I Fell Sick in the Rain, But I Also Fell in Love

Chapter 10

Brook took the lead when we got down to the basement, dimly lit by a few wall lamps. It was now eerily quiet, no shouts or anything like I expected. "Austin and Lucas were underground fighters until three years ago," Brooke launched into a story as we wove our way through these maze like tunnels. "It's how they met Jake and his gang and that was the birth of their rivalry. This used to be an underground ring until it got busted, just a week after Austin and Lucas quit because they wanted to go to college."

Just when I thought Jake couldn't get any worse, I find out now that he had been hiding a completely different person underneath his nice-guy facade.

"That's when the two sides were no long longer just rivals, but arch enemies," Kylie picked up the story. "Long story short, Jake blamed Austin for the fall of basically his second home, even though he escaped cleanly. But they forgot about each other after that, going their separate ways, until this year when they finally found out they've been going to the same college all along. The old grudge sparked something in Jake and he wanted revenge." She turned to me and looked dead in the eye. "That's where you came in."

I was confused, "What does that mean?"

"You got together with Jake earlier this year, right?" I confirmed what Kylie said. She gave me a sympathetic look. "Jake actually may have had real feelings for you in the beginning, but his main intention was to steal you away."

Another unbelievable fact. How pathetic must I have been to fall for his act. But I was confused with the second part. Who could he have stolen me away from? "Wait..." I pondered on that. "He wanted to steal me from..." My cheeks oddly grew warm.

"Remember how I told you about love at first sight?" Kylie brought back that short conversation we had at the skatepark. "That's what Austin felt when he first met you. It's funny when you think about it. The badass ex-fighter wanted to get to know a girl but he was too shy."

"How ironic," I smiled at the thought that made my stomach erupt with butterflies.

"Austin never mentioned your name to us," Brooke added. "We knew he was interested in someone but he kept the name secret. But when we saw you with him today, it wasn't that hard to figure out."

The pieces of the puzzle were all coming together now. "Austin really did care about me," I admitted to myself. "At first he wanted to use me against Jake but it was mainly because his crush on me never left. He must've somehow guessed that Jake and I broke up that day when he found me in the rain. I should've gave him a chance." I let out another regretful sigh. I picked up my pace because all of this needs to be resolved ASAP.

"Well, you're about to get that chance." Brooke stopped before another metal door, eyeing it uncertainly.

"It's been way too quiet," Erica observed. "Shouldn't we hear fighting or something?"

"Maybe they all escaped somewhere," Kylie said worriedly.

Something felt off. We would've heard something if they all went somewhere. This old place was not soundproof, every little sound would echo far. "We should check."