by Ashley Beale
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I see Mason as Aubrey and I enter the basement. Avery had text me earlier and asked me to show up twenty minutes early so that I wouldn't get lost in the crowd. Over 200 people are supposed to show tonight. It makes me nervous, but at least I have Avery and Mason looking out for the two us the best they can.
"Hey, where is that Mouse guy? I want to place a bet," I say to Mason.
He looks amused. "Well, well, never would have thought. Come here, we'll go find him."
Aubrey and I follow behind Mason until we see Mouse, who is with Pierce and another fighter I don't recognize. I see the look on Mason's face, and he starts to turn around but Mouse asks what is going on, so he decides to stay. I'm nervous as can be, I haven't seen Pierce in weeks, but I can tell by the look on his face he is thrilled I'm here. I'm not sure if it's because it's me and he finds me attractive, or if it's because he can now rub shit into Avery's face. I do hope that Avery kills him tonight. Okay, not like murder him, but knocks him out again.
Mouse explains the rules and how the bets work, especially now that there is four rounds. I can see the head shake Pierce gives when I say I'm putting down five hundred on Avery.
As we're walking out of the room Pierce yells out, "sorry Cassie, you're about to lose a fortune, but I'll make it up to you later." I close my eyes and bite down on my lip to the point I taste blood, but I do not look back towards him, and I do not say a word. I just take a deep breath and walk away with Aubrey and a now pissed off Mason.
Avery sees us moments later. He gives me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. He whispers in my ear, "don't worry Cassie, I won't tell the boyfriend about this either." When I pull back, I smack his arm playfully.
"You can be such an ass Avery Manning!" He bursts into laughter.
"Good luck dipshit," Aubrey says with a smile.
"Thanks Ducky. You place a bet on me?"
She smiles with mischief. "Why would I ever do such a thing?"
Mason of course doesn't see that she is playing around, or simply ignores it, when he speaks up. "Try three Benjamins, and this one here put down five." I swallow hard when I see the look on Avery's face. His eyes grow as large as I've ever seen, the green in them growing darker.
"What the fuck Angel? What if I lose?"
I shake my head, smiling. "Not going to happen! And if you do, well, I'm stealing my money back from you."
He laughs at me, "alright, deal. I'll win just for you. Again." I roll my eyes and pretend I didn't get butterflies at his words. I shouldn't feel this way towards him at all, I need to stop! I have Carson, who is amazing and wonderful, and my boyfriend. I need to stop having feelings for a childhood crush, it needs to end right now.
We all chat together until Avery excuses himself to get ready. He already is in his fighting clothes and I've been drooling over it insanely, but I try desperately to pretend I'm not. Not only for myself but I also don't want him to catch on. I want to play it off like I'm not tripping over myself at his sight, or voice, or smell, or at... him.
The basement fills up and Mason, Aubrey, and I all get front row access again at the makeshift ring. Mouse does his little speech and explains how there is four rounds, and the victor in the end is the ultimate champion of the underground fighting. There will be no changing this title the rest of the year. Avery would have kept it but a lot of people complained he only beat one person to get it instead of the other top fighters. That is why they're doing this. Mason explained that part though, not Mouse.
"Round one, let’s welcome Tyyyylerrrr "Twitch" Tyyssoonnn!" A good sized looking man comes running out as the crowd errupts, including Aubrey and myself. I know that Avery isn't in this round, so I don't mind doing some cheering. Then Mouse calls in the second contender, "ladies and gents, this is a crowd favorite, welcome us Scott "Vortex" Blacckkmoreee!" Once again the crowd erupts. We watch as the two of the guys duke it out, and Scott ends up being the winner of round one.
There is a slight pause between rounds, letting the winner take a break and catch his breathe. I look over to Mason, "does everyone have a nickname?" I've never heard Avery be called Kill Switch by anyone, but I notice all the fighters have nick names, plus there is Mouse and Porkchop. It's just weird.
He laughs at me, "yeah, Mouse is the one who gives everyone nick names. He got his nickname from the last person who ran the fights, and told him to keep the tradition going. Everyone who fights or runs the place has to have something. The people running it do so that way they don't get their real names given out around the public. It saves them in a way. The fighters get them because it helps separate them or some shit like that. Plus, it makes them seem tougher. A fighter can choose his own nick name but many of them don't have one. Avery's came from back in Washington he said though."
"Oh, well it makes sense I guess. You didn't know him back in Washington?" Mason and Avery seem like such good friends, you would think they knew each other for years.
Mason just smiles, "do you think people up in Washington have southern accents?" He laughs and shakes his head in amusement. "Nah, we met at orientation. Hit off good I guess, I don't know. He is a real good guy you know."
"Yeah, I do know," I say back, smiling politely.
Mouse is back up on his soapbox, so we stop the conversation there and I'm thankful. I know he had more meaning behind his words and I don't feel like hearing anymore. "Okay ladies, what you've been waiting to see. Oh, and you two guys, but for a different reason. Get your hands ready as our winner Scooottyy "Vortex" Blaaaaccckmoooore takes on the one, the only, Piiiiierce "Skull Crusher" Daniiielllsoonnn!"
Both guys run out from different spots. The guy, Scott, looks all cleaned up, like he hasn't even been getting used as a punching bag the last ten minutes. The horn blows and Scott is knocked out in minutes. The poor guy probably never had a chance against someone like Pierce, I don't know why he even attempted. As they crown Pierce the winner, he looks right at me and grins. I smile politely but look away from him. I hear a laugh escape Aubrey, so I glare at her, but that only makes her laugh harder. I can feel Mason tense up too, he really isn't happy anytime Pierce even looks in my direction.
Thank goodness he doesn't come talk to me at all, he leaves as they prepare for round three. Mouse gets back up and starts his announcement. "And now for round three, we bring you out Oweennn "Rif Raf" Mannnssonnnn!" The crowd erupts again but not me this time, knowing this is the round that Avery shows up in. "And now, the one you've all been waiting for. The one that was crowned victor against Skull Crusher. Are you all ready? Because here he is, Averrrrry "Kill Switch" Manniinnggggg!"
I jump up and down, screaming 'yeah, go Avery! Kick his ass!'. When Avery runs out and sees me cheering, he beams right up. In seconds he has a look to kill on his face as he eyes his opponent. The Owen guy looks like he will put up a good fight, but I have no doubt in my mind that Avery will blast him. Less than ten minutes into the fight, Avery is being crowned victor for that round, and I'm so excited! My throat is raw already for screaming at him. As his hand goes up in the air, he looks over at me and winks. I feel so giddy, it almost makes forget that I have a boyfriend who has no idea where I am right now.
There is an extra-long pause between round three and four, as both Avery and Pierce get ready to fight. "Holy shit, I'm so nervous," Aubrey breathes out. I laugh at her, but honestly, I feel the same way. I can't even speak, afraid I'm going to throw up.
Mason puts his arm around her shoulder, and I can see Aubrey's face light right up. "Don't worry, Avery won last time, he'll win again. He has been practicing, and that isn't something he even needs to do."
She looks up at him, "I feel a lot better now." She looks at his hand that is resting on her shoulder and back up to him. Mason returns a bright smile to Aubrey, and it is adorable. The two of them look amazing together. Aubrey keeps making connections with guys, but nothing has lasted more than two weeks since starting school. I'm hopeful for her sake this one does.
This time I'm jumping up and down, cheering Avery on. I take a quick glance at Pierce and can see him watching me intently. I try to look away before he catches me, but I have a feeling I failed miserably. When Avery comes out he spots me and smiles, then gets the crowd all pumped up again. Avery and Pierce go toe to toe with one another, and all my nerves are back at full force. This is intense. Both guys look at me at the same time and I'm frustrated. I just want them to fight, to stop bothering with me, stop looking at me. They need to ignore me completely.
The fight starts and Avery gets the first punch, a good one that has Pierce bleeding already. A few more punches get tossed between the two and Pierce points towards my direction before blasting into Avery. He knocked into his jaw so bad, I swear it must be broke, it looked so painful. Avery doesn't seem to show any care in the world that he just got blasted. He gets what looks like six punches on Pierce before he gets one more back. It keeps going like this for a while, and I'm chewing my nails. Every chance I get I cheer for Avery, but my throat is so raw and my nerves are out of control, that I'm scared to jump around and scream too much.
Pierce punches Avery's face at such a force that it knocks him down on the ground and he takes full advantage of the situation. I'm almost crying out as Pierce gets on top of Avery and slams into him time and time again. "GET THE FUCK UP AVERY! KICK HIS ASS!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Avery looks over at me and smiles, his mouth full of blood, as he gets up and pins Pierce down. He starts pounding into Pierce with all the force imaginable, and before I know it Mouse is throwing down the towel, and once again calling Avery the champion!
I am so thrilled by it, I run right into the circle and jump directly into Avery's arms. He catches me, and I wrap my legs around his waist and push my lips to his. I'm not even thinking of anything, I'm just caught up in the moment of everything, that when I pull away I almost punch myself in the face. I jump down from him and blush profusely. "Awesome job Avery," I say, trying not to stumble on my words, and looking in every direction but at him.
He chuckles, "thanks babe, it was all because of you." He nudges my shoulder but before anything more can be said, Mouse comes over and pulls Avery's hand in the air, causing everyone to give in one last roar of approval.
Aubrey and I leave the warehouse before I see Avery again. He had a lot he had to deal with. We got our money from Mouse, and said goodbye to Mason. I asked him to apologize for my behavior for me and he laughed, saying he would. I didn't want to run into Pierce, so I used that as an excuse to get out of there.
I am so angry at myself for kissing him like that. "Aubrey, what the hell do I do?" I ask her on the drive home.
"Um, wait for me to have a camera next time? That kiss was HOT!"
"I'm sure Carson wouldn't think so." I bite down on my lip, starring at Aubrey. She gives the best advice, I know she will think of something. I hope she does. If she doesn't, I'm probably screwed.
"What kiss? I didn't see anything more than a peck on the check for congratulating your friend as he became a victor." I know it may not work, but typically these fights are hush around campus, so I'm hoping that word doesn't get around. Although, I recognized many of the 200 faces, because nearly everyone is from school- some friends with Carson. Shit. I'm in trouble! I don't know what to do.
A dry laugh escapes my throat. "Yeah, we'll see."
Chapter 6: Tell All
The news of the fight has been all around school the past two days back, and I'm getting more and more nervous. It's all supposed to be hush-hush, but apparently the fight was one of the best people around here have ever seen, and it keeps going around. Granted, all the talk has been about Avery and Pierce, but I know somewhere along the way, someone has mentioned the kiss.
Aubrey and I are sitting at lunch, which Carson typically doesn't join us for, but today he comes strolling over and sits next to me. He kisses me on the cheek softly. We've seen each other a handful of times since Saturday night, but the way he is acting is off. Or I'm just paranoid. Why is he in here? I think he has ate lunch with me three times since we've known each other. "Hey beautiful," he says before turning to the food in front of him.
"Hey baby. What brings you in here today?"
He looks back up at me and smiles softly. "I gotta head out a little early today from school, so I won't be able to grab food. Plus, I really wanted to see you. I don't get to much during school hours."
"Yeah, I know, it sucks. What are you doing after school?"
"Oh, just got a meeting with the brothers. We need to discuss some things for Friday night’s Halloween party."
"Fun," I say sarcastically with a small laugh. I turn to my food and continue to eat, while Aubrey complains about her Algebra class.
I hear a husky laugh from behind me and I already know who it is but I don't turn and look. Less than thirty seconds later both Avery and Mason pull up chairs at the table and sit. Mason next to Aubrey, and Avery across Carson and I. I could punch him in the face right now. I'm trying to think of random things I hate so that I can keep myself cooled off, not just from his green eyes glaring into my own, but also because the second my eyes saw him, I immediately thought of my kiss. It felt incredible that night, but my insides right now, they feel like... shit.
"Hey," I say softly looking first at Avery then at Mason, then I look at Carson and give him a reassuring smile. I look back down at my food and pretend they're not even here.
I hear an amused chuckle from Avery, "hey there Angel. You all missed a pretty awesome fight this weekend." I look up and my wide open eyes just stare at Avery. I cannot believe he would do this to me. I feel such a mix of emotions that I am about to be sick. I shake my head at him and look back down. I'm just going to ignore him, because if I don't, I may say some things I will regret. Plus, what can I say? I don't want to full out lie to Carson, but I didn't even tell him I went to the fight at all. I was stupid and pretended it was best I didn't say anything.
Aubrey tries to save the day, "Avery, we're a little busy. We will see you later. Oh, and congrats on winning. But I thought the fights were supposed to be kept quite?" I can feel the tension all around the table, but I still am not looking up at anyone, not even Aubrey or Carson. I just want to dig a hole to China right this second.
Mason chimes in, "yeah, she is right dude. Hey Aubrey, what are you doing this weekend? I wanted to see you. If that's cool, you know." Thank you Lord for saving me.
She giggles out her answer, and I guarantee she is blushing. "Friday night is a Halloween party at the Beta Theta Pi house, but Saturday I'm not busy."
"Sweet, can I have your number? We'll make some plans." There is silence, so I assume she is writing it down or something. "See you this weekend," Mason states before I hear chairs sliding backwards.
"See you later Angel. You too Ducky and uh, Carson." I can hear the sound of disgust in his voice but I ignore him still and just stare at my lunch. I probably look like I am mentally challenged right now, because I've been looking at my half eaten burger the last five minutes while conversation is going all around me. All but Carson has said something since the two of them sat down.
I hear good-byes go all around the table, and as soon as Mason and Avery's voices are cleared from being around, the tension leaves my shoulders and my head just falls. The bang of my forehead to the lunch tab
le hurts but I don't say anything, I don't move it, I just lay here like a freakin idiot.
"You okay Cassie?" Carson finally asks me, but I just shrug my shoulders. "Is there anything you need to tell me?"
I close my eyes and take a deep breathe in. I swallow hard as I pull my head up to look at Carson. Giving him a sheepish look, I answer, "I went to the fight Saturday. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It was last minute and it was all supposed to be kept a secret. I wanted to tell you, I just didn't want you pissed off, so I'm really sorry Carson." I look down to the floor, waiting for him to storm off pissed.
Of course Aubrey was right though, he doesn't really show me his pissed off side, and I'm thankful for that. "It's okay, I heard you were there. I was wondering when you were going to tell me." Shit, shit, shit. He heard I was there. So did he hear about the kiss? I look up to him, my eyes as wide as saucers, waiting to hear if he has more to say.
"You did?" I ask. I can feel Aubrey's eyes on me but I don't dare to look away from Carson. I want to know what he knows. If he knows the truth.
He just nods but doesn't give any clue of anything more. "Yeah, you don't have to keep things from me you know. It doesn't bother me if you go to the fights. What bothers me is finding out from other people. And when Avery wants to be a jackass like that, like he knows you didn't tell me."
I bite down on my lip and nod for a second before answering. "I really am sorry Carson. I'm scared to lose you or fight with you. I'll tell you if there is another fight, but I'm not sure if I'll be attending any more. It was an awesome fight, but it's kind of creepy being down there."
"Yeah, I bet," he says, smiling at me. That is the end of the conversation and I'm glad. I still have no idea if he knows about the kiss, but I'll play it off that he doesn't. If he does, well, he is playing it off just as well as me.
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Two nights later, Aubrey and I are at the apartment doing our yoga when there is a knock on the door. I make her answer it because I don't know who would be stopping by, and I hate being interrupted during yoga. I hear a man's voice that turns me to mush instantly, so I stand up and run to the door. "Hi Carson, what are you doing here?"