THE INMATE

THROWBACK

Detachment of curly, hair to a bald one, Tattooed neck, pierced nose, the perfect, bad boy energy with demure. A one time reserved nerd, yet bullied always for being the brightest in class.

Five years later, he resurfaced with no visible identity. This is the story of Andrew Sanchez, the nerd who returned Fierce.

~~Five, years, ago~~

At the school cafe, Andrew is seated with his best friend Joel, a fellow nerd who would rather give up on everything than to fight back. It was on a Friday, every student showed up with their various uniforms for the popular school event, tagged “TGIF” (Thank God Is Friday). Well, every student, except Andrew and Joel. As for Andrew, he would rather bury his head in his books, while eating at the cafeteria or sneak around the sports area to watch the boxing competition, than to attend a seemingly party event.

“I heard Bella is back”. Joel's tiny voice, Interrupted.

“Yeah, She's, even, more, pretty”, Andrew muttered, drily chewing his food.

"Are you still hurt?" Joel let out, gazing at Andrew’s completely changed expression.

"Hmm. Well… just a little. Life itself hurts, you know?" Andrew’s voice was low. After a deep sigh, he stood up to leave.

"Hey, what’s the problem? You aren’t even done with your snacks," Joel interrupted as he stood up.

"The last time I checked, you are my best friend, not my mother or some food instructor." He paused, then grabbed his book from the table.

"I almost forgot this!" he continued with a smile, then gently patted Joel on his shoulder. "Sorry bro, but I lost my appetite. Besides, today’s the semi-finals for boxing, we should go have a look."

Confused by his friend, Joel sipped his juice one last time, before chasing after him.

As they strode through the Lonely school hallway, Jasper, a popular dude, known for his charms and of course a big bully, showed up with his squad.

"Who are they?" Andrew’s frightened voice echoed as he turned to his friend Joel.

“Hmm, we are in a big mess bro. The dude in front is their leader, Jasper Everest, the school's hottest and richest dude” Joel whispered, frightened.

“O-okay… so what does he want from us?”

“Hey, new student,” Jasper’s voice interrupted as he kicked a ball across to Andrew.

“Return the ball,” he said. Then Joel and Andrew took turns to look at each other.

“What is he saying?” Andrew mumbled, clinging to Joel.

“Just don’t mind him. Jasper is quite troublesome. Kick the ball back to him so we can get going,” he said, quite shocked. Andrew kicked back the ball to Jasper.

“You are cool, and I like that. Do you want to be my friend?” Jasper mocked, as he walked closer, pinning Andrew to the wall.

“What?! You want to watch the show or be a part of the show?” he barked at Joel who quickly ran off.

"How come you are friends with a loser, look how he ran off without a blink," Jasper let out, as he watched Joel run off.

"What’s going on here?" Mr. Lucas, the Geography Professor, interrupted as he approached them.

"Nothing sir, we… we were just exchanging pleasantries, right – right?" He narrowed his eyes, confused.

"Andrew," Andrew whispered, before Jasper smiled while repeating his name.

“Yeah, Andrew. I'll see you later bro”. Jasper let out, as he patted his shoulder, then smiled and walked away.

With a deep sigh Andrew turned to walk away.

"Andrew Sanchez!" The teacher’s deep voice echoed, causing Andrew to halt.

"You shouldn’t be friends with Jasper Everest, he doesn’t have a good record. You are a bright student and should be preparing for the upcoming inter-school geography competition." He didn’t wait for Andrew’s reply, he only smiled at him, then walked away.

"Geography competition?!" Andrew repeated, before walking away.

~~~~~~~~~

At the entrance of the hallway, Joel was settled with his backpack on his lap, his eyes darting non-stop. Like he was on a race with someone.

"Yo! What’s up, did he do anything?"* He said immediately Andrew approached him.

"Nope," Andrew whispered, avoidant, while trying to walk away.

"Sorry I left, I just wasn’t ready to get into Jasper’s trouble. He’s no good news," he apologized, chasing after his friend.

"You shouldn't have left, that was wrong," Andrew mumbled, annoyed, throwing his face away from Joel.

"Who is he anyways?" he added, putting his hands in his pocket.

"A nightmare," Joel teased, finally getting Andrew to laugh.

"I’m serious though, who is Jasper Everest? Even the Geography professor warned me not to be friends with him," Andrew said, in a more serious tone. His brows were narrowed in confusion, while piercing his gaze on Joel.

"Don’t give me that look, your gaze is kinda deadly," Joel mumbled, shifting his eyes from Andrew’s stare.

"Ish, sorry about that, but who is he?" Andrew pressed.

"I’m actually shocked you are one week into this college, yet you don’t know who Jasper Everest is," Joel paused, then stared confused at Andrew for long.

"What?!" Andrew barked.

"Are you pretending not to know who he is, or are you just a freaking novice?"

"Why would I pretend over some dude? Are you going to tell me who he is, or should I just forget the math lesson for the upcoming competition?" Andrew threatened.

"Why do you keep threatening me with this lesson?" Joel mumbled, almost frustrated.

"Well… that’s what happens when you have something you can threaten someone with," Andrew let out, his eyes dripping with tears as he laughed at Joel.

"This ain’t funny bro," Joel let out, still annoyed.

"Deal or no deal?" Andrew charged.

"Not like I have a choice," he breathed out, then continued. "Jasper is one hell of a thug. He is a fat bully, hence you are not part of his crew, just consider yourself his enemy… And of course, be ready to have your ass frustrated. Just as the Geography lecture advised, I think you should just stay away from him"

“Is he that bad?“ Andrew mumbled shocked.

“He is good. You haven't even heard the best par” Joel whispered, as Andrew narrowed his gaze towards him.

“Good?”. He said shocked as Joel nodded with a grin

“Wow! That's crazy. Tell me, what's the best part?”. Andrew muttered anxiously.

“Last year, Jasper and his friends bullied a student and he was hospitalized”.

“Hospitalized?!”. Andrew exclaimed.

“Yeah, hospitalised. But, what is even more interesting, is that it never made it to the news, his parents used their influence to cover up the case”. Joel breathed out

“People like him shouldn't still be in the system. Don't you think so?”. Andrew said but Joel narrowed his eyes, then bursted out laughing.

“Well, soon you will know why”. He mumbled, throwing his bag to his back, then continued.

“Come on, the fight must have started”.

*********

At the boxing room, the hall was fully filled with some of the students that are addicted to boxing, just like Andrew, the hall was dark. Unlike their thought, the competition was yet to start, just whispers of the people that came for the match, and a betting session in a nearby corner on who would win the match.

“Do you think Joshua is going to win the game?” Joel’s tiny voice echoed as he leaned towards Andrew, while whispering into his ears.

“I don’t think so,” Andrew answered, before the MC announced Jide’s entrance.

“You see him?” Andrew whispered, pointing at Jide, amidst the already noisy room from the cheers of Jide’s fans.

“He is fast, though not as strong as Anthony’s,” he concluded.

“So, what are you saying in conclusion?” Joel let out, quite disgusted.

“That Anthony isn’t Anthony Joshua, so stop giving him lots of accolades. Jide will surely win him,” he repeated rudely, joining the rest to cheer up for Jide.

“And now, let’s welcome our one-time gold medalist, Anthony Kish!!!” The MC’s voice was super loud as the cheers of Anthony’s fans overshadowed that of Jide.

“Anthony is going to win this match,” Joel screamed while jumping up with excitement to cheer Anthony as he entered the ring. Andrew glanced at him for a sec, shook his head, then continued to cheer Jide.

One hour into the fight, the two fighters were already tired. It was such a tough one.

“I expected Anthony to knock him off in two minutes,” Joel said as the referee blew his whistle for the first half.

“I told you already, you give so much credit to Anthony. If Jide can add a little more tactics, he will surely beat Anthony. If he can just increase his speed,” Andrew interrupted.

“Anthony will surely win. You underestimate him a lot. Anthony was the gold medalist last session. Didn’t you hear that?” Joel defended.

That was before Jide appeared. Don’t underestimate the power of a fast boxer,” Andrew let out, fixing his eyes on the ring as the MC announced the beginning of the second half.

Two minutes to the end of the game, Jide gave Anthony a strong blow, which caused him to land on the boxing ring.

“I told you,” Andrew whispered to Joel, who was still in shock.

There was a great noise as the referee began to count down.

“Wake up, you moron!” Joel let out with annoyance, and just while Andrew started to laugh at him, the referee ended the game. The noise from the crowd was unimaginable. While some of them left the room excited, people like Joel were quite saddened.

“I’m the master of this game. You should listen to me next time,” Andrew mocked as they were completely far from the building.

“That was luck, bro. Don’t sound like some physician. We all saw it—Anthony beat the heck out of that dude” he attacked, making Andrew laugh even more.

“Aren't you just being too sentimental? Trust me, I believe you. Anthony is a good boxer, okay? But, he lacks speed, and Jude? While his strength can't be measured with that of Anthony's, his speed is just Superb! Even Anthony couldn't predict, let alone flow with it, and that's why he lost…”

“That's enough! You are already talking too much, besides, it's just a match and Jodie happened to be on the lucky side. Now, can we switch the conversation to something more meaningful?”. Joel slightly shunned.

“What should we talk about then?”. Andrew mumbled, while hiding his mocking face away from Joel.

Playfully, Joel rolled his eyes, then gave off a quick wink “How about we talk about Bella? You…”

“No one is talking about Bell”. Andrew chipped in with annoyance.

“Come on, what's the rash for? Bella isn't that bad you know? What did she even do that you have refused to let go?”. Joel paused at an instant, as Andrew stopped walking alongside him.

“Umm… okay, Sorry, No Bella… let's just drily walk back home”. He let out, trying to be playful, but Andrew wasn't giving him the attention.

“I doubt if you are ready for the match competition cause it doesn't seem like it to me”. He queried, then stormed off.

“You are just too me… whoash! Speak of the devil”. Joel laughed, as he sighted Bella from afar.

“What?!… What dev—i—L?”. Andrew stuttered, before he saw Bella approaching.

“Umm, I think I'll just get going, I clearly won't be a part of this convo”. Joel laughed off, as he tried to walk away, but was quickly pulled back by Andrew.

“You better not think of it. Why walk away now that I need you? You wanted the Bella convo and the whole truth behind the gist right? Well… it's time and you better not think about walking away.