NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: The Big Day.
“Looks like you’re in perfect health Zoey.” Her doctor smiled after seeing her results. “You’re almost like a completely different person since the last time you came in. I almost couldn’t believe these results if I wasn’t looking at you right now.” She seemed almost happier than Zoey was after realizing she got abs and her body was sexy as hell right now.
“I joined the track team.” Zoey revealed, hoping that would be enough to explain it.
“That’s good. Sports are always a good way of making sure your health is improving. It looks like joining the track team did wonders for your health Zoey. I can’t find one thing wrong with you and trust me, there’s always at least something.” She chuckled.
Zoey laughed along because she felt that was the normal thing to do in this situation. Today was the day of her big fight. So, after this, she still had to head to the gym and then go with Coach to the place where the tournament was being held. She asked her mom to take her to the doctor for a physical to get it over with instead of delaying it like she usually would. Despite how calm she looked on the outside, Zoey was like a bubbling volcano on the brink of eruption from how excited she was.
Her first official fight ever, socializing with her new friends in a group chat and at track tomorrow, and possibly hunting demons with Alexander and Lindsay. Zoey thanked her doctor for the physical sheet saying that she was fully capable of joining the track team and left with her mom to the gym. Things between them were still a bit iffy after her grounding and she had a slight feeling that they were going to lean back into the bad zone. She’s been eyeing her new phone and Zoey already knew she was doing mental gymnastics to try and figure out how in the hell did she afford such a nice-looking phone. Both of them knew that her dad didn’t pay for it.
‘Guess I gotta wait till she brings it up for herself.’ Zoey didn’t have an excuse ready for her to explain how she could get this new phone.
Talking to her mother truthfully would be the same as talking to a brick wall. A brick wall that could whoop and ground her. Well, maybe not whoop. Zoey was getting pretty strong and if her mother wanted to give her a spanking with a belt, she wouldn’t be so forgiving to just let her. All those spankings over the years really cultivated a small sense of revenge within her. It only took a single spark for that resentment that was developing for so long to explode.
But Zoey wouldn’t actually punch her mother. Sure, it was maybe fun to think about getting payback for all the pain she gave her growing up but this was her mother. In this part of her life growing up, she needs her mother. Getting through high school, boys, preparing for college, driving, applying for a job, making a resume, learning about cars, and probably a bunch of more shit she had to rely on her to learn. So, making good with her mother would only be beneficial for her. No matter how annoying she is. She only loves her and wants the best for her.
‘I might be really fucked up...’ Zoey thought as she waved goodbye to her mother and walked in the gym.
“Oho! There she is fellas! Our little ultimate fighter! Go on and get changed. Then let’s get ready to head out.” Coach Scott happily shouted.
“We’re coming to watch, Zoey!” Tony teasingly smiled.
“So make sure you don’t lose your first fight! Everyone will be watching!” Steven grinned.
“Shut the hell up you pricks! If you throw off her mojo, I'll knock both of you little bastards out.” Coach Scott yelled at them. They giggled like little school girls as they scrammed.
Both of those assholes were eager to mess with her. Somehow, they knew how nervous and excited she was for this fight. She turned her head and quickly walked into the back to get changed.
“Where are we going?” Dylan quietly asked.
“Aren’t you the newbie that was learning from Zoey?” Tony asked.
“That’s me...” He rubbed the back of his head.
“Well, Zoey’s about to have her first official match since she joined. We’re coming along to cheer for her in her first match.” Steven answered him.
“Can I come along to watch?”
“Sure, why not? The more the merrier!” Tony laughed.
“I heard Coach was making Ben come.” Aiden came over and whispered.
“Ben? Won’t he be pissed that he signed up Zoey and not him for something as big as this?” Tony already knew the answer.
“Yeah, he was really mad that Coach picked Zoey over him. I heard he threw a tantrum at Coach and Coach finally put his foot down and put him in his place.” Aiden shared.
“What?!” Tony and Steven exclaimed at the same time. They couldn’t believe they missed out on such a huge incident.
“When did this happen!?”
“Ah, it happened at my match yesterday. The two of them were in the crowd yelling at each other after I won.”
“God damn it!” Tony cursed.
“Fuck!” Steven shared his frustration at missing out on something as good as that.
“There might be a video of it online. If you search hard enough, maybe you’ll be able to find it.” Aiden shrugged.
“Oi! Let’s fucking go! Zoey’s ready so, whoever is coming with better come in the next minute before we drive off.” Coach Scott shouted.
Coach ordered an entire fancy ass limo just to take her to the match. Steven, Aiden, Zack, Tony, Dylan, Ben, and a few other newbies came along in the limo to see her match. Or maybe they just wanted to ride a fancy limo for the first time. With how excited they look to be in the limo, it was probably the second one. Assholes... They should be excited for her instead.
“Since when did all of you bastards give a shit about Zoey? You all better not be using this as a chance to get out of practicing or I'll show every single one of ya hell when we get back!” Coach shouted, making many of the boxers turn their heads while nervously giggling.
“Of course we care about Zoey, Coach. She’s been with us long enough to be considered a regular at the gym.” Tony said.
“Yep. Yep. Plus she’s a damn good boxer and deserves to show everyone what she’s made of!” Steven supported.
“Hmm. That’s more like it.” Coach liked this type of encouragement for the girl.
Eventually, they made it to the tournament, and crowds and crowds of people were being led into the large building. Zoey was starting to get a bit nervous seeing all those people. She thought this was just going to be some small little fighting tournament. Just her in a ring fighting against some other fighters with a small crowd of people watching them. Not even Zack or Ben got this many people at one of their fights. Just what the hell kind of tournament did Coach sign her up for?
“It’s your time to shine Zoey!” He roughly patted her back and pulled her inside the building as the rest of the boxers followed behind him.
The line of people soon separated into three lines once they got in. One long line for fighters and their people, another for spectators, and a third for media. Spectators was the longest but it seems that they were processing them very quickly. All the spectators had to do was pay for a ticket or show their ticket if they already paid and then they were led down the hallway to the right. Those from the media weren’t allowed to record while in the main lobby but that didn’t stop them from ogling those in the fighter line and gossiping along with the spectators across from them about each fighter.
No one knew who Zoey was or anyone besides Ben and Zack. Mostly Ben though. They all figured that he was the mysterious boxer in the first bracket of the tournament. It kind of excited her when thinking of the confusion that’ll breakout when she’s revealed as the fighter.
‘You thought it was Ben all along, but really it was me! Zoey!’ She had to cover her mouth from laughing at her own joke.
“Glad to see you're in a good mood, Zoey. If I had this many people for my first fight, I'm sure I would’ve froze
up like a statue.” Zack chuckled.“You didn’t have half as many people as this and you still did shit.” Coach Scott spat.
“Hey, at least I won in the end.” He laughed.
“Barely! You should’ve destroyed that guy! All that training I put you through was thrown out the window just because you got stage fright.” Coach shook his head.
“You did put a lot of pressure on me before the fight began Coach. Telling me I was going to easily win wasn’t exactly good motivation. And then just yelling at me to murder him after he punched me in the face didn’t help either.”
“I was trying to help you brat. All you needed to give him was one good punch. And do you remember how you won that fight? With one good punch.”
“Guess I can’t say anything about that.” Zack helplessly shrugged.
“I didn’t know we would be fighting inside a cage...” Zoey muttered as she saw the ring on the monitor above the counter.
It was an octagonal ring. The camera moved all over the stadium allowing those in the reception room to see the many seats filling up. Zoey didn’t know what she was expecting when the Coach told her she would be fighting in a youth fighting tournament. But she can confidently say that she wasn’t expecting anything similar to this. Not the slightest fucking bit.
“I came to register my fighter. All these other bastards behind me are just here to support them.” Coach talked to the receptionist.
“No problem sir, and you are?”
“Coach Scott.”
“Coach Scott... Ah. Here you are. And which one of these boys are Zoey?” She innocently asked.
“What kind of boy do you know is named Zoey!? Obviously, I'm registering her!” He blew his top as the guys starting snickering.
“Sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so so sorry!” She apologized with all her heart as she rapidly tapped on her keyboard. “Since she’s in the first match of the day, she will be escorted to the locker rooms with her coach. For those that are a part of her gym, they will be taken to the left and allowed to choose any seats near the front that they want with these tags. Please do not lose your tags or you can be forcefully removed from your seat by security that will regularly check every half hour or so for them.” She blurted out so fast it almost sounded like one word.
“Let’s go kid.” Coach led the way to the locker rooms while the guys were still laughing about the receptionist thinking that one of them was called Zoey.
“We’ll be cheering for you, Zoey.” Zack said as they were heading to the seats.
“Don’t fuck up!” Tony laughed.
“We won’t let you live it down.” Steven added.
“Do your best Zoey.” Dylan kindly supported.
“Don’t get hit too much and mess up your pretty face.” Aiden advised.
‘Pretty?’ Now that she looked at Aiden, he wasn’t that bad either. She’d be willing to spend some time with him alone if he was funny or had something interesting about him besides his face and body.
Ha! Who is she kidding? That was all she needed to rock his world.