Sitting on the cold roof of Damien's car, I was absolutely captivated and intrigued by the way he moved around the ring created by the onlooking spectators. Damien circled and sized up his larger opponent, taking the initiative to throw the first punch, easily landing it on the man's face. His footwork was smooth and fluid like a butterfly's, yet his attacks were quick like lightning and heavy like thunder. Damien was never afraid of his opponent, no matter who he was up against. The amount of strength and conviction backing him was endearing and empowering. Even as I watch him take on his third match of the night, he still carries on with all the energy in the world. The night was still young and Damien had already conquered The Pits, becoming the undefeated champion of the night.
The Pits are what you call an underground fighting club, definitely illegal and definitely unsanctioned. Only those who knew the right people would know about The Pits. Its existence is kept low-profile and those who snitch end up badly beaten by its leaders. Other times, the snitches would go missing then later found dead. The ring was sheltered amongst a district of abandoned buildings, providing a perfect disguise for its operation. Every night, people- either from player or watcher backgrounds- flocked and gathered here with the intention of making (or unintentionally losing) money.
Truly it was wrong of me to be here, much less participate in the illegal gambling and street fighting. Then again, this was the best choice for Laurence and I. My life was supposed to be about school, friends, and parties but that couldn't be any more farther from the truth, I was the sole breadwinner. Money was a constant struggle for us and resorting to The Pits is our livelihood. A part-time job would not bring in enough funds for our expenses, and dropping out of school in favor for a full-time job was out of the question, even then we would still be scraping by. The difference between a job and The Pits was substantial and I took the latter.
Damien soon returned to the jeep after winning his fourth match. In his bandaged and bloodies hands, I caught a glimpse of a large bundle of money cradled in his grasp. I then noticed the smug smirk on his face, I could tell he was proud of himself for taking down a disliked nuisance of The Pits.
"How much did you make?" I asked, watching him put the stack of bills beside mine.
"Same as you, six grand," he replied. "I can finally take Char and the kids on a much-needed vacation."
Suddenly, the thought of his beloved family wiped the previous look of Damien's face, quickly replaced with an expression of genuine pride. He was a family man, loving his wife and children with all his heart, even Laurence and I, who weren't his blood. Damien would even put his own safety on the line for all of us just to make sure we were happy. With that smile still present on his face, he unwrapped and removed the bloodied bandages from his hands and patted my knee.
"Let's head home and get some sleep," he suggested.
Damien gently grabbed my waist and helped me down from the roof before climbing into the driver's seat. As I tried to make my way to my usual seat on the passenger's side, I was forced to step to the side as a sleek black car passed by. The car then parked in front of the jeep, but the driver didn't get out. Shrugging, I got into the vehicle and buckled in for the ride home.
☁️☁️☁️
By the time Monday's seven a.m. practice rolled around, the girl's volleyball team was ready to conquer the tournament in a week's time. We were all pushing ourselves to exceed our limits and to raise our own expectations, as well as the ones of our coaches. The twelve of us ran drills and refined our skills for the next two hours, driving our bodies to the point of exhaustion and the point of collapse. This was our one chance to claim glory for our school and for the girl's team. We've been longing to wear the crown that has been locked up by the girls of Kingsman High. To hell were we going to let the opportunity to crush our rivals slip through our fingers.
Once practice came to a solid end, Clarice and I dragged ourselves out of the gym, both of us absolutely sore and tired from the intense training session. There was this collective consensus circulating among the girls and it was true, we all hated morning practices. According to Clarice, she valued her sleep as if it were a karat of gold and I was in agreement with her. Morning practices were the worse because it means that I would have to wake Laurence up early so we could have breakfast together before I left. However, Damien offered to take my brother to school before he went back home.
The wave of fatigue was setting in tenfold and we dragged ourselves to our lockers. Neither of us wanted to carry on with our classes and the rest of our day, then again, we would have no other choice. Clarice's parents were strict with her attendance, no doubt would they be chasing her for that. Despite our despise, we still grabbed our books and set out for first period.
"Clarice! Florence!"
Upon hearing our names through the noisy hallway, we turned around where we were immediately greeted by Sophie running towards us. Almost immediately, I tilted my head in confusion upon the strange sight. Usually, Sophie would be with Jacob before first period, walking through the corridors together before heading off to their separate classes. Seeing her without her boyfriend was out of place like a sore thumb. Sophie skidded to a halt when she caught up to us, hunched over while trying to catch her breath.
"Sophie? What's wrong? Where's Jacob?" Clarice questioned.
"Out...Outside… the school's been trashed!" she exclaimed, grabbing both of our wrists and dragging us down the hall.
We were pulled out the front doors where a large crowd of students was already gathered in the courtyard. With their phones in hand, they were taking videos for social media, others were taking pictures judging by the burst of light flashing from their devices. The boys, who were at the bottom of the stairs, took their hard glares away from the building and looked at us as we ran up to them. Turning around, Clarice and I gasped at the sight in front of us. Hundreds of paper toilet rolls disgraced the face of our school, turning the building's sandstone exterior white. The gross part was that the toilet paper looked to be used. Looked higher up, I felt my heart stop- strung above the school's defaced nameplate was a dead rabbit. Whoever did this was not only insulting Whitewood's mascot but the entire school community.
"This happened because of the party…" Felix frowned. "Their sour asses can't even accept the fact that they lost."
Clenching my fist angrily, I turned to Clarice who mirrored my expression. I could tell she was absolutely livid by this act of revenge.
"We can't let them win the tournament," I said in anger. "It will be the best, non-violent way to get even."
" This, Florence, is why we're friends," she smirked, throwing her arm around my shoulders. "Mark my words, we will dethrone those bitches."
Everyone was on edge following this morning's tense events, the principal was alerted of the school's state and he made a very lengthy and dry speech. As you can probably assume, it was about getting the police involved and cracking down on the rivalry between Whitewood High and Kingsman High. Mr. Lang even had the nerve to advise us from getting even with them, when really, multiple students were planning an insurrection against the Kingsmen. The teachers and staff were naive, thinking that just by getting the cops to work on this case would stop the Kingsmen and Whitewood from feuding. They are trying to extinguish a war that had been going on for decades, if anything this rivalry is as old as the school itself. The staff knew that this had been going on for years, it was futile to even stop it. The only thing we could do was to have a reckoning.
Clarice and I left the gym and headed to the cafeteria after holding a meeting with our teammates. The message was clear for everyone, we could not allow Kingsman High to wear that crown for another year in a row. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, all twelve of us were in agreement and we were going to work our asses off to win the tournament. No longer were we going to stand the tyranny of our rivals. Once we arrived at the lunchroom, our table was already occupied by Sophie and the boys. It looked like they were waiting for Clarice and I as Sophie waved us down. Arriving at the table, Clarice swung around the table and took her usual seat beside Sophie. Luckily for me (note the sarcasm), the only available seat was beside Caleb, oh joy.
The moment I took my seat, Caleb was quick to pin his stare on me. Ever since this morning, he has been looking at me as if I grew a second head or if my skin turned some crazy color. It bothered me that he was watching me like a hawk.
"What?" I questioned, raising my eyebrow.
Knowing how he was, I had expected Caleb to roll his eyes and give me that infamous attitude of his. Yet he didn't. He kept his mouth shut and simply turned back to his phone. Something was seriously wrong with him.
Just as I was going to dig into my lunch, my phone began to ring and vibrate inside my pocket. Sighing and ignoring the stares of the others, I fished it out and froze upon seeing the caller ID, however as soon as I answered, I got up from my seat and proceeded out of the cafeteria. The others called out to me but I ran out like I didn't hear them.