The Challenge 39

Kelsey took one more look in the mirror.

Flawless.

Everything was picture perfect, camera ready, as always. The natural light streaming into her fitness area was doing her all kinds of favors, playing over the muscles of her lithe, athletic body, bringing the tan out of her complexion, and making her hazel eyes sparkle. Her TikTok and Insta posts were already getting traction, and she smiled as she watched her fans lighting her phone up.

She always posted something for the girls and something for the boys, and she liked the attention equally. The boys couldn't get enough of the posts that you'd expect - barely disguised thirst traps showing off proper squat technique or workout attire that a company had paid her to model. The girls loved the affirmation and encouragement - "Unlock your power, girlie." "A woman's place is in the gym" - and the positive message was driving subscriptions and attendance in her fledgling fitness studio higher than they'd ever been.

Her studio was a point of pride for her - she was soooo glad to be proving her adoring followers right and her doubters wrong. After an initial investment (about half of which was raised in a GoFundMe and was more money than she'd ever seen in her short life), her business was now making her money - enabling her to send her former roommate packing and convert the other bedroom in her apartment into the beautiful fitness space where she could stream or create content. She was fortunate to have her nerdy assistant Eric and sometimes her dad to keep everything straight, because between social media monetization, subletting her studio to wannabe influencers, membership dues, class fees, and all the other "revenue streams" or whatever, it was enough to make her head spin.

Her favorite class to teach she called Stronger Than You Think - an all-female self-defense class that focused on yoga and mindfulness in addition to simple body and strength movements to make women feel the true power inside themselves. She liked it for a bunch of reasons - she got to put pads on Eric and beat him up, it was a great full-body workout, and she was almost always the strongest woman there. She didn't have any background in martial arts or competitive fighting, but she watched enough videos from other influencers that she could put together a pretty thorough class, but apparently none of that mattered to that stupid painter.

Kelsey had been at her studio teaching a section of Stronger Than You Think when out of nowhere, the guy who showed up to paint the renovated media room in the back yelled to her in front of the whole class, "You are going to get one of these women killed - everything you're showing them is either useless or only going to make things worse." The whole room fell dead silent.

She looked him over - probably late 20s, average height, stocky frame. Gross belly fat - it would probably be heinous beer gut in five more years. Very little muscle definition. He'd definitely have trouble running half a mile. It was almost sad - he might look good if he ate better, worked out once in a while, and did literally anything with his reddish-brown hair and beard.

"Like

you

would know anything about fitness," was her reflexive response, which drew a mix of laughter, clapping, snapping, and ooooohs from her students. She loved them - they always had her back.

The fat painter actually laughed in response (the audacity!). "Yeah, you look better in leggings than I would, but I'm telling you - that girl power bullshit is not going to save them from a rapist."

"Some of my students are survivors, you asshole! I help them work through their trauma, and you have no right to come in here and... retraumatize them."

He actually looked chagrined (god, if only someone had been recording), but it only lasted for a second. "Ladies, I didn't know - I apologize. But I really mean it - please do not think this girl has any idea what she's talking about."

Kelsey expected her students to jump in and put him in his place, but the studio was as silent as after his first stupid comment. She gulped, and the best she could come up with was, "I-I could kick your ass..."

"What's your name?"

"It's on the sign, genius - Lifestyles by Kelsey. I'm Kelsey."

"Kelsey, sweetheart, I could toss you all over this room."

"How about if I make you tap out, you tear up the bill for painting the back room?" Kelsey had watched enough fight clips online and had gotten enough practice with Eric that she knew she could lock him in an armbar with ease.

I bet the video would go viral.

It could take her to the next level...

"What do I get if I win?"

"Just getting to touch a woman like me would be a prize for you." That came out weird, and she felt her face get even hotter.

The painter smirked, and suddenly Kelsey felt like she was going to throw up. "There's an idea - you think you can fight off a rapist, and I think I should show you that you can't. Maybe you need a demonstration. A...

complete

demonstration..."

Kelsey couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Ew, gross! Fuck that bill - you'd have to pay my rent for a year!"

"Where do you live?"

"Not my apartment, you idiot! This studio!"

"This place? You're on! I'll try to - ladies, I don't want to retraumatize any of you. If this is

triggering

to anyone, please feel free to leave." No one moved - a mix of curiosity and fear had come over the class.

"I'll try to... have my way with you. If you can hold me off, I'll pay your rent for a year. If you can't, well... all you'll have to do is lie there..."

"You are disgusting."

"Just admit you have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're an asshole! I would-" Kelsey sensed that she was starting to lose the women in her class, and that made her more nauseous than thinking about the painter touching her. "OK, fine! Let's do it. I'll kick your ass and then you'll pay my rent."

"And if I win, I get to fuck you."

Kelsey was speechless at how plainly he put it. After the most awkward silence of her life, she managed to squeak out, "Fine. But you won't."

It had all happened so fast - in the moment, Kelsey never fully considered what she had agreed to, and over the next few days, it seemed like everything conspired to keep her from being able to back out. Her students, and then her followers started messaging her and posting about it. Everyone was buzzing about it - this could be huge for her career. A rep from an actually famous podcast reached out to her asking if she'd consider coming on the show (after the fight, grrr). Maybe worst of all, Eric started working out the details with the painter, whose name was Steve, apparently, and now everything was in writing, signed, and notarized.

For the fight (she still didn't know what to call it - match? challenge?), Kelsey would start at one side of the mat, and Steve would start at the other, closest to the front door. If Kelsey could make it to the front door, she would win - all she had to do was touch it. Steve had five minutes to pin her down and... she couldn't even bring herself to think about it. She just had to keep him out of her. Five minutes, one year's rent paid.

She would be allowed to use anything legal in UFC, and he insisted on holding himself to high school wrestling rules ("I'd cave her pretty little face in if I hit her, and what would be the fun in that?" he'd told Eric.). They'd each wear standard athletic clothing ("No fair wearing something I can't get off."), and she told E to assure him that she'd only wear something from one of her videos, which Steve had made sure to start scrolling through by now.

She could stop the fight at any time and end the challenge by saying "I give up" (Steve had initially suggested "I'm a fraud"), but she'd have to post a video saying that she's a fraud, that she doesn't know what she's doing, that she taught her students garbage and put them in danger. She would also have to

close her studio

, and who knows what she would do after that.

He had produced a clean STD check, as had she, of course, and she was on birth control. Only Eric and her star pupil Nina would be allowed to record, and Kelsey would own all videos. Her favorite students would be allowed to come and cheer her on, and he'd be by himself except for an attorney that Kelsey insisted be a woman - Steve's invoice to paint and the lawyer's bill just about matched, so Steve had joked that he had ended up painting the back room for free anyway it worked out. They agreed to meet at 10:00 on Saturday morning- 12 days after the bet.

Kelsey had made good use of those 12 days - she was already in prime physical condition, and she got in plenty of extra sparring with Eric and a couple of her better students. She had her gameplan all worked out - she planned to end it in just a few seconds. Left to the temple, right to the throat, then sprint past him to the door. She had practiced it a thousand times on Eric. Even when he knew it was coming, she always got past him. If that didn't work, and they ended up on the mat, she would look for the armbar - she knew how to lock it in a dozen different ways, and she'd made Eric tap so many times that she almost felt sorry for him, but like Steve, Eric should consider himself lucky to be touching her. She also had a few surprises just to be safe, and now in her home studio, she knew she was ready.

She got to the studio 30 minutes early to coordinate everything with her team, and she was quickly satisfied that everything was in place for her shining moment. She was wearing a tight black T-shirt, black yoga pants, and black & white sneakers. Her makeup was perfect, and her hair was pulled back into two Dutch braids. Steve walked in at five minutes to ten and asked simply, "Are you ready?" He was wearing a white T-shirt, red athletic shorts, and sandals, which he kicked off when he came in. He'd at least trimmed his hair and his beard, but he was still nowhere near her league.

They took their agreed positions on the mat, and Kelsey waited for the whistle from Eric to signal that he'd started the timer. When the sound pierced the air of the studio, she advanced toward her would-be rapist, and she was surprised at how quickly her silly plan failed.

Before she could throw her first punch, so well-rehearsed, Steve picked her up off the mat and threw her facedown. She realized there would be no armbar as he jumped on top of her and all his weight pinned her flat on the floor. She tried to push up, but two things happened: she realized how heavy an average sized man is, and she felt both her forearms pulled behind her and squeezed together at the small of her back. She heard an animal grunt come from her body as she worked her core to try to get any kind of opening, and she realized that she was utterly and truly helpless. She would have to resist any way she could and hope the clock ran out.

Kelsey yelped as she felt Steve work his feet between her knees and pry her legs open - now the only thing keeping her safe was her clothing. She felt her yoga pants hooked and pulled down over her ass - was he holding her down with just one hand? - and she heard him laugh as he pawed between her legs. "Ha ha ha ha - you fucking bitch! This is a good one..."

He'd just found one of her surprises - under her T-shirt and leggings, she was wearing a one-piece swimsuit. An athleisure company had sent it to her to include in one of her posts, and she hadn't thought about it since. It actually extended over her ass and several inches down each thigh, making it more like a unitard, and hopefully, presenting enough of a difficulty to slow Steve down.

In fact, Steve seemed to be enjoying the extra challenge as he pulled just enough weight off her to roll her onto her left side, then with his free right hand, pulled the bottom of her T-shirt from her belly button over her head. He released her forearms but grabbed the shirt between her elbows and twisted. She pulled with everything she had, but she couldn't free her arms, and she felt him pull the strap of her swimsuit off her right shoulder to her pinned elbow. This exposed her right breast, and as she looked at E moving to get a better camera angle, she felt the burn of helpless fury.

Steve rolled her back onto her stomach and pulled her left strap down as far as it would go. Kelsey thought about giving up, even though she'd resolved not to, and that, along with the humiliation of being exposed by a nobody in front of so many friends who looked up to her, made her start to sob. Steve pulled her arms free from the tangle of fabric, returned her forearms to the small of her back, and reminded her, "You can end this all with three little words..." The son of a bitch wasn't even out of breath...

"Fuck that," she said through clenched teeth, trying to sound defiant. Now she felt the swimsuit hooked and pulled down to her right hip. Then the other side over her ass. Back and forth until her former outfit was tangled around her knees.

Being held down and stripped naked was having a strange effect on her - she wasn't turned on, but she felt blood rushing to her face and between her legs. "How much time?" was all she could sputter out as she panted. "Four minutes and twenty seconds left," came the response from Nina. Kelsey wailed in desperation as she realized what was about to happen to her.

She couldn't see, but judging by the skin pressed against her ass and thighs, Steve had taken his shorts off. She cried out as she felt something cold and wet between her legs - she cringed as it occurred to her. His fingers were working his saliva into her pussy.

Oh god, I hope he can't feel how wet I am

, she pathetically thought to herself. Her struggles had become intermittent now - she was completely conquered.

Then something hot, hard, and wet pressed between her legs. "NO!" Kelsey screamed, as her struggles renewed.

"Last chance." Now Steve was breathing heavily. "Last chance to give up."

"Just say it!" one of her students yelled from the crowd. Kelsey couldn't tell who.

Fucking Steve was right. Any of them could be in this position, and it would be because of me.

The realization stunned her into complete resignation. "I deserve this," Kelsey said, letting her face fall to the mat. "Do whatever you want."

She almost thought that she'd sound so pitiful that he'd let her up, but instead, she felt his cock slide inside of her. He pulled back, then his next thrust filled her completely. Kelsey felt numb from the waist up as he started to fuck her. Numb and empty. She just wanted it all to be over.

"How much time do I have with her?" Steve inquired, but the studio was silent except for Kelsey's soft moans, as everyone watched, entranced. "Well, I hate having to make this quick - maybe next time you'll give me a little longer."

Steve had more than enough time. Half the room turned away and the other half watched covering their mouths as he fucked Kelsey until he unceremoniously came inside her. Two women in the crowd started crying, and Nina brought Kelsey a robe when Steve climbed off her. Kelsey weakly got to her knees and covered herself up. Steve broke the silence as he dressed.

"Hey, are you OK? You damn sure held up your end of the bargain."

"You were right about everything." Kelsey was trying to string words together and stop the room from spinning. "I'm OK."

"I should probably leave."

"Do whatever you want."

The host of the podcast was just about finished with her intro, and Kelsey felt more nervous than she'd ever felt - even more nervous than before she faced Steve three weeks ago.

"So today we're here with Kelsey"-

"THE Kelsey?" the co-host clarified.

"Yes, THE Kelsey, as in the Kelsey Challenge, is here with us today. Just about like, everyone on the planet has heard of it by now"-

"Or tried it."

"Ha ha ha ha - have you tried it?"

"I had to try it."

"With Bryce?"

"Of course with Bryce!"

"And who won?"

"Well, Bryce won, duh, but I wouldn't exactly say I lost..."

"Mmmm... That's right, girlie... If you haven't heard, the Kelsey challenge is when you give your boyfriend"-

"So heteronormative."

"No, I feel like the gender is very important because - you know what, you just be quiet. We have a guest here. You give your boyfriend five minutes to grab you, get your clothes off, and then, you know, see what he can do with you. It's named after the up-and-coming fitness guru Kelsey Thompson, whose story really took off when she invented it. Can you tell us about that?"

Kelsey took a deep breath and told the story just like she'd practiced. "I really wanted to put myself to the test and see if all of the things I'd learned in self-defense were truly best practices, so I picked a random guy that was actually doing some construction work at my studio and asked if he wanted to volunteer for a science project."

"And he ended up on top, right?" the co-host asked, somewhat suggestively

Kelsey shuddered internally at the memory and hoped that her face didn't give anything away. "He got me, yeah." Her practiced smile and giggle were meant to soften things and keep the subject matter light.

"Did you safeword out, or did you let him go all the way? We're seeing posts from all over, and it seems like even some women who try with their husbands opt for the safeword," the host pried. Kelsey and her new PR manager knew it was coming.

"Well, half my fans hope I quit, and the other half hope I went through with it, and I don't want to disappoint either, so I'll let everyone think what they want for now."

"But there's a video, right? Didn't OnlyFans offer you some money for it?"

Kelsey blushed - the deal was almost done. 1.1 million dollars.

"Wait, hold that thought - let's pay some bills. I want to talk about this great new way to..."

As Kelsey listened to one of her idols talk about some fashion subscription app, she thought about everything that had changed. Her bank account, of course, but she'd also started mixing some gender realism in with her usual content, encouraging women to stay safe in packs, avoid dangerous situations, and learn how to use pepper spray or even a gun if they feel comfortable. She'd actually hired fucking Steve to work in her expanded studio and help with some subjects she didn't know about, and he was starting to get a following on social. Every now and then, he'd tease her about a rematch, and if her 15 minutes of fame kept boosting her profile, she might take him up on it.

She had lost the challenge, but ultimately, she had no regrets.