I Hate You...I Think (5 page)

             
"I finished, can I have a brownie," the same guy I had scolded for eating with his mouth open, asked.

             
"Sure..."

             
"Oh, I'm Logan, by the way," he said holding out his hand. I shook it and he smiled then bolted out of the room to get a brownie. I heard an “ohhh...man”, and then Logan came back in with two brownies in his hands.

             
"These are amazing," he groaned taking another bite. I laughed as he shoved it in his mouth.

             
"Logan, dude chill on the brownies," Eien warned.

             
"Maybe we should introduce her to everyone else since she's going to be around more often," Jake told Oliver. He nodded at looked up to the guys.

             
"Err...I'm Alex," the first one started. He had blond almost white hair. All of them were wearing all black like last night.

             
Alex pointed to the guys next to him.

             
"Jet and Tyler. They’re brothers obviously."

Jet and Tyler
were Asian they had the left side of their head shaved and the other side was long. There were green streaks through Jet's and silver through Tyler's. At least that way I could tell them apart.

             
"Eien is over there," Alex told me jerking his thumb to Eien who was sitting on the couch next to Logan. Eien had very short black hair with a red streak through it. He didn't even look up at me. Logan grinned at me with a mouth full of brownies. His dark brown hair falling over his eyes reminded me so much of a young child.

             
You know Logan and then Jake and of course Oliver," Alex added.

             
"Um...nice to meet you all," I told them awkwardly.

             
"What do you mean she's going to be around a lot?" Eien asked. He's so crabby. It's annoying.

             
"It means exactly that, Ever is going to be around a lot," Oliver told him in a hard voice. Eien lowered his head and nodded.

             
"It's not like I have choice," I muttered glaring at Oliver. The group gave me apprehensive looks. They looked between Oliver and I. Oliver is clearly the leader of this little “gang” and not many people talked back to him, I concluded.

             
"Let's head down stairs and start practicing. The tournament is coming up and I want us all to be ready," Oliver told everyone standing up.

             
"She's staying?" Logan asked bewildered.

             
"Am I staying? Can't I go home now?" I groaned.

             
"Nope. How would you get home anyways?" Oliver smirked.

             
"Walk," I told him in a duh tone.

             
"That's probably a long walk. What if Jason finds you?" He raised his eye brow. I pursed my lips at that.

             
"That's what I thought," he smirked again leaving the room. Sighing, I turned back to my now empty plate.

             
"So...your names, Ever?" Alex asked. I looked up at him the six of them were looking back at me.

             
"It's Everlyn...I know, it's kind of a stupid name," I told them softly.

             
"Nah, not stupid. Just...unusual. I like usual," he grinned. I smiled back.

             
"Come on," Oliver insisted entering the room again. He held his hand out for me. I took it and he pulled me off the ground and took my plate from me and placed a brownie in my hand. Hmm...I like nice Oliver. It's the smirking annoying side I don't like.

             
"Thanks," I told him.

             
They lead me down stairs to the basement. It was like a gym. There were weights and punching bags. One side was a fighting ring. There were benches around it.

             
"I don't really even want to know but since you insist on me being here. Would you care to explain..?" I gestured around the room. "Like who is Jason anyways. Why is he a douche bag and what the hell's going on?"

             
Oliver gave me a lopsided grin, just like the first night we met. I wonder how I had never met him at the club before the other night.

             
"Well, while they train. I'll tell you a bit about what's going on. Not everything though."

             
"K..."

             
The others moved off to the gym stuff. I was caught in awe as I watched Jet and Tyler practicing with the punching bag. They spun, kicked, jumped, and punched. It reminded me of the classes I took when I was little but I could never hope to be as good as them.

             
"So what do you want to know first?" Oliver asked sitting on the bench near the fight ring.

             
"What are you guys practicing for?"

             
"Tournament," Oliver said simply. I gave him a look. He grinned.

             
"All I'm going to say is it's like UFC but underground. Fighting for money and stuff, but it's a lot rougher. There's less rules. More blood," he shrugged.

             
"That's dangerous. What if you get hurt?"

             
He smirked down at me. "You care if we get hurt?"

             
"I care if anyone gets hurt...well except that dude from the other night, Jason. By all means kick him in the teeth," I shook my head. I did not like that ass wipe.

             
Oliver chuckled along with Jake who was close by.

             
"That's why we’re going to the tournament, aside from the money. Oliver wants to beat Jason's face in, or as you suggested, kick him in the teeth," Jake smiled.

             
"Okay, that aside why do you insist on being annoying? I wasn't going to tell anyone. I'm not even legal to be in a club anyways," I told Oliver.

             
He looked shocked. "How old are you?" He demanded.

             
"Don't get you panties in a twist. I'm nineteen."

             
Jake burst out laughing hard. "Who says that anymore?"

             
"Oh shut it," I kicked him in the shin hard. He stopped laughing instantly and jumped back.

             
"Gahhh!" He yelled hopping around on one foot. "That hurt!"

             
The other guys stopped what they were doing and looked over curiously.

             
"Why do you all keep staring at me like that?" I groaned annoyed.

             
"Cause, not many girls can hit or kick that hard. Your punches are quite strong. Have you ever trained before?" Oliver asked amused.

             
"My dad put me in a few classes to learn Kuk Sool Won, when I was younger," I shrugged.

             
"Nice," Jet and Tyler said at the same time.

             
"What is that?" Jake asked confused.

             
"It's a traditional Korean Martial Art. It covers body conditioning, weapons training, and mental development," Jet said proudly.

             
"It's meant for self-defense," Tyler added.

             
"Thank you, for that intriguing description," Eien replied in an extremely bored tone. Tyler and Jet shot him a look.

             
"What level are you?" Jet asked looking back at me.

             
"I was close to achieving 1st degree black belt..."

             
Jake whistled. "Sounds impressive. Why didn't you get it? And, why didn't you fight off Aaron in the alley if you could?"

             
"Well, it's been a long time since I have fought, and did you not see him. He lifted me off the freaking ground. I thought he was going to break me in half," I ignored his other question completely.

             
"That’s awesome, Ever. Will you show us some moves?" Jet asked.

             
"Err...umm..." I had been in it for a while when I was younger. My dad took me. He liked watching me practice, he was always there to encourage me, but stopped going altogether after he got sick.

I spent every moment taking care of him while my mom went out and got drunk. Now that he's gone, she stays drunk. It brought back some painful memories talking about it, but now that I mentioned it, I might as well. I'm not about to tell them why I wouldn't want to.

              "Okay...” I muttered. "What do you want to see?"

             
"How about me and you get in the ring? I'll go easy on ya," Jet grinned.

             
"Okay," I shrugged. Jet bolted to the matted area. I stood and followed him. The others gathered around. I felt like I was in a display case the way there were all staring at me. Oliver had a look of amusement plastered on his face. I looked back at Jet.

He didn't say anything but jumped at me. It was like someone flipped a switch in my brain and the two years of training came back to me instantly. Jet grabbed the front of my shirt. I twisted my arm around his breaking his grip then clamped my hand around his arm. Knocking his legs out from under him, I twist his arm dropping him instantly. It all happened in a matter of seconds. Jet rolled over and jumped back up.

              "Nice," he approved.

             
"Wow...it's been a long time."

             
"You only know defensive though right?"

             
"Well, it could be attack if I so choose, but I don't want to hurt you."

             
Jet chuckled. "I promise you’re not going to hurt me, Ever. Let's go again. Don't hold out on me okay."

             
Jet launched at me again. I dodged but he grabbed me and wrapped his arm around my throat. I slammed my elbow back into his stomach and grabbed his arm twisting it and kicked him in the stomach then spun kicking him in the chest. Jet fell over backward hitting the ground.

He jumped up instantly not even using his hands. He sent a spinning kick at my head. I ducked and swept his legs out from under him. Before he hit the ground he did a back flip, and landed in a crouching position. I was still crouching as well. Just from that little bit I was out of breath. I plopped over on my butt.

              "Out of breath already?" Jet laughed.

             
"It's been twelve years since I have done any of this, so kiss my ass," I told him breathing hard. Olive walked out into the ring and held out his hand for me. I took it and he pulled me off the ground.

             
"Why don't you go sit down," he told me. I nodded and headed for the bench. I pushed Jake over and sat down.

             
"Jeez, pushy much," Jake teased. I grinned innocently at him. Oliver and Jet started after each other about that time. Oliver clearly had the upper hand. Not a single one of Jet's punches and kicks landed. Oliver dodged everything then just when it looked like Jet was about to collapse Oliver went after him. Jet couldn't dodge. He was sluggish. I hid my face with my hands as Oliver sent a punch at Jet's face.

             
Jake chuckled next to me. "He didn't hurt him."

             
I peeked to see Oliver helping Jet off the ground. Jet was grinning and they high fived.

             
"See what Oliver does is he makes his other opponent weak first then goes after them. Usually it works but Jason knows how he fights. Jason is Oliver's only real challenge. Come this weekend Oliver's going to beat him for the first time. They normally come up in a draw, but Oliver's been training more," Jake informed me as Eien and Logan took the ring. They were just about equal. No matter what Eien did Logan blocked it and Eien did the same to Logan. They really didn't get anywhere.

             
Oliver pushed me and Jake over and took the spot next to me.

             
"So is she coming to the tournament this weekend? Jet asked. I shook my head furiously.

             
"I don't want to go," I told Oliver flatly.

             
He looked down at me. "Why not?" He asked his face emotionless.

             
"One I don't want to see anyone get hurt and two, I don't want to see that weirdo Jason. He creeps me out."

             
Oliver gave me an all knowing look. "You’re right he is a freak. I don't want him near you."