Pause (Published)

Chapter 12: Wildfire

"Only because you asked!" he argues.

"Why didn't you sign yourself up?" I turn the question back on him.

"Because I don't want to commit to non-stop training!"

"You're proving my point here," I state in frustration.

"But once again, I am not the one that signed up!" Max uses the same flawed argument. 

He may not have signed himself up, but he did sign up for me, thus he did sign up. I win.

"Once again, yes you were! Why did you have to kick me in the shin? What were you hoping to achieve?" I rage.

He gives me a blank stare in response.

"Well?" I repeat, sucking in another deep breath in order to restrain myself from killing him right here, right now, in cold blood.

"Honestly, I was hoping you'd fall down to the ground in pain and thus, from then on, start your push-ups." He sighs in disappointment, "But instead, it turned for the worst and you jumped up...leading you further from the ground."

His plans are pointless.

"Keep this negligence up and you'll stay put on the ground. You'll never jump to fame," he scolds as if I am the one in the wrong here. "Now drop dead and give me six hundred for disobedience!"

My left eye ticks in frustration at his audacity to even try that again. "First off, I am injured, no thanks to you! Second, I can't give you six hundred if I am dead!"

"Did May Gale give up when she lost both legs in a fatal explosion? No! She kept running marathons and just look where she is today," he lectures if trying to inspire me - he's failing horribly.

"Oh, please do tell, Max, where is she today?" I question, humoring the idiot.

He ignores me and continues on, "And did Kyle Evans stop attending funerals just because he was dead? No! And look where he is today-"

"Dead?" I cut him off with a perplexed expression.

"That's beside the point. You have no excuses, Aqueela! Try and be like May and Kyle for once in your life!" he debates further.

So, in other words, dead?

I stare up at him, a blank expression on my face. "I cannot believe that you are trying to motivate me with a speech on two people who I am pretty sure don't exist, nor ever did."

Panic strikes through his eyes as he is caught red-handed. Before I even have time to point it out, he has already kicked me in my other shin to cover up his tracks. I whimper out in agony, glaring daggers at him.

"They do so exist!" he yells and then runs away in a rush as I curse his name and tend to my shin, ruing the day that I ever agreed to have him as my personal trainer.

He's going to create a monster.

*~*~*~**~*~*~*

"Psst, Aqueels! Can I borrow a pen?" Bell whispers from beside me.

"Why can't you bring your own damn pen to school?!" I snap, on edge after my encounters with Mason and Max.

Her eyes widen in surprise. "What's your deal?"

I shake my head and throw my spare pen at her. "Everything."

She glances down and notices the blue bruises on my legs. "What happened?"

"Max happened." I feign a shiver, "So evil. So very, very evil."

Bell gives me a curious glance and then shakes her head. "I am not going to even ask." She leans over and hands me her phone, "Check this out."