Chapter 5
My first training session had begun, and I wasn't ready for what lay ahead. This morning Will had arrived with my iPod, disconnected from the satellite, as he liked to remind me. Then he placed the device on my arm with the help of an armband and we had begun our long run. And when I say long, I mean endless. He wanted me to do ten kilometers, I had barely done five and I was exhausted.
"Come on, Chloe," Will said as he retraced his steps. "You're only halfway through."
"I can't take it anymore," I said breathlessly. "I can't go on."
"Of course you can. Do you want to be in shape or not?"
"Yes, but not that much," I replied. "If I go on I'll collapse."
"I point out that you still have archery training with Laura afterwards," he continued.
"I'm telling you I can't take it anymore," I shouted angrily.
"Then why are you here?" he shouted back.
"Unbelievable," I said to myself. "I'm going back home," I said to him.
"Do as you please," he raged, and then continued on his way, leaving me to go home alone.
Will was getting on my nerves. I had only been here two days, so he couldn't expect me to be a super fighter. That took time. Grrr, he was getting on my nerves.
I was grumbling so much at Will in my head that I didn't realize I had already arrived. I saw the girls in the distance, setting up archery equipment. Since my arm was a little sore, I was afraid of how this practice was going to turn out.
"Hey Chloe, how are you?" Rachel said.
"I'm fine. I had another fight with Will. What's his problem?" I replied.
"It sounds like you're pissing him off as much as he's pissing you off," Laura said.
"Yeah, I could see that," I said a little dryly.
"Relax," the tall girl reassured me. "Give him time to get used to you and your temperament. I like it when you stand up to him. And then, like that, the house is a little more alive. Believe me, before you, everything was dull."
"Totally, okay," added Rachel.
"Let's get started," said Laura. "Chloe, have you ever done archery?"
"Just once, a long time ago."
"Okay, well, I'll show you once, explain the basics a little bit, then I'll let you try it out and we'll see what happens."
"Perfect," I agreed.
She showed me everything while explaining the right gestures, then shot in the middle of the target. Then she handed me the bow, repositioned my arms and legs correctly, and let me shoot.
"Wow, Chloe, you're good," Rachel said. "I barely hit the target the first time"
"Thanks," I said. "But it's not the first time I've done it."
"That's true, but you said it yourself, it's been a long time."
"Yeah, it's... "
"How's it going here?" said Will, interrupting me.
"Fine," I replied curtly, just wanting him to walk away and leave me with the girls.
"Yes, Chloe is very good at archery," Laura replied.
"Glad to hear it, well keep it up, I'm going to join Max and Liam. If you ever need us, we'll be inside."
"Great," I mumbled.
Then he left and I was glad. I watched him leave for the house, observing his walk. Surely sensing my eyes on him, he turned, smiled at me, and walked out the front door. Damn, he'd busted me.
"Well, you two have found each other," Laura suddenly said.
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"Just that I've never seen him like this before."
"It doesn't mean anything," I said.
"Maybe not to you, but it does to us," Rachel added.
"Wait until you get to know him well, too, before you form an opinion about him, that's a tip," said her best friend.
" I try, but it's not easy. He doesn't open up easily."
"You either," retorted Laura. "Well, we start again? "
These words remained blocked in my head. I thought about it on my side while the training resumed. It was Rachel's turn to pick up her bow and shoot, while Laura gave me tips on how to aim better. At the end of the session, I had learned a lot and Laura explained that in the next class, we would mix running and shooting to apply today's session in practice. And yes, with them, we weren't kidding when we talked about training. I felt like I was in the military. Which was almost true, because after all, we were survivors.
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