THE INMATE

THE BOXING COMPETITION

Just as Andrew ended the call with Bella, he looked at Joel and started blushing.

“What now? Did she invite you to another party?”. Joel let out annoyed.

“Stop it already. Besides, you need to start getting used to being around her, because she will soon be my girlfriend and you know you can't hate her right?”. Andrew said.

“In your dreams bro, let's go home already”. Joel mumbled, before dragging him away.

«»«» THE NEXT WEEK AT SCHOOL«»«»

Joel had reached the class before Andrew, because he had earlier stopped to chat with Bella. He did observe the weird looks, the silent whispers, but what he didn't know was what they were saying. Immediately Andrew narrowed his gaze towards him, his steps slowed as he approached his seat besides Joel.

“What's going on? Why are they staring at me like that?”. Andrew whispered, terrified.

“I don't know, just prepare yourself for the worst”. Joel answered before the fitness coach walked into the class.

“Andrew Sanchez?”. He echoed, as the class suddenly remained quiet, not until Andrew raised his hands from where he sat.

“Yes Sir”. He answered.

“You are Andrew Sanchez?!”. The coach exclaimed in shock.

“Yes Sir, I am”. Andrew replied, confused, taking a quick glance at Joel.

“Oh wow! It's been long since I last saw a tiny bold student”. He said, sounding quite impressed.

“Well, your coaching session will commence today. Meet me at the boxing ring by 4:30pm”. He continued.

“Boxing ring?”. Andrew mumbled confused, then turned to look at Joel who looked even more surprised. “Sorry Sir, but…” Andrew got stuck up with his statement, as the coach immediately left.

The student didn't even wait for a second before they began whispering again.

“Could it be that someone signed you up for the boxing competition?”. Joel asked, confused.

“I—I… don't know. This is all strange to me”. Andrew let out baffled.

“So… what are you gonna do about it?”. Joel whispered, concerned.

“What am I going to do? Well, I'm going to go back to the coach and tell him it was a mix up. Come on bro, you know I can't fight”. He said, then Joel widened his eyes like he had seen a ghost.

“What?!” Andrew muttered confused, just while looking around.

“What?!”. He said again, still shocked with Joel's sudden expression.

“What if they sign up with Anthony?”. He said, then suddenly started to laugh. “You would be doomed bro!”. That's like a night at elm's street“. He teased, then continued to laugh. Annoyed, Andrew grabbed his books and left.

”Hey! Wait up bro, you know I'm kidding right?“. Joel apologised as he chased after him.

”I don't like the feeling I'm getting“. Andrew mumbled exhausted.

”I know, and I really thank God I wasn't the one, because… you are yet to know the interesting part about coach Hanez“.

”Coach Hanez?! Is that the name of the dude that just walked in?“ Andrew let out concern.

”Don't call him a dude. He is a coach and he can frustrate your life in two seconds“. Joel let out defensively.

”Hey look, isn't that Bella with Jasper?“. Joel continued, as they caught sight of Bella who was standing in the middle of the school's love garden with Jasper.

”Umm… yeah, that's weird“. Andrew muttered but acted a little unconcerned.

”You don't seem con-cerned“. Joel let out surprised.

”Umm… yeah, that's because she is allowed to make friends too, Besides, she isn't my girlfriend yet. I will only be seen as desperate. I'm only concerned with the boxing time. It will affect when we are supposed to meet up“. He said defensively, as he walked past the garden.

”What about Jessica? I actually like her. She's more gentle, caring…“

”And ugly“. Andrew completed, while laughing.

”Stop laughing, she isn't that ugly. She's not even ugly, you just love to be fond of her. I think you should give her a chance“. Joel said pitiably.

”Yeah, the way you gave her a chance“. Andrew mocked and they both started laughing.

”You are just crazy, Dude“. Joel said, while still laughing.

”ANDREW!!!“. A voice suddenly called out behind them, as they turned to see Jessica running towards them.

”Oh Jeez!“ Andrew whispered in disbelief as he turned to look at Joel, who immediately started to laugh.

“Jess, what’s up?” Andrew casually said, while waving at Jessica.

“I’m good. I heard you signed up for the boxing competition, and you specifically stated you want to compete with Jide?”

“What?! Jide?“ Andrew let out with a snap, as Joel immediately started to laugh at him.

“You are kidding, right? Like why Jide?” Andrew spilled.

“Really? Why Jide? So, you want to fight with Anthony, is that it?” Joel said before Andrew turned to face him.

“Hold on. What are you guys saying? Didn’t you sign up for boxing yourself?” Jessica interrupted.

“No!” Andrew and Joel shouted in unison.

“If you didn’t, then who did?” Jessica muttered, concerned. But Andrew only passed out her question.

“How on earth am I supposed to know?” he answered angrily. But Joel shook his head and patted Jessica slightly on her shoulder.

“Sorry for that, but he is clearly not in a good mood.”

He said, before she nodded and left without uttering another word to them.

“I really feel bad for her, y’know,” Joel said. But Andrew hissed and walked away.

“You need to stop being harsh towards her, she was only watching out” Joel continued as he ran after him.

“Maybe she should channel the energy towards you, I'm certain something really amazing would definitely come out of it,” Andrew said, still annoyed.

“Hmm… okay then. But you still need to stop t…”

“Can we stop talking about her already?” Andrew snapped.

“Okay then. So… are we going to withdraw, or do you want to give it a try?” Joel mumbled, then stopped and began to smile.

“Thinking about it, I think I want to challenge Jide. I do know I will certainly lose, but I want to lose gracefully, rather than backing out like a coward. So yes, Andrew is about to compete against Jide.” Andrew let out, then Joel started to laugh at him. “Oh well, that sure does sound like bravery to me,” Joel complimented.

“Of course. Now let’s go kick some ass,” Andrew whispered sarcastically.

“You mean, let’s go get my ass kicked,” Joel yabbed, before they started walking down to the boxing room.

~~~~~~At the Boxing Ring~~~~~

The room was quiet. Noisy, yet welcoming. At the right end was Anthony, training with another member, at the left was Jide, practicing with the boxing bag, while in the middle was the coach with another trainee.

Anthony’s eyes caught with theirs. He let out a grin, then whispered a word to his partner, who also started to gaze at them mockingly.

“What’s their ish?” Joel whispered, but Andrew ignored him. Instead, he walked up to the coach.

“Andrew, right?” the coach questioned. Then he smiled and nodded slightly.

“Good to have you here, please join us,” he said, stretching his hand towards Andrew.

“Thanks sir,” Andrew let out as he grabbed his hand and entered the ring.

“Since you specifically stated you want to compete with Jide, I’m more certain you are very much acquainted with most of the boxing rules, right?” The coach let out, but even before Andrew could respond, he cut off the boy.

“Train with him, I’ll watch you practice,” he stated, while calling on others to come watch them.

“This dude ain’t no real boxer, you have three minutes to beat him out of the ring, Bryan,” Anthony echoed from where he was, and they all started to laugh.

“Silence!” the coach barked and they all quickly stopped to laugh.

“You may begin,” the coach let out while gazing at Andrew and his opponent Bryan.

Truthfully, the three minutes Anthony said, was an over estimation. It only took Bryan a minute to get Andrew pleading for mercy.

The coach was disappointed. Anthony and the rest of the boxers in the room couldn’t hold back their laughter.

“Guess I certainly overhyped you,” Anthony chipped in, and they took another extra minute to laugh at Andrew.

“Did you even sign up for the competition yourself?” the coach questioned in disbelief.

“Yes, and you must let me fight. I want to lose honorably and not just back out as a complete loser,” Andrew let out firmly.

“But that’s no different from who you are. Fixing you in a fight with me is a complete waste. Let’s just not waste everybody’s time,” Jide murmured, and they all backed him up. Joel just kept observing, speechless.

“I want to fight you, Jide” Andrew continued while crawling to come out of the ring.

“It’s going to be a very pathetic fight, but we all deserve a chance, and I’m going to give you that chance. But I’m honestly hoping something slightly good can come out of it. Go home and do some more training. Feel free to come around if you wish. See you then,” the coach said, then grabbed his keys and went outside.

“Just go home, think about it, then come back and tell us that you quit,” Jide added before retreating back to his training.

“See you on the D-day. Let’s go home, Joel,” Andrew mumbled, limping as Joel helped him to come down from the ring.

“Maybe you should just quit,” Joel advised but Andrew managed to smile at him.

“It will be a bigger shame. Besides, you are going to help me train. I don’t want to quit just like that,” Andrew demanded. Shocked, Joel just squeezed his face.

“C’mon, let’s just go home first,” Joel encouraged while helping him to walk back home.

“I honestly thought I was going to die after the first punch. Damn! I’m so lucky,” Andrew let out, and they both started to laugh.

WEEKS LATER, THE D-DAY

Andrew ran up to the fighting ring with little cheers at the mention of his name, right after Jide’s name, which caused almost a chaotic uproar.

Unlike other fighting competitions, this case was slightly different. Almost everyone in school showed up for the fight. To Andrew, he believed they all came to watch him lose.

It wasn’t really a tough fight. They were all right to believe Andrew was going to get beaten up.

But the tough part? He actually lasted for five minutes—something they didn’t see coming.

“And the winner is Jide…” the Emcee announced, before Andrew fell off from the ring, bruised, and, to his greatest surprise, who ran up to save him was Bella.

“Hey tough guy,” she whispered with a smile. In return, Andrew smiled back.

“C’mon, I’ve got a surprise for you,” Bella let out, as she helped him out of the building.