“Yeah.” Doc nodded and flipped the cover over her tablet. “She’s free. I’ll see you guys next week. And Linc?” Doc’s smile was slow. “Your turn in the scanner next Friday.”
Linc’s jaw dropped down. “You set this up, didn’t you?” he accused me as I pulled him out of the room. “I know you did.”
“I didn’t.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I made a pfft sound. “If I had, don’t you think I’d take credit for it?”
He frowned as he considered my words. “That’s true. You would take credit for something so underhanded.”
“Yup.” I continued to drag him out of the room. “Food. Must eat.”
Linc paused outside the door. His eyebrows were scrunched together. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“You were kinda snippy with Doc.”
“Snippy?”
“Short. Rude. Agitated. Pick your adjective, Hall.”
Just tell him the truth, I said to myself, just tell him about your mom and brother. I wanted to, but still I couldn’t. “Yeah, I’m fine. Moody, I guess.” Though, to be fair, even if I hadn’t been in a mood, Doc’s use of interesting was enough to make anyone get in a bad one. “Just tired of all the your-results-aren’t-normal talk, you know? It just…gets on my nerves.” And it wasn’t a lie. It did get on my nerves. I wanted to be normal, at least to the CGE standards, but even here I wasn’t. Here more so than at The Pond, but still not enough to suit me.
“Okay.” He gave me a half smile. “Just checking.”
“Thanks, Stone.”
He pressed the button for the elevator. “No problem. And just remember, being not normal is okay, too. You’re eating like a normal person, which isn’t normal for you. But it’s a good thing.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re putting on weight.”
The words were kind of out of the blue, so I gaped at him. “Are you calling me fat?”
“What? No!” He actually blushed and ran his hand over his head. “Shit. I just meant, when you first got here, you were seriously thin, and now you’re not.” My eyes narrowed. “Wait, that didn’t come out right either. Let me try that again.” He held up a hand as I advanced on him. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Linc backed inside, like he could hide from me in there.
I just followed him in.
He put himself in the back corner, still holding up his hands. “Most of the girls I know or knew always tried to be really skinny, like they had to be super thin to be hot. You don’t. You look a hundred times better than them now that you’ve put on some weight.”
The doors opened on the first floor before I could think of a response, and Linc ducked out like he wanted to make sure there were witnesses around in case I maimed him.
I wasn’t offended by his words, even when he’d just said I’d put on weight. It was true. I had been really thin before, and even after I joined, when I was actually eating more, I hadn’t gained an ounce because of the whole trying to finish a Phase in two months and, you know, the whole almost dying thing. But during summer vacation, I had finally put on some weight and I was okay with that.
I didn’t want or need to be pencil thin. I had curves, I’d probably always have them, and that was just fine with me.
And apparently it was fine with Linc, too.
Smiling to myself, I followed him out.
CHAPTER 05
The next week was pretty much a replay of the first two weeks with non-stop talk about Halloween and speculation about was going on in the South Tower.
It’d been three weeks now and I—along with everyone else—still had no idea what they were doing in there. But Monday through Friday, a truck would pull up, stuff would be (I assumed) unloaded or loaded, the truck would leave, and then another would take its place within minutes, and it’d be like that for six hours straight. (I only knew that because A) I could hear the trucks coming and going and people barking orders, and B) some of our classes were on the side nearest to the South Tower and I could peek out and catch glimpses.) After classes were out, the construction would start and wouldn’t stop until eight.
Linc and I had tried going to the catwalk a few times, hoping to actually see something, but they’d made sure not to leave any gaps in anything, which was disappointing.
That past Friday, Linc had an appointment with Doc in the Terminator Tube, and then the following morning for the treadmill test. He did fine, but I think he was a little put off that he didn’t match my numbers even though he came close.
The rest of the weekend was filled with more Halloween talk. Since the Prospects had their monthly trip into New Orlando on Saturday afternoon, everyone was deciding on costumes. The guys, of course, wanted to go as something creepy or disgusting—like demons. Linc talked about going as a vampire, but when I punched him in the stomach and threatened to stake him if he did, I was pretty sure he’d changed his mind.
The girls wanted to go as pop stars or witches. Tasha wanted to go as a fairy .
I understood the girls wanting to dress up—that made sense. Well, it made some sense at least. But the guys… Them I didn’t understand at all. We were training to be demon hunters, yet they wanted to go as demons?
Just further proof that I didn’t understand the opposite sex at all.
Linc and Tasha both tried getting me into the Halloween mood by making me pick out a costume, but it didn’t really work. I offered to dress up and go as an actual girl (since I mostly lived in jeans and tank tops) but that wasn’t good enough for them.
After a while, they both realized it just wasn’t happening, so Tasha made me a deal: if I did one thing Halloweenish, she’d leave me alone about it. (By ‘deal’ I mean she threatened to harass me non-stop. Tasha was kinda scary when she wanted to get her way, so I gave in.) So, I left the CGE Saturday afternoon with my normally brown with red and goldish highlighted hair and came back that evening with pumpkin-orange tips at the bottom.
On Sunday and Monday, I was a grumpy mess and avoided everyone. Halloween was still almost a full week away and I was already wishing it were over.
The first half of October went by in the blink of an eye, it seemed. But the second half was dragging on and on, moving a hundred times slower. Or maybe it was just October. I hated the month and had for a while now. I wished I could’ve just hibernated through it like a bear or some other hibernating creature.
I just wanted it to be November already, when I didn’t have to see or think about Halloween. I’d been trying extra hard not to pay attention to anything having to do with it, which naturally meant I was either hearing about it all the time or thinking about it. All. The. Time. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to think about it, really, it was just that I really didn’t want to think about it.
And that makes absolutely no sense, even to me, I thought, sighing as I sat down on my bed.
I’d just gotten out of the shower after spending enough time in there for the water to run cold. During my first Phase, I’d discovered that was harder to do than I thought it’d be. With over seventy prospect rooms, I’d been sure there’d never be hot water, but there always was, at least until today. But considering I’d been in there for over an hour, I couldn’t really complain.
My brain wouldn’t turn off last night, and when I did manage to close my eyes and sleep, I had nightmares. I didn’t remember what they were about really, but every time I woke up, it was in a cold sweat and there was this sinking sensation in my stomach that left me feeling completely drained and sad. After the third time it happened, I didn’t bother trying to sleep again.
I’d been awake now for three hours and, even after spending almost half that time in the shower, I still had almost two hours before Combat class started.
Just make it another week, I tried telling myself. Just one more and things would be better. I hoped.
I got up, grabbed my hairbrush, and paced the room as I put my hair in a
ponytail. When I was done, I tossed the brush to my bed and looked around. I was…antsy, I decided. I didn’t want to sit, didn’t want to just stand. Going to the café court would have me moving a little bit, but then I’d be forced to sit to eat and be around people. I wasn’t even remotely hungry and I didn’t particularly want company, either.
Some of the teachers got to class early. Maybe Mr. Connor did, too. If not, I could always go kill time in the gym or on the track.
With my mind made up, I grabbed my stuff and headed up to the fifth floor. Mr. Connor was, thankfully, already in the room. I tapped on the doorjamb to get his attention.
He looked up and I could see the surprise on his face. He’d been laying out mats on the floor, so he stood up straight, rubbed his lower back. His gaze went to the clock on the wall and he scratched the side of his face. “You’re a bit early, Jade.”
“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d get in some practice before anyone else got here. But I can go to the gym instead,” I said, turning to leave.
“I didn’t say you had to leave. Come on back.” He kicked a folded-in corner of a mat back in place. “I was getting ready to go grab some breakfast. Think you can keep guard over the class for me? Some of the P3s have been trying to ‘borrow’—” He used air quotes and made me grin. “—some of the new CMs.”
“New CMs?”
He nodded, then pointed to the far right corner of the room. Sure enough, there were a dozen CMs side-by-side along the wall. The old ones had been mostly upper body, but these were full body. I squinted, frowned. They looked more life-like than the other ones, too, which meant they looked a lot creepier, especially if they still had red eyes.
“Director Greene had them delivered this weekend. A few of the P3s spotted them.” He shrugged. “And now they each want one for their room.”
I chuckled. “You really think they’ll sneak in this early to get one?”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “You’re here, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but I’m not trying to steal anything. Those things weird me out.”
“So, will you watch the room?”
“Sure, of course,” I said, nodding.
“Just shut the door behind you if you need to leave. I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.” He started for the door. When he reached it, he stopped and turned back. “If anyone comes in and gives you any trouble, just remind them about the cameras.”
“Cameras?”
One of his dark brows raised in a you’ve-been-here-how-long-now look that Linc gave me when he thought I should know something I didn’t. “Cameras.” He pointed to the left side of the room. All I saw was a tiny red dot. “Didn’t you get videos of the classes you’d missed last Phase?”
Frowning, I nodded again. I’d gotten some videos to help me catch up, but... “Those were from actual classes? You mean we’re recorded all the time?”
“Yeah. So just remind anyone should they try anything.” And then he disappeared out the door as my jaw dropped down.
The videos I’d seen had Mr. Connor in them, and some students, but I’d never considered they were taken from actual classes. I had no idea we were being recorded. It was kind of…disconcerting. I mean, it wasn’t like I was worried about doing anything bad and getting caught or anything like that, because I wasn’t. But just knowing there were cameras around made me feel uneasy.
I shook my head. Get over it. If it wasn’t for those cameras and videos, you’d still be months behind, or at least not caught up. They were for educational use, that was all.
Still, I tossed a cautious look over my shoulder as I made my way to a punching bag at the back of the room. I put on a pair of gloves, and after I landed the first punch, I forgot all about the cameras and just focused my energy and concentration on punching and kicking. Right here, right now, it was just me and the bag. No bad dreams or bad feelings. No dates or times.
I didn’t know how much of that non-time had passed before I heard someone call my name. I dropped my hands down and turned around.
Mr. Connor was standing a few feet away. He gave me a small smile. “Sorry I took so long.”
“Has it been thirty minutes already?” My knuckles were sore, so I pulled off the gloves, set them aside, and then shook my hands and wiggled my fingers.
He didn’t frown exactly, but a strange look crossed his face. But then he glanced at my hands (that I was still shaking) and the expression was gone, replaced with concern. “Did you hurt yourself?”
I shook my head. “They’re okay. Just a little sore.” I looked down then and found my knuckles beet red. Geesh, no wonder they hurt.
“Were you there—” He pointed to bag. “—the entire time I was gone?”
“Yeah.” He was looking at me weird again, so I frowned. “Sorry. Was that a problem? I thought you were okay with me being here—”
Mr. Connor shook his head. “It’s not a problem that you were here, Jade,” he said, speaking slowly, like he was getting ready to tack a ‘but’ onto his sentence.
When he didn’t add it, I did. “But?”
“I was gone for over an hour. Class starts in twenty minutes.”
“Really?” I frowned. It hadn’t seemed like that long. I mean, I’d been focusing on only the bag, but still.
“If you need to, you can take the rest of the day off.”
I gave him a quizzical look. “Why would I do that?”
And the weird look was back, then he just laughed and shrugged. “No reason. No reason at all.”
I gave a mental head scratch as he walked away and finished getting the rest of the room together. Teachers were weird, weird creatures, I decided, and then I went to help him.
Linc showed up a few minutes before class started. He spotted me, gave me the same what-are-you-doing-here look that Mr. Connor had given me. “I was wondering why you weren’t answering your door and why you didn’t show up for breakfast. You’ve been here?”
“Yeah,” I told him, nodding as Tasha came in.
She strolled up to us, shot Linc a look. “So this is where she’s been hiding.”
“I wasn’t hiding. I was practicing.” Well, that’d been my intention, but after I’d gotten here, I kinda just beat the crap out of the bag. But they didn’t need to know that.
“You should’ve gotten me. I would’ve come with you.”
“Sorry. It was early. And unlike one of us,” I said, giving Linc a pointed look, “I don’t like waking people up before the crack of dawn.”
Linc glared his response.
Tasha, who I loved more daily, shook her head at Linc. “You woke her up before dawn and lived to tell the tale? Amazing. If that’d been me, I would’ve killed you.”
Grinning at Tasha, I said, “I would’ve too, if I’d been awake enough. It was the day after I joined. I think I was still in shock over the whole deal.”
I wasn’t actually mad at him for it. At the time, I’d been annoyed as hell, but after I realized why he’d woken me up, I’d forgiven him. How could I not when he’d taken me to the catwalk that joined the North and South Towers together to watch a sunrise?
It was damn hard to be mad at someone when their intentions were almost always good. The jerk.
Mr. Connor called attention to the class, so me, Linc, and Tasha turned in his direction. He did his usual is-everyone-present checking and then talked about the new CMs for a few minutes before putting us into groups to practice. Brian was my partner again, and I had a feeling it was going to be like that for the rest of the Phase. I didn’t mind him so much, because he was pretty much the strong and silent type, but I missed being Linc’s partner. He was chattier. I hated being quiet.
Plus, Linc was easier to trick and I could almost always get him to fall for stupid stuff. Like sending him flying over my shoulder. Okay, so that might’ve been the main reason I missed Flyboy. As soon as I thought the name, I grinned. That was just…perfect and so Linc. Of course, he’d hate the nickname, which meant I�
��d have to use it. A lot.
Apparently, I really had grinned and not just in my head, because Brian was giving me a have-you-lost-your-mind look. “Sorry—”
“Is this fun to you?” Brian said in a really low, almost dangerously low, tone.
“What?” My jaw dropped. “No, I—”
“This isn’t a game. I get that your Director Greene’s favorite, but if you can’t take this seriously, I’m going to ask for another partner.”
I would’ve said something, but I was shocked into silence. My brain went completely haywire. I’d had a really bad morning and I’d done everything I could to make it better, and I had, for all of two seconds, and then Strong and Not-So-Silent had to go and ruin it.
I mean, as much as I understood his point, almost everyone here knew how serious this place was. We were training to be demon hunters for crying out loud, and most of us, if not all of us, had really good reason to be here, because we’d seen something we shouldn’t have or lost someone we shouldn’t have. Him implying that I didn’t take this seriously just pissed me off, and at the same time, it made me feel guilty. I didn’t know which made me madder.
“Fine,” I snapped, though I kept my tone low. “You want serious, you’ve got it.”
When we’d finished practicing the moves we’d learned last week, Mr. Connor demonstrated our next routine: A right jab to the left shoulder, a punch to the gut, then an uppercut to the jaw (or in our case, missing their jaw), followed by a roundhouse kick to the head (shoulder). He also showed us the blocks for the moves.
We were supposed to practice with the new CMs first, then our partners. I stormed over to our assigned CM and waited for Brian. “I’ll go first,” I told him, and he moved to the side and waited. The CMs were programmed for the defensive blocks we’d just learned, so it had no problem blocking the hits. If I’d been in a better mood, I probably would’ve been more impressed with them, but I was steaming mad so I didn’t really care.
Brian shook his head after my first round. “You’re not hitting the jaw hard enough.”
Breed of Envy (The Breed Chronicles, #02) Page 7
