Everything Fragile✔

Chapter Six - Skills vs. Cheat Codes

   He has to be kidding.

   Okay, I have to admit, I was actually excited. I mean, he made it seem like we were going to some fun, magical place, but now? I'm everything but impressed.

   "You know," I say, turning to him with my arms crossed over my chest. "If you really wanted to murder me, you could've just asked."

   He snorts. "Oh, come on. It's really not that bad."

   Oh, but it is. There's no way in Heaven or Hell that a person like him would willingly show up to a place like this. I glance wearily at the old looking building standing before us. A green stain coats a part of the brick wall and on the far left a window is covered in what appears to be decaying wood. Not to mention that the grass surrounding the building is mostly dead and it's only been autumn for almost a month now.

   "Just come inside." Mateo says, stepping out of the car. "I promise you'll love it."

   "If I see a dead body in there--"

   He interrupts me with a hearty laugh, but I'm not joking. This seems like the type of place where you'd discard a corpse.

   I follow him into the building and when he opens the door, revealing the interior, I'm shocked by how clean and tidy everything looks. The walls look like they've been newly painted as far as my eyes can see. There are three treadmills in one area to my right, a station for weights and dumbbells further into the building, and more machines that I can't put a name to. At the center of it all lies a boxing ring. It's the oldest looking thing in the room.

   "Why'd you bring me to a gym?"

   "More for my own curiosity than yours." Came his sly reply.

   "What?"

   He walks further into the room without answering me. I hate him. I hate how he thinks he's so intelligent with those half-assed responses. It doesn't make him seem clever or poetic. He just sounds dumb and I want to tell him all of this, but I bite my tongue. The last thing I want to do is make an enemy out of a good ally and trust me, there's nothing worse than a rich crybaby. I've already offended Willow in the past and she's made my life at school a living hell. I can't imagine what Mateo would do if I popped one of his buttons. So, I don't test it.

   I move forward, inspecting machines as I pass by. They're polished and clean with no chipping in sight. I watch unimpressed as Mateo hops into the ring with ease. How hard can that be? When I try, I lose my footing and fall back onto my butt. A laugh that isn't mine ripples through the air and I look up at the culprit with fire in my eyes.

   "Sorry," he sputters out, still laughing. "But that was hilarious."

   "Well, I'm glad that my pain is humorous to you." 

   I can't stay mad for long because for as long as I've known Mateo Dela Cruz, I've never seen him happier. In the halls at school, his face holds a look of torment. Like being inside that building drained him. Though, I'm sure half the student body resembled his misery. Still, he's head of the food chain at Kingston high. He could get whatever he wanted without even asking. What's so miserable about having everything without doing anything?

   I try getting into the ring again. This time Mateo helps me by taking my hand and pulling me up and over. I thank him with a smile and dust off invisible dirt from my pants. It almost feels like a stage standing up here and for some reason I feel shy even though there's no one here but us.

   "Are we even allowed to be here?" I ask.

   He shrugs. "Well, I'd hope so. It is my uncle's."