Aggressive. (Harry Styles)

Practice (Chap 2)

I pull myself over the cage wall, swiftly moving my feet on either side to provide balance for myself. I grab Alex's hands to pull me down, he does so gently. I gaze back to see my opponent still on the cold thinly padded ground conscious but she's still zoning out. Alex gives me a heads up to reassure my walk since I'm a little hesitant to leave. I hear Shawn's voice in the back as I exit the fighting arena towards the locker room. I need to change since wearing sweaty clothes with droplets of blood on them wouldn't be so appropriate in public.  I find my duffle bag stuffed with the clothes I came in with earlier, I really didn't have time to care if I folded my clothes neatly or not. I hum as I pull up the soft cotton sweats, adjusting the band to lie just on my hips. I fold the shorts and place them in my bag. I hear a shuffle and quickly slip into a tight black jumper.

"Hello?"  A husky male voice mumbles.

If I was in this same room about 2 years ago, I'd be frightened to death. 

"Skylar?!"  The voice grew louder and heavier and still with the last bits of adrenaline and confidence I had from the fight I gravitate towards the voice, awaiting a free match. I lean myself against the edge of the door, I'm caught by surprise as it's only Shawn. My cheeks flush as the scruffy haired boy's eyes meet mine. I let the door frame hold my weight as I lean on it. I ruffle up his hair only to have my hands smeared with gel. 

'Lovely.'

Shit, I didn't even realize it was raining when I exited the arena. 

"Damn, Sky! I was waiting out here for a few... You already got your hands sticky, eh?"  He mutters.

"Shut it, Shawn."  I commanded, his vulgar jokes can be annoying but i'll admit they always took a giggle out of me.

"Rachel is a little flustered right now but she's fine. You did nice out there." 

I nod and manage to whisper a thank you as I grabbed my bag and headed out the door with him. The rain felt cool against my warm skin, puddles scattered everywhere. I'm being so entertained by the rain and surroundings I'm forgetting about Shawn. I intertwine my hand with his, looking up in reassurance from his charming smile. His cheeks flush and I get a wide grin from him.

We walk up to the side entrance of the arena where we drop our stuff. He leads towards the equiment near the stage ring, immediately changed his persona with me, both of us putting our guard up and setting ourselves back in the game. Shawn had been the ref for some time, since last March. He saw my first fight when I was just a newbie in underground fighting arenas. That's what I call it, makes it seem less worse than illegal fighting arenas.

------------

"Remember when you first came here?"  Shawn asks as he grabs ahold of the Everlast bag I'm hitting. Though he was the ref, He'd always help me out here and there when Alex was busy with other fighters. He was trying to bring others fighters like he did with me, he wanted to be known to have the top fighters, Alex only cares about the fame.

I nodded slightly as I pack a punch. His grip around the bag goes tighter, I'm only a few pounds lighter than the bag, training helped me gain a huge amount of strength though. I don't look like a full-out boxer, I have muscle but it looked quite subtle on me or as I'm told.

I hit the bag harder, and harder, and harder each time.

Shawn removes his arms from the bag, walking towards the ring, I follow him as I usually do when we practice. 

"Skylar, I know you're great at punching and everything.." a pause spread after his words.

" .. But you need to work on receiving one." He smirks evilishly at me.

The atmosphere changing into something more playful and light.

"But Shawn."  I groan, after few intents I finally give up and agree.

I watched him put on the gloves, He had ease with this, Honestly I was quite surprised he wasn't a fighter himself. He helps me put on new wraps gently touching over the bruising and small cut on my knuckle. I wince softly as his finger brush past, I feel his stare become more intense. I pull my hand into my chest after he delicately placed the wraps. I cupped my right hand with my left, my fingers softly tracing circles around the bruises. As I throw up my arms I realize I'm in the clothes I was going to leave in since I didn't plan to practice today. I strip away the jumper, throwing it away from the stage octagon. I looked up to see Shawn with his arms up, Practice had now begun. I sway in the arena, putting my arms up shielding my face, mimicking his moves throughout.

-----------

I stared at the clock, 9 on the dot.

Shawn stopped our practice after we were both drenched in sweat and what he called a good run. I once again retrieve my black jumper,  the fabric sticking to my skin. I grab my bag near the side entrance, pulling it up to my shoulders. I drag the sweater's sleeves up as I tie my hair back into a ponytail, tying a bright red ribbon to hide the hairband. I lock up the whole arena in a slow pace, looking around making sure no one was still inside.