The School of Lost Causes

Chapter 9

I woke up the next morning to a shrill sound and a pounding headache. As I opened my eyes I identified the sound of the ringing as the little alarm clock on the bedside table. Frowning I sat up my eyes scanning the room for the two boys that were supposed to be right next to me in bed. Getting up I moved over to the closet and grabbed some of the black clothes we were supposed to wear an headed over to the bathroom door. I knocked and a mop of blond, wet hair popped out of the door. Jax smiled once he saw me his voice unusually joyful "good morning sunshine. Hope you slept well." I couldn't help but smile at the way his hair was standing up and messy, probably from him rubbing it with a towel, and how he still had toothpaste in the corner of his mouth. "I slept perfectly fine.. I just have a bad headache... how long are you gonna take I want to shower as well." He looked back into the bathroom for a second before his gaze landed back on me "Well... Noah is almost done. If you don't mind us being in the room you can go in right after." After seeing my confused face he quickly added "The shower has basically a separate room with door and everything... the only thing you can see is a blurry silhouette..." I nodded and the smiled returned to my face. "Well if you guys don't mind neither do I." I walked inside and grabbed the bottle of painkillers from my bag poring one into my hand and swallowing it immediately. "Yo Noah! Hurry up Rox wants to shower too!" Instead of an answer the water turned off and a few minutes a fully dressed Noah came out of the door. His hair was sticking up just like Jax.

I smiled as I walked past him and into the shower. The room for the shower was big enough so that you could easily shower an get dressed without you clothes ever getting wet. I put my New clothes on a little table by the door before  looking at said door one more time making sure it was closed and you couldn't see anything. The only thing I saw were two blobs on the other side that were in the shape of humans. Quickly getting undressed I threw the clothes on the same table and turned the water on letting it hit my face and head relaxing underneath the hot water the painkillers finally kicking in easing my splitting headache. I looked down and had to do a double take on my stomach. Right blow my ribs was a mean looking bruise from when I got kicked. I examined the rest of my body looking for any other injuries. Not finding any I washed my hair using way to much shampoo not being used to the fact that I had less than half the amount of hair to wash now. As I turned of the shower I searched for a towel only to realize that I didn't bring one in with me... shit. "Hey guys! Can one of you get me a towel?"

I could hear them talking not quite being able to make out the words until one of them yelled back his voice muffled.  "sure thing Rox!" And not a minute later there was a knock on the door. I opened it a Crack on teld my hand out, making sure you could see nothing. He handed me the towel and I closed the door quickly yelling a haste 'Thank you' as I did so. Drying myself off I let the events of the last day play through my mind.

I was attacked, got knocked out and kicked out of school, rejoined Jax and Noah in the "school of misfits" only to get put here... in this weird third part of the school where dying apparently was a concern to have, and where Combat Training was a thing. A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. "Hey Rox is everything alright? You haven't been moving for a while now." Noah's voice was filled with worry and I could stop myself from smiling. I got dressed as fast as I could and opened the door. Both of them stood on the other side as if they were ready to fight someone. " I'm fine guys... just zoned out a bit there."

I made my way over to the sink and stopped dead in my tracks as I stared at myself in the mirror. There were bruises around my neck and you could practically see where the guys fingers had been choking me. And another bruise showed itself right on my left cheekbone. And because of this new haircut there was nothing I could do to hide it.. "don't worrie Rox you look like a total badass. With you on our side no one will mess with us during breakfast." Jax put his hands on my shoulders gently moving me away from the mirror and out of the bathroom, Noah following close behind us. "He's not wrong. In the misfits school alone there were already rumors about the girl that almost got away while fighting two guards on her own. And that was only an hour after it happened. I bet the news has made its way over here as well."

I started making the bed when someone opened our room door. A blond about my age stood in the doorway grinning from ear to ear. "Good morning I'm here to bring you to breakfast. My name is Ashley it is a pleasure meeting you. I wish we had time to chat but we really can't be late. Unless you want to sit on the floor and eat cold pancakes or waffles. And I doubt you would want that. Unless you like cold pancakes. I guess they aren't to bad. But not as good as fresh ones right? Anyways follow me please." And with that she was already walking away and the three of us rushed to follow her. The second we caught op to her she started talking again. "You guys are Noah Flores, Jaxon Withermore and Roxanne Davis right? The whole School was talking about you. Well Roxanne mostly, no offense. But the way you knocked out one of the guards and almost got away from the other is really incredible. I mean most people that get tested like that do relatively well. Everyone gets at least a few punches in. We'll except for the ones that call for help and follow "the  Rules" I guess. But rarely anyone can knock them out or get the upper hand like that. You two guys are lucky you claimed her before she even got tested. You wouldn't belive how many people asked for her after that footage was shown. I mean it wasn't like the whole school but like more than average you know. And I'm the lucky one that gets to be your tour guide for the next few days. Incredible. Ahh here we are, the dining hall. I'll eat with my group and pick you up after so we can get to the traininghall"

Before she could talk anymore I grabbed the two guys and dragged them to the buffet. "God I thought she would never stop talking!" Both of them chuckled slightly at my frustration. "I think she was just trying to be friendly." Even though he was probably right I was having none of it "Oh come on Noah! She never once stopped to let us talk or I dont know.... Breathe!" Without giving them a chance to defend the blond word demon again I picked out my food, piling pancakes and bacon on to my plate dousing them with maple syrup and grabbing a cup, filling it with coffee. I scanned the room for an empty table finding one I the front right by the door.

As the two of them caught up I walked to the table and sat down before someone else could claim it. Noah and Jax joined me right as I took a big sip of my cup. Sighing as the hot bitter liquid hit my tongue I took a closer look at the dining room only to discover that I was being watched. The majority of the students were lookin towards our table. Some looked curious while others were surprised or even annoyed and jealous. Scooting further down in my seat I started eating my breakfast trying to distract myself from the sudden attention. "So... Uhh... do you guys think we'll get... a lot of homework?" It didn't go unnoticed by the guys that we were the center of attention at the moment but they didn't seem as bothered by it as I was. "We won't get homework here. I doubt we'll even have normal classes." Any other day I would have asked why, but I could barely concentrate. So I just continued eating in silence.

Right as we finished our breakfast the bouncing blond came towards our table the eyes of the other students following her. "Are you guys ready for your first Combat Training? You don't have to worry they'll go easy on you since it's your first time and all. And we always have medics on stand by. So if you get hurt they can fix you right up. Well let's go! We don't want to be late!" We got up and followed her out of the cafeteria and back through the  common room. " The first thing they'll do is test how God you already are. Even though Roxanne already got tested she's going to have to do it again because it might have been luck or instinct and not actual skill. After that you'll be put into groups based on skill. Don't worry though they won't separate you. They take your combin skill and how you fight as a group and sort you that way. Me and my unit are in the middle rank since we aren't the best solo fighters but fight very well as a group. Others can't work together but pick up the slack by being awesome on their own. The best can do both obviously and they are kind of the "cool kids" here. Those are usually also the ones you never see alone. I bet you'll spot them now that I told you about them. Anyways we don't usually go full out in training unless told to do so but you guys should today. You know, show the  what you got. I bet you'll do great so don't stress. What else should you know...." She stayed silent for a bit and we all exchanged looks. What was this place... and how well would we do in this test.. it seemed like it mattered a whole lot so better not fuck it up. "Ah! Yes! You always wear the basic outfit since it's made for Combat as well. You always have about an hour after to shower and hydrate before what ever "lesson" you have. And you usually have something that isn't physical. If you feel any kind of dizzy or something like that tell the teachers immediately so they can make sure your healthy. And don't take it to seriously. Everyone makes mistakes especially when you just started."

Ashley stopped in front of a big glass door labeled  "Training". Looking inside I could see a bunch of traing equipment. Some training weapons and a big matted square in the middle of the room. There were students in there already all of them looking around seeming just as new as we were. I took one deep breath as I pushed the door open and the three of us walked inside.