(Derek's P.O.V)
"Okay, it's Friday and I'm fucking pumped!" Warren grinned as he plopped down next to me in the cafeteria and took out his apple.
Michael chuckled, "I second that."
"Why? Is some big party happening?" I rose a confused brow.
They both gave me sinister grins and leaned closer and I stopped munching on my - yes, I know - Kitkat.
The irony is not lost on me. I'm super conscious.
Rebecca slipped onto the empty seat on our table and our attention was on her for a moment.
Warren raised a brow at her intrusion, "Where's Veronica?"
"She's...busy." Rebecca blushed and we all chuckled.
No secret what she had to be busy with.
"Anyways what were you guys talking about?" She looked at us all, her pretty brown eyes sparkling with questions.
She was surprisingly, unlike Veronica, unwilling to have quickies and all. I had learned some stuff over this week. She dated and then she slept with people. Most of the time. I mean can you blame her for having one night stands once in a blue moon?
I don't.
Michael leaned back in his seat, blonde hair ruffled. "It's Friday."
"Ah." A look of realization dawned on Rebecca's face and she gave me a grin too, similar to the guys'.
Okay, now I'm really intrigued. What more entertainment is this town hiding?
"Just wait till it's seven." Rebecca assured me, "You'll see." Then she turned to the guys. "You're taking him with you, correct?"
Warren gave a 'Duh' look, "Obviously, Rebecca. Can't let Derek miss out on that."
"On what?" I groaned.
Rebecca bit into her burger, "The Fights."
I perked up instantly. "The Fights?" I ran a hand through my dark dyed hair.
"Yep. Two hot girls beating the shit out of guys double their size." Warren regarded me with a grin.
I let out a low whistle, "Whoa, seriously?"
Michael nodded, "Yeah, but they keep their identities a secret. They're from our town only though."
"So it it that difficult to figure out who they are?"
"You can try once you attend an official fight tonight and see it for yourself." Warren commented, finishing his Monstar. "It's gonna be epic."
"They're both smoking hot."
Rebecca rolled her eyes, "You guys are such.....guys."
Warren turned to face her. "No offense, Rebecca but have you seen the Wildcat when she fights? That skill? And that toned body?"
Michael chimed in, "Not that The Leopard's any less. She's really good too. But yeah."
Rebecca pursed her lips.
"You coming or..." Warren let his question trail off and Rebecca sighed.
"Nope, it's a Friday so you know I have French classes."
I was seriously impressed now. I thought Ladenhill would be a quiet, boring town but honestly, I'm starting to like this town very slowly.
I inquired, "The Wildcat and The Leopard?"
Rebecca dabbed her mouth with a napkin, done with her burger.
Lady-like. She from the 80's?
"Both the girls were dubbed based on their fighting style and that stuck." She clarified and I grinned.
"Sounds really fun."
"Just wait, Derek. Just wait till you see the action in person." Rebecca shot me a grin as well and I chuckled.
As the bell rang, signalling the end of the class, my eyes snagged onto Lila's.
After what I shared with her yesterday, the vibe had changed between us. Very slightly but yeah. I was glad she'd proved a good listener. Not that I said a lot or something which would make much sense to her without knowing everything.
But she hadn't even asked me anything at all and I was more grateful that I was willing to admit.
Lila's metallic grey eyes sparkled with a challenge and she rose a brow at me.
I winked and smiled in return.
I'd get back to annoying her soon enough.
•♤•
(Lila's P.O.V)
I rolled my shoulders and cracked my knuckles, grinning as the crowd cheered up at my first win of the night.
As I ducked under the rope boundary of the ring, Diego grinned at me. "Well done." Then he was gone and behind the bar again.
Some weird DJ music was blaring and I cursed Diego's taste in music for the umpteenth time. I don't know if it was Juicy or Worst Behavior by Drake.
I rolled my eyes because he and I both knew that this was nothing. First of all the guy Tasha had let in was too inexperienced and secondly this was just a warm up.
The Leopard and I would both fight three people and then had a twenty minute break before we went against each other. It was why Blue was always packed on Friday's.
Because we both fought and the audience which mostly included guys, really enjoyed it. The females just supported us for being badass.
Girl power, Boy downer.
My first fight was finished in a matter of minutes and obviously I won. Alternatively, Leopard and I went and fought before finally being pitted against each other.
"The second guy is a good one, I swear." Tasha scoffed in confidence and I rolled my eyes as I wiped my neck with a towel, eyes on The Leopard, a 5'7 girl.
It got hot in here and even the bit of ventilation and AC's did nothing to win over the high the crowd and body heat created. I was already sweating and that was the only thing I despised about Friday nights. The light was dimmed as always, so much so that making out each other's face would be hard.
It helped in keeping our features from being entirely discernible because the mask might hide our faces and other things might throw people off about our hairstyles or colors but....
You can't exactly change heights.
Or stop the ogling you receive from horny teenage guys who legit feed their eyes while watching us fight and the skin we show.
The Leopard and I weren't exactly willing to become grilled toast so obviously our attires ended up being practical.
And thus, revealing because you know, society sucks.
My dark purple sports bra showed my toned stomach and the faint ab lines, much like the Leopard's. And my tiny practical black shorts exposed legs that I'd heard comments on more often than not. But you take it in stride and learn to flick it away like a bothersome fly with time.
The Leopard's color scheme was yellow and black, holding true to her namesake's colors. Leopard patterned sports bra, mask and plain black shorts same as mine except striped with yellow unlike my purple ones.
Blue was packed as usual and most of the faces were familiar to me. Some guys in their twenties and thirties were present too, nursing cups of beer or coke. Who knows?
I tucked a baby hair behind my ear but the rest of the long hair was braided and Tasha was a expert at hair-styling so she somehow managed to make my tight braid look shorter than reaching my waist. I was aware she extended the hair-styling courtesy to The Leopard as well but that was fine with me. The end result of my mahogany braid ended mid-back and the purple strands were beacons that definitely threw people off.
But those weren't the best parts of my disguise.
I wouldn't risk anything.
"What's with you picking weird guys for my first matches? Is it like a fetish, Tasha?" I seriously asked and the dark skinned twenty-four year old girl patted her Afro self-consciously, shooting me a stink eye.
I snickered.
"It's to even the playing field. Marcy picks weirdos too, that's why." Tasha was honestly beautiful with dark skin and her fluffed but short Afro hair. She said it was a bother sometimes. I said, whatever.
I looked away from The Leopard's fight because I could afford a minute or two of not watching her. She'd started two months after I did and considering how her patterns matched mine...
I could bet she was another student and probably at Laden High only.
But who was I to go snooping about her identity when I took such measures to keep mine a secret?
Marcy was The Leopard's....fight picker? Well she does the same thing Tasha does for me. There are people who want to fight us but Diego doesn't risk his fighters so Tasha and Marcy are tasked with scheduling people to fight with us according to our own time frames.
So I guess they're like assistants?
For fighters. Which is actually not that weird.
Really. I swear on Derek being Looney Tunes.
"Next fight is up in two, ready Wildcat?" Tasha rose her brows and I nodded. She wouldn't use my real name here and I was glad to actually have her just as much as Diego.
I chuckled and gave her a 'really' look.
She smiled back fakely.
Gosh, I love her.
Jumping back into the ring, the dark lighting was so effective that the ring was lit up nicely and still the strategic placing afforded us some secrecy. Like say, if someone looked at me, they would totally think I had black hair and tanned skin where in fact I was pretty fair and mahogany haired.
My opponent had me smirking and then the fight began with Diego's words to commence.
He was big. Like height, weight, muscles....everything.
And easy as that, that was his downfall. He lunged at me and I ducked, simultaneously punching him in the gut with my MMA glove covered hand. He didn't show any other effect than a slight flinch.
He aimed at my face and I dodged while seeing his opposite leg come up for a kick that I blocked. In response, I threw a right hook at him that he failed to avoid because of his unstable footing. I took the opportunity and punched him in the gut, then landed a roundhouse kick that made him stumbled backwards. My opponent glared at me and tried to elbow my side. I narrowed my eyes.
Not that he could see. Heh.
Cheating, are we? Because use of elbows and knees isn't allowed in kickboxing.
He was stronger but overconfident and too proud of his muscle weight. Sure, each hit to his body made me aware of his muscles but Diego Morales was much tougher and if I could take him down even once then that meant this guy was nothing.
He kicked me but I got a one-up on him and bent backwards before kicking his single remaining leg, marking his fall.
The crowd roared and I hid a grin.
He fell down and I seized the moment to put him in a choke-hold, gritting my teeth and tightening my hold on him as my breathing started to even out.
The guy finally tapped out.
I snickered internally as my fallen opponent gasped for air and looked uneasy while Diego came into the ring, holding up my hand as was customary to show me as the winner.
This fight was nothing much though. I didn't get hit more than once.
Two minutes later, it was again The Leopard fighting against a guy similar to the one I had.
Tasha wasn't kidding. She and Marcy actually find similar people for us to fight so we're on the same level by the time the real deal arrives for us.
I drank some water sip by sip and eased my muscles.
I admired the girl whose hair came off as pure white and tied in a top knot. The Leopard was quick on her feet and she overpowered her opponent in the same manner I had. It wasn't that interesting for me but the spectators enjoyed if the cheers and comments were anything to go by.
She was declared winner and I was let into the ring once more for the last amateur fight.
My opponent was in the audience though.
It wasn't a surprise because a lot of times some volunteers from the crowd wanted to fight and with a quick background check, Diego let them. Pablo wouldn't care that much though, I'm sure.
The guy I saw though was a slightly familiar face.
"Ricky, why do you wanna get your ass beat?" Michael rolled his eyes at the guy who was making his way up asking him over the blaring sounds but I heard of course.
I wasn't surprised at seeing Michael. He and War frequently visited.
"You already know." He shot them a grin and I snickered quietly.
Ricky was the defender on the Soccer team and best to say he was probably the tallest and with the most muscle in Laden High. Broad shoulders and probably some doping for tonight so he looked more cut.
I wouldn't put it past the guy who's so vocal about girls being good for only one thing and one thing alone - pleasing guys like him.
I'm so happy he wants to die tonight.
I'll love to unleash myself on this guy. I've wanted to smack him so many times but Ricky and Lila and School didn't really mix well.
But Ricky and Wildcat and Fight Ring?
Now that would make perfect sense.
I clenched my jaw and deeply breathed in. I swept my eyes over everyone one more time and Ricky was chuckling, being encouraged by his friends.
A strange prickling of eyes on me made me aware of someone.
I cursed myself internally the moment my eyes landed on copper ones before I proceed to prepare for the fight with a heart beating faster than normal, sure he didn't recognize me because I was confident more than I let on. And it wasn't without reason.
Derek was here.
Well, let's put up a good fight then, yeah? Yeah.
•♤•
A/N
Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
What do you think of Tasha and The Leopard so far? And the fight? Or the whole disguising stuff? Anyways, hehehe let's say the story starts properly now lol.
Sorry for the late update, I was in a bit of a slump and though I have around 6 chapters in draft, my internet wasn't working either so I was kinda cut off from the world haha.
Look out for the next update then and please don't forget to vote and comment to let me know what you thought! Thanks for your support so far!
Till next time then!
[Fully Edited.]
~Skyler