The Fighter

Chapter 1

|Andy| 


How the hell I ended up in this basement, I had no clue, but it probably was Ashton's fault. He'd heard about some fight and wanted to go. I didn't really care and I wasn't paying much attention until a super tall guy in a hoodie and shorts brushed past me. He seemed familiar but I wasn't quite sure why. "Tonight, in this corner we have your returning champion, James "Madman" Madden. And his challenger is a new fighter for us, Simon "MiniMinter" Minter." I pushed between people until I could see the two boxers. Simon was the guy I'd seen before, and I recognized the other guy from when I'd hung out with Ashton. 


"Beautiful, want to make a bet on who will win?" the announcer asked. My eyes widened.


"£20 on Simon." When I said his name, his eyes landed on me and I knew he recognized me. 
"There you have it! In 3,2,1, let's go, boys." Simon surged towards James and landed a heavy blow to his jaw. James stumbled back and swung blindly. You backed up but continued to watch. Simon continued to land blows on him, even after he was clearly unconscious.


"Simon," I screamed, hoping he'd hear me. He stopped and looked up, then climbed off James. 
"Your new champion!" the announcer said, raising Simon's arm up. He then handed me the £20 he'd asked me about. I turned to find Ashton when a strong hand wrapped around my arm. 


"Why the hell are you here, Andy?" It was Simon's deep voice that uttered it. "

A friend brought me." 
"You can't tell anyone. Do you understand?" I nodded and he released me. I was looking for Ashton in the crowds when another hand grabbed me. 


"I'm Ryan Quentin, the person who puts these on. Must I say, this is the best betting night I've ever had at one of my events, and it's from you. Can I convince you to become a regular at my events?" It sounded like a great plan to me.

"Yes, Mr. Quentin, I'd like that my name's Andy Parker, by the way."


"My pleasure, Miss Parker. The Bulldog on Thursday is my next event, I look forward to your appearance."

Simon didn't acknowledge me at school on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I was just ready to see his reaction when I showed up again. I stood at the front of the crowds this time, peering into the ring. I was once again asked to bet, and again I put £20 on Simon. As I waited for them to start, a group of girls began to talk about who Simon had had sex with in his dressing room before tonight's fight. I tried to block it out, but I was a bit curious. Simon won again, and again he stopped me as I was leaving. 


"You shouldn't come to these, Andy. Nothing good comes of it."


"Pot calling the kettle black, because you're here too," I snapped, turning away.

"Andy, listen. Ryan will do anything for a quick pound. Including exploit a teenage girl as a betting piece."

"And how do you know?"

"He's my uncle. My dad made me come fight for him. Don't get caught up with him, Andy, please," he begged, now looking down at me. 


"Yeah, you should've told me that last time, because it's too late now." 


"Ah, Miss Parker, I see you've met Simon. I hope he's treating you well." Ryan said, clamping a hand down on my shoulder. 


"Of course, I would accept nothing else," I said with a fake smile. He left Simon and I, and I rubbed my shoulder. 


"Did he hurt you?" Simon asked, gently taking hold of my wrist. 


"No, I'm fine. I'll see you tomorrow, Simon."

Simon was at my locker first thing, asking if Ryan had contacted me. He'd texted me this morning saying the next fight was in some pub basement downtown tomorrow night. 
"Are you going?" 


"Does it really sound like I have a choice from what you've said?" 


"Good point, I'll walk you to class. Where are you headed?" 


"AP Maths with Mr. Bradley," I said, rolling my eyes. Mr. Bradley was only a few years older than most of us and we usually called him Josh because he was friends with our older siblings. 


"Ah, old Joshua. Come on." Simon offered to carry my books but I declined. "I want you to ride with me tomorrow night, got it?" he questioned as we stopped just outside of Josh's room. 


"Okay, I'll catch you later," I said, stepping into class, "Hey, Josh."


"Hey, Andy. How's Ashton?" he said, looking up from some papers on his desk.

"You know, same old Ashton. Just in uni now." He laughed at that as I took my seat and waited.

"So, I'll come get you and you'll go to my dressing room with me, yeah?" We were in Simon's car in my driveway as we went over his plan for probably the hundredth time today. 


"Yeah, I got it, okay? I'll see you tomorrow." I said, getting out. 
"Wear something pretty!" Simon shouted. I gave him a thumbs up and then let myself in. My parents were on another business trip and wouldn't be back until next week.

I decided on a pair of black skinny jeans and a lacy black shirt for the fight. Most of my shoulders and back were exposed, but it didn't seem that cool out.

"Very nice," Simon commented when I opened the door. I pushed him off the front step and walked over to his car. 


"Simon, why the fu– Miss Parker what a lovely surprise," Ryan said as we entered the building and he noticed my hand tightly clasped in Simon's. Simon bee-lined for his dressing room, dragging me along.


"I hate him so much," Simon sighed, letting go of my hand. He looked a lot different right now. His tight training shirt stretched across his broad shoulders and his hands all taped up. 


"I'm sorry." 


"It's not your fault, Andy. He's the one that created this entire mess and you had no way of knowing." 


"Simon, I–" 


"Just go out in the main room, he's expecting you," Simon said coldly, turning to look in the mirror. I exited and made my way to the ring. I put £20 up on Simon and again he won. Afterwords, he took me back to his dressing room to wait until he could leave. 


"Great job tonight, Si– Hello, again, Miss Parker," Ryan said. Simon placed an arm around me and held me close to his side. 


"Can we go?" Simon said bluntly. 


"Yes, Simon, you may go and Miss Parker could have left long ago." That was all it took for Simon and me to be out the door.