Inside The Boxing Ring
1583 Words
The issue didn't get solved that night so everyone just retired to their rooms. I felt too exhausted to take a shower, so I went to bed with my sweaty body.
Woke up the next morning, feeling a bit refreshed, quite anxious but excited for the day.
My roommate was in the room. It occurred to me then that we had never spoken to each other.
"Hey, good morning." He greeted me first, to my greatest surprise.
"Morning.." I responded, still surprised he greeted me after we had ignored each other since I came.
"I know we've never got to speak to each other but I tend to withdraw myself sometimes, and you arrived in that season." He explained and I nodded, passing a message to him that I didn't have issues with it.
"I am Austin." He introduced himself, coming over for a handshake.
"Rowan." I replied simply, stretching out my hand to meet his.
Then he smiled manly, and returned to his space. "I heard my roommate's been all over the place since he arrived. I have always wondered who you managed to survive well but it's good to see you are doing well." He said and I almost rolled my eyes.
Doing well my foot! I wanted my peace but it got taken away by those two devils the moment I stepped onto the school grounds.
So, it looked like Austin had been up for a while because I could just sense that he had showered already. He also had a cup of coffee in his hand, I could perceive the smell.
"Has anything been said about last night's incident?" I asked him, to see if I missed anything.
"It will probably get swept under the carpet, since the fire was not started by an ordinary student." He replied, not sparing me a glance.
I had an idea of what he was talking about, but it wasn't in full details.
"What do you mean?" I asked, acting innocently.
"You walk with those guys but you don't know the kind of people they are?" Austin said and laughed gently.
...
After breakfast, we were summoned, all of a sudden, all students.
We got to the front of the authorities' building and we had to stand in rows and columns, maintaining orderliness.
After things quieted down, I saw Brant, and some other people I did not recognize. They were just three, two seemed to be staff but one of them stood out, she was a lady, I could tell immediately. But she was dressed like a man and looked so tough.
She had some kind of charisma that commanded silence and respect. There were armed guys serving as her escorts too. I had never heard of her before so I just focused more on knowing who she was.
The moment she stopped before us, everyone had their backs bent immediately, in respectful greetings.
"Welcome to the aboard, Gazella." They said in unison, without me of course.
"Who is she?" I threw the question softly to one the guys around me.
"Gazella? She is the only powerful authority here. "This school was established by her forefathers, and now it's time for her to run the school also." The guy explained and an 'oh' escaped my mouth.
For some reason, I could see myself in Gazella. My eyes were fixed on her and her voice stayed with me.
She addressed what happened yesterday and we were dismissed.
The gym building was now already under reconstruction. That was a very fast one, it was being managed quickly.
I was making my way to where we usually meet Brant, I wasn't sure about that day's training because of the Ash and Cruz's case that was yet to be solved.
I got there first, being early and wishing patiently for the rest to come
I looked out for them both but none of them came in.
"If your partner is not here, you get paired with someone else." Brant's voice filmed my ears and I frowned. I did not like the idea of getting a different partner that day and i swore I was going to pull Ash's ears the moment I saw him.
About an hour later, I was frowning. The guy I got paired with was giving me serious issues and I just had to take it slow with him.
Soon enough, Cruz and Ash walked in and my heart skipped a beat. I was not expecting them.
They both headed to Brant's space to probably sort out their lateness to the training and to the work delegated in their hands too.
They got paired! I knew this was going to be a lot, considering the fact that they had unsettled scores.
All they just had was ten minutes to fight, just boxing! They put on their gear and got into the ring. Just when we all sat down to watch, my butt was about to touch the chair when something vivid flashed in my mind so fast.
I saw a boxing ring, someone was standing, breathing heavily and sweating all over. Then another was lying on the floor, looking lifeless. But I did not get to see their faces.
I knew this was about Cruz and Ash. I looked forward to it, but I was afraid at the time. One of them could really die.
Brant blew the whistle with a rope hanging down his neck like a pendant and the match started.
Anyone could see the rage in both guys' eyes, it was so obvious that none of them would back down and the ten minutes Brant was giving was to himself.
Ash threw the first punch but Cruz dodged it at a careful pace, still studying his moves.
Ash came again at him but couldn't get him. Cruz did not respond for a while, but the moment he did, he did not stop.
He started hitting Ash continuously, and thankfully, Ash had his hands up to defend himself. Then he took off defence and hit Cruz on his abdominal area, Cruz saw it coming and swiftly moved aside to dodge it. But Ash had his other hand raised to hit him.
Cruz staggered backwards a bit. A short pause, and they started again.
Those two...were communicating in their minds. I could strongly feel it. Their eyes never left each other's and by every second, they seemed to boil even more.
They continued, hit each other, put on defense, getting off guard, hitting each other again. The cycle didn't seem like it was going to end until Cruz exerted more energy and hit Ash, sending him flying. His back hit the ring barriers and he fell.
Without giving him a breathing space, Cruz lunged towards him, knelt there with Ash and started punching him non-stop.
The audience started murmuring but no one made any move to stop him. My eyes went to Brant, hoping he would stop the match but it looked more like he was enjoying it, with his gaze so focused on both Cruz hitting Ash.
I glanced at the digital wall clock on the wall and saw that it was past ten minutes, I had a leverage.
I got up immediately and walked boldly towards Brant. "Ten minutes passed already, why aren't you calling it off?" I questioned him coldly, knowing he was trying to get something out of that match, and it was not in the interest of either Cruz or Ash.
He glanced at me but did not say a word. "Are you going to be like this? One of them will die!" I said again and this time, he did not bother looking at my face.
"I am trying to enjoy a match here." He said but that was totally insincere.
"You should see your face right now, you are lying. You are trying to see who's best right? Trying to pick one over the other? This is wrong and you know it well as an instructor." I spoke so fast and angrily but tried to keep it low.
He looked at me again, and I knew I had hit the hammer on the very nail. Then he cleared his throat, "I am only following orders." He said in a low voice.
I ran my fingers through my hair, glanced at Cruz and Ash again, things were not looking good.
"What? You want Ash to die?"
"I never said that."
"So what's the implication of this supposed to be?" I raised my voice a bit.
With his hands in his pockets, he turned to me fully. "You are speaking too much, what is it with them? If one of them dies, you have less competitors, what's the issue?"
"This is totally wrong and you know. Call it off now!" I yelled so loud enough for others to hear, and surprisingly nobody backed me up. They were either not in support, or afraid to speak up. Then it dawned on me, maybe these people actually wanted Cruz and Ash to die, they were the major enemies anyone would have in that school, even without encountering them you hate them already.
I had to step in myself. "You will pay for this one day!" I promised Brant and ran into the boxing ring, went towards Cruz and yelled at him. "Stop!!!" He was not listening. Then with all my strength, I pushed him backwards and threw a punch at him, then I turned to Ash.
"Get up, Ash!”
- Writer
