Her Choice

Chapter 12

Teagan's P.O.V.

"Wow." We had gotten in the car after I exchanged numbers with my uncle and promised to get together soon.

"Wow." Finn copied Asher.

"I... I just... Wow. I was not expecting that." The way Asher said that makes it seem like we just had sex. I mean, come on, it's not that impressive that I can box.

"Jesus, boys. You make it sound like we just had a mind-blowing threesome. All I did was work out." I saw both their faces blush when I mentioned a threesome.

"Aweee.... are the bad boys a little nervous at the mention of sex?" They blushed even harder. How cute.

"Shut up, Teagan Rae." Ashton growled, gripping the steering wheel even tighter. It's extremely fun annoying him. "But watching you work out today was mind-blowing."

"I mean seriously, Teagan Rae. When you said we would be pleasantly surprised, I expected some skilled punches. Maybe some good footwork, but nothing like what we saw." Finn was looking at me with admiration in his eyes.

"Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" When I looked at Asher, I could see the same admiration in his eyes.

"And why did you learn to fight like that?" And at that moment, I knew that Finn thought I was just some pretentious barbie who was a badass to rebel against my parents and my perfect life. Boy, he could not be more wrong.

"I learned to fight like that from a gym back in Chicago. A really good boxer taught me everything I know, for reasons that you don't need to know." I didn't wanna talk about my home life, especially not with them. They wouldn't like me. They'd judge me. I knew that this budding friendship I had with them would come crashing down if they knew why I had started boxing. Today was a step towards friendship, and I could already tell that if I had them on my side, they'd be amazing friends. I didn't want to lose that.

"Probably just wanted attention," I heard Finn mutter from the backseat. I clenched my fists, trying to avoid lashing out at that.

"Oh, does little miss perfect have nothing to say about that?" Finn was getting annoyed with me and I was getting pissed at him.

Memories came flooding back. Memories that made me learn boxing in the first place. Memories that damn near killed me. The darkness. The alley. The blindfold. The gun. The knife. The pills. The hospital. Everything.

"I advise you to shut your mouth right now," I growled out. My vision was going black. I was close to snapping. The memories were overwhelming, and I could feel myself dwindling down to that place I worked so hard to get out of.

"Oh really, and why's that? Little miss wannabe badass can't handle someone speaking the truth?" I was about to lunge into the backseat and kill Finn. He wasn't speaking the truth, far from it actually.

"SHUT UP!" I screamed, causing Finn to jump in shock and slam his head on the roof of the car. Asher swerved slightly before pulling off on the side of the road.

My vision was still black, and I felt myself fading into the darkness. I knew that if I kept being pissed, I would eventually loose all control of myself and my emotions.

"I suggest you listen, and listen close." My voice was deadly calm, and it's the point where even if you don't know me, you can tell that it was my last straw. "Shut your mouth, Finn. You don't know anything about me. You don't know my family, or the life I come from. You don't know what I've been through, why I'm here, or why I started boxing. So don't you dare open your mouth and start making accusations that you can't back up with fact. Understand?" I saw him nod meekly through the rear view mirror.

"Teagan Rae, are you okay?" Asher reached over to grab my hand, but anyone touching me right now, especially a guy who I barely know, was enough to send me over the edge. 

"Drive the car. Now. Let's get back to school." He hesitated for a moment, glancing at me. "I said drive." I narrowed my eyes at him and he pulled away from the curb.

My vision was coming back, and I was calming down. I can't believe I let myself go like that. I haven't lost control like that since a few months after everything happened, and I was doing so well.

When we got back to school, I hopped out of the car mumbling thanks. I quickly ran to my room, not acknowledging either of them trying to get my attention. I knew that I needed to calm down, and I knew exactly how I needed to do it.

I grabbed my black Misfit Jolyn top and my electric yellow European bottoms, throwing them on with a bro tank and running shorts. I threw everything I needed in my drawstring back pack and headed out the door towards the pool.

Finn's P.O.V.

"Dude," I turned to Asher, watching Teagan Rae run off. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, man, but she seemed pretty pissed at you. Why'd you have to go and do that?" He asked me, and I could tell that he wanted to be her friend. Hell, I did too. She was a hella cool girl, and I didn't mean to offend her.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to offend her, I promise. I was just joking around." Not only did I feel bad about saying those things to her, but now I was extremely curious about why she reacted the way she did.

"I really wonder what that was about though," he said curiously. "I mean, let's think about this." Ash pushed off his car and we started walking towards the building.

"Okay," I began, "so we know she was guarded as soon as I asked why she began boxing, and she became extremely irritated when I suggested it was just for attention."

"And then, she started getting pissed and tried to control herself as soon as you called her little miss perfect." He opened the gate to the pool and walked in. We decided it was time to tan.

"And then, when I suggested that she was just trying to be a badass and couldn't handle me speaking the truth, she completely lost it, screaming at me, then going into last resort: deadly calm."

"So," Asher said, laying down on a chair, "we can conclude that her life isn't perfect and something happened that made her the way she is, and it was something terrible that she can't stand to talk about."

"So it's decided that we will not bring this up to her again, unless she brings it up first," I concluded. "Deal?"

"Deal," he agreed, and we sat back to tan.

"Dude, Ash, is that who I think it is?" I smacked him repeatedly on the arm, acting like a tween girl who just met Justin Bieber.

"Holy shit, it's Teagan Rae. I thought she was gonna be so angry that'd she'd hole herself up in her room to cool down, not come down here for a leisurely swim."

Teagan Rae's P.O.V.

Diving into the water, I could already feel myself starting to calm down. Swimming laps made me wonder why I even quit swimming in the first place. I could easily cry in the water without curious eyes.

I left my hair down and let it flow behind me so I could feel like a mermaid. It was one of the most amazing feelings in the world.

I slowly felt all my anger disappear, all my thoughts of the past started to fade away and my memories were pushed into the back of my mind, where they'll hopefully be forgotten for a significant amount of time.

I swam for what felt like hours. I could think about anything and everything. I could cry for my dad and Trevor. I could cry for the past. I could do pretty much anything and be free. And that was the best feeling in the world.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll please Ryan and Amber and try out for the swim team.