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“Listen up, class,” Coach Miller said.
Luka lowered his arm from my waist and the three of us turned to face our teacher.
He was wearing a shirt today. I really was having the best day ever. Not having to look at his overly huge muscles and his spray tan was a nice change. “Listen up. You’ve got three weeks until the trials. Most of you will be taking them for real this time. This is it. No re-dos. No monsters or fae to ruin it. And I don’t get a say in how it’s run.”
He glared at all of us as if we’d done something to personally ruin the trials for him. “After the last issue, the school board doesn’t think we can handle it. So they’ll be setting up the trials. I have no idea what they’ll throw at you. All I can do is whip your skinny asses into shape over the next three weeks.”
I shifted, waiting for the burpees. Or the stairs. What fresh hell was he going to subject us to today?
“Suicides,” he called. “One-hundred of them. If you finish, you get to hold planks till the bell rings.”
We all groaned. Nothing like running back and forth for an hour. He’d really been on a running kick the last few weeks.
“Oh, and I forgot,” Coach Miller said.
I turned to look at him and a chill ran down my spine at the sight of his grin. He looked far too pleased for him to say anything good.
“The school board did get one thing right. You will each take the trials alone. No groups. No teamwork. Just you and whatever they decide to throw at you.”
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. That changed our plans for sure.
“We should have seen that coming,” Luka said.
“Thank the gods,” Violet said. “I have more chance of passing on my own than I did relying on the people I was thrown into a group with.”
I knew my group would have passed together and I had to admit, I was disappointed. Luka grabbed my hand and squeezed. “You’ll be fine.”
After my last session with Professor Flora, I knew I’d be fine. That wasn’t the reason I was upset. “I was looking forward to doing it together.”
“Don’t worry. There’s lots of things we can do together.” He winked.
I grinned. He was right. At the end of the day, I still got to go home to my mates. All of them. In one room. Every day I kept waiting for them to say something about changing the living arrangements, but instead, they seemed to be getting more used to it.
The other day, the twins grabbed some snacks for the room and they picked up Ben’s favorite chips and Luka’s favorite soda. A week ago, that never would have happened. We had all fallen into a weird, comfortable routine. We did homework together most nights and a few times, we’d all watched movies together on the couch. It was perfect. And I never wanted it to end.
The class was lined up, ready to start our sprints. Violet pulled her hair up into a messy bun and looked over at me. “I didn’t miss this class while I was in the hospital, that’s for sure.”
“I know you didn’t,” I said. “But I missed you.”
“Good,” she said. “Cause you’re going to slow it down so you can help me not look so bad. I haven’t run in weeks.”
“You got it,” I said.
Coach Miller blew his whistle and we took off. It felt good to move my body and let my thoughts drift. After a few minutes, I was breathing heavy. The one good thing about gym class was that it forced me to shut off my brain and just get through the task.
Though, I wasn’t going to miss it when I graduated. Three weeks. Thoughts about the trials tried to force their way in, but I was too tired from running to let them win. Right now, I was just a student in gym class with no other concerns. Worrying about the trials would have to wait until later.
