AllFreeNovel
Share Us
AVA
“Points of Authority” by Linkin Park blasts from the speakers and vibrates beneath the soles of our feet as we enter the stadium. The energy from the exuberant crowd charges the air like static electricity and prickles along my skin. Their enthusiasm is infectious, and everyone walking in here is instantly influenced by it. Especially Cadence, who is beside herself with excitement as I follow her up to the stands to find our seats.
Heads turn, and whistles of admiration ring out from a few of the male spectators as their hungry eyes feast upon Cadence as she struts up the stairs in a tight red dress. Her waist-long blonde hair sways back and forth along the top of her scarcely covered backside, and I glance down at my outfit, suddenly feeling veryplain Janein my black leather pants and blue halter top.
“These seats are awesome,” Cadence gushes as we sit down and take in our surroundings. Even though we aren’t ringside, the tiered seating gives us an unobstructed view of the octagon-shaped fighting ring in the center of the arena. The cage surrounding the ring looks intimidating as hell, and feeling apprehensive all of a sudden, I gnaw on my fingernails as the butterflies in my stomach lose their shit.
“You really need to chill the hell out.” Cadence shoves a flask in my face. “Here, drink this.”
Unscrewing the cap and not even bothering to ask what it is, I take a big swig, then choke out a cough as the harsh liquor burns a trail down the back of my throat. “What is this?”
“Dad’s scotch.” She takes the flask back and takes a sip. “It’s the good stuff too.”
She hands the flask back to me, then pulls out her phone and taps on the screen. “The party is open for business.” She smiles, showing me the picture Nate just posted of the many bottles of alcohol lined up on his kitchen bench.
Mason is coming to his first-ever high school party tonight after the fight. I know it’s not his thing, and while I’m happy he is making more effort to be involved in my world, I still haven’t been able to shake that lingering feeling that something is slightly off. It’s definitely made my friends happier to have me around more, especially Eric, who Mason seems to have bonded with the most.
The surrounding lights dim, and the spotlights on the fighting cage grow brighter as the audience is plunged into darkness. Cheers ring out through the crowd as the announcer steps into the ring, and Cadence frantically digs through her purse, retrieving a small pair of binoculars.
“You brought binoculars?” I ask.
“Hell yeah!” She brings them up to her eyes and looks through the lenses toward the ring. “I want to see this up close.”
The announcer calls out the names of the first opponents, and the crowd hollers as they make their way toward the ring, “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys blasting through the speakers. Cadence jumps up in down in excitement, and once the fight begins, chaos erupts around us.
The crowd yells words of encouragement and insults at the fighters, and I sit back in my seat, completely gobsmacked by the brutality of it. They really are pounding the shit out of each other, and the more heated the fight gets, the happier everyone seems to be.
“Holy shit! This is so hot!” Cadence squeals, watching the fight through her binoculars and squirming in her seat. “I think I just came.”
Rolling my eyes, I snatch the flask off her and take another swig.
As the fighting continues and different opponents come and go, we decide to create our own game. We each pick a fighter, and each time they receive a hit, we have to take a sip from the flask. Not one of my brightest ideas especially considering the flask appears to be a bottomless pit of alcohol. And it wasn’t until I caught Cadence refilling the flask from the bottle of scotch she was hiding in her bag that I realized why. How she got that past the bag check is a mystery.
Needless to say, I’m feeling very buzzed and getting rowdy along with the rest of the crowd, yelling out my own words of encouragement with the rest of them.
“Damn,” Cadence draws out. “Who is that fine piece of ass?”
“Who?” I ask, watching two new fighters enter the ring.
“The guy with the crucifix tattoo on his arm?”
Grabbing the binoculars off her and looking through, I notice a striking resemblance between him and the guy in Mason’s drawing.
“That’s James, I think. He’s friends with Mason.”
Cadence’s eyebrows lift in surprise. “Mason’s friends with him?” I shrug my shoulders in response, and she takes the binoculars back to have another look. “Okay, you totally have to hook me up. That guy is hot!… Shit! Look at him go.”
James stalks the ring like he owns it, fending off his opponent with ease and landing some punches of his own, eliciting a groan of appreciation from Cadence. “Oh my god. I think he just baptized me.”
“Huh?” I frown at her. “What are you talking about?”
“He baptized me.” She arches a brow at me in a way that implies I should know what she is talking about. “As in, he made me wet.”
I let out a snort as Cadence watches James as if he hung on the moon. “Does that make him a holy man, then? Seeing as he baptized you and all?” I quip.
“Yes!” Her eyes go wide, clearly loving that idea. “That is the perfect nickname for him. Holy Man.”
After Cadence has apparently been baptized three more times, she gets fed up refilling the flask and starts drinking straight from the bottle.
