Brazen and Buff

prologue

Jade

"Ugh, my muscles ache." I groaned as I gathered my stuff and walked out of my martial arts class. It had been a long and stressful day. After those aggressive hits, my body felt sore but I managed to drag my feet out of the dojo.

A headache had started to form and I closed my eyes for a second when I bumped into someone. I opened my eyes to see a drunkard with a cigarette dangling to his mouth. From the look of him, he was looking more like a hooker.

"Hey gorgeous." He cooed and a disgusting smell left his mouth as he spoke. He grabbed my arm and got closer.

I wasn't in the mood to fight with a drunken piece of shit so I just pushed him away. The headache was starting to grow and I needed to get to home to prepare for tomorrow.

"Get away from me." I tried to walk past him but he pulled me closer. His stinky breathe made me nauseous.

"C'mon, just a little bit of fun." He tried to sound seductive but miserably failed. My patience was becoming thinner and he pulled me closer again. I was ready to hit when a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the disgusting man.

"What the hell are you doing to my girlfriend?" The voice spoke up and I quickly looked up to see a boy around my age but still taller than me, staring at the man. The light wind slightly messed up his dirty blonde hair and I could see the intensity in his bluish green eyes. They were captivating. They were like a vast ocean stretching with a forest in between.

Suddenly the guy looked down at me and winked. And that was my signal to play along to get rid of the scumbag.

"Babe, this guy was trying to molest me." I said sounding emo. I realised I hate sounding week even when it was all an act but my head was pounding and I was too tired to fight back so oh well.

"Dude she's mine. Give her back to me and I might spare you." The drunkard raised the left side of his lips and he looked so stupid and right in that moment I wanted to punch him in the face so hard that his teeth would break.

"Heh. Yours? Do you even know who you're talking to?" The guy smirked and pulled me closer.

"You're getting a bit too closer." I whispered to him.

"Just let me if you want to get to your home safe." He whispered back.

"You're just a lousy teenager looking for some fun. Now come on, hand her over." He took a step forward.

I reached my limit and readied my fist to punch but the guy holding me beat me to it and landed a punch straight in his face. He fell to the ground. He held his left cheek trying to get up but the guy walked over to him, pushed him to the ground and leaned down. His eyes glistened with an evil glint which even made me still for a second.

The drunkard looked afraid too because as soon as the guy said 'shoo' he scrambled to his feet and ran away.

"Are you okay?" The guy asked me I looked up from the place from where the drunkard was just a few seconds ago and gazed into the eyes of my saviour.

"Yeah I'm fine. You?" I asked him.

"Never been better." He replied.

A silence fell between us and the guy was the one to break it.

"I'm Noah. Noah Reynolds." He told me when I didn't speak.

"Jade."

"Nice name."

"Thanks."

And the awkward silence was there again. It was awkward but not entirely uncomfortable.

"By the way, thank you for helping me earlier. I would've beaten the shit out of that scum but I was too tired so, you know." I shrugged.

"It's fine. Don't mention it."

"No really. That guy stunk so terrible I thought I might pass out."

Noah chuckled.

"Yeah. I wanted to give him another punch. Anyways, nice meeting you."

"Likewise."

"So I guess you better head home."

"You're right. Bye!" I waved to him one last time.

"Yeah bye." And I left.

~~

It was already nine when I reached home. Mom was in the kitchen and when she heard the door open, she instantly ran to the front.

"Where were you honey? I was worried." I didn't want to worry her further so I lied.

"The class ended a bit late and there was some stuff to finish so yeah."

"Okay but hon, don't you think you should stop now? I'm sick of this dojo thing."

"You should be proud mom! Your daughter's a kick ass blackbelt!" I said a bit too cheerfully.

"Of course I'm proud. More proud than she'll ever know." And she kissed the side of my head. I closed my eyes in glee.

"Now come before the dinner gets cold." And she pulled mr to the dining table where we ate over idle chitchat.

~~

Around ten thirty I bid mom goodnight and head upstairs to my room. I saw that mom prepared everything for me. Even ironed the uniform and I silently thanked her for that.

I plopped down on the bed and all of a sudden the fatigue dawned on me and I realised I was more tired than I thought I was.

I set an alarm for early in the morning. Obviously I had to be punctual. The starting of the last year of secondary school. The first day at my new school. Yes my mom asked me to change schools in year 13. Her reason? The old school where I studied didn't appreciate outstanding students like me so I needed to get to a better one. Honestly, moms.

I forced my thoughts shut and pulled the sheets over me. All the tension left my body and the sleep engulfed me and in minutes, I was lost in my own realm of dreams.

•••

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