Make the Most of It

18. No Limits

Zayn and I spent so much time together over the next few weeks, that I had completely forgotten about all my worries and problems. Together, we crossed off item by item on our bucket list. We even spent the nights together. Not in a romantic way, of course. Just as friends. We had gotten so close and I hated admitting it, but I was starting to see him as more than a friend. I felt as if he was the only person who I could have fun with any longer.

As we neared the beginning of April, the weather had warmed up quite a bit, especially since it was LA. I had also started up my boxing lessons at another studio, one where I would have actual matches against other people. So, today Zayn wanted to come and see one of my matches.

"Are you ready sweet cheeks," Zayn asked me right before I went into the ring.

"Always." I put on my gloves and flipped my long ponytail back away from my face. My opponent was a blonde-haired girl who towered over me. Of course, this didn't scare me, but this was my first match and I had begun to feel a bit nervous. I turned my head around and looked anxiously at Zayn.

He smiled really wide and held up two thumbs-up. I laughed as I felt his smile bring butterflies to my stomach. I turned around again and faced the girl. The referee blew his whistle and we circled around eachother. I thought back to when I used to fight with Jake. He had told me to always pay attention to your opponent's face because you can anticipate their next move.

I did just as he had told me and soon enough, the girl's facial expression changed and I could tell she was about to throw a punch. I dodged it before she hit me. The next time, I wasn't so lucky and she hit me in the nose. I could feel the warm blood trickling down my face, but I didn't give up. This was my first match and I had to win it.

And I did. Even with a bloody nose, I managed to knock her to the ground thrice. I ran off the ring, took off my gloves and grabbed napkins to wipe up my face.

"Whoa! Nikki are you okay?" Zayn said, with concern in his voice.

"Yeah I'm fine. This is nothing. It'll stop in a little bit," I said, shrugging him off.

I had three more matches to play. I won two of those, lost one, and now had a gigantic bruise on my lower arm. But, all in all, I was pretty proud of myself for my first tournament. I washed my face, changed my clothes, then walked out to Zayn's car with him, who offered to carry my bag.

"You're a good boxer."

"Thanks," I replied. "Now you know not to mess with me."

"Wasn't planning on it," he answered. "So do you want to go out for ice-cream?"

"Sure why not?" He drove us to an ice-cream parlor, which looked oddly familiar. As soon as I stepped in, all the memories returned to me. It was the place that Jake's uncle owned. "Um Zayn? You want to maybe go somewhere else?"

"Why? What's wrong with here?"

"Jake's uncle owns this place and I don't want any run-ins with Jake."

"You'll be fine. I'm sure he won't be here." He dragged me in and led me to the side lined with ice-cream flavors. As I was picking through them, I saw a familiar face walk out. I knew this was a bad idea. I tugged at Zayn's shirt and he glanced up, looking straight at Jake. Jake walked around the counter and came up to me.

"Hi Nikki. How have you been?"

"Good Jake. But, I don't really want to talk to you right now," I pushed past him and walked on alongside the ice-cream displays.

"Well I hope you know that I'm extremely sorry and I'd still like to be friends."

"I'm sorry Jake. I'll talk to you later." Zayn and I grabbed our ice-cream and walked back outside into the fresh nighttime air. We had a couple miles left to walk until we got home.