it was the day of the gauntlet and a couple of days since the kiss between amelia and bodhi. they hadn't put a label on their relationship as they are wanting to take things slow and have told no one about it.
none of her friends know, none of his friends know, and epecially not the jackass and his friends. charlie had been giving death glares to amelia since that night and tries her hardest to get near bodhi whenever amelia isn't around.
" as you know, hand-to-hand challenges are on hold for the next two and a half weeks before presentation so you can focus here." professor emetterio begins.
" sawyer, you're going to show them how it's done, since you already have the lay of the land. then pryor, trina, tynan, rhiannon, ridoc, amelia, violet, aurelie, and luca "
the squad started to line up the way professor emetterio mentioned, amelia looked at violet who nodded. the elsher girl was worried for violet because of some the obstacles
" you're the only squad to remain intact since parapet. that's incredible. your squad leader must be very proud. wait here for a second " he walks past the group.
" aetos is especially proud of sorrengail " tynan says to violet with a mocking sneer once the professor is out of hearing range.
" look, if you want to talk shit about me, that's one thing, but leave dain out of it " she retorts.
" tynan " sawyer said giving him a warning.
" like it doesn't bother any of you that our squad leader is fucking one of us? " tynan throws out his hands.
amelia glared at tynan, he was almost shitting his pants when he saw the look on amelia's face. she wasn't the type to be messed especially because of how good she fights.
" i'm not- " violet started to say then stopped. " honestly, it's none of your god damn business who i'm sleeping with, tynan "
" it is if it means you get preferntial treatment " luca joins in.
amelia once again glared at luca, " both of you shut the hell up if you don't know what you are talking about " she said.
" yeah, luca, tynan, mind your own business. they're not sleeping together. they've been friends since they were kids, or do you not know enough about our own leadership to know his dad is her mom's aide? " rhiannon said glaring at both of them.
tynan's eyes widened at rhiannon, " really? "
" really " violet nodded and looked back at the course.
" shit. i'm.....sorry. barlowe said- "
" and that's your first mistake " ridoc interjects. " listening to that sadistic ass is going to get you killed. and you're lucky aetos isn't here "
after a couple of moments professor emetterio had come back, sawyer said some kind of encourging words before they started to practice.
amelia was nervous about the whole thing, sure she was good at fighting and could walk across the parapet but had trouble on the mock gaunlet course her father made.
she nervously watched as others in her squad went before her, liam and bodhi had shared a few pointers to her especially bodhi who didn't want to see her die. she was thankful that they were nice enough to do that.
" you'll be fine, just remember you are a badass and you have trained for this " violet said squeezing amelia's hand.
they were watching as ridoc was barely going to start, " i've got this " amelia said nodding.
" amelia, go "
she runs towards the log, it was just balance which she was great at. next was the columns which had three feet between them and each one was higher than the last.
next, was the wheel which all about timing. amelia had done this apart about a million times before so it was easy for her to do.
the hanging balls were up, amelia grabs ahold of each rope that was attached to ball. so far so good, she thought to herself.
from there amelia continued to the spinning logs, this was one of the obstacles she had trouble with.
" you are a badass, amelia elsher " she said to herself, she tried to control her breathing.
amelia jumped to the first log, she was getting ready to jump to the second and the next one after that.
she looked back to see violet on the spinning wheel, she was glad to see her friend was doing well. then she turned back see the next obstacle which as the chimney, another one that amelia couldn't do.
she fell a bunch of times doing this one, it was because of how wide it was. this was the one where she was afraid of falling.
" don't over think, just do " amelia said to herself, her father and two older brothers who had done this before told her those same words.
she ran up the ramp and managed to almost reach the top of it, she breathed again and did it one last time before being able to grabbed the top with her left hand and pulled herself up.
the rider who was on the other side recorded amelia's time as she was waiting for violet to come.
violet had finally finished after a few minutes and let amelia know that aurelie didn't make it. she had fallen right before the wheel.
⚔︎
violet wanted to burn aurelie's things, her parents didn't want her things and the sorrengail girl felt bad about her death. amelia decided to join her and as they were walking they heard some voices.
" is barlowe still bothering, first-year? " xaden said. it was him, liam, garrick, and bodhi walking.
" yes, i wonder why she is doing everything she can to piss him off. it's like she has a death wish or something " garrick said.
" probably because of the sorrengail girl " liam stated.
everyone's eyes snapped towards liam, they all knew barlowe also wanted violet dead but what did that have to do with amelia pissing him off.
" they're best friends and barlowe wants her dead. if first-year continues to piss him off then he'll focus on her and not so much on killing sorrengail " liam said.
violet looked at amelia, was it true? was this amelia's away of protecting violet?
" actually, that makes a lot of sense. she's trying to protect her friend by putting herself in harms way " bodhi said. in his mind he was worried about her, jack is crazy as hell and might try to murder her at anytime of the day and night.
" did both of them pass the gauntlet? " garrick said looking at liam.
he would know since he is friends with amelia, " both of them did, but lia told me that one of their squad members died "
bodhi hadn't know if they passed or not, they talk a lot but in private to keep their relationship a secret. he smiled to himself knowing that his and liam's advice worked for her.
amelia looked at bodhi, a smile was starting to appear on her face but quickly stopped because violet was there. she thought about telling her but she wanted to ask bodhi first if he was comfortable.
" keep an eye on barlowe, i don't trust that asshat and charlie as well. we don't need first-year being stabbed again " xaden said as the others nodded.
xaden knew that violet and amelia were listening to them, he just didn't bother to call them out. espcially after hearing that a squad members of theirs died when he knew that they were close with her.
he may hate sorrengail and only tolerated amelia but he wasn't an asshole like barlowe, it also wasn't like they were talking about something serious. the boys ended up walking away which both girls walked to the burn pit.
they had reached the pit, when violet started the fire and threw aurelie's thing in. she couldn't help but wonder was amelia pissing off jack just to protect her?
both girls were quiet, the flames of the fire making crackling noises every so often. violet turned her attention towards amelia who stared up at the sky.
" is liam right? are you pissing off jack just to protect me? " violet said breaking the silence.
" yeah, is the only way to keep jack at bay from killing you. if i continue to piss him off then he'll be more focused on hurting me " amelia said looking at violet.
violet's eyebrows furried together, " why? you are putting yourself in harms way and i can't do much if you are dead "
" because you are my best friend, vi. i promised myself that you would make it out of this death college alive even it meant me dying to protect you "
tears appeared in violet's eyes, she never realized how much amelia was putting herself at risk just to keep her safe. " thank you for being my protector, best friend, for always believing in me, and for everything you'll ever do in the future "
she hugged amelia tightly, which she was happy to give a hug back. the girls again sat in silence as they finished their hug. a couple of moments later both girls decided it was time to go.
violet was headed back towards their room, while amelia was headed towards bodhi's room. she had been spending a lot of nights in his room because that was the only time when they could see each other.
violet and rhiannon never questioned where amelia would go, they knew something was up but didn't want to force her to tell them. she would tell them both when the time was right and violet especially knew that.
amelia walked into bodhi's room, she didn't even bother to knock at this point because it basically her room as well and bodhi had told she didn't need to do it.
it wasn't like he was doing anything bad in his room, he wouldn't cheat on her and none else would be in his room at this time of night.
when she walked in he was sitting his desk working, he was the executive officer so he did have things to take care of.
she walked over to kiss his cheek, he peered at her from his shoulder and smiled. " liam said that you and other members did well, expect for losing one "
" yeah, we lost aurelie which is sad because she was really nice " amelia said sitting down on his bed and started to take off her boots. " i also had trouble on the chimney "
he turned his chair around to face her, " what happened? "
" i'm having trouble getting up the ramp "
bodhi nodded and got up from his chair to sit down next to her. he started to explain to her how to exactly beat the chimney.
" thank you for helping me " amelia smiled at him.
he smiled and kissed her forehead, " anytime, plus i can't have you dying on me "
amelia laughed and let her hair down from her bun, after all this time and bodhi was still in awe of her. he was sure that she would fall for garrick or liam because they were considered better looking to him.
" hey, do you mind if i tell rhiannon and violet about us? "
he shook his head, " no, they are your friends after all and i'm sure they are wondering where you go each night "
amelia nodded and kissed his cheek once more, he got up from his bed and walked back to his desk. " are you almost finished? " she said to him.
she was a little pouty that he had left her, he nodded and sat back in his chair.
" yes and don't give me that look " bodhi said hating her pouty face because she knew he would always give in when she did it.
she made the face again and he sighed, he just could not say no to her when she did it. " you are so lucky that i find you cute " he said.
he fixed his papers all nice and neat before sliding his chair underneath his desk. she smiled as he joined her in bed, he always slept on the side closest to the door because he was afraid that someone would break in and kill her, especially an asshat name jack.