Tales of the Underground: Crestfallen - 2. The Jacket

I woke up the next morning to Perry lightly shaking me “Sir, it’s time to get up and dressed for school.”

I let out a long groan “Do I have to?”

“Yes, I’m afraid you do” he said unapologetically

I sat up and rubbed my eyes “I swear this is your favorite part of the job.”

“No sir, my favorite part is dropping you and your sister off at school” he teased leaving the room to give me some privacy.

I jumped out of bed and got together the nicest set of clothes I could find. I settled on a light blue polo to go along with my air Jordan 4s and some khaki shorts. As I headed down the stairs I saw my sister sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

“Who the hell are you dressed for?” she spit staring at me.

“Well Brooke, unlike you I actually like to dress nicely” I said with a mocking smile “It’s okay to actually look good every once and a while, you should try it.”

“It’s going to be hard for you to look nice when your face eventually gets rearranged from fighting” she replied trying to get a rise out of me

“That’s rich coming from you” I began but looked over at Perry who was staring me down to stop “What?” I asked returning the stare

“Will you two ever stop fighting?” he asked with a sigh

“Not likely” she answered “Do you see how he’s dressed?”

“Yes ma’am, I think he looks very well put together this morning” he politely answered

“Of course you would say that” she rolled her eyes “Aidan is the pride and joy of this household.”

I snickered “Oh Brooke, when will you finally realize that mom and dad don’t give a shit about either of us.”

She let out a short laugh “Finally something we can agree on” she began to stare at me again “Don’t embarrass me today, I don’t want to be the sophomore with the weird younger brother.”

“Me embarrass you?” I scoffed “I think I’m already more popular then you were all of last year. After all the wrestling coaches have been trying to get me on their team for the past few months.”

She rolled her eyes “And when you turn them down you’re going to go from hero to zero.”

“Who says I’m going to turn them down?” I asked sticking out my tongue

“Like you’re going to take the time out of the cage to go wrestle on a mat.” She dialed in her focus “besides we all know you’re a striker, your wrestling is the weakest part of your game. Your speed, precision and power are the reasons you win, wrestling nullifies almost all of that. How’s Static gonna fair in a sport where he can’t dance around or string together combinations.”

Perry couldn’t help but laugh at my sister’s assessment “It appears Ms. Taylor watches your fights closer then we all previously thought.”

Brooke’s face began to turn red “well yeah…it’s something to watch” she stuttered

“Does that mean you’re coming to my fight tonight?” I asked more eagerly then I anticipated

“We’ll see” she mumbled. I’ll never admit it to her but having her sit in the stands watching helps give me that second tank of energy I need some fights. It’s hard when you’re parents treat you more like a business then a kid, but having a supportive sister there with you makes it a little easier to swallow.

As we finished breakfast Perry took our stuff out to the car and warmed the engine. “Come on, we cannot be late for the first day” he pestered.

Brooke and I slowly made our way into the family Porsche, not ready for another year of schooling to being. Perry seemed to be taking his time getting to school this morning, every now and then I would catch him looking in the rear view mirror and checking on me. “Where did all the time go?” I heard him mumble to himself

“Getting sentimental?” I teased

“Hardly” he teased back. It’s funny, you would think taking a kid to their first day of high school would be a parent’s job but then again Perry might as well be my parent. Finally we pulled up to the big brick building and he let us off “Good luck kids, and remember you have training before your fight after school Master Aidan.”

“Yeah, yeah” I groaned waving him away

“Ughh butlers” I heard a familiar female voice mock “Aren’t they just the most embarrassing.”

Suddenly I felt weight weigh on me in the form of a hug “Hey Ivy” I mumbled put off by the random physical contact.

She finally let go “Sorry, I know you don’t like to be touched, but come on it’s our first day of high school!” Me and Ivy go way back to when we were kids, she was one of the friends my parents tried to force me to get rid of when I picked up fighting, but she didn’t go anywhere. It sucks having to have a secret friend, she’s the only person left who is willing to put up with all of it.

“So I’ve heard” I said making a face “Have you seen Henry yet?”

“Nope” she said laughing “You honestly think he’ll be here on time?”

“Who knows, maybe high school will be the start of a new leaf for him.” I said not even believing it myself.

She snickered and we walked to our lockers together. As I was preparing my locker for the school year ahead I saw a red blur wander a few lockers down. I tried my best not to stare but the crimson and yellow varsity jacket had a mystique of its own. I looked at all the small details before finally noticing the design of two hockey sticks crossed on the back. I darted my eyes from the back of the jacket to the sleeve and was further taken back when I saw the number 26 embroidered there. I instantly realized who I was looking back, and began to stare in awe of the wearer instead of the jacket. I gazed at his long dirty blond hair which swept down towards his eyes then back up to his forehead and yet didn’t dare to go past his ears or too far down his neck. He seemed to be barely taller than me but his once slim frame now boasted a few pounds of muscle, making him someone the average person wouldn’t want to mess with. Without warning he turned his head and stared me down, our eyes connected and I couldn’t help but stand in fear of his dull blue eyes. As quickly as he turned towards me he turned away and made his way down the hallway.

“Still got that crush I see” Ivy teased

“I don’t” I whined “I was looking at his jacket, and I guess he felt me staring and…”

“Well good luck trying to explain that to him” she interrupted “He really does seem as angry as everyone says he is.”

“He wasn’t always that way” I mumbled more to myself then to her

“No, he wasn’t.” An overhearing voice said from behind us “You’re that fighter they want to wrestle right? The big name? What is it? Hazard”

I turned and looked into the stranger’s hazel eyes “Yes, names Static” I squeaked out

“Well do yourself a favor, and don’t even think of getting wrapped up with him” The stranger’s voice grew cold “Trying to save someone from the edge was his downfall. Once a person goes past a certain point there’s no saving them.”

“And how would you know that?” Ivy butted in with some fire

I watched as guilt slowly dripped into his eyes “He’s a friend” the stranger mumbled walking away.

A cold shiver made its way down my spine as I watched his scrawny frame disappear into the crowd. Elijah really has fallen this far? It wasn’t so long ago that I met him. I went to one of his varsity hockey games, man I looked up to him so much back then. A gay athlete just like me! And he was good! No! Amazing! I still remember every moment of that day. I waited a little after the game to meet him. He was so nice, and kind. He even offered to give me a tour of the school when I made it here. The only thing I can remember about his late boyfriend was his dark eyes, looking into them shook me to my core. There was just something evil attached to him. They truly were a yin and a yang, but without the yang the yin has been thrown into deep trouble. The bell rang to break me from my thoughts and I hurried to class.

High school wasn’t too different from middle school, if you ask me the teachers were just trying to scare us into trying hard. My mind couldn’t help but wander off during their lectures. I thought about the upcoming fight, about how I was going to sneak Ivy over to come hang out, about how Henry was probably sleeping through class right now, but the one thing my mind kept coming back to was Elijah’s stare this morning. It was so cold and lonely, I may have only looked into his eyes once before today but I remember them being so lively and happy. It’s almost as though his true soul got up and wandered away. The cycle of thoughts repeated until the lunch bell rang.

I navigated around the new cafeteria until finally finding Ivy and Henry at a table. “Look who finally showed up” I said staring at Henry

“Can’t a guy just sleep in without getting into any trouble.” He joked

“You’re never gonna make it through highschool.” Ivy said throwing a wrapper at him.

“That’s okay, I don’t need to” he began “I’m gonna ride with Aidan until he makes it to the UFC. Then were gonna party all day and fight all night.”

He reached out his fist and I pounded it “That’s the plan” I agreed to Ivy’s dismay

“So you’re okay with him just riding your success?” she asked “and he’s okay with never having any success of his own.”

“Yup” we both said in unison.

She rolled her eyes at our stupidity “Boys will be boys” she sighed turning her attention to her food.

“Static” I heard a booming voice say from behind me.

“Yeah?” I replied surprised by the sudden call out. I turned around to see 7 or 8 big guys all wearing a combination of high school wrestling shirts or varsity jackets.

“My names Jack, I’m the captain of the varsity wrestling team” I nodded along with his words knowing what he was gonna say next “Coach told me I should come say hi and see if you’ve made up your mind yet.”

“I’m still thinking it over” I sighed recalling Brooke’s words from this morning

I saw a bit of unrest grow between the guys “You know. You being on the team could drastically change things for us. Don’t forget the crazy thing about MMA is that it’s mixed, so wrestling should be second nature to you. If it’s not we can help get you there.” I saw a few of them nod their heads “I heard you’ve been studying Jiu Jitsu, but we can help you diversify it a bit”

“I’ll take that into consideration” I said beginning to play with my water bottle

“Until then, we’ll be at your fight tonight” he said to my surprise.

I never expect to have much of an audience at my fights. It’s usually just trainers, family, other fighters and people curious about the sport. It’s gonna be odd to have the wrestling team there. I nodded and shook his hand.

I heard a combination of goodbyes and good lucks from the team as they passed by.

“Think they can actually help you get better?” Ivy asked genuinely interested in my answer

“Maybe, I kinda doubt it though. Would they really be perusing a 15 year old if they could?” I said thinking it over in my head.

“I say do it, as long as you can still fight MMA” Henry coached, I nodded liking that compromise.

Finally the bell rang to end lunch and I made my way through the rest of the day. My mind drifted with thoughts about being a part of a varsity team. I could actually have my own varsity jacket. The possibility enticed me, varsity wrestler and MMA fighter. There’s one hell of a resume.

As the last bell rang I made my way to my locker and began to pack my bag. I couldn’t help but glance over at the figure I was staring at this morning. Every now and then I would see him glance back to see if I was still staring. Finally we looked at the same time and our eyes locked. I got another good stare into his lifeless eyes except this time instead of walking away he started walking towards me. My heart began to race with anticipation. I felt my body fill with anxiety with every step he took.

“If you’re gonna stare at me every single time we’re at our lockers we’re gonna have a real problem.” He growled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. I just really like the varsity jackets.” What a stupid thing to say! Really like the varsity jackets? He probably thinks I’m the biggest loser ever.

He darkened his eyes and stared me down in an attempt to figure out if I was pulling his leg or being serious “You’re that fighter” he finally said breaking the silence

“Yeah, my names Aidan but they call me Static” I answered with a proud smile “We’ve actually met before”

“I remember” he spit in a deep voice recalling the past “It was after one of my games, you said something about looking up to me or some shit.”

I felt a deep blush begin to form “Ughhh yeah” I stuttered

“Well that’s fucking stupid” he interrupted “Hero’s only let you down. The only person you should look up to is yourself.” I opened my mouth but didn’t know what to say, I’ve never heard anything so cynical “I promised you a tour didn’t I?” I couldn’t do anything but nod, it seemed like he had all the power in this conversation “Sorry, to let you down some more, but you can forget that.”

“I figured” I said finally being able to speak

“Good, then we’re on the same page” he said with his voice returning to a deep growl “I’m not your hero or your crush. I’m not a person to be saved or a friend. You keep your eyes on your locker and I’ll keep mine on mine” he spit.

I began to nod but stopped myself. I’m an MMA fighter, am I really going to let this guy disrespect me just because I think he’s cute. “Sounds good to me, but maybe I can offer you some friendly advice.”

“I’ll humor you” he said with a laugh

“Talk down to me like that again and I’ll smack the living shit outta you. I don’t care how cute you are, or what you’ve been through. I’ve rumbled with people double your size and put them to sleep in a flash. Keep stepping on me, I dare you.”

He took a step forward and so did I. I clenched my fists and puffed my chest ready to do what I’ve been trained to do, no what I’ve been born to do. “You think you’re tough shit because you have some lame nickname?” he mocked “I had a nickname once too, they don’t mean shit.”

He reached out to give me a shove but I smacked his hands away “The difference was you probably started calling yourself your nickname, mine was given to me. Do you even know why they call me static?” he looked at me with curious eyes “It’s because after I hit you it’s all you can hear for the next few hours.” I connected a shove of my own, he tried to stop it but I overpowered him. “You act like your tough shit and you may have everyone else around here fooled, but you and I both know you’re all bark and no bite.” I saw anger begin to rise in his eyes “Go ahead. Give me a chance to prove it.” I egged on

“Just keep your eyes to yourself.” He snickered and walked away.

“Calm down there champ” I heard Henry say “that’s one weird way of flirting you’ve got there.”

“It’s not flirting” I spit “I would never have a crush on an asshole like him”

“Oh well” Henry yelled as I began to walk towards the exit “See you at the fight!”

As I made my way around the corner I saw the boy with green eyes from before. He shook his head in disapproval. “What’s the wrong with you? Too many blows to the head to fuckin listen?” he provoked slowing down

I kept walking and slammed shoulders with him “Something like that”

“You’re not gonna leave him alone are you?” he laughed

“I have a magical way of getting what I want” I answered not bothering to turn back

“Fuckin rich kids” he muttered watching me leave

Does everyone have a shitty attitude at this school? I finally made it to the door, climbed into the car and took my normal seat in the back.

“Exciting first day sir?” Perry asked making eye contact through the rear view mirror

“You could say that” I mumbled “Let’s go train. I’ve got a fight to win.”

Everyone else in the school may be convinced that Elijah Warren is some thug that shouldn’t be messed with but me. I’ve been trained to respect everyone but fear no one. He’s no different.