Ever since that fateful night 17-almost 18 years ago-the Locke's and the Reynold's have been families stuck to the hip.
Evangeline Locke and Pierce Luciano were born on the same day 2 and a half minutes apart, one hospital room over. Each child was...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
December 16th, 4:00 pm
"Pierce, focus!"
I let the sound of my heavy breathing and the clicks of the jump rope fill the space deprived of my response. My pounding feet slapping against the mat make me lost in thought and I obsess over the mental relief that comes with my focus being zeroed in on something simple. Sweat continues to bead on my forehead, arms, and back, dripping down every inch of my body. Still, I push through, willing my wrists to flick the jump rope faster. Willing my feet to leave the ground faster.
It's a challenge, but it's less taxing on my mind than thinking about her.
Why do I always think about her.
She's all that I think about.
She's all that I see.
She's all that I hear about.
"Pierce, goddammit, keep your eyes up!" Jon yells in my ear for the third time this session, pushing me past where I thought my limits were.
I wish I could go back to when this girl wasn't all that occupied my mind, body, and soul.
"Time," he stops his watch while I slow down to a stop and hold the rope with one hand, exhaling heavily, inhaling through my nose deeply, over and over again until I regain my composure. "C'mon Luciano, one more set."
"Fuck," I mutter connecting my hands up over my head as I throw my head back, baring my throat, too exhausted to do anything but breathe as I was conditioned.
"What the hell has gotten into you? You're acting like you don't do this workout every damn Friday." My hard ass coach scolds and I look at him out of the corner of my eye. I curse him with just about every word I can think of in my head before he starts counting down again.
Goddamn it, 5 more minutes of this shit, huh.
"Go!" he yells above the rock music playing through the surround sound speakers of the gym. I've been coming to Titan just about everyday after school, trying to gain strength and stamina for my first fight. I'm legally not allowed to fight until I'm 18, so all I've done so far is train with Jon and any of the other trainers that are willing to spar with me. My parents know I box, but they think it's just to stay in shape. They're in the dark about my first fight. They'd be pissed at my recklessness if they knew I entered myself to box a 27 year old who's been in the ring for a good 3 years.
The thing is, I've found I can have it all: incredible grades, a fighting career for spare cash that isn't connected to my family, and knowledge and beneficial relationships I could've only attained through family.
