|7|

•Charlotte•

I grabbed a hold of his arm and twisted it as my right leg came up and I kicked him in the face. He was a short buffed up man that thought he could hurt me. 

He had. I would have a bruise on my face from the punch he landed a few seconds ago. 

The cheers for my name filled the gym as the man fell to the ground. 

"Finish him!" Someone shouted around me as the short man stood up again, massaging his jaw as if it didn't hurt at all. 

He charged at me like a bull, his fists attacking my ribs and face, as if he just wanted to finish me off and not care that he looked completely silly. I slipped my foot around his and pulled on his leg. My right hand connected with the side of his face as he collapsed on the ground. He wasn't moving.

"Lightning devil knocked him out!!"  The words were cheered around the gym as I stepped away from him, fisting my hands as I walked out of the ring. Mark was immediately besides me as I headed towards Joe's desk. 

Lizzie was at home alone with my dad. Mary had gone back to her own house, knowing Lizzie was with me. I had told dad to rest when Mary left and Lizzie and I cooked dinner. He remembered her. Smiled and talked to her while I cooked.

We ate food and he said he would like to rest so we walked him upstairs and I got him ready for bed. I helped him change his clothes while Lizzie bought the heater upstairs so the room was heated. Once dad was in his room sleeping, I told her I would be home quickly and she said it was okay. She would watch him while I fought. Then we would talk about her and Calvin. She had pushed me out of the house, laughing. 

I didn't say a single word as Joe grinned at me and handed me the usual bag. "Two thousand dollars today. We had some rich folks today." He chuckled at me as I pushed the bag in my pocket and zipped it up. He held his fist out and I bumped mine with it before walking out of the underground gym. 

"See you in a couple of days?" Mark said to me as we walked upstairs on the silent staircase. 

"Can I get two fights that day?" I asked softly so nobody heard my voice. 

"I'll see what Joe says but I think you might be able too. Everyone wants to fight the lightning devil." He chuckled as he opened the door and we entered the top floor where the machines were and the actual gym was. 

I nodded at him and fist bumped his hand before I walked out of the gym. 

It was dark outside, and I knew it was past midnight now. Walking across the street, I took a left and headed towards the 24 hour supermarket. I needed a girls night with face masks and chocolates. Lizzie and I were going to stay up and watch movies. 

The lights shined brightly in the small car park of the shop as I stood in the darkness. I pulled my mask off and shoved it in my hoodie. Pulling my hoodie down, I fixed my hair in a tight bun and pulled a few notes out of the money bag. There was no one here to even try and steal my money. I shoved the bag back in my pocket and put the notes in my hoodie pocket. 

I headed inside the shop, the automatic doors opening wide for me. I picked up a basket and started heading to the usual aisles. This was the supermarket I always used. They had everything, a smaller version of Target and Walmart. 

Walking towards the chocolate aisle, I filled up my basket with every one we liked. I walked through the ice cream aisle, the crisps, the beauty aisle, and the movie section. I found the movie White Chicks and placed it on top of all the food. 

We both needed a relaxation day after the long week at school. Smiling at the baking book I found in the movie section, I picked it up and headed towards the front. 

"Hey Char. Late movie night today?" Adam asked as he started scanning the chocolate and putting them in a bag for her. 

"Yeah. Lizzie is staying over tonight." I told him and he grinned. 

"She didn't come with you?" He asked and I chuckled, shaking my head. 

Lizzie had a crush on Adam. He was older than her by five years but she turned into a blushing mess in front of him. Though Lizzie suffered with Anxiety, it didn't stop her from crushing on every male that walked past her or smiled. She would never say a single word to them but she would smile and then freak out for a whole week if they smiled back. 

Adam had said hey darling and she had freaked out the moment we got home. 

"Hope you have a fun night." He smiled at me as I handed him the money. He gave me my change and the receipt back. I put them in my pocket along with my phone before picking up the two bags and with a smile, I walked out of the store. 

Getting high on chocolate was the equivalent to getting high on drugs in our eyes. We never did drugs or drank alcohol. It was never our thing. We didn't copy the trends in school, with everyone hellbent on destroying their lives. Lizzie was determined to get into a good college. I was determined to make sure my dad got the best care he could. That was all that mattered. 

I walked up the street in the darkness with the flickering broken streetlights above me. The streets were empty, not a single person in place as I headed up. I had to take the long way because climbing up a high gate with two bags and jumping down was not possible. I was a street fighter, not spiderman. 

"Charlotte!" I heard his voice behind me as I walked through the alley. There was  no one here, just a bright light shining above me as I turned around. 

Cameron. 

He walked towards me, up the hill, with a smile on his face. I stopped moving as he walked closer, running his hand through his dark hair. 

"Why are you following me?" I asked. 

I knew he was following me. The second I had taken a step out of the gym, I felt the burning eyes on me. I walked to the shop and they followed me there. It was only a matter of seconds before he showed himself. 

"We just want to talk." He smirked at me, noticing the bags in my hand. "Eating your troubles away?" 

The same troubles they caused me. 

"I don't want to talk. I don't want any part of your stupid gang. Leave me alone."I told him and turned around walking away from him. 

"Hey!" Cameron called out to me following me up the hill. "He just wants to talk to you. Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be." He grabbed onto my arm, stopping me from walking away from him. 

"Let go of my arm." I glared up at him. 

"Charlotte, Logan just wants to talk. We're desperate." His voice was a scoff, as if he was embarrassed to admit it. 

I dropped the bags on the ground and pulled my arm out his hold. "Desperate?" I laughed at him as I glared. "He is ruining my life, Cameron and then he wants me to fight for him? To protect his ass?" He glared back at me,taking a step towards me as I scoffed. "I would rather end his life before protecting it." 

Cameron pushed me and I chuckled. "Do not start with me, Cameron." I muttered to him as I took a step back. 

"You're taking advantage of this, aren't you? You're a little attention seeker." He scoffed, reaching his hands out to push me again. I grabbed onto his fingers and twisted them back, making him scream in pain. 

I let go of his right hand and lifted my arm up, punching him straight in the nose. I heard the crack as he cursed and let out a blood curdling scream. He fell to the floor and I leaned down, fisting my hand in his hair as I pulled him by his hair. He hissed, holding his nose. It was that easy to hurt him. 

"Tell Logan, my answer will always be no. No matter what you do, I will never join. Next time I will break every bone in your body if you touch me again. " I hissed the words at him and threw his head back against the ground. He groaned as I walked away and picked up my bags. Thankfully they were tied. 

I looked up to see Calvin staring at me at the end of the street. I froze as I heard Cameron getting up and running away. 

My night was getting worse by the minute as Calvin jogged towards me. 

"Here, let me help you." He smiled and took the bags out of my hands. "Was he bothering you?" He asked me as he stood up straighter, a confused look in his eyes. 

"Ex boyfriend." I lied. 

"Abusive?" He questioned with a frown. 

I nodded. "I took a few defense classes. He wanted me back and I said no so he tried to grab me but I used what I learnt on him."

 It was a complete lie but a little white lie didn't hurt anyone. 

"Lizzie has my number so if he troubles you again, just call me. I've seen him before and he hangs around with the wrong group." Calvin said to me and I smiled and nodded. 

He was sweet. 

"Let me walk you home just in case he comes again. They are all kinds of people in these streets." He said to me and I shook my head. 

I reached out for the bags and he handed them to me. "Lizzie is picking me up. I don't think he will come back. You scared him off." I smiled at him. "Thank you though." 

I walked away from him. 

"Are you coming to see Ramon tomorrow?" He called out to me as I tried to walk quickly. 

"Yes." I answered back without stopping. 

"At twelve, okay?" He called out and I replied back with an okay. 

I walked faster, knowing I needed to get away from him. I needed to get home and bolt the doors shut. 

Logan was part of an underground gang that wanted me to join. I would be his bodyguard, the one protecting him from others. He saw me fighting once, and caught me without my mask. I was stupid and had smiled at him. He came to every fight I had, betted on me, just so I would notice. 

I noticed. He asked me to join the Red Knives. It was a stupid fucking name but I said no. I wasn't the type to join a gang. That wasn't  me. I fought because it was my passion and it helped me earn. 

Logan promised me a load of cash, double of everything I was making on a single good night. I refused knowing I wouldn't be able to look after my dad and protect someone. I was still young. 

It didn't matter if I had to grow up at a young age but joining a gang meant possible murder. I didn't kill people. That was a line I wasn't going to cross. 

He wanted me. For a whole year, Logan begged for me to join his gang, to help him do something. This summer he was hellbent on me joining though. He never told me what it was but he was building an underground army of the street fighters. People who would protect him because he was paying them all. I repeatedly said no. 

That was when he striked. Logan had contacts. He claimed to have them everywhere and day by day, my dad was getting pushed to the bottom of the waiting list. I had found him after a fight once and said what his problem was. 

Logan made me a deal. I joined his gang and my dad would get the treatment he needed. Immediately. I was tempted, every single day I was tempted but I waited for a week before giving him my answer. In that week, I fought every day, earning enough money to start buying stuff, Mary needed for my dad.

 I didn't need Logan's help, I didn't need to lose myself in murder and anger. Standing on the edge of a cliff, I had screamed my pain away. I promised myself that his words wouldn't affect me. 

Every fight earned me enough money to live my life. I paid the rent, I paid for the medicine. I paid for everything and while I saved the rest, I was fighting with the doctors to push my dad up the waiting list. 

I was not the one to give up. 

Letting out a sigh in the silent street under the stars, I walked home. My neighbourhood wasn't fairly loud because there were a few children who lived here and everyone decided that four in the morning would be the perfect bedtime, hence why there were still a few people out, smoking and getting drunk on the empty road. 

I walked up the stairs to my house and fished out my keys from my pocket. Opening the door, I walked inside and locked the door. I bolted it as I heard the low sound from the living room. 

"Char?" Lizzie called out quietly as she popped her head out from the living room. 

"What's wrong?" She frowned,looking at me as I rested my head against the wall. 

"I wish I bought vodka." I mumbled to her as I sighed and placed the bags on the floor as she walked towards me. 

"Let's talk about how shit our day has been." She picked up the bags and walked towards the kitchen. She had changed her clothes and was wearing her red polka dot pyjamas. I followed her as she placed the bags on the counter and poured me a glass of orange juice. 

"I met Cameron. Well I hurt him." I said to her as I drank the juice. 

She chuckled. "The Cameron you had a crush on?"

I nodded as she started emptying out the bags. 

I found Cameron attractive. The first boy I had ever thought was cute until he opened his mouth and he was a complete jerk. 

"Logan still wants you?" She asked as she opened the cupboard and standing on her toes, she pulled a few bowls out. 

Lizzie knew everything. 

"I was tempted to rip out Cameron's perfect hair." I sighed as I opened the chocolate packets. "Calvin saw me as well." 

She whipped around, cursing. "Really? What did you say?" 

"That he was an abusive ex. Well he said the abusive part but I agreed." I told her and she nodded. "I told him I took a few defense classes." 

She chuckled. "That's good but you know Ramon will know now? They're all joined to the hip and when you go to see him tomorrow." She fanned her face. "You will be asked a few questions from one hot piece of ass." 

"Why will he ask me questions?" I looked at her confused. 

"Honey," she sighed dramatically and I smiled. "You just beat up a guy in front of my future husband. Unfortunately at the moment, he is attached to your future husband." She tried not to laugh. "Ramon will be intrigued by you. He'll want to fuck you, and then he will fall in love with you and you will get married. You will have a whipped bad boy wrapped around your finger." She grinned widely at me at her idea. 

"You need to stop worrying about my life. Now tell me about Calvin? I've been so busy today, I haven't had a chance to hear what happened." I asked her.

She smiled to herself as she poured the crisps into the big bowl. "He gave me his number." She blushed a little as I grinned. "He said he can only meet at school but is willing to stay with me after school to cook. He says he's shit at cooking but he wants to learn." She sighed dreamily. 

"Am I seeing the beginning of a love story?" I questioned, wiggling my eyebrows at her. 

"He is so nice, Char. He doesn't give me the bad boy vibes." She picked up the two bowls in her hands. I picked up the last one and the bottle of water and followed her to the living room. 

"I don't think he is." I said to her as we walked back into the kitchen to get the ice cream and the movie. 

"Is this for Ramon?" Lizzie smirked as she picked up the baking book I had found. 

"It's for me." 

"I don't think I've ever seen Ramon laugh so much." She pointed out as she put the book down and picked up the movie. 

"I'm going to go and see him tomorrow. I'll let you know if he laughs again. Maybe we can keep a record." 

She laughed at my words as I picked up the spoon  and ice cream, and followed her out of the kitchen. 

"We're having joint weddings. I'm going to make you look sexy tomorrow." She promised me and I shook my head at her. 

"Whatever you say, Lizzie." 

I really did not care about anyone except for the people under this roof. Logan and his gang could go shove a dick up their asses. Ramon Vitali could go back to ignoring me and my world would become perfect. 

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Question- How has Quarantine been for you?