The Favor (BOOK 1 & BOOK 2 INCLUDED)

4. You Must Seriously Love Her, Huh?

I take swing after swing at the bag in front of me, punching with all my might. I don't notice how hard I'm clenching my jaw or the loud grunts that escape my lips. I don't even feel my arms anymore, it's been so long that I've been doing this. But I don't want to stop. I want to go on forever. It's like all this anger that's been suppressed for ages is finally coming out. Finally, I decide to drop my hands. The first thing I notice is how heavy I'm breathing. My entire body heats up, and it's like I could just pass out right there.

"You done there?" Derrick asks me.

"Yeah," I breath out. You can barely tell I even said anything. I rest my hands on my knees and hunch over. All of a sudden I see a water bottle in front of my eyes, and I snatch it out of Derricks hands and gulp down huge sips of water.

"Whoa, slow down there, Badger," Derrick tells me and uses the new nickname he's given me. I'm used to it at this point, he's been using it for three weeks now.

"Let's get back to it. I want to keep going," I say with barely any breath.

"No, we're going to take the gloves off and hang them up for a night." Derrick starts to unlace my bright red gloves, and I feel the urge to pull away but I don't.

"But I've got more in me. Let's just keep going."

"You have way too much built up anger right now, you're going to tire yourself out way too fast. We'll pick up where we left off on Saturday." Derrick pulls the gloves off and hangs them up on a nail on the wall.

"Alright, fine," I agree and stand up straight. I look at myself in the mirror and see that parts of my shirt are wet from sweat and my face is beet red. My pony tail has fallen out of it's place on top of my head and is now really loose.

"What's been fueling your anger lately? That was a lot more power than usual."

"The label is pissing me off. I want to let out the song I wrote myself with more meaning but they want me to let out the song that was professionally written for me. I decided to go with the label but it's been making me angry. I haven't gotten to really talk to Brendon in a few weeks which has been driving me mad. When we do talk we're either arguing or apologizing for arguing over going to see his dad because he's been so hot and cold about it. I'm just hoping I can get through going to see him tomorrow so we don't have to worry about it anymore."

"Sounds stressful. I understand how you feel though, my first year of college my girlfriend and I didn't talk much and when we did we argued. We didn't make it, but I'm sure you and Brendon can work this out."

"Thanks. I really needed to hear that."

"No problem."

We walk back up stairs from the basement of Derrick's house. It's so late that Alex has already gone to bed. I've been here a lot lately practicing boxing, so Alex and I have been getting along pretty well. I've noticed he's a really social kid, which is pretty good. He's been very open to me and I really love that. It's kind of weird to just know one day that you have a brother.

"Bye Elena, bye Derrick. Thanks for letting me practice here again. I'll see you soon," I tell them as I walk out of their house.

"Bye darling! See you soon," Elena shouts as I walk out.

I get in my car and start my fourty-five minute drive home. I feel myself getting tired at the wheel multiple times, but I know I have to keep going. It feels like it takes forever to get home since my apartment is closer to downtown Miami than it is the suburbs. By the time I get home, it's 1:53. I spent so much time boxing tonight, I don't know what it is that's making me this way.