Page 25 of Lost and Bound

A rush of relief hits me as the number of students cuts dramatically. I’m entirely focused on my own well-being, although looking at my other fellow Noms, I’m not the only one breathing easier now that the celestials are gone.

A ding on my device makes me, along with everyone else, check the latest message. There’s a wave of mixed reactions, but I keep my focus locked on the other Noms, who sag with the news that gym class has been brought forward.

“Maya!”

I don’t need to check that it’s Orion, given no one else knows my name. Most of them even look startled when I walk past them.

“Where were you?” I ask when I make it to where he is.

He doesn’t answer right away as he grabs my hand and pulls me through the swarming crowd. “I’ll tell you at dinner.”

“If we survive?”

He barks out a laugh. “May the odds be in our favor?”

I shoulder-bump him before I think twice about it. Being with him feels weird, like we’ve been besties for years, even though we’re basically strangers.

He laughs before dipping down, talking urgently and seriously. “All jokes aside, get changed as fast as you can.”

I switch emotions as quickly as the celestials disappeared. “I don’t have gym gear.”

“There will be a locker with your name on it, and what you need for the lesson will be inside. Whatever is inside, put all of it on.”

“Like?”

“Well, shit, so far, we’ve done every sport under the sun, but all that is for cardio and strength, including boxing, trampolining, archery, and javelin. They give you protective gear, so make sure you grab absolutely anything they have there for you.”

Orion’s pace picks up, and I follow his lead.

“Are we going into battle?”

“Something like that. After dinner, I’ll add it to the list of shit we need to talk about.”

We come to the locker room, and even though we’re close to the front of the line, the other students pick up speed, and we risk getting caught in a stampede. I shove the door open. There are already other students inside, but no one is talking and they’re undressing in a hurry. Like the rest of the academy, the changing rooms are color-coded and hierarchical. The blue is at the back, where all the broken lockers and chairs have been stored.

My name is written in black Sharpie on a piece of tape slapped on the wall. A cardboard box is on the floor, with a folded pile of athletic gear inside. Everything is new, which is a change.

I haul butt and move as quickly as the other students, pulling on what’s been left and folding my uniform. A glance around, and see the others packing their bags into the cubicles. It feels wrong to leave my belongings, but being the new kid, I copy their actions.

I trail after the other Noms, who seem to use the same technique I do—wait until there are no other students around before moving. We’re the last of the girls to arrive, and a man in a Thales sports uniform glares at us as we fall in line.

There’s a surge of students coming from the guys’ locker room. The first few that pass look smug, the next group of are laughing, and when the Noms come out, it’s easy to see why the girls were the first out of the changing rooms. Orion is pissed off, and so are the rest of the Noms. They have taken a beating.

The teacher stays quiet until everyone is in line. “Designation fitness testing. Every person in your House must complete the obstacle course within five minutes. If one of you fails, you all fail. Line up.”

He stops talking, and everyone scatters. I race blindly after Orion.

We line up as one, the entire class is looking at the teacher, but they’re also in a takeoff position.

Without moving my lips, and barely making a sound, I poke Orion with my pinkie. “Are you okay?”

He pinches my leg, and I read it as a sign to shut up.

A whistle blows, and it’s like opening the gates of hell. Absolute chaos pours across the field, sweeping every person up in its force. Students shove other students, people get tripped, and I even catch sight of two groups fighting like it’s the last day on Earth. Its dog eat dog.

I make myself as small as possible and huddle close behind Orion, focusing on how he’s moving and nothing else. He’s coldly clinical, and I mimic him, perhaps even embody him. The noise fades, so it’s just his and my breathing, and we move in perfect synchronicity. Except when he stops so fast, I slam into him.

I barely take a gulp of air and he’s off again. We leap over pits, dodging other people and things that whizz past me so close I feel my hair moving, but we don’t stop.