The Fighter

2. Amateur

EDITED 31OCT20

"Come on Cam, you have to get ready for school. I made you breakfast." I poke my little brother's face until he finally wakes up.

"What did you make?" He mumbles into his pillow making me smirk.

"Waffles. Now get dressed and come to the kitchen. Be quiet, don't wake dad."

He nods silently and proceeds to get up. I exit his room and finish my third cup of coffee before Cam comes to get his food. He sits down to eat but stares at my face before grimacing.

"Koda, what happened to your face? Did-"

"No, don't worry about it hun. Just eat your breakfast. I'll take you to school when you finish."

I ruffle his hair before heading to the bathroom. I forgot to put on makeup. I was still tired from staying up so late and waking up early enough to take Cam to elementary school. A blotchy purple and black bruise currently grazes my cheekbone. I shouldn't have let down my guard enough for him to do this much damage. Sighing, I pull out my makeup bag and go to work on the blemish.

After I drive Cam to school I head straight for one of the campus libraries. I did not get a chance to show Cam the city bus system this year since my classes started before his schooling did. Big cities aren't the safest places for eight year old's to be wandering around.

I had gotten a full ride scholarship to the local university. I might be smart, but I have to study my butt off to keep up with the college workload and maintain good enough grades. The scholarship covers my tuition and gives me a stipend for living expenses and books. Although I have an apartment on campus, I check in a lot at home to make sure Cam is cared for.

Despite the heavy weight of my laptop and textbooks in my backpack, I feel lighter once I enter the 1875 stone structure. It is one of the biggest libraries on campus so although a hundred students may fill the seats, there is enough room for me to have my own table. On the second floor, in the back left corner, I set up my studies at my usual table. About an hour into my studies, silence hums in my headphones between songs when the sound of hushed yelling grabbed my attention. I pause my music and move the speaker off of my ear. Usually, I am not one to eavesdrop, but this library is always silent, and there were less people in here than usual so there shouldn't be any noise at all.

"The deal was that if you started in the big leagues, you would stop street fighting. If you get caught, Mark will kill both of us." My ears couldn't help but perk at the mention of street fights.

"Well maybe if any of those kids could actually fight I wouldn't get bored enough to go back to the streets for some actual competition."

" We were sent there to find new talent, not beat them to the concrete."

"Please, I would hardly call those amateurs last night talent. One of the best fighters of the night got beaten by a scrawny little shit. They don't have the skills to enter this level."

Wait a minute was he talking about the fight last night? Was I the scrawny little shit?

"Maybe you're underestimating the kid. If he was able to beat the-"

"No," The other male, who sounded like a pretty big ass hole interrupted the other guy. "The twerp bumped into me and was nothing but bone. He doesn't have what it takes."

He is talking about me! What are the odds the jerk from last night would go to class here too? What are the 'big leagues' he's involved with? Even if he was insulting me, at least he believed I was a guy. But I still had quite a bit of muscle for a girl! I must have zoned out while the guys finished their discussion and were walking out.

I kept my head down to my book only to glance up momentarily. Just as I had thought, it was the guy that I had bumped into. I hadn't caught much last night other than his scowl, and there it was again on his otherwise sort of attractive face. With his scowl still on his face he gave me a quick once over, his eyes paused momentarily and almost smirked, until his scowl returned and he met my eyes for a second. He turned his head and didn't give me a second glance.

I'm not usually someone who cares about other people's attention but he definitely made the top of my rude people list. And what was up with that flash of a smirk? Was something on my shirt? I looked down and grimaced. That pervert. He was staring at my breasts that we easily displayed from my bent position and loose collared shirt. Well clearly he didn't think I was just a sack of bones when I looked like a girl.

Point one to the ass hole.

I glance at my phone only to realize I need to head to class. Only one building over, I enter through heavy wooden doors that lead to a lecture hall that is somehow older than the library.

"Hey, is anyone sitting there?"

"Nope, it's free." I automatically spoke referring to the seat next to me before I looked up to see who had asked.

"Thanks." The guy slid past the few kids that sat between me and the aisle and plopped into the seat next to me.

Oh you have got to be kidding me! The jerk fighter who thinks he's all that? I had coincidences. I kept my face away from him and focused on my laptop in front of me. Thankfully the professor had just walked in and class began. I instantly forgot the asshole next to me and dove into taking notes. I completely forgot about the guy and didn't even care when class finished. I had another class to get to and then homework. Tomorrow night I will have another fight.

Dressed in my disguise, I once again wear baggy jeans and a sweatshirt that hides my figure. I pinned my hair up and put on a baseball hat before I lifted my hood over the hat. My face was almost completely hidden, and in the dark, back alleys where the fights take place, the shadows will hide the rest. After slipping on my high top sneakers, I follow my mental model of the city to where tonight's fight would be.

I climb the tall metal fence easily despite my baggy clothes. When I land, I round the corner and am greeted by a familiar scene. People grouped together watching a fight. I sit back and watch the fighters as always, calculating their skills and techniques. Finally I step in. I win my fight, I only lose the small ones, I can't risk losing too much money, but if you always win people don't bet against you and the payout isn't as good. I'm trying to leave like normal when some girl comes up to me.

"Oh my gosh, I think it's, like, so cool how you fight! And I love to watch you move. Maybe I can get, like, a personal viewing or something?" The overly exposed rebellious teenager shamelessly flirts with me.

Okay that was kind of gross, she doesn't even know me, I could be some random creep. She can't even see that I'm clearly a girl under my hat. Maybe my disguise is too good, how masculine do I look?

"Uh no thanks."

The girl huffs. "Come on, we could have a lot of fun." Oh no we couldn't. " I mean you're, like, the total package; strong, mysterious, and sexy, and you even have great fashion taste, your shoes are, like, so cool."

Is this what guys respond to nowadays? Compliments on their shoes? No wonder I wasn't involved with anyone. Besides my total lack of emotional availability.

"So it's ten dollars admissions with a minimum twenty dollars if you bet-" My attention was caught by the sound of a familiar voice.

I left the girl standing as I wandered over to a new small collection of people. "All you have to do is run the flyer under a blacklight and the directions are revealed. First fight is at midnight this Saturday. I promise once you enter the big leagues, there's nothing else like it."

I kept my jaw locked as I absorbed the information the scowling guy from the library was delivering. Now he wore a bored expression as if he'd rather be anywhere else. He handed out a few flyers and I made sure to grab one. He eyed the girl behind me who had apparently followed me.

"Girls get in for free. But there's still an ID check for eighteen."

The girl behind me audibly pouts, where are this girl's parents? Well I guess I wouldn't be using a disguise this Saturday then, or maybe it would be a disguise on its own. I'd have to get a fake ID made for my fighting disguise before I could start going to actually fight.

In the meantime, I had to find a black light.