Chapter Twenty-Four
Anna
It was Friday night, and I went to Justin’s fight with Ally. I had to her tag along because I was on pins and needles. I needed someone to keep me from completely losing it, but it turned out that Ally was just as nervous as me. Bringing her along wasn’t the distraction I hoped it would be.
The place was jam-packed full of people. It was as if they were all there to see Justin, so many people were yelling his name and holding up signs. It was amazing to hear the excitement in their voices as they chanted his name.
Margie stayed with my parents, who offered to watch her during the fight. Margie was so excited to stay with them. She brought an assortment of toys with her so she could show them her favorite ones. I had them watch her at my house instead of at Ally’s, where they had been staying.
Ally leaned into me and said, “I never thought you would be with someone that was into something so dangerous.”
“Me either,” I said. It was true. I had always been a timid person, and I hated watching action movies because of the violence. Now, I was dating a guy who was an MMA fighter, which, according to fans, was way more badass than wrestling or boxing.
“But I can’t picture you with anyone else now,” she said with a smile.
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Yeah. Besides, mom and dad are never going to let Margie go now. You do realize that, right?”
I laughed. “That’s probably true.”
“Oh, it is. They’ve wanted a grandchild they could spoil, and now they have that, and I didn’t have to be the one to push the baby out of me. It’s a win-win for all of us.”
I laughed again. “Thank you for making me laugh, Ally. I appreciate it. I know we fight sometimes and get irritated with each other.”
“What do you mean? You get irritated with me?” Ally said, and I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm.
“But, I love you, Ally. You’re the best sister anyone could ever have,” I finished saying.
Ally put a hand over her heart. “Aww, Anna, I’m so flattered.” Still with the sarcasm, but I knew she loved me regardless.
The bell dinged loudly, and my nerves hit an all-time high. I turned my attention to the cage where Justin was standing, facing off with his opponent. Suddenly, he punched him in the right cheek. I couldn’t remember the name of the punches even though we had gone over them before. I figured I needed more practice before I learned them.
Justin punched him in the face a few more times, and the guy stumbled all over the place. I figured Justin had this in the bag in the first round. He was doing great. I wasn’t at his last fight, but I could already tell this one was going way better.
The bell rang once again, and they retreated to their corners. Justin smiled at me, and I smiled back. I tried my best to make it a bright smile, but it was hard to with how nervous I was.
“He’s kicking ass,” Ally said from beside me.
“I know. I hope it stays this way,” I said. My leg was now bouncing out of control. It was a nervous habit of mine.
The bell rang, and they touched gloves again.
“How many rounds are there?” Ally asked me.
I shrugged. “I think there’s supposed to be three? Or maybe it’s five.” I really had no clue.
We turned our attention back to the fight. Justin hit the guy in the ribs, and that must have been the last straw for his opponent. He picked Justin up and threw him on the ground and immediately had a hold of him. His arm was pinned in a weird way, and he seemed to be struggling to break free. Just as I thought he was about to tap out, he rolled out of it and got up. I watched him closely. Something wasn’t right. He was moving his arm weird, and I could tell from where I was sitting that he injured his shoulder.
“Justin!!” I yelled and jumped up from my seat. I tried to rush to the cage to see him. I wanted to make sure he was okay, but I was yanked back by Ally.
“Stop! You can’t go up there,” he said.
“I have to know he’s okay.” I pleaded with her.
“He’s fine right now. He’s up and moving around. You need to chill and sit down,” she said.
I sat back down. At that point, I felt a little defeated. My nerves were totally shot, and there was no calming me down. I was worried about Justin. He was obviously hurt, and I couldn’t help him. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down.
I watched as Justin started hitting the guy in the face. Left, right, left, right, right. And then he hit him in the ribs. He hit him one more time in the face, and the guy fell to the ground.
I watched the ref rush over. “KO’d!” he yelled.
The crowd went wild. Justin won. I wanted to calm down and feel happy, but there was no way I was going to until I found out if he was okay or not.
He smiled and nodded his head at me as he passed our row to go into the back room. I jumped down and ran after him. I told Ally to wait for me out there and that I’d be back soon.
When I reached the room, Artie let me in, and I embraced Justin. He hugged me back.
“How is your shoulder?” I asked him.
“You could see that?”
“Yeah. It looked like you hurt it pretty bad,” I said, and before I could stop myself, I was crying. I couldn’t control any of my emotions at that point.
“It’s not that bad. Anna, what’s wrong?” he asked as he held me.
“I, I don’t think I can do this…”
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Artie said and left the room.
“Do what?” Justin asked.
“This, whatever it is. I just can’t. It’s too much for me. Watching you go through this.”
Justin looked a little hurt. “You have to, Anna; I need you. You can do this.”
I felt the butterflies when he said he needed me, but it still didn’t change my mind. I was an emotional wreck after watching that fight, and I didn’t think I could go through it all again.
“There has to be another way. There has to be some other way for you to pay back Markie,” I said.
“Anna, there isn’t. I made my bed, and now I have to lay in it. It’s only one more fight.” He looked scared, and I wasn’t sure why.
“Justin, I don’t know if you realize how hard this is on me.” The tears were still streaming down my face, but I didn’t care. I was too focused on arguing with Justin. I wanted him to quit fighting. I wanted him to get out now before it was too late and something really bad happened to him.
“It’s hard on me too, Anna,” he said.
“You have to find something else. I can’t keep doing this,” I said.
I pulled away from him and wiped my tears, trying not to smear my eye makeup too much.
He just stared at me with a blank look on his face. Just as he was about to say something, the door opened, and Artie poked his head in.
“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but I can’t keep them back,” Artie said. “Your fans would like to see you now, and they’re getting pretty rowdy out here.
“Let them in,” Justin said.
Then the crowd rushed into the room.
“Justin! Justin!” They were chanting as they formed a semi-circle around him.
I looked at him and then turned and ran out the door. I needed to get away from him. I needed to be alone and to think about things. I knew we had plans for the following day, but it was the last thing on my mind at that moment.
“Let’s go,” I said and grabbed Ally by the arm.
“What the hell?” she said as I dragged her out of the building and into the parking lot.
“We have to get going,” I said. I let go of her as we made our way to my car.
Ally asked me what was wrong several times on the way to my house.
“I can’t handle this,” I said. “It’s too much. Watching him get hurt. I just can’t handle the anxiety.” I was trying my best to hold back tears.
“That doesn’t seem fair,” she said.
I gave her a dirty look before I turned my focus back on the road. She was my sister. She was supposed to see things from my point of view. I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt by her.
“I’m just saying, don’t make any rash decisions,” she said as we pulled up to my house.
I ignored her and focused on cleaning my face. I didn’t want to face my parents or Margie after the fight I’d just had with Justin. I was hurt and scared. I hadn’t even been able to have a real conversation with him, and I now had no idea where we stood.
My phone buzzed just as I walked into the house. I opened the text message from Justin.
“I’m on my way to get Margie.”
“Ok,” I wrote back.
“How was the fight?” my mom asked.
“Good,” I said without looking at her. I didn’t want her to examine my face and start asking questions. “Justin’s on his way.”
“Did he win?” Margie asked.
I nodded my head and smiled. “Yes, he won.” I did my best to be okay and not let them know just how upset I really was.
“Well, I guess we’ll take off now,” my dad said.
My parents said goodbye to Margie and left with Ally, who had stayed outside. I figured she was pissed at me for ignoring her, but I had nothing to say.
Justin arrived a few minutes after they left. I’d been watching from my front window with Margie. She practically ran to the front door when he pulled up. I opened the door before he could knock.
He looked disheveled. “Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” I said. Things already felt awkward, and I knew it was my fault. I caused the argument after all, but I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t even know how to act around him.
“Daddy!” Margie yelled and hugged Justin. “Anna said you won!”
“I did, sweetheart. Are you ready to go?” he asked.
We made eye contact, and I could already see dark circles under his eyes. I was the first to break the eye contact.
“Can Anna come with us?” Margie asked, and I felt my heart break a little. “I want her to stay the night.”
It was hard for me to keep from crying again. I was ultimately hurting Margie, too. The thought of that had made me start to feel guilty.
“Anna needs to get some rest in her own bed,” he said. I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t make eye contact with him again.
“Okay,” she said, sniffing back tears.
“I’ll see you later, okay?” I said to her and gave her a big hug. “Have a good night, Margie.”
“Okay, Anna,” she said.
“Goodnight, Anna,” Justin said.
“Goodnight, Justin,” I said. I didn’t really know what else to say to him. Or how to even act around him. They went back through the door, and when they reached his car, he turned to look at me. It broke my heart to look at him, so I closed the door.
We had plans to meet up the next day and go on a walk with my family, but I didn’t think that was going to happen now. I couldn’t help the ache in my heart. Things had been going good between us, and now, I didn’t really know where we stood.
I was glad my parents left and didn’t see the way we acted around each other. I didn’t need to hear their opinions. In fact, I just wanted to go to bed and forget about everything that happened between us. I didn’t want to think about anything for the rest of the night.