Blackstone Academy: The Rogue

4. Jax Flores

Jax (Male P.O.V) 

Date: September 14, 2238

My thighs quivered, and my heart drummed a frantic rhythm against my chest cavity while jogging through the two lines of tires lying side by side on the ground. Over and over again, my boots struck the tiny bit of earth in the center of each one.

Brown swirling puffs of dust formed in the wake of each hit. It was honestly a nuisance not because it clung to my pants and boots but because it obscured the strike zone for my feet.

I was already struggling to keep up. It felt like I lagged miles behind the four students in front of me as they navigated the obstacle with ease, but in reality, only a few feet separated us.

However, it was enough to garner attention from our temporary instructor.

Lawrence Rivers, the teaching assistant for the class, eyed the distance with a scowl. "Let's go! Pick up the pace, Flores." He barked from the middle of the field.

I wanted to pick up my pace, but my jelly-like legs adamantly refused to cooperate.

Mr. Armstrong, our usual teacher for Basic Training class, was attending a staff meeting leaving Lawrence in charge and me in hell. If I had known this was what we were going to be doing today in class, I never would have crawled from beneath my sheets and tossed my alarm out my dorm room window.

Even though I didn't frequently visit them, I knew there were at least two air-conditioned gyms on campus that we could have used to exercise in instead of being out here in the scorching heat.

"You can do it, Jax!" The girl in front of me encouraged, breaking me from my thoughts. My brow furrowed in annoyance at her cheery tone and even breathing. I couldn't help becoming mesmerized by the hypnotic swing of her ponytail with each of her controlled movements before I glanced at my feet.

I grunted in reply, angrily wiping my damp arm across my sweat-drenched face.

Useless.

The blurry glimpse of the short wooden tunnel with barbed wire wrapped around the top and sides that I would have to crawl under almost caused my legs to buckle.

I groaned, blinking rapidly to clear away the pools of sweat dripping from my hair onto my forehead and sliding down my face. My sweat-soaked t-shirt clung to my body, showing off my slight build after only fifteen minutes into the exercise. The sun hung high in the sky, its rays beating down on the back of my neck.

I jerked my head to the right at the sound of running water. I swallowed, licking my dry lips and gazing longingly at a drop of water falling from a petal to the ground. The droopy red roses seemed to perk up as the maintenance man sprayed them.

I had to stop myself from ditching the exercise, running over to the man, and snatching the hosepipe away from him. If that didn't work I would risk the thorns and suck the drops of cool liquid from the petals.

While I stared at the liquid temptation, my left boot caught in the tire behind me. I gasped as the world tilted and my body plummeted towards the ground. Automatically my arms clamored wildly in front of me, trying to find something to help break my fall.

"Oh shit!" My eyes widened as my fingers latched onto the hair of the girl in front of me.

Her head snapped back as my fist tightened around the strands. She hissed and clawed at my fist, trying to get loose. But the weight of my body and gravity dragged her backward, sending her feet flying in the air.

I clamped my eyes shut, releasing the strands as I fell, banging my knee against the ground. An anguished groan burst past my lips as I rolled into my back, clenching my throbbing knee to my chest.

I knew my previous hasty actions wouldn't go unpunished so I remained balled up waiting for the girl's revenge. Hopefully, my limbs would protect me from the swift kick to the ribs or nuts that were probably coming soon. When neither came, I sighed in relief.

I cracked an eye open as my classmates gathered around me, hovering over my body and looking down at me in sympathy.

"Goddamn it, Flores!" Lawrence barked, stomping towards me, crushing the sparse blades of grass poking from the earth beneath his boots. Before he reached me, I squeezed my eye shut and slowly rubbed my knee.

"Leave him there! Everyone else, go take a break!" He commanded, standing over me. 

I couldn't help but bask in the shade his body provided despite the ache in my knee and the tense situation.

"But he's hurt," A meek voice spoke up, but I didn't bother to open my eyes to thank the kind soul for speaking against the older boy.

"Now!" Lawrence snapped, dismissing everyone.

I writhed on the ground as he stood over me in silence.

A few seconds passed before he finally spoke. "How the fuck did you get in this school, Flores? Hmm?" I gritted my teeth, forcing my eyes open to look at him as he kneeled over me. Tufts of auburn hair stuck out of the black cap he wore and shielded his eyes from my view.

"Did you just pull someone's hair?" He snickered as he gazed at something behind me. "Seriously, tell me, Flores. Are you related to the Dean or something?" 

I struggled to keep every emotion off my face except pain as my heart rate accelerated at his questions.

"I'm just having a bad day," I said through clenched teeth and hoped that would put an end to his questions.

"Bad day?" He scoffed. "Try a bad year. Do you like being a burden to the people around you? Depending... depending on someone else to save your ass? Tell me, have you learned anything since you've been here?" I clenched my fist, forgetting about the pain in my knee as he calmly said each word. I wanted to lash out at Lawrence and take out all my anger on his smug face, but if I somehow managed to land a punch, I knew he would kill me.

"You hurt your knee?" He asked.

I nodded. 

"You might think they care about you, but they don't. None of them would want you to watch their back." He gestured over his shoulder to my classmates behind him, casting glances at us throughout our entire conversation before he stood up.

"Someone help him up and get him some ice!" He ordered, turning away from me as I lay on the ground glaring at his back.

"What if I compete in the annual Training Games?" I blurted.

What the fuck did I just say? I clasped my lips shut, hoping that he didn't hear me, but there was no wind or loud chatter from our classmates to drown out my words.

"You?" He turned and looked down at me with a wide grin on his face. 

My fist automatically clenched at the appearance of his teeth. There was just something about his face that made it seem very punchable.

"Y-y-yeah." I stuttered before clearing my throat. "What if I help the sophomore class win?"

"Flores, with you on the team, they'll surely lose." He said, sneering. "You know what, you don't have to win, just come in second, and I'll take back everything I said today."

"No. We will win!" The words just fell from my lips. It was something about his condescending tone combined with the scorching heat and lack of water that caused my body to malfunction.

What? Shut the fuck up, Jax! Say one more thing, and I'll bite you. I threatened my tongue, afraid of what I'll say next.

"Yeah, okay. Second place Flores." 

I sighed, laying back on the ground as he turned and walked away from me. 

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*Author's Note* Sorry if this chapter was childish but it gets more serious in the future chapters. After chapter 10. 

Honestly Chapters 1- 8 are for world building and helping you get to know the main characters. I do not recommend skipping them because then you will be confused.

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