“Where the hell have you been girl!? If you didn’t show up today, you would’ve been eliminated from the tournament for missing a challenge! Get your stuff ready and get in my car outside! We don’t got long!”

“Okay.” Zoey did as he said even if she didn’t like his tone.

She thought that even if she lost a fight that she had 2 more chances to participate since they weren’t at the stadium. Maybe not showing up to a challenge was a different matter altogether then. It did make sense though. Someone losing a fight was completely different from refusing to show up in the first place. So, it was good that she showed up at the gym today. There were still plenty of people she wanted to fight in the tournament after all. Finding them later to ask for a fight also seemed kind of awkward.

“You understand why I had to break our deal, right?” He asked her as they drove to the fighting location.

“Yeah. I know why.” Zoey didn’t want to get too into it with Coach. Even if she disagreed with him and tried to argue with him about how she deserved all 7 of those fights, she would still lose.

In what world would a trainer or coach allow their fighter to fight in 7 matches throughout the week? Him even making that deal with her was insane enough. Zoey had to reign in her instincts right now. She was still starting out as a fighter. There was plenty of time for her to go crazy later on in her career. All she had to do was calm her shit and listen to Coach Scott for now.

“You mind leaving me with a way to contact you so something like this doesn’t happen again?” He asked.

“Don’t you have my dad’s number? He was the one to sign me up at the gym.” Zoey asked.

“What’s his name?” Scott wasn’t dumb. He tried that but he didn’t know her dad’s name!

“Bruce Murphy.”

“Alright, I'll remember that for next time.” Scott didn’t want to ask a 17-year-old girl for her number just yet.

“I’ll try to come to the gym more when I get the chance.” Zoey told him.

“That wasn’t the issue. The issue was just that I couldn’t get in contact with you to let you know about your fight. Now that I know I can call your dad and he can tell you, we should be fine.” Scott didn’t want her to spend all of her time training during this period.

He did understand that she was a young girl in high school. Her even showing a great interest in a sport like this was a huge surprise for a man like him. Not often girls her age would be interested in violent sports like this unless they were raised by fighters. And this was without mentioning her unbelievable talent for boxing. Even if he signed up all of the best boy fighters he coached and put them in the same scenario that Zoey did in the YFTL, none of them would’ve done half as impressive as her. It was this fact that really allowed him to understand how great of a fighter Zoey was. Scott intended to take her to the world stage and even further beyond if she wanted to go that far. For now, he would do whatever he could to expose this girl to the fighting world.

She really seemed to like fighting so, he would give her as many fights as possible. The most paid fighters in the world were those that got the most exposure. It wasn’t those that were most talented, going undefeated with a record like 8-0 or 30-0, or being attractive. It was the fighters that managed to pull in the big crowds! If he does some studying on marketing or hires someone like that for Zoey, it won’t be long before she’s a boxing superstar! Even if the girl is a little strange, who cares!? As far as Scott knew, there was no famous fighter that was shy. She’ll adapt and evolve to become a sensational figure in the boxing community and fighting community as a whole.

This made him wonder if he should get her into the Woman’s Boxing National League. From what he’s seen of the girl now, becoming a world champion won’t take too long with the girl’s talent. Hell, what about the Olympics!? She could get a gold medal in the woman’s boxing division! Scott couldn’t help himself from laughing as he thought of all the opportunities for this monster in the back of his limo. His entire life was going to change because of her! He needs to hire that Advertising Specialist and to help Zoey get an official pro boxing license after the tournament.

First, he should get her through this tournament. Regardless of which place she gets or even passes preliminaries, it didn’t matter. She was good enough to reign uncontested in the pro woman’s fighting league for a while. After the tournament, comes the boxing license. Boxing license for the pro boxing scene and the Olympic tournaments that’ll give her the chance to go there. Once she does well in the Olympics and the Woman’s Boxing National League, she can go even further to the world stage. In the FTL, where the best fighters in the world make their name.

“Sorry. I just thought of a funny joke...” She gave him weird eyes when he started laughing out of nowhere.

‘Must’ve been pretty damn funny for you to just start laughing like that...’ Zoey’s heart felt like it was bumping out of her chest. ‘Fucking fat bald bastard...’ He scared the shit out of her.

“Who challenged me?” Zoey asked.

“A kickboxer with a few wins under his belt.”

“Belt? Like a champion?” Zoey felt her skin slightly jump at the opportunity to fight a champion.

“Sorry, not a champion. He’s won a few fights in the amateur division. Hasn’t gone pro yet but says he plans to when he beats you.”

“Oh.” Was her only response. ‘Beat me? This guy has a lot of fucking nerve to say something like that. When he beats me and not if he beats me? Is he out of his fucking mind?’ Zoey was amped to fight against this kickboxer.

Once they made it to the gym, she was surprised to see all the faces inside. There were way more people here than at her two fights with Tyler and the wrestling guy. This guy must be pretty popular. Should she create some social media pages for herself? While she didn’t care if more people came to her fights, most of the popular fighters right now all had social media accounts. Zoey was purely in this for self-satisfaction and the improvement of her skills. She didn’t care about much else.

“Look who decided to show up! I’m surprised you made it on time.” Her opponent said from inside the ring. It was a standard ring regularly seen in boxing or kickboxing matches.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let’s get it started already. My fighter’s ready.” Coach spoke for her.

As Zoey walked into the ring, it was like she was surrounded on all sides. Not by the cages but by everyone watching her. It looks like she was fighting in an away ring instead of a home ring but did she even have fans? Oh God, that was a good question... She definitely needs to read some of those comments on her matches on the ride back to the gym. Zoey was actually surprised she hasn’t done it sooner considering how desperate she was for positive attention from strangers. Everyone liked to be complimented, Zoey thought it was not a bad flaw to have to seek compliments from strangers. As long as it wasn’t the only reason you did anything.

“Are you two ready?!” The referee asked.

Zoey nodded as she put on the YFTL-approved boxing gloves and properly put on her mouthguard. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t even know her opponent’s name! Cocky Kickboxer? Dumbass Kickboxer? About-to-get-his-shit-wrecked Kickboxer? All of them felt right so, she’ll just call him Kickboxer.

“Yep. Let’s get this started.” Kickboxer was just as cocky as she thought he was.

His stance was relaxed. He had quite the size difference on her. Kickboxer was tall with long legs, long arms, and good muscles. Zoey guessed he was going to be the type of fighter to keep her at a distance and land good hits on her until she dropped. For someone like this, Zoey wanted to replicate one of her favorite fighters, Nike Lyson. The way he aggressively rushed in and bullied the shit out of tall and lanky fighters like Kickboxer spoke to her on a fundamental level. Mostly the part where he punches the hell out of them until they drop.

“Begin!” The ref waved his hand down and only one fighter rushed in.