three ◌ grave mistake

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The bruises were already beginning to form.

Despite the dim lighting of the concrete bathroom, the massive purple blemish embellishing my right hip was clear as daylight. When I poked the bruise, I winced from the sharp pain erupting through out my entire side. That wasn't even the worse of it. I could see the discolored spots sprinkled through out my body, each possessing a different justification of how I received them.

The bruise on my right butt cheek? That was Liam literally kicking me in the ass. The deep purple swelling on my left elbow? Yea, that was me trying to catch my fall. My muscles were damaged and the simple task of bending down to grab my backpack proved to be difficult. My sore body demanded to be soaked in a tub full of hot water and one of those Lush bath bombs my sister obsessed over.

"I hope you're not too sore," Hex commented as I strolled out of the bathroom, wincing with each step.

"Nothing I can't handle," I smiled at him. "I hate Liam. I just wanna punch his balls for torturing me... but I learned a lot. I appreciate you bringing him in."

"I only want to make you stronger, Tasha," Hex affirmed, a rigid stroke to his tone.

I saw Hex more often than I saw my own father. It was sad, yet a blessing. I had a relationship with my dad through Skype calls, letters, and emails. But through out all of this, Hex was my constant. My mom was sometimes too Asian to understand some of the things I experienced in life like boys and nonexistent boobs. As for Kat, she seemed to have a handle on life. She didn't go through an awkward phase— even her dentist didn't recommend braces for her pearly whites. Kat can get any boy (or girl) she wants, she's popular, and she still manages to earn a solid 4.0 GPA. Kat couldn't understand my struggle.

"When your dad brought you in here twelve years ago, I actually tried sending you to the karate place up the street where you could learn with other kids your age," Hex suddenly chuckled, reminiscing on the memory. "But your father insisted I train you instead. I think he knew the type of immense progress you'd make here at my gym."

"I wish my dad was around more often to see my progress," I mumbled.

Hex let out a sigh, as he placed his clipboard on the table next to him. He leaned down to look at me eye to eye, resting a gentle hand on my shoulder. Any traces of a scowl painted on his face was wiped away, and replaced by genuine sincerity.

"It took a few lessons for me to realize that this was more than defending yourself against bullies. Learning defense tactics teaches you discipline, it hones intuition, and most of all, it develops your mind to be strong," Hex wasn't just a master of combat, he was a master of pep talks too.

And I knew why.

My eyes quickly flickered over to the tattoo on his forearm. The colorful piece of ink that swirled together, creating an image of a little girl was uncanny to the portrait that hung on one of the walls of the gym— his daughter. His baby girl passed away at age three. It was cancer that took her life and made her Hex's guardian angel. He'll never have the chance to teach his daughter important lessons, and whatever lectures he gave me, I cherished.

"Your dad knew he couldn't be with you all the time," Hex continued. "Why do you think I never let you quit training?"

"Because my dad pays you good money," I joked.

Hex let our a burly chuckle, "besides that. Because even though your father is always miles and miles away from you, he's making sure you still learn how to be strong in here," he paused to tap the side of my head. "And in here," he finished by pointing at my chest where my heart lay.

"You're so sappy, I fucking love it," I giggled, giving the big, bald man a huge hug.

"That was beautiful."

Hex and I turned our attention over to Niall who stood a few feet away from us. He teased our prior conversation, letting out an over exaggerated sob. I shook my head in disapproval while Hex shot him a horrifying snarl that caused Niall to cease his fuckery immediately.

"Sorry," Niall held up his hand in surrender. "Was just wondering if you were ready to go Tasha."

"Yes, I am," I replied. I gazed back at Hex with a satisfied smile, "thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Hex responded simply, nodding his head at both Niall and I.

Niall lead me out of the gym, and we were both met with the evening skies. Even though the stars above us were masked by the endless lights of downtown, our eyes were graced with a different kind of twinkling illumination. A mile away were L.A.'s signature sky rises. The U.S. Bank Tower, Aon Center, and a few others in the Bunker Hill District were unique to La La Land's downtown.

"Thanks for driving me home," I quipped. "I don't think my body can handle me running and jumping off of rooftops to get home."

"Of course Tasha," Niall beamed. "Anytime you need a ride, just say so. If it weren't for a school night, I'd ask if you'd want to grab some Korean barbecue with me."

"As much as I'd love to watch you stuff copious amounts of meat into your mouth," I paused for a moment to shoot Niall an impish expression. He caught onto my insinuation and rolled his eyes. "I'm so tired, I barely can lift an arm. What about tomorrow? It's Friday! After training, we can hit up Korea Town."

"I'm game," Niall approached his black Mini Cooper. The hilarity of Niall driving a fucking Mini Cooper, was the fact that the small car was so blatantly him. 

I didn't live far from Hex's gym and the drive was about five minutes. I didn't see Niall much outside of training, and when I did, it was because we were stuffing our faces with mouthwatering delicacies. The perk of training so hard was food— and lots of it. Who knew regenerating muscle tissue meant getting to eat gobs of calories?

"Update me, dude. What's new with you? Except for the fact that your roots are starting to show," I playfully ran my fingers through his head of thick locks.

"I just got my graduation cap and gown," he revealed and my jaw dropped in excitement. "Hope you can make it to the ceremony. Or even the after party."

"I'm already there, Nialler!" I was filled with pride. "When I first met you, you were still a lanky little freshman at UCLA. Now you're a lanky senior, who's about to graduate!"

"Excuse me," Niall threw a hand to his chest as a theatric. "Look at these sexy muscles."

Niall flexed an arm, revealing deposits of muscle mass— I was very impressed. But I wasn't about to let him know that.

"Oh my God, put those away before you embarrass yourself," I laughed, pushing his arm away from my face.

"Speaking of embarrassing myself," Niall began. We were stopped at a red light when when he scratched the back of his head and glanced over at me.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Are you about to tell me that you knocked someone up?" I guessed.

"No," Niall's face fell into smooth lines, before letting out an exhale. "So, I've been asked to ask you to prom."

I almost shat myself. My entire face morphed from curiosity to gobsmacked as I glared at Niall, waiting for him to give me an explanation.

"You look like you're about to kill me with the pine tree air freshener," Niall commented.

"And I know you're aware that I am very much capable of doing so," I warned. "Explain yourself, Horan. Who put you up to this? Was it my mom? She bribed you with Adobo Empanadas didn't she?"

"Surprisingly no," Niall shook his head. The light turned green and he moved the car forward. "Apparently it was your dad."

"What?"

"He said something to Hex, and Hex told me."

"Why on Earth would my dad do this?" I sunk into the seat. "It's not like I'm missing Prom. I'm actually going. I have a dress— a fucking cute one at that!"

"Look, I have no clue why your dad wants you to have a date and why of all people he sanctioned Hex to carry out such a weird mission," Niall expressed as we neared my apartment complex. "I just wanted to bring it up because if I didn't Hex would beat my ass."

"I mean, I guess I wouldn't be opposed if you came with Effie and I," I shrugged. "You can be both of our prom dates."

"Okay, well since you're down, I gotta do this right," Niall grinned mischievously at me. He parked his car against the curb around the corner of the main lobby entrance of my home's sky rise.

"You're not going to like, plan an epic 'promposal,' are you?" I grimaced.

"That is for me to know, and you to find out," Niall winked. "But whatever it is, it will be embarrassing."

"Sweet baby Jesus," I grumbled, unbuckling the seatbelt. I opened the passenger side door, picking up my backpack off of the floor and stepped outside.

"See you tomorrow," Niall waved at me, tilting his head so our eyes could meet through the open window.

"Tomorrow."

I watched Niall drive away from the curb and down the street, his Mini Cooper disappearing out of view. Tugging onto the straps of my backpack, I began my trek towards the lobby doors. In the distance, the bright lights of the Staples Center glowed in the evening sky. Basketball playoffs were currently in rotation and the L.A. Lakers were up against the Sacramento Kings that night. It was a home game and without having to concentrate, I could see the swarm of yellow and purple invading L.A. Live.

I could already hear Kat screaming her head off at the television screen. I smiled to myself as I imagined my sister jumping on the couch yelling profanities directed towards the Kings or their coach. Eager to step foot into my home, I almost broke into a light jog, despite the amount of pain I was in. But then something stopped me. There was an echoing crash, and a mere milliseconds later, a rainfall of glass sprinkled onto the pavement before me.

"What the..." my words faded as I took a step closer to examine the shards.

However, before I could even place one foot in front of the other, a loud, mammoth of a sound startled me. But what caused my heart to completely stop wasn't the clamorous bang that rattled my ears— it was what my eyes witnessed that halted my entire world.

A body.

The limp mass of messy hair fell from the high rise and violently collided with a parked car. On impact, the hood imploded and all the windows exploded out of its pane like a detonated bomb. Suddenly, my senses were at an all time high as I investigated the situation. But you see, that's where I messed up. I should've run in the other direction, but my gut was tugging me towards the body as if it was generating its own gravitational pull. So I listened to it— I let instinct control my body.

And that was a grave mistake.

My eyes were focused on the unmoving body atop the car as I approached it. I felt a small, bumpy embankment beneath my sneaker and I lifted my foot. Right below me, gleaming beneath the lights of Los Angeles, was a simple ring on a dainty, gold chain. My stomach twisted painfully as I leaned forward to pick up the piece of jewelry I knew so well.

"Mommy?" My voice was soft as I questioned my thoughts. 

There was no way; it was just a coincidence. I looked up from the necklace, to the body right in front of me, and upon further inspection, beneath the disarray of black hair, was a face that resembled porcelain. Eyes closed tightly, cheeks tinted pink, and a small stream of blood trailing from the mouth, the body that dropped from the twenty-first floor belonged to the woman who gave me life.

"Oh my God! Mom!" I shrieked, my throat hot as the words scrambled out of my mouth. "Mommy!"

I softly shook her shoulder, holding her hand and squeezing it tightly. It was still warm to the touch, and I almost believed that it would squeeze my hand back. Blood trickled from my mother's body, pooling onto the concrete by my feet.

"Help! Please! Oh my gosh," I cried, screaming at the top of my lungs in hopes that someone in this huge city could hear my pleas. "Mom, please wake up. Please, help is gonna come. You'll be okay. Nandito ako, mommy. Wake up. Please, for me? Gising na! Please!"

(translation: I'm here; wake up)

I let out a sob as I held onto my mother's hand tightly. My mom was hanging onto her dear life and no one was coming to help. I was frustrated because in the middle of downtown Los Angeles, not a single soul had noticed my pleas. If no one could help me, I had to do it myself. For a moment, I let go of my mother's hand, throwing my backpack onto the ground to fish out my cellphone. But then I heard an ear-splitting scream, and I ceased my movements.

Kat.

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» author's note «

First of all, I love Niall. And I love his character portrayal in this story. He's the comedic relief / innocent, neutral character among all the stubborn, hard asses.

Second of all, Tasha's mom :(

The next couple of chapters is straight up full of action, so I hoped you enjoyed this somewhat "slow" chapter. Once again, please don't forget to vote! And leave me comments of your opinions & theories. Share this story to your friends if you recommend it.

Thank you! <3