A.N.
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ROCHELLE
Once I've snapped myself back to reality after realising that I almost just bumped into my own target, I glance up to find that his gaze is also stuck on me. He's scanning over my body, seeming confused as he notices I'm wearing the exact same outfit as the other trainees. He eventually brings his gaze back to me, studying my face a few moments longer before he finally speaks.
"You're late," he announces, his words coming out in a slow-paced, deep rasp.
"Oh. Am I?" I ask sweetly, titling my head to the side as I peer up at him. He doesn't react much though, simply blinking at me in reply, no emotion whatsoever. "Well, in my defence, I did only arrive here about an hour ago."
This seems to capture his attention, a frown taking over his face. "You're new?" he asks and when I nod, his frown deepens. "What's your name?"
"Rochelle," I reply, and after he shoots me a stern look for not revealing my full name, I let out a sigh, adding "Costello."
He lifts his chin slightly, eyeing me cautiously. "Well, Miss Costello," he says, and I can't help but notice how nice my name sounds rolling off his tongue like that. "I happen to not care if you're new or not, because you're still late. Ten minutes, in fact. And any lateness, by any amount of time, will result in a punishment."
I notice he's taken a few steps closer to me, slightly leaning over me in an attempt to be intimidating, but I remain unphased and unbothered. I've had enough experience with these self-proclaimed alpha male types to not be scared off so easily.
"Do you have the authority to give out punishments?" I ask in a calm, sweet voice, my eye contact never straying from his.
His glare hardens at my words, seeming pissed off that I'm challenging him, obviously not used to it. "Yes, I do have the authority actually," he snaps at me. "I'm one of the trainers here. I am your superior, so that means I'm in charge of you, whoever you are."
"I don't think so," I scoff. I know I probably shouldn't be pressing him like this, but I can't help it. I've never been good with authority, and besides, he looks even hotter when he's mad.
He doesn't look impressed with my response, nostrils flaring in anger as he stares down at me. "Excuse me?"
"You're not in charge of me," I remind him firmly, honestly. "You may be my 'superior', but that doesn't mean you can give me orders like I'm some kind of dog. Also, if you are a trainer here, you must know that I'm new, and so you must agree with me that it's unfair to punish me for rules that I have no knowledge about." His eyes are practically black holes now, darkened with anger as he glares at me so intensely that I can practically feel it burning through me, but even still, I don't remove my gaze from his. "So you can give me that punishment all you want, but I will not be doing it. And if you have a problem with that, I suggest you go take it up with Anton."
I take a step forward to push past him and walk into the gym, but I'm suddenly stopped when I feel Harry's hand wrap around my arm tightly. His fingernails dig into the flesh of my arm but I don't dare react, not even wincing as I stare up at him defiantly, narrowing my eyes angrily. "You've met Anton?" he practically seethes, tightening his grip on my arm.
"Yes, I met him earlier. Nice bloke, we had a good chat," I say, my smile widening when I notice Harry's expression grows even more confused and agitated. I hold his gaze for a few more seconds before I roughly yank my arm out of his grip, clearly surprising him when I shove him away from me. "Now, if you don't mind, you're making me even later."
Before he has the chance to reply or grab me again, I quickly spin around and stroll into the gym without a glance back. A few eyes swivel over to me as I walk in, their gazes scanning over me curiously as they try to figure out who I am. I don't mind though, kind of used to it by now. I keep walking until I feel the firm mat under my feet, now stood on the edge of it. My eyes flicker over all the people in the room, most of them having turned away by now, and the ones still staring at me soon look away once I shoot them a glare.
"Wow, you look scary," an amused voice suddenly says from behind me, causing me to spin around. My eyes land on a blonde boy with baby blue eyes, a large grin on his face as he extends his hand to me. "Hey, I'm Niall."
I feel my lips arch upwards, reaching out to place my hand in his. "Rochelle," I introduce myself.
"It's nice to meet you," he replies once we both pull our hands away, letting them settle back down to our sides.
"You know, you're the first person who's said that to me since I got here."
"I'm not surprised, people here are assholes," he tells me with a shake of his head, making me laugh softly. "So, want me to give you 411?"
"The what?" I splutter in amusement.
"The info, the low down," he tells me with a hand gesture that I think is supposed to signify that of a gangster, but he looks so innocent doing it that it just makes me laugh again.
"Sure," I say with a nod. "You can give me the 411."
"Great. All of the people here on the mat are trainees, some of us are friends, some not. One of my friends is Zayn over there, the unfairly attractive one with the perfectly quiffed hair who practically oozes charm. Don't get caught up in his web, he's a natural born flirt," Niall says, shooting me a warning glare which makes my smile widen. "My other friend over there is Liam, the one with the buzzcut that I personally think looks stupid, but it gets him girls so I guess I can't say anything."
"Aw, are you telling me your baby blue eyes don't get you girls?" I ask him with a playful pout.
"No, they don't, and I think that's so rude," he says with an annoyed huff, shaking his head.
"Don't worry, I'm sure the girls on the outside world would be falling at your feet." I tap his shoulder reassuringly.
"Thank you, I agree," he says quickly before turning back to his introductions, pointing at another brunette man stood at the front of the gym, his blue eyes surveying the room. "That's Louis, he's one of the trainers. He's best mates with Harry, the other trainer. He's a bit of a dick and moody all the time, so we've nicknamed him Hostile Harry - oh look, here he comes now!"
I follow his gaze over to the door of the gym, finding that my target, the angry, green-eyed man who I'm here to spy on, is now strolling back into the gym. His whole demeanour is evidence of his foul mood, his shoulders and back muscles visibly tense as they shift underneath his shirt as he walks, his jaw still clenched tightly. I watch him carefully as he approaches the Louis guy that Niall just pointed out, murmuring something in his ear before both of their eyes suddenly swivel over to me.
"Oh fuck, they're looking at us! Why are they looking at us? Act natural, stay fucking calm!" Niall rants with panic in his voice, flailing his limbs about in a way that is the complete opposite of calm.
I, on the other hand, am calm, standing up straighter and making sure to keep my composure as they stare at me. Alternating my gaze between them and the rest of the room, I watch as they finally tear their gazes away and talk amongst themselves for a while afterwards. I'm not quite able to fight off the smug, slightly narcissistic smirk tugging at my lips, kind of loving that I seem to be causing a stir already.
Eventually, they end their conversation and Harry approaches the edge of the mat, clapping his hands to gain the attention of everyone. "Right, we're moving onto the next exercise," he announces, green eyes flitting around the room. "Now, I'm sure many of you are familiar with the notion of being attacked from behind, and although you may believe that only happens in movies or in dark alleyways, it could always happen if you make the rookie mistake of turning your back on your opponent. Although you can't see your attacker, it's still rather easy to defend yourself as long as you have simple situational awareness. So, pair up, and demonstrate what you'd do if attacked from behind. Louis and I will be coming around to check your technique."
Niall and I both glance at other, nodding as agreement to pair up. Once everyone else is in a pair, we all begin the exercise, Harry and Louis strolling along to watch us, occasionally stopping to comment or offer advice. I start off first, creeping up behind Niall and attempting to wrap my arm around his neck, but he manages to twist my wrist back before I have the chance, shoving me away and immediately jumping into a sort of kung-fu stance, legs spread and hands held up in front of his face, making me laugh.
When it's Niall's turn to attack, I turn around and begin to walk at a leisurely pace, whistling some tune under my breath. I hear his footsteps as he runs up behind me, calculating his approximate distance so when I feel his hand just brush against me, I immediately spin around to grab his arm, twisting it behind his back. I spin Niall around so his back is pressed against my chest, my other arm looping around his neck to put him in a chokehold, squeezing tight.
"Think you can sneak up on me, huh, asshole?" I tease, only tightening my grip when Niall attempts to claw me off him with his other hand.
As I'm doing this, I notice Harry approaching us in my peripheral vision, watching his slow movements before he finally stops to stand in front of us. His eyes meet mine first, moving to Niall who is mumbling incoherently and gasping for air, before he turns back to me with a disapproving look. "It wasn't the exercise to choke out your opponent, trainee Costello," he reminds me in a firm voice.
"What does he expect to happen if he approaches me like that?" I ask with a small shrug. "I have quick reflexes."
Harry just rolls his eyes, not seeming amused by my backchat. "Let him go," he tells me in a bored voice.
"N-no, t-that's ok," Niall manages to gasp. "I-I'm fine, r-really."
"Niall, you're turning purple."
"Oh, a-am I? W-well, I like p-purple, it l-looks g-good on me."
Harry brings his gaze back to mine, narrowing his eyes but I just arch an eyebrow challengingly, smiling sweetly as I tighten my grip on Niall when he attempts to move again. I notice a muscle twitch in Harry's strong jaw as he stares at me, that crease between his eyebrows appearing again as he studies my face, seeming to be scanning over every feature. His gaze is so intense, so burning that it sends a shiver down my spine, but I'm never going to let him know that.
"Release him," he replies in a much firmer, darker tone, a clear indication that it's an order, not a request.
I debate it for a few seconds, but after deciding that I probably shouldn't piss him off anymore for my own sake, I finally release my grip on Niall. Mine and Harry's eye contact remains as I unhook my arm from around Niall's neck, our eyes not even straying from each other's as he stumbles down onto the floor, coughing and wheezing while assuring everybody he's fine. It's only when someone calls for Harry that he breaks our rather intense eye contact, swallowing hard before trudging away from me, leaving me stood with a victorious smirk.
After I'm done watching Harry walk to the opposite end of the gym, I turn back to Niall who's still coughing on the mat below me. I reach down to offer him my hand, helping him back up onto his feet. "Sorry about that," I say, brushing myself down. "I had a point to prove."
He stares at me as he rubs his neck that I can already tell will be covered in a nasty bruise tomorrow, but he surprisingly doesn't look too mad about it. Pulling his hand from his neck, he points at me with a boyish grin. "I like you."
I let out a laugh, shaking my head at him. "Don't worry," I reply. "You'll get over it."