Fighting For Life

by Kylie Alyssa Forte

  “Five more minutes,” Aiden said, wiping sweat off of his forehead. “I’m serious Aub, only five. Tom is right, you’re going to kill yourself if you keep it up.”

  I beat the bag quicker and harder as he called out the combos. I felt myself struggling to breathe; he called it quits. They were right. I needed to chill. I had no chill, though.

  “Amazing work today,” Aiden told me as he got the ice for my ribs. “Seriously, we completely changed your punch up today, and you caught right on. You always seem to surprise me, Aubry.”

  I felt pride in myself as he complimented me.

  It was quiet for a moment between us as we both just sat there, consumed in our thoughts.

  “So, I suppose we need to get a schedule down for the holidays coming up,” Aiden said with a nod. “The Underground is shut down from Christmas Eve until the day after New Year’s Day. Christmas and New Year are both on Thursday this year, so it looks like it will only be one weekend.”

  I nodded in understanding.

  “When and how often do you want to train? Obviously, we are not going to train on Christmas Eve and Christmas, and the same with New year’s. All other days are up to you.”

  “Well, you know me. I want to train as often as possible. How about weekend hours for every day besides the days that you just specified?”

  He furrowed his eyebrows for a minute and nodded. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

  I nodded vigorously. I needed practice. I needed to train. I needed to get better!

  There was a long pause. “What are you doing for the holidays anyways?”

  The question caught me off guard as a large lump formed in my throat. My dad was a drug addict who kicked me out of my house, my mom killed herself, and I hadn’t talked to my sister in years . . . What was I supposed to do?

  I paused for a few minutes. I truly didn’t want to lie to him.

  “Honestly, nothing probably. My dad isn’t going to be home and my sister never comes down for Christmas. Um, so yeah, nothing,” I said, shrugging. Technically none of that was lying, just omitting a few facts.

  “Nothing? Really? Well, I suppose your dad is working?” he said it in more of a statement than a question form, so I just shrugged in response.

  “Well you’re welcome to come to our house. In the morning, we open presents and eat my mom’s famous French toast bake, then my whole family gets together and basically have a whole feast.”

  He saw my look of disgust at the words “whole family.” His whole family was not fun . . . just his immediate family seemed to like me and vice versa.

  “Don’t worry about the two bitches. My mom firmly put them in their places after Pawpaw’s birthday. She had no idea how mean they were to Bri. She went into full momma bear mode on them. It was actually quite comical.”

  I giggled along with him. “But yeah, I would love it if you came for Christmas, Aubry. Besides, Cece has been asking and asking about you. She won’t shut up about you!” he said, putting his hand on mine and looking me in the eye.

  I nodded and diverted my eyes from his. The feeling I got when I looked into them made me slightly uncomfortable. It was deep in the pit of my stomach, and I had never gotten a feeling like that before. It was pleasant, but also scary. I didn’t know how to feel about the situation.

  The room was silent, and I was slowly drifting off to sleep. I felt Aiden trying to shake me awake, but the pain pill had already dragged me under the state of consciousness. I couldn’t have woken up even if I wanted to.

  Besides, I definitely didn’t want to.

  “Goodnight Aubry . . .”

  ***

  Aiden

  Frankly, I was becoming clingy. Clingy was not a good look for me.

  I had been anxious all morning long when I hadn’t seen Aubry that school day yet. The thing was, I never saw Aubry until lunchtime. We didn’t have any of the same classes or anything and I rarely ever saw her in the halls, so, there was no logical explanation for me to be anxious. The girl was getting to me.

  When I walked into the lunchroom, I could have cheered when I saw her at her usual table. What I hadn’t expected was for Bri to be there too. It made me smile knowing that Bri had Aubry, she needed someone like her in her life. I was glad that Aubry had Bri too. It was a very practical friendship once you thought about it.

  “I didn’t know they were even friends,” Brandon said as he fell in step with me.

  “They hit it off at Pawpaw’s birthday.” I shrugged.

  I quickened my pace when I realized that there was a group around them. Aubry looked unfazed, Briana’s face was quickly dropping though. I knew that I needed to do something.

  The day before, we all had a family meeting with Brandon and Tommy included. We all discussed that we had to start being there for Bri and each other. Bri opened up about her cuts, and we all decided that it was time to get our shit together as a family. We had to come back together. We couldn’t let our family be torn apart over tragedies. Bri was enrolled in therapy, and I had agreed to new bonding sessions with everyone. I could no longer shut everyone out.

  So, that was what was in my mind when I marched over to Bri and Aubry and told everyone around them to leave them alone. I was standing up for my family. I couldn’t let them hurt her.

  Brandon was embodying that energy too when he invited the girls to our table. They however declined. Aubry downright scoffed at the idea. I didn’t blame her, though. The people that we sat with were not great. They were just the first people who sat with us freshman year, and we never changed tables. That seemed weird now that I actually thought about it.

  As soon as we sat down, the questions started.

  “So, that was really your sister?” someone scoffed.

  “Yes, she is. If you have anything to say about her, you can say it to me,” I said harshly.

  “Why didn’t we know about her before? Why were you hiding it?” James, a guy from the football team said, staring at the girls’s table. “And why is she sitting with frumpy over there?” he added.

  I sucked in a breath so as to not get angry, it was a futile effort. “That is mine and my sister’s business, not yours. And . . . Aubry is a good friend, so shut the fuck up about them!”

  I practically scarfed down my food while focusing mostly on Aubry’s table. I watched their interactions and couldn’t stop my smile at the two girls; they both looked much happier.

  When I saw Aubry shift uncomfortably and practically jump in pain, I got up from the table quickly. I had completely forgotten about the pill that I was supposed to give her. I was such an idiot.

  I noticed her tense and readiness for attack when I walked up behind her. I was concerned that it was her first instinct but tried not to think too much about it. I really needed to get my own life and quit being so consumed by her.

  I very discreetly and quickly gave Aubry the pill and then left the cafeteria. I needed a few moments to sort myself out to try to convince myself that everything was fine. I was beginning to realize that everything was not fine, though. I was realizing that the feelings that I had for Aubry were much more present and deeper than I thought.

  ***

  It was a late night at the gym because Aubry was super determined to perfect her newly changed punch in just the few hours that we had been working on. Honestly, she was doing great and was impressing me beyond belief. But no matter how good she was, there was no way that she was going to get the new punch down that easily and that quickly. I mean, she was working with her whole dominant hand being out of commission. She needed to be realistic.

  That was why I took them out when Tommy offered it. She was going to hurt herself if I continued to let her do what she was doing. Besides, it was late, and she was dead on her feet. She needed sleep.

  As she leaned back in the medical chair with the ice on her, I watched her. I wasn’t sure what it was about her that had me so infatuated. She was very beautiful, but it wasn’t only that that had me hooked. Her per
sonality was rude and downright annoying sometimes, but she was the only person that I could stand for a long time. There were so many things that I could find about her to like. It was scaring me.

  When I asked her about Christmas, I was shocked. Not about the fact that she wanted to dedicate pretty much all of break to training, but of her actual holiday plans . . . nothing. She was planning on doing nothing. I knew by the general lack of emotion in her answer, nothing was very common for her on holidays.

  I hated the thought of that. I hated thinking about her waking up by herself, and not celebrating with family. I hated thinking of her not eating a nice home-cooked meal. I hated thinking that she was going to be alone.

  That was why I didn’t even think about my words before I invited her. It was like second nature to tell her to come to my house. In fact, I really and truly wanted her to come celebrate with my family. I wanted her to be there with me.

  The girl was getting in too deep with me, but I couldn’t stop it. I wanted to be there for her. I wanted to be her friend, her support, and amongst other things that I didn’t want to think about yet.

  When she nodded yes to coming to Christmas at my house, it was with caution and hesitation. She was worried about it, and I was sure she was going to try and talk herself out of it, but she deserved a good Christmas—that was all that I wanted to give her.

  I watched her as her eyelids fluttered shut, and she fell asleep within moments. It was kind of amusing at how quickly she could go to sleep. Aubry had to have been the sleepiest girl that I had ever met. It made me smile as I thought about that because she was so beautiful when she slept. It was the only time that her face was free of worry and her body wasn’t so tense.

  That was why I had to wake her up. It was a little sad. I liked seeing her worry-free face, however, I knew that she probably needed to get going.

  Her dad probably wasn’t like my mom. Not many parents were. My mom let me pretty much do whatever as long as I checked in with her periodically. I think it was partially because the family had been through so much. She didn’t want to fight with us all the time, so she decided to simply trust us instead, although, Aubry seemed to never have any issues getting permission to do something or anything. I had just assumed that her dad worked a lot.

  I was worried whenever I couldn’t wake her. She stirred when I shook her, but she was still obviously asleep. I remembered Tommy telling me that one of the side effects of the pills was drowsiness.

  I finally gave up on trying to wake the girl after a while. I just thought it would be best for her to stay at the gym with me and deal with her dad later, if she needed to. Besides, I knew she was in pain, I didn’t really want her to move at the moment, especially since she had just pushed her body way too far in training.

  Yes, staying at the gym was the right decision for the sleepiest girl ever.

  When I woke up, I was rested. That was an immediate sign that something was wrong. I almost always woke up sore and tired. That morning, however, I felt energized and rested.

  My eyes immediately shot open, and I looked for the time on instinct. When the clock read seven-thirty, I hopped out of the chair that I had been reclining in.

  I looked to Aubry, and she still hadn’t even moved from the night before. If we didn’t have exams to take, I would have been happy to skip school and let her sleep out of her ever exhausted state that she seemed to be in.

  Unfortunately though, she had to wake up, even though she looked so lovely and peaceful. It was a shame.

  “Aubry,” I said softly, and she slightly stirred. “Aubry . . .” I said louder. Her eyes shot open, and she sat up way too quickly; I could hear it in her pained groan when she was fully sat back up. She was obviously confused.

  “We both fell asleep last night. You wouldn’t wake whenever I tried, so I just let you stay here. I hope your dad won’t be too mad.” She snorted at that. “It’s past seven-thirty, we need to start getting ready for school.”

  With no arguments, complaints, or questions, Aubry followed me to the bathroom and hopped into a quick shower in the stall next to mine. I was done just a little bit before her. Just before I exited the shower area, her water shut off, and she cursed aloud afterwards, making me laugh quietly at her.

  I went to my locker in just my towel as usual, and I got my extra stash of clothes to change into. When I heard her soft footsteps come up behind me, I had to turn around. It was an instant pull to her.

  As soon as I saw her, I sucked in a sharp breath. Aubry was standing there in just a towel, her hair wet and messy. There was just a thin little sheet of cloth protecting her modesty.

  “I-I, um, forgot my c-clothes,” she stuttered as her eyes were glued to my body.

  I felt the same way with her. I nodded silently as she tore her eyes away and walked over to her locker. I continued to gawk at her while trying to memorize every single line and slope of her body. I swallowed hard and looked away, trying to pretend that I wasn’t a creep.

  A few minutes later with plenty of awkward glances, we were both dressed and in my truck on the way to school. I had decided that I was going to treat Aubry like I should have been treating her the whole time, that included rides whenever she needed one, that also included defending the girl like I had done with Bri. I was going to be her friend, whether she liked it or not.

  Although, on the drive there, there was something I couldn’t get off of my mind. “Aubry, what is that scar?” I asked, and she looked at me confused, probably wondering which one I was talking about.

  I moved her hair out of the way and pointed at it. It was on the right side of her neck kind of towards the back. I had been wondering about it ever since she put her hair up for the first time. It was just more noticeable that day after the shower.

  She subconsciously touched it and got a sad look on her face.

  I instantly felt bad.

  She shook her head. “Not right now, okay Aiden?” she asked and you couldn’t miss the sadness in her voice.

  I parked the truck at the school and turned her face toward me. I could see the tears pooling at her eyes as I gently stroke her cheek.

  “Whenever you’re ready, Aubry.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Aiden’s Girlfriend

  Aubry

  School was out and the nights were getting colder. The temperatures were hovering right above freezing. Some nights were worse than others. Most nights I could find a warm enough place to hide in, but sometimes, I was out of luck.

  Some nights like that night, I was kicked out of the bus stop, or whichever place I found and could find no other place to stay. Those nights were the worst.

  My head was pounding, and my teeth were chattering as I walked down the street. The wind was brutally assaulting me, and I knew I had to find some place to get out of it at. I just needed a little bit of wind shelter. I could deal with the cold if the wind weren’t cutting through me so badly.

  I shivered as I continued walking around one of the nicer neighborhoods near the bus station. I walked around aimlessly before I came across a nice park that was nestled in the middle of the subdivision. It was obviously fairly new.

  I made a beeline to the playset and looked around for an opening. I figured that if I could get underneath the playset, I could camp out there like some sort of animal. I knew that sounded really awful, but that was the harsh reality of the situation that I was in.

  I found no openings to somehow get underneath. However, I did find a tunnel that was connected to the playground. It was fully solid except for the two entrance holes on either side, and the little eye holes cut out at the top for little kids to look out of. I knew that it would be a decent place to get out of the wind for the night. Really, it was the only option that I had at that moment, so I speedily climbed up the playset and huddled myself into the tunnel. I just prayed that morning would come soon.

  ***

  The sun had just begun to rise when I got up. My joints ached, and I could
n’t feel my hands. The gym was a little way from the park, and I just hoped that someone would be there to let me in.

  As I made my way to the gym, people in cars that were passing me by were looking at me like I was crazy. I sighed heavily at the looks. When I breathed out, I saw my breath due to the cold temperatures and scoffed to myself. The wind was whipping around me, and I huddled deeper into my winter jacket. I had no idea how I was going to get through the winter. It was barely the beginning, and I was already having issues finding warmth and wanted to give up.

  I arrived at the gym in a bad mood with my body shaking and shivering seeking out warmth. I leaned on the door and prayed that it was unlocked. I twisted the doorknob and stumbled into the warmth.

  “Oh, thank God!” I exclaimed gratefully.

  “Aubry,” Aiden said, looking up from the punching bag and smiled slightly.

  I almost smiled back, almost.

  “You know I can come and pick you up, if you’d like at least . . .” he offered as I put my stuff in my locker.

  I would love that, I thought. However, the no-house situation complicated things a tiny bit. “No thanks. I could use the daily exercise. Besides, we won’t even be here over the next couple days.” I tried to sound convincing.

  He shook his head and stalked back to his punching bag. I joined him shortly after I stripped to my sweatpants and T-shirt, making sure to carefully remove several layers of clothing. I began taping my knuckles together and started getting ready to spar as I stood in front of the bag that he was at.

  “What are you doing?” Aiden asked in a stern voice.

  “Um . . . getting ready to spar?” I answered in a questioning voice. “You said during my last fight that I needed to get more face to face time because I’m too stiff with my punches, remember?” I said, looking at him confused.