Chapter 54: An Exciting Thursday.

"Zoey, how'd you like to work part-time at the gym?" Coach Scott asked, bringing her a bottle of ice-cold water.

"What would I be doing?" Zoey opened the bottle with water dripping to the floor.

"You know that geeky kid you've been teaching right?" Coach Scott asked as she took a deep gulp of the water bottle.

"Dylan?" Zoey figured. He was the only one willing to listen to her in the gym before she got a little famous.

"Yeah, him."

"What about him?" Zoey wiped the sweat on her face off with a small towel.

"Now I don't know if he was a diamond in the rough before you started teaching him but that boy is without a doubt a stone-cold killer! A genius that I somehow missed right under my nose? How did you teach him so well when you only started boxing less than a few months ago?!" He asked in disbelief.

  Coach Scott noticed Dylan the day after Zoey's match in the gym. He came into the gym with his nose bandaged and glasses held together with tape. His first thought when looking at the long-armed scrawny dork was 'who the hell was he?' For some reason, he couldn't remember having this boy a part of his gym before. Maybe it was the look in his eyes that was different from the last time he saw him. Instead of being weak, unfocused, and filled with hesitation, they were now looking a lot more manly.

  Seeing this new side of the boy he could only faintly remember, it gave Scott a strange feeling. So, he called him over and told him to meet him in Ring Three in five minutes. He wanted to see if there was anything special about this boy taught by his gym's star, Zoey. And what a fucking surprise he was!

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"Give me everything you got, kid." Scott told the little geek.

"Yes, Coach..." Dylan put in his mouth guard as memories flashed of Zoey's match on Monday.

  Dylan didn't understand it himself but when he watched Zoey's match yesterday, he felt like all of his knowledge on boxing and fighting was being upgraded and improved. When he went home that following night after being patched up by his mom, who worried over his injuries like crazy, he imagined himself inside the YFTL ring watching Zoey's match up close. The match replayed in his mind as he learned and soaked in everything he saw from Zoey.

  The Perfect Jab. When he tried to throw a jab similar to Zoey's, it was like his arm was taken over by something! His right arm blurred and disappeared from his sight as it fully extended and struck the air. Dylan couldn't believe what he just did. He never threw a jab like that before in his life!

  That night was spent throwing nothing but jabs that resembled Zoey's jabs in the ring. He practiced from 10 pm to 5 am doing nothing but throwing jabs with both arms. It was only because he couldn't raise his arms anymore that he was forced to stop. However, Dylan found himself dreaming about the match and practicing even in his own dreams to perfect his jab and footwork. Zoey's footwork was an aspect he initially missed out on when he started his training. As the night went on, he realized that Zoey could throw the Perfect Jab at seemingly any angle and while she was on the move.

"Come on! Show me what that girl's been teaching you." Coach Scott smiled. He hoped his instinct wasn't wrong.

  It only took one punch for Scott to realize that this boy was definitely worth teaching. His right hand with the punching mitt went flying up after being hit by the boy's jab. An uncontrollable grin appeared on his face as he brought his hand back down and nodded for the boy to continue. This time, he would be prepared for that killer jab of his.

  Bang, bang, bang! With the slicing of the wind, the quick but concentrated blows of the boxing glove against the mitts, many of the newbies and veterans looked up at the kid in the ring with the Coach after hearing these sounds. Scott couldn't stop himself from grinning as he saw the look in the boy's eyes. He couldn't tell if the boy was even aware of where he was right now. His eyes were concentrated solely on the punching mitts while his mind was focused on improving.

  Coach Scott could see the minute changes in the boy's footwork to the angle, speed, and power behind his jabs. He did nothing but throw jabs like a certain little monster of his did yesterday. Considering he was being taught solely by her for some reason, he wasn't that surprised to see how sharp and dangerous his jabs were. It was almost a spitting image of Zoey's jabs in the ring on Monday but not quite. This boy's jabs didn't focus on accomplishing what Zoey's jabs did.

  He must have realized the difference in their physiques. So, he focused on some parts of her jab instead of the same exact thing. It was smart of him to do this; if he tried copying her completely, it would only hurt himself. They weren't the same people and didn't fight in the same way either. With his long arms, thin frame, and speed, he couldn't go down the same route as Zoey. Zoey's strengths were in her overwhelming power, adaptability, speed, and toughness. From what Scott could see of him, his strengths were in speed, evasion, technique, and willpower.

  Their session lasted for about 12 minutes without stopping once. It only came to an end once Coach Scott felt that the boy's jab was good enough to dominate in the amateur league for his first few fights. The boy nearly dropped unconscious by the end of their practice, Coach Scott cursed at the boy's weak body. They definitely had to work on his endurance if he wanted to make it far. While amateur bouts lasted only 9 minutes at most, that 9 minutes will seem like an hour during a fight.

  Scott felt a little embarrassed about taking over Zoey's student but he thought the girl would be busy until the tournament started up again. It only took until Thursday before she returned to the gym again. So, it turned out that she wasn't as busy as Scott thought. But there was another important event that happened after Zoey's match on Monday.

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"I only taught him everything Zack taught me." Zoey answered his question.

"I guess since Zack's teaching worked so well with you, of course, it would work well on anyone else... And I thought that boy was just an amateur in teaching..." Coach Scott muttered that last part to himself. "So, what do you say about teaching anybody that wants to learn under you for $54 an hour?"

  Zoey couldn't reply when she heard how much she would be paid an hour just to teach. Her brain didn't do math all that well, but she knew for a fact that 99% of the kids at her school that had part-time jobs didn't get paid half of what she could get paid by working here. Did this gym really rake in that much money!? It didn't look all that impressive at all!

"Deal!" Zoey's love for money came through in her excited reply.

"Hahaha, great! Do you know how many girls and boys signed up once they learned that you're from my gym? We had a crazy amount of people paying the monthly and yearly option if you were one of the available trainers. They'll be coming in tomorrow, so once you're finished up practicing, come to my office, and let's discuss your schedule." Scott left her with that.

  Zoey's mind lit up with the possibilities that came with this new job of hers! Mainly, the massive amount of money that was about to enter her bank account. No longer did she have to worry about asking her dad to pay for things to buy on Lamazon and hoping for more daemon cases to pay for her expensive phone bill.

  Being raised by her mother allowed Zoey to understand the value and preciousness of money early on in life. Money was the key to happiness, joy, and living a decent life. If you didn't have money, you were sad, angry, wanted to take that anger out on the world, and stressed. You weren't able to buy ice cream from the ice cream truck when it came by. You weren't able to go on field trips with your friends and classmates because your mom or dad didn't have the money to pay for you to go. You couldn't have the latest clothes, shoes, or whatever else your peers were interested in the most at the time. All in all, money was the core to a successful meaningful life. Socially, mentally, and physically.