Scarred

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

After thirty minutes on the treadmills trying to race each other, I finally start slowing down. Exhaustion starts weighing in and it gets harder to move my legs.

"Common Jules, can't you run any faster?" James teases. He knows how much I hate being teased.

"I'm going as fast as I can, Tyler." My breathing becomes labored, my lungs burn, and finally I pull the cord to stop the treadmill. I lean over, sucking in air, trying to calm my racing pulse.

"What's going on? You can go further than that," James says, stopping his machine as well and stepping off. He hands me a bottle of water.

"I'm sorry. I'm just nervous about sparing," I say.

"What are you nervous about?" he asks, though he already knows. My mom had mentioned my fear of physical contact when I first joined. I wasn't always afraid, but my past relationship has ruined my life. It's made me question everyone's motives.

"You know why," I say. Sweat drips down my face and I taste the salt on my lips.

"Amanda's here today. She's in your weight class. We can get her to spar with you."

Amanda. She used to be my friend, until one day the boys started noticing her. Amanda couldn't handle the fact that I had a boyfriend she wanted – Christopher. She doesn't know how horrible he was to me.

"Would you feel better if I spar with you?" he asks. I stare at him for a moment, thinking about the possibility of sparing with him. James has done nothing to scare me or make me distrust him.

"Actually, yeah." My eyes drop to the floor. I wrap my arms around my waist. It's odd that I would feel more comfortable sparring with James than a female. We've been training together for the past two years and he knows my quirks. He and his dad are the only ones that really know what happened between me and Christopher.

"Okay then, let's get ready." Our eyes connect again. James Taylor is something special. He'll make some girl extremely happy one day.

I walk over to the ring in the center of the gym. Thin elastic rope surrounds the ring to make a barrier. The mats in the ring are nicer than the ones we practice on. My fingers fumble with the laces on my trainers. I can't help the tremors that flow through my body. Dark thoughts plague my mind as I work to tighten the hand wraps around my palms.

What if I can't do it? If James hurts me, I'll never be able to look at him the same way again. We won't ever train together again. Starting over would be my only option, but I can't live without the gym; it's the only escape from my past.

"Are you ready, Jules?" James asks, cutting me off mid thought.

I nod my head and take a swig of water; my last sip. Sam stands at the corner of the mat acting as our referee. Most of the other employees and gym members walk up and surround the ring. They look eager to see how I'll do, especially against one of the best fighters here.

My lungs rise and fall faster with each breath. Sweat dampens my neck, and I think about running away, telling everyone to shove off and get their own entertainment, but then I look at James. He stands in the middle of the mat waiting for me. He doesn't seem worried or nervous. Why can't I be like him?

My breathing slows and I take another sip of water. I step onto the red sparring mat and walk up to James.

"Okay, the rules," Sam starts out, stepping into the center of the makeshift ring. "No face hits and only use fifty percent strength on offensive moves. We don't want to get injured in sparring. We will start off at two minutes and see how things go. Are fighters ready?" Sam looks at his son, he holds his arms out in front. James nods his head. Sam turns to me for my answer. I swallow a dry lump in my throat.