Chapter 4:
[] KOLONIA []
I near-silently got out of bed so I didn't wake anybody in the neighbouring dorms and snatched my clothes from my closet. I stalked to the locker room, which was a far shorter commute to the mess hall than my dorm. Hurriedly, I got changed before taking a good look in the mirror by the sink. I walked out of the locker room and met up with Cora before we headed to the main campus of Gladius Academy. "I hope I don't embarrass myself today," Cora chimed nervously as we were walking.
"Me too," I responded.
We let ourselves get swept away by the crowd, although no one bothered to come near me. I quickly lost sight of Cora.
I was opposing the same person as I was the other day. Something seemed different and I couldn't tell what it was, so I asked him; "Are you good? You look weird."
"Yeah I'm okay, just tired is all," he said, except I could tell he wasn't telling the truth.
"I can tell you're lying." I shot him a judgemental glare. He started to walk away, taking his leave from the lesson. I began to stalk him. "Tell me what's up." I pestered, not caring about him but wanting petty drama.
"Okay, fine... But let's talk elsewhere," He said in a harsh whisper. We headed to the top corner of the room, usually my corner, to talk. "Yes...?" I questioned,
"I kinda have a crush on one of your friends but don't tell her." He whispered. "Who?..." I prodded.
"No way I'm telling you, if you knew, Lyla, you would skin me alive." He murmured, spitting out the last words with caution. Rolling my eyes, I returned to the dreadfully boring lesson.
After training I headed to the locker room to take a shower, thoughts still swarming around my mind. I turned on the water to a nice warm temperature, although after training I was decently warm. I slowly stepped into the shower, flinching when the water hit me. 'This is so relaxing' I thought to myself, having not truly calmed myself in a long while. I put shampoo in my hair and rubbed it vigorously. Rinsed it out and put conditioner in, trailing my hands through my short hair. When I got out of the shower a gust of cold air hit me, sending a shiver down my spine. Despite having just taken a warm, steamy shower, the outside of the shower was still frigid, due to our amazing air conditioning. I grab my towel and wrap it around myself. I walked to the area with benches on the other side of the showers and set my stuff down while pulling out my assigned uniform. Thanks to the (slightly useless) high-tech at Gladius, we could have small and portable uniforms that fit us all once we put them on. As soon as I finished getting dressed, my best friend Cora came around the corner, looking winded and with a new bruise on her forehead.
"What happened?"
I asked, concerned, and immediately having harsh feelings toward the person who hurt my best friend. She panted, resting a hand on the wall "LYLA!" She fumed. "I was just training, obviously, and some dude caught me in the face with his boot, and he didn't even apologise!" Pointing to her new bruise that was now turning yellowish-green. "Who would-...Uh, Cora, your bruise is darkening, I think you should go see the campus healer." With little warning, Cora began to look like she was damn near the edge of passing out.
"On second thought, I can take you there," I sigh through my nose, dashing over to Cora. With a soft thud, Cora landed in my arms, her expression blank and body decorated with a plethora of different coloured bruises. I glanced out the door and carried her to the nurses' office without a second thought of missing my next classes.
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Word Count: 671 words
Written and edited by Udon and Abigail
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