Maturinus: School Days

Service-Learning

The only other time Katie had been inside a coach with other students it had been a chaotic affair. The endless cacophony of back-and-forth conversations between bored teenagers, the fights over sweets and drinks and the continuous blare of a hundred electronic devices had put her off any future trips away from school grounds. By contrast, the coach that had come to collect them that Saturday evening was as silent as the grave, with even Sabrina holding her tongue as she focused on the task ahead. Katie wasn't sure which of the two experiences she'd rather be having at the moment. Whilst she was happy that at least one memory had come back to her, it wasn't helping to distract from the butterflies in her stomach and it certainly wasn't helping her fraying nerves either. She looked out the window to the rain-soaked grasslands before turning her attentions back to the coach clock, only for an icy drop to sink into the pit of her stomach for her diligence as it passively declared it six o'clock. In another hour she and every other student of Maturinus would be competing in the Assault Course for both a stadium full of people and about fifty million people at home and online. And, as they'd been bluntly reminded by Headmaster King during the morning's assembly, the grade they received would count for one quarter of their yearly results, with only one chance to redeem it before the school year ended should they do poorly.

"Just run for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes, and it's over until the Arena opens next month."

Funnily enough, considering her fitness or lack thereof, the running part itself wasn't even her most pressing concern. With her a degree of control gained over her Adept ability and only six days to catch up to the rest of the class, she'd thrown herself into the more physically demanding aspects of the curriculum with aplomb that had surprised her more than anyone else. Thanks to help from Sabrina, she could even perform another lap before collapsing. Thunder rumbled high above, the sudden sound derailing her train of thought and coupling her to another, less enjoyable one. Even if she could run slightly faster and slightly longer than she could a week ago, she still doubted how reliable her power would be if she had to rely on it in earnest. And that wasn't even taking into account how many people were going to be watching her should she mess up or fail. Needless to say, all the deep breathing in the world couldn't settle her stomach or slow her quickened pulse.

***

At twenty past six, the coach and its nineteen brothers had rolled into the back entrance of the Coliseum and deposited the entirety of the student body into a vast and dark preparation room resembling the insides of a narrow aircraft hangar, a great many soldiers lining the place from wall to wall. Katie clung with her friends for as long as she could through the hubbub of raised voices, ear-splitting cries and harsh orders until she was manhandled away from the densely-packed crowd and shoved into a cubicle, a set of black compression gear awaiting her. A short-sleeved shirt, tights and socks, white trainers sitting nearby. It certainly explained all the measurements taken on her first day, an unpleasantness she was grateful now as she hated to think how bad the ensemble would be were it any tighter on her. It was already on the borderline of crushing her ribs depending on how she moved in it. Hurrying out again into the crush of Adepts, she managed to locate Cherri standing alongside Angela, the angelic Adept looking off into the middle distance and showing no signs of wanting to be anywhere near the stadium or her fellow students. Katie briefly wondered how she'd managed to get her wings through the skin-tight outfit until she turned slightly, showing that her shirt had no back to it at all, just a pair of strings to hold it in place about the neck. And considering that her regular attire at least covered her sides and lower back, it was little wonder she wanted to be around. It was freezing in the loud and dingy hanger, a situation not helped by the rainstorm wailing outside. She was interrupted before she could ask after her, the sharp voice causing Katie to almost jump right out of her skin.