I turned away from the center's front desk and walked slowly in the direction she'd pointed me in. I still couldn't see anything inside since the hallway sort of curved around like an S before emptying out into what I assumed was the bulk of the facility. As I got closer to the opening, I began to hear music. Loud, dramatic music to be exact. The kind you'd find playing during a scene in a Lord of the Rings movie or maybe "Game of Thrones." It was epic and thunderous and thrilling, and made me feel like I was about to go into battle.
Which, in a way, I sort of was.
As if on cue, the hallway opened up into a cavernous room, much bigger than I ever could've anticipated given the modest entrance I'd gone through outside. It was so large in fact, that if I'd had to venture a guess, I'd say it took up the whole block. Maybe two. The space was mostly open, but off to the far left side of the building, a second story had been built, balconies flanking the edges to continue the free-flowing feel of the facility.
"Holy freaking cow," I breathed, barely believing what I was seeing.
I was so busy taking in the place, that I nearly missed the first step to the stairs that led down to the main floor. If I had, it would've meant disaster—for me, and our drinks. And trust me, taking that tumble wasn't my ideal way to make an entrance. Forcing myself to watch each step as I descended, I gave myself a second to catch my breath.
This was so much more than what I'd expected. There were more people. More equipment. More of, well, everything. It was overwhelming to say the least.
By the time I'd reached the bottom, I'd managed to get myself worked up all over again.
"Kida!" someone yelled from across the room.
I looked over to see McKayla bounding over to me, dressed in black, form-fitting, capris, sneakers and a tank top that read: HERO in training. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a sporty ponytail and her makeup looked flawless.
I perked up at the fact that the only person I remotely knew there, appeared happy to see me.
"Oh, thank God!" she said dramatically, snagging one of the drinks out of my hand and attacking it like she'd been lost in the desert for days.
Or maybe she was just happy to see her drink?
Either way, as the bringer of said drink, I chose to take her elation as a direct result of my presence.
"What took you so long?" McKayla asked when she finally came up for air.
"Well, this place isn't exactly easy to find, you know. Abandoned buildings and all," I said, gesturing to where I imagined the street to be.
McKayla looked at me confused, before understanding finally crossed her face. "Ahhh, you took the batcave entrance," she said.
"The what?"
"The batcave entrance? That's what people call it—I'm not really sure why, maybe because it's all creepy and gross," McKayla said with a wave of her hand. "Personally, I prefer walking through the campus to get to the main entrance."
"The batcave is a secret entrance," I said, without thinking.
McKayla took a sip of her drink and raised an eyebrow. "Not very secret," she said. "Everyone knows about it."
I shook my head. "No, they call it a batcave entrance because that was Batman's secret entrance into his superhero headquarters. In the original movie the entrance was through an old grandfather clock and included bats flying around, but you get the idea," I said, rambling on. When I saw McKayla's blank stare, I cleared my throat awkwardly. "So, there's a main entrance?"
"Duh," McKayla said. "Did you not know that?"
"How would I?" I muttered. "I've never been here before."
McKayla either didn't hear me or didn't care, because she took my hand and led me over to a row of lockers and what appeared to be the entrance to the women's changing room.
"You can get dressed in there and then I'll show you around," she said, waving to the room behind her.
I looked down at my outfit and then back up at her. "I am dressed."
"And what a nice emo outfit it is. But I meant dressed for class," McKayla said, patting me on the head like a child.
I paused. "I can't just wear this?"
"Can you even move in those?" McKayla asked, reaching down and grabbing ahold of my skinny jeans and pulling them away from my skin. When they snapped back into place, McKayla stood back up and placed her hand on her hip. "Well, at least they're stretchy. But word to the wise, next class, bring something more 'fitness friendly' to wear. Street clothes are for the street. Spandex is for the gym."
"Spandex?" I repeated, horrified.
I looked around and saw that she was right. Everyone else was wearing variations of either shorts or leggings, sneakers, and what appeared to be regulation Hero tops.
Wonder what I had to do to get one of those?
"You can pick up some shirts after class," McKayla said, once again reading my mind. "In the meantime, what you're wearing will have to do."
"Great," I said, embarrassed that it would be completely clear to everyone who the new girl was.
"Okay," McKayla said with a flourish, turning her backon me and facing the room grandly. "Ready to see where the magic happens?"