No Turning Back

Rumble Ready

"Hey white boy," I heard Jayden say as he tapped my arm with his pen. We were in 8th period, working on some worksheet. I had just gotten finished doing my problems when Jayden had tapped me. I looked over at him to see that all the problems on his paper was finished as well. His emerald eyes were staring at me with their usual guard up and their hardness. I hated seeing him like this – especially after the fun we had when I was over his house. While I was hoping that he would open up to me in public, he still kept his hardness. But then again, he still kept his guard up around Bethany – his best friend – in public. I think that it was an act so that no one would think twice about questioning him. He was just protecting himself was all.

"Hi Jayden," I said, a small smile coming upon my face. His eyes fell to my lips and I saw his turn up the tiniest bit. The sight of it brought a small twist to my stomach.

"Is Ashley here today? I haven't seen her around."

"No, she's not. She's sick actually. My parents think it's the flu or something so you're better off staying away from her." He raised an eyebrow.

"I might be better off staying away from you too. She might have gotten her sick germs all over you."

"Nah, I'm clean. I promise. Besides, my body refuses to get sick. That's just my little siblings who get that."

"Mhmm. If you sneeze or cough around me, I'm punching you in your throat for lying to me." I chuckled as I shook my head at him. He hesitated for a moment as he opened his mouth to say something. "Um, what are you doing on Saturday?" I leaned my head into my palm as I racked my brain. I didn't really think I was doing anything serious on that day. Maybe spend time with little Zac and Melanie but I do that all the time anyway. I was sure that I could squeeze in whatever Jayden was about to invite me to do.

"Nothing really. Why?"

"Well there's this first round of fights of this tournament I'm in and I wanted to know if you wanted to come. You can bring Melanie if you want. Bethany is going and she'll probably love some company."

"Your family isn't coming," I asked without thinking. Jayden's jaw tightened as he looked down at his paper. Damn, I shouldn't have asked that. While his family did seem like nice people, I could tell that they were a touchy spot for him to talk about.

"My mom doesn't exactly approve of the whole mixed martial arts thing. She didn't like it when my dad did it or when my brothers did it. Now she hates it because I'm constantly in tournaments and stuff. Sure, she likes that it keeps me out of trouble but it gets pretty violent – as you saw when we watched those matches on Saturday." I nodded in understanding. "My dad wanted to come but he doesn't come home for another couple of months. If I make it into the semi-finals or the finals then he'll probably be able to come."

"So you're still close to your dad?"

"Yea, I guess you can say that. I don't hate him if that's what you mean. We're not exactly best friends or anything but I look up to him and he supports my decisions. He's not the best father ever but he's better than most of the other fathers around where I live."

"Do you act like him," I asked as I tilted my head. "I'm guessing you don't look like him since you look just like your mom."

"My mom says that I do. He's not a big talker or anything and he likes being alone. My mom says that I have his attitude and the natural urge to distance myself from people like he does. I guess that counts." He shook his head. "You're getting me off topic. Are you gonna come on Saturday or not?"

"Yea. I'll come." Jayden nodded as the bell rang.

"Cool," he said simply. "See you then." He then grabbed his paper, got up, and walked down the aisle to hand Mr. Myers his paper and leave the room. I followed his actions but by the time I got out the classroom, he was nowhere in sight. I felt slender arms wrap around my waist before I could get any further down the hallway.