Hey, stranger!

Swayer's POV

| walked to the center of the mat and faced my opponent. He towered a good half foot over me, but | Knew | couldn't let his height intimidate me. Before the referee started the fight, | glanced around with my eyes to scan out the room for Penelope. 

| instantly saw her right in the second row, her eyes locked onto mine and | felt a rush of adrenaline in me. She smiled and cheered out, and | smiled to myself and faced the beast. 

The bell rung and | shifted from foot to foot, holding my hands in front of my face. The crowd went silent and all | could hear the breaths of my opponent and me. 

He threw the first punch but | ducked right before and swung to his stomach. He grunted but quickly repositioned. We kept throwing punches to each other, and once 

| knocked his jaw sideways. 

Without me knowing, he lunged and tackled me to the floor. His body weight pinning me down as he threw punches repeatedly at my face while | blocked. The crowd was now cheering. 

| kneed him in the stomach and switched my position so | was now on top and was swinging at him. | managed to punch his nose and make blood stream out. 

Several moments later, the bell rung, signaling the end of round one. 

| sat back in the corner to get a drink and looked out for Penelope again. She was still standing in the same spot with a grin on 

her face. | lit up inside. 

God, what is happening to me? 

Sure, I've had tons of girls come cheer me on while fighting, but none of them made me feel as good as Penelope. | guess it was her understanding of fights and she never pitied me or babied me. 

The ref signaled for round two and | hopped up and went back to the center. He started and | immediately swung my legs at his shins and he fell on his back. | pinned him down and put an arm around his neck. He tried to reach back and punch me or get my grasp off his arm, but finally the ref signaled the end and the crowd cheered. 

He grabbed both our hands and raised mine up towards the ceiling. | pumped my fist up in the air while the sound of screaming people cheered along with me. 

Including Penelope. 

When | climbed down from the ring, she was waiting for me in my room. The moment | looked at her, a huge smile occupied her face and it made me grin, too. 

"Hey winner!" she came over to me and hugged me tightly. | stiffened but then wrapped my arms around her body. When 

she let go, | saw a little blush creep on her 

cheeks. 

"You did amazing." She said. 

| sat down in a chair in front of a large mirror and smiled at the reflection of her. 

"Thanks. Did you enjoy it?" 

She nodded excitedly. "I've never been to one this crazy before. It's so exhilarating." 

"Whoa, she knows big words." | joked. She slapped me on the arm and grabbed a washcloth for me. "Here, let me." | looked in the mirror to see her hold the washcloth up against my shoulder. 

"You have a big gash right here..." she said, gently wiping away at the blood. | studied her features. She looked so calm and steadied while she cleaned up my wound. When her eyes caught my gaze, | smiled and she returned the gesture. 

"There you go, fighter. All cleaned up. Except that you reek of sweat." She grimaced and | laughed. 

While | gathered up my things, my coach came in. "Here you go..." His eyes wandered to Penelope and he nodded curtly. "It's your paycheck. Nice fight Daniels." Then he left. 

Penelope looked at me questioningly. "You get paid?" 

| shrugged. "Only if | win. He started paying me about a year ago, that's how | kind of bank up." 

"Huh..." she wondered. 

She followed me out of the building, occasionally having to stop because of people congratulating me. 

"Wow, you must be well liked around here." Penelope said. 

| nodded. "Yep, I'm a pretty awesome dude." She laughed and | chuckled along with her. 

When we got outside, she hesitated before turning to me. "Thanks for inviting me. It was a lot of fun." 

| smiled, then looked around. "Do you need a ride home?" 

She chuckled and pointed to a nice white bike parked a little ways by mine. "Nope, | 

have a ride." 

| was shocked. Yeah, | Knew she was into motorcycles, but | had never seen her ride one to school or anything and | just assumed she didn't have one. 

"This is yours?" | asked. It was a nice bike, 

| instantly recognized it as a Ducati. "Damn..." | touched the sides with my fingertips and felt a cool rush over me. "How'd you ever land one of these, they're 

like, more expensive than a car..." 

She just shrugged and sat on the leather seat. | noticed then that it suited her perfectly. A biker girl. Nice. 

"My dad loves bikes, it took me forever to save up for this one, but | thought, 'hey, why have a car when you can have a motorcycle, right?" She said. 

Gosh, this girl is something. 

"Yeah, | Know exactly what you mean." | stared into her dark brown eyes and before blurting out: "Your eyes are, uh, really pretty." | slapped myself mentally for saying something so stupid. 

| could feel the blush on my cheeks and she chuckled. When did | ever blush? 

What is she doing to me? 

"They're the color of poop." She answered. 

| shrugged before pointing to my own. "So are mine, so it's okay." We just smiled at each other comfortably before she turned forward and placed her hands on her thighs. 

"Well, | should get going, my mom's home for once and | should probably spend some time with her." 

| nodded and hopped on my bike that was besides hers. "Alright. | hope you have fun. 

She grinned and reversed into the street. The white bike glinting against the lights. "Thanks again, Swayer. It was really fun." She said before reviving her bike and zooming Off. 

| was still smiling like a goof before turning my own engine on and pulling forward. 

One word for Penelope. 

Damn. 

                         A few days later.

At Gym

Penelope's POV 

There was nothing like the feeling of flying. The feeling of adrenaline pumping through your veins as you swing the next punch at the bag. It feels so good. 

It had been three days since | last saw Swayer. And that was at his competition. | had to admit, it was getting boring at school without his arrogance and humor. It was like | needed him here as entertainment. 

What is going on with me lately? 

During lunch, | rode my bike out to Subway to get a sandwich when | heard a scream for help nearby. It sounded like a girl. 

| rounded a corner to an alleyway to see a girl about my age cornered by a man. He was trying to kiss her but she refused and he clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from yelling again. 

"Hey!" | started to walk to the man. His eyes widened and then looked me up and down shamelessly. 

"Let her go,' | said, my voice shaking with fear, but also steady with as much confidence as possible. 

He chuckled and shook his head. "What're you gonna do about it missy?" he swung for my arms but | ducked away in time and pinned them behind his back. 

"Aghhh!" he screeched and then | let go with him tumbling to the pavement. His face was a contorted mixture of confusion and anger. 

He lunged at me but | quickly sidestepped, watching amusingly as he ran straight into the wall. When he turned, not only was he mad, but also furious and a little bit deadly looking. 

"Hold my sandwich." | said and tossed it to the girl who fumbled with her hands before catching it. 

"You shouldn't have done that, missy...' the man raced toward me and before | could do anything, he had me pinned up against the wall. 

His yellow teeth showed when he smiled and | could smell his retched, tobacco breath from the close distance. "Well, well, what a beauty you are..." | tried to pry free of his arms but they were pinning me solidly against the brick alley wall. 

When his face leaned in slowly inch by inch | turned my face to avoid contact. But right as | was expecting his disgusting lips on mine, a loud thwap was heard from behind him. He yelled in pain and | took the opportunity to lunge at him and kick his stomach repeatedly before he scrambled away. 

| looked at the girl who had hit the man with my subway sandwich. 

She shrugged. "They don't look deadly, but a footlong's a footlong. And apparently they're packed with 12 inches of knock out bread." 

We laughed together and | finally got a good look at her. She had nice auburn colored hair with wisps of a golden yellow in them. She had a set of intelligent eyes that were a light blue and brown. 

"I'm Penelope," | stuck out my hand for her to 

shake and she obligingly took it. 

And it feels good as her hand touches mine...