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Chapter Forty: I'm A Winner, Sensei

"In the end you'll see, you won't stop me. I am a fighter and I ain't gon' stop. There is no turning back. I've had enough. What makes me that much stronger, makes me work a little bit harder, it makes me that much wiser. So, thanks for making me a fighter."

~Fighter by Christina Aguilera~

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Revised: July 29. 2022

Warnings: abuse, anxiety, biphobia/homophobia, depression, domestic violence, slight eating disorder, language, panic attacks, sexual harassment/assault/abuse, violence, and other mature themes

A/N: This chapter is roughly 10,000 words of pain. Let me just remind you of the trigger warnings and how almost all of them are applicable for this chapter. Please take care of yourself <3

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Zion's POV

"Ella, you should probably get off of your iPad," I say. Her dad was very clear he doesn't want her on screens too much.

"But I want to finish building this house," she pouts as she plays Minecraft.

"Isn't there something you want to do with me?" I suggest, knowing that she likes me; honestly, I've grown to like her a bunch, too.

She's helped lighten my mood after the whole Hawk drama earlier and she's a good distraction from my feelings. He's been texting and even calling me, but I've ignored them all. The tattoo itself isn't the reason I'm upset. Well, it's not the only reason. It's what the tattoo represents: he's over me. But I still love him.

"Like what?" she asks.

I try to think through what we can do. She already ate and we played Uno and she got upset when I won all three games. What can I say? I play to win.

"Do you have any fun hobbies?" I ask and her face lights up.

"I play soccer," she says excitedly.

"Oh, really?" I ask. I swear, she's a mini-me. I used to play soccer all the way through middle school. I quit when my dad's health started declining because practices took up any time I had left with him. Still, I was good at it and it was a lot of fun.

"Yeah!" she says and I look outside to see we still have a bit of sunlight.

"Do you want to go play?" I suggest and within a second she sets the iPad to the side and jumps up and down.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" she squeals in excitement and runs out of the room. I follow her to a closet and she grabs a soccer ball. "Have you ever played?"

"Are you kidding? I played for years," I say and then realize that may be why I'm so good at kicking in karate. Why did it take me so long to put two and two together? I guess it's because I've blocked out a lot from my childhood.

"Yay! I'm going to kick your butt," she laughs and goes out the back door.

I follow her into the medium-sized, fenced-in backyard. I notice there are tiny soccer goals on either side of the yard.

"Okay, I get the ball first," she sets it down and runs to the side of me. I let her go and she kicks the ball into the goal.

"Good job," I praise her and hold up my hand for a high five.

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