Chapter 16

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|| Chapter 16 ||

"So who is the guy you're against?" Jesse asks Drew as we walk towards the gym. The owner of the gym had closed it early today because they're hosting a few trial matches before Drew heads off to nationals for a week next month.

Drew hoists his backpack over his shoulder. He's wearing black jeans and a plain white t-shirt, looking very relaxed. "Dude calls himself 'Iron Fist'."

I can't help but snort in laughter, "What a name." Alyssa chuckles next to me.

"When do you go on?" Mateo asks, walking in front but facing us.

Drew shrugs, "Like second to last, I think."

"How are you so chill right now?" Isaac asks, slipping his hands into his pockets. A few people from school walk by us and shout out Drew's name with a cheer. He just gives them a head nod and starts digging through his backpack.

"He's done this a couple times," Kendall pipes up from under Liam's arm.

"A couple? Dude's a freaking champion!" Liam exclaims, playfully punching Drew's arm. Drew ignores him and pulls out his headphones, sticking them on his head and starts fiddling with his phone, putting on his pre-game music.

We walk through the automatic sliding doors where the reception desk is located. A girl that I have never seen before sits behind it as she reads a book. As we all get closer she looks up at us with a bright smile on her face. "Hi, how can I help you?"

"We're here to check in, Andrew Benson?" I ask, watching her put the book down and pull out a sheet of paper.

"Yup, right on through to Room 3, good luck!" She smiles again and I nod my head politely grabbing Drew's arm and pulling him in the direction of his waiting room as I tell the others to take their seats. Drew still has his headphones on so we don't talk, he just lets me lead him.

There's a crowd of people near the back rooms and I have to literally shove people aside just to reach the room. I open the door and we walk into the small space that looks like it's supposed to be an office with the desk pushed into a corner and a couch against the wall. I pull aside one of his headphones, "Okay, you have ten minutes to get changed if you want to catch the first fights."

"I'm dressed, my pants are on under the jeans," he mumbles, slipping his headphones down so that they're resting around his neck.

"Did you bring your robe thing?" I ask, taking a seat in the swivel chair.

"Nope-."

"Out of my way!" A loud voice shouts from outside, halting all other conversations in the hallway.

Drew looks over at me and I find myself furrowing my eyebrows trying to determine whether or not I know the voice.

"Touch my ass again and I will rip your throat out, now step aside," the voice is now right outside my room and I find myself grinning.

The door shoves open and we're greeted by four smiling faces.

"Special delivery all the way from Paris!" Courtney Easton and Quinn Darby, Charlotte's other best friends, grin at me from the doorway. Charlotte and Olivia are standing behind them. "Voila," Courtney pulls out a piece of fabric from behind her back and my eyes are immediately drawn to the silky black texture and the name 'Killer' written across the back.

Drew's eyes are wide as he walks closer to them. "Courtney, you made this?"

She beams proudly, "Yes I did, my professor in Paris nearly killed me for using his fine silk but it was totally worth it!" Drew leans down and hugs her tight. "I literally got off my plane an hour ago so if I crash before your flight, I apologize in advance."

I walk over to Quinn and give her a one-armed hug, she smiles at me and accepts Drew's tight hug.

"Hey T," Courtney walks over with a grin, "You've gotten taller."

"I know, what a shocker," I reply sarcastically.

"I mean I'm wearing four inch Louis' and you're just shorter than me." She spins in a circle and it gives me a chance to look at her outfit for a chill night like tonight. She's wearing a white loose off the shoulder sweater paired with a pink tulle skirt and white strappy heels. I'm wearing a t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts with my Sharpie covered converse sneakers.

"I told her that it was too much for tonight," Quinn rolls her eyes with a grin.

Courtney turns to Quinn and puts a finger to her lips, "We dress to impress, Quinn, if any of the guys here tonight look half as hot as Drew does then I'm golden." She finishes her sentence with a teasing wink to Drew who stands there with bright red cheeks.

"God, why do all of you flirt with Drew?" Charlotte asks with a groan, "You do know he's eighteen right?"

"All I'm hearing is that he's legal," Olivia comments with a laugh and Courtney high fives her.

"And how would Sebastian feel about that?" Quinn asks.

"He would congratulate her," I reply with a roll of my eyes. Olivia snaps her fingers and points at me as if I said the exact thing Sebastian would.

"Um, could I get undressed?" Drew asks quietly, looking back and forth between us.

"Sure, go ahead we don't mind," Courtney replies, waving a hand dismissively and turning back to continue her conversation.

He stands there awkwardly for a few seconds before coming to the realization that none of us are going to move and he slowly starts pulling off his jeans where he's wearing his black silk shorts that he wears for every competition. He grabs the back of his shirt and pulls it over his head.

"Hot damn!" Olivia whistles.

"I am so sorry Drew," Charlotte smacks the back of Olivia's head.

"I'm not," Courtney laughs, staring at Drew's chest.

"Oh my god, just stop it already, you're freaking him out," I finally say, sparing a glance at Drew, feeling sorry for him. Drew looks at me gratefully as I throw him his new robe.

"Sorry Drew, we're used to guys wanting to show their skin," Courtney says, looking apologetic for once.

A hard knock sounds at the door before it's pushed open and Sebastian walks through with Cole, his best friend, next to him. "Yo, we're missing the first fight, let's go!" Sebastian whines but stops when he looks around the room. "Damn Drew, nice abs." Cole wolf-whistles.

I smack my palm onto my face.

"See?" Olivia points at the two boys as if their explanation enough for the girls' actions.

"Wait, let me get in on this," Sebastian walks into the room, Cole trailing behind him, and starts pulling off his shirt. Charlotte and I groan out loud but Olivia whistles loudly, making him throw his t-shirt to her and she waves it in the air like a prize. He stands next to Drew, "Cole, take our picture, I'm going to caption it, 'Expectation vs. Reality." He laughs as he speaks standing next to Drew.

Drew just stands there, a little shy. Sebastian picks up on this but doesn't say anything as he bends down and starts doing pushups. "Dude, what are you doing?"

Sebastian doesn't look up just keeps doing pushups, "I'm pumping iron, Cole, what does it look like I'm doing?" Drew laughs and throws his robe on with a relaxed smile.

"Alright calm down, idiot, let's go we're missing the fight," I speak up and start shuffling everyone out of the room. Sebastian sighs in relief as he stops and lies down on the floor looking up at me, silently asking if he's done and I nod my head, grateful for his idiocy for once.

I move to stand next to Drew. He looks down at me with a smile and rests his arm around my shoulder as we walk out of the room and down the hallway with our little entourage. The crowd ahead of us is screaming as we push through them to get to our seats. The plain training room is dark except for the lights pointing at the ring where two teenage girls are in the middle of a fight.

"Man I missed this place," Sebastian says as he puts his arm around Olivia's waist and she immediately leans into him.

Sophie appears out of the crowd with a concerned look on her face, "Where the hell did you two go? You left to get drinks and never came back," she looks at her twin and his best friend with her arms folded across her chest.

"Sorry, we got distracted," Cole gives her a sheepish smile as he moves closer to her to put his arms around her. She huffs in annoyance but accepts his embrace.

"You left me alone," she says quietly looking into his eyes, trying to convey a message to him.

"I know, I'm sorry," he whispers against her temple and kisses it lightly.

The crowd cheers loudly and I look over at the ring and see a girl lying flat on the floor while the other stands over her with her arms raised in the air.

Drew squeezes my shoulder, "I'm going to find Chris and run through a few combinations. I'll see you out there."

I nod my head, "Kick some ass," and watch him push through the crowd, earning slaps on the back in encouragement and cheers. He's pretty well known nowadays after his last championship left the other guy with a concussion so severe he had to be monitored in the hospital overnight.

My siblings and their friends follow me to the sectioned off front row that Drew always books for us when we come to see him fight. Alyssa and the others are sitting at the end of the row, pointing at the ring and talking loudly.

"You know, we should get Drew a girlfriend or something, all that boyfriend material, wasted," Courtney says from behind me as we shuffle into our seats.

"Um, I think he's already got that covered, don't you think?" Quinn asks quietly, probably in the hopes that certain people don't overhear her but I do.

"Brianna broke up with him a few weeks ago," I inform them, looking at the next pair of fighters entering the ring.

"Oh Honey you're clueless," Courtney pats me head childishly. Her actions piss me off.

"Actually I'm not," I push her hand off my head and look at her-dead on. "I know that Quinn was talking about me, I'm not an idiot." Courtney jaw is slack as she stares at me along with Quinn, Charlotte and Olivia. "Drew and I aren't like that and we will never be like that, he's my best friend, so all of you," I say pointedly looking around at my friends too, "Let it go already."

The crowd screams as the second match starts but the silence among my family and friends is superior. "Well..." Charlotte is the first to break the silence but she just keeps looking at everyone but me. "Thank you for letting us know...that."

"I've never heard you speak like that, like ever," Courtney comments. "So much passion, it was weird, don't do it again, it's not you." Her smile is teasing and I feel like I can relax again.

"Color me confused, but what was that about?" Isaac asks as he moves into our row with Mateo behind him and they're carrying a bunch of concession food.

"Where did you get that?" I ask, reaching out for a hotdog, ignoring his question.

"Food trucks are parked outside, so convenient," he smirks, sitting next to me.

Courtney leans over me to look at Isaac with a skeptical brow, "Who are you?"

Isaac's face freezes in shock for a second -as he looks at Courtney, "Isaac Diaz, you're gorgeous."

"Actually I'm Courtney, but thanks," she gives him a half smile before turning back in her seat and watching the fight.

"How old are you?" He asks, trying to keep her attention on him. I roll my eyes. "Are you single?" Forward much. I raise an eyebrow at him, not sure whether to applaud his ballsy moves or laugh at him.

"Honey," Courtney replies giving him a sickly sweet smile, "I'm out of your league." And with that iconic statement, she leans back in her seat and starts talking to Quinn.

"That was hilarious," I chuckle lightly, making eye contact with Alyssa and Kendall who are both trying to hold in their laughter.

"I think I'm in love," Isaac sighs.

|| ✨ ||

"Come on Drew! Finish him!" Jesse shouts from his seat as we watch Drew take a punch to the face. I fight the urge to cringe away and keep my eyes on him, watching his every move.

"Oh my god, that's gonna leave a mark," Sebastian's eyes are wide in a trance. As his opponent moves to punch him again, Drew steps into the action, making his opponent step back from lack of space and giving Drew an opening to hit back. "Yes!"

"Kick him in the balls!" Olivia shouts.

"That's illegal," I remind her since she's said it three different times now.

"Whatever, use the chair!" She yells back.

"That's wrestling," Isaac tells her.

"Why the fuck are there so many rules. Kick his ass, Drew!" She screams as Drew rotates his body and kicks back his leg, hitting his opponent. 

"Come on, come on," I mumble to myself, twisting my fingers in stress. Drew moves backwards, staying light on his toes to catch a breath. The sweat is dripping down his temples, matting his hair to his forehead. He's breathing heavily but the look of pure determination is on his face as he moves closer to his opponent, who is still trying to catch his breath from Drews kick, to finish him off.

His opponent ducks one of Drew's punches and uses that opportunity to sweep Drew's leg out from under him. I groan with the rest of the crowd but then I see Drew literally jump back onto his feet, lightning fast and does a spinning wheel kick to his opponents face, knocking him out and onto the ground.

"YES!" Sebastian and I shout, as he throws his arms in the air, high fiving random people around him.

"Holy fuck!" Isaac exclaims, bumping into my shoulder. Alyssa and Kendall squeal and hug each other, running up to me and pulling me along with them towards the ring to meet Drew. The referee is holding Drew's wrapped hand in the air while a on-call paramedic looks over his opponent.

"That was awesome," I tell him accepting his sweaty hug.

He grins down at me, pulling out his mouthguard, "Like Edson Barboza?"

I roll my eyes, "Just like Barboza."

He laughs, moving away to accept high fives from random teenagers mulling around the ring. He walks up to his opponent who is slowly getting to his feet, "Hey man, good fight," he says and holds his hand out to shake.

'Iron Fist' his opponent, spits at his feet and a little blood smacks onto the mat. "No need to be a jackass because you got your ass handed to you," I can't help the retort from leaving my mouth.

"Yeah?" he sneers, standing up but pitching forward slightly. "I don't need a little bitch like you telling me how to act."

Sebastian takes a step forward so that he's standing right behind me; Drew's fists tighten in anger and I can already tell that Jesse, Isaac and Cole are behind me. Olivia, Charlotte and Courtney are next to me, sizing him up. I would tread lightly asshole, the girls are much more scarier than the guys. "At least I'm a bitch that can take a punch."

"Brave one, are we?"

"I don't know, let's find out," I say taking a step forward but am immediately pulled back by more than one set of hands.

"We're leaving," Drew says with an air of finality.

"Yeah, run home to daddy," his opponent mocks, taking a sip from a water bottle that was just handed to him. Drew looks down for a spilt second and I can already imagine that he's thinking about his dead beat of a dad.

I look at him with dead set gaze, "One more word."

This gets a smirk out of him, "Or wha-?"

He doesn't finish his second word because I've already smacked him in the throat making him choke on air.

"Or that, have a nice night, asshole," I say and walk out of the ring, letting my family and friends catch up with me. They're standing still, staring at the guy when I get to the reception desk.

"That was hilarious," the receptionist from earlier says as she packs up her backpack. "I mean look at him, I can't tell if he's in pain or just embarrassed that a girl owned him," she laughs.

"He had it coming," I reply, watching my friends move out of the ring.

"Oh I don't doubt it, he grabbed my ass when I had to show him his room earlier, wanted to sucker-punch him right on the spot," she says with a smile. "I'm Addison Marley by the way, my family just moved here from Texas."

"Tessa Hayes, been here my whole life."

"Cool, well I'll see you around," she says and waves as she walks out into the dark parking lot.

The others are just coming up from the ring area when Sebastian walks over to me and rests his arm on my head like I'm a headrest. "Well I can't tell which fight I enjoyed more, Drew's or yours," he laughs, ruffling my hair with his free hand. I elbow him in the gut and we all walk out into the parking lot.

"We are not worthy," Alyssa, Kendall and Charlottes friends come up to me and start pretending to bow.

"You guys are so weird," I roll my eyes, trying to keep a straight face but my lips keep twitching.

"A queen amongst peasants," Olivia remarks in a fake British accent as she points to the boys.

"Hey!" A few of them yell out, hurt. They keep bickering while Drew pulls his t-shirt out of his bag and slips it on.

"I expect to see everyone at the beach tomorrow! Bonfire night!" Jesse informs everyone as we slowly head off in the directions of our cars. "Drew, my man, congrats on kicking ass. Tessa, you scare me. See you later!" He throws up a peace sign as he gets in his car.

"Now was that punch really necessary?" Drew asks as we walk towards his car.

I tilt my head from side-to-side, pretending to think, "Yup."

"Well okay then," he laughs, pulling out his car keys, "I'll see you tomorrow? Beach day?"

I nod my head, "Sounds good, see you there."

|| ✨ ||

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it's been so long, but I since it's Spring Break and this Pandemic is causing mayhem, I finally have time to write.

I hope that you're all staying safe and taking the necessary precautions during this troubling and confusing time. If you ever need to talk to someone feel free to private message me or dm me on insta, I'm happy to chat!

Stay safe everyone!

Sammipott xx



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