Chapter Seven
The gym is packed with other Protectors. Most of them are busy training already, and for a second I worry that I’m late. Carlos catches my eye and nods his head, and I jog over to where he’s waiting patiently. “You’re just on time,” he says, gesturing to the boy standing beside him. “This is Kaven, you two met yesterday.”
“Briefly,” he says, refusing to look at me.
I scowl, and Carlos chuckles. “Don’t let him get to you. Kaven’s a very hard person to please. Once you impress him though, he opens up a little.”
I doubt that, but I don’t argue with my new mentor during our first lesson together.
“Alright, I want Kaven to be your instructor for the time being. Every new trainee is shown the ropes by a more senior fighter and, when you get used to the training, I’ll take over and give you more one-on-one instruction. Understand?”
I nod, and turn to follow Kaven, who’s walking to the far side of the gym.
“Kylie, before you go, there’s something you should know,” Carlos says, and I stop to look at him again. “The Protectors here are not too happy that a girl has decided to join their ranks. As I said earlier, this is not the path women choose, and I’m afraid you may be met with some…opposition.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a feeling that the Protectors here will try to persuade you to quit. Don’t let them.”
I nod again, and jog after Kaven, who’s already reached the mats on the other side of the gym. He’s waiting there impatiently, and I try not to make him angrier than he already is at having to teach me. When I stop beside him, he frowns at me.
“What do we start with?”
“Crunches. Your goal by the end of your training is to get through five hundred of them in ten minutes.”
“What?” I ask incredulously. “You’re joking, right?”
He points to one of the nearby Protectors who’s busy speeding his way through crunches. While I watch, he does several in a few short seconds. I can see the rippling muscles of his body working, and I’m amazed. Could I be that fit someday?
I’m fit, but not freakishly so. Kaven senses my amazement and grins, but it’s anything but a friendly smile. “That’s just the beginning. If you don’t think you can handle it, maybe you should quit now, before it’s too late.”
I glare at him, and start my crunches. He watches over me with an attentive stare that makes me uncomfortable. I can tell he’s looking for anything wrong with my technique so that he can criticize me in front of everyone, but he stays silent.
Can’t find anything wrong, can you?
I think too soon, because he barks at me, “Speed it up, newbie! You’ll never get anywhere like that.”
I’m not sure I can go faster without puking or passing out, but I’m definitely not going to wimp out in front of him or anyone. So I do what he says and speed up my crunches. I can feel the increased pressure to my stomach and back, but I don’t stop or complain.
Andrea compared this to the Marines, and she isn’t entirely wrong. This training is meant to weed out the quitters and those unworthy of the title of Protector. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure I’m neither of those things.
Twenty minutes later, Kaven tells me to stop, and I gladly roll over, gasping for air and clutching my aching stomach. He ignores my wheezing, and shakes his head disdainfully. “Get up. It’s time to run.”
Without even a minute to rest, he drags me to my feet, and shoves me. “Come on. We’re running laps around the perimeter of Daray Hall. If you fall behind, you’re done, got it?”
He takes off at a fast jog, and I force myself to follow him. There’s an intense cramp in my side, but I push myself forward, ignoring it. No little jog is going to kill me, that’s for sure. When I reach the door leading to the outside world, the fresh air hits me like a splash of freezing water.
It instantly cools me down and wakes me up, and it gives me the strength to run after Kaven. He’s only a few yards ahead of me, and I catch up easily. However, when I reach his side, he speeds up, and I realize he was taking it easy on me.
My brief sense of accomplishment at keeping up is shattered, and I feel myself start to doubt my decision to train.
You knew it would be difficult before you started, didn’t you? My inner voice snaps at me. You can’t just give up now, especially since you had to fight your way into the training in the first place. If you quit now, no girl will ever have the chance to train.
That thought forces me to keep going, and I try to keep pace with Kaven. He’s wearing nothing but sneakers and long shorts, so I can tell that his body is heavily muscled and deadly from training. It’s a miracle that I can even still see him, let alone keep up with him, but I don’t stop to think about it. I just run.
When I finally catch up to him again, he glances at me, and I can tell from the way that his green eyes are staring at me that he’s surprised. He obviously thinks I’m going to quit and run home like the little girl he thinks I am.
I’m gonna prove you wrong.
I put on a burst of speed that’ll probably hurt later, and pull ahead of him. He curses and speeds up, and I know that he can probably go much faster for much longer, but he has to stay with me. Carlos probably wouldn’t like it if he lost me.
Daray Hall is massive, practically the size of my high school, and it sits on a good couple acres of land covered with dense, beautiful wisteria trees. A sidewalk runs across the entire perimeter, and as I run, I get my first real look at my new home.
The building looks like an old mansion that’s been restored: dark, mysterious, and slightly alluring. The gymnasium is a large square portion of the building that doesn’t look the same. It was probably built on after it was bought, and the gym isn’t the only thing that’s been added.
Kaven and I pass another building that’s about the same size as the gymnasium. It’s not connected to the mansion, and it just sits there on the grounds, looking beautiful, mystical, and slightly religious. I can tell just by looking at it that it’s the chapel that Selene is worshipped in.
The building is made of white stone, and there are four large, stone pillars on both sides of the door, looking like it was built by the Greeks centuries and centuries ago. The building has a timeless beauty to it, and I’m instantly drawn to it.
Kaven’s voice snaps me out of my appraisal. “Keep going, you’re lagging behind!”
He’s right. While I’ve been staring at the chapel, Kaven’s pulled farther ahead of me. I fight the cramps in my side, and push myself to move faster so I can catch up with him. We circle the building three times and, when I consider stopping to pass out, Kaven stops abruptly.
Thankfully, I stop, and drop to the ground. My breathing sounds ragged and forced, and part of me feels like I’m dying. When I glance up through sweat-soaked hair, I find Kaven watching me silently. His body is covered in a thin sheen of sweat, but he doesn’t even look winded.
Bastard…I think jealously, wishing I could run like him.
He gives me a minute to rest, before sighing. “Alright, let’s head back in. We’ve worked out your core and your legs; let’s get some upper body work in there too.”
I want to scream at him and call him a merciless monster, but I don’t. I just force myself to nod, and I follow him back into the gym. The others are all busy working out and most don’t notice me as I walk by, but a few stop what they’re doing to watch me pass.
“I bet she’s a dyke.”
The whisper isn’t as quiet as I’m sure it was meant to be, and I stop. When I turn around, I see who spoke. It’s the boy I fought in the hall, the one that grabbed me. He’s wearing sweats and a sweat-stained sleeveless shirt, and he’s watching me intently.
“You got a problem, bitch?”
I take a couple of steps closer. “Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. Are you so threatened by a girl like me that you have to talk shit about her?”
He snorts,
and some of his friends laugh. “I’m not threatened by you,” he scoffs.
“Yes, you are. And you should be, seeing as I beat you yesterday.”
“You didn’t beat me!”
He jumps forward, intent on starting another fight, but Kaven gets there first. He shoves the man in the chest, forcing him to back away from me. “Travis, back up dude. Carlos gave her permission to train. You got a problem with it take it up with him, not her.”
I stare at Kaven in total amazement. He’s barely spoken to me since I arrived, and now he’s standing up for me? I wonder what’s going through his mind as he’s staring down a man older and bigger than him.
One of his friends grips his shoulder tightly. “Come on, Travis. It’s not worth it.”
Travis doesn’t move, and he doesn’t take his eyes from Kaven’s.
“You know what Carlos is gonna do to us if we start a fight.”
That seems to get through to Travis, and he looks down at me. “Stay out of my way in the future, bitch.”
Travis and his friend get back to their training and, as I watch them, Travis starts to beat the crap out of a boxing dummy. I’m just glad he’s working out on the dummy instead of on me.
“Come on,” Kaven says, tugging on my arm. “These pushups aren’t gonna do themselves.”
I follow Kaven back to the mats against the far side of the gym, and he watches as I get down on my hands and knees and start another round of grueling work. After my second set of ten, I stop, and look up at him. “I guess I should thank you.” He grunts, which I know is a vague guy-like response, but doesn’t say anything. So I take a deep breath and just say it. “Thank you for standing up for me, Kaven.”
“Right.”
I go back to doing my pushups, and try to focus on my breathing instead of the pain in my arms, back, stomach, and legs. It seems like my entire body is sore, and I wonder if this is what’s in store for me for the rest of my life.
After six complete sets of ten, my arms are trembling and they feel like jell-o. While I’m somewhat gifted at martial arts, today has made me realize that I’m definitely out of shape. The others in the gym are easily breezing through their exercises, and it makes me look lazy and incompetent.
When I look up, Kaven’s looking down at me, and I can tell that he’s amused. “What?”
“I guess I just thought the first female Protector would be a little more, you know, active.”
I glare. “I’m not lazy; I’m just not used to this kind of rigorous training. Give me some time and I’ll improve.”
He snorts. “Are you sure about that? From where I’m standing you look pretty pathetic.”
My glare intensifies, and he smirks. “I’m not pathetic. I just need a little bit of time to catch up to all of you.”
“Alright, enough with the pushups. Find a rope and start jumping.”
I do as I’m told, and start counting the jumps in my head. After forty-seven, I notice that several of the Protectors around the gym have stopped training and are watching me. It’s a stare I know well, though nobody’s ever looked at me like this before.
The feeling of being watched as I jump makes me incredibly uncomfortable, and I can’t understand how some girls like this kind of attention. I’m about to stop when the first comment comes. “Hey sweetie, jump a little harder.”
“Yeah, girl. Turn this way, let me see you!”
“Ignore them,” Kaven says, watching my feet.
Someone whistles, and I try to keep my face expressionless, but as the calls keep coming, I start to lose focus.
“Keep your focus!” he barks.
I struggle to do as he says, and I can feel myself tripping up. When the next whistle comes, my feet get tangled in the rope, and I pitch forward face-first. My arms are wrapped up in the rope, and I can’t get my balance. Suddenly, Kaven’s strong arms are there, and he catches me, stopping my fall before I can hit the ground.
“I told you to ignore them,” he says quietly. “You can’t let them get to you.”
Carlos walks back into the room and everyone goes back to what they were doing. Carlos looks over our way, and stops when he sees Kaven’s arms around me. I can tell by the frown on his face that he’s not happy with what he’s seeing.
One look from Kaven though and I can tell that Carlos understands. He told me earlier that they were going to try and get to me, and that’s obviously what they’re doing. Carlos nods once, and Kaven relaxes his hold on me, before stepping away.
“Alright, get going. You’re nowhere near done with this.”
I sigh, and bend down to grab the jump rope that’s tangled around my feet. The only way to earn their respect is to keep going and show them that I’m not gonna quit, no matter what.
Protection Training is almost three hours long. That’s three long, harsh hours of repetitive exercises that are meant to tire you out and wear you down. When we’re finally done, it’s almost noon, and I can hear the other residents of Daray Hall flooding to the dining hall.
When I get there, Tara and Austin stand up in their seats and wave me over. Grabbing my tray of lunch, I head over to where they’re seated, and take a seat by Tara’s side. She starts to smile, but frowns when I wince as I sit.
“Kylie?”
“First day of Protector Training whooped your ass, didn’t it?” Austin asks, smiling.
I nod, and take a bite of salad.
“Are you alright?” Tara asks, looking at me intently.
“I had to do a shit load of crunches, and then we ran around Daray a couple of times, before doing pushups and then jump rope. Then we started over again. For a few minutes, I thought for sure I was going to keel over on the floor of the gym and just die. I don’t see how the others can do it so effortlessly.”
“I told you it was difficult,” Andrea says, smiling at me. “I’m glad you didn’t quit after your first lesson. You might actually get some of the girls around here a little more respect.”
I’m completely surprised by her friendly talk. She seemed so strange and unfriendly at breakfast earlier that this comes as a total shock. But then I remember Austin’s words.
Have I started to earn her respect?
Tara smiles. “Kylie’s not a quitter. Never has been and never will be. She’s tougher than that.” I don’t join in on her smile and, like the best friend she is, she picks up on it instantly. “What’s wrong?”
“Some of the guys have it in for me. They’re not happy that I’m training, and they’re not shy about letting me know it.”
“What do you mean?” Austin asks.
“Some of them started making catcalls and whistles, and others were making rude comments while I was, you know, jumping around.”
Austin snorts. “Figures those disgusting shaved apes would make fun of you for being a woman.” I look at him until he shifts uncomfortably. “Well, they act like Neanderthals. Just because she’s a woman doesn’t mean she can’t be a Protector.”
Tara giggles. “Are you saying that all men are Neanderthals, Austin?”
“Of course not! I’m not a Neanderthal. Neither is Carlos, from what I can tell. I’m just saying that most of those Protectors tend to be a little boorish.”
“Boorish? Do you even know what that means?” Andrea asks with a smile.
He gasps in mock outrage. “Of course I do! Are you insinuating that I’m stupid?”
I listen to them bicker back and forth throughout the rest of lunch and, when it’s time to head to my next lesson, I realize that I don’t want to leave. Tara’s new friends are interesting people, and I can’t wait to get to know them better.