I had borrowed my dad’s sweats. They were about two sizes too big for me. That was a good thing though. No chance of any embarrassing rips with these baggy pants. I practiced the horse stance in front of the mirror, carefully swiveling my feet out.

After a few minutes I noticed Megan in the reflection. She was over at the other end of the gym. She was working some bicep curls. Her sleeveless T-shirt showed off her muscular arms. She must have sensed me watching, because she turned around. I resumed my horse stance, pretending I was focused on my own reflection.

Megan grunted and pumped a few more curls before setting the weights on the floor and wiping off her bench. She walked toward me.

“Nice horse stance,” she said.

“What? I mean, oh, yeah. Thanks.”

“So the rumors are true. You do know kung fu.”

I straightened up. “What are people saying?”

“That you’re some kind of martial arts expert. I think I overheard someone say you trained with Jee Ling over the summer. And somebody else said you’re related to Jackie Chan.”

“Yeah, well, you know what rumors can be like.”

“So you’re not related to Jackie Chan?”

“Actually, I’m his second cousin.”

“What? Really? That’s so awesome!”

I laughed. “No, I’m just kidding. The only thing we have in common is that we’re both Chinese. That’s it.”

“Oh. Still, it’s cool to meet someone else who is into martial arts.”

“So you’re into kung fu?”

She punched her fist into her palm and bowed. “Been training since I was nine. My brother was taking kung fu lessons, and Mom only had time to drive us to one activity a week. She gave me a choice. I could do my homework while he was doing his kung fu, or I could join in. Now he’s the one sitting on the sidelines doing his homework.”

“Wow, since you were nine. You must be pretty good. What belt do you have?”

She cocked her head to the side. “You in kung fu or karate? Belts are for karate.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I knew that,” I said quickly. “I meant sash. I’m so used to people asking me what belt I am that sometimes it’s easier to just say belt.”

“I hear you. I’m blue. You?”

“I’m black and blue,” I joked. “Tough drills.”

Megan looked at me a little strangely. “So where do you train?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t know my studio.”

“Is it Gingwu? Wing Chun? I know all the kung fu studios around here.”

I inched away from Megan, eyeing the exit. If she pressed much more, she’d figure out that I was lying.

“Actually, I’m in between studios right now,” I said. “Anyway, I should probably get back to my workout.” That was my lame attempt to change the subject.

“Well, if you want, we could train together.”

Megan did a flurry of air punches in front of me, turning her hands into knife blades as she twisted her body and moved toward the mirror.