The Inevitable

Chapter 10

** Picture: Nick **

I find a dark corner after running for what felt like forever and slump down. I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around my legs and start to cry. After what felt like an hour or two, I get up and start to walk aimlessly around the school. I find myself in the middle of the field that overlooked Head Master Ren's office.

It seems like all the students that were in the cafeteria this morning have made their way to the field. It's divided into several sections, and each section has its own training arena. The first one my eyes immediately pick up is the horseback riding arena. Stacy and her two minions are on horses galloping across the field. It's like a scene out of a movie seeing how graceful she's riding it, and I'm immediately jealous. I divert my eyes away from her, and keep walking.

Right next to the horseback riding arena, there's a huge archery arena. Several students are standing on the opposite side trying to hit the target, and surprisingly, they all hit the bull's-eye. And right next to the archery arena, there's a fighting rink. Two students fight in the centre, and a coach standing to the side gives them instructions.

I look towards the far end of the field and see a swimming pool, a tennis court, a swordsmanship arena, and finally, a yoga arena. I take a second trying to grasp everything that I'm seeing. All these students, and all these arenas – are they expected to master each and every single of them? Does Head Master Ren expect me to do the same? These students have probably been practicing ever since they were children, how could I possibly keep up with them? There isn't enough time in the world that will get me to master all these techniques. A part of me feels as though I've missed out on so many opportunities. I mean, if there was an arena that taught how to bag groceries at lightning speed, then I'd most certainly be all over that.

I've lived a normal life for seventeen years, and even though I found my everyday life a complete bore, at least I felt safe, like I belonged. I take another look around me and feel even more defeated. Everyone here is so talented; they have these skills carved at the back of their heads. I don't belong here. I feel more homesick now than ever.

"Watch out!"

I turn around and see a boy on a bicycle heading towards me. He's moving so fast, I didn't have enough time to react. Unfortunately, neither did he. His bicycle swivels slightly to the left, and he jumps off it and lands right on top me as we both collapse to the ground. I land on the ground, my elbows hitting the hard floor first, and I feel them bleeding. I open my eyes with a groan only to see two startlingly gray eyes looking into mine. His hands are on both sides of my head and his face is a few inches away from mine.

"Oh, my God, are you okay? I'm so sorry." He says, rather frantically.

"Uh, I would feel immensely better if you could get off me." I reply, with a slight groan.

I can tell that I've embarrassed him beyond words. I would've felt bad for doing that, but at the moment, the pain in my elbows is all I could think about. His cheeks turn red as he quickly stands up and offers me his hand, which I take. Once I'm on my feet, I look around and realize that several students are now staring at us. Umm, awkward. I pat down my shirt and jeans trying to get the sand off of them. Once I'm done, I notice that bicycle boy is still staring at me, wide eyed.

"You can stop gawking at me, I'm fine." I say, irritated. I can tell that everyone here just loves to stare. How annoying.

"Oh, I'm sorry," He says shyly. "Are you hurt?"

"Well, I hit the ground with my elbows, they're probably bleeding." I say, twisting my arm trying to look at my elbows.

He hunches forward to get a proper look, and to my utter surprise, there was nothing there. How strange, I could have sworn I felt my skin rip open.