Run, Fight, Repeat

13 | Astrid

Astrid

I can barely walk to my car. All I want to do is sleep. But I need to get something to fix the pain first. I at least have a bruised rib, whenever I inhale pain strikes me like a lightning bolt. Eventually I made it to my car and sat in it for a little bit. Trying to breath without causing as much pain.

Rowan said that tonight I was "acceptable". Acceptable?! After the other girl went down I had to fight off the other two guys on my own! That was hard! And it hurt like hell! God I wish I just went to Alaska.

I put the car in drive and drove to a pharmacy. Before I get out of my car I slip on a hoodie and put up the hood. When I get inside I notice thankfully no one is in here. It's five in the morning after all. I search the isles for pain killers and once I have them I put them in my little basket and then move to another isle and find some athletic tape.

And the black one has to be on the top shelf. I wince as I try to reach for it. But it's just out of my reach. Just as I was about to pull my hand back down and settle for another color, a hand reaches up over mine and grabs the tape. THe man hands it to me and I take it without looking at him or saying anything.

"Are you okay?" He asks. It's Damon.

"I'm just fine." I lie, walking away.

He just jogs up next to me. "You're lying." He says.

"Leave me be." I growl.

"Astrid." He says.

"Astrid?" I say turning to him.

"Your friend said it at the bar the other night." He says scratching the back of his neck. His eyes travel up and down my body.

"Why are you looking at me?" I snap. His eyes widen and he looks to the ground. "It's fine. A beautiful woman comes to town. I'd look at me too." I tease.

"Sure." He says with a light laugh.

I walk away and this time he doesn't stop me. So I pay for my stuff and get the heck out of here. That's when I notice a bike is parked next to my car. He is such a stalker! WHat if he follows me to the ring? Then he'll find out who I am and kill me. I need to be more cautious.

By the time I make it to the camp I'm so exhausted and it takes everything in me to walk up the three steps to get into the camper. Then I just plop onto the bed and go to sleep. But suddening so many pings from my phone wakes me up.

Father: Astrid! Where are you! Come home, NOW!

You: I'm fine.

Father: You are due home now!

You: This is why I left.

Father: Astrid!

You: Leave me alone. 

They are so clingy! I shouldn't have given them my number. I turn off my phone and lay my head against the pillow, and let out a big breath. Before I know it, I'm sleeping.

- Morning, 9:27 am -

Even though I am awake, I continue to lay here, looking up to the ceiling. I try to feel what each part of my body feels. Most of it hurts. My legs are tired from the quick movement. My arms rest heavy at my sides due to the amount of lock holds they were in, and the punches they delivered. My entire torso hurts from the hits they took. My head hurts from when it was bashed into the floor of the ring.

Rowan texts me:

Rowan: Fight tonight. You against a man. Easy win. At 11.

You: I'll be there.

I'm so exhausted. But I need to get some food. I force myself into a sitting position and after a few minutes of sitting, I stand. Before I take the steps to the kitchen I look in the thin body mirror next to the bed. I see a small bruise in my hair line. I'm fully covered other than my face, so that's all I see. But I know that I at least have a big bruise on my rib cage.

I wince as I make my way to the kitchen. It's a struggle just to open the fridge. I grab an apple and take a seat on the couch. As I eat my apple, I flip through the channels on the TV. Nothing is really on. Most of it doesn't come up. So I settle on a cooking channel.

- 10:43 pm -

I got to the ring about a half hour ago. Now I just need to prepare for the match. In fear that Damon was in fact following me, I parked a block away and walked here. It was painful, but rather be in pain than dead. Coen is my corner guy. He helps me in and outside of the ring. He is a nice guy. He doesn't like this thing as much as I do, but he tries to make it better than it is.

"Alright. So he is quick. But weak." Coen says cutting the excesses tape on my binding. I always bind my chest for a match.

"Okay. So I just have to get behind him." I say putting on my top, it's just a sports bra. I wear a sports bra, and spanx, paired with boxing sneakers, all black.

"Correct." He says. "Alright, stretch and drink some water." He orders.

"Yup." I try my best to stretch, I'm not as sore as I was this morning, but I'm still hurting pretty bad.

A couple minutes pass. "It's five of them. Let's get you out there." Coen says walking back into my locker room.

"I'm ready." I say putting on my robe. Coen walks me out and the crowd parts so my team and I can walk through. Me first, Coen next, then Jade and Fix.

The crowd erupts when I get to the ring. I do my thing and stand on the second rope and get the crowd to get louder. I've always been the crowd favorite. Once the crowd is hyped up enough, Coen takes my robe and I begin bouncing on the balls of my feet as my opponent does her thing. He doesn't get half as much noise as I did.

He looks at me with dead eyes. I don't think I've fought with him before. Then the bell rings and he comes running at me. I dart to the side and he runs right into my corner. I take him by the hair and drag him to the center of the ring. He doesn't make a sound. He tries to hit me, but I catch it.

I drop him in the center and he is on the ground trying to get me to the ground with him by hugging my legs. It's annoying. I use my elbow and hit his head hard and he lets go and plops to the ground for a few seconds. It gives me time to flip him onto his stomach and put him in a hold.

He wakes up and immediately freaks out and kicks me hard in the back. I try to stay quiet. Now that It'll be harder to walk, I need to try to stay on my feet in one spot. I get up and he gets up. His arms are up in front of his face. I knee him in the gut and then my fist connects with his jaw and he is out.

"One! Two!" The ref counts to ten. Once he hits it, he takes my hand and holds it up in the air signalling my victory.

I walk back to my corner and Coen talks to me as the towel boy wipes my sweat. There isn't much of it because that wasn't much of a fight. I fear that it wasn't good enough of a show for Rowan. I look at him and his expression is stone cold. It wasn't good enough. I'll most likely have another fight tonight as punishment.