>>18946514>"No, of course not."Carmody answers before she has a chance to consider why she's said it.
>"Sure, you'll always be YOU, as a person. That part's not bad; I like YOU. But then you also get to change what YOU are. Before this summer, I was still Carmody, but I wasn't a wrestler. Now I am. We're both training so we get better, and that's a kind of change, but that's not really the issue, is it? You were good out there. But so was Karna, and you had this other stuff, your old music, your old gear, throwing you off from before you even walked out there.">"I think you've already made some changes. You're still you, but you're already different than when we met. More confident. You question people now. You stand up straight and look people in the eye. You don't take shit at face value. Maybe that threatens some people. Maybe they find it reassuring to see you coming out there in your old gear, to your old music, because you were less of a overall threat the way you used to be. Maybe you're telling them who you are, and they don't wanna hear it."Carmody stretches and shrugs.
>"Hey, I don't know. What I do know is, I've done a lot of sports but I've never seen anything get fixed in the locker room, the night of a big loss. Whatever it is you need: banana crunch smoothie? Cup of coffee? Shot of Jem Bean? Good night's sleep? Maybe all of the above. ..... Let's get cleaned up and ditch this place, and make that happen for you. You had a big night." 