I wasn't sure if I's ever get the inspiration to continue this, but I did....so...here's the preliminary to Smoke and Whiskey. Please leave all the feedback and let me know what you think, and what you'd like to see or what ideas you may have. As always, my inbox is open to requests for the Falcon Club universe as a whole. After Smoke and Whiskey is finished, we will be branching away from Ellie, Zoey, Alaina and Evan and we will explore some other competitors for a while. Hope you enjoy!
The Falcon Club:
Smoke and Whiskey Part One
It had been a little over two weeks now since Ellie Sanders had fought with her ex boyfriend's sister for a maximum bet in a Falcon Club match. And she had lost. Badly. This fight had knocked her down to eight tokens of the twenty she needed to secure a place in the finals of the tournament, where competitors would fight for a twenty grand prize, and the Falcon Club Championship until the next year. The loss to Zandria had, like all matches during the tournament, been uploaded to the Falcon Club's website, and she had groaned as she read some of the comments posted onto it. Falcon Club competitors were allowed free access to all of the videos, while any outside of the tournament had to pay a fee to watch each match, which yielded lucrative profits for the people who organized the tournament. Ellie had watched the fight over and over, trying to find where she truly lost. Truly made her fatal mistakes. But she couldn't pry her eyes away from some of the things the comments said.
“Damn! Bitch got her ass handed to her!” she read from user FightFiend0128. Yet another, Falcon218, who Ellie knew was a fellow competitor as all tournament participants had the username Falcon, plus their contestant number, had said “Either Zandria is tough, or Ellie is a wimp. Hard to tell which.”. Then another she read from a non contestant said “It's so hot to watch these sad cheerleader bitches get put in their place. Ellie had raged reading these comments and slammed her computer shut, refusing to watch another second. She couldn't stand it.
Although, things hadn't been all bad since the fight. She had begun seeing Evan Gables, the boy who she had first laid eyes on at the preliminary meet and greet of the tournament, and gotten to know since. The two had gone out to dinner and a movie the Friday night following the fight, and had had a wonderful time. The night had ended in a long and sweet talk on the steps of his apartment which culminated in a goodnight kiss. Evan had been the perfect gentleman, refusing to even ask her into his apartment for something more sexual, stating that he preferred to take things slowly.
“You know Ellie, I really do like you. I don't want to rush anything and make you think that sex is all I'm after. I'm happy just to spend some time with you.” She had smiled when Evan had said this, and kissed him again. He was the polar opposite of so many boys she had known, and she was grateful for that. They had seen each other three separate times in the two weeks since they had teamed up against Zandria Parrish, and her brother Zeke, who was Ellie's nightmarish ex boyfriend. And Ellie was quickly warming up to the boy. However, she also knew in the farthest recesses of her mind that she was neglecting something. She knew that she had let too much time pass since her last fight and she needed to get on it if she wanted to have a hope of getting into the finals. So far, two men, and one woman had already secured their spots in the finals. She had been told by her friend Alaina Everett, whom she had fought and beaten in the tournament that this was normal. Some over enthusiastic competitors always got in early through maximum bets and eagerly pursuing matches. She had fought in the tournament twice before and assured Ellie that there was nothing to worry about. There were still eleven places for the girl's division yet to be taken.
This didn't entirely assuage Ellie's nerves however. She wanted in, and she wanted to do it sooner rather than later. She knew however, that after her loss to Zandria, she had been making excuses not to look for matches. Always finding a reason not to even wear the silver Falcon pin that signified a competitor looking for a match out in public. She was sulking one night in her apartment, lying on the couch and palming her eight remaining Falcon Tokens in her right hand while some stupid reality show streamed on her television from Netflix when the chime of her doorbell broke her out of her stupor. She looked at the door and raised an eyebrow. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she was wearing her favorite pair of pajama shorts, fuzzy and grey with rainbows embroidered on them and a loose white Tshirt that she had actually taken from Evan to replace her soaking wet clothes from rolling in the shallow end of the pond of Arbor City Park with Zandria on that fateful night. It rang again, and Ellie knew of only one person who would show up to her house unannounced. As if this thought sparked the guest into speaking, an all too familiar voice sounded from outside.
“Bitch open up!” Came the light tone of Ellie's best friend Zoey Calcutt. Ellie sighed but smiled and got up, her bare feet padding on the carpet as the doorbell sounded twice more in quick succession. As she opened the door, her friend squealed and launched herself onto Ellie and hugged her tightly. “Girl....You've gotta learn to answer your phone! You've got Evan on the brain so much, you're neglecting me!” She theatrically pouted. It was true unfortunately. Ellie had ignored both Zoey and Alaina lately. Not because she didn't want to talk to them or because she was too preoccupied with Evan, but because she was too embarrassed by what they had seen when they witnessed her fight with Zandria firsthand. She almost couldn't stand to face them after that disaster. She smiled and hugged her friend back however, and beamed as Zoey didn't press the issue but let herself in and plopped down onto her couch in front of the TV.
“Sorry Zoey...haven't been myself lately.” She said and Zoey smiled, putting an arm around her. “I know, but forget that cxnt! You've got bigger fish to fry! You're the one with a new boyfriend and you're the one who's gonna get into the finals after all. Not her.” She said with a smirk. “Evan isn't my boyfriend Zoey...we're just-”
“Yeah yeah, you're JUST...” Zoey interrupted and laughed. “Whatever, look I came to get you back in the game girl.” She smiled. “What do you mean?” Ellie asked warily, looking her friend up and down in her athletic outfit of grey sweat pants and a plain white tanktop. “You're not trying to matchmake me into a fight are you?” She asked suspiciously. Zoey laughed and shook her head. “Not exactly. Look, we need a girl's night. I want us to hang out, just the two of us...maybe Alaina can come along too...but I had a match with this guy tonight.” She started and Ellie beamed mischeviously. “A GUY huh?” She sprang up and nudged Zoey with her elbow. “A sexfight I bet!” She smirked and laughed louder.
“NO, not a sexfight you dirty minded skank!” Zoey laughed heartily. “He was a smaller guy and we wrestled. He was pretty cute actually. He beat me...but he also invited me to something.” Ellie ignored the second part of this statement and grabbed for her laptop. “Oh, this I HAVE to see.” She said, immediately typing in the Falcon Club web domain. Zoey however, slammed the computer shut. “Listen first....” She said with a grin. “There's a party tomorrow night. This rich kid who fights in the tournament hosts a big bonfire every year on his family's ranch, and it's a BIG event among Falcon fighters apparently. It's a party first and foremost. Plenty of drinking, a few drugs if that's your thing, but in the middle of the whole thing, Falcons and non Falcons alike can throw their name in for a fight! It's the entertainment portion of the night.” She beamed. Ellie stopped dead and looked at Zoey.
“Zoey, I don't know if that-” she started, but Zoey interrupted. “I know, I KNOW...But just because you go to the party doesn't mean you have to fight. It's just something I wanna go to, and I want you to go with me. I won't push you to enter, and I won't try to guilt you into it. I just want some company. A chance to let loose and get drunk and just hang out huh? That's all I want. If you want to fight, then all the better, but you don't have to.” Zoey stuck out her bottom lip theatrically. “Pleaseeeeee? I don't wanna go alone, and I haven't hung out with you alone in ages!” She said with a whining voice.
Ellie thought it over long and hard as Zoey nudged her and looked at her with the over exaggerated puppy dog eyes. Finally, Ellie sighed. “Alright, alright, I'll go. But I'm not going to be fighting so just get that out of your head alright?” She said with a roll of her eyes. “YAYYYY!” Zoey squealed and clapped her hands together. “I can't wait! I'll be here at six tomorrow to pregame yeah?” Ellie chuckled and agreed, then the two of them settled into watching a true crime documentary together. Ellie smiled to herself and looked at her best friend. Zoey really did know how to pull her out of a funk in the most insane ways possible. And for better or worse, they would be attending this bonfire party designed to bring Falcon competitors together. And with Zoey's unbreakable bubbly spirit, Ellie found herself thinking that maybe...just maybe...she'd be willing to compete after all.
TO BE CONTINUED
