Karmin Desai was like the Terminator.

Just prettier with cuter outfits, and you know, not a cyborg that travelled back in time to assassinate people.

Okay, so maybe not like the Terminator, but you get the gist.

She was not going to give up on the fight club. Karmin finally had a solid plan to earn money quickly, and if that meant she had to harass Maddox until he agreed, then so be it. The comments on her clothes weren't going to make it any easier. Yes, she loved dressing up and doing her hair, but to him, that meant she couldn't fight?

Maddox Knight was in for one hell of an awakening.

After attempting to hype herself up, she walked into class, her gaze analyzing the room to find the same tousled black hair. Her eyes travelled over several students staring into their phones while others peered at the ceiling with an I'd-rather-be-sleeping-than-be-here kind of look. Finally, in the far corner at the very top sat Maddox with his eyes closed shut and his hoodie-covered head leaning against the beige wall.

She marched up the stairs, her ring-clad hands clutching her textbook to her chest tightly. Karmin never took her bourbon-coloured eyes off him until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Karmin slowly turned around, but when she saw the face, she brushed the hand off quickly.

It was Dave. Or was it Dylan?

"Hi Karmin," he greeted cheerfully. "I haven't talked to you in a while. How are you doing?"

Yeah, there was a reason bud.

"Hey..." she faltered, an awkward smile making its way on her face. "I'm alright. Do you mind if we talk later? I have something I need to do."

"It'll only take a second," he said, fixing the collar of his horrendous pineapple button-up. "Remember when you told me that you were vegan?"

"I did?" asked Karmin confusedly, but when she saw his baffled expression, the lie finally processed. "Oh right! I'm so vegan. Save the cows and all that," she exclaimed, shaking her fist.

He grinned at her. "So I found this great vegan place, and I was wondering if you'd finally let me take you out?"

And there it was.

Karmin glanced at Maddox briefly who was still in the same position. The class was going to start soon, and she needed to talk to him.

"As I've said before," Karmin started, repeating the same exact monologue she had used on him before. "I'm just not looking for a boyfriend right now –"

"Just one date," he interrupted. "Maybe I could change your mind."

5 minutes before class started.

"Okay fine," Karmin blurted, already walking up the stairs. She was going to regret this. "Just text me the details."

Karmin was too nice. She was an easy person to approach with her bright smile and kind aura, but that wasn't always a good thing. Sometimes, she just wished people would leave her alone, but she could never say that out loud. If she had just right out rejected him the first time, maybe he wouldn't have kept coming back.

But he also needed to respect her decision. Being a woman in a patriarchal society was exhausting.

She jogged up the stairs to the very last row and smacked her textbook against the desk on the chair beside Maddox. He didn't even jolt awake, instead he cracked an eye open and groaned in frustration when he saw her face.

"Not you again," he muttered, sitting up and running a hand through his hair.

"It's me again," Karmin beamed brightly, soothing down her plaid dress and interlacing her fingers underneath her chin, peering at him inquisitively.

He crossed his arms, glancing at her annoyedly. "If this is about the fight club," he whispered, lowering his voice, "my answer is still no."

"I'm not taking no for an answer."

"How about 'not happening,' 'no way,' and 'non'? Is that good enough for you?" Maddox asked cheekily.

Damn, he was sassy.

She pulled at the sleeves of the ivory turtleneck she wore underneath her ensemble and leaned towards him. "But I don't understand why. I need the money, and this is the only thing that I can think of that can get me the cash in a short amount of time."

Maddox raised his brow in question. "What's the money for?"

"It's personal, but I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't desperate," Karmin responded.

Before he had the chance to respond, in came Rhys, plopping into the seat in front of Maddox.

"I see we've got some company," Rhys said, smirking. "How's it going Karmin?"

She moved her eyes towards him from Maddox, sighing, but also slightly surprised he knew her name. "Hey Rhys," Karmin addressed, offering him a soft smile as she covered up her irritation.

"So," he said, dragging out the 'o.' "What's going on between you two?"

He sure was blunt.

Maddox scoffed, rolling his eyes and going back to his original position while Karmin glared at him but she didn't say anything.

Rhys let out a low whistle. "Okay then," and turned around in his seat.

"Alright everyone," Winona said, beginning her lecture. "Does anyone have any questions from Tuesday's lecture?" She gave the class a few moments but when no one spoke, she continued. "Well, let's get started then. Today, we'll be talking about the Social Conflict Theory."

The entire lecture was a blur as Karmin's eyes glazed over the slides. She couldn't focus with Maddox sitting beside her without a care in the world. He was fighting for a reason. He had to be. It was either that, or he just got a masochistic kick getting the shit beat out of him. Maybe she could appeal to that side, but in order to do that, Karmin had to tell him about her Dad.

When the lights turned back on from the previous dim-lit room, she blinked rapidly, her eyes adjusting to the artificial glare. Karmin heard ruffling from beside her to see Maddox saying bye to Rhys and getting up swiftly to shuffle past her.

She grabbed her backpack and textbook, catching up to him. "I'm not done talking to you."

Maddox trudged down the stairs and without even so much a look, he said shortly, "Well, I am."

Karmin quickened her speed when she noticed him taking larger steps as they made their way into the corridor. "Hear me out. Just this one time and then I'll leave you alone," she offered.

"You'll leave me alone after this?" he asked, but he had a feeling that even if she said yes, she wasn't going to.

Definitely not.

"Absolutely," Karmin promised.

He gave her a curt nod and kept walking until the stairwell came up to their right. Maddox opened the heavy metal door with ease, pushing it hard enough so it gave Karmin time to quickly walk through. They waited for the stairwell to empty out and when the last sleep-deprived student left, Karmin sprang into action.

"Listen, my Dad needs surgery and because the health care system is absolute shit here, I need money," she explained, not looking him in the eye.

She had told no one except for Viola. Karmin hated stressing people out, so she would rather carry all the weight all herself. No matter how worried she was, whether it was about school or her own health, she never burdened others with her issues.

His cold resolve softened a bit when he heard about her situation. "I'm sorry," Maddox said from his seat on the stairs. "But trust me, it's not safe."

"I know how to fight, though," she exclaimed, flinging her arms to the side. "I grew up learning self-defense and martial arts. I can do this!"

He glanced at her hesitantly with a hint of disbelief. "I've seen you in class since the beginning of the semester, and you're always..." Maddox stumbled, trying to find the right words.

"You wanna fight?" Karmin called out randomly, shoving her backpack to the side. "Because we can fight. Just let me take off my rings, piercings, hair clips, and necklace, and we'll fight."

Maddox tilted his head, his elbows propping him up on the stairs with amusement clear on his face and his eyes sparkling. "I'm not going to fight you," he said, a ghost of a smile slowly appearing.

"Because you're scared," she provoked, rolling up her sleeves. "You know I can kick your ass."

He snorted and began to get up from his position. "I hope everything goes well for your Dad, but I still can't help you," Maddox replied. "I'll see you around."

As he moved to leave, Dave burst in with his wide smile and his fruity shirt.

His eyes flickered between Maddox and Karmin and they settled on her. "Hey, I was looking for you. You said to text you about our date, but I don't have your number."

Karmin ran a hand down her face and exhaled sharply. "About our date, I can't go."

"But why?" he asked or more like demanded.

Instead of leaving, Maddox stood between them, listening intently.

"Because I'm just not interested," she replied gently.

"You said yes, though."

She could feel the frustration coursing through her. "That's because you have been asking me out for the last two months. It was a no then and it's a no now."

Dave stepped forward. "You can't just say yes and then back out," he fired.

Maddox stepped in his line of vision. She noticed he was several inches taller than him. "No means fucking no. Now leave."

Dave pushed back his shoulders and glared at him. "I wasn't talking to you," he spat.

Karmin stepped forward, gently pushing Maddox back. "I got this," she assured and looked up at Dave. "Why do you want to go out with me so badly?" she questioned.

He shrugged and replied with the most over-used, misogynistic line in history. "Because you're not like other girls."

Her anger with Maddox was now transferring over to him, and that comment just added fuel to the fire.

"Other girls are strong, intelligent, and beautiful," Karmin retorted, her tone soft but dangerous. "So, here's where you're wrong. I am like other girls."

Dave flinched back and quickly backtracked. "That's not what –"

"Listen here Dave," Karmin interjected.

"It's actually Derek," he chimed in.

"Derek, Dave, Dylan, I don't give a fuck," Karmin fired back, keeping her voice calm but anger began to bubble up. "I have been trying to be polite, but now, I'm just pissed off. I don't want to go out with you. Do you understand that? At first, it was flattering, but right now, it's borderline harassment, so from now on, I don't want you to look at me, talk to me, or if you so much as breathe in my direction, I will burn you and your ugly shirt," she threatened, enunciating each word so he could get it through his thick skull.

A look of fear made its way to his face as he gulped nervously. "I understand," he whispered shakily. The last thing she heard him mumble was, "First some strange girl ripped my shirt and now her. Why don't people like pineapples?"

"You don't have to wear pineapples for you to show your love for them," she called out after him as he left. Karmin took a deep breath in, attempting to calm herself. It felt so good to get that out of the way, but she did feel a bit bad. She slowly turned around, a smile making its way on her face again to see Maddox gaping at her in shock.

"So, will you get me into the fight or not?" Karmin asked, teetering on her shoes. "One fight. That's all I'm asking for," she added quickly.

He sighed, running a hand down his face. "You're not going to leave me alone if I say no, are you?"

"Nope," she hummed.

"Tomorrow at 7. I'll pick you up."

"Thank you so much," she exclaimed, spreading her arms out wide and jumping excitedly. "Bring it in."

While Karmin loved hugs and showed her affection and appreciation through touch, Maddox looked like he'd rather douse himself in gasoline and set himself on fire.

"I see we're not into hugs," Karmin faltered, lowering her arms and chuckling awkwardly. "I'll just bring it right out, no worries."

He rolled his eyes. "If we're doing this, you can't wear a dress, okay? Those people need to take you seriously."

She nodded frantically, grinning cheek to cheek. "Got it. No dress. Let me just give you my address," Karmin said, pulling out a small notebook from her backpack.

As she flipped to a page, Maddox glanced at the notebook. "Are those unicorns pooping rainbows?" he asked in sheer disdain.

"Oh yeah," she said, glimpsing at the cover. "They're cute, right? They're stickers too that say things like 'Sunday Funday' and 'Cheat Day,' but honestly, every day is cheat day. I even got this pen," Karmin exclaimed, showing him the bright pink pen with multicolored feathers sticking out.

Maddox gave her an unimpressed look.

"You don't care, do you?" she asked tentatively.

"No, I really don't."

"I guess unicorns aren't for everyone," Karmin muttered as she scribbled down her address and number, ripping out the page and handing it to him.

He took the paper and shoved it into his pocket. "Tomorrow then."

"Yeah," she assured excitedly. "Just park down the street, though. My parents can't see you."

If they saw any boy, much less a white boy picking her up, they would surely freak out.

"Why?" he asked, his brows crinkling in question.

"Because I'm brown," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "But I'll see you tomorrow. Remember, park your car away from my house," Karmin reminded him, and walked out of the stairwell, being the first one to leave this time around.

For the first time since her Dad's diagnosis, she felt some hope, and the weight on her chest was slowly being alleviated.

She could do this.

***

Author's Note:

So, he finally said yes!!

Lol do you all recognize Derek? I don't why, but I just had to throw him in the book too haha!

Also, I hate the entire "I'm/you're not like other girls" line with every cell in my being, so I really wanted to change it up!!

Until next time – m.k.t