Fight Club

“ELLIE WILLIAMS!” The ref screamed to the excited audience around the ring. It was a small ring, maybe a 10 by 10. It didn’t necessarily need to be large anyways, just enough room for two people to kick the shit out of each other for money.

The ‘ref’ stood in the middle, holding Ellie’s wrist far above her head in one hand, and in the other, the wrist of the component. He took a step back, giving a thumbs up to the two fighters, before announcing it.

“YOU KNOW THE RULES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THERE ARE NONE!” The man laughed and hopped out of the ring. The audience laughed back, raising their fists and yelling their bets.

The red head took a quick look around at the crowd, locking eyes for a moment with a blonde haired girl who’s.. boyfriend, maybe, was talking over excitedly about how this was some ‘real shit’ and ‘not staged’. And while his excitement was obnoxious, he was right. This was real fucking shit. She looked down at her own clothes, wearing her grey Nike sports bra and pair of black gym shorts. No shoes permitted.

“FIGHT!”

Ellie looked up, locking eyes with her opponent next. He was tall, maybe 6’2. Dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes. He was scrawny, looked like a scrapper who wasn’t really confident in what he was doing and just wanted some quick cash. When Ellie took in his clumsy stance, knees far too straight, shaking arms that weren’t even blocking his body, she knew the fight was already hers.

Might as well let him get the first hit. Or, at least try.

He came charging, raising his fist for a right jab. Which was stupid, really. She could easily deflect by grabbing his wrist, pulling him forward, and connecting her knee with his stomach. Which was exactly what Ellie did. She finished it by pulling his wrist even harder to catch him off balance to the point where he couldn’t save himself from falling. She took a step back, the boy on the ground panting, and holding his stomach with groans of pain.

The ref almost got to seven when the boy stood up, his stance faltering even more. And this time, Ellie went for the hit. She took a quick step forward and when he raised his fist to punch her, she ducked, connected her fist with his jaw in an uppercut, left another blow in his ribs with her left fist, and stepped back again. This was easy shit. And Ellie planned on making this a quick round anyways, tomorrow was her first day in her new school after being kicked out of her old one for.. well, fighting. Which didn’t come as a surprise to Joel when he found out, he simply just shook his head and let out a quiet laugh, but made her promise to keep the fighting to a minimum in her new school. And she agreed.

She was torn from her thoughts when a heavy fist connected with the side of her temple and she tumbled back, clutching at her forehead. Fuck. For someone so skinny, that kid hit hard. He had potential. Everything was spinning, too fast. She blinked a few times, the world around her finally coming to a hard stop and Ellie made eye contact with him again. He swung again, this time his gloved fist blew into the side of her jaw.

That was all it took for Ellie to get her head into the game, she raised her fists in front of her face, a rather animalistic look taking over her features. She grabbed the blonde’s head, bringing her knee up in time for her to force his head down and connect his nose with her knee. The crowd was silent. A sickening crunch came. The boy collapsed, pulling his gloves off to hold his crooked and blood spurting nose. He seemed to be crying. Forget it, this kid had no potential.

When the taste of iron became too overpowering in her mouth, she turned her head to the side and spat, more blood than saliva coming out. The auburn girl gave a small grin to the audience after the boy was counted out and the ref tumbled into the ring to announce the victory.

“WILLIAMS WINS! LOOKS LIKE SHE’LL BE KEEPING HER ALL-TIME WINNING STREAK!” The ref screamed, holding her first in the air. “LEVI IS DOWN!”

-

Ellie wasn’t even sure how she managed to make it through all of her classes before lunch without falling asleep halfway through. But she managed, even with the incessant whispering that followed her down the halls. She could only assume kids were spreading rumors about her. After all, the new kid who didn’t seem interested in talking to another living person had apparently been expelled from her old school for fighting? Mysterious enough for gossip.

She yawned, sitting down at an empty table and deciding a quick power nap would be nice. Ellie leaned forward, resting her head on her arms as a pillow and closed her eyes. And honestly, she was just about to drift into sleep when two seats in front of her shook from the weight of being sat down in. She groaned internally, hoping she could get away with pretending to sleep.

“So, are the rumors true?” An excited male voice asked, followed by a quiet ‘ow’ and ‘what was that for?’.

The question prompted Ellie to sit up, leaning on her elbows while she looked at the pair in front of her. The male was Asian with dark swooping hair and a small mustache starting to form above his top lip. He had broad shoulders and looked relatively fit. The other one, a female, had similarly colored dark hair, olive skin, and a strong nose. A sea of freckles covered her face like stars in the galaxy. Ellie thought that girl may just be the most beautiful one she’s ever seen.

“Jesse! Don’t ask like that!” The girl whisper-yelled, at the guy, who’s name was apparently Jesse.

“Sorry! Sorry.. just curious..” Jesse mumbled, pouting slightly before his attention returned to Ellie. “But.. are they true?” The eagerness immediately seeped back into his voice. Ellie could only stare at him with clear annoyance.

“Excuse me?” She asked firmly, but not because she didn’t know there were rumors, she just didn’t know what they were quite about.

“It’s- just.. there’s-“ He rambled, clearly intimidated by Ellie’s strong tone and cold eyes.

“It’s just that he’s curious, I mean, we’re both curious. The whole school is. Rumor has it, you’re some sort of.. delinquent? Who was kicked out of her old school for being too violent. But honestly, you don’t look like the type.” The girl beside him interrupted, and boy, her voice was more beautiful than Ellie could’ve even imagined. It was soothing, calm, and sweet.

“Yeah, yeah! What Dina said..” Jesse mumbled, obviously a little embarrassed.

Ellie looked away from Jesse and back at the beautiful girl, Dina, across from her.

“And if they are?” She challenged, raising her scarred eyebrow.

But, before Dina got the chance to answer, a loud bell cut her off to signify the start of the next class. Students filed out of the cafeteria.  Ellie stood, ignoring the sputters from Jesse who tried to get her to wait for them, and followed the crowd through double doors.