Chapter 70

*Sean's POV*"Alright team, let's huddle," coach blew his annoying whistle and we all herded towards the center of the field again after our scrimmage game.

"I'm gonna shove that whistle up his ass one day," Matt muttered as we neared.

I looked around once more for Payton, call it twin instincts or whatever, but something's definitely wrong. She hasn't appeared since coach called her over, and after that I have no idea where she went off to. Maybe coach had her do something, who knows. I'm probably just overreacting like I always do, she can handle herself better than most people I know, so I really shouldn't be worried.

"Good practice, I feel like this season's gonna be just as great if not better than the last. You're all free to go, except for one thing before you leave. Kaden, you'll be co-captain from now on. See you all tomorrow," he announced, and that's when all of the commotions started.

"What? That's Payton's spot," Kaden protested.

"Not anymore, Payton Foster is not a part of this team anymore. You're all dismissed." He said firmly again, his harsh tone not changing.

"Why? This team's shit without her, you know that all too well yourself." I spat. What the hell happened? And where was Payton?

"League officials came by and told me that I either remove Payton, or everyone's benched. There wasn't a choice to take, there's old rules that can't be changed, and we're very lucky that they're letting us keep the titles we've won with her being on the team." He said finally before letting us all disperse, as he walked away.

"This is fucking bullshit, where is Payton anyways?" Brooklyn asked, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Don't know, probably with Cara if I know her well enough. Seeing as she'd probably be even more pissed than we are now, she's downing hard caffeine right now, or punching something repeatedly." I sighed heavily, getting my phone out of my Nike backpack. Dialing up Cara's number, it rang a few times before she picked up.

"Payton's with me, she's fine, just really pissed. We went out for liquid cocaine, and now she's getting all of her aggression out on Macklee," I heard Cara laugh through the phone.

"She's with Macklee? Don't let her get into it again, she's not thinking straight." I said.

"Chill Sean, she's fine, she's just getting her feelings out. Ooh, I gotta go, she's getting in the ring with Mason, this I gotta see."

"What, Mason's there? Cara keep th--" the line went dead. "Shit," I muttered under my breath.

"Gym?" Kaden asked. I nodded my head, running a hand through my hair.

"Damn, let's go," Matt said, grabbing his backpack as did Brooklyn and Kaden.

"She's fighting Mason. Don't know how that happened, but if Cara was talking about Mason Wells, then I've been to one of his fights before, and there was blood. A shit ton." I said worriedly, fishing my keys from the side pocket of my backpack.

"She's fighting again? She can handle herself, I just don't know if they both can," Matt sighed.

We all drove to the gym and got there within half an hour since it was all the way across town. It looked the same as always, and by the looks of it, it was well packed. I saw Cara and Payton's cars parked in the front, so I assume that Cara dropped her off to pick her car up at some point.

Walking through the front doors, there was no one in sight. There would usually be someone in the front desk area, and a few gym-goers scattered here and there. It was a busy gym, and especially today since the parking lot was packed, so where was everyone?

I pushed through the glass paneled doors and didn't see people working out and sparring like I'd vaguely remembered it being when I would come and watch Payton, or come to pick her up.

Instead, everyone was gathered around the center ring, and I spotted Cara in the front row. The guys and I pushed past everyone and got to the front, seeing Mason and Payton in the ring, in their separate corners.

"Cara what the hell?! I told you to keep her from doing anything stupid! This qualifies as stupid!" I exclaimed at Cara through the cheering crowd.

"You need a fucking chill pill, or get laid, or something Sean. Quit manstruating, she's fine. Have you ever seen Payton lose a fight?" She rolled her eyes at me while crossing her arms.

"I've never seen Mason lose a fight either," I pointed out, but Cara returned her attention to the starting match. Payton was wrapping up her gloves, and not the matted ones, which I knew meant that this wasn't a sparring match. Her eyes scanned the crowd and landed on us. Her nose scrunched in frustration, as she called time, and bent over the rubber railing at the side closest to us.

"Cara what the hell?!" She yelled out.

"Jesus, Fosters are tag-teaming me today aren't you," Cara rolled her eyes.

*Payton's POV*"Are you seriously gonna fight Mason?" Matt asked me.

"He's harmless, all bark, no bite," I rolled my eyes.

"That's what you think, Princess," Mason came up from behind and put an arm around me, whilst I automatically scoffed and slapped off.

Brooklyn seemed bothered by his actions, and I have him a reassuring look, easing the tension between him and Mason.

"Let's just get to the fighting, will we?" I said sighing heavily.

"Are you sure about this? I really don't want to hit you, even by accident," Mason bit his lip.

"It's just a sparring match, make it look interesting for our 'fans'," I air quotes fans, gesturing to the huge crowd surrounding the ring.

After a while debating it, he gave in and went back into his corner of the ring, tying up his gloves.

"I'll be fine, I've fought much worse than him, most of you even witnessed. I just wanna get my mind off things, you don't have to watch, I don't care, but I'm doing this." I stated, popping my neck both ways.

"Just.. please be careful...." Brooklyn sighed, looking conflicted. I really didn't want any of them to see this side of me again.

"Aren't I always?" I winked before walking to my corner opposite of Mason's.

The ref stepped under the barriers, and into the center of the ring. He explained the rules, tapping out, and the safe word. With that, the bell rang, and the fight officially began.

I took my stance, with my left foot in front of my right, my hands wound tightly in fists, my arms forming a triangle. Mason had the same stance, and I looked at him to try and read his strategy.

I knew that he wouldn't throw the first punch, so that was up to me to make the first move.

The rounds went by, and no one had gotten hit yet. We threw punches, but dodged every one of them.

Three rounds in, no one was winning so far, so I knew I had to step my game up.

I threw a punch with my right, then hooked with my left, and got him square in the jaw unexpectedly. The crowd erupted in cheers after that, and the timer counted down the last 15 seconds. Well, Payton, now or never.

Mason had this attitude in him too, I could see how his mood changed as the seconds counted down. He uppercut, but I dodged, instantly hooking my right arm, but Mason catching it, which I had expected him to do, so I took an upper cut with my left, catching him by surprise again.

The timer buzzed, and the ref held my hand up, indicating that I won the fight.

"Good fight Foster, didn't think you had it in you," Mason said as I took my mouth guard out. I stared at him for a while, then finally spoke up.

"Thanks for letting me win." I said in a low tone.

"What? I didn't--" he started.

"Yeah you did. I've seen you working on guarding with Macklee, and it isn't that hard to block a hook and cut. You're too experienced to make such an amateur mistake, that's why I did it just so I could see if you were doing what I thought you were."

"How did you..?" He looked confused, running a hand through his hair.

"Had a feeling." I replied blandly.

"Listen, I'm sure you could still beat my ass even if I tried to win, but I'm not one of those guys that fights girls. I'm positive that you're a great fighter, anyone can agree to that, I've seen you fight bigger and stronger guys than me, and you came out without a scratch while they were rushed to the hospital. I just couldn't deal with the guilt afterwards. I only agreed to this because Macklee thought it was good publicity for my next fight," he explained.

"Thanks though," I smiled shyly. "I hope I didn't hit too hard, I tried to ease up once I knew what you were doing." I ran my thumb against his jaw, looking at the forming bruise, trying to see if it's broken or not. I can easily break jaws, I have before, mainly because I don't know my own strength.

"I'm fine, I've dealt with worse from opening doors too hard," he laughed.

"I expect a rematch though, a real one. No crowds, no gloves. And actual effort." I said sternly, pointing a finger at him.

"Someday, Foster, someday." He said.

"You know, if you put away the cocky attitude and Fuckboy jokes, you're not too horrible," I chuckled.

"Yeah, well, I try," he rolled his eyes. "Friends then?"

"Barely," I winked, before taking off my gloves and stepping out of the ring.

The crowd has cleared up now, and I found Cara and the guys surrounding a bench in the corner of the gym. I make my way over there, and Sean instantly checks for bruises, lifting my arms up and twirling me around somewhat.

"I'm fine," I rolled my eyes.

"Who knew you could fight?" Cara laughed.

"You have no idea.. Steal her food, and you'll have something coming for you," Matt shuddered at the thought of the time he took my Doritos and I punched him three times and threatened to give him ghetto plastic surgery if he stole my food again. I just laughed at the memory, everyone joining in.

"Well congrats I guess, you beat Mason!" Kaden gave me a genuine smile.

"Yep," I smiled back half-heartedly.

"But no more fights, right?" Sean raised a suspicious eyebrow at me, a concerned look washing over his face.

"Yeah, one time thing. I'm over it." I said, just as I remembered why I fought in the first place.

I was still off the team. Forgetting it temporarily helped, but it didn't change the fact that reality comes back after I'm out of the ring.

"So what're you gonna do about the team?" Brooklyn asked, pulling me in by my waist from the side.

"What can I do? I'm off the team. I can't argue it.." I said biting my lip.

"We'll figure something out, don't worry," Brook kissed my forehead in attempt to comfort me.

I really did hope we would, because this was just the beginning of hitting all of the bases to ruin my life.

Alicia knew exactly what mattered most to me, and I had a feeling that she wouldn't stop until she knocks every pin down.