How To Become A Spy

Chapter Nineteen

I sighed in relief but felt guilty for criticizing her appearance, it was something she took seriously. The truth was, she looked fine. But I had to say whatever I could to keep her from coming into the gym.

"I'll pick you up in an hour then." she said as she closed the compact and placed it on the ground.

I got back out of the car. "Okay," I answered shutting the door. I waited for her to drive off before making my way into the building.

It wasn't until I entered the building that the nerves finally hit me. I looked around and saw other people stretching and using some equipment. I quickened my pace as I walked to the end of the gym. I felt my face flush with relief when I saw Kevin in the corner of the room, sitting down and checking his phone. I ran to him desperately. He looked up at his phone as he saw me approaching.

"Thank God you're here," I said as I stood opposite from him.

"Debby's with her parents in the Hamptons this weekend and I needed to come with my Mom to here so she could drive me to my Math tutoring session afterward," he said simply, turning his attention back to his phone. "I didn't realize you were coming to training today, you must be feeling better. Are you going to be back at school tomorrow?"

I shook my head instantly but then realized he wasn't looking at me. "No," I said. "I'm still not well enough to attend school but I needed to attend a training session because of the rule."

He nodded in understanding, with his eyes still on his phone. I wondered who he as texting and had his full attention.

"Winters!" I heard a voice yell behind me.

I turned in shock to see Coach May walking toward me. "Where have you been? You've only attended one session in the last two weeks. And you know the rule-"

"That we need to attend at least three training sessions a week or we can get kicked off the team." I interrupted. I know. I'm sorry I've just been-"

"Sick, I know, Kevin told me, so you're excused this time. But no more okay?" she said firmly

I nodded in agreement, trying to look as confident as I could. I felt like Coach was being too hard on me. Being sick wasn't something I couldn't exactly help - well, at least sick to her knowledge.

"So, get going," she said gesturing around the gym.

I sighed in relief as she walked away from me to go and watch some over girls. I knew all the people on our school gym team well, but we were all in different grades and had different classes so I barely saw any of them at school meaning that I doubted they had noticed my absence. I glanced over at Kevin who was still staring intently at his phone, now typing away. I sighed and turned back towards the gym.

I didn't want to attract too much attention to myself so I kept away from all the equipment like the trampolines and balance beams. I instead headed towards an area with a lot of space, covered with mats.

I started by doing a handstand. It had turned out wonky. All I could feel was the pressure on my wrists that almost mimicked the same amount Brad had put on them last night, which had caused them to shake. I looked up, relieved to see that Coach May hadn't seen it.

I tried again, this time closing my eyes tightly ignoring the pressure this time. It ended better but still not as good as usual. At first, I felt anger grow inside me. Is this what happens when I miss a few practices? I immediately suck and forget how to do things properly?

I knew that wasn't true, though. It was because of the combat training I had been doing more. A part of me wanted to start fighting someone since that had been the only training I had been doing over the last fortnight. I had spent hours learning how to block an attack and defend myself when I fought Eric. I pushed his name out of my head as soon as I thought of him. I had to focus. I did a few more handstands. They were all the same, except on the last one, I had almost lost grip and fallen over.