FIGHT

Chapter 3

 I wake up and stretch, immediately getting the sharp reminder of last night's events. Glancing at the clock, I see that I've only been asleep for five short hours and I know that the circles under my eyes will be even darker than usual.

My body slowly climbs out of bed, aching with every movement I make. Once I'm standing upright, I place myself directly in front of the full-length mirror, sighing at my mess of disheveled hair. On further inspection, I see the small cuts gracing over my arms and I'm slightly wary to see just how bad my legs look.

There is also a bruise on my neck.

Well, several, really. In the shape of two hands.

My eyes tear up at the remembrance of last night. I don't know how I'm going to cover up the bruise, but I'll have to figure out something. It's in too obvious of a place with too much of a prominent shape; people will start asking questions if they see it.

I strip myself of the hot sweats and the t-shirt, glancing over myself in the mirror. There are too many cuts to cover up with makeup. Way too many to try to make an excuse for.

Looks like I'm going with long sleeves today.

My legs are worse than my arms, but not by much. Bandaids aren't exactly an option for me at this point, so I'll have to find an article of clothing that won't irritate the cuts too much.

I sigh, attempting to comb my hand through my tangled hair as I search for suitable clothes to wear to work. There's this soft, black maxi skirt I own that should work perfectly.

I just have to actually find it.

As I scrounge through my tiny closet, I hear my ringtone go off from the other side of the room and I rush towards it, just in case it's Luke. A repeat of last night is definitely not something I want happening again.

Picking up my phone, I see that it's just Josh. Since I didn't answer his message last night, I figure it would be a good idea to answer now if I want him to continue training me.

"Hello?" My voice echoes back to me through the speaker.

"Hey, Tatum. Still on for training today?"

In the background, I can hear someone's grunts as they pound their fists into the solid punching bag, the noise reverberating back to me. Josh's voice is barely a whisper to whoever he's with, quietly correcting something about their form before they go back to pounding on the bag.

I glance down at the red cuts all over my arms and legs. With these, I don't know when the next day I'll be able to train will be. Everything is exposed and Josh will ask questions if he sees my body covered in cuts. Not to mention the bruise on my neck that I'm still not sure how to cover up. Makeup will have to work.

"Actually, Josh, I can't today. Sorry. I went in yesterday and my body is sore and I wouldn't be able to handle a training session today. We can reschedule for one soon, though?"

Josh excuses himself from who he's with, walking away until the loud pounding can no longer be heard in the background of his voice.

"Yeah, Holden mentioned something about you yesterday. He said you got your hook down perfectly."

"Only because he helped me out with it."

Josh chuckles, and I can practically hear him rolling his eyes at me. He hates it when I don't take credit for doing something well, especially when it's related to boxing.

"Fair enough, even though I know you could've gotten it without him. Will you still drop by today?"

"I told you I'm too sore, Josh."