4
"Can I help you?" asked a man, coming out of a office to our right. I tore my eyes off of Bella and looked over at him. He was tall and thin with wavy blond hair and blue eyes. He had a small smile on his face as he looked Esme over, who was blushing.
"Um, yes," giggled Esme. I nearly rolled my eyes. "I'm Esme Masen. This is my brother, Edward. We, um, were looking for a gym for him to train in."
"Oh, I see," smiled the man but it didn't seem real suddenly. "Well, I'm Carlisle Cullen. Look, we appreciate the business but we don't have the time to train a beginner."
"I'm not a beginner," I said. He chuckled and looked over at me.
"Watching movies and punching a mattress is not exactly training," he smirked, smugly.
"That's true," I said, harshly. Esme reached back and put her hand on mine to stop me from talking.
"Mr. Cullen, Edward has been training as a boxer for eight years," smiled Esme. Carlisle sighed and looked over at Bella and the man in the ring. Bella shook her head frantically.
"I say let's take a look at him," shrugged the bear sized man, causing Bella to glare at him. "Doesn't hurt, right?"
"Suppose not," mumbled Carlisle, looking back at me and Esme. "Ok, here's the deal. You can go a couple rounds with Bella. Depending on how you do against her, we might be able to take you on here."
"I'm not fighting her," I snapped.
"You fight her or you don't fight here at all," snapped Carlisle. "She's the only fighter close to your weight class here right now."
"She's a girl," I muttered, through clenched teeth. "My father taught me not to hit a girl."
"Did you just wuss out using the girl card?" scoffed Bella. I looked back over at her. "You know what, run along home and go play with your Barbie's, Princess. I have training to do."
"Edward, this is the only gym in Forks. The closest one from here is in Port Angeles," whispered Esme, turning toward me. Bella slipped her headgear back on her head. "That's at least an hour away."
"Fucking great," I muttered under my breath. "Fine, I fight her."
"About fucking time, pretty boy," smirked Bella.
"Bell, shut the fuck up," hissed Carlisle. Bella rolled her eyes and climbed up on the ropes and sat down. Carlisle turned back to me. "I'm assuming you don't have a change of clothes on you?"
"Nope," I said.
"Fine," he said. "I can get you something to wear. Emmett, get his stuff ready."
"Ok," said Emmett, jumping over the ropes and running into the back. Bella just rolled her eyes as I followed Carlisle to the dressing room.
"Here are some shorts and a tee. No shoes or socks for now. Let's get this done," sighed Carlisle, tossing me the black cotton shorts and a white t-shirt.
He turned and walked out. I sighed as I kicked off my shoes. I stripped off my clothes and pulled on the clothes he had tossed me. They were a little too small but they would be ok. I made my way back out to the ring. Carlisle quickly wrapped my hands and gloved me. He gave me a mouthpiece and helped me get my headgear on. I climbed into the ring and stretched for a minute. Emmett stepped back in. He had a big smirk on his face.
"Alright kids, I want a clean fight. No kicks to the nuts,. Bella," he warned her. She rolled her eyes. "We will do three rounds. When you are ready, touch gloves and go back to your corners."
I stepped up and bumped my gloves against Bella's. I swear she growled as she went back to her corner. I went back to mine. Carlisle rang the bell and I stepped toward Bella watching her as she moved from side to side. She was very quick. She threw a right and hit me square in the jaw. Even with the headgear, it stung a little. She tried to swing a left but I blocked it and threw an upper cut. She groaned softly and I almost felt bad but them she threw her right with a left following. I was able to block the right but the left caught me in the shoulder. I threw my right but she blocked it.
We continued to spar like for about another half hour before they finally called the match. Our three rounds went by so fast that it didn't even feel like three rounds. I'll admit that Bella packed quite a punch. We climbed out of the ring and cut off our gloves before headed over to where Carlisle and Emmett were having a serious conversation that ceased as soon as we stepped up. The door to the gym opened and I turned to see a tall, muscular man come in. He had wavy blond hair and blue eyes.
"What's up?" he asked, looking from me to Esme. "Who the fuck are you?"
"Edward," I said, simply.
"Oh, thanks cause that clears it up," he said, sarcastically.
"Jasper, this is Esme Masen, and her brother Edward. They would like Edward to train here," explained Carlisle, giving Jasper a look. Jasper looked over at Bella. I followed his eyes and noticed she was looking at the ground, clenching and unclenching her fists.
"No," said Jasper, looking back at Carlisle. "No fucking way, Car."
"Jas, he's good," urged Carlisle. "He needs some polishing and to stop being such a pussy but he's good. He's a natural."
"Car, dude, you know-" started Jasper.
"You know what, just fucking bring him into the program," snapped Bella. Everyone looked over at her. However, she looked over at me. "I hope you know what you are getting into, pretty boy. This isn't some summer camp boxing league. These fighters are going to own your ass if you don't man up and stop being a fucking girl."
Bella dropped her gloves and headgear at Emmett's feet before she turned and ran into the ladies dressing room. I shook my head softly as I looked back at the others. I don't know why that girl hates me so much but it's clear that she does.
"Fine," muttered Jasper, looking up at me. He shook his head. "I hope you're worth it."
"So, does this means he's in?" asked Esme. She looked so confused. Carlisle looked up at Emmett.
"Fine," sighed Emmett.
"Yeah, he's in," said Carlisle, looking back at me and Esme. "We train everyday right after school. No excuses. We don't have very long to get you ready for the season and you need all the work you can get. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir, Mr. Cullen," I said. He rolled his eyes.
"I'm not sir or Mr. Cullen. I'm Carlisle. If you call me either of the other, I will kick your ass our of my gym, got it?"
"Got it," I said, through gritted teeth. He laughed.
"If you think you don't like me now, just wait a couple days," he smirked. "Mrs. Masen, I have the paper work for you to fill out and return to us tomorrow in my office."
"It's Ms. Masen," smirked Esme. "And you can call me Esme, or I will kick your ass. Got it?"
"Yes, Esme," smiled Carlisle. He and Esme headed into his office.
"Oh, brother," groaned Emmett, grabbing Bella's gear and ripping mine from my hands. "Go change, Pretty boy. Some of us pretend to have lives."
"You wish, Em," snickered Jasper.
I sighed inwardly as I made my way into the locker room and sat down on the bench. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into here or that it would be worth it to be treated like I was the scum of the earth. I shook my head slightly and stripped off the gym clothes and pulled mine back on. I slipped on my black chunks and ran my fingers through my hair. I grabbed the clothes and headed back out to the front of the gym. Bella was standing there with her iPod on. She looked up at me and watched me as I made my way over to Carlisle and Esme.
"You can wash those and bring them back," said Carlisle. "I'm not a laundry service."
"Fine," I said.
"Ok, well, if you are sure you really want to do this, then I guess we will see you after school tomorrow. Don't be late," sighed Carlisle, glancing over at Bella. She had her head down as she listened to her music. He looked back at me. "Really, think about if this is what you want, Kid. This isn't going to be easy."
"I will," I said.
He just nodded before Esme and I made our way out to the car. We didn't speak as we headed back to the apartment. We went up and I threw the gym clothes into the washer and went into my bathroom and stripped off my clothes and took a quick shower. I dried off and threw on a pair of shorts and a clean t-shirt. I went back out and found Esme sitting at the kitchen table, tapping her nails nervously. She only does that went she is really worried.
"What's wrong, Es?" I asked, sitting across from her.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.
"It was your idea," I chuckled.
"I know," she sighed, "but I was thinking it would just be a place for you to go work out everyday. You know, work out all the teenage angst you have about life sucking and all. Edward, they want to take you to tournaments all over the state, possibly the country."
"Ok," I said, slowly. "So you don't think I should do it?"
"That's not what I'm saying," sighed Esme. "I don't know how to make this decision. If Dad were here, he would know what to do!"
"But he's not," I said, standing up. "Esme, as hateful as this is going to sound, Mom and Dad made the choice to go to Italy. I know that Dad didn't have a lot of options there but…I want to do it."
"Are you sure?" asked Esme. "Because that means like no social life with the time they are going to want you to spend at that gym."
"Cause my social life has been so amazing so far," I snorted as I went over to the refrigerator and grabbed us each a bottle of water. "Esme, do you not want me to do this?"
"Edward, I want what ever will make you happy," smiled Esme, taking the water from me. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," I said, looking down at me feet. "Esme, I want to do this. It felt good to be in that ring. You know, maybe it's time I actually got involved in something instead of sulking all the time, as you put it."
"Ok," smiled Esme. "I'll fill out the paper work for you to take with you tomorrow."
"Thank you, Es," I smiled. "Now, let's talk about you flirting with Carlisle."
"I was not," she laughed, swatting me in the arm.
"Oh, you so were," I teased. "It was actually really gross."
"You are such a shit sometimes," laughed Esme. "Go do your homework. I'll call in a pizza for dinner. Apparently you need to bulk up."
I groaned as I went over and flopped down on the sofa. Esme just laughed at me. I grabbed my backpack and went into my room and started on my homework. Eventually I managed to get my homework done. I joined Esme in the living room for pizza and a movie. Once we were done with both, I went back into my room, and climbed into bed. For the second straight night, I dreamed of Bella.
