I jolted awake at the sound of my alarm. Each room is programmed with an alarm system that can only be turned off when your feet touch the ground. Irritating right? Well, not today. Today was the first day of my classes. The first day of many that I wouldn't spend in a hospital room, staring motionless at the ceiling or playing cards with Max. He cheats. Especially when you're playing for pudding.
The rooms weren't half bad. I had my own room since there was an odd number of students. But when that changed, so would the sleeping arrangements.
I dropped my feet down onto the hardwood flooring and stood up. It switched off mid-scream. You know what ungodly hour I was happy about getting up at? 4:00 AM. Classes start in thirty minutes, and we finish at 10:30, just enough time to "go be useful" at Base, Colonel Sunshine says almost every day. Of course, this is all second-hand knowledge; who knows, maybe it's not as bad as the guys say.
* * *
"Move it! I said move your fucking asses!" Sunshine screamed at the top of his lungs until he was blue. We were all just waiting for him to go hoarse. But of course, none of us kept our hopes up since it hadn't happened in the five years he'd been here. But we can all dream, right? Yeah, they've had to deal with Sunshine a lot longer than I have, but that doesn't mean I won't be the first to reach down his throat and pull his voice box out.
Okay, excessive, but still.
We were on our sixth lap, and each lap was a half mile, so if you didn't know, we were dying. First class of the day, since some people just want to watch the world burn, is gym. They say, "you make better decisions after you get the blood pumping!". Which, if you ask me, is total bull. Cause I went from "alright, let's get to it!" to "I need a cup of water, then I'm going to kill you".
Colonel Sunshine is in charge of the gym for two hours in the morning and CPR classes. As if his face is the first thing someone wants to see after coming back from the bright light. Hell on Earth, let me tell ya. They say someone actually screamed when they came back to the sight of his face, thinking they died and went to hell. I don't know what would if that doesn't keep you from getting out of bed in the morning.
At this point, the only thing propelling me forward was the threats Sunshine made. Also confirmed by the other recruits; whoever finishes last has to run another six laps. I was like middle of the packish, so I wasn't super worried. But guess who was at the head of the line? Derek. Sunshine loathed him, but I guess that's as close to love as it gets in his book. Therefore, Derek = Teacher's Pet.
Derek and I didn't really talk in class; he had kind of gotten in good with the jocks and was now hard to tell apart from their group. The head of the group crossed the finish line, Sunshine shouting out their times as they passed. I watched as Derek continued to jog into the center of the indoor field, sitting down on the plastic grass and beginning to chug bottled water, pouring the rest over his face and neck. His friends all followed, slapping each other's hands and whooping, joking about running another ten.
Was I totally jealous that Derek had new friends? No. Did I want new friends of my own? Maybe. But that isn't because I'm jealous of us all drifting apart. I mean, we were only so close because we only had each other in the Grid, but did that mean we needed to stay together? No, again. We don't need each other anymore, so I need to let go, I guess. Derek said in passing that Charlie and Max are now sort of popular, being the only twins in Base, Tyler doomed to making pizzas till he learns to keep his mouth shut, Derek is king of the jocks, Violet queen of the burnouts, and Xander and Faith haven't really found their place yet, and well neither have I.
"36.48!" Sunshine yelled as I passed. Damn, six minutes over pace. I guess I'm not in as good of shape as I thought I was. I all but collapsed onto the prickly, plastic grass, wheezing. I met Derek's eyes, to which he gave me a "you good?" look. I waved him off.
