Love at First Punch

Chapter 6

This is probably the longest chapter I've written so make sure you VOTE and COMMENT!

Not fully edited!

Ella's POV -

I parked my truck in the parking lot of my favorite place ever, Rusty's. I saw this gym when I was only twelve years old and have been coming here ever since. Even though it has really old, worn out equipment, rats running around and it stinks of sweat, I still love it here. Everyone here is so nice. They take care of me, train with me and most importantly, they don't treat me like a girl. It's not a bad thing because I am able to fight with them knowing that they won't hold back because of my gender.

This is probably the one place where I can be myself and not hide who I am. This is my true home and everyone here is my definition of a perfect family. I can't elaborate how much I love it here. As I walked in the gym, I was greeted by the owner of the gym, Jim.

I know right, purely coincidental.

"Ella!" He greeted, rather loud in fact.

"Jimmy!" That's what I called him although it's not quite a nickname because its longer than the original.

He ran up to me and hugged me. I admit, he did stink a little but the smell doesn't bother me anymore. "I missed you kiddo. Where have you been?" He said as he held me in arm's length.

"Oh just here and there. I don't want to talk about it."

"I understand." He replied. Hesitantly he asked, "Um so how's your dad?"

"He's still his usual self." I mumbled.

"Not so good eh?"

I nodded. He was probably the only one who knew about what's going on at home and he is the only one who is not judgemental. If I told what is going on at home to other people, they would just call me stupid for still staying in my house. The truth is, I would move out but I have no money to sustain a living environment.

"Well shall we get started then?"

"Of course. Why else would I be here?" I smiled.

Noah's POV -

"What the fuck dude?"

"What? I told you that it was run down and crap and you agreed."

"Yeah but I thought that it would at least be decent not this shit."

I was now looking at a small building with gratified walls saying 'Ray was here.' Who the hell is Ray? The windows have wooden panels covering it, there are cracks on the wall and the door was missing.

I sighed. "You know what, let's just get this over and done with." I stepped out of my brand new Mercedes Benz that I just bought and made my way inside. Ryder followed suit behind me, not saying a word. I could tell that he feels guilty and he should. This place is just a pile of debris. The inside was almost the same as it was outside, old and rusty. Now I know why they called it 'Rusty's'.

"Hello boys, how can I help you today?" greeted an old man. His name tag read Jim so I'm guessing that his name was Jim.

"Hey um Jim is it? We are just here to train this big guy right here" explained Ryder, placing his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off and received a dirty look from Ryder. But he still continued, "He is training for one of the biggest tournament coming up. He is a champion you see, in the Upper side so he needs to train with the best. Are there any good sparring partners?"

He examined us by looking up and down and just smirked.

"Which school do you go to boys?"

"Falkland High. Why?" Ryder asked confusedly. I could tell he was confused like I was.