Back to You

Ethan

It's been 2 months and nothing, not a single text or phone call, even a letter would be better than this. I'm finding it really hard to concentrate on anything. I'm in my last semester of college and hockey is getting close to the finals so I know that I need to get out of this rut that I'm in, I just don't know how or even if I want to. All I want is to know what happened to Mia.

We went to the police, and they were fucking hopeless, basically said that can't do anything because it just looks this her and Elle left voluntarily so there is nothing to investigate. Went to their landlord and they said they had paid until the end of the month, lost their bond for not giving notice and left no forwarding address so another dead end. I have even thought about hiring a private investigator but I know that my dad will not pay for that and I don't have the money to pay for it myself.

Jake thinks I need an outlet for all the anger I have, and he may have a point. The last game we played I got sent to the box twice and in my entire time playing hockey I have only even been penalized once before. I'm laying on my bed watching a replay of our last game to see what went wrong because we lost 2-0 to a team at the bottom of the table and I know that I'm partly to blame. Coach always says that if one player is off, it screws the whole team dynamic.

My door is flung open, and Jake is walking into my room without saying a word. He goes to my closest and I'm wondering what the hell is he doing. He throws a pair of shorts and t-shirt my way "Get dressed and be downstairs in 10" and then just walks out. Seriously he can't just come in and tell me what to do. I know though if I'm not down there in 10 minutes that he will literately come back and drag me to whatever he has planned. After changing and grabbing a hoodie as it's still pretty cold outside, I make my way down the stairs and see both Alex and Jake there.

Nothing is said, I just follow them down to Jake's car and he starts to drive somewhere I don't recognize. We pull up at what looks like an old abandoned warehouse. Nothing much else around here and no people that I can see. Where the fuck have they taken me. "Is this where you kill me and dump my body" I joke with them as we get out of the car. They both just look at me and then continue to walk towards the door and open it and walk straight in.

I look around and realize where we are, it's a gym or boxing place. The smell of sweat hits me like nothing else, there are only about 6 others here with 2 guys in the ring punching each other, they look pretty good and I reckon they are actual boxers. Why have they brought me here though. Jake and Alex lead me over to a guys that has to be at least 6'4, tattoos down one of his arms and both legs, arms the size of my head, he's yelling at the 2 guys in the ring. Once we get over to him, he shakes Jake's hand and introduces himself as Tony to myself and Alex.

"So today we are going to get you strapped up, I'll show you the basics and then you can let loss on Mac up there" he says as he points towards the ring. I'm still not quite understanding what's happening but I follow Tony over to a small table where is straps up my hands and then put on a set of boxing gloves before leading my towards a punching bag.

"Now I heard you need to get out some anger, that's what the bags for but also get your mind back to focus, that's where Mac comes in"

Ok so now I'm beginning to work out why Jake and Alex have brought me here. I'm not sure if it's going to work, but I'll give it a go. Tony goes through the correct way to punch the bag, so I don't injure my hand and I have to admit it does feel good to punch something. I know I have all this anger bottled inside of me because Mia left so maybe it's time to start getting out my frustrations. After about 30 minutes on the bag, I'm beat. I've never been a fan of boxing but I must admit it is a good release, I feel slightly better than when I arrived. This is something that I might just take up.

Tony calls me over to the ring and tells me to get in. I had almost forgotten about this part, I'm not sure this is a good idea though, this is my first time boxing and they are putting me in the ring with a pro. I notice that Mac has taken off his gloves and now has a set of pads on his hands. After Tony explains what's going to happen I'm a little relives as Mac won't be hitting back but I have to do the moves they tell me which includes ducking when Mac goes to hit me. But since I know it's coming I should be right.

After completing the first combo of right jab, left jab, left hook, duck I'm starting to get the hang of it. It's really has made me focus so I'm thankful that my friend brought me here. After what feels like hours in the ring, I have sweat dripping of me and running down my face, I walk over to where Jake and Alex are sitting watching me. "Why aren't you boys getting into this?" I question them.

"This is about you Ethan, you need to let go of your anger and need to focus and we thought this might help." Alex starts

"Thanks" is all I reply. It has helped clear my mind and made me realise that I haven't been myself since Christmas and it has been 2 months, maybe just maybe I need to stop thinking about Mia all the time. I don't think there will ever be a time that I won't remember her, but I need to prioritise especially leading into the Frozen Four. I want to win in our last year of college. I want to do this for myself and my team. I understand that I have let them down over the last couple of weeks and I need to make that up to them, starting with the game this weekend.