Genova (Re-uploaded after editing)

Chapter 3

 At 3:30 exactly Zuri entered my room. This time, however, I was already awake and ready. I followed her out to the road and began the run as usual. Despite that it was only my second day of training, I could already tell the difference in my performance. Still tired and sore from yesterday, I assumed that I wouldn't be able to run as far as I did today; however, I was both right and wrong at the same time. I did indeed tire out early, but only 10 meters short. Had I not been sore, how much further would I have run? Zuri let me rest for a few minutes then told me to do it again until it was nearly time for work, at which point she had me return to my apartment and do push-ups, sit-ups, and squats so that my whole body was strong.

"Come on!" Zuri said, "You've only done 15! You can't give up yet!"

"You know I'm not that strong!" I said between push-ups.

"Yeah, and I'm trying to fix that. Aim for 20."

"Ulllgrh..." was the noise that came from my mouth as I forced myself to do more push-ups.

"Ok, now 10 more."

"Ten more?!" I said with my arms shaking underneath me. My whole body hurt.

"Yeah. I know you can do it."

I was only able to do 9 more before my arms gave out under me with a loud pop.

"Are you okay?!"

"Yeah," I said, rolling onto my back.

"Good. Now do 50 sit-ups."

I didn't complain. It wouldn't do anything for me. I was able to do 48.

"Good work. You can get ready for work now."

I rolled onto my stomach and tried to stand up. Zuri had to help me because I was too tired. She then remembered that I should stretch, so she had me do that for 10 minutes. I stayed in the shower longer than I probably should have, letting the lukewarm water flow over my fur and calm my aching muscles. When I got out of the bathroom, I found that Zuri was gone. Confused, I looked around, guessing that she was probably hiding somewhere in my room. After looking everywhere, the door opened and she walked in.

"What are you doing down there?"

"What?" I hit my head on the bed frame as I stood up, "Oh, I thought you were hiding somewhere."

"Why would I do that?"

"I dunno. Seemed like something you would do at the time...."

"You're crazy. Here, I got this last night. I knew nothing would be open when it was time for you to go to work."

My stomach growled, a betrayal of my hunger to her. I looked at the plate she was holding, and on it sat two danishes which had been reheated carefully in an oven.

"You can have them both."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me," She said while giving me a hard pat on the head, "I can buy breakfast when the stores open."

I strained to look up at her, the weight of her arm heavy on my head. I smiled and was about to thank her when in one smooth motion she put one of the danishes into my opening mouth, followed by one command: "Eat."

"Thank you," I said after finishing. I still felt bad for eating with her watching, but I knew that if I had refused she would've force-fed me anyways. My watch beeped just as I put the last bite in my mouth, indicating it was time for work. Just as it did so, Zuri grabbed me by the arm and dragged me from my bed.

"Time for work!"

"Yeah," I said while being dragged through the hallway, "I noticed!"

Zuri responded by increasing her pace which I was already struggling to keep up with. We were quickly on the road and well on our way toward the bakery when I tripped on my foot again. Rather than both of us falling to the ground as I had expected, Zuri simply twisted her weight around so that I was flung back onto my feet before I ever hit the ground.