Long Island's Rising Popstar

Chapter 19: The Day I Met Bri Bri

The Fresh King to show the world his true self.

Jaelen woke up feeling pretty nervous, but also excited. And more determined than the previous day, that was for sure.

Today he would train with Daredevil to box Eczavier Okoye and claim his title as The Artist Of the Century once and for all. But to do that, he really had to lock in.

The trick was to keep all of this away from everyone aside from Luke Cage and Peter Parker before the big fight. And he knew his family would support him whatever his decision was, but to train with Matt Murdock in two days and be successful in the ring was going to be a difficult hurdle to jump. He had to be above the next level in his determination to do this.

But the first step of this mission was complete- he'd gotten off work. Jay wasn't sure what Matt or any of his other coworkers would think of this, and at this point, he didn't care. He had to move forward, always.

He got up, took a shower, brushed his teeth and got dressed in some comfortable yet fit clothes that he knew Matt would approve of for his training. He'd told his parents that he was going to go out today and hang with Justin and Orion, and the friends and 7903 members were ready to cover for him no matter the cost.

Jaida had already gone out, but Tanya had made some waffles for her son and set them on the table with a smile. "How's my son doing this morning?"

Jaelen smiled. "I'm doing better. I think I needed this day."

"Well, I hope you use it well."

"I will, don't worry." He replied with a tiny glint of mischief in his grin that could only be noticeable by someone really watching. "After today, I'll be back to normal."

"That's good to hear."

Jay's mind was racing as he ate. What would be the steps to the training in order to help him master ECZ's master boxing skills? Would he even be a skilled boxer? Well, that was obvious, he trained more in that than he did rapping. Not that Jay would win a rap battle either because of the crowd control Eczavier had over everyone including his Bleeding Heart gang.

And that was one thing that Jaelen's parents had right: his friends in 7903 were not the security he needed, not like Eczavier's gang. The Fresh King needed to defend himself, so even if the battle somehow went sideways, he'd learn something from this training.

So his confidence increased the more he dwelled on this particular thought, and by the time he had finished his breakfast, he was ready for it all.

"Jay?" Tanya called, snapping him back out of his mind for a second. "You know I love you, right? We all do."

Fresh beamed back at his mom. "I love you too, Mom. All of you guys." Those words of encouragement made Jaelen feel all the more positive towards this day and its outcome. Now he just had to push himself past the boundaries of his comfort zone and become more than just a rapper. He had to be a fighter.

He slipped his hoodie on and quietly left for his car. The amount of times he'd parked to get on the subway in the past week was too many, but this one was essential. And thankfully, he'd left his messages on mute so that any distractions would be off. It might make some of his friends and possibly his family upset, but he couldn't take the risk.

After bumping some of his own music (which was something his friends were slightly confused about) and stepping out of his car, it was time for his morning journey. Matt hadn't even told him where to go, but he supposed that was part of the test. That was something to think about when he entered Hell's Kitchen.

Jay hopped onto the train, sitting in a seat and pulling out his notes of a song he'd written back when Niayrah was with him that he'd scrapped a short time before the fiasco happened.