The spotlight turned on with a loud echoey sound as the two boys took to the ring. In one corner stood a thin redneck boxer wannabe with long brown hair: Danny. In the other corner stood the odds-on favorite, the school hero, the teenage heartthrob himself: Burton Howard.
Burton surveyed the crowd, a cocky smile on his face. Everyone knew how important this fight was. This wasn’t no kid’s game; it was the season semifinals. Burton danced his feet back and forth, regulating his breathing, then met Danny in the middle. As the two locked eyes, their smiles faded. Coach Tuckerman, the leader of the Boxing Club, took the mic, serenading everyone with his trademark mumbley Minnesota accent.
“Arright there, now I want no funny business out on the, uh, the ring over there. You two boys have a good clean fight, and we’ll be seeing who’s got the, uh, stones to be makin’ it to the Finals out there. Now, who’s ready to see a good ol’ brawl match?”
It didn’t matter if the man couldn’t hold a crowd, they still cheered like mad. Nearly everyone at the school liked either Danny or Burton, and more importantly, almost none of them liked both of the boys. They wanted someone to win. They wanted blood.
“I’m gonna beat you to a pulp,” Danny remarked quietly enough that Tuckerman couldn’t hear him.
Burton laughed. “Good one. You hear that in a movie or something, buddy?” The two of them went to their respective corners, put their mouthguards in, and did their standard safety checks, before going back to the middle. The fight began.
Most fighters were defensive at the beginning of a match, especially at the high school level. The cocky Burton learned that early on. If he could be quick and smart about it, it was all too easy for him to charge in and make the first hit without risking them beating him to it. Sure enough, within a singular second of the bell going, he moved in, swiftly hitting Danny’s headgear with a roundhouse punch. It was a risky punch; it’s very heavily telegraphed. A good boxer would be able to see it coming a mile away, block, and counter-attack with ease.
The roundhouse hit the mark perfectly.
The crowd became a series of chants and boos as Burton advanced forward, taking advantage of Danny losing his footing. Jab, cross, hook. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut. Jab, jab, cross. Too easy. The round was maybe twenty seconds in, and Danny was already woozy. Best part was, there was still more than two minutes left in the round.
And for those next two minutes Burton was a menace. Danny recovered quickly and landed a good few hits on Burton, but more importantly, Burton controlled the distance between the two fighters at all times. It was clear that Burton got to determine the more intense moments of the fight, which meant he could better prepare for them. Midway through the second round, he knocked Danny down for the second time; not even with a haymaker, just a well-timed hook and uppercut combo. Danny fell down like a bag of bricks, and much like a bag of bricks, now that he was down, he wasn’t coming back up easily.
Danny ran out the clock without getting up, and Burton laughed into his mouthguard as the crowd assaulted him with sound. You could barely hear Coach Tuckerman audibly declare him the winner. It was official: Burton was heading to the finals, and Danny wasn’t. Burton was going to be interviewed for the school paper by that cute sophomore chick, and Danny wasn’t. Unable to contain himself, he took a few steps forward and did a little victory dance while Danny still struggled to get up. Weakly, Danny just swatted at Burton’s legs and Burton dodged them, laughing again as he swaggered away.
It was a good thing that Burton won the fight, because he already rented the hall for his victory party in advance. Anyone – even his haters – was invited; just not Danny. And of course, everyone who was anyone was there. Even Jeff and Phil, the Love brothers (and yes, Love was actually their last name) brought the beer. Burton couldn’t help but smirk; if Jeff was here, then that cute little school paper chick would definitely be here too. She had it for Jeff bad, and followed him around like a lost puppy.
Sure enough, within minutes of seeing Jeff, the cutie was there. The only thing that prevented her from being too popular was the unshakable reputation of being “weird,” but everything else about her was hot as fuck. Black hair, blue eyes, and a slamming hot body. It was clear that she was growing a jaw-dropping set of boobs – they were going to look amazing once she graduated. Burton smirked to himself. “Yo, Nicky!” he greeted her, arms open, all friendly. “You made it, huh? Glad you could come.”
Nicky, who was preoccupied with something else, looked at the source of the voice initially in alarm, though her face softened when she saw it was Burton. “Hey!” she greeted him warmly. “Congrats on the fight, big guy.”
“Aw, thanks,” Burton replied with a winning smile. “So, you here to see Jeff or something…?”
Burton had her right where he wanted. Even though Nicky would have done anything for Jeff, she was beginning to realize that was all she was becoming known for throughout the school. Her sin was pride, and Burton knew it. Sure enough, she cleared her throat. “Actually, wouldn’t ya know it, I was here to interview you about your big win, y’know, for the school paper.”
Boom. Burton just scored an interview. “Oh, really?” he asked in pretend shock. “Aw, Nicky, I’d love to!” The two found a private room and sat down, with Burton noting the girl didn’t have a recorder or even a notepad with her. Burton knew that school papers were informal, but the chick needed to remember what he said. “I get it’s not The Boston Globe, but uh, shouldn’t you have a notepad or somethin’…?”
Nicky shook her head. “I can remember what I’m told,” she told him with a gleam to her eye. Some girls looked at every powerful guy like they were head-over-heels for them. Whether Nicky also liked Burton or not, he had to admit, something about the way the little minx looked at him made his thoughts run wild. If she knew it, he bet she could run the whole school.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied with a smirk. “Alright, shoot.”
The more Nicky questioned him, the more relaxed Burton got. She was throwing him softball after softball, no doubt shit that the teachers overseeing the paper wanted her to ask.
“At this point, the whole school knows you had a bit of a rivalry with Danny,” Nicky continued. “Would you like to clear the air now and talk about how you played it up for the spectacle?”
Burton, leaning back into his chair by now, could only chuckle. “Uh, no? Or wait, can I rephrase that? ‘Fuck no’?” He laughed. “Danny’s a fuckin’ prick. The best thing this school ever did for me was let me beat the shit out of him in front of a live audience.”
Nicky laughed and grimaced lightly, all while Burton smirked and continued. “So which teacher wanted you to ask me that? C’mon, Nicky. You’re too smart to actually think I played that shit up.”
“I couldn’t possibly comment,” Nicky laughed, giving Burton that accidentally seductive look again. “But yes, I was asked to ask that. It’s part of the rules of the game. I give diplomatic questions, you give diplomatic answers.”
“Ain’t that boring though?” Burton asked, sitting up at attention for the first time all interview. “Y’know, being diplomatic? Don’t ya wanna let loose ‘n shit?”
“All the time, just not while I’m interviewing,” Nicky replied, moving her jet-black hair out of her face. “You gotta play the game, Burton. Otherwise, you get serious consequences.”
Burton shook his head. “I ain’t gotten no consequences,” he pointed out.
“You’re a boy, they tend to get away with more,” Nicky challenged. “Maybe someday I’ll start acting out, but that day shouldn’t be today.”
“Or at least it shouldn’t get out that today’s the day,” Burton replied with a suggestive smile.
Nicky didn’t reply with words, but narrowed her eyes and smiled cautiously. Without replying with a single word, she moved one finger in a circle, signalling for him to keep talking.
“You got a serious thing for Jeff, right?” Burton asked, and Nicky immediately stiffened and blushed. “Relax. I’m not blabbing to nobody. Wouldn’t be a point. Besides, no offence, everyone can tell.”
“Sorry, aren’t I supposed to be interviewing you right now, dude?” Nicky asked, trying to play it casually, but nevertheless coming across with a little challenging heat to her voice.
“You are, but, whoops,” Burton replied cockily with a little shrug and a smile. “Nicky, everyone gets crushes, but you can’t let that shit weigh you down. You’re young. You’re… can I say you’re hot?”
Nicky’s flush didn’t stop. “Well, you just said it now, didn’t you?” she near-mumbled.
Burton got up, assertively coming around to Nicky’s side of the table. He sat down on a chair next to her. “The way I see it, you’re helping me by spreading the good word about how I beat the absolute snot outta Danny. Let me do something for you too.” His hand traveled to find hers on the table. Her touch felt warm yet exciting. “If you want it, of course.”
The last statement both visibly relaxed and almost frightened Nicky. “What… are you offering?” she managed. “There’s no way I’m doing anything beyond-”
Burton held up a hand. “No ‘beyond, Nicky. Maybe this is the first two beers talkin’, but you’re giving me some kinda look, and honestly, I like what I’m seeing. Now, seeing as we’ve got nothing recording us and no one barging in… maybe I could offer you a little something.”
Nicky’s chest was moving with her breathing. “And what ‘something’ would that be?”
Burton saw the nervous look in her eye and smiled reassuringly. “Something small,” he told her soothingly. “I don’t care if you’re with Jeff or if you wanna be with Jeff. I’m offering you one lil’ kiss. No expectation for anything more. We never did it, but you got to live a lil’, all during one… boring interview.” He smiled cockily.
“You’re like a perfect blend of smug asshole and thoughtful hunk, huh?” she admitted quietly.
“All I heard was ‘thoughtful hunk.’ It’s flattering, you should print it,” Burton told her. The two shared a snicker, and moved in for a kiss. Nicky moved slowly, but Burton moved confidently and uniformly into her personal bubble. As soon as their lips made contact, Nicky lightly moaned into the kiss and Burton’s hand traveled to the back of her head, pulling her in. Over time, Nicky found her footing, even though Burton was dominating her like she’d seen in the ring an hour beforehand. Her hands clumsily found his muscular chest, pawing away at it. Burton wanted to follow suit but knew a scaredy-cat like this needed it slow. If things happened again, they’d happen again. After a few slow but deep kisses, Burton slowly retracted.
Nicky’s eyes fluttered open. Burton smiled to himself. There was no question the cute sophomore wanted things to keep going. “Whaddya think, was it fun?” he asked tenderly.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Nicky begged.
“No one,” Burton promised, then brought a finger under her chin to look at her before going back to his side of the table. “So, let’s finish that interview.”
***
“And I kept that secret for years and years,” Burton noted as the rest of the table fell quiet.
No one said anything fro a bit, opting instead to exchange glances. “Damn. Nicole, huh?” Tiffany mumbled sadly.
“Yeah,” Burton conceded, knowing where Tiffany’s tone was coming from. “I fell outta contact with her a few years after, but… she’s a part of this story, so… why, anyone want me to stop?”
No one at the table said anything, but Mike changed the subject. “Speaking of, I wasn’t expecting you of all people to be telling her ‘if you don’t want it, I won’t.’”
“The fuck’s that supposed to mean?” Burton laughed in shock. “Hey Mike, it’ll surprise you to learn this maybe, but the reason I get girls is because when a girl says stop, you stop. I listen to women. What, you gonna look at the way I go all ‘sup’ and just assume ‘ah, he’s bro-y, I bet he, what, thinks of women as objects’?”
“Alright, alright, sorry!” Mike conceded. “I’m just saying, it was high school, no one had that good of a grasp on how to talk about consent and shit.”
“Yeah? Well I did, and I’m telling the story, by the way,” Burton huffed. “Anyways, if I can continue…”
***
The night started with a bang, and didn’t slow down from there. Everywhere you looked, people were laughing, having fun, drinking, and some couples were even breaking off and finding places to kiss. In the main courtyard of the hall, Burton’s friend group clinked their bottles and cans, and had their fourth beers of the night. “I’m serious,” Burton continued, trying to keep his voice from slurring. “Gimme anyone from the Boxing Club, except maybe like, Hamza or Lawrence. Any of ‘em. I could take any of ‘em on. Probably some at the same time.” He snickered as he took a drink.
A laugh of defiance echoed from the group. “Anyone?” Conall challenged, his slight Irish accent cutting through the group. “You may’a done well tonight, but I still beat ya every time, Burton. Ya think ya can best this?” He set his beer down and raised his fists in a joking pose.
Burton set his own beer down. “Wanna bet?” he challenged, his words slurring a bit.
“Uh, Burton, easy now, man…” one of the friends replied cautiously.
Burton ignored his friend, starting the fight as he always did: swinging his hand wildly. Conall, used to Burton’s opener by now, easily dodged. “Ha! Missed me!”
“Yo, Burt, calm down!” Another friend protested, and stepped forward, trying to grab the guy by his shoulders. “Maybe you’ve had too much. This is really uncool, man.”
“Ah, c’mon, people,” Conall reassured him, and the crowd of disapproving onlookers. “‘S just in good fun. Burton and I do this all the time.” Conall looked around, seeing that his words fell a bit on deaf ears. Annoyed at the crowd, he turned to Burton. “Hey, big man.”
Burton was just staring at him, egging him on.
Conall broke into a grin. “You and me, outside the hall. Can ya dig it? First one to fall on his ass loses.”
Burton’s stare turned into a grin, and the two, merry as ever, walked out of the hall together, leaving the awkward crowd behind. These people may have been their friends, but they didn’t get the boxing lifestyle like these two did. As soon as they were outside, they took up a position and started going at it, with jabs and hooks flying at each other. What started as a recreation of a regulation boxing match quickly devolved into an impromptu drunken brawl, with a couple people watching from the windows, half-laughing, half-concerned.
“C’mon, ya big fanny,” Conall laughed at his sparring partner. “Stop tryna hit me and just hit me!”
“Afraid, ya fuckin’ coward? I thought the Irish could hold their liquor,” Burton laughed back. The two swung at each other, eventually starting to land hits, the laughter only increasing as the both of them got more and more beat up. Burton was trying to downplay how drunk he was, but the adrenaline helped. Even though Conall landed a few good hits to the face and caused Burton to stumble a bit – hell, he might have landed more hits than Danny managed to – Burton was the first one to land a perfect haymaker and cause Conall to come crashing down to the ground.
“Motherfucking shit!” Conall moaned a full four seconds after he got knocked down, then saw Burton’s hand offering to help him back up. “Thanks.”
Burton pulled him up, and the two just started laughing again. “Told you! You lose,” Burton laughed.
Conall laughed back. “Buddy, there’s no witnesses out here. No one from the Boxing Club’s gonna believe you won this, you know that, right? I beat ya every time there.”
“Then just this once, let me have my victory. Fuck it, let me have my two victories,” Burton laughed as the two walked back into the hall. Both boys looked beat up, with each of them slightly bleeding from somewhere, but both had smiles on their faces. “Maybe I could even score three victories tonight,” Burton thought out loud. “Where’s Katrina at? I’ve always wanted some of her, and my own victory party is the place to ask her.”
Katrina was the envy of half of the school. She was the only girl in the Boxing Club, and she had to work damn hard to get there. She may not have been the toughest member to fight, but even the most chauvinistic schoolboys knew she had to work twice as hard as any of them to even be allowed in. Add to that the fact that she had a svelte body and a beautiful natural tan, courtesy of her Slavic roots, and every senior in the school had some kind of opinion on her. Either they had a massive crush on her, or they hated her. Burton happened to pinball back and forth between the two.
Hamza, one of the bro-ier members of the Boxing Club, laughed watching them stumble in and overhearing Burton. “Bro, she left!”
“What?” Burton asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, in fact she left right when the two gay boys decided to start fucking each other outside,” Hamza laughed at the duo’s expense.
“Shit,” Burton spat, collapsing down into a nearby chair.
Conall leaned against a wall and held his side, chuckling. “I mean, it’s not like that woulda changed much. It’s been, what, years? Katrina’s never gonna change her tune. She’s never gonna sleep with ya, Burton.”
***
Paul held up a finger, noticing a detail in Burton’s story. “Thought so,” he interrupted smugly, pointing the finger at Burton. “You are a total liar, my friend. Katrina never slept with you.”
Burton moved his mouth around then finally lifted up his hand in surrender. “Alright, whatever,” he conceded. “Y’know, sometimes you want something so badly you just can’t help but say it. You ever get that? Like, you even fool yourself?”
The three laughed politely. “I guess,” Tiffany snickered. “I like that you’re finally admitting it though.”
“I’m living for this,” Mike laughed. “Burton’s such a good bull artist that he can even fool himself!”
“Yeah, well, this story is a hundred percent me being true and coming clean, and by the way, it’s some vulnerable shit, so be nice. I don’t exactly look like the good guy here, I know,” Burton defended himself, feeling a little stupid for agreeing to do this but knowing he couldn’t back out. “Anyway…”
***
“But why would she do that?” Burton asked, slumping in his chair. “Dipping early… during my fuckin’ party!” He shook his head, riling himself up. “She didn’t even say nothing to me! Fuckin’… fuckin’ bitch!”
“Ah, there ya go,” Conall said with a nod. “Here it comes, everybody. Back up!”
“Shut the fuck up, you… loser,” Burton retorted weakly. “This shit means a lot to me!”
“Bro, literally like a quarter of the school is here,” Hamza argued, now back into this argument. He leaned against the wall, with his slim build and perfectly gelled-back hair providing a complete foil to Burton’s built physique and messy hair from two huge fights. “All because of your fight tonight! No shit it means a lot to you, so many people are here for it! You’re just gonna be a fuckin’ crybaby because one girl isn’t he- actually, not even not here, was here and happened to leave early?”
Conall gestured in Hamza’s direction. “C’mon, pal,” he added, addressing Burton. “How many times are ya knowin’ me to agree with Hamza? Don’t let it fester, it’s possible Katrina got some bad news, or went home to do homework, or-”
“Or she just wanted to go home,” Thomas, an up-and-coming black sophomore in the Boxing Club, added. His physique nearly rivaled Burton’s despite being two years younger, and it was clear he let that go to his head.
“Fuck off, Thomas,” Conall laughed. “Burton’s already in a bad mood.”
“Too many people in one room,” Burton complained, burying his head in his hands. “I’m good without your input, Thomas. Don’t for a second think I’m gonna keep quiet about this though.”
Hamza shrugged. “Whatever, bro. Complain to whoever wants to listen.” He got up off the wall and rejoined the party, leaving just Conall and Thomas with Burton.
“Complain to whoever wants to listen,” Burton imitated Hamza with a baby-ish voice. “Fuck that. I’m going straight where it hurts.” He took his phone out of his pocket.
Conall laughed. “Facebook?” He shrugged. “Hey, y’know what, it might-”
“No,” Thomas asserted. “What is this, middle school shit? You’re gonna start some online beef with her just because she left your party early? Get over yourself, man.”
Burton just glared at Thomas while Conall, ever the mischievous one, just snickered. “Oi Thomas, got an idea,” Conall said with a smirk. “You and me, outside, streetfight. You win, and Burton puts down the phone. I win, and he makes the post. Whaddya say?”
As Conall kept going on and on, telling the silent Thomas, “C’mon, it’ll be easy! I just got beat after all~!”, Burton just stared silently at his sophomore adversary. Thomas didn’t say anything, and just folded his arms. Burton didn’t say anything back, and looked at his phone. Eventually, Burton booted the phone off, but turned to look right at Thomas.
“It’s not about her not being here,” Burton explained to Thomas slowly. “It’s about how I expected her to be my friend and I wanted her here to support me. She, what, came here, didn’t even say hi, then dipped. That’s not being a friend. That’s her enjoying my party at, like, my expense.”
“Your expense, huh?” Thomas repeated, smiling in ridicule. “Burton, you seriously need to grow up.”
The last two words made Burton flare up in anger, and he got up from his chair to get in Thomas’ personal bubble. “I’m two years older than you and I’ve got a better boxing record than you’ll ever hope to achieve, buddy boy,” Burton huffed. “You try growing up, then maybe you’ll see.”
Thomas shook his head. “You shouldn’t start anything, that’s all I’m gonna say, man,” he replied, walking off. “Save it for the ring.”
“Save it for the ring…?” Conall repeated, then laughed. “Burton, we’ve all seen ya. Ya can beat the absolute shite outta Katrina.”
“He means I should only be a hothead in the ring,” Burton clarified, his tone still sour. He looked at his phone again. “I mean, anything I could post to Facebook might look bad. After all…”
Conall clued in immediately. “Any evidence of what ya say has a big ol’ ‘POSTED BY BURTON HOWARD,’ o’course,” he mumbled, nodding to himself. “Well alright then, ya just curse her silently, an’… move on with yer life.”
Burton surveyed the next room over, filled with other people. The types of people that would never leave a high school party early. Tipsy, rambunctious, hormonal… hungry for drama…
“Y’know…” Burton slowly said to his friend. “Facebook might leave a paper trail, but… If I told one or two of the craziest people here, ‘you know what I just heard about Katrina’?”
Conall slowly grinned. “Oh shit, is that how we’re playin’ it?” he laughed. “I mean, gossip’s harmless, ain’t it? Though it’s a damn shame she’s not here to defend herself.” He opened a nearby beer and sipped it, handing the can off to Burton.
Burton took his own sip from the can, passed it back to his friend, and rolled his neck around. “Guess she should have stayed a little longer if she wanted to prevent that,” he said with determination.
Burton got right to work, mingling with people at the party, receiving congratulation after congratulation from tipsy bros, freshmen just glad to talk to Burton to boost their own statuses, and Burton’s favorite type of partygoer: impressed girls. Burton felt like a god as he swaggered between the rooms, particularly enjoying whenever some starry-eyed girl at the party would look at his face, even after it was roughed up by not one but two fights, and bite her lip at the sight of him. Even just seeing him was an aphrodisiac to these girls. He had his pick of the bunch. He was living every student’s dream.
He didn’t lose sight of his goal and was sure to spread the word eagerly to some strategic listeners. Any girls that he himself avoided because he knew they were blabbermouths; those were the best targets. And it wasn’t even anything bad! “Ohh, did you hear about Katrina? Well, she went into the other room with some boy – I don’t know his name, some guy from eleventh grade, actually one of the less popular guys – and she was in that room with him for a long time. I mean, did you see her here? She was with him all party long, then they left together after! I know! Katrina of all people, can you imagine?”
Of course, the irony was lost on Burton that he told most if not all of these stories while his arm was around the girl in the group he found the most attractive. When he was feeling particularly bold, he’d have his arms around two girls at once. They’d hang on to his every word – the whole group did. And why wouldn’t they? He was the champion of the day!
Luckily, the very next girl after Katrina Burton was looking forward to seeing had stuck around – Lan. She was a senior, in Burton’s year, and that whole year pretty much agreed she was the hottest twelfth grader at the school. She had clear skin and distinctive yet beautiful facial features thanks to her Vietnamese background, and a great sense of humor that made it really easy for her to just be “one of the guys.” She may have dated but she was known for being a heartbreaker, though not too many guys had the stones to approach her directly. Luckily, a tipsy Burton emboldened by all the attention didn’t have nearly as many roadblocks.
“I couldn’t believe it! Katrina, of all people!” Burton finished telling a group as his arm found its way around Lan. “And speaking of prudes, Lan, thank you so much for coming,” Burton continued, earning a laugh from the group, and from Lan herself.
“Maybe if guys knew what they were doing, I wouldn’t have to be,” Lan joked back.
The group whooped and hollered the way high schoolers do when those kinds of jokes were made, with Burton being the loudest, pointing to her and asking the group, “Can you believe that? Did you hear her? Did you hear what she said?” as they laughed. As the laughs subsided, Burton added charmingly, “Well Lan, on behalf of all of the boys in my grade, I sincerely apologize that some of them can’t walk the walk.”
The group laughed, but that set a pattern going. As the group talked back and forth, and as more and more partygoers left, Lan and Burton kept trading jokes that clearly went in one direction and one direction only. Burton’s hand went from resting on her shoulder to grabbing her side and pulling her close to him, with neither of them saying anything. The partygoers still around would see his hand on her side, and see her, over the course of the conversation, leaning her body into his side, saying nothing, almost like there was an unspoken pact between them.
Eventually the group disbanded, leaving only Lan and Burton. By now her body was fully leaning into Burton’s, with her having to look up to see him in the eyes thanks to their height difference. Because of the way she leaned in, his hand, originally at her side, was now holding onto her back. “I’m kind of surprised you didn’t try to make your hand go lower when we were talking to people,” she giggled.
Burton chuckled. “With everyone watching? Nah, I was already complaining about the Katrina shit. I’m keeping things PG around here.”
Lan smiled, shaking her head. “Uh-huh, sure,” she challenged him. “And you definitely want to keep things PG, don’t you?”
“Mmm, I dunno,” Burton replied with a smug, jokingly indignant voice. “What do you think?”
“I think that even though the party’s ending, if we’re going to talk like this, maybe we should find a more… private room,” Lan said in an almost excited whisper.
Did The Heartbreaker really just say that to him?! Burton smiled in disbelief, but took initiative pretty quickly. With Lan’s hand in his, the two quickly found a room in the rent-a-hall that had a crappy couch on it – it was no bed, but it would have to do.
As soon as the door was closed, Lan’s back was up against it. Burton did not want to question this once-in-a-lifetime chance. Sure, Lan was hot, and sure, she was giving him attention all night, but he never thought she would actually want to do something like this with him. And here she was, moaning into his mouth while his hands explored all over her body.
As the kiss broke, Lan sized Burton up, with her eyes landing on his crotch. “Oh, wow…” she murmured to herself, cutely raising a finger to her lips in thought. “Do, um… do you have a c-condom?”
Burton broke out into another smile. “Of course I fucking do,” he replied, excitement prickling across his tone. He pulled out a wallet and removed his trusty spare condom, waving it in front of Lan’s face. “What do you think?”
Lan’s normal confident exterior had all but melted away by now. She nodded shyly, looking back into his eyes, and Burton, ever the experienced one, didn’t opt to immediately drop his pants and apply the condom. Instead, he let his cock throb a little while longer, closing the gap between him and Lan and kissing her all over again. This time, with one hand he slipped his condom back into his pocket and the other slipped into Lan’s pants, finding her slit and gently trasingly rubbing it with his middle finger. Lan was clearly very sensitive and immediately shot her eyes open, moaning into the kiss and shuddering in place.
Burton’s finger worked its magic ensuring that Lan was good and ready between what was happening above and below. When he broke off from the kiss again, this time Lan’s tongue nearly followed with his, and her eyes were covered with a glossy, lusty sheen. “Please, Burton,” she nearly whined. “Take me.”
Burton smiled in understanding, beginning to take his pants off just as she did. As soon as Burton’s pulsating dick came into view, she made another whining noise, like an animal pining. She needed this. The two barely wasted any time and indeed Lan applied the condom and sat Burton down before either of them even had time to take their shirts off. Burton, chuckling, took his own shirt off before lying back, then took Lan’s off as she lay on top of him, aligning his cock with her pussy.
“This is… oh my god… here goes,” she murmured nervously to herself before slowly sinking down on top of him. “Oh wow, oh fuck… ow,” she winced, freezing.
“Hey, no need to rush,” Burton coaxed her. “If you need to, just stay like that.” As he talked, he unhooked her bra, allowing her small yet firm breasts to appear into view.
Lan bit her lip and nodded. She must have never taken a cock quite like his… Burton couldn’t help it. Pride swelled within him again, and his cock throbbed within her. Even without moving, the feeling was incredible. Her muscles contracted around him, getting used to her size, before loosening with her breaths. Eventually, she sank another inch, then another, until she finally bottomed out.
“Holy fuuuuck…” she moaned, happily taking control as the girl on top and setting the pace. She went slowly at first, but there was no denying her excitement – every time her pelvis made contact with his, she left more of her juices around the base of Burton’s cock. To say she was wet was an understatement.
“Fuuuck, you’re so tight…” Burton moaned, grabbing her hips and contributing towards the rhythm the two were building.
“It feels like you’re stretching me… it feels so good, Burton…” Lan moaned. The two continued to enjoy each other’s movements, with Burton’s grunts and Lan’s moans filling the room. “Wanna… know… a secret?” she moaned.
“Tell me,” Burton grunted, never slowing down.
“You’re… my first…” she moaned, slamming her hips down onto him.
Burton was shocked, despite never stopping. “I’m your first?!” he exclaimed. “Lan, you’re like… the hottest girl in school! You could have any guy you want!”
“And… I chose you…” she moaned. “And I’m sooo glad I did…”
***
“Okay, time out,” Paul annoyedly cut in. “Did she actually say that, or is this story just ‘I’m Burton Howard and I’m the greatest guy ever’?”
“Seriously,” Tiffany added. “Barely any girls actually even talk like that. This sounds more like a first time writer’s sex story or something.”
“Some girls do!” Burton defended himself. “Have you ever… not to be sexist or whatever, but you wouldn’t know, Tiff, some girls get super into sex, and they just start acting stupid and moaning porn lines because they’re so… so… y’know!”
“Acting stupid, huh? Charming,” Tiffany bitterly replied. “How could that ever sound sexist, Burton?”
“I’m more hung up on how Lan was a virgin,” Mike pointed out. “Because you’re right, hottest girl in your grade and it wasn’t even close. Not even just the whole ‘no one else got to her first’ thing, but I feel like this should have changed a lot about your life at the time, and we never heard about this. Especially since… like, I feel like you would have mentioned it if she was your girlfriend.”
“Nah, we never dated or nothing, it was a one-time thing,” Burton clarified. “And if you don’t believe me, ask her.”
“I feel like that would be weird as fuck,” Tiffany replied. “‘Hi Lan, how’s it going. I know we haven’t spoken in years, but Burton’s telling us he took your virginity. Is it true, or…?’ She’d be so happy to hear that.”
“Well then phrase it better, Tiff,” Burton rebutted. “People are allowed to talk about sex. Look at literally what we’re all doing right now.”
The table paused. “He’s got you there,” Paul admitted.
“Yeah, okay,” Tiffany admitted. “But we’re friends, and she’s a stranger to us. Did you two at least keep in contact?”
“Um…” Burton stumbled. “So, uh, not really…”
“Her choice or yours?” Paul piped up.
Burton paused. “Okay, so… I’m starting to see your point about this being weird.”
“Why don’t we skip to the rest of the story? I think all of us got the point anyway,” Mike interjected, then added a mock clap. “You got to bone Lan. Well done, we’re all proud of you. The next day…”
Burton chuckled. “Nah, next day was fine,” he admitted. “The weird shit started up around the next Boxing Club practice, a bit more than a week later.”
***
Most of the boys didn’t boast a perfect attendance when it came to actual Boxing Club meetings. Coach Tuckerman was a bit of a pushover when it came to attendance and plus, being a boxer meant you were going to have recovery days. The only people that stuck around for recovery days were people that really wanted to either support or hang out with their bros, or the one person with the flawless attendance rating: Katrina.
“Arright there boys, c’mon in, I’ve got a few things to, uh, go over with ya then there,” Coach Tuckerman called out with his trademark Minnesotan style. The boys gathered around him in a circle. “Now as far as I know, Katrina’s gone AWOL, and I was wonderin’ if she said anythin’ to any o’ you all.”
Hamza cleared his throat. “Uh, Coach Tuckerman, sir, she was in my fourth period English class, so I know she went to school today. She might still be here.”
Cillian, Conall’s weaker and less popular twin, snickered. “Yeah, she’s probably sucking some guy off behind the school,” he joked.
“Cillian!” Tuckerman nearly roared.
Conall punched his brother in the arm. “Show some respect, fuckin’ will ya?” he admonished his brother, earning an, ‘owwwww!’ from Cillain. Once Tuckerman wasn’t looking, Conall leaned in and added in a whisper, “That’s a good one though.”
Tuckerman was clearly not amused. “Now I know that the Boxing Club can be seen as a boy’s club sometimes, and that comes with all the baggage of the uh, of the womenfolk being seen as strange beings there, but remember, you shouldn’t be mean to women and call them things like that just because you don’t like ‘em! Personal feelings don’t matter here, and neither do our sex lives.”
“I don’t not like her, Tuckerman!” Cillian argued. “She’s… y’know… fine. I just kept hearing things about her and figured… Well, I mean, she’s kinda a hot talking point right now. I’m just saying, if the shoe fits-”
“If the shoe fits, Cillian, the foot keeps on walkin’ there,” Coach Tuckerman cut in dismissively. “What Katrina’s doin’ in her own time is her business, and it doesn’t change how anyone here sees her. And if I hear one more mean thing like that about her, the person responsible will be dealin’ with some serious punishment. do I make myself clear?”
A chorus of “yes” flooded the workout room, and somehow it only dawned on Burton then how Cillian heard those rumors. It’s not like Katrina was actually slutting it up; it was him. He started the rumors… and clearly it worked. He looked around. was he the reason Katrina wasn’t showing up?
The guilt set into him… and then slowly, ever so slowly, melted away. The rumors worked, huh? Good. Served her right. That’s what she got for disrespecting Burton. She got disrespected right back. and if she couldn’t take the heat, maybe she could finally understand how she made him feel.
***
By now, Burton wasn’t even looking anyone in the eye, and was looking straight out the window. “I’ll be the first to admit, not my finest hour,” he admitted. “God, even saying it out loud now is cringe. If it means anything, I’ve grown a lot since.”
“You’re still hitting on the waitress,” Mike pointed out.
Burton deigned to look Mike in the eye. “There’s a hell of a difference between ‘still enjoying flirting with women’ and ‘knowingly spread a rumor about a girl because she didn’t give me attention,’ Mike,” he replied with a disappointed tone. “Didn’t you admit that in hindsight you realized you weren’t the good guy in your story?”
“I guess, but I… Yeah, alright…” Mike admitted, sitting back.
Burton gestured to Tiffany. “Female perspective, input?”
Tiffany just laughed. “Yes, you’ve improved, dumbass. Now finish the damn story.”
***
Even though Burton felt fine – proud, even – with the effect he had on Katrina, something possessed him to stay behind after Boxing Club ended just to practice on his own. Yeah, he wasn’t bothered or anything, but… the thought kept on lingering in his mind. It kept occupying him. And hey, no better cure for The Thoughts than to put in your earbuds and practice your jabs, right?
He’d done this before once or twice, and each time, no one ever interrupted him. He was happily able to enjoy his extra practice in peace, secure in the knowledge that no one would interrupt him. So, when someone knocked on the doors, it made him jump like nothing else in his life.
Luckily, he didn’t scream. He didn’t want to find out he screams like a girl or anything. He collected himself and steeled his breathing, then opened the door to see…
“Oh, hey Burton,” Nicky greeted him.
“Nicky?! Shit,” Burton scoffed. “I dunno why but I thought Death himself was coming to get me.”
“Heh, yeah, sorry to say, I guess death is a woman now,” Nicole laughed along. “Destroyer of worlds. Anyway, have you – actually, first things first. I’m thinking let’s ditch ‘Nicky.’ I wanna be called Nicole now.”
Burton went back to his sandbag. “Why?” he threw out.
“Dunno yet. I’ll give you a reason later if I think of it,” she replied, leaning against the doorframe.
“Sounds like you’re just doing things to do things if you haven’t got a reason,” Burton replied smugly before setting up a jab-cross combo. “And sometimes doing things to do things is just a sign of weakness.”
“Big talk from a guy that gets spooked by women knocking on doors,” Nicky laughed. This was new. She was punching back. “By the way, your front foot is crooked.”
Burton looked at her in disbelief, then at his foot. She was 100% correct. “No it’s not,” he lied. “So what, you just came here to tell me you went through a name change?”
Nicky smiled her own smug little smile. “You know me too well, Burt. Nah I just-”
“Burton,” he reminded her.
“Huh, so you admit it does matter. Neat. Well, I’ll make you a deal. You call me Nicole, I call you Burton,” Nicky rebutted. Burton looked to her, expecting her to have some kind of bitchy scowl, but she just had a warm smile on. As if the two were sharing a joke, instead of her making the joke.
“You feeling okay?” he asked. “You seem super different from the girl I knew at the party.”
Nicky shrugged. “I’m growing up, I guess. I kinda had an epiphany at the – well, after the party. I went back to – y’know what? Doesn’t matter. Yes, Burton, I’m different now, I think.”
“Alright, cool,” Burton replied with a shrug, going back to the sandbag.
“I’m more confident now too,” Nicky continued. “Just like you wanted me to be.”
Burton, his mind occupied, allowed his honest thoughts to flow freely. “Yeah, nothing says ‘I’m more confident now’ than visiting me and telling me out of nowhere you did what I wanted, just to get my approval.” He chuckled to himself as he hit the sandbag.
“That would be a good point, dude, but I hate to disappoint you, I’m not here for you,” she told him. “I was supposed to meet Thomas around here.”
The increased animosity from Nicky just made Burton more defiant. He snorted. “Why, gonna fuck him?” he laughed.
“Yup.”
Burton stopped, turning his head at first, then turning his whole body. “Huh?”
“I said yes. I was planning to have sex with him,” Nicole restated, articulating her words in an almost comical manner.
Burton stared at her for a bit. No girl ever just… admitted to it. They’d protest, or get defensive, or even just lie about it. Nicole was doing none of those things. “You have changed,” he murmured.
“It’s almost like I said those exact words,” she said with an eye-roll. “I think it’s safe to say you’re pissed off at someone right now, and hey, fair enough, but if you don’t know where Thomas is, you can tell me to go away and I’ll leave you alone.”
Burton just stared at her, his mouth open in shock. Little Nicky, the shy girl from the school paper… no way she changed this much in so little time. “But… you wanted to be with Jeff!”
“Wanted. Past tense. I’d say that’s about right,” Nicole added with a nod.
“But… you can’t just go from one guy to another that quick. I mean, this has to be your first time having sex with T-” He stopped mid-sentence as Nicole shook her head no. “B-but-”
“Second time. First time was yesterday. He’s good, actually. Great. Taught me a lot of things about myself. We talked a lot afterwards. Word to the wise, he feels a liiiiiittle bit disrespected around here, so maybe easing up on him would be nice.”
“You can’t just go from one guy to-”
Nicole laughed assertively. “What do you call you kissing me at the party, then giving it to Lan later? Don’t tell me you’re a hypocrite, Burton,” Nicole said with a shit-eating grin.
Burton’s heart sank. He could have sworn it stayed between them. Lan blabbed, the bitch. What else had she been saying? “She… Whatever she said, she was lying, we never did anything,” Burton asserted, despite the color draining from his face.
Nicole’s smile, impossibly, got bigger. She took a few steps into the room. “She never said shit, hotshot,” she teased. “Apart from, ‘I chose you… and I’m soooo glad I did…’” Nicole imitated Lan in an overly whiny voice, then paused, a smug smile still on her face. “Maybe I undersold how thorough of a journalist I am. I stayed behind. I noticed. I thought I would get some kinda scoop, but instead I got some juicy gossip. But hey, since you clearly care a lot about your reputation, I’ll give you this one for free: I’m not gonna tell a soul.”
Burton blinked twice, then his breathing began to return to normal. “Yeah?” he managed. “Why, what are you planning?”
Nicole shrugged with a playfully exasperated expression. “Apart from fucking Thomas, nothing much, dude,” she laughed. “I’m not gonna tell anyone about you and Lan because clearly that matters to you. I don’t need more of a reason.” She absent-mindedly began to examine the equipment. “I feel like without you, and without that kiss… I dunno. Maybe I wouldn’t have actually had the guts to…”
Burton started to put the pieces together. “Tell Jeff to go fuck himself?”
Nicole’s resolve broke, and her eyes squeezed shut in pain. “Um, okay, no,” she admitted. “God, I fucking wish I did. But I did the next best thing, and I’m moving on, in the most decisive way possible.”
“What, being a slut?”
“Sure,” Nicole said with zero shame.
“So you’re not dating Thomas?”
“Correct, I’m not.”
“So you can do anything you want with anyone you want?”
“If you want me that bad Burton, just say so,” Nicole said almost quietly with a wry little smile, barely side-eyeing him from the equipment she was looking at.
Burton’s hands went up in front of his face. “Hey, uh… don’t get cocky, and don’t speak for me! I wasn’t offering anything like…”
Nicole’s smug grin remained plastered on her face. “No? My mistake, I guess. Too bad, because if I’m feeling easy and you already kissed me, you could have convinced me sooo easily… Oh well~!”
Burton was full-on blushing. It was clear as day what Nicole was doing. He wasn’t going to just let her win like this, was he?
Nicole gave him a casual salute with two fingers. “Later, Burton,” she casually said as she started to walk away. Not a fake out either. Real walking away.
“Wait.”
He spoke to the empty space of the doorframe, and slowly, Nicole’s blank innocent face popped back into the empty space. “Hm?”
“If, uh, you want me too…” Burton began clumsily.
Nicole smiled. “I do if you remember my name. What was it again?”
Burton couldn’t help but shake his head and smile. “Get over here Nicole, and close the door behind you.”
Nicole didn’t need to be told twice. She was taller than the average girl at Hazelwood by an inch or so, but Burton still towered over her, and she seemed to enjoy looking up into his eyes as she bounded over to him. It was like she was daring for him to make the next move.
So make the next move he did. Burton already felt like a pussy for fumbling so much. It was time to show her that he was in control, and he was going to put the slut in her place. He already got to give her a gentle kiss once, on her terms; it was time for him to get his. Assertively, she brought an arm around Nicole’s back and pulled her close, practically throwing her body towards him.
“Ooh!” Nicole marveled as she was yanked towards him. “Strong, aren’t we?” Burton only replied by raising his eyebrows once, then leaned in and started to deeply kiss her. Nicole was still a relative novice to the world of kissing, but she was willing to keep up with his pace. Burton’s strong hands grabbed her from behind, holding her close, then traveled down to her ass and squeezed, all while she gleefully melted in his strong embrace. Damn, she really was an eager little slut under all that facade.
Burton broke the kiss and panted a few times. “How were you hiding a slut like that underneath the innocent interviewer from the party?”
“I wasn’t hiding her, she just moved in this week,” she replied, then winked. “Wanna give her a ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ party?”
Burton laughed. the girl was a little corny, but she more than made up for it with her eagerness. Best of all, she was his favorite kind of girl: she clearly didn’t see a bed as mandatory. “Fine by me,” Burton groaned, using one hand to loosen his belt and the other to push Nicole down onto her knees.
“Fuck, this is just second nature for you, isn’t it, you horndog?” Nicole asked with a sultry giggle and a practically evil smirk. She willingly accepted Burton’s move, getting down onto her knees and helping him free his monster. When it sprang into view, her eyes narrowed in satisfaction, though she spared an extra look up into Burton’s eyes shortly after. “Now remember, this slut is still learning, so don’t expect me to be perfect,” she warned him. “Though if you don’t mind helping me with my… education…”
“Shut up already,” Burton laughed and grabbed Nicole behind her head, attempting to pull her mouth to his dick.
To his surprise, he was met with resistance. He looked down and saw Nicole had lost her smile, and was holding up a finger. “Let… me have… my fun,” she warned him. “You’re the one getting a blowjob. No need to be mean. ‘Mkay?”
“Uh… yeah. My bad,” Burton found himself saying before he even thought about how he wanted to reply. Despite his slight embarrassment, he remained rock-hard, and Nicole instantly broke into her smile again once he backtracked. She gleefully grabbed his shaft with one end, and began kissing the head of his dick, before opening her mouth and letting him inside.
She was a novice?! What the hell was Nicole going to be like as a pro? From the moment she started sucking, Burton nearly fell off-balance. He groaned and held onto the back of her head with both hands, practically for dear life. To say she was a fast learner would be the understatement of the century – it was like she needed ten seconds to figure out everything that made him tick. She was going to be a hell of a heartbreaker next year with skills like these and an attitude like hers. Burton often prided himself as the guy that could last longer than most of his female friends, and here Nicole was, making him wonder if he needed to start thinking about baseball soon.
Well, he was not going to give her the satisfaction. As much as he hated the idea of this heaven stopping anytime in the next century, he tapped her face to get her attention. “Didja come here to… ngh… suck me off, or to get… mf… f-fucked by me?”
Nicole took her now-expert mouth off of him and jacked him off teasingly. “I mean, if you recall, I came here for Thomas,” she told him with a mischievous smirk. “But if that’s the offer, I don’t mind getting some too. Where do you want me?”
God damn. Burton always fantasized about doing something like this. He never expected he’d be doing it with the shut-in sophomore school paper chick turned slut, but he was not about to be choosy now of all times. He pointed to the weightlifting bench. “On there. On your back.”
Nicole nodded. “Mm, hot.” She began taking off her pants, and Burton admired what he saw, stroking his cock as she disrobed. Wow, she was really coming into her own. Her pussy was an interesting shape, one he hadn’t seen before, with what he would call an ‘outie’ clit. Clearly she was turned on beyond belief – he could tell from a distance that her pubic hair was nearly matted with her juices. He’d almost wonder about how sanitary her sitting down was, but then again, he was about to fuck her right there. He’d just wipe down the weightlifting bench either.
Burton started to get himself lined up, as his eyes flickered to Nicole’s chest. “Shirt too,” he ordered with a knowing smile.
Nicole rolled her eyes. “Boys,” she mumbled to herself, then chuckled. She lifted her shirt and bra with one fell swoop, keeping them in place. “Is this good enough? We’re kinda being risky here as it is.”
Burton gave a ‘good point’ shrug, but still drank in the sight of her tits. He had no idea what cup sizes were what, but he knew Nicole’s were big for her frame, and big for a girl her age. C cups? D? Who knew? All he knew was, she was showing her tits off for him, sitting down on the weightlifting bench, waiting for him to slip inside. And he was going to impress her just as much as she impressed him. He started sliding his cock up and down her glistening slit, and only then realized something. “Condom?”
“Pill,” Nicole practically sighed, her eyes closed in pre-emptive bliss. “Please, Burton…”
Wow, she was born to be a next-level slut. As he expected, from the moment he started to slide in, Nicole’s confident exterior melted away. Her mouth transformed from that cocky smile into a never-ceasing ‘O’ shape, and the first words out of her mouth were, “Oh, holy f-fuck…”
As soon as he felt comfortable, Burton began to slowly thrust in and out until he was pumping in and out of her like a piston. God damn, Nicole was instantly one of his favorite fucks. If the feeling of being inside her wasn’t good enough, the way she went from a cocky smarmy girl to a submissive slut was intoxicating. “Jesus christ, Burton, you’re so big… nnn… ffffuck… oh my god,” she babbled, on and on, all while Burton showed her a good time he hoped she would never forget.
The bench shook with their movements and within minutes, it was like the whole room was beginning to steam up with their actions. Nicole was clearly going to make a good slut, and Burton realized he had the honor of not only being one of her first boys, but also, one that could make her worse than she was. If he played his cards right, this wannabe slut would come back begging for him every day. And to hear her talking in that moment, she wouldn’t have minded that one bit.
“Holy fuck, Burton… yes, yes… just like that, oh my God you’re so good at this… I thought you’d be so good at this, and oh my God, you are, you arrrrrre…” she cooed, bouncing about like a ragdoll in response to his hips thrusting. “You’re so big, and mm, fuck, you know how to use it… Holy fuck, I’m gonna cum soon, I’m gonna cum, Burton you’re so good at this, I’m gonna fucking-”
***
“Can we move on, please?” Paul bitterly spat with one arm on the table. “We get it. Jesus. Did Thomas walk in on you two or not?”
Burton shook his head, and Paul just sighed exasperatedly. “Then I don’t see why the hell you’re even telling us this. It has nothing to do with your God damn story,” he grumbled.
“I didn’t know you were there when Nicole became, uh, ‘popular,’” Mike added, doing finger-quotes with his hands as he said the word. “Crazy. It seems like everybody got a chance to sleep with Nicole, huh?” He gazed over-exaggeratedly at Paul.
“Fuck you,” Paul replied with no humor to his voice.
Tiffany was giving Mike a disgusted look. “Have some respect, dude,” she admonished Mike, who quickly stopped his joking gaze and backed down. “So how is Nicole relevant to the story, anyway?”
Burton scratched the back of his head. “So, yeah, that part. So, I can wrap it up with the sex. It was great, she and I got clothed after, nobody saw us, the whole song and dance. Thomas was nowhere in sight for some reason. We exchanged numbers, blah blah blah. The next day…”
***
It was the end of classes, and not a moment too soon. Burton sighed to himself, opening up his locker, when a hand came out of nowhere and shut it aggressively. “Yo, what the-” Burton cried out instinctively, turning to see a furious Danny.
“Rematch. You and me. Right now,” Danny seethed.
Burton regained his composure. His victory bothered Danny that much, huh? “Oh, hey loser,” Burton replied in as tauntingly casual a tone as he could conjure. “How’s it going?”
“You heard me, right?” Danny demanded. “Rematch!”
“I heard you, man,” Burton both soothed Danny and laughed at his expense. “You’re kinda a week too late. It’s already in the school paper, I already had my party – it was a banger, by the way, sorry you missed it. Plus, what are we gonna do, call up Tuckerman and ask him to make a whole new event two weeks before the Finals just because you’re too much of a bitch to admit you lost? Come on, dude.”
“I’m not asking for an event. I’m asking for us to have a rematch,” Danny clarified. “I don’t care if it’s just us two. I’ve figured some shit out, and I know your strategy. At this point, I could win blindfolded.”
Burton chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah?” He began to open his locker door again. “Of course you figured out my strategy, man. I used it to, hmm, what was it again, oh yeah, beat you. Knocked you flat on your ass in round two. Two, dude. You just gotta accept that you lost, even if you could change stuff now. Seriously, hanging onto this shit ain’t good for ya.”
“So what, you accept I could beat you now but you don’t wanna see what would happen?” Danny challenged him.
“Hey now, I never said that,” Burton clarified, looking into his locker and putting his stuff away. “I still got the speed and the strength, thank you very much. But if we’re talking who would win now that you have all this hindsight, I guess it’s one of those ‘we’ll never know’ kinda deals.”
Danny was silent for a bit until Burton closed his locker again. “Okay then,” Danny finally said, dusting off one of his shoulders. “Boxing room, right now. If you win, I’ll shut up forever and I’ll tell anyone who listens that you’re better than me. Fuck it, I’ll do whatever wording you want.”
Burton paused. “Anyone who listens, huh?” He smiled, realizing he knew one of the students that did the morning announcements. “That means anyone.”
“Anyone,” Danny said with a nod.
“You say it to who or what I want, and you say it my way,” Burton confirmed.
Danny nodded.
“…And if you win?” Burton asked, changing his tune.
Danny shrugged. “I just want the satisfaction of knowing it,” he replied. “Like I said, I could beat you no problem now.”
“So what, I win and you say what I want, and if you win, it’s just between us?” Burton confirmed.
“In that case it’s just between us in the room,” Danny promised. “But if you win, whatever, anyone can know.”
Burton stared at him for a bit, then held out his hand. “Shake on it. Scout’s honor.” Danny didn’t hesitate, and shook his hand, then Burton sighed humorously and checked his watch, before taking it off and putting it in his locker. “Alright, meet ya there. I’ll change in the locker room first.”
Danny nodded. “I’ll go and change now, you do what you gotta,” he replied, and walked off. Burton exhaled again, revving himself up. He didn’t know he was going to have a fight today, but Danny was a pushover. Even if Danny thought he could counter Burton’s strategy, he failed to realize no one knew Burton’s strategy like Burton did, including its weaknesses. All Burton had to do was counter the counter-strategy in Round One, and even if that didn’t work and Danny underprepared, Burton could just revert back to his usual glass cannon strategy in Round Two.
Foolproof. His plan was foolproof. After putting away his things and pumping himself up, he made his way to the gym locker room and got ready. Danny wasn’t there and must have gotten changed quickly, but the loser seemed to really want this, so it made sense for him to be excited. Burton put on the proper attire and shuffled his feet to rev himself up for a few minutes before making his way to the room.
When he entered, Burton couldn’t help but laugh. Danny had done up the room to look like some kind of exhibition match, with one light on in one corner of the room, another light in another corner, and the rest of the room being dark. Were these spotlights even here before, or did he install then just for this one lil’ match between the two of them…? “Wow, tryhard,” Burton laughed, seeing Danny in one spotlight. Burton made his way to the other corner, occupying his own cone of light. “Maybe you shoulda put as much work into practicing your boxing as you did putting up these lights, because maybe then you’d stand a chance.”
Danny folded his arms, at which point Burton realized he didn’t even have gloves on. Danny smugly laughed. “No need, Burt. You already lost.”
Burton looked at him, confused, but before he could think to speak, a figure walked out from the darkness to join Danny. Burton could recognize that pudgy silhouette anywhere – Coach Tuckerman was standing next to Danny. “Burton, I uh, well, there’s no easy way to say this…” he began. “But, er, this was just a way to get talk to talk to you in this here room there.”
“What are you…?” Burton breathed, dumbfounded.
“Well, I’m afraid you’ve been caught breaking a few school rules there,” Tuckerman continued. “Y’see, it’s come to my attention there that you were in this room, after hours, doin’ somethin’ you maybe shouldn’t’a on school property with a ladyfriend.”
Burton’s heart skipped a beat, then began to race. “Wh- wait, no, wait, no! That wasn’t even me, I actually know about that, but it wasn’t me she-”
“Burton,” Tuckerman warned. “We’ve already talked to the girl in question and she’s testified that it happened. We know what happened.”
“B-but that’s not fair!” Burton roared, now hating the feeling of this stupid spotlight on him. “I know for a fact that she was going to meet Thomas on school property! It was Thomas she was going to meet, not me!”
Tuckerman paused after Burton spoke, then slowly nodded. Then, he turned to look into the darkness. “Thomas?” he asked.
To Burton’s horror, a third figure joined the other two in the spotlight. “Told you he’d say that,” Thomas’ smug voice chuckled. “I never did anything on school property. The girl was planning to meet me there, but not to do anything against the rules. We were just gonna talk.”
“You liar!!” Burton accused. “She said she was coming to the room to fuck you, and that you did it the day before!!”
Thomas shrugged. “She said she was coming to the room to see me, and that she was planning to do stuff with me, bro,” Thomas argued calmly. “I wasn’t even in the room the day before that. Your mind just filled in the gaps.”
Burton just stood there, dumbstruck. He was sure… but…
“This hasn’t been fun for me either, y’know,” Tuckerman continued. “But since you were the one to initiate-”
“I was not!!!”
“The girl testified, and I quote, ‘get over here… name… and close the door behind you…’ and she had never suggested to do anything in the room beforehand. She’s being punished too y’know, but initiating means the lion’s share of the punishme-”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Burton roared in anger.
“I’m sorry Burton, but rules are rules,” Tuckerman said with a shrug. “In accordance with Boxing Club rules, you’ll be losing your position in the club, and you’ll be forfeiting any boxing matches you have from here on in, including the Finals fight coming up.”
Burton’s heart sank. He was so close, so close to getting his chance at the championship, and now he was being disqualified?! Over something like this?!
“And this fight,” Danny sneered. “But don’t worry, that’ll stay between us.”
Burton had all but forgotten about their stupid bet. As soon as he heard Danny pipe up again, he could have killed him. He was halfway tempted to tell the stupid worm that he could forget this fight and that Burton would happily beat the shit out of him for this as soon as he left the school, but he dared not say anything like that in front of Tuckerman.
Instead, Burton let cooler heads prevail. Tuckerman droned on for a bit about how as of this moment, Burton wasn’t in the Boxing Club anymore and he couldn’t claim as much, how the reason why could stay between them and it didn’t need to become school gossip, blah blah blah. Burton said as little as he needed to, and eventually, Tuckerman left.
As soon as he did, Burton continued to glare at Danny. “So you heard about what I did and just couldn’t wait to do this to me, all because you knew you couldn’t ever beat me in a fair fight, you fuckin’ worm…”
Danny started to laugh. “Honestly Burton, none of this was my idea. I was just helping a friend with their plan.”
The pieces clicked together. Burton shifted his gaze from Danny to… “Thomas. You knew Nicole would be there. You’ve had it out for me. You ratted on me!”
“Nah, man. You’re half-right, though,” Thomas told him calmly, not sharing Danny’s glee. “Danny was asked to get you to this room. I was asked to get my lil’ friend Nicole to visit the room, all because we knew you’d do some shady shit.”
“You were asked?! By who??”
“Not the right question,” Thomas clarified. “A better question to ask is, ‘how did we know you’d do that kinda shit?’ After all, that’s the same kinda shit you falsely tried to get others to believe.”
“Surely you wouldn’t be that level of hypocrite, Burton,” called out a female voice from the darkness.
Thomas let his first smile slip and went to flick the lights on. When the lights filled the room, Burton winced and saw, in the corner, none other than Katrina.
“How does it feel reaping what you sow?” she taunted. “Maybe now you’ll think twice about trying to spread this kinda shit when it isn’t true, Burton,” Katrina told him. “Gossip and rumors can be some nasty shit. Don’t you agree?” She winked at him. “But I’m feeling generous. If you admit to your little friends that you lied about me just because I left your stupid party early, then maybe, just maybe, I won’t tell people the real reason you got kicked out of the Boxing Club.”
With another laugh, she calmly left the room, followed by Thomas. Danny followed, though he stuck his head back into the room long enough to throw out one last word before loudly shutting the door:
“Knockout.”
***
Despite Burton still clearly feeling furious around the story, the other three couldn’t help but contain their laughter. “Holy shit, she got you good,” Mike guffawed.
“I always wondered why you quit the Boxing Club right before the end match!” Tiffany giggled. “And you said ‘health concerns’? You fuckin’ liar!”
“Tell me what you would have done!” Burton angrily exclaimed. “I get it, I get it, I was the world’s hugest piece of shit, but doing something that big was just uncalled for!”
Paul cocked his head, smiling at Burton. “Burton, all Katrina did was ensure you got caught for breaking rules you literally broke,” he laughed.
“At least I actually got to fuck Nicole,” Burton angrily countered.
“Oh my God, Nicole. I can’t imagine how much she hated you after that,” Tiffany realized.
Burton shrugged. “Honestly, she was the one who was the most cool with it. She didn’t blame me. Plus, she didn’t hear about the Katrina shit, so as far as she knew, we fucked and then we got caught. Plus, word on the street is it didn’t stop her from doing shit on school property with her lil’ boyfriend the next year.”
“Shit, I forgot about those two,” Tiffany scoffed.
Paul, probably eager to forget that either of those two ever existed, pressed Burton on. “Even then, dude, this was allllll your actions and your ego. Your smugness with Danny, your attempted attack on Katrina, the way you didn’t listen to Thomas, your reckless attitude with Nicole, your ego blinding you to the way Danny lured you into the room…” He continued with each sin, counting on his fingers as he did.
Burton glared at him. “Okay. Okay, Paul. Okay. You havin’ fun? Because I just told you, with full honesty, the most scummy thing I ever did, years ago. And now you’re just living it up, aincha? But…” He put an arm down on the table, pointing at Paul threateningly. “I was man enough to admit the worst thing I ever did. Let’s fucking go. Are you man enough to do the same?”
“The worst thing I ever did?” Paul asked, then looked around the table. “Deal,” he replied instantly. “As long as we’re living in a judgment-free zone.”
“Yeah, because the last fuckin’ thing you said was totally judgment-free,” Burton angrily replied. “I’ll judge you as much as I like.”
Paul laughed. “Alright, alright. If we’re airing our dirty laundry, I immediately know my biggest contender. Wanna know how scummy I could get in my high school days? Because here goes.”
Bashful Scribe 