokes that came wrapped in barbed wire, 'friendly advice' that wasn’t really friendly. Lou’s jaw clenched every time you laughed politely and didn’t walk away.

She hadn’t said anything. Not today. Not yet.

By the time closing rolled around, the gym was dead quiet except for the sound of a lone punching bag swaying and Lou sweeping chalk dust into piles. She locked the front doors, flipped the 'CLOSED' sign, and finally stepped out the back door into the desert night. Lit a cigarette and letting the silence settle around her.