Now that that was dealt with, Zoey still had two more people to deal with. She was tired beyond belief and could barely stand. Blood that was not hers stained her outfit in various places. But she figured that she could probably still take on Miles and Dino. All she knew of Dino was that he was crazy. If she left things as they were now, there’s no telling what he would do once he found out more about her. Maybe it was because of all the blood rushing to her head, Zoey felt a little bit more vicious right now than she would usually be. Or maybe she was always like this.

All that viciousness, aggression, and drive was instantly sucked out of her once she heard police sirens. The aches, pains, and tiredness were seemingly erased into nothingness at that sound. Zoey hightailed it out of Delinquent’s Row like the track student she was. Where she was going was not something she had time to think about.

“So, you still want to mess with that crazy chick?” Cyrus snickered, his silver lip ring shining from the light of the lightbulbs.

“Even seeing her with my own eyes, I still can’t fucking believe it.” Dino turned away from the window as the Boxer Chick ran.

“A monster.... A freak of nature....” Miles unconsciously shivered.

“I wouldn’t be able to take her down unless I find somebody, she’s close to or get a gun.”

“You really want to escalate things that far?” Cyrus glared.

“She just humiliated me and my boys right in front of my face. What kind of man would I be if I let this go?”

“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I'm going to let you murder her.” Cyrus gripped the smartphone in his pocket.

“Heh. Who said anything about murder? Don’t be a fucking psycho. I’m just gonna put her in a coma for a little bit.”

“Listen Dino. I’m actually starting to like that insane chick. If I find out that you or anyone else did anything to her with a gun or something, I won’t mess around with you anymore.”

Dino casually flicked his fist back to hit Cyrus in his face. A loud smack sounded out throughout the pool room. “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to like that? Didn’t I tell you earlier? I don’t give a shit that you’re Tears’s brother. You keep acting big, I will smack the shit out of you.” Dino spoke to him.

“Don’t think that I'm a pushover just because I'm the younger brother.” Cyrus blocked Dino’s backfist with his arm.

“You wanna go a round with me?” Dino grinned.

“Like I got the time to mess with a brain-damaged bastard like you.” Cyrus turned and started walking away.

“But don’t forget, I'll be watching you and her. Prepare yourself if anything bad happens to her outside a regular fight.” He told him.

“There won’t be a second time Little Tears.” Dino warned.

An innate fear struck her when she heard the sirens. It was probably because of her mom that she had a terrible fear of cops but after the videos she’s seen online about police brutality and the punishments given to the cops that act out of line, Zoey couldn’t trust any cop and hoped to never find herself involved with one.

She wasn’t ignorant enough to believe that all cops were bad but it only takes one bad encounter for that to be her last. Ducking behind dumpsters, hiding inside stores, and doing everything she could to avoid being seen by the police, she looked completely fucking insane. Zoey already knew she was somewhat mentally unstable but anyone would look crazy if they were scared for their life, wouldn’t they? That Endurance skill she just got was doing her great favors right now. Even after that massive brawl she just went through, she still had the stamina to do shit like this. Leveling up this skill was definitely going to be a priority for her in the future.

Endurance, Boxing, maybe Teaching. From what she could see, Teaching only worked for people who were taught by her. Like her brother and Dylan both got way better at boxing when she was directly teaching them as the skill leveled up. This made Zoey wonder if it could work on animals too but she didn’t have the time to take care of a pet. With boxing classes, the tournament, track practice and their meets every Friday, and school? When would she have the time to try and teach an animal anything? Maybe she could get a job as a teacher or something if this boxing thing doesn’t pan out.

Wait! A boxing teacher or instructor! She could teach young men and women and train them up into world champions! Or she could just become a regular teacher, that would benefit the world more than being a boxing coach. If she was being realistic, being a boxing coach would pay more. Zoey heard that teachers get paid less than actual shit for their job. It was hard to choose.

Maybe if she got two or three teaching assistants to help her figure out a curriculum for her class and other stuff for her class while working a side job fighting at night. The money she got from the fights would be used to pay her assistants and for her own personal use.

“Thinking about my future is stressful... It's way easier being a smooth brain who lives life day by day just experiencing life.” She sighed, turning her bloody hoodie inside out and wrapping it around her waist to cover the bloodstains on her shorts.

Zoey walked into the mall to buy herself some new clothes and to burn or throw out the ones she has on now. Going home to explain her clothes covered in blood to her mom wasn’t something she was going to do. Neither could she use her period as a valid excuse. Periods can be messy sometimes, yes, but getting all over her hoodie and shorts? There wasn’t a chance in hell that her mom would believe that. Or anyone with a functioning brain.

While at the mall after buying herself a new outfit, Zoey ran into two familiar faces she did not expect to see today. Her old clothes were wrapped in multiple bags so that no one could see what was inside. With how blinding the blondie’s smile was, Zoey knew that this probably wouldn’t be a quick chat. She hid the bag behind her back as the two came over to talk.

“Zoey!!! Why didn’t you tell us you would be at the mall today!?” Callie greeted.

“I didn’t plan on coming to the mall today, it just sort of happened.” Zoey explained.

“I totally know what you mean.” Callie seemed to have misunderstood something.

“Ah, you left the tag on and nice outfit.” Katlyn ripped the tag from the back of her shirt along with the one on her pants.

“Thanks.” Zoey said.

She bought a grey-short sleeved top, ripped jeans, and white soft-knit sneakers. This wasn’t anything that Zoey would normally buy but after hanging out with Callie and Katlyn, she realized that she needed to step up her clothes game. The clothes she thought were perfectly acceptable were actually completely fucking lame compared to Callie’s closet of clothes. A closet that she showed off in extensive detail over the phone. There was no brand that Zoey didn’t know about after that 5-hour video call.

“Did you buy that outfit at Hanny’s?” Callie asked.

“Yeah. You said they sold good clothes, so I went there.” Zoey answered.

“I knew it! We should totally go on a shopping spree for Zoey!” Callie squealed.

“Before making a big decision like that, how about you ask Zoey if she has any more money for a shopping spree?” Katlyn spoke up for Zoey.

“And this is why you’re my favorite gal pal, Katlyn.” Callie said.

“Yeah, I can do some shopping but I got to go to the bathroom real quick. So, give me a moment.” Zoey made an excuse.

“We’ll be waiting over there by that bench. I need to think of all the places we need to go anyway!” Callie said.

Zoey turned around and went to the nearest bathroom in the store. She stuffed the bag of her old clothes into the trash thing under the paper towel dispenser and texted her mom and dad that she would be coming home later than she said. To stop her mom from asking what she was doing or why she was coming home late, she added that she was hanging out with her friends at the mall. Sadly, this didn’t stop her at all and Zoey had to explain who Callie and Katlyn were, how old were they, if they were boys or girls, if she had their parents’ numbers, and if they did drugs or not. It upset her that she was asking so many questions about her friends so, she ghosted her mom and would deal with her later.

“I’m back.” Zoey greeted the two looking at a video on Callie’s phone.

“Great! Let’s get shopping!” Callie jumped up and put her phone in her back pocket.

“This’ll take a couple hours so, get ready to be on your feet like all day.” Katlyn warned.

‘I wonder if my Endurance skill will level up from shopping.’ Zoey thought in amusement.