Her Street Fighter

25.

Chapter Twenty Five
Nathaniel

Where was she?

I looked at the clock on the stove. She should've been off work by now.

She was late.

Marebela finally walked through the door. Her face sticky with sweat.

What happened?

I rushed over to her. She seemed out of breath.

"What happened to you?" I demanded. I was starting to feel something swirl deep in my stomach.

What was this feeling that I have acknowledged so much?

I wanted to stab it with a knife.

"Today was a tough day," she murmured.

I noticed her lower lip wobble a little before she pulled her lips into a small smile.

My eyes softened a bit. Before I was about to tell her to talk to me about it, I stopped myself.

But of course, she started anyway. "It was my first day and so many people kept asking me where all these books were, and I struggled to find them. The old man who owns it is so sweet and I didn't want to let him down, so I didn't ask him for any help. Instead I stayed later because I could tell how tired he was. I felt so bad."

That was just like her, always trying to prove herself to people no matter how much she puts herself through.

"On the brighter side, I met Mr. Burton's son and he was so nice to me. It felt so nice to finally meet someone nice in this town," she said. Then she realized what she said and quickly added, "No offence."

I stuck my tongue in the side of my cheek and my eyes hardened. Who was this boy? Nice? I scoffed.

She pulled the strands of hair out of her face.

"Who is he?" I commanded.

"I told you, my bosses son," she said, annoyance in her voice.

What was with the attitude?

"No," I simply said. "Name and what he looks like."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion? Disgust?

"Why do you care?" Marebela asked. There was something different about her tone. It sounded sterner.

I hadn't answered.

"You can't treat me like this," she muttered. Her voice was quiet. It became more soft and wobbly. She cleared her throat. "You can't just kiss me and then tell me I'm not your type. You can't act like you care when you don't."

I was proud of her. I would never expect her to act like this. Since she was always so nice. I must've mistaken her kindness for weakness.

I didn't care.

"I need to go," she said. She pushed past me, hee shoulder brushing harshly against mine. She walked into her room.

I had no time for this. I needed to get ready for the fight now.

She needed to go where?

I sighed. I trailed a hand down my face. This girl was going to be the death of me.

I grabbed fighting equipment and headed to the ring.

This was the biggest fight and I needed to be fully focused on this.

I met up with Slater. I felt sweat hit the back of my neck. Was it because of the fight or because of what Marebela said earlier.

I felt this feeling in my chest. It felt heavy and I knew it was because of guilt. I haven't felt this for anyone before, so why was I feeling it with her?