CHAPTER 2: THE TAPE UNDER HIS SLEEVES
"What are you doing?" Tyler laughed. "Getting ready to cry?"
Jake stood up slowly.
As he did, the sleeves of his hoodie slid back slightly.
The hallway fell silent.
White tape wrapped tightly around both of his wrists.
Boxer's tape.
Someone gasped.
A student near the back whispered first.
"You didn't change after practice."
Another student stared.
Then another.
The realization spread through the crowd like electricity.
Everyone knew what that tape meant.
Tyler's smile began to disappear.
Jake looked directly at him.
Calm.
Steady.
Completely unafraid.
"I train at Rodriguez Gym," Jake said quietly.
The name hit the hallway like a bomb.
Rodriguez Gym wasn't just another boxing club.
Professional fighters trained there.
Champions trained there.
State-ranked athletes trained there.
Jake continued.
"Every morning at five."
Nobody spoke.
"State-ranked welterweight for three years."
Tyler's face lost color.
His friends took several steps backward.
Suddenly they didn't look eager anymore.
The phones kept recording.
But now everyone was recording Tyler.
Not Jake.
"I don't want trouble," Jake said.
"I never have. That's why nobody knows."
Then he took one step forward.
Tyler immediately stepped back.
The crowd noticed.
Everyone noticed.
"But if you touch me again," Jake said calmly, "I'll defend myself."
Another step.
Tyler backed away again.
"And I promise you don't want to see what that looks like."
The silence was deafening.
For the first time in years, the most feared student at Lincoln High looked afraid.
"This isn't over," Tyler muttered.
But even he didn't believe it.
His voice cracked before he finished the sentence.
Jake bent down and picked up his glasses.
May you like
Then he put them back on.
What happened next shocked everyone even more.
