We Are Similarly Different

Je'Kai Arden

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. As hard as he tried to, he just could not avoid Azariah anymore. He already hated not speaking to her but what he hated more was the fact that the majority of the friends she'd made were male.
He'd heard rumors that she was dating Kyle Burch, the striker of the soccer team. He'd also witnessed moments where they were making out with one another.
"Reagan said that Fiscal organised a fight for you tonight. Henri agreed to having all the fighters come to the ring and call you out." Vincenzo slapped his hand on Je'Kai's shoulder, jolting him from his thoughts.
Je'Kai sighed. "It took them quite some time to grow some balls eh?"
It was the end of the day and it shocked even Je'Kai that they'd stayed at school the whole day. Despite being late for every class. The duo closed the lockers and piled out behind the crowd. They were just about to drive off before Sarah-Leigh stopped them. "Arden, wait!" She was jogging in her heels.
"I wish you'd teach these girls about the meaning of a one night stand Je'Kai." Vincenzo dramatised, throwing his hands against his thighs. Je'Kai laughed. "Alright, I'll just meet you at the Arena tonight." He said nonchalantly as the red head reached them.
"Hey there." He greeted as she threw herself in his arms. "It's been a while Arden, I missed you." Je'Kai was used to Sarah-Leigh throwing herself at him. He chuckled as his arm wrapped around her waist as they hugged. He lifted his head and stared at Azariah.
She was walking out of school with her friends Jesse and Allysa. Azariah met his gaze and smiled before he turned to Sarah-Leigh. He kissed her forehead before placing his only helmet on her head.
Lifting both himself and Sarah-Leigh onto the bike, he raced against the beat of his heart. It was four o'clock when they reached the arena. Je'Kai took Sarah-Leigh to the food court just outside of the arena. He asked her to find a booth while he ordered a pizza.
"I hope you don't mind spending a few hours here, I have a few fights lined up tonight, if not I can ask Tesco to take you home." Je'Kai spoke with his mouth full of food. Sarah-Leigh frowned. "How many fights do you mean exactly?" "I don't know really, it depends." Sarah-Leigh nodded nervously. "You can fight, can't you?" Je'Kai leaned forward and whispered against her lips. "We'll have to wait and see."
Sarah-Leigh closed the distance between them and wrestled their tongues. It didn't last long, Je'Kai thought about Azariah and tried pulling away but Sarah-Leigh only pulled him in deeper. He accepted this kiss as a distraction.
Minutes later, one of the guys who stood at the door of Henri's office had called for Je'Kai. Sarah-Leigh had kissed him one more time before being ushered into the arena by Vincenzo who nodded at Je'Kai as if saying good luck. "Listen up, this is what's going to happen." "Sorry, I didn't get your name." Je'Kai interrupted. "It's Yves, now you're going to stay in your corner and one by one, the fighters are going to call you out. If your opponent is not out by the next round, you lose." Je'Kai nodded and walked into the dressing room and changed into shorts and strapped his hands in white tape.
"Okay kid, you're supposed to be out there." Yves called into the dressing room. Je'Kai walked out into the ring while the announcer spoke. "I've been told that it's for our own safety that we do not know the fighters name so do not repeat what the other fighters call him. The announcer looked at Je'Kai and Je'Kai nodded. Minutes later his opponents had stepped into the arena ring.
"Ladies and gentlemen are you ready?" The announcer called into the mic and the crowd made a slight noise. The announcer spoke louder and the response from the crowd was louder too.
Je'Kai's first opponent stepped forward with the siren that sent silence to the crowd. "Jack Frost." The fighter grinned as he started laughing. He barely let out a breath when Je'Kai launched himself at him. Knee to the gut, fist to the throat, left jab, right jab knee to face . The opponent had no chance, in those ten minutes all Je'Kai had thought about was Kyle's hands on Azariah.
On his Aza.
He used this as another tactic while fight after fight as they called him that name, it had only made him angrier. There were moments where he was caught off guard and he was knocked off his game, he bounced back as they taunted him.
He effortlessly let out his anger on the faces of his opponents. His final opponent stepped forward. Je'Kai raised his hand in protest. "Don't say anything, or I may kill you, how's about I go light on you and fuck you up at the expense of the other guys' faults?" His opponent scoffed and said it anyway. "Your call, but don't say I didn't warn you." Je'Kai connected his fist to the fighters face. The fighter stumbled and Je'Kai sent a spin kick to his chest, knocking him out before pressing his foot into the fighters throat.
The crowd cried in victory as the bell sounded . Je'Kai lost all the adrenaline and felt just about every body part ache. He was bloodied and bruised. Vincenzo and Sarah-Leigh met him at the dressing room where Yves organised a medic to patch Je'Kai's wounded face and handed him a stack of cash. They both gave him a congratulating hug before Je'Kai asked Vincenzo to take Sarah-Leigh home, he refused to let her kiss him goodbye.