Stronger than the Rest

Chapter 09 | Distance

"Be brave enough to heal yourself even when it hurts. " - Bianca Sparacino

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Jab. Jab. Jab. Hook. Hook. Upper cut.

Repeat.

I've been at this for hours and I took off my gloves off a while ago. I can feel the cuts on my knuckles forming under my wraps. The sweat is literally dripping down my back. It's about midnight now and I really should be resting for callbacks tomorrow.

Do I even want to go? I thought to myself.

I already fucked things up with Landon and he is the damn the musical director. 

The guilt about what I said to Landon today makes me thrashing at the punching bag again. Did I seriously tell him I didn't trust him? I mean, I don't because I barely know him. But it was still rude. I didn't even give him a chance to be trustworthy. I should've said that.

"FUCK," I yelled in hopes of getting this pressure out of my head. To stop the words from squirming around in my head.

"Is that your favorite word?" a familiar voice called behind me. I whirled around so fast I ended up tripping over my feet and landing on my ass. 

My first thought was Landon. 

Please tell me it was Landon.

But as I looked up, I saw a different pair of familiar eyes.

It's Joseph. 

Huh, kinda forgot he existed. 

He grabbed my elbows and lifted me to my feet. "Damn, sorry about that Rose." He sounded serious, but he still chuckled at the end. "What the hell are you doing at the gym so late?" 

I had to raise my arms above my head, I didn't realize how out of breath I was.

"I- I- needed. to. let. out. Oh my god, I'm gonna die." I bent over and put my hands on my knees.

Joseph kept laughing at me. "You box?"

I grab my water and poured some into my mouth, "Mhm, for about two years now. Mostly kickboxing, I like using my whole body to workout. Do you?"

He took a second to reply, so I glanced over at him. He thought he was subtly checking me out, but I totally caught him. I smirked at him as his eyes met mine. "So?" I prompted.

He cleared his throat as he scratched the back of his head, "Uhm, I do every now and then, but I mostly just lift because I'm on the basketball team." 

"Oh, that's cool," I responded.

He smirked as he took off his pull over, "Yeah, I'm pretty much the coolest."

I rolled my eyes while I gave out a small laugh, "Well, I think I'm gonna head home. I've been here for hours so the gym is all yours. I'll see you tomorrow at school though." Joseph nodded at me, "See ya, Rose."

I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the front doors, glancing back at Joseph as he was setting up for bench press. He was wearing a red v-neck that highlights the subtle red in his hair and black Adidas pants.

 Damn, he's hot, too. I thought to myself.

Boys are literally the last thing that should be on my mind. I shake the thoughts out of my mind and head towards my car. 

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Despite my late night workout, I woke up pretty early. I was kinda nervous for the callbacks and completely surprised I actually got one. I had a feeling Landon was the reason I was able to get a callback.

Today I actually straightened my hair and did a pink eyeshadow palette with peach nude lipstick. I liked to look my best on any callbacks days. I wore a black t-shirt dress with a knot on one hip with peach keds. I donned my jean jacket and tied it around my waist since it was a little chilly. 

I went downstairs to grab a banana, my parents were already out for work and Jack was at puppy day-care. We didn't want him to get bored at the house by himself. I've thought about getting his paperwork to take him to school, but I think we need to work more on his distractions before I can bring him to school where tons of girls are going to be all over my dog. I shoved some food in my mouth and head off to school.

I'm walking towards my locker and I see Landon at his. Wow, he's actually on time for school once. I stride up to him as he is throwing his usual girl-fan letters to the bottom of his locker. 

I'm dialing in my combo when I ask, "So, you don't actually read your fan mail?"

I hear him scoff, "I do sometimes. Not today. Why? Is this one from you?"

"You wish, Lockhart."

Landon shuts his locker with a little more force than what is necessary. I call out to him before he can run away from me.

I sigh as he turns around to face me, "Look, I'm really sorry for how harsh I was yesterday, but I'm not interested in telling my back story. I hope you can accept that." One of his hands is in his pocket, but his other hand holds his books to his side. His mouth is pressed into a thin line and his bright green eyes give nothing away. 

He lets out a breath of air and replies, "You know what, Petals? That's fine."

"You're not mad at me?" I arch an eyebrow at him, he doesn't seem like he would just let this go.

"No, I'm not mad, but I'm not going to care anymore either. You're right, I barely know you." He shrugged.

I really didn't know what to say to that, it seems ridiculous to have this conversation with someone I've known for about a week. I have a longer relationship with a carton of milk in my refrigerator. I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. 

"We're not going to be friends, I get it. I'm still going to hit on you though, but that'll be the extent of our interactions." He smirks at me and heads down the hall.

"What about the musical?" I shout at him. 

He laughs a little, "You gotta get through a whole audition first, sweetheart."

Then he disappears around a corner.

Well, that stung.

So he's back to being a dick, I guess I can't say I blame him. 

Gabby scrolls around the corner, "Morning Rose, we gotta get going. Do you want to rehearse during lunch today?"

"Absolutely," I grab my messenger bag and head to my first class, pushing Landon out of my mind. 

- end of chapter nine -

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Just wanted to push another update tonight, this was kinda a filler. Just to refresh everyone!

Let me know what you think about the story so far!

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-jlc