SPECIAL CHAPTER- LOCKER ROOM CONFESSION.
292 Words
Jake’s POV
The gym smelled like sweat, dust, and old leather. It was empty, except for the sound of the punching bag thudding with every strike from Jake’s gloved fists.
Left. Right. Right. Left.
It wasn’t about training anymore. It was about escape.
"You're gonna break your wrist if you keep throwing wild like that," a voice said behind him.
Jake paused. Rolled his eyes.
Tyson.
The only person in this school who’d known Jake before the rumors. Before the fights. Before Lila.
“What do you want?” Jake muttered, pulling off the gloves.
Tyson sat on the bench, sipping from a water bottle. “To remind you that you’re still human. You’ve been walking around like you’re haunted.”
Jake didn’t answer.
“Is it about her?” Tyson asked casually.
Jake stiffened.
“Lila.”
A long silence. Then: “She’s not like the others.”
“I figured.” Tyson leaned back. “You’ve been different. Quieter. Focused.”
Jake hesitated, then sat down. For once, the weight on his chest felt too heavy to carry alone.
“She makes me want to be someone I’m not sure I can be.”
Tyson raised a brow. “Like... not a mess?”
Jake gave a tired laugh. “Exactly.”
“But she doesn’t know your full story.”
Jake’s jaw clenched. “And I don’t know how to tell her.”
“Start with the truth. The rest can follow.”
Jake looked at his bruised knuckles, then at the clock. He nodded slowly.
“I’ll try.”
“Good,” Tyson smirked. “'Cause if you screw this up, someone else’s gonna see what you see in her.”
Jake didn’t respond.
He didn’t have to.
- Writer
