The opponent stood in front of me was a girl.
The first girl I had fought since finding this new town and it was kind of refreshing to see.
That and because the men usually liked girl on girl action. And that meant the bets were high tonight.
And I was ready to win.
The sound of the bell echoed in my ears but neither of us made a move to attack first.
We circled each other as I analysed her steps. She seemed to be a leftie but I didn't know if that was just a diversion from something else that she was hiding. I wasn't going to take any risks just yet.
Deeming myself ready, I stepped forward throwing an uppercut which just managed to graze her chin as she stepped back.
She kicked her leg out, successfully plunging her foot into my stomach. At the contact made, I quickly grabbed her foot and twisted causing her to fall to the ground.
I ignored the pain in my stomach as I rushed to her and straddled her, each leg holding her in place securely.
Her arms raised to dodge the oncoming attacks but my fist pummelled into her midriff instead.
Unsuspecting of my target, she weakened the defence barrier that was her arms and I aimed for her face.
Her arms had now completely given up at defending herself. Each fist that hit her skin had her cringing in pain, the next attack even worse than the last.
However, a harsh light soon had me scrunching my eyes closed and it took me a few seconds to realise what it was.
I wasted no time in blindly getting off her.
I didn't want to be anywhere near her. Or the knife that she grasped in her hand.
What a fucking let down.
Using a weapon to win. Not only was that cheating but also lowered my respect for her.
And to think that I liked the fact that I could finally see another girl fighting here.
And she went and spoilt it.
She lunged towards me with the dagger but I was quick to side step.
Her teeth ground together as she let out an aggravated sigh at the fact that she had missed her target.
Me.
"What? You too scared now?" She spoke with a hard tone, clearly frustrated that her approaches had failed so far.
Ignoring her, I braved myself and aimed to knock the weapon out of her hold. At the very last minute, she tossed it to her other hand and struck my temple with the solid handle.
What the fuck was that knife made of?
The smirk that sat on her face was hard to see with the black dots that started to blur my vision.
Shit.
I shook my head, trying to get rid of them only for them to come back.
Her smirk only grew at this.
She knew.
Deciding it was better to stay in a defensive mode, I bounced lightly on the balls of my feet, my arms in place.
Her foot stepped forward and I was quick to duck as her arm shot out. Swiftly, I kicked my legs out and her body fell soon after.
Scrambling up, my foot struck her knee and she winced at the pain.
She stood up carrying all her weight on her right leg, the other clearly in pain.
My head still throbbed, and the black dots only grew in size.
I had to finish this quickly.
I inched closer towards her until we were at arm's length. My fist made a move to punch her but the quick motion from the knife had me retreating it.
Too risky.
Noticing my wariness of the object in her hand, her simper only grew.
She stepped a foot forward, going in for a hit. I quickly dodged her punch but was quickly met with another when I realised the first was just a fluke.
My head whipped to the side, blood instantly trickling from my nose.
And just as my body recognised the pain that flared up on the right of my face, she struck again.
Only this time, it wasn't her fist.
The handle of her knife came into contact with my head forcefully.
This time, I didn't even have time to feel the pain as her face in front of me became obstructed by nothingness.
I wavered on my feet, swaying as I tried my best to focus on her. But to no avail.
Through small gaps I noticed her advance towards me. Words escaped from her mouth but I couldn't process them, just able to hear her voice.
She was close.
Grasping that fact, I closed my fist and with one swing, I aimed for her.
Except, my fist never made it as my body slumped to the floor, making a loud thump in the process.
She whispered something in my ear but I wasn't able to listen to what she had to say as I soon succumbed to the darkness enveloping me.
I was unconscious.
***
"Ahh, I can't find my concealer. Oh fuck, tonight is going to go horribly." I rummaged through the draws, too stressed out to function.
That was understandable though.
Because tonight was in fact Friday –the night I was supposed to meet Zach's parents.
On my own.
Where the hell was that thing?
"You know you don't need makeup, they'll love you for your natural beauty."
I gave him a flat look.
"You're forgetting about the bruise on my face. Something tells me that that'll set off red flags in their head."
He grimaced as if just realising my predicament.
"Oh. I kind of got used to it."
I nodded, returning to searching for the stupid makeup.
Once retrieving the tube, I dabbed its contents onto my face and blended. Finishing off I realised that the look was not so subtle. I was trying to make it appear like that was my face and that there was no makeup in sight.
Clearly, that didn't work.
Sighing in annoyance, I added foundation and swiped some mascara through my eyelashes a few times.
At least this looked like I was trying to wear makeup.
I mean, I wouldn't have had to do so at all if it hadn't been for that bitch.
I had woken up just about two minutes later and luckily –or not so luckily for my face- I had fallen forwards. The hood was still on and my identity was still hidden.
Though most of the impact when falling was on my front, my head must have hit the ground a second later because I had woken up with a pounding headache.
The walk home was bearable but the climb up that treacherous tree was a mission. I had managed to do it but it took a while. Especially considering I didn't want to pass out again.
I hadn't even cared about the dried up blood on my face on my way from the fight.
But I sure did care about how my face was looking now.
It was definitely an improvement. That was for sure.
Standing up, I gave myself a once over in the mirror. My face showed no sign of the purple bruise that had formed overnight on the right side of my face.
My jeans clung to my figure tightly, hugging my curves. I made sure to wear a plain long sleeve top to cover any small bruises on my arms. And because I may be wanting to pull the sleeves over my hands during parts of the night.
I didn't want any questions from them about the cuts and bruises on my knuckles.
"So, what time is he coming?"
"Uhh, should be here at six-thirty. Which is in-"
The sound of the doorbell ringing had be uttering profanities.
"Oh shit. He's already here."
I scrambled to put on my shoes, brushing past Shaun in my haste.
He quickly stopped me, "Whoah, hold your horses."
"Shaun," I warned.
I needed to go, I didn't want to keep anyone waiting.
Especially not Zach's parents.
"If you feel uncomfortable at any time, or need anything. Just call, okay?"
I nodded, embracing him in a hug. "I will, Shaun. Thanks."
He gave a nod of approval and let me go.
I rushed downstairs, paying no attention to Zach who stood by the door. I mumbled a 'just a sec' before making my way into the living room.
Dylan was sat with Blake watching something on TV, laughing their hearts out.
"Hey Dyl, I'm off now."
He whipped his head towards the sound of my voice, his brows furrowing.
"Already?"
I nodded as he walked towards me, a sad look on his little face.
"Can't they just come here for dinner? Then we can all be together."
Now that wouldn't have been such a bad idea.
I sighed, "They've already gone out of their way to invite me, I'm sorry bud."
"Oh. Well what time will you be home?"
"Mmm, I'll probably come home late. So no waiting up, okay? Shaun will be here."
"So I'll be asleep when you get home."
"Probably."
"Will you at least still give me my goodnight kiss? Oh and- wait, but what if I wet the bed again?"
My thumb stroked at his cheek. "Dylan, you won't."
"Hey, I think we need to get- oh."
Zach's voice sounded from behind me but I ignored it. It seemed as though he had realised that I was saying bye to Dylan anyways.
"But how do you know?"
"Well, because you now have a night light. And Shaun is around. And you're super brave."
He seemed unsure.
"Oooh, and if they serve dessert when I'm eating then I'll make sure to save you some."
He tilted his head, a giggle escaping his lips. "How would that stop me?"
"Because now you'll be too preoccupied dreaming about dessert that you won't be scared."
He grinned, wrapping his arms around my neck in a hug. I chuckled at the action and hugged him back.
I kissed his cheek, "I love you Dylan."
"I love you too. And don't forget about my bedtime kiss too." He whispered back.
"I won't. I promise."
Kissing him goodbye, he waddled back over to Blake and I was quick to pull Zach along with me to the door.
Still not having greeted him I looked up at his face only to come to a halt.
"Wait, you said be yourself. Why the hell are you wearing a suit?"
His cheeks flushed red and he scratched the back of his head slightly, the white fabric of his shirt stretching out, threatening to rip.
I had to say though, he did look hot in a suit.
"Umm, well, I was just scared that you would have freaked last minute and picked something else. So I didn't really want you to feel left out."
This time a blush rose to my cheeks at his words.
He was worried about me.
"Yeah I decided to listen and just went with my usual."
He nodded before squinting. "No. No, you didn't. Why are you wearing makeup?"
I forced a chuckle. "Okay, maybe not completely myself. But I wanted to put a little effort in."
He held the door open for me as we continued to walk to his car again.
"You still look really pretty. I mean I'll always prefer you without makeup but you really know how to make anything work, don't you?"
Not knowing how to respond, I settled with, "Thank you."
He headed to the boot of his car and I stood there confused. Until he pulled out a shirt and a pair of jeans from a bag.
"Oh, you're changing?"
He nodded, "Yeah, why?"
I shrugged, looking at my feet. "I don't know, I kind of like you in a suit."
"Mmm, how so?"
I stared up at him. "Makes you even hotter."
He responded with a cheeky smile and I sat down in the car whilst he changed.
"Ready?" He asked when he finally got in.
His t-shirt clad chest strained at his movement as we started moving off and I couldn't help but stare at the way his hard muscles contracted.
Realising I had been staring for too long, I quickly focused on the road ahead of us. The silence surrounding us was comfortable and it didn't take long until we had arrived.
We closed the doors behind us and he guided me towards the front door with the hand that rested on my back.
"We're really late now, oh no."
He sent a small smile my way, "We'll be fine. Dylan's more important than being late to a dinner."
I returned his smile with one of my own, happy by his answer.
He knew just how important Dylan was to me and that I would do anything for him.
The front door opened a few seconds after we rang the doorbell.
I stared at him confused as to why he didn't just open it himself but was brought out of my thoughts when the woman in front of me spoke.
Here we go again.
"You're late. Not really off to a good start, are we now?" She tsked, her dislike towards me made even more apparent.
Her cold stare bored into me as I racked my brain for an answer.
Well, this was bound to be a long night –that was for sure.
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